I had the opportunity to drive my oldest son’s late model GTI MT on the twisty roads near Mendocino, CA a couple of years ago, and found it to be a blast. I liked It a lot. He’s had a series of GTI’s going back to the series 1 car while in high school, so VW hot hatches are always in the mix for him. A Golf R would just amp that up that same feel by quite a bit, I would expect.
About two years ago he traded the GTI in for an e-Golf, a pure EV. He used it for his commute from Berkeley to Fremont. His able to charge the car at work, so it costs him nothing in terms of fuel costs, so to speak.
I have had the opportunity to drive the E - Golf a number of times while visiting, and found it to be fun and pleasant in traffic. It’s instantaneous torque giving a fine “point and squirt” kind of driving situation. The range is a bit limited, but for our typical orbits while visiting, its range has been fine. But if one were to head off from Berkeley to, say Yosemite, then the range limitation would bite you.
A good friend has a substantially modified Golf R, and it is apparently a rocket sled, with 0 to 60 times in ridiculously low numbers - enough to humble many super cars. I look forward to giving my neck muscles a bit of a test with his car sometime this spring.
Mrs. Flatfoot and I are meeting another couple for brunch tomorrow. The husband is driving a Cyber Truck, which I have not yet seen in the wild. I’m hoping he shows up with that for a bit of show and tell.
I’ve had good success with several longer term rentals for hybrid cars. Two years ago I rented an Accord Hybrid for over a month. As I recall the combined fuel mileage was over 40 MPG overall, and there was no angst over its pure electric range. I was a fan of the Hybrid concept.
