From the March/April 2026 issue of Car and Driver.

Lap Time: 3:11.3

Class: LL2 | Base: $42,105 | As Tested: $42,750
Power and Weight: 241 hp • 3285 lb • 13.6 lb/hp
Tires: Hankook Ventus S1 evo3
235/35R-19 91Y +

The Golf GTI is no longer offered with a manual transmission. Boo-hoo, right? Here’s why that’s not worth crying over.

This year’s dual-clutch automatic car just beat all six of the GTI’s previous Lightning Lap lap times. It shaved eight-tenths off the first eighth-gen GTI we ran in 2022 and even bested the six-speed manual by a tenth. Dare we mention it did so in its first session on track?

Unlike the Golf R, no meaningful equipment changes put the GTI on the grid this year. Well, it did get actual buttons on the steering wheel instead of capacitive switches. Could we get through an entire lap without accidentally turning on the heated steering wheel? Only one way to find out. And, unsarcastically, on a track with two straights that stress test the GTI’s brake system, the steering wheel isn’t the only part that will get hot.

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The GTI’s brakes are good for one lap, followed by a nice, relaxing cooldown. Lean on them too hard into Turn 1 or slowing from 118.7 mph on the Back Straight, and they become considerably less effective. If you’re hoping for the cooling effect of the long Front Straight to reset everything, prepare for disappointment.

Keep the brakes from getting too hot, and you’ll find that, unlike the awkward dance steps of the GR Corolla’s conventional eight-speed, the GTI’s seven-speed dual-clutch automatic moves quickly and decisively. The limited-slip differential eliminates any inside-front-wheel spin in corners, with this traction boon helping the GTI prevail over the understeer-revealing Infield section.

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Very little threatens the stability of the GTI, even when it’s averaging 113.3 mph through the Climbing Esses. And while the brakes need to be babied, the rest of the GTI wants to stay on track. That’s high praise for a car surrounded by entries boasting four-figure horsepower and six-figure prices.

Back to Lightning Lap 2026

Austin Irwin has worked for Car and Driver for over 10 years in various roles. He’s steadily worked his way from an entry-level data entry position into driving vehicles for photography and video, and is now reviewing and testing cars. What will he do next? Who knows, but he better be fast.

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From the March/April 2026 issue of Car and Driver.

Lap Time: 3:03.7

Class: LL2 | Base: $52,120 | As Tested: $52,416
Power and Weight: 328 hp • 3369 lb • 10.3 lb/hp
Tires: Hankook Ventus S1 evo3
235/35R-19 91Y +

Life is all about give and take. Volkswagen gave the Golf R another 13 horses for 2025, so we took the R to VIR and chopped 0.6 second off the model’s previous best time.

Let’s examine the data. Despite two different drivers, when we overlay a fast lap from a 2022 Golf R in Lightning Lap 15 onto this year’s the similarities are staggering, except for one critical moment. The improvement doesn’t reveal itself until the series of fast downhill corners—the Roller Coaster and Hog Pen sequences—that come before the Front Straight. It’s there that the updated Golf R carves out 0.6 second during a lap that’s otherwise identical to the 2022 car’s.

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Thirteen horses are nice, but more confidence in the brakes than in the GTI allowed us to brake later and carry more speed into the first downhill right, Roller Coaster. From there, the R’s stability and all-wheel-drive traction took over. Trust grew, and as confidence grows, lap times tend to fall until you find a tire wall.

In low-speed corners, the Golf R’s all-wheel-drive system is indispensable, as it lets you mash the throttle without any time-robbing drama. But the car still demands discipline. Overcommit in the braking zones, and the R will leave the racing line just like any other car in favor of a path of destruction. Just ask the tire wall at the end of the Back Straight about the R’s love tap.

Like the changes brought by the refresh, a 3:03.7 lap is not shockingly greater. It’s simply better. And at a track this demanding, being a little better, even for just a single sector, pays off in a big way.

Back to Lightning Lap 2026

Austin Irwin has worked for Car and Driver for over 10 years in various roles. He’s steadily worked his way from an entry-level data entry position into driving vehicles for photography and video, and is now reviewing and testing cars. What will he do next? Who knows, but he better be fast.

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