Spy Photos: Volkswagen Golf R20 On the Nurburgring

I am very curious about this car. And with the 2.0T and AWD, I see no reason why VW can't start this thing around $27k...

The GTI starts at about $23k, which is right there with the competition. The R32 was always meant to be more than a hot hatch and it was always a niche product. It was not a STI/ EVO competitor. It was just there.

The 1st R32 sold like hotcakes, but the last one did horribly... I passed on it due to price, barely better acceleration than GTI, less responsive handling, and rougher ride.

four door R32/20???

good chance it won't make it here.
That's my guess.

I personally think it's having an identity crisis. I used to think the R32 was a German alternative to the Evo and STi (they've even done test with all 3), but it was always missing 2 things: a turbo four banger and an affordable price tag, but that made it unique and a little more civilized and "grown up", which appealed to a young and old crowd. Simply put, it's always been too expensive for the market they're aiming it at. They want it to be a hot hatch for the young crowd, and a practical hatch for the adults, but it cost the same as a 2007 G35s, which needless to say is a few steps up, so what's the incentive to take this car over a better, similarly or even lower priced car? In Europe, it's more justifiable because they pack them with climate control and active stability systems, better interior materials and sometimes more power, but they don't have it when they come to the States and they can easily enter the mid 30's optioned out. Even though the Evo and STi ran circles around it, nobody cared because the R32 had something neither of the Japanese boy racers had: soul, created by arguably one of the best sounding motors ever manufactured. And now they're stuffing a turbocharged 4 under the bonnet. Is it really an "R" car, or simply a GTI-R? I'd rather them just let the name die gracefully than take a GTI and install a bigger turbo, bigger wheels and AWD and rebadge it as a completely new car. Kinda lame

R20 = Evo/STI for grown-ups. More refined, not as fast, but not embarrassing either.

What good is the Audi TTS Coupe, if parent company VW equips a Golf with the same hardware and sells it for less money?!!! Somehow, it always seems as if VW is trying to compete with or sabotage their own Audi division.

the biggest prob for VW in the last few years has been the exchange rate. they could not be competitive with a USD/Euro exchange rate of 1.40 and as high as 1.60. That means that VW of America was importing the cars with a 40-60% premium! That equals next to nothing profit margin.

The Euro is now down to 1.32 and by end of year it may be around 1.20.

For perspective, in 1999, the Euro was 0.82. That means VWofA was getting an 18% disc on the cars they imported. So that's about an 80% spread in 10 years!

When you understand the exchange rate factor, you can see why it's been difficult for the European manufacturers. Audi, BMW and Merc solved the intro level car dilema by making them a 1/3 bigger and several thousand dollars more expensive. VW couldn't do that with their Golf and Jetta.

You should start seeing some cool cars come from Europe again in the coming years with the ease in exchange rates.

I think huyracing summed it up pretty well.

The 260 hp 2.0L sounds fine, as does the AWD, but I fear the price tag just won't make any sense. I'm certainly intrigued, but I won't get too excited until I see the window sticker.

As I was looking to buy my '08 GTI, I knew I had the option of waiting a few more months for the '09 A3 2.0T with Quattro, but I knew the price would be tough to swallow (relative to what I was looking to pay for the GTI). IF (that's a big if) they introduced the R20 here, you can be sure that it will be priced near or at the starting MSRP for the A3 2.0T Quattro, so as to not cannibalize sales too much.

@qualitycontrol

The R32 here has always been identical to the european models and is in fact still built in europe, except for a slightly different rear bumper and the unavailability of the Recaro option. The luxury features like climate control have been standard on both generations of R32 sold in the US. ESP has also always been standard.

I believe R20 should be a bit cheaper than R32. Just the prodution cost on a Inline 4 vs V6 is a lot different. And also due to the economy as wells as the gas price are still unpredictible. A Inline 4 turbo will be both envirmoental and economical. Also Save money at the pump. I wonder if VW will make a R20 verison for the Passat and Tiguan?

Interesting...a 2.0 TDI badge on an R20?