Photo: Volkswagen
Here’s the thing with hot hatchbacks these days: technology. From high-performance all-wheel-drive systems with torque vectoring to electric steering and over-the-top outputs from turbocharged direct-injected engines, this type of automobile is extremely different from the originals of the genre. Think Renault 5 Turbo, Peugeot 205 GTI, and the Mk1 Golf GTI that Volkswagen rolled out in the 1970s.
Fast-forward to the present day, and Mercedes-AMG is on the verge of giving the A-Class no less than 400 ponies. The same goes for the Ford Motor Company’s next-generation Focus RS. Volkswagen, meanwhile, doesn’t plan to let this opportunity slip, more so if you remember there’s an all-new Golf in the pipeline.
Jürgen Stackmann, sales and marketing boss at the Wolfsburg-based automaker, had the following to say on the matter: “The R brand is going extreme. The role of R is that it can go beyond the rational; nobody needs a compact car with 400 bhp, but is there a place [for it]? Certainly, and that’s the turf of R.” These words are the next best thing to a confirmation, so let us rejoice that Volkswagen's compact hot hatchback is going hyper.
Auto Express believes that “mild-hybrid 48-volt technology could also play a role in the next Golf R.” Mercedes-AMG and Ford Performance are going down the mild-hybrid route as well, and when you think about it, electrification is the best way to assist the internal combustion engine in terms of output and efficiency.
Volkswagen will be pushing things one step further with the Golf 8, which has been confirmed to add the EA288 Evo 2.0 TDI to the engine lineup. As opposed to the current-generation diesel engine, the EA288 Evo features a 12-volt belt starter-generator connected to a lithium-ion battery. Two output variants have been confirmed by Volkswagen up to this point in time, namely 136 and 204 horsepower.
Turning our attention back to the Golf R, Stackmann added that the brand “can find its place in a different league of pure performance.” To this effect, “there’s a space where customers are willing to pay a significant amount of money [for a hatchback].”
Jürgen Stackmann, sales and marketing boss at the Wolfsburg-based automaker, had the following to say on the matter: “The R brand is going extreme. The role of R is that it can go beyond the rational; nobody needs a compact car with 400 bhp, but is there a place [for it]? Certainly, and that’s the turf of R.” These words are the next best thing to a confirmation, so let us rejoice that Volkswagen's compact hot hatchback is going hyper.
Auto Express believes that “mild-hybrid 48-volt technology could also play a role in the next Golf R.” Mercedes-AMG and Ford Performance are going down the mild-hybrid route as well, and when you think about it, electrification is the best way to assist the internal combustion engine in terms of output and efficiency.
Volkswagen will be pushing things one step further with the Golf 8, which has been confirmed to add the EA288 Evo 2.0 TDI to the engine lineup. As opposed to the current-generation diesel engine, the EA288 Evo features a 12-volt belt starter-generator connected to a lithium-ion battery. Two output variants have been confirmed by Volkswagen up to this point in time, namely 136 and 204 horsepower.
Turning our attention back to the Golf R, Stackmann added that the brand “can find its place in a different league of pure performance.” To this effect, “there’s a space where customers are willing to pay a significant amount of money [for a hatchback].”
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