Volkswagen Golf R 400 Concept is Your New Favorite Hot Hatch

10 years, 6 months ago - 21 April 2014, Autoblog
Volkswagen Golf R 400 Concept is Your New Favorite Hot Hatch
This, friends, is what happens when you shoehorn 395 horsepower into a Golf. You get a three-door hatch that will happily scurry to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds and on to a top speed of 280 km/h. Oh yes, we like you, Golf R 400 Concept.

As we explained in our original post, the R 400 is the long-awaited successor to bonkers Golf creations like the GTI W12 from 2007 and, more recently, the Design Vision GTI. It's powered by the same 2.0-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder found in a number of Volkswagen (and Audi, SEAT and Skoda) products, although it's been heavily massaged to pump out 332 pound-feet of torque along side its amplified horsepower.

Naturally, it's been lowered and now rides on 19-inch wheels. Outside of those changes, though, mums the word on suspension and chassis enhancements. While this is a bummer, the striking looks of the Golf R 400 more than make up for it.

We're digging the Lemon Yellow accents and Silver Flake paint, while we're quite pleased that VW has avoided the urge to fit an absurd body kit akin to the Golf W12's. Instead, the body of this Concept is tastefully finished and surprisingly, once the carbon fiber is replaced, it all looks quite production ready. The interior, meanwhile, looks mostly stock aside from the trim work (carbon leather and Alcantara abound) and the awesome racing seats. Build it VW. We know you want to.