Today, as previewed Volkswagen has announced the all new Golf R which is based on the brand new Golf 8 which went on sale earlier this year in the summer. Volkswagen is starting to fill out the line up for the eighth generation Golf, we already have the base line of cars, the Golf GTI has already gone on sale, with a Clubsport coming soon and the all important estate is coming soon. And now, we have the most powerful Golf ever with the new Golf R.
Just from the pictures, this new model looks so much more aggressive, admittedly the press images do have the optional R Performance upgrade package which adds larger alloys, spoiler and the Akrapovic titanium performance exhaust.
Whats new?
This new model has more power this time, 316bhp, 310lb ft torque from the 2.0-litre engine and four wheel drive like all Golf R models. 0-60 is handled in 4.7 seconds, quicker by 0.2 seconds over the old model. Volkswagen has also done work to improve the handling, Golf R now has a new torque-vectoring system to allow power to be delivered to an individual wheel if needed.
On the back the Golf R has a large black rear diffuser with four Akrapovic exhausts, which do come as a part of the opptional R Performance upgrade.
Inside the Golf R there are new sports seats, with integrated headrests, sports wheel with blue stitching, stainless steel peddles like in the Golf GTI as well as the standard Golf 8 touchscreens.
Also new is a Drift mode, something first seen on the Ford Focus RS from a couple years ago. It uses the torque vectoring to allow the car to slide really easily which Volkswagen say, “opens up a whole new level of driving dynamics away from public roads and makes the experience behind the wheel even more fun”. A new Nürburgring mode has also been added to make the car at its optimum for that track.
When will it be available, and how much?
No word on the pricing yet, but considering the Golf GTI is over £33,000 we can expect the Golf R to be around £40,000 if not more. It will arrive in your local dealer later this month.
