There have been rumors about Volkswagen prepping a hotter variant of the all-new Golf R, and it seems that the confirmation might have been right in front of us the whole time. Where was it hidden? Why, in the new Golf Mk8’s British owner’s manual, and VolksWizard shared the engine information on YouTube a couple of days before the 2021 Golf R premiered last November.
Page 347 of the book reveals a more
powerful version of the hot hatch, which is listed as having 333 PS and 420 Nm. That is 14 PS more than the
‘regular’ Golf R, which has an identical torque, produced by a modified version
of the 2.0-liter turbo-four (codenamed DNFF).
In all likelihood, the car will be offered
with two transmission options in North America, if it launches here, a
six-speed manual and a seven-speed DSG. On the other side of the Atlantic,
however, if the current Golf R is any indication, it will probably get the
dual-clutch ‘box only. In terms of performance, the extra oomph should help
beat the current Golf R’s 4.7-second 0-100 km/h acceleration time,
while top speed might be slightly increased over the 250 km/h limit.
The Golf R “Plus” (name unconfirmed) might
be due towards the end of the year or in the first half of 2022, and it won’t
step on the toes of the upcoming Audi RS3 Sportback, which is expected with 414
HP and up to 444 HP in the rumored ‘Performance
Edition’.
