The 2022 Volkswagen Golf R doesn’t arrive in the United States until the third quarter of 2021, but Europeans can already get ahold of the scalding hot hatchback. This nighttime test drive on the autobahn lets the driver push the vehicle beyond the factory-stated top speed.
The driver starts with a brief, unnarrated tour of the new Golf R. After showing off the exterior, interior, and blipping the throttle, it’s time to hit the road. Once onto the autobahn, the hot hatch quickly hits speeds that would guarantee an immediate trip to jail on an American Interstate.
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Traffic is very light, and once the way ahead is clear, the driver puts the accelerator to the floor. The speedometer eventually displays 263 kilometers per hour (163 miles per hour). Oddly, VW quotes the Golf R’s top speed at 155 mph (250 kph).
After leaving the autobahn, the driver finds an empty section of road and performs a 0-100 kph (62 mph) acceleration test. On the wet street, the Golf R hits that speed in 4.5 seconds. Again, this is quicker than the factory’s claimed 4.7 seconds for reaching 60 mph (96 kph).
The 2022 Golf R uses a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine making 315 horsepower (235 kilowatts) and 310 pound-feet (420 newton-meters) of torque. Customers can select a six-speed manual transmission or seven-speed DSG. The all-wheel-drive system has a rear differential capable of sending 100 percent of the torque to a single corner in this hot hatch’s Drift Mode setting.
VW isn’t disclosing the 2022 Golf R’s price in the US yet. For a rough idea at what the new one could cost, the 2019 model started at $40,395.