We’re nonetheless not sure the revamped Mk8.5 Golf R will come to the States, however if you wish to know learn how to inform it from the GTI if it does come right here, Volkswagen’s bought a few teasers for you. In the course of the annual ice races at Zell am See in Austria, VW parked a refreshed GTI within the digital blue camo scheme the automaker favors of late for public reveals of prototypes. The fast giveaway for the R is the blue brake calipers as an alternative of the purple items on the GTI, and the plump wing atop the hatchback. We think about telltale variations within the rear will carry over, these being 4 exhaust shops on the Golf R versus two shops on the GTI. We do not have to guess in regards to the entrance, the place the hexagonal mesh and the fog lights on the GTI are changed by a single line via the decrease consumption and, and angled strakes that body a radar unit not seen on the opposite automobile.
In comparison with the present Golf R, this search for entrance is much less ornate, extra centered. Or, mixed with the omission of a guide transmission, possibly the phrase we’re on the lookout for is “more mature.”
We hope VW plans extra efficiency for the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder powertrain. The refreshed GTI gained roughly 20 horses, going from 241 to 262 in European spec. We anticipate our quantity to be near that if not actual, placing the $33,000 GTI at round 53 hp in need of the $47,000, 315-hp Golf R. Maybe the usual automobile will attain for the 328 imperial horsepower accessible within the European-market R 333 trim launched final 12 months.
And, it bears repeating, maybe such a automobile will come to the U.S. We’ve got some time to attend for the solutions, Volkswagen R boss Reinhold Ivenz saying the Golf R will not debut till this summer season.