HP VW GOLF R 7.5

Harding gives a Golf R 362kW... at the wheels

- Louis Cordony

VOLKSWAGEN, like most of us, wanted the wild Golf R400 to live. It lured Friedrich Eichler, the man who designed the AMG A45’s world-beating four-cylinder engine, to Wolfsburg, then built a mean-looking concept car and hustled undisguised prototypes around the Nurburgring Nordschleife.

But then Dieselgate happened. VW forfeited billions of dollars, in fines, and among the wide-spanning consequences of this punishment, including a huge scale-back in racing, the reality of a 400-horsepower (294kW) production Golf R evaporated.

Since then, rumours have circled that the eighth-generation Golf R will target these sort of outputs, but it will rely on hybrid technology. So, as always in situations like these, the R400’s legacy to unlock the EA888 engine’s potential was entrusted to the aftermarket. That’s why we’re in Brisbane, in an industrial district, to meet a Golf R Mk7.5 that has revived the R400 concept while, in classic tuner style, taking it even further. Harding Performance built it, you see, and as RacingLine’s main representative in Australia, it flaunts the aftermarket brand’s latest weapons-grade enhancements.

Key among them is a Stage 3 turbocharger kit that has inflated outputs to 362kW and 584Nm. That’s almost 500 horsepower. At the hubs. It could make more if you’re willing to crack open your motor and gearbox.

But there are a few modifications you’ll need to achieve these figures. First of them is an R600 intake kit that hides a snorkel in the top front grille to inhale more air. It feeds an IHI ‘hybrid’ turbocharger stuffed with internals designed to secret specs.