The new R Cabriolet might not be quite as fast as the Porsches that are also built at Volkswagen’s Osnabrück plant, but it is still the quickest (and priciest) open-top Golf ever made.
Just after announcing the R Cabriolet to the media earlier this summer, Volkswagen suddenly slashed GBP5,000 from the car’s price. Why the dramatic change of thinking? In the words of a spokesman, the importer realised that charging GBP38,000 was going to limit its sales to “double figures”. Not to mention that such a price would have made it more expensive than the Porsche Boxster.
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Now priced at a more realistic GBP33,170, the R Cabriolet is still the most expensive variant in the Golf range and a GBP2,115 step up from the GTI cabrio (when fitted with the same six-speed auto DSG gearbox which comes standard with the R).
So what do you get for your money, apart from the pub-boasting fact that you’re driving the quickest open-topped R model that Volkswagen has yet built? The front bumper is unique and comes with an integrated gloss-black grille and an R logo, there are bi-xenon headlights with black housings, gloss-black door mirror casings and black-painted brake callipers with yes, you guessed it, an R logo. Along the sides, you’ll find sill extensions, while at the rear, there is a special diffuser with chrome-tipped exhausts at either side, and smoked LED tail lights.
The R also has also had its suspension lowered by 25 mm in comparison with the standard Golf Cabriolet and buyers may choose either silver or high-gloss black for their standard 19-inch ‘Talladega’ alloy wheels.
Inside, there are four leather-trimmed sports seats complete with the R logo etched into the head restraints, and the steering wheel, handbrake grip and gear lever all have contrasting grey stitching. Completing the premium effect are pedals capped with brushed aluminium, with the same metal used on the dashboard and door trims.
Even though this car was revealed only a few months back at the Geneva show, it’s based on the Mark VI Golf and so uses the PQ35 platform, while the hatchbacks and estate are on the latest MQB architecture. It might have the same EA113 265PS 1,984cc four-cylinder turbo engine as the now discontinued Golf R, but unlike that car, the R Cabrio’s engine sends power to the front wheels only, via an XDS electronic differential. A Mark VII Golf R is yet to be announced but most likely will be revealed at September’s Frankfurt IAA or failing that, at Geneva next March.
Despite its lack of 4Motion all-wheel drive, the cabrio weighs in at 1,614kg, which is just under 100kg more than the former Golf R hatchback. In changing the hatchback body style to a convertible, Volkswagen says it had to make structural changes to the underbody, side panels, cross members and doors to maintain rigidity. Another change is reinforcement of the window frames, plus bespoke glass and window seals, and there is an active rollover protection system.
Bearing in mind how heavy the safety and NVH extras have made this car, the performance on offer is respectable, with zero to 62mph taking 6.4 seconds, and the speed limited to 155mph. Does that mean there’s a price to pay with frequent visits to the petrol pump? Well, the official numbers aren’t too bad, with 43.5mpg for the Extra Urban cycle, and 34.4mpg for Combined, but the Urban figure is just 25.7mpg and the CO2 average is 190g/km, while the insurance group is 39E.
To drive, this is a quiet car, which came as a surprise, but lower the roof, floor the throttle and everything changes. The XDS diff keeps the R tracking true through even tight corners entered at high speed, so having an older platform underpinning this car doesn’t mean you’re driving an outdated model.
The current Golf convertible is only the third one to have been launched, despite seven generations of hatchbacks. Volkswagen claims to have sold around 1.42 million convertibles since the founding of the company, with a combined 684,000 units of the first and second generation Golf Cabrios built between 1978 and 2002. After that, there was a decade-long hiatus, with the latest model having its international debut at the Geneva motor show in March 2011.
The latest shape vehicle has been built at the former Wilhelm Karmann factory in Osnabrück since April 2011. The plant has an annual production capacity of 100,000 vehicles but Golf cabriolet production is only part of the picture at what has now been rebranded as a Competence Centre for Convertible and Small Series Production. After buying the site from the receivers of Karmann in late 2009, Volkswagen invested over 300 million euro to manufacture the open-top Golf.
In addition to the dedicated lines which make the Golf cabrio and the low-volume XL1, Volkswagen Osnabrück has also been the location for Porsche Boxster and Cayman overflow assembly since last autumn – the main plant for these two sports cars is Porsche’s own Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen base adjacent to its headquarters.
Osnabrück has body, paint and assembly shops, and like five other Volkswagen Group plants (Wolfsburg, Hanover, Emden, Brunswick and Salzgitter), is located in Germany’s north western state of Lower Saxony. Also on site is a press shop, as well as toolmaking and equipment production. The unit produces tools, production equipment and pressed parts not only for the Osnabrück plant but also for all the brands of the Volkswagen Group.
The former Karmann plant seems likely to be building the current car for some time. Given how long the old-shape Golf cabrio was made, it does seems unlikely that Volkswagen would switch the model to the MQB architecture in the short to medium term. A facelifted model will probably appear around 2015, with its replacement to follow in 2018.
Author: Glenn Brooks
