Volkswagen Golf R Celebrates 20th Anniversary With More Powerful Special Edition

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the R-badged hot-hatch vehicles, VW has released a new version of the Golf R.

The Golf R 20 Years boasts a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four engine that produces 329 horsepower.

VW claims that a variant of this vehicle will be available in the United States, but it will not be identical.

• See Also: Evolution Of Toyota Rav4 From 1994 To 2021

Despite the fact that the Golf R hasn’t been around as long as the GTI, Volkswagen has been producing hot hatchbacks with R badges for the past 20 years.

To commemorate the occasion, it will release a Mk 8 Golf R 20 Years edition with the expected anniversary-edition changes as well as a power bump for the turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four.

The model seen here is for the European market, but a VW spokeswoman told C/D that a slightly different U.S. version will arrive later.

The Golf R 20 Years’ engine is tuned to produce 329 horsepower, an increase of 14 hp over the U.S.-spec car’s 315 hp.

There’s also a feature called Emotion Start that revs the engine to 2500 rpm when you start up the car—basically just to create more noise.

Visual tweaks are subtle and include a “20” badge on the B-pillar, lights that project a “20 R” logo onto the ground, a different spoiler, and blue trim for the wheels, mirror caps, and seats.

The R32, based on the two-door Mk 4 hatchback, was the first R-badged Golf, and it featured a naturally aspirated 3.2-liter VR6 engine.

The six-cylinder engine was retained in the Mk 5 R32, but turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-fours were used in the Mk 6, Mk 7, and Mk 8 variants.

VW said it would reveal more information on the Golf R 20 Years in the United States at a later date, as it will arrive a few months after the European model.

• See Also: Evolution Of Toyota Sienna From 1998 To 2021