Locally-assembled Volkswagen Golf R now on sale, from RM332,990

Until now, the powerful Volkswagen Golf R has been made only in Germany. However, there is now a second place in the world where it is also assembled and that’s Malaysia (alongside the Golf GTI at the plant in Pahang).

Although the model was announced last year and orders were taken, it is only now that there is a confirmed price – RM332,990 (excluding insurance) and deliveries can start. The price is inclusive of the Volkswagen Assurance Package, which supports owners with 5 years maintenance, 5 years unlimited mileage warranty, and 5 years roadside assistance.

“To be the first country outside of Germany to assemble this product is a real honour for us. This special mandate given by Germany validates our continuous commitment towards the Volkswagen brand. Now with this new introduction, I am pleased to note that our full range of products here are entirely assembled at the Volkswagen plant in Pekan, Pahang,” said Denyu Bostandzhiev, Managing Director of VPCM.

Motorsport-inspired looks
Visually, the flagship of the Golf range is identified by its motorsport-inspired R front bumper and R radiator grille. Three colour choices are available – the signature Lapiz Blue, Deep Black and Pure White.

The sportiness of the Golf R in the interior is evident with R decorative trim
in Carbon Grey, premium Nappa sport leather seats complete with iconic R
styling, as well as the R performance steering wheel with blue backlit R
button and shift paddles.

Other new features include a Head-Up Display (HUD) that is projected to the
windscreen, 10-inch Discover Pro infotainment system, with audio by a 10-
speaker, 480-watt Harman Kardon sound system, wireless smartphone
charging and automatic high beam assist.

IQ.Drive Technology
Like the latest Golf GTI, the Golf R is supported with IQ.DRIVE technology and advanced driver assistance systems such as Travel Assist with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC),
Side Assist, Front Assist, Lane Assist and Emergency Assist.

R-enhanced engine
With further tuning by the engineers at the R division (which handles Volkswagen’s high-performance products), the Golf R’s 2.0TSI turbocharged 4-cylinder engine develops 320 ps/400 Nm.

With the 7-speed DSG and 4MOTION all-wheel drive to effectively transfer all that power to the road, the Golf R can get to 100 km/h within 4.8 seconds after take-off, it is claimed. Contributing to the significantly more impressive performance is the Akrapovic exhaust which is made of titanium, saving 7 kgs.

Drift and Special modes
For skilled drivers, enjoying high performance is not just about going very fast in a straight line but also going sideways around a turn. To assist them in this, the Golf R has ‘Drift’ and ‘Special’ modes which deactivate the ESC (Electronic Stability Control) so that the torque can be distributed evenly.

This is achieved by not having the Haldex AWD system (used before) and instead using a torque-vectoring rear differential. It is possible now to direct 100% of torque to an individual wheel and not just to the front and rear axles.

However, only 50% of the torque still goes to the rear; but the difference is now it can send all of that torque to the rear outside wheel when drifting.

While the Drift mode is intended for conscious sliding, the Special mode is for twisty roads or track use. In this mode, which was tuned with the 22-km Nurburgring-Nordschleife circuit in mind, the suspension is optimised (softer settings than Race mode) to keep the tyres gripping the surface even in the more demanding driving  conditions. The programming also downshifts the DSG (depending on brake pressure) as the car begins decelerating for turns.