The VW Golf R400 Has Been Killed Off, But Its Engine May Live On

It seems the bonkers 395bhp Golf R400 has become a victim of VW's post-dieselgate belt-tightening, with company insiders claiming production plans have been shelved

Matt Robinson

27 Apr 2016

The VW Golf R400 Has Been Killed Off, But Its Engine May Live On

Amid the financial turmoil following VW’s dieselgate scandal, we’ve always worried that the amazing Golf R400 would be one of the victims of the company’s inevitable belt-tightening activities. And indeed, while a production version of the 395bhp concept was mooted for a time, it seems the R400 is dead.

It was already looking doubtful when VW’s R&D head Heinz-Jakob Neusser - the man who’d confirmed a production version - stepped down following the emissions scandal, and now Automotive News is citing company insiders as saying the R400 project has been shelved for good.

The silver lining of all this? According to the same source, the stupidly powerful version of the EA888 2.0-litre engine that was intended for the R400 is still being worked on by Audi for future products. The source also claims that we’re looking at even more power and a substantial weight reduction for the next Golf R.

In other Golf news, a limited-run, 305bhp GTI Clubsport S has been ‘confirmed’, making its debut at next week’s Wörthersee Meet in Austria.

Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.

Comments

Noooo

Pitty :( almost 400hp from 2.0 4cyl is so bonkers :D

Evos did it for a while, at a considerable compromise of fuel efficiency!

400 is not that bonkers… Volvo have a 2L 4-pot with 450hp, 2 turbos and 1 supercharger do the job.

You can get near to 400hp figures with a simple ECU remap, intake and exhaust on the new Audi S3 and Golf R though, without even losing the fuel efficiency!

APR remap
VW Racing intake / APR carbonio intake
Armytrix/Remus exhaust system

Whay about subies?

Welp, this sucks. That thing looks so hot, and with almost 400hp it would surely go like a rocket too.

Rip an awesome car

I don’t think I’m all that surprised though, I can’t see many people buying it over the current R apart from d!ck measuring. I did like the R32 homage in the exhausts though.