It’s been twenty years since Volkswagen unveiled the fourth generation Golf R with its 3.2-litre V6 and four wheel drive. To celebrate this iconic birthday, VW is paying homage to the first car the R performance division worked on. The new Volkswagen Golf R 20 Years has been announced, becoming the most powerful Golf has produced to date.

While there isn’t a V6 crammed into the new Golf R 20 Years, VW has worked on the existing 2.0-litre engine and is now produces a staggering 328bhp, 22bhp more than the standard Golf R. For context, the 20 year old R32 made 237bhp and 236lb ft of torque.

The Golf R 20 Years can now do 0-60mph in just 4.7 seconds with a 168mph top speed.

VW has added a few tweaks around the new car to make it feel more special. For example, the new ‘Emotional Start’ function sits the car at 2500rpm on start-up to make it sound more raring to go. VW say this ‘”heightens the anticipation of a typical R driving experience”.

Inside, Volkswagen has fitted the door panels and dashboard with carbon-fibre, as well as more R badges.

Volkswagen has said that the Golf R 20 Years will be coming to the UK, with more information such as prices available later on.