VW Golf R 400 could produce even more than 400 horsepower
Mon, 12 May 2014When Volkswagen revealed the Golf R 400 concept at the Beijing Motor Show last month, it emerged as the most extreme version of the hatchback we once called Rabbit since the bonkers GTI W12-650 concept of 2007. The main difference is that while that 641-horsepower, mid-engined, twelve-cylinder scalding hot hatch was never destined for production, the Golf R 400 is. Only it gets better than that.
Car and Driver reports that, at its recent engine symposium in Vienna, Volkswagen R&D chief Heinz-Jakob Neusser indicated that the production version of the Golf R 400 could actually produce more than the 395 hp packed into the concept. Just how much more, we don't know, but considering that VW was already conservatively quoting a 0-62 time of 3.9 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 174 mph, we'd guess that, with a DSG and all-wheel drive, the production version could end up running 0-60 in about 3.5.
That would leave the 5-second 0-60 time for the current Golf R in the dust and even eclipse the quoted 3.7 0-62 time for the aforementioned GTI W12 as the Golf R 400 moves on to a new category of super hatches.
By Noah Joseph