The all-new Volkswagen Golf R was spied
resting in a parking lot in Germany with barely any camo on, ahead of the
premiere expected to take place later this year. Finished in dark blue and
stripped of the ‘R’ badges, the prototype has a rather restrained body kit
compared to the regular hatchback, with bigger air intakes in the front bumper,
larger side skirts, a tweaked rear bumper with incorporated diffuser, quad
exhaust pipes and a bigger roof-mounted wing.
The interior keeps things simple, with
sports front seats and carbon fiber-like trim added to the dashboard and door
cards being the biggest upgrades. The steering wheel has been modestly revised
and incorporates the ‘R’ logo at the bottom, and the special upholstery, with
contrast stitching and piping, will round up the changes.
The 2021 Golf R will have a tuned chassis,
with firmer suspension setup and lowered ground clearance, as well as upgraded
brakes with drilled discs up front hugged by colored calipers. The permanent all-wheel
drive system will help with the traction in all kinds of weather and will put
it in the same class as the Mercedes-AMG A35, BMW M135i and Audi S3 Sportback.
Power will come from an updated 2.0-liter
turbo-four that will allegedly push out 328 HP and will be
mated to a DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission. Nonetheless, we could be
looking at a different output, considering that the all-wheel drive Arteon R
recently premiered with a 315 HP four-pot.
