- Thanks to the standard Performance package and 10 kW more, the Golf R “20 Years”01 has improved the lap time on the legendary Nürburgring-Nordschleife by a good 4 seconds compared with the current Golf R02
- The evolutionary enhancement of the engine and gearbox makes it possible to experience performance in everyday use and on the race track
- The intelligent combination of “R-Performance package”, Vehicle Dynamics Manager and “R-Performance Torque Vectoring” increases the driving dynamics and enhances the driving experience
- The anniversary vehicle with all-wheel drive underlines the continuity and evolution of the most powerful Golf versions over a period of 20 years
The stopwatch says it all: the new Golf R “20 Years”01 is the fastest R model of all time on the German racetrack Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The anniversary vehicle with its increased power has bettered the previous lap record of a Golf R02 on the 20,832 km long racetrack once more by four seconds. The Golf R “20 Years” clocked an official lap time of 7:47.31 minutes. Thanks to its exclusive standard equipment, optimised driving dynamics and a standard output of 245 kW (333 PS), the Golf R “20 Years” offers significantly improved performance and guarantees an emotionally charged motorsport experience between the “Schwedenkreuz” and “Döttinger Höhe” track sections.
The sporty edition to celebrate the 20th anniversary delivers 10 kW more than the current Golf R production model. Equipped with this engine power, the Golf “20 Years” accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds; its electronically limited top speed is 270 km/h. Thanks to the significantly improved engine response, the increased power also makes itself noticeable in everyday situations such as overtaking manoeuvres. But it is not just the power of the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged engine that makes the special-edition model the most dynamic Volkswagen R of all time on the Nordschleife. The clear increase in performance is also the result of the extensive standard equipment with technical highlights such as the R-Performance package, Driving Dynamics Manager and R-Performance Torque Vectoring. What could be a better place to test this combination than the Nürburgring- Nordschleife? The evolution of the powerful all-wheel-drive Golf R models can be impressively followed here over the last 20 years.
Touring car race driver and Volkswagen R development driver Benjamin Leuchter took on this task and tested the special-edition model on the legendary race track. He was also actively involved in the realisation of the R-Performance package for the Golf R “20 Years”. Alongside the regular “Comfort”, “Sport” and “Race” driving profiles, the special-edition model also comes as standard with the additional “Special” and “Drift” profiles. For driving on the Nordschleife, the race driver chose the “Special” driving profile, which was developed for this track. This profile gives the vehicle a set-up that meets the unique requirements of what is probably the most demanding race track in the world. This includes adjusting the shock absorbers to a more soft and comfortable setting due to the enormous loads at the maximum performance level when driving on such tracks.
As one of the 15 possible settings of the controlled shock absorbers, this guarantees optimum road contact on tracks with a large number of bumps, just like the Nürburgring. Together with the adapted steering wheel and drive settings, this makes it possible to take the large number of fast and medium-fast bends on the Nordschleife in an ideal way. In “Individual” mode of the Driving Dynamics Manager, it is also possible to manually adjust all parameters, such as R-Performance Torque Vectoring or the engine sound, and adapt them in line with personal preferences.
