Has VW just succeeded in creating your ultimate fantasy Golf? After the world caught a glimpse of VW’s Golf R 400 concept, it caused a global uproar that has effectively melted the internet since reports first came out. The car gods at the VW heeded this call and have now just announced that this bonkers Golf will be going into production.
It’s set to become the undisputed hyper-hatch king, taking the mantle from Merc’s almost-equally bonkers 265kW A 45 AMG.
The ‘400’ digit in this concept’s name signifies its power output of 400 PS, which is 294.2kW in metric speak. That’s 73kW more than what the regular Euro-spec Golf R dishes out, while torque increases by 70Nm for a 450Nm total.
Most fascinating is that VW avoided the temptation of shoehorning a big V8 into the engine bay to achieve such heady outputs. Instead, the Golf R 400 is powered by a heavily modified version of the existing EA888 2-litre turbopetrol, mated to a six-speed gearbox – which VW says is a DSG, although the interior pic suggests otherwise – and a 4Motion all-wheel drive system.
The 2-litre engine features a reinforced crankcase and new, higher-boost turbocharger among other mods. According to VW, it all adds up to a 3.8-second 0-100km/h sprint time, making it a full second quicker off the mark than the regular Golf R.
To ensure it looks the hyper-hatch part, the Golf R400 has flared wheelarches that widen the body by 20mm on each side, as well as 19-inch alloy wheels, completely redesigned front and back bumpers, a gloss black roof and two centrally-mounted tailpipes.
The racy style continues inside with motorsport-inspired shell seats and ‘Lemon Yellow’ stitching among other bespoke touches in place to remind you that you’re sitting in the ultimate VeeDub.
There’s no word yet on when the first production model will roll off the line, but one can safely say I think we’ve just found your new favourite car.
