Golf R “20 Years” is the fastest Volkswagen R model to go around Nürburgring

To mark the 20-year anniversary of the Golf R, Volkswagen has introduced Golf R “20 Years". There are several mechanical upgrades to the hot hatchback because of which the lap time around the legendary Nürburgring-Nordschleife has improved by a good 4 seconds when compared to the current Golf R that is sold in the global market. The Golf R 20 Years completed the lap in 7:47.31 minutes. The lap time was set by Touring car race driver and Volkswagen R development driver Benjamin Leuchter.

Volkswagen Golf R 20 Years comes with the same powertrain as the standard Golf R. So, it is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder that has been turbocharged. But the power output has now been bumped up to 333 PS while the torque output stays the same at 420 Nm. The standard Golf R produces 320 PS of max power. Because of the added power, the acceleration time of 0-100 kmph has gone down by .1 of a second to 4.6 seconds. The top speed is electronically limited to 270 kmph.

Volkswagen Golf R 20 Years on Nürburgring-Nordschleife.

The gearbox is the same 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission but now it has been tuned to be more intensive. The exhaust system has also been tweaked. The manufacturer says that the engine response has also been improved. Moreover, the Golf R 20 Years is also all-wheel drive which decreases the chances of traction breaking.

The Golf R 20 Years comes with more standard equipment such as gets R- Performance package, Driving Dynamics Manager and R-Performance Torque Vectoring. There are also two additional driving modes known as Drift and Special. The standard driving modes are Race, Sport and Comfort. There is also an Individual mode that can be set up by the driver as per his reference. Leuchter used the Special driving mode which is developed especially for Nürburgring-Nordschleife. The Special mode puts the suspension into the soft setting and the engine performance is at the highest level.