The new Volkswagen Golf R ‘20 Years’ is the most powerful Golf yet

Volkswagen has revealed the Golf R ‘20 Years’, which is the most powerful road-going Golf in the model’s history.

Built to celebrate 20 years of the Golf R, which started in 2002 with the 238bhp R32, its 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine is 13bhp up on the regular model, boasting a 328bhp output.

On top of more power, Volkswagen has fitted a range of technical upgrades to make the model stand out. For example, the driver can select ‘Emotion Start’ mode, which increases the engine revs on startup to create more noise.

As well as this, upshifting manually in S and S+ modes brings a jolt through the new steering wheel-mounted paddles, while the turbocharger is engineered to provide instant response to throttle inputs.

All ‘20 Years’ models come with the R Performance package as standard, which adds torque vectoring and two driving modes. These are called Special and Drift, with the former honed on the Nurburgring Nordschleife in Germany for track driving and the latter adapting the four-wheel drive system to allow the driver to hold a controlled slide.

The R Performance package also adds a rear roof spoiler and 19-inch alloy wheels. These have black and blue spokes that are unique to this model, making it clear this is no regular Golf R. The blue theme continues to the door mirrors, too.

Inside the sporty upgrades continue, with carbon-fibre inserts for the door trims and dashboard. Premium sports seats are fitted up front, upholstered in Nappa leather with an embroidered R logo.

Volkswagen has confirmed that the Golf R 20 Years’ is coming to the UK, but pricing has not yet been revealed ahead of going on sale in June.