VW Golf R vs Golf GTI Clubsport vs Cupra Leon 300: Steve Sutcliffe track battle | Auto Express

The 2021 Mk8 Volkswagen Golf R packs a serious punch. Its 2.0-litre turbocharged four-pot puts out 316bhp, and the chassis is more playful than ever - a torque-vectoring rear differential can send up to 100% of drive to the outside rear wheel, and there's even a Drift Mode. On paper, then, it should be the most potent hot hatch from the VW Group around a track, but the brand new Golf GTI Clubsport is here to cause an upset. With a 20bhp deficit and front-wheel drive, can the Clubsport overthrow the R around Llandow Circuit? And how does the 296bhp Cupra Leon fare, which undercuts both VWs on price? Steve Sutcliffe is at the helm to find out in this review.

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[miljanivanko]

The whole world was waiting to see the track race between Golf R vs Clubsport and Cupra Leon too..Thank you for making this video...Great reviewer

[REDOUTE]

When the difference is just 0.2 0.3 0.5 the tires can make the difference

[felixb]

What a difference can Steve make to a car review. A true legend!

[GeordieAmanda]

I love all the Videos that are now appearing with Steve driving. He seemed to go missing for a couple of years to a large degree. It's brilliant that he is now back, showing us how it's done :)

[sanchilloz]

Always great to see Steve on this reviews!
I'm tired of the 1/4 mile tests...

[copperkeyracing]

1:20 Golf R specs
4:08 GTi ClubSport specs
7:03 Cupra 300 specs
9:25 results

[vladus..]

I've been waiting for this for a long time! Thank-you!

[eleiaandsteven]

Looks like you've lost weight. Great job.

[ACS]

Cupra faster around a track than a Golf R. The same thing happened with the last generation.

[LexiMae]

I mean, I have the 1.0l 110hp 6spd manual Seat Leon and even that feels fun and light on its feet. It’s responsive and when it’s safe to, you can really throw it in to a corner. Granted the electric power steering really doesn’t give me too much feedback but it’s really fun to drive and for a 110hp 1.0l 3 cylinder turbo, once you’re on boost, it’s just gets up and goes. The only bad part of the whole Leon range is the infotainment as there are a number of errors and bugs and glitches that occur

[swansmeister]

Steve lost some weight huh, lookin healthy, good for him. One of the best reviewers out there imo.

[Kingdonnerkebab]

More Steve please! Could listen to that guy all day. Really enjoyed that group test and Steve’s enthusiasm

[gordoredpb]

Might have missed it, but would have been great to know if the Golf R was equipped with active dampers, or not and what “mode” it was placed in. I’m sure Steve would have set it up as best as possible, but mentioning its state of config would have been a good addition to the vid. I wish VW South Africa had not bungled the Seat offering in SA; it was never going to sell well against the VW Golf / Polo equivalent at a similar price point. Such great handling cars.

[MayurJadhav-jtpj]

Whenever Steve comes he's just the best. Awesome!!! job man.

[mercedakiask]

GTI Clubsport all the way...as said the difference maybe it’s on the rubber..and it looks obviously better than the Cupra and the Golf R. All great cars!! Nice comparison!

[kerpoise]

A few tenths between each car? Doubt you can say anything conclusive other than they're all about as fast as each other. It's not that the CS is better than the R, and the Cupra is better than the CS on the track - it's that they're all pretty good.

[scunnerdarkly]

Yet another Golf-beating Golf from Seat. I could see why Seat were given better options in the early days with the original Leon having the 180bhp 20VT lumps from the TT compared to the GTI’s 150bhp (in non-Anniversary form) to boost their reputation, but even with exactly the same engines Seat show they’ve got some kinda engineering voodoo. It’s all money in the same pot to VAG but it’s still slightly surprising given the GTI’s status as a “halo” product.

[enrique]

Another brilliant test drive from the master Steve !!!

[goddersgti]

Steve loves a surprise result, so do we!

[JDSFLA]

This is the best I have seen you in a long time. You have lost 10 years.