A couple of months after the new VW Golf GTI premiered in the wake of the canceled Geneva Motor Show, details regarding the timing of the hot hatch’s launch in the U.S. have been announced.
During a teleconference held earlier this week for media members, Volkswagen announced that the Mk8 Golf GTI, as well as the yet-to-be-revealed Mk8 Golf R, is expected to arrive on U.S. shores in the third quarter of 2021 and launch as a 2022MY. This means the outgoing GTI will continue to wave the VW hot hatch flag in the U.S. through the 2021 model year.
While customers in the U.S. have a long time to wait before they’ll be able to see what the new Golf GTI is all about, specs released by Volkswagen indicate it will be a nice improvement over the outgoing model.
Powering the new hatch is the latest version of VW’s 2.0-liter EA888 turbocharged four-cylinder engine that offers up 242 hp and 273 lb-ft (370 Nm) of torque, respectable gains over the 228 hp and 258 lb-ft (350 Nm) of the Mk7 Golf GTI. Both a six-speed manual transmission and a seven-speed dual-clutch will be offered and the car will reportedly do 60 mph (96 km/h) in less than 6 seconds and continue through to an electronically limited top speed of 155 mph (250 km/h).
Read More: 2021 VW Golf GTI Mk8 Is Here With 242 HP, And So Are The GTE And GTD
Importantly, the Mk8 Golf GTI features a limited-slip differential as standard and the brand’s new Vehicle Dynamics Management (VDM) that monitors key vehicle systems like the adaptive dampers, LSD, steering, and more.
Details about the forthcoming VW Golf R remain unconfirmed but it will likely produce more than 300 hp. VW doesn’t yet know if the U.S. will receive the Mk8 GTI or the Mk8 R first.
“Right now, it’s a little bit up in the air, as far as does Golf R come first, or does GTI then come, but I can confidently tell you that these will both be model-year ’22, and they will come very close to one another,” product manager for the Golf family Megan Closset told CNET.
