WOLFSBURG: Volkswagen will introduce the new Golf R on Nov 4.
The new Golf R is the most powerful Golf model in the history of this best-seller, of which more than 35 million units have been sold.
The original version of the sports car made its debut in 2002 as the Golf R3202 with 241 PS and all-wheel drive. In 2003, it was the first Volkswagen to be equipped with a dual clutch gearbox
A day after the world premiere, presales of the new sports car will launch in Germany and Europe.
Volkswagen has been rapidly deploying a range of sporty Golf models. The debuts of the GTI, GTI Clubsport, GTE and GTD are now followed by the flagship model of the eighth Golf generation: the new Golf R.
Like all Golf models, the Golf R is also produced at the Wolfsburg plant
Volkswagen boasts that the new Golf R is more powerful, more dynamic, more efficient, more closely integrated and more digital. It also comes with an all-wheel drive system featuring selective wheel torque control on the rear axle.
The all-wheel drive system is controlled by a Vehicle Dynamics Manager that has been closely integrated with other running gear systems such the electronic front differential lock (XDS) and adaptive chassis control DCC.
The result, Volkswagen claims, is that the new Golf R offers optimum traction characteristics, neutral and precise handling, as well as maximum agility.
The development goal was to achieve maximum driving pleasure at a previously unrivalled level. The corresponding drive output is generated by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged power plant in the most powerful version of the EA 888 engine series available for the new Golf.
The high-tech, direct-injection engine is characterised by innovative solutions for individual details, such as integration of water-cooled exhaust gas routing to the turbocharger in the cylinder head or variable valve timing with dual camshaft adjustment.
Looking back - from 238hp V6 to 300hp 4-pot
The first Golf R32, introduced in 2002, proved to be an automotive sensation.
With its 3.2-litre six-cylinder engine generating 177 kW (241 PS) it was the most powerful Golf that Volkswagen had built up to that point. It was also equipped with all-wheel drive and raced to 100kph in only 6.6 seconds. It sold three times as well as had been anticipated.
From mid-2003, it was the world’s first Volkswagen available with a dual clutch gearbox (DSG).
In 2005, the second Golf R32 made its debut, and with 184 kW (250 PS); it was even more powerful.
Four years went by until the 2009 International Motor Show in Frankfurt: at this event, Volkswagen celebrated the world premiere of the successor on the basis of the sixth Golf generation, changing from a V6 naturally-aspirated engine to a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine (TSI)02 that was 21 percent more efficient.
The R32 became the R and with it, the output of the third generation increased to 199 kW (270 PS).
In September 2013, the fourth Golf R generation followed on the basis of the Golf 7, once again making its debut at the Frankfurt motor show. With now 221 kW (300 PS), it broke through the magic threshold.
