Late last month, Volkswagen took the new Golf R 20 Years around the iconic Nürburgring racetrack in Germany. The new car was announced back in June of this year and is a special edition to celebrate 20 years of the R-badged cars. The Golf R 20 Years gets more power and a new drivetrain calibration, to allow it to be much more efficient on tracks.

All of these improvements helped the car do a lap time of 7:47.31 around the Nürburgring. This is the fastest any R-badged model from Volkswagen has gone around the track. The Golf R 20 Years even has a special driving mode, which adjusts the adaptive dampers specifically for the Nürburgring. In the flying lap, the car hit 164mph in the main straight – driven by touring car driver Benjamin Leuchter.

The Golf R 20 Years has the same engine as the standard Mk8 Golf R, of which it is based on. The 2.0-litre engine has been re-worked to produce 328bhp, 22bhp more than the standard car. This then derives all four wheels and uses a DSG gearbox.

Design wise, Volkswagen has added a new roof spoiler, 19-inch alloys wheels as well as unique badging and puddle lights, all displaying the ’20’ logo. VW has even made a custom key fob, with the 20 logo – something which most manufacturers don’t bother with.

The new Volkswagen Golf R 20 Years will go on sale later this year and will then be available in the middle of 2023. Pricing has not yet been confirmed.