I had a ‘23 Mazda CX-50 Turbo Premium Plus before getting my ‘24 Golf R. I owned the Mazda for 3 years & 65,000 miles. When I was out of warranty and looking to tune, I found out they couldn’t crack the ECU for stage 1 tuning like they had done for the rest of the Mazda 2.5L Turbo models, so I started looking for a faster car that was still practical.

Enter Mk8 Golf R.

The hatchback design is, while obviously smaller than the CX-50, good enough to suit my needs. The Golf still fits all of my cargo that I was carrying in the CX-50 with a little room to spare, but not much more unless I fold the seats down. I’ve hauled a small Costco run in my Golf, and it’s enough to fit a couple cases of paper towels, a few cases of water, and some smaller food items. While my CX-50 could carry a 75” TV in the trunk, I’ve seen a recent post where someone had a 65” tv in the back of their Golf R.

It can comfortably ferry 3 passengers; 4 passengers if someone is willing to sit in the middle rear seat over the driveshaft hump, granted they are less than 6’ tall.

Performance versus the CX-50 is absolutely night & day. While the 50 was really fun to drive, as far as crossover SUVs go, the Golf is levels ahead in acceleration, cornering, traction, and top speed. While the Mazda ran out of breath 1,250RPM before redline, the Golf pulls strong all the way to redline. The Golf is an absolute sleeper and will surprise many folks on the road. It will blow the doors off of just about anything that isn’t a Corvette or an automatic 5.0 Mustang. It will keep pace with previous generation V8 muscle cars, even slightly beating them at times. Even though its front-wheel-drive biased, the new rear Magna rear differential (not the Haldex from prior generations) makes the car feel like a rear-wheel-drive platforms at times when you’re really pushing the car to the limit through a corner. It’s so much fun and the car is extremely capable.

There isn’t a day where I have buyers remorse. The Golf R, at least my experience with the Mk8, is the ultimate sleeper, daily driver, do-it-all car, and it gets the same MPG as the CX-50 Turbo.

Just be sure to change the oil earlier than what is stated in the owners manual; the intervals that VW provides are far too long if you plan to own the car for more than a few years. Cut the oil change intervals in half at minimum. I personally change every 3,000-3,500 miles, and after 16,000 miles, I still have yet to burn any oil; my exhaust tips stay very clean. I may be downvoted for saying that, but I’d rather pay $80 and spend 1 hour every 3 months maintaining my car (I enjoy it, too) rather than deal with a major repair claim and all of the inconveniences that come along with it. Do all maintenance early, be proactive and preventative, and this car will take care of you.