VW Mk8.5 Golf R ‘Being Planned’ for SA

With the Mk8.5 Golf GTI having gained approval for the South African market, Volkswagen Group Africa has announced the Mk8.5 R is ‘being planned’ for SA.

2025 Volkswagen Mk8.5 Golf R driving

Image: Volkswagen

Volkswagen Group Africa has confirmed to CAR Magazine that the Mk8.5 Golf R is “being planned” for South African introduction. Indeed, thanks to the Mk8.5 Golf GTI, which we sampled in an exclusive first local drive, being approved for our market, there is no longer a technical issue to bring in the pinnacle Golf model to our shores. Though, it’s now down to supply. That said, we anticipate the Mk8.5 Golf R will arrive in SA in 2026. We’d speculate pricing will again be close to the forthcoming updated Audi S3.

As a reminder, the 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged petrol powertrain employed by the Mk8.5 Golf R received an injection of power and torque with the mid-cycle update. The Mk8.5 Golf R model’s EA888 engine produces 245 kW and 420 N.m, increases of 10 kW and 20 N.m, respectively. Power is exclusively delivered to the Wolfsburg brand’s 4Motion all-wheel drive system, replete with R-Performance torque vectoring, via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

According to VW, the bump in peak power and torque allows the updated -eighth-generation R to dispatch the 0-100 km/h dash in just 4.6 seconds, making it two-tenths of a second quicker to the three-figure marker than the Mk8, before topping out at an electronically governed 250 km/h. However, specifying the optional R-Performance package lifts the latter to 270 km/h.

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The post VW Mk8.5 Golf R ‘Being Planned’ for SA appeared first on CAR Magazine.


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