Volkswagen Might Make an Even Hotter Golf R Clubsport

It would have more power, less weight, and a tweaked suspension if approved for production.

By: Anthony Alaniz

Jun 4, 2024 at 5:00pm ET

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Volkswagen is currently developing a hotter Golf R Clubsport. It’s still too early to know if it’ll ever enter production because it still requires approval by VW’s board, but it could become the brand’s hottest hatch ever if it gets green-lit.

Martin Hube, a Volkswagen spokesperson, told Road & Track that the company is working on a “more track-oriented version” of the model. However, he didn’t elaborate on how the company would achieve that. The R Clubsport will likely receive the standard Clubsport glow-up that includes tweaking the suspension geometry and trimming some weight.

The Golf R packs Volkswagen’s turbocharged 2.0-liter EA888 four-cylinder engine that produces 315 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, and it could make a bit more power in the Clubsport. It comes with a six-speed manual transmission, which won’t be around for much longer, and the company’s 4Motion all-wheel-drive system with torque vectoring.

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The R Clubsport should best the standard R’s 0-to-60 time of 4.7 seconds by a tenth or two. However, we doubt Volkswagen will increase the model’s top speed for the Clubsport, which is limited to 155 miles per hour. The most noticeable improvements should be evident in its lap times.

As great as an R Clubsport sounds on paper, it still requires company board members to approve it before it enters production. It’s also unclear if Volkswagen plans to offer it in the US. If it does get approved, it likely won’t reach America before the 2025 model year when the GTI and R forever lose the manual transmission option, but we can’t have everything.