IT MIGHT be laborious to imagine that 20 years have handed since Volkswagen launched its cracking Golf R32 – a V6-powered rocketship that on the time was the quickest manufacturing automotive VW had ever constructed.
However 20 years it’s, and to have a good time, the German producer has unleashed a commemorative mannequin is says is the most well liked and quickest ever – the Golf R 20 Years.
On sale from July 13, and priced from $77,490 plus on-road prices, the particular version R will likely be out there to only 50 Aussie clients, and consists of what Volkswagen Australia says are “vital design and engineering enhancements over the sequence manufacturing Golf R”.
These upgrades embody a titanium Akrapovic exhaust, energy and torque upgrades courtesy of an enhanced turbocharger, sharper-shifting dual-clutch transmission, carbon-fibre trim inserts, premium paint, a panoramic sunroof and a harman/kardon premium audio system.
Volkswagen Australia will provide 32 examples of the Golf R 20 Years in Lapiz Blue and 18 in Pure White, all using on black 19-inch Estoril alloy wheels.
All examples function a 245kW (+10kW) and 420Nm (+20Nm) engine tune to dispatch the 0-100km/h normal in simply 4.6 seconds.
“The unique Mark 4 and Mark 5 Volkswagen Golf R32 launched the pioneering DSG and have been famend for his or her sonorous acoustics and compact agility,” stated Volkswagen Passenger Automobiles director, Michal Szaniecki.
“As our flagship scorching hatchback advanced to develop into the Mark 6 and Mark 7 Golf R they led the section for all-wheel drive traction and efficiency at a time when rally-bred sedan rivals departed the section or just did not evolve.
“Now, the Mark 8 Golf R strikes onto one other stage with its torque-vectoring all-wheel drive system fused with unimaginable know-how. It’s becoming that this 20 Years particular version is about each enhanced styling, extra energy and torque, sharper responses from the transmission and an much more expressive sound.”
Volkswagen launched the unique Mk4 Golf R32 in 2002, the ‘R’ in Golf R standing for the German phrase “rennen”, or “racing”. It featured a 3.2-litre six-cylinder engine producing 177kW and provided all-wheel drive for a 0-100km/h time of 6.6 seconds. The mannequin was the primary VW to be provided from mid-2003 with a dual-clutch transmission. Simply 200 examples have been offered in Australia.
In 2006, the Mk5 Golf R32 upped the ante with a 184kW 3.2-litre V6 and an entire new look. It provided a crackling central-exit exhaust system, all-wheel drive, and the supply of three- and five-door physique types.
The Mk5 was adopted in 2010 by the Mk6 which dropped the ‘32’ and gained a 188kW four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine. It rapidly added 50 per cent to the gross sales totals of the previous technology regionally, VW promoting 3276 examples of the Mk6 R, 2041 examples of the Mk5 and 195 Mk4s.
From 2014 the MQB platform-based Mk7 and Mk7.5 Golf R raised the bar but once more with a 213kW output, quick-acting 4Motion all-wheel drive system and spectacular gross sales of 13.864 models. It was changed in 2022 with the Mk8 Golf R which provided a surprising 235kW, torque vectoring-enabled 4Motion system, and even Drift Mode.
To the primary quarter of 2023, a complete of 19,833 Golf R32 and R hatchbacks and wagons have been offered in Australia throughout 20 years, which means the 20,000th instance of the automotive is prone to be offered in its 20th 12 months. Becoming, don’t you suppose?
