VW unveils its most expensive Golf ever – and it costs more than a new Porsche

With Volkswagen all but confirming the current Golf will be its last with a combustion engine, fans of the iconic hatchback will be desperate to get their hands on the most exclusive version in its 49-year history.

This new one unveiled this week will be the rarest of them all, with only 333 being made.

Called the Golf R 333 Limited Edition – for obvious reasons – it will also be the most powerful to ever sport the legendary nameplate.

But it will come with a premium price tag. In fact, you can buy a new Porsche for less.

The family hatch with a huge asking price: Volkswagen has unveiled the Golf R 333 Limited Edition this week – and it’s very expensive

Volkswagen confirmed it will be its most expensive Golf ever offered to customers.

It will cost a jaw-dropping €76,410 – that works out at around £65,800.

A Porsche 718 Boxster S (£63,800) is cheaper.

The Golf R 333 Limited edition its most powerful and exclusive Golf in 49 years. And it will cost an eye-watering £65,800…

Alternatively, you could buy a Porsche 718 Boxster S roadster and have £2,000 left over from the price of the new Golf 

For such a sizable financial outlay, you’d hope this is the best Golf hot hatch to drive yet.

The special edition 333 gets an upgrade in power and performance over the standard Golf R.

While it uses the same 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, VW engineers have worked their magic to boost power from 316bhp in the standard R to 328bhp.

The increase in grunt means this latest iteration is one-hundredth-of-a-second quicker to 62mph from a standstill, accelerating in a mere 4.6 seconds.

The standard Golf R’s 155mph top speed has also been bettered, with the removal of the limiter meaning the 333 is capable of reaching speeds of up to 167mph (on track, of course, unless you fancy risking a stint in prison for travelling that fast on public roads).

The special edition 333 gets an upgrade in power and performance over the standard Golf R

Unique to the Golf R 333 Limited Edition are the Akrapovic exhaust system, including these substantial titanium silencers that are guaranteed to create a racket 

Some of the performance upgrade is the result of a new Akrapovic exhaust system, which includes four substantial titanium silences emitting from a gloss black rear diffuser.

Further indicating this a car designed for use on circuit, VW has fitted the black 19-inch Estoril wheels with semi-slick tyres.

To ensure even the most amateur track drivers won’t miss an apex, the 333 is also fitted with something called ‘R-Performance Torque Vectoring with Vehicle Dynamics Manager’.

This automatically distributes power to whichever of the four wheels needs it most and should – in theory – result in pin-sharp steering response and agile cornering.

It also comes equipped with two hooligan driving modes, including ‘Drift’ and ‘Special’ – both of which Volkswagen strictly states are ‘designed for the Nürburgring racetrack’ and for use ‘away from public roads’.

‘In Drift profile, the parameters for the Electronic Stability Control and the distribution of power via the all-wheel drive system enable the Golf R to drift on private tracks,’ VW has clarified previously.

It adds that the mode ‘opens up a whole new level of driving dynamics away from public roads and makes the experience behind the wheel even more fun’.

However, perhaps mindful that not all maverick drifters always stick to the rules – and to the track – and no doubt advised by their lawyers, VW notes: ‘To ensure the profile is only selected on private roads, the infotainment system always displays a confirmation prompt before it is activated.’

At the press of a button, the driver can activate one of two hooligan driving modes: ‘Drift’ and ‘Special’. Both are designed  for use ‘away from public roads’, VW makes very clear 

The ‘Special’ driving setting is the one that sharpens all the responses, including faster downshifts and stiffens the suspension – so not the one to use on Britain’s pothole-riddled streets. 

‘The Golf R 333 is the first R model with a specification predefined by us that leaves no customer wishes regarding performance unfulfilled – thanks to its extensive equipment,’ explained  Hakim Halimi, head of product marketing at Volkswagen’s ‘R’ performance branch. 

For those of you who are not fans of lime yellow cars, then this isn’t the motor for you.

Volkswagen will sell it exclusively in this colour, accented with a black roof and spoiler tip as well as ‘333’ decals that run along the profile of the five-door hatchback.

Inside is a more subdued affair, with black Nappa leather sports seats with blue stitching to match the car’s enormous brake callipers lurking behind the gloss black wheels.

‘With the special exterior colour, black-painted roof and design decals with 333 logo on the sides, this Golf R will be offered in a combination that is unique up to now,’ explains Halimi. 

‘It is the first Volkswagen R model with a strict limitation to 333 units and with a sequentially numbered badge in the interior.’ 

Much to the delight of boy racers out there, the R 333 is also fitted with a top-spec Harmon Kardon premium audio system – as if a driver of a bright-yellow car needed any further excuse to draw attention to them.

For those of you who are not fans of lime yellow cars, then this isn’t the motor for you. Volkswagen will sell it exclusively in this colour, accented with a black roof and spoiler tip as well as ‘333’ decals that run along the profile of the five-door hatchback

The exclusive Golf R 333 Limited Edition is very much designed for the track. In fact, VW has fitted the black 19-inch Estoril wheels with semi-slick tyres

Inside is a more subdued affair, with black Nappa leather sports seats with blue stitching to match the car’s enormous brake callipers lurking behind the gloss black wheels

VW Golf fans, brace yourself for disappointment…

Unfortunately, you’re unlikely to see one in the UK anytime soon.

That’s because it’s exclusively available to customers in Germany and likely all sold in left-hand drive.

Production is due to begin in September this year and first deliveries from a month later – though customers can also pick theirs up from Wolfsburg as part of a special event for owners.

While British drivers won’t be offered one, it could still become quite the collector’s item.

That’s because it’s likely to be one of the last new Golf models produced with a petrol engine before Volkswagen bids auf wiedersehen to its legendary hatchback for good.

Plans have been laid for the Mk8 model to be the last with an internal combustion engine.

That’d despite the fact the nameplate has legendary status dating back to 1974, is the brand’s most-built car of all time and the GTI hot hatches through all generations have a cult following.

It has also been the best-selling car in Europe for the last 14 years and remains one of the most popular family hatchbacks in Britain’s showrooms.

However, VW’s switch to electric cars means today’s eighth-generation version will be its last with a petrol engine.

VW is due to launch 10 new electric models by 2026, including the ‘affordable’ ID.2 crossover, which is promised to cost less than €25,000 – that’s around £22,000 – when it hits the market in three years’ time.

The car maker plans to keep the Golf name for a future electric model, but the earliest this is likely to be released is 2028.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk