Volkswagen will reportedly show its upcoming Golf R Cabriolet at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, which kicks off with press days on March 5. You won’t have to wait that long to see what’s encased in this giant block of ice, as VW promises an “ausbruch” (break-out) in just two weeks.
We’ve shown you spy shots of the car in testing, and we've even served up on-the-road video footage of the Golf R Cabriolet, which is the final Golf R variant expected from the Mark VI platform. While a Golf R based on the Mark VII Golf is still a ways off, World Car Fans is indicating that more power may well be in store for the next version of Volkswagen’s fastest Golf.
Word is that the Mark VII Golf R will get the turbocharged 2.0-liter EA888 engine currently used in a variety of Audi and VW vehicles, including the Audi TT and the VW GTI. World Car Fans theorizes that it could put out as much as 290 horsepower, ensuring that it can reach the 250 km/h (155 mph) shown on the teaser's speedometer.
That's dangerously close to the output of Audi's S3, and we doubt the Volkswagen Group will allow the Golf R to pirate sales of the Audi S3. Our guess is the car will make more horsepower than the current version, but we doubt it will encroach on the S3.
VW will reportedly offer the next Golf R with either a six-speed manual (the only option on current U.S.-spec Golf R models) or a six-speed DSG automatic transmission, and all-wheel drive returns as a key selling point.
We hope that the next American Golf R comes with a defeatable stability control like its European cousins. Word is that VW is terrified of litigation from U.S. customers who could potentially crash their cars, which is why we don’t have the ability to turn the electro-nannies off.
It’s odd that Volkswagen Group company Audi allows its customers to shut off stability control, which seems to be a point in favor of allowing the same for Volkswagen. Let’s just hope the engineers, not the lawyers, win this particular battle.
