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2021 Volkswagen Golf R Variant Photographed With Blue Front Brake Calipers

Don’t let the seventh-generation camouflage fool you. The test mule photographed by the carparazzi at the Nurburgring Nordschleife is the eighth generation of the Golf in Variant body style and R specification, arguably the coolest wagon in the compact segment.
2021 Volkswagen Golf R Variant 16 photos
Photo: CarPix
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Finished in white and complemented with gloss-black trim for the upper grille, the go-faster longroof also exhibits a bit of Alltrack here and there. The plastic cladding won’t be featured on the production model, though, and the same can be said about the silver brake calipers for the rear axle. As you know from the Tiguan R, blue defines the most performance-oriented vehicles offered by Volkswagen these days.

R-specific traits further include the bigger wheels, larger brake rotors, and quad exhaust pipes. But most importantly, Volkswagen’s camouflage experts couldn’t hide the difference in ground clearance of this prototype compared to the Mk7 Golf Alltrack.

Just like the five-door hatchback, the family-sized body style is going to rely on 4Motion all-wheel drive and a DSG transmission with blistering-quick upshifts and downshifts in Sport and Race modes. As for the four-cylinder turbo hiding under the hood, you know from the VW Tiguan R that the 2.0-liter TSI is a capable mill.

For this application, the EA888 engine should be tuned to 333 PS (329 horsepower). Don’t get your hopes up for blistering acceleration times because the Golf isn’t the lightest car in the segment and the R is designed to be a thriller in the twisties. It’s also possible that Volkswagen will offer two versions in Europe, namely the standard R and a more extreme option marketed under the R Performance name.

We don’t know if the sports wagon will premiere on November 4th alongside the five-door hatchback, and it’s also too early to tell how much of a difference in pricing we’ll be dealing with. For reference, the 2020 model year used to retail at 46,990 euros for the Variant while the R-Performance Package added 2,980 euros to the tally.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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