World's fastest Golf blasts into Australia
New generation Golf R is most powerful VW hatchback of all timeVolkswagen has delivered a major blow to the hot hatch market -- the fastest Golf ever built has come in $7000 cheaper than the model it replaces.
The starting price of $48,490 for the Golf R (it used to be $55,490 when it was the V6-powered Golf R32) is likely to leave GTI fans with a huge dilemma, given that it is only $7000 more than a regular GTI.
This amounts to a difference in lease payments of about $20 a week.
"We wanted to make a big statement with this car," says Volkswagen Australia's product marketing manager Vladin Dimic.
"The R32 has proven a very popular model in Australia so we have been able to negotiate with the factory on the price."
Just 200 of the Mark IV R32 Golf introduced in Australia in 2004 were sold as a limited edition batch.
But the Mark V R32 was much more popular, selling 2041 over the past four years since it was introduced in Australia in 2006.
The new model has more power and yet uses less fuel. The official 0 to 100km/h time is 5.9 seconds. The previous V6 model stopped the clocks in 6.5 seconds. Consumption has also been slashed, from 10.9L/100km to 8.7L/100km.
The fastest Golf ever built also has the biggest brakes ever fitted to VW's most popular hatchback: 345mm diameter front discs are only 5mm smaller than the front discs on the 2.5-tonne R50 Touareg performance 4WD. In this guise the Golf weighs 1500kg.
As before, the hottest Golf is available as a three-door and five-door. And both models are available with six-speed manual or six-speed DSG.
Volkswagen says 82 per cent of R32 Golfs were equipped with DSG and five-door models accounted for 77 per cent of R32 sales.
Deliveries will begin immediately and Volkswagen says it is already holding a healthy order book -- and that was before the price was announced.
"We have good supply but we expect there will be an increase in showroom traffic now the price has been announced," says Volkswagen Australia spokesman Karl Gehling.
New Golf R prices
Three-door six-speed manual $48,490
Three-door six-speed DSG $50,990
Five-door six-speed manual $49,990
Five-door six-speed DSG $52,490
How the hottest Golf has come of age
Engine: 3.2-litre V6
Drivetrain: All-wheel-drive
Power: 177kW
Torque: 320Nm
0 to 100km/h: 6.6 seconds
Consumption: 11.6L/100km
Engine: 3.2-litre V6
Drivetrain: All-wheel-drive
Power: 184kW
Torque: 320Nm
0 to 100km/h: 6.5 seconds
Consumption: 10.9 L/100km
Engine: 2.0-litre turbo
Drivetrain: All-wheel-drive
Power: 188kW at 6000rpm
Torque: 330Nm at 2400 to 5200rpm
0 to 100km/h: 5.5 seconds
Consumption: 8.7L/100km
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