The all-new Volkswagen Golf R was spied resting in a parking lot in Germany with barely any camo on, ahead of the premiere expected to take place later this year.
Finished in dark blue and stripped of the ‘R’ badges, the prototype has a rather restrained body kit compared to the regular hatchback, with bigger air intakes in the front bumper, larger side skirts, a tweaked rear bumper with incorporated diffuser, quad exhaust pipes and a bigger roof-mounted wing.
The interior keeps things simple, with sports front seats and carbon fiber-like trim added to the dashboard and door cards being the biggest upgrades. The steering wheel has been modestly revised and incorporates the ‘R’ logo at the bottom, and the special upholstery, with contrast stitching and piping, will round up the changes.
The 2021 Golf R will have a tuned chassis, with firmer suspension setup and lowered ground clearance, as well as upgraded brakes with drilled discs up front hugged by colored calipers. The permanent all-wheel drive system will help with the traction in all kinds of weather and will put it in the same class as the Mercedes-AMG A35, BMW M135i and Audi S3 Sportback.
Power will come from an updated 2.0-liter turbo-four that will allegedly push out 328 HP (333 PS / 245 kW) and will be mated to a DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission. Nonetheless, we could be looking at a different output, considering that the all-wheel drive Arteon R recently premiered with a 315 HP four-pot.