Volkswagen toyed with the idea of launching a Golf R powered by the Audi RS3’s 2.5-liter five-pot, but that project was eventually shelved as it might have cannibalized the Audi’s sales.
Nonetheless, while the German automaker had to abandon the plan, there are several Golfs out there that pack the four-ring brand’s five-banger, like this Mk7 Golf R that was filmed at a drag racing event in Germany.
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Simply swapping the engine and leaving it stock was a ‘no-no’ for the owner of this hot hatch, who tweaked it to produce around 600 horses. That’s a healthy jump over the stock RS3 Sportback, which has 395 HP and 354 lb-ft (480 Nm) of torque, sent to the quattro all-wheel drive system via an S-tronic seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Unfortunately, we cannot tell you how quick the tuned Golf R is to 62 mph (100 km/h), but it likely sits in the 3-second zone, considering that the stock RS3 does it in 4.1 seconds, with a top speed electronically capped at 155 mph (250 km/h).
One of the cars that lined up at the start line next to it on that day happened to be an RS3 Sportback, which it had no problem beating in a half-mile race, with a 153 mph (247 km/h) exit speed, despite failing to launch the moment the lights turned green.
The action starts at the 2:40 mark, but the video is 3 minutes and 41 seconds long, so you may want to watch all of it.