BEIJING MOTOR SHOW: VW's hottest Golf ever

Volkswagen has created the Godfather of all Golfs and this Porsche-bashing hatchback concept may even reach production, albeit in limited numbers.

Revealed at today’s Beijing motor show opening, the Golf R 400 winds the volume of the German giant’s global best-seller up to 11, with a ferocious 295kW (400ps) of power and 450Nm of torque on tap from its 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine.

Driving all four wheels via Volkswagen’s part-time Haldex-based 4MOTION all-wheel drive system with XDS+ diff at both ends and a six-speed dual-clutch automatic (not manual) transmission, it’s claimed to crack 100km/h in as little as 3.9 seconds.

That not only makes it a full second quicker to the national highway limit than its donor car, the Golf R -- the detuned 206kW/380Nm Australian version of which hits 100km/h in five seconds.

First revealed in leaked teaser sketches last week, the Golf R 400 also makes it as rapid as Audi’s twin-turbo V8-powered RS 6 Avant and quicker than a non-turbo Porsche 911.

Perhaps more importantly, it also gives the 1420kg concept – which weighs 56kg less than the standard Golf R and a whole 135kg less than the conceptually similar Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG – a better power-to-weight ratio than the hottest Benz hatch.

Naturally, therefore, it’s seventh-tenths quicker to 100km/h than the A 45, which churns out ‘just’ 265kW.

Just as significantly, although it’s not as powerful as the 309kW 2.0-litre turbo Audi TT Quattro Sport concept, which claims the A 45’s title as the world’s most powerful four-cylinder (although it’s not yet a production model), it provides further clues to the potential of Audi’s upcoming RS3 and TT RS.

For Volkswagen, however, the R 400 is the ultimate expression of its latest Mk7 Golf in the popular small car’s 40th anniversary year.

Hinting at its giant-killing performance, the Golf R 400 wears a beefed-up body kit comprising wider wheel-arches, 40mm-wider bumpers and plenty of carbon-fibre, including a bold tailgate wing, plus a 20mm-lower ride height, 19-inch wheels and a heavily modified interior featuring carbon racing seats and 320km/h speedo.

Most of the concept is painted in ‘Silver Flake’ metallic, in contrast to the gloss black roof and carbon door mirror caps, while ‘Lemon Yellow’ highlights on the outside include the horizontal stripe across the grille instead of the standard Golf R’s chrome strip.

Volkswagen’s plans for a an even hotter production Golf than the R are unclear, but just such a model was spied testing at the Nurburgring recently, suggesting a showroom super-Golf similar to this concept is not beyond the realms of possibility.