Volkswagen’s Golf R hatchback is to be joined by a Golf R station wagon – but it is not known yet if the new go-fast variant will be available in New Zealand.
The pictures here show for the first time the production version of the all-wheel-drive load-lugger testing on the Nurburgring circuit in Germany. It is expected to go public at the Essen motor show in December before going on sale in Europe early next year.
It would appear in New Zealand probably later in 2015 – that’s if Volkswagen NZ can get its hands on it. General manager Tom Ruddenklau said there will be such demand for the Golf R wagon in Europe alone that a NZ allocation would be limited.
“We are evaluating it at the moment and if we can get our hands on 30 or 40 towards the end of next year, we will probably give it a go,” he said.
At best, supply of the wagon for NZ would likely be as irregular as those of the hatchback. The five-door Golf R went on sale in NZ last February. Eight months on till the end of September, 86 had been sold – 26 in February, 13 in March, 6 in April, 5 in May, 15 in June, 2 in July, 3 in August, 16 in September.
VW has been selling them when it can get them. For instance, in one four-month period it sold 70; in the other, 16. Said Volkswagen NZ passenger vehicles product manager Ina Economopoulos: “The Golf R is an extremely popular car all over the world and some of the lower numbers are supply-driven, meaning we can’t get enough from the factory in Germany.”
The Golf R wagon will use the same all-wheel-drive chassis and come with the same performance exterior modifications as the hatch: bumpers front and rear, bigger wheels and a lower ride. Power will come from the hatchback’s turbocharged 2.0-litre engine generating 221kW between 5500-6200rpm and 380Nm between 1800-5500rpm.
The R wagon is expected to weigh around 100kg more than the hatchback. As a result it will be slightly slower off the mark than the hatchback’s 0-100km/h time of 5.1 seconds for the six-speed manual model and 4.9 seconds for the dual-clutch DSG. Top speed will be the same: 250km/h.
The wagon will likely cost more. The Golf R hatchback retails at $68,500 for the six-speed manual model and $70,990 for the DGS automatic.
