Volkswagen's Golf has cemented its place among automotive icons in South Africa. Nomenclatures such as GTI, GTS and R conjure images of famous models throughout the eight generations of the Golf model, but which Golf is the fastest of them all?
Golf GTI
Until recently, the only derivative of the eighth generation of Volkswagen's Golf listed for sale locally was the GTI, in both Jacara Edition and standard flavours. Since the GTI is one of the most popular performance cars in South Africa, there was an impressive 352 examples listed for sale on AutoTrader at the time of writing.
Golf R
At the time of writing, the eighth generation of the Golf R was yet to be released for sale to the general public, however, local motoring journalists have had a chance to drive the latest performance Golf, and you can expect a full review of the model on both YouTube and the AutoTrader website. Since the introduction of the MK6-based Golf R in 2007, Volkswagen South Africa has sold more than 6 000 Golf R models within the local market, and some 132 of these were listed for sale on AutoTrader at the time of writing.
Related: Golf R and Tiguan R (2022) First Drive Review
| Model | Volkswagen Golf GTI | Volkswagen Golf R |
| Power | 180kW | 235kW |
| Torque | 370Nm | 400Nm |
| 0-100km/h | 6.4 sec | 4.8 sec |
| Top speed | 250 km/h | 270 km/h* |
*With optional Black Performance Package
Which Golf is the fastest?
Looking at the figures, the new eighth-generation of the Golf R is comfortably the quickest production Golf model currently on sale. Its 4.8-second 0-100km/h time and a top speed of up to 270 km/h make it a true performance car. If you are looking at adding a Golf R to your garage but need to sell your current vehicle, we can provide you with an Instant Offer, ensuring that you get the best possible price for your car.
