VW have plans for R400

Published Date: 22nd May 2014

Some Volkswagen employees have confirmed suspicion that there are ideas within the carmaker to put the hair-raising Golf R400 onto the production line - but only if they can make it cost-effective.

The main challenge faced is understood to come from finding a gearbox that can handle the R400’s 332lb ft torque. VolksWagen also wants to add a DSG option to give the model greater appeal. The Golf R’s six-speed DSG ’box is only rated for torque loads of up to 280lb ft, which means it would have to be re-designed to cope with the power or VW would have to consider a different option.

The Golf R400 is a 395bhp 4WD hot hatch based on the Golf R, which was seen at the Beijing motor show just last month. It has a new highly tuned 2.0 litre engine and also a six-speed manual gearbox.

The R400 was initially a show piece to demonstrate VW's engineering power, and also the range of custom options available to customers. If this car is given the green light for production, the new R400 will hit the battlefield with the likes of the Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG and BMW M235i to compete with.

VolksWagen announced last week that it has a new 10-speed DSG gearbox for its more powerful models that can cope with around 369lb ft. This is the gearbox that is most likely to provide a solid solution to the cost and engineering questions asked by the new R400.