This year marks the 20th anniversary of Volkswagen’s high-performance R sub-brand, launched in 2002 as the all-wheel-drive-toting, top tier of the people’s car company’s performance vehicle range.
Since the original Golf R32 went on sale overseas two decades ago, the R division has gone on to sell well over 250,000 cars globally – with Australia ranking among VW’s top markets – and apply its hallowed badge to eight different models.
As Volkswagen prepares to reveal a new special-edition Golf R hot hatch later this month – which some have speculated to be a 20th-anniversary tribute to the original Golf R32 – it’s a good time to step back and see where the halo Golf’s lineage began.
The beginning: 2002 Golf R32 (Mk4)
The Volkswagen R (for ‘racing’) division made its production car debut in May 2002 with the Golf R32, based on the then-soon-to-be-replaced fourth-generation (Mk4) Golf small car.
Sitting under the bonnet was a 3.2-litre naturally aspirated version of Volkswagen’s unique VR6 engine – a V6 with the cylinder banks mounted at a narrow 15-degree angle (rather than 60 or 90 degrees), requiring only one cylinder head (rather than two), and allowing the engine to be nestled under the bonnet of small front-wheel-drive cars.
Outputs were rated at 177kW and 320Nm – less than a modern Golf GTI (180kW/370Nm), but near the top of its class in the early 2000s, matched with the front-wheel-drive Alfa Romeo 147 GTA’s 184kW/300Nm V6 and all-paw Subaru Impreza WRX STI’s 195kW/343Nm turbocharged flat-four.
Buyers could choose between six-speed manual and six-speed dual-clutch (DSG) automatic transmissions – the latter the first dual-clutch gearbox ever fitted to a production car – sending drive to the road through a 4Motion all-wheel-drive system designed by Sweden’s Haldex. VW claimed a 6.4-second 0-100km/h dash with the DSG, increasing to 6.6 seconds with the manual.
Completing the package was a suitably sporty exterior body kit, 18-inch wheels, 15mm-lower sports suspension, leather-trimmed sports bucket seats, and the option of Deep Blue Pearl Metallic exterior paint – the debut of the R brand’s blue hero hue.
Only 200 examples made it to Australia, priced from $63,000 before on-road costs, and all with manual transmissions.
2006 Golf R32 (Mk5)
The R32 nameplate returned with the fifth-generation Golf in late 2005 (for Model Year 2006) – now available with a choice of three- or five-door bodies, and the introduction (in Australia) of the dual-clutch automatic transmission option.
Priced from $54,990 before on-road costs for a three-door manual model, the new Mk5 R32 was nearly $8000 cheaper than the car it replaced – yet upped outputs from its 3.2-litre VR6 to 184kW and 320Nm, good for a 6.2-second 0-100km/h time in dual-clutch guise (6.5s with a manual).
The second R32 retained the features of its predecessor that would (bar a few exceptions) come to define the R brand: 4Motion all-wheel drive, a dual-clutch automatic gearbox, sporty yet understated styling and, of course, metallic blue paint.
2007 Touareg R50 and Passat R36
Volkswagen expanded the R brand beyond the Golf in 2007 with two new models: the Touareg R50 large SUV, and Passat R36 mid-size sedan and wagon.
The Touareg R50 is arguably the best known of the pair thanks to its engine: a twin-turbocharged diesel V10 displacing 4.9 litres (officially 5.0 litres, thus the R50 name) driving all four wheels through a six-speed torque-converter automatic transmission.
At $129,990 before on-road costs, the R50 was the most expensive Volkswagen on sale at the time, but it was also the most powerful, developing a moderate 258kW yet a more remarkable 850Nm – records that took Volkswagen Australia 12 years to beat, with another diesel-fuelled Touareg (this time a 4.0-litre V8).
Meanwhile, the Passat R36 opted for a ‘maxi R32‘ approach, mating a familiar six-speed dual-clutch auto and 4Motion all-wheel drive with an enlarged 3.6-litre naturally aspirated VR6 quoting outputs of 220kW and 350Nm.
Both models complemented their high-performance engine with the usual range of sporty R accoutrements, including larger wheels and tyres, more extroverted exterior styling, leather-trimmed sports front seats, and upgraded suspension and brake components.
2008 Golf R (Mk6) and 2011 Scirocco R
With the last of the turbocharged Mk5 Golf GTI variants in 2009 extracting close to 170kW, the writing was on the wall for the VR6-powered Golf. And so for the sixth-generation Golf, the R-badged flagship (now simply Golf R) would be powered by a downsized 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder.
But whereas European models went on to develop 199kW and 350Nm, Australian cars mustered 188kW and 330Nm – the first in an unfortunate line of detuned performance Volkswagens for Australia. A result of our market’s classification as a ‘hot climate’ region within the Volkswagen Group, claimed to encompass more challenging conditions and lower-quality fuel.
Nonetheless, a 4kW/10Nm performance bump and a 60kg weight saving meant the Australian Mk6 R could hit 100km/h from a standstill half a second quicker than its predecessor (with manual or dual-clutch gearboxes), all while asking for $7000 less on the showroom floor.
The Mk6 Golf R hatchback’s engine would go on to feature in a Golf R Convertible in 2013, as well as an R version of the reborn Scirocco ‘coupe’. But unlike their shared, all-paw hatchback sibling, the Scirocco R and Golf R Convertible would be remembered as the only mass-produced Volkswagen R products without all-wheel drive.
2013 Polo R WRC Street
The Toyota GR Yaris has enjoyed considerable success in Australia and overseas, re-igniting the flame for homologation specials designed to go rallying. But it isn’t the only hot hatch built in the last decade with the aim of entering the World Rally Championship.
In order to homologate the Polo R WRC car for competition, Volkswagen built a limited run of 2500 three-door Polo R WRC Street hot hatches for Europe in 2013 – but unlike the newer GR Yaris, links between the road-going and rally-ready Polos are few and far between.
Whereas the rally car used a circa-240kW 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder and all-wheel drive, the road-going WRC Street opted for the 162kW/350Nm 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder bound for the then-imminent Volkswagen Golf GTI and driving the front wheels only.
A six-speed manual transmission enabled a 0–100km/h time of 6.4 seconds, while a sporty exterior body kit and WRC-embroidered suede front seats completed the racing-inspired look.
A true all-wheel-drive Polo R was never developed – though sister brand Audi built an S-badged version of the Polo’s sibling, the A1 city car, pairing a 170kW turbo four-cylinder with a six-speed manual and all-wheel drive.
2014 Golf R (Mk7) and 2017 Golf R (Mk7.5)
Launched in 2014, the seventh-generation Golf range’s R flagship was more or less an evolution of its predecessor, retaining its key ingredients: a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, manual or dual-clutch gearboxes, all-wheel drive, and sporty but under-the-radar styling.
However, power from the newly redesigned 2.0-litre ‘EA888’ four-pot was upped to 221kW and 380Nm in Europe (or 206kW/380Nm in Australia). The VW Group’s then-new modular MQB platform sat under the skin, and there were plenty of improvements to technology, safety and luxury to justify its $2000 higher price.
While it remained on sale in Europe, the three-door hatch body style was axed in Australia, leaving the five-door in showrooms with a choice of manual or dual-clutch transmissions. New for the Mk7 was a wagon body style, which made its way to Australia through a limited-run R Wolfsburg Edition – previewing its introduction as a full-time variant for the ‘Mk7.5’ facelift.
Said facelift arrived in Australia in 2017, and brought a revised appearance, new technologies, and an increase in outputs to 213kW and 380Nm – though still short of Europe’s 228kW/400Nm (before an emissions-related detune in 2019 to 221kW/400Nm) – cutting the 0–100km/h sprint time below five seconds in Australia for the first time at 4.8 seconds with the automatic.
Volkswagen presented the Golf R400 concept in 2014, a 294kW/450Nm, 3.9-second preview of what a flagship, Audi RS3-beating Golf R could look like.
Executives initially confirmed the R400 range-topper for production, before the Dieselgate emissions scandal in 2015 scuppered plans as funds previously allocated to niche projects were diverted to paying fines and buying back affected customer vehicles.
2019 T-Roc R, 2020 Touareg R, 2021 Tiguan R and 2021 Arteon R
After about a decade of a single-model R range, Volkswagen applied its performance badge to four new models from 2019 onwards.
First to debut was the T-Roc R small SUV in early 2019 (pictured above in facelifted 2022 form), which utilised its Golf underpinnings to swap the hot hatchback’s 221kW/400Nm engine and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic into a higher-riding package – one of the first small performance SUVs to hit the road without a luxury badge.
The R-badged Touareg returned in 2020 after a 10-year hiatus – but rather than a twin-turbo diesel V10, the new Touareg R opted for a plug-in hybrid system shared with its Porsche and Audi siblings, pairing a turbo-petrol V6 with an electric motor for combined outputs of 340kW and 700Nm, a 5.1-second 0–100km/h dash, and 47km of electric-only range.
The following year saw the reveals of the Tiguan R mid-size SUV and Arteon R large car (in liftback and wagon body styles), both powered by 235kW/420Nm turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder engines with seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearboxes.
Debuting in the hot Tiguan and Arteon was a new R Performance Torque Vectoring system, which used a trick rear differential to shuffle 100 per cent of the torque sent to the rear axle (up to 50 per cent of the engine’s total) to either rear wheel – maximising what a front-wheel-drive-based, Haldex-type all-paw system is capable of.
The Tiguan R will arrive in Australia in the coming months, followed by the T-Roc R in August 2022 (in facelifted guise), and the Touareg R in November – but there are no plans to offer the Arteon R locally.
2021 Golf R (Mk8)
The newest Golf R launched in Europe in 2021 – and it’s bound for Australian showrooms by mid-2022 in five-door hatchback and wagon body styles.
Outputs from the upgraded 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder under the bonnet have been upgraded to 235kW and 420Nm in Europe – and, for the first time, in Australia (with one small catch), as the ‘hot weather’ classification previously attached to our market was cut in 2019.
The latest Golf flagship borrows the aforementioned torque-vectoring system from its Tiguan and Arteon siblings, but adds a hooligan-friendly Drift mode, which uses its differential to divert all rear-axle power to the outside wheel, break traction and kick the car into a computer-controlled slide.
The six-speed manual transmission was cut from the Australian range late in the Mk7.5 Golf R’s run – and it didn’t return for the Mk8, though three pedals remain available in North America. Europe’s three-door body style finally saw the axe with the Mk8 generation.
Joining the performance boost and torque-vectoring driveline is a new touch-based interior that’s almost devoid of physical buttons, and a semi-autonomous driver assistance suite – all of which have resulted in a $10,000 to $11,000 price increase over the outgoing 7.5-generation Golf R.
A year into its life cycle, some have speculated Volkswagen is preparing to reveal a new special-edition Golf R to celebrate the Mk4 Golf R32’s 20th birthday – possibly with a power boost to 245kW and 420Nm, matching a mystery engine tune leaked in an owner’s manual in 2020.
Keyword: 20 years of Volkswagen R: A history