Volkswagen Golf R Estate review - Ultimate Golf gets more practical - Volkswagen Golf R Estate performance and 0-60mph time

The Golf R Estate feels easily just as rapid as its hatchback cousin, with its 0.2-second drop in its 0-62mph time (it’s now 5.1 seconds) being almost imperceptible. 

It’s a very capable package coming close to even the likes of an RS4 for its outright 0-62mph time (the Audi takes 4.7 seconds). It's a mark of how capable the engine is that you're never far away from accessing strong performance, while the all-wheel drive system makes putting the R's power to the ground a trouble-free task.

Stats also show just how big of a step up the R is from a GTI. The Golf R Estate manages 297bhp between 5500-6200rpm, with its peak torque of 280b ft arriving at just 1800rpm. The GTI on the other hand is more than a second slower up to 62mph and puts out just 226bhp.

These numbers translate to a brutish broadband-like shove from the engine which, when pared up with the R’s Haldex four-wheel drive system, turns the R Estate into a proper point-to-point machine.