SPY PICS: New Volkswagen Golf R muscles up
No massive wings or wild styling – but Volkswagen’s next hot hatch flagship will push 245kWHot hatches are expected to look a little crazy. From massive rear wings to dirty great big bonnet scoops, it's all about the visual flair.
But that's never been Volkswagen's game. Case in point: the all-new 2021 VW Golf R, which has been spied in the most revealing photos yet.
The new flagship of the upcoming Volkswagen Golf Mk8 hatch range has been working out at the gym and will pump out around 245kW when it arrives next year.
That’s according an internal VW Golf product document that was leaked in January, revealing plans for 147kW GTD, 180kW GTI, 180kW GTE, 221kW GTI TCR and 245kW Golf R models.
When the eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf hatch lands in Australia late this year, the range will include the new GTI – the car that started the hot hatch game – powered by a carryover 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine producing the same 180kW/370Nm.
But when the new VW Golf R follows in 2021, it will bring significantly more power than the outgoing model (213kW/380Nm, or 221kW in Europe), without the use of mil-hybrid technology. It remains to be seen whether the same fuel quality and ‘hot climate’ issues affect Australia’s next Golf R.
If not, and if your pockets are deep enough, the outputs of Volkswagen’s beefed-up EA888 turbo four will head even further into the stratosphere, with the Golf R Plus tipped to bang out close to 300kW as it takes the fight to the Mercedes-AMG A 45 hyper-hatch.
Even the standard Volkswagen Golf R will out-power class-leading hot hatches like the Honda Civic Type R (228kW/400Nm) and Renault Megane RS Trophy (221kW/420Nm), and its 2.0-litre turbo engine could punch out much more than 420Nm.
Given its positioning, the next VW Golf R should be good for around 450Nm which, together with a dual-clutch automatic transmission with launch control, could provide the Volkswagen Golf R with a low-4sec 0-100km/h sprint time.
Underneath the skin of this prototype car there's a 4MOTION all-wheel drive system mostly likely being given a workout on the snow. However, Volkswagen has hinted it won't get a drift mode like the Ford Focus RS.
As we’ve already seen from previous spy shots, Volkswagen’s top-shelf hot hatch looks fairly mundane at first glance.
But look a little closer and you'll notice the big 20-inch alloy wheels, lowered suspension, extra-large brakes and quad exhausts that hint at its increased performance.
There are also bigger front air intakes flanking the central grille on a sportier front bumper, providing a touch more aggression than the current VW Golf R.
But to many motorists it'll appear like just another Golf, which has been a big part of the allure for a model that remains one of the top-selling hot hatches in Australia, where it found more than 2000 homes last year (including more than 300 wagons), accounting for 14 per cent of Golf sales.
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