Just as the Mk7 GTI finally making its way to Malaysia – Volkswagen quietly slipped in the unveiling of the new Mk7 R. Coming ahead of the Frankfurt Motorshow, the Mk7 R has been the hottest topic on VW forums everywhere since the launch of the Mk7 and now all the questions gets answered.
As with the rumours of Volkswagen scramming the 2.5-litre 5 cylinder turbocharged engine from the TT-RS and RS3 – it was all hoax. Just as we predicted with the emission regulations, the Mk7 R is powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged TSI units similar to the ones on the GTI, with revised pistons and cylinder heads to cope with the higher pressure from the bigger turbo. This engine is set to produce 296bhp and 380nm which makes this – the hottest production Golf ever made.
Signature to Volkswagens – it will be driven by a six-speed dual-clutch DSG gearbox with the power sent to all 4-wheels via VW’s 4MOTION AWD system. This enables the Mk7 to sprint from Zerotohundred in 4.9 seconds and no doubt the top speed will be limited to 155mph. For the purist, a manual transmission is also available although, it’ll do the naught-to-sixty sprint in 5.1 seconds and how fast you can shift of course. Don’t worry, this option never makes it to our shores anyways..
The Mk7 R will sit lower by 20mm than the standard Golf TSi and 5mm lower than a GTI – which should appeal to enthusiasts, making it the ultimate hot hatch. VW says that an adaptive chassis control is an option for those looking for more performance out of the R. They claim it to be the party piece of the new R, which comes with a ‘Race’ mode that’s never seen on any production VWs.
The exterior will distinctively be an R car – however we really do miss the signature centred exhausts that has been around since the Mk5 R32. The quad pipes looks like a modded GTI and thats not a good start to something great.
Will the R be of something special? Well absolutely – with that power under the bonnet, its going to arouse enthusiasts everywhere however…its still shy of 50bhp from the A45 AMG remember? Perhaps it’ll never hold the hot-hatch crown then..
