We've had the Golf R around in various forms since 2009 and the formula it offers hasn't fundamentally changed much in that time.
There's VW's 2.0-litre TSI turbo petrol engine in its fastest form, 4MOTION 4WD and a slice of Golf GTI engineering tuned up to the max.
This 'CD1'-series version, based on the current MK8 Golf architecture, doesn't deviate much from that script but does usefully embellish it.
And of course, predictably, it claims to be the quickest and most powerful Golf ever made.That isn't enough to allow it to fully take on uber-fast super hatches like the Mercedes-AMG A 45 or the Audi RS3.