Do you remember the Golf R32, the sports car that Volkswagen premiered in 2002 with a 250 hp 3.2 V6 engine and all-wheel drive, which was one of the most powerful and fastest of the time? As well, To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Golf R, the German brand designed a special version of the current Golf R, which he called “20 years”. Increases power by 13 hp and mounts a more sophisticated turbocharger to avoid the turbo delaythus improving throttle response, among other benefits.
It fell to the pilot of the brand Benjamin Leuchter to set the best lap time
To demonstrate its potential, the Golf R 20 Years began by establishing a new record at the Nürburgring for the Golf R, proving to be the most efficient of all. He set his best lap at 7 minutes and 47.31 seconds, which gives him a gain of almost 4 seconds over the previous Golf R (Already the Golf 8, but from 2020), which was to be expected since it is the most powerful version in the history of the model.
The new Golf R 20 Years together with the Golf R32, launched precisely 20 years ago
The 2.0 TSI engine sees power increase from 320 to 333 hp, a gain achieved at the expense of a new turbocharger that considerably improves the engine’s throttle response. But the improvements do not end there, since the “commemorative” R is also equipped with the latest package R-Performance, which includes sports driving assistance systems such as Driving Dynamics Manager and a more advanced R-Performance Torque Vectoring. All together explains the gain verified in a complete lap at km 20,832 of the North Ring of Nürburbring.
The 7.47.31 registered in 2022 by the Golf R 20 Years far exceeds the best time obtained by the 2020 Golf R (7.51), but also by the one that was for many months the record holder of the German sports circuit with only front-wheel drive, the Golf GTI Clubsport S. With 310 hp, this model ran in 7.47.19, apparently the best time, but that loses brightness if we introduce the correction of about 5 seconds, inherent to the layout now used, with another 200 meters and a 90º turn, which lowers it to about 7.51.
Better than the Golf R 20 Years, for this class of compact sports car within the VW Group, is only the Audi RS3 with the 400 hp 2.5-liter 5-cylinder supercharged engine, which clocked in at 7,40,748. Out of the group and leading the compact sports cars with only front-wheel drive are the Renault Mégane RS Trophy-R, which in 2019 has rolled in 7:40.10 (about 7:45 with the correction of the 200 meters of track) and the Honda Civic Type R , which in 2017 set the best time with 7.43.80 (7.48 corrected for the increased perimeter).
Source: Observadora
