VW Golf R Wagon Spied Virtually Undisguised With Full Roll Cage

Look away, America. You're not getting the new Volkswagen Golf R Variant. In fact, the high-performance wagon will be a forbidden fruit in many parts of the world as the speedy long-roof compact will be a Euro-centric product since the Old Continent is basically the last bastion of wagons. A near-production prototype was spotted near the Nürburgring with 99.99 percent of the camouflage gone.

By the looks of it, only the R badges are hidden, although we have a feeling the bottom section of the rear bumper is also cleverly disguised by using body-colored tape. An alternative to the Tiguan R – another performance VW that the United States is not getting – the new Golf R Variant will be more or less Wolfsburg's version of the not-a-SEAT Cupra Leon Sportstourer, though the VW has slightly more power and torque.

Our spies weren't able to take a peek inside the cabin since the prototype was on the move, but from some angles, you can easily see it had a full rollcage and Recaro front bucket seats. It goes without saying these won't be available on the production model as we're expecting the wagon to inherit the cabin from its hatchback counterpart.

The same holds true for the oily bits, so underneath the hood should be the same turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline engine with 315 horsepower (235 kilowatts) and 310 pound-feet (420 Newton-meters) of torque. The Golf R Variant is going to be an AWD-only affair, complete with a seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission. The hatch runs to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds, but there's a pretty good chance the wagon will be a tad slower due to a slightly higher weight.

Our spies weren't able to take a peek inside the cabin since the prototype was on the move, but from some angles, you can easily see it had a full rollcage and Recaro front bucket seats. It goes without saying these won't be available on the production model as we're expecting the wagon to inherit the cabin from its hatchback counterpart.

The same holds true for the oily bits, so underneath the hood should be the same turbocharged 2.0-liter gasoline engine with 315 horsepower (235 kilowatts) and 310 pound-feet (420 Newton-meters) of torque. The Golf R Variant is going to be an AWD-only affair, complete with a seven-speed, dual-clutch automatic transmission. The hatch runs to 60 mph in 4.7 seconds, but there's a pretty good chance the wagon will be a tad slower due to a slightly higher weight.