Volkswagen has introduced the most powerful and fastest Golf R yet. Arriving in dealership showrooms at the end of 2021, the redesigned 2022 Volkswagen Golf R boasts acceleration to 60 mph in about 4.6 seconds, a top speed of 155 mph, and a likely price tag of around $45,000.
As was true of the previous Golf R, the redesigned version comes only in a 5-door hatchback configuration. Restyled bumpers with high-gloss black accents and sporty splitter, air intake, and diffuser designs convey the car’s performance intent.
VW drops the car by 0.8-inch over a standard Golf, and it puts the Golf R on 19-inch wheels wrapped in summer performance tires. Blue brake calipers tuck behind the machined-finish, thin-spoke wheel designs.
Additional highlights include matte chrome mirror caps with R-logo projection lamps, lower side skirts, and dual twin exhaust outlets. A horizontal LED running light spans the front of the car where the hood meets the grille, wrapping into the front fenders.
Volkswagen says you can get a Golf R in any color you want, as long as you want white, black, or blue.
Open a front door, and sport seats wrapped in Nappa leather greet you. Drivers grip a heated, leather-wrapped sport steering wheel with touch-sensing controls, and carbon-look panels trim the dashboard. The Golf R also has blue contrast stitching, stainless steel pedals, 30-color ambient lighting, and a power sunroof.
As expected, a turbocharged 2.0-liter 4-cylinder engine supplies power for the new Golf R. It makes an eye-popping 315 horsepower (up 27 from the previous Golf R) and 310 lb.-ft. of torque (up 30 lb.-ft.). Peak torque is available from 2,100 rpm to 5,300 rpm.
A 6-speed manual gearbox puts the power to all four wheels through a new torque-vectoring 4Motion all-wheel-drive system. A 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission is available, and it includes paddle shifters.
The 4Motion AWD works in concert with the Golf R’s electronic differential locks, and it can deliver up to 100% of the engine’s output to a single rear wheel. Numerous factors determine 4Motion’s operation, including vehicle speed, accelerator position, steering angle, lateral acceleration, yaw rate, and the chosen Vehicle Dynamics Manager driving mode.
Comfort, Sport, Race, Individual, Special, and Drift modes are available. An R button provides direct access to the Race profile, while Drift mode is for use only on private roads and racing tracks. Special mode configures the car for optimum performance on Germany’s Nurburgring Nordschleife, where VW finalized the Golf R’s tuning.
For the uninitiated, this means Special mode uses softer suspension damping for maximum tire contact with undulating road surfaces and specific tuning to address lateral behavior and AWD operation on winding, hilly, lumpy pavement. In Special mode, the dual-clutch automatic also downshifts dependent on brake pedal pressure in advance of corners.
Supporting this hardware and software in the pursuit of speed, VW equips the Golf R with variable-ratio steering, larger brakes, and a sport exhaust system. The car employs a strut front, multi-link rear suspension with adaptive damping, and increased negative camber at the front axle. Compared to the previous Golf R, the new car boasts a 10% increase in spring and anti-roll bar rates.
Volkswagen did not define the safety equipment it will install in the 2022 Golf R. It’s fair to expect the automaker will provide its new IQ Drive collection of advanced driving assistance systems (ADAS). However, it’s also possible some features will only be available with the optional dual-clutch automatic transmission.
The redesigned 2022 Volkswagen Golf R will have the company’s Digital Cockpit electronic instrumentation with a 10.25-inch display screen. Additionally, VW’s top Discover Pro infotainment system is onboard with a 10-inch touchscreen display. Expect the Golf R to offer the latest iterations of Car-Net connectivity and We Connect services.
Volkswagen is the source of information in this article. It was accurate on November 4, 2020, but it may have changed since that date.
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