After reporting that VW had several hot R models on the way, Australia’s Motoring does one better and announces that there may even be a spiced up Golf GTD (pictured) variant in there somewhere…
It really makes sense, to be honest, now that VW has at its disposal a 2.0-liter TDI diesel that surpasses the petrol unit of the GTI in terms of power (and obviously torque too). The twin-turbo unit (that just debuted in the Passat) packs 240 PS and 500 Nm / 369 lb-ft of torque…
That’s serious punch (more than some contemporary three-liter V6s…), and were it to be mated to swift-shifting autobox and all-wheel drive, we wonder what would keep up with such a machine.
The Aussie publication got a chance to speak to VW’s head of powertrain development, Hanno Jelden, who said: “It is possible, of course. The engine will fit, because of the MQB architecture, but the issue is that is it the heaviest engine currently used in the platform.”
However, since it would have both a (heavy) diesel engine and all-wheel drive, the Golf R diesel would run the risk of ending up a bit on the lardy side. Even so, the colossal diesel surge would offset most of it… in a straight line at least; it’d probably be a wicked standing start sprinter.
It doesn’t sound like a sure thing, but at least they are pondering it, plus it would be a nice way of showing off the new top-spec 2.0-liter diesel in something lighter than the Passat.
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