While Volkswagen has yet to officially confirm if the Golf R 400 Concept from last year will reach the production line, indications suggest that it will. If that is the case, then the sports car rivalling Golf variant will be offered in the United States.
While speaking with Motor Trend, Volkswagen’s board member responsible for vehicle development, Dr Heinz-Jakob Neusser revealed that the success of the current VW Golf R in the U.S. means if a more powerful version is created, it will be brought across the Atlantic to U.S. shores. Rather remarkably, the initial American allocation for the Golf R sold out in a mere 11 hours.
Interestingly, reports from last year indicated that output from the Golf R Concept could actually be upped to the 420 hp mark thanks to a heavily tuned 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. Whatever the final horsepower figure is, power will be inevitably sent through all four wheels.
If approved for production, the car will also receive even more potent brakes than those on the current Golf R to help bring the world-beating hot hatch to a stop.
Despite the extra power and performance of the tentatively dubbed 2015 VW Golf R420, it is understood that it won’t look as in-your-face as the concept. Instead, VW is apparently set to maintain the understated looks of the existing Golf GTI and Golf R variants albeit with a more prominent rear spoiler and a few other visual modifications.
If these claims are to be believed then we can expect to see the production-spec car at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2015 in September.
[Via Motor Trend]
