The Volkswagen Golf R Wagon is all the car you need, just too bad you can’t buy one



There are many reasons why you might not want an SUV – among them, the common ones we usually hear are that they’re big, heavy, and usually thirsty vehicles for day-to-day commute. But the strongest opponent to the SUV takeover has always been the brilliant Volkswagen Golf R Wagon (or Estate, depending on where you’re from), and good news – there’s a brand-new one for us to be jealous about. Okay, maybe ‘bad news’ is more appropriate.

There are no changes to the tried and true recipe here; It’s still a Volkswagen Golf R, just with a stretched roof. But just like a Margherita pizza, simple and traditional – if done right – is still very, very good.

The wagon variant basically takes everything you love from the hot hatch, and adds on a large serving of practicality thanks to the bigger cargo area at the back. Specifically, the estate Golf R can now swallow 611 litres of luggage, expandable to 1,642 litres with the rear bench folded down.

Read all about the regular VW Golf R hot hatch here.

There’s also a slightly elongated wheelbase which results in more rear legroom, roof rails as standard, and even an optional electronically-controlled ball coupling hook at the rear to tow trailers up to 1.9 tonnes.

Aside from these additions, everything else on the new Volkswagen Golf R wagon is pretty much carried over from the regular hot hatch, including the 2.0-litre TSI turbocharged four-cylinder engine which makes a maximum of 320 hp and 420 Nm.

4Motion all-wheel drive with R Performance Torque Vectoring is standard, as is the R-specific DSG dual-clutch gearbox. But with the extra heft, 0-100 km/h on the stretchback Golf R is a touch slower at 4.9 seconds, although top speed is still the same at 250 km/h standard, or 270 km/h with the optional R Performance package.

Watch the VW Golf R challenge the AMG A 45 S to a drift battle!

The package also includes a set of 19-inch wheels, along with two new driving modes – Special (or Nurburgring mode) and Drift – for when you want to do sports car stuff.

Sounds brilliant, doesn’t it? But as usual, the VW Golf R wagon will mostly be a European-only affair. Pricing information is not available yet, but we expect it to be priced slightly higher than the regular hatchback model, which costs EUR49,400 (~RM242k) in Germany.

In related news, the eight-generation Volkswagen Golf – including the Golf R – is slated to be launched here in Malaysia very soon. Would you like to see the wagon variant being sold here in Malaysia? Let us know in the comments section below!


GALLERY