New VW Golf R Variant Caught Being Thrashed At The Nurburgring

Just last week, Volkswagen revealed the most practical version of the Golf 8 family, the now-called Golf Variant. Wearing its R-Line guise, it looks sportier than its regular counterpart while having a more spacious cabin and trunk area. Even better, the Golf Variant is longer than before, reaching 182.28 inches (4.63 meters) in overall length with a 105.75-inch (2.68-meter) wheelbase. Those numbers are at least 2.6 inches longer than the Mk7 Estate.

Now, talks of a Golf R Variant is on the table since we've seen it testing wearing an Alltrack suit before – but that's not the end of that story.

The previous prototype testing was rather subdued; this one was caught by JvDSupercars at the Nürburgring and VW sure is thrashing the hotter version of the long-roof Golf R around the famous track. While we're not 100 percent convinced that this is indeed the Golf R Variant, we're leaning towards that notion because of the performance it's showing in the spy video above. Then again, take this with a pinch of salt – at least until we hear something official from the German marque.

Interestingly, the Golf R is also seen in the video being thrown around corners like it's meant to. We've seen it testing this way before, mind you, but this one fuels our excitement more.

The Golf R is said to debut by the end of this year. We're expecting the R Variant version to follow. While the Golf R and Golf GTI are sure to hit the U.S. market sooner than later, the R Variant is yet to be confirmed. We sure do hop it does because nothing beats quick grocery trips in a hot wagon.