When Volkswagen revealed the updated Golf in early November, there was one glaring omission: the Golf R. Now, details for the new European R have finally been revealed and it’s getting 10 more PS (9.8 hp).
With about 305 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque — that’s 14 lb-ft more — the Golf R is now the most powerful Golf in the lineup and accelerates to 60 mph in just 4.6 seconds. The Golf R Variant (wagon), meanwhile, gets the same amount of power and torque, but it’s not likely that this model to make it to North America. As ever, expect the North American versions of the R to be watered down a bit.
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That power bump is similar to the roughly 10 hp bump that the Golf GTI got with this latest update. And like the GTI and, indeed, the rest of the Golf family, the new R gets some mild visual updates. The headlights and bumper are a little different, but overall, it looks largely the same as the current Golf R.
Expect similar changes to the rest of the Golf lineup inside, with new bigger infotainment screens, gesture control, and VW’s digital cockpit, which replaces the gauge cluster with a 12.5-inch screen.
