The Volkswagen Golf R is one of the most capable hot hatchbacks, currently, on the market. The Golf, itself, is now in its eighth generation, and four of those have had an “R” version. This means even more power than the GTI and all-wheel drive. The Golf R Mk8 is a relatively new model, but in true tradition, the aftermarket already offers solutions for more performance. Awesome Cars provides a "before and after" demonstration between a stock Golf R and a Stage 1 Golf R.

Essentially, we have one Golf R, an empty airstrip, a PCM module, which will be installed after the benchmark runs, and some measuring equipment. First up is the stock car, which packs 320 horsepower and 310 pound-feet (420 Nm). Being the Golf R, power is sent to all four wheels. North America is the only market that can get the Gold R Mk8 with the six-speed manual. The rest of the world will have to settle for the seven-speed DSG, which is what this U.K. example has. According to Volkswagen, the 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) should take 4.5 seconds.

The stock run bore impressive results, with the 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) time being 4.18 seconds – over 0.3 seconds better than what the manufacturer claims. The quarter-mile goes by in 12.46 seconds at 110.53 mph (177.8 km/h) and the 100 to 200 km/h (62-124 mph) is dealt with in 11.96 seconds.

After the Racing Line Power Control Module (PCM) is installed, the Golf R is taken for another run. The module is said to add 50 horsepower and 44 pound-feet (60 Nm), for a total output of 370 horsepower and 354 pound-feet (480 Nm). At the point of filming the test, there was no tune available for the Golf R Mk8, so the PCM is, technically, the equivalent of a Stage 1 tune.

After the intervention, the Golf R manages a 0 to 60 mph 997 km/h) in 4.07 seconds with a quarter-mile time of 12.28 seconds at 113 mph (181.85 km/h). As usual, the biggest gain was in the 100 to 200 km/h (62-124 mph) acceleration, which is now 10.95 seconds – just over 1.0 second quicker than stock.

The Golf R has always been a very capable platform, regardless of the generation and we know, immense performance can be extracted from them. With this in mind, it won’t be long until we start seeing Golf R Mk8s, pushing over 600 horsepower and blasting sub-10-second times on the quarter-mile.