The VW Golf R400 Has Been Killed Off, But Its Engine May Live On

Amid the financial turmoil following VW’s dieselgate scandal, we’ve always worried that the amazing Golf R400 would be one of the victims of the company’s inevitable belt-tightening activities. And indeed, while a production version of the 395bhp concept was mooted for a time, it seems the R400 is dead.

It was already looking doubtful when VW’s R&D head Heinz-Jakob Neusser - the man who’d confirmed a production version - stepped down following the emissions scandal, and now Automotive News is citing company insiders as saying the R400 project has been shelved for good.

The silver lining of all this? According to the same source, the stupidly powerful version of the EA888 2.0-litre engine that was intended for the R400 is still being worked on by Audi for future products. The source also claims that we’re looking at even more power and a substantial weight reduction for the next Golf R.

In other Golf news, a limited-run, 305bhp GTI Clubsport S has been ‘confirmed’, making its debut at next week’s Wörthersee Meet in Austria.