What's the news?
Last year, Volkswagen entered two Golf GTI TCR concept racers into the Touring Car Racer International Series to gauge customer reaction. Well, reaction was good - and as a result, now all 20 of the completed TCRs have been taken by customer racing teams.
Deliveries of the Golf GTI TCRs will be completed by the middle of March 2016, ahead of the touring car racing season, with the evil-looking Volkswagen capable of being entered into 16 national and international championships.
Just to recap, the GTI TCR uses an evolution of the EA888 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine as used in the road-going Golf R, here tuned to develop 330hp and 410Nm. It drives the front wheels through a six-speed DSG gearbox and sits on a chassis 400mm wider than the production car, complete with 18-inch wheels and particularly eye-catching aero addenda. To comply with FIA regulations, head protectors, a racing safety cage and an FIA-approved safety fuel tank are all fitted.
Anything else?
With its first competitive drives due for 2016 in the middle of March, the Golf TCR already has racing pedigree. One of those two concept examples entered in the TCR International Series in 2015 managed to secure a race victory in the second event at Austria's Red Bull Ring. So the Golf should be competitive from the get-go in 2016.
And as 2016 is the Golf GTI's 40th birthday, we'll be getting the most powerful production example yet later this year, the Golf GTI Clubsport. Its 2.0-litre TFSI is improved to 265hp, 35hp up on the previous GTI best, and it can even run at 290hp for limited periods during a 'boost function' mode.