Ford Focus RS vs Volkswagen Golf R - which is fastest? | evo DRAG BATTLE 

was suprised how good the VW R could keep up.

Considering the difference of 50HP and nearly 70lb ft of torque, the Golf R's performance is remarkable.

if the golf won everyone wouldve made fun of the RS since the RS won everyone is gonna say drag times dont matter

Much as I love the Focus, it would've seen tail lights if the Golf had the DSG box

The Golf R was able to catch up because it has more aggressive gearing. the Top Speed for the Focus RS in 5th gear is 152 vs 137 MPH for the GOLF R. That and the lighter weight in the Golf R make up for the difference in horsepower. The same gearing in the RS as compared to the Golf R would have clearly resulted in a drastic advantage to the Focus RS. With that being said, the RS is better geared for the track where the RS is suppose to shine.

This is the only time I've seen the Focus beat the Golf,in other videos the Golf has hammered the Focus.

I didnt expect the Golf to start coming back after 80 mph... What a machine. :D

Do it with the R DSG

Awesome Video - please keep them coming! I own a 2016 manual Golf R, and couldn't be more proud of the result. Both cars are awesome daily drivers; hot hatches FTW!

In reality the R is the quickest car - when fitted with the DSG. And more usable as a daily.

why did the Focus RS drift off to the left by about 3 lanes worth?? it's time would of been a lot faster if the driver stayed in a straight line.

the golf was catchin near the end there

I'm so pleased that both cars we're manual

Finally, a focus RS that is not blue. I thought it was the only color available for it :))

VW group cars are in another league these days, real world performance.

The Focus RS is on pilot spot cups 2. Slap the same tire model on both cars and compare again. Street legal R compound vs regular summer tires is quite unfair.

I miss the Volvo 5 cylinder from the previous Focus, they had an awesome sound.

Should of used a DSG!

Slap the stage 1 APR tune with the DSG, 0-60 in 3.7 seconds and the golf would destroy that RS. Bravo to the Ford tho, wouldn't mind having either. :D

Wow ! the most powerful car won, such a suprise, still the Golf R is a hero being that close despite the power and torque difference is impressive, heck the golf is even faster overall if you don't consider the launch, the number speaks for them selves

Obviously another case of a German car pumping out more HP than the manufacturer claims.

DSG R any day over the RS

Brilliant comparison - thank you!

So... DSG Golf R?

GOLF R + DSG = bye bye focus. But is more fair boht manuals, its true...

Yeah do now a test around the track, you can even use the dsg. The focus will smoke the golf r.

As well as the standing start races, I would also like to see you do rolling starts as well from 2nd gear for example. I think that would make for a better comparison, especially when cars are driven by different wheels.

wow amazing stuff from the golf. That DSG golf must be a fast little rocket.

Golf is the better all day car! Give him some Chip Juice and its gone!!!

The Golf R really should be fitted with the 5 cylinder Audi engine

Dan, Will you planning the drag with Facelifted 2017 Golf R 7 SPEED DSG in 2017 against the Focus RS also a Bedford Aerodrome track test as you did with the Audi RS3

Finally honest comparison. Great drag race.

heavy european bias in the video and comment section "Ford has more horsepower BUT..." "Ford won the race BUT..." And VW did better then expected? no VW did exactly as expected. The cars are close in HP and they did close in the race. 50hp in the car world isn't a big difference. And more hp doesn't equate to more speed. There are MANY factors that go into making a fast car. This race went EXACTLY as expected.

Not surprised but I'll take my Golf R any day of the week.

With a drag race this close it would of been interesting to see a rolling start to remove the variable of launching (or launch control). I wonder whether the Golf-R would of beat the Focus RS in that case. Furthermore, I was surprised at the end of the race. With the RS having that much power, I would of thought that's where it would just plummeted the Golf-R. Overall, with the sophistication in traction control systems, transmissions, and turbos, raw numbers in HP/Torque aren't enough.

The real question is how many launches can each clutch handle before giving up in a cloud of smoke? Although I know the RS will hold a better resale value than the Golf, I prefer the more subtle look of the R.

I've driven both and I was so impressed with the golf r but the focus was on another level. The RS could literally handle any speed you go on corners. I'll take the RS anyday

Now that the performance results are very close, let me say that Focus RS is much more attractive! ;-)

Thanks Dan, nice vid

Nice video. However, I'd like to point out that, performance numbers on paper do not necessarly match reality. Put them both on a dyno and you'll come to realize that the Golf is probably underrated from factory which means it's true horsepower figures are higher than claimed, resulting in a much smaller gap in performance. They usually do this on their diesel engines and I wouldn't be surprised their gasoline engines are the same. FocusRS dyno runs are ranging from 280 to 300whp but I havent researched Golf's numbers.

Is it just me or Focus drifted to the left quite a bit, travelling longer and allowed VW to catch up? Maybe that's just cat's and mouse game. Still RS is a Monster!

no shit the focus is going to be faster. shouldve used a dsg golf to make it more interesting.

the time that the golf r finish 1/4 mile and 1/2 mile is faster than the type r and from the m135i time from the last video its can be?

What an incredible car the R is, this is Ford's best shot and the motoring world has been eulogising about the RS for months. Only just beat the R and the R was faster 0-130mph. OMG!! R better all-rounder I would wager.

Shock! more powerful car wins drag race!!!

That is impressive performance by the Golf, I really thought the RS would wipe the floor to the Golf R in a straight line, but it was very close.

I wish you'd post speed along with the elapsed time for your drag race videos

Look on any drag race video on RU-vid and then read the comments and it will be full of people who like the lying car saying it was unfair. EVERY video. Doesn't matter if one has more power and one is lighter, or one has the or that. Bottom line is they are direct competitors in the market place and it's what each company has produced. So from that point of view it's a fair race.

I still prefer that beautiful VW Golf R :)

I like turtles

Will there be Video of these 2 against A45 AMG?

i have had a few races with those new vw polo manuals and always seam to be able to pull away from them... but the polo is heavier but is a 1.8T... my FiST is still 100% stock standard but won't be soon.. 😊

Golf R has class. Some thing the ford can't even dream about.

goodbay golf

there have been mentions that the Manual Golf R has quite short gearing so it kept up with the RS beyond the initial launch because of gearing and probably slightly less weight than the RS too

Ford Focus lost time by drifting to the left instead of running a straight line as the Golf.

Golf R with DSG will beat the Ford

nice to see manual vs manual in drag pretty rare sight these days

Interesting and surprising result

Wonder how it would do with a DSG golf

I got excited every time I saw EVO posting new cars go head to head..... until I clicked on it and realized the video was 2mins long and was ALL about a drag race. Oh well.

Not bad Golf R...i Guess a clever motor pays off...Wish you guys did a roll on drag race. Golf R also has Full tank Fuel

Would have been interesting to see what the available DSG in the Golf could have done here, since the VW basically only lost time launching and shifting. It would be apples to oranges but I'd still be interested to see how a dual-clutch could make up for that power disparity.

I'm surprised EVO allowed a European car to lose.

It would have been interesting to have had the Golf R with a DSG to see if that makes up for the power-difference.

I wonder what the result will be with the Honda Type R of the Ford Focus?

Probably the aerodynamic drag over 110mph that makes the Ford slow down.

That's the power of German engineering...

The golf 7 gti and R range has been known to make more than it's claimed power. I used to work at a tuning company and alot of tuners were claiming these cars to make their engine claimed power and maybe even a little more at the wheels.

That is closer than I thought it would be

with DSG I could run my Golf R 1/4 mile in 13.2 second @ 104.9 mph

Wasn't the VW tuned to work with its DSG gearbox? Lets see a rematch!

I would like to see this with the Golf having DSG gearbox.

Would be really interesting with the DSG

can you guys do a drag race of the decade...with all hyper..super...super sonic Cars...

why didn't they use the launch control on the DSG?

Do the fiesta ST200 vs Clio RS or Polo gti!

Love the RS it's aggression is insane has amazing traction aswell

Why didn't you use the DSG golf

With an APR Stage 1 software upgrade the Golf will produce 350whp and 360+wtq.

With black colour and black wheels focus looks absolutely amazing :DD

DSG. Also the APR and Unitronic tunes add another 90 whp.

do it with a dsg golf R mine standard munched an RS at santa pod on the quarter mile

Why would anybody want to drag race? Let's see a rally battle!

Why not DSG????

So is the Golf R bogging down when dropping the clutch due to traction control?

The Golf R has major tuning potential 🔥

Why did it seem like the race wasnt straight? Looks like the Focus was veering away from the Golf? Was this deviation of a straight line equal to both parties?

dear EVO we need a track battle between Type R and Focus RS, pleaaase...

Wait... You guys didn't even use launch control on the RS which launches at 5k RPM and the RS went sideways for some reason so that's some time off as well.... Please re-test with Launch control and go straight this time.

One of these cars has pedigree, lineage, respect... the other is a dressed up Focus, and will most likely be plagued with the current batch of transmission issues that is affecting a chunk of their product line. The GTI family gave us the hot hatch and they still do it best. The RS is limited edition Focus, the GTI/G7R will continue to carry the torch.

Drag race vs real driving. DSG is the fair comparison since vast majority of Golf Rs are speced with DSG. Having run a modest Unicorn chipped R with DSG for 2 years now, this video shows me that I have nothing to fear from the NKOTB RS in EITHER bragging rights, street or track performance. In fact I feel quite cocky ...

Can I switch gears while stepping on the gas like that with a crappy 1.6 n/a car too? I reckon I'd scratch a half a second in the 0-60

Needed the traction control off in the golf to stop it bogging down with manual transmission

I think it was Car and Driver that said the Golf R is .5 seconds faster with a automatic transmission. I wish they used one for this race.

"The margin is so much closer than the power and torque figures suggested" hats off to the golf r

Why wasn't the golf a DSG and no launch control in golf?

With a DSG, it would be a different story. Trust me. Put the Golf in Racing Mode, this is when you can forget about the ordinary Golf R, pulling every trick out of the hat. The steering wheel gets much heavier and the car revs to 68-69 rpm, changing gears instantly. The car takes a soundtrack of a V8 and always in the correct gear no matter what you do. The DSG is in the right power band, ready to deliver and the traction control is now in it's sportiness settings, allowing you to put the power down in and out of bends. I've taken the piss out of M3's, new shape or old, they didn't bother, yes the car has only has 300bhp but trust me, it's the most usable 300bhp you will ever need. This car takes Hot-Hatch to a whole new extreme, with 4 doors, 4 exhaust and 4 wheel-drive, it can be the ultimate all in one package and everything you could ever ask for in a car. Overall I really do love my Golf R, I like how it stays humble and disguise itself as a normal Golf, blend in traffic on it's way to work, then on your way home you can terrorise faster and more expensive cars down some B roads.

I would go for the Focus RS

very impressive by the Golf !! faster 0-130 time and a much better interior too