Volkswagen Golf R 20 Years revealed as hottest Golf yet

The Volkswagen Golf R is turning 20 this year and, to celebrate, the German car-maker is releasing the fastest and most powerful production Golf yet – in the form of the 2022 Volkswagen Golf R 20 Years.

Confirmed by Volkswagen Group Australia (VGA) to be arriving Down Under in the third quarter of this year, the Golf R 20 Years stops the 0-100km/h clock in a claimed 4.6 seconds thanks to its 245kW/420Nm outputs.

That makes it quicker and more powerful than the new Mk8 Volkswagen Golf R, which produces 235kW/400Nm and hits 100km/h in a claimed 4.7sec, which in turn is 0.1sec quicker than the previous Golf R.

“The engine responsiveness has been improved by turbocharger preloading and an open throttle valve in overrun phases,” said Volkswagen. “This permits faster power development when accelerating, and the Golf R ‘20 Years’ can be driven even more dynamically as a result.”

The notion of an even faster Golf R ‘Plus’ has been on the cards since the start of last year when these same preliminary figures were discovered within a British Mk8 Golf handbook.

Ever since then the industry has been awash with rumours of a hardened Golf R Plus and Volkswagen itself fuelled that fire in January when it teased an “NFT (Notably Fast Transporter)” slated for a February reveal/release.

In terms of timing then, the 20 Years’ debut is a few months late but we doubt that will impact the car’s appeal or demand.

Not only does the new flagship have more power, it’s been specifically tuned for louder DSG farts (exhaust noise during gear changes) and been fitted with a raised (selectable) cold-start rpm (up to 2500rpm) to inject an extra layer of menace.

The meaner disposition is backed up visually by subtle black ‘20’ badges on the B-pillars, along with blue exterior accents, black mirrors caps, black or blue 19-inch alloy wheels (body colour dependant) and a fixed roof spoiler.

In the dark, a ‘20 Years’ logo is projected onto the ground by the puddle lamps.

Inside, you’ll find unique ‘Genuine Carbon’ trim but not much else to distinguish it from the standard Golf R.

There’s been no indication from VGA yet as to how much the Golf R 20 Years will cost when it arrives here, let alone exactly when it will land Down Under, but it’s safe to say it’ll be a fair bit more than the standard R’s $65,990 plus on-roads starting price.

The all-wheel drive V6-powered Golf R32 kicked off the Golf R lineage back in 2002, before it was succeeded in 2005 by the Mk5 R32.

The howling sixes were then replaced in 2009 by the turbo-four EA888-powered Mk6 Golf R, which set the blueprint for the subsequent Mk7 and now Mk8 Golf R generations.

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