The 2022 Volkswagen Golf R is the most powerful Golf VW has ever produced. It’s being hailed as the sportiest of successors to the last-generation Golf, which has a small but passionate fanbase in the U.S.
The exterior treatment of the Golf R makes it as sporty-looking as the rest of its stablemates. It has a new front bumper with a motorsport-style splitter and R-specific air intake grilles with high-gloss black elements. At the top of the radiator grille, the Golf features a blue crossbar which lights up as an LED strip as soon as the engine starts and stretches all the way into the fenders to act as the daytime running lights. This similar design feature is available on the new ID.4 and Taos.
The car is very similar to the rest of the Golf stable, but with a few sporty highlights that are sure to please enthusiasts.Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AG
U.S. customers will have their Golf R come standard with a sunroof. Additional exterior design elements and equipment choices include 19-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, summer performance tires, unique side skirts, blue brake calipers adorned with an R logo on the front, and matte chrome exterior mirror caps that project the R logo onto the road when the doors are opened/closed.
The new Golf R can be configured in three different colors. Lapiz Blue Metallic is the signature color for the R, but it will also be available in Pure White or Deep Black Pearl Effect.
The halo car of the Golf family delivers 315 horsepower, a 27-horsepower boost over the outgoing model, and 310 pound-feet of torque up from 280). Each Golf R gets a turbocharged 1,984 cc four-cylinder engine hat is paired with a standard six-speed manual transmission. A seven-speed dual-clutch transmission is available.
Volkswagen has made the new Golf its most digitally advanced Golf to date.Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AG
It comes standard with all-wheel drive (AWD) and can get from zero to 62 mph in 4.7 seconds. The Golf R’s top speed is 155 mph. Volkswagen’s new AWD system features variable torque distribution for the rear axle, allowing for increased agility with the new Golf R. Electronic differential locks and an active damping system are networked to the AWD via a vehicle dynamics manager.
The interior of the Golf R comes standard with a 10-inch Digital Cockpit with welcome graphic. The driver and front passenger sit on top-of-the-range sport seats, with Nappa leather seating surfaces that feature carbon-look elements with blue accents in the side sections, as well as a blue R logo in the backrest. In front of the driver is a heated and multifunction leather sport steering wheel with paddle shifters, blue contrast stitching, and an R button for direct selection of various driving modes (Comfort, Sport, Race, Drift, Special and Individual).
The Drift and Special drive modes were honed during tuning sessions at the Nürburgring Nordschleife race track.
The VW “R” is prominently featured across the interior and exterior.Photo courtesy of Volkswagen AG
Additionally, there is carbon look dash panel décor; R-specific door trim, brushed stainless-steel pedal caps and driver footrest, and 30-color ambient lighting for the dash panel and doors that is synchronized with the display.
The 2022 Volkswagen Golf R will go on sale in the U.S. in the latter part of 2021.
