With the old Golf R being both the darling of road test teams and thieving ne'er-do-wells up and down the UK, it sometimes felt that the Estate could have been half the price and twice as powerful - and it still wouldn't have been noticed. Which was a shame, because it combined all the attributes that made the hatch so popular with a welcome dose of additional practicality. Certainly more so than a T-Roc R manages - so it's pleasing to see the next generation of fast Golf wagon in development.
These spy shots are the first we've seen of a new Golf R that isn't the five-door hatch. Familiar cues are plain to see - the blue calipers, the 19-inch wheels, the four exhausts - on an otherwise familiar Golf estate body. Which is exactly how you'd want it to be; the old R was a subdued riposte to more stylized wagons like the Focus ST, and that looks set to continue for this generation.
As for the styling more broadly, the Alltrack camo mitigates detailed assessment, although the estate's headlights closely mirror the look of the five-door, as does the bumper treatment, while the rear end mimics both the old Golf and the current Passat. Perhaps it isn't as sleek and stylish as the upcoming Arteon R Shooting Brake but then that's never been the point of a Golf R estate - it's about moving the most stuff possible as quickly as possible with the very minimum of fuss. Expect the next one to continue that tradition.
Almost certainly the Golf R hatchback's new powertrain will be transplanted into the larger variant, meaning a 334hp version of the EA888 2.0-litre turbo mated to a seven-speed DSG. And, crucially for owner bragging rights, a tiny bit more power than the Cupra Leon which has already been revealed and will likely be the Golf's biggest rival. Don't forget the Focus ST wagon either, a car that promises much given the hatch's vast array of talents.
For the last Golf R, the estate didn't follow until a couple of years after the hatchback launched; expect them to arrive much closer together this time around. In fact, given VW's apparent eagerness to release performance cars this year - we've already had the aforementioned Arteon, a Tiguan R, a Touareg R and a Golf GTI - we could well see all variants of the Golf R before the end of the year. What a forum thread that promises to be.
Image credit | S.Baldauf/S.B.Medien
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