VOLKSWAGEN TEASES ANOTHER SPECIAL EDITION MK 8R GOLF - THE 333
Volkswagen’s flagship hatchback, the Mk8 R Golf, is absolutely brilliant by all accounts. It’s got some pretty good looks that can be further enhanced with a host of aftermarket parts, it has that turbocharged 2.0-litre 4-cylinder powerplant with a healthy 235 kW of power and that new all-wheel drive drivetrain with a DSG transmission. It ticks all the boxes, but sadly if you also tick all the boxes (on the list of the available options) this hatchback with a long history will set you back over a million Rand. Yeah, it is all that, but over a bar for what started out as the poor man’s sportscar means it will only ever be seen in the hands of the wealthy or tenderpreneurs after the latest Vrrr-Pa for Instagram likes. While Volkswagen fanatics know all about the car and a bunch of orders have been placed for the car, we’re only now starting to see them being delivered to customers. Quite sad when you consider we’re now in May of 2023, and the 8R rolled out to customers in December of 2019. That’s pretty much three and a half years after launch. That means while locals have been impatiently waiting to see the car in the metal, the local market has also missed out on some special editions of the Golf 8. One was the Golf R “20 Years” which was created in celebration of the 20th-anniversary of the R-badged cars starting with the Mk4 R32. This one had a bunch of cool changes to make it a bit more special and also included a power bump to 248 kW, or 333 hp.
While the 20 Years edition is a very cool slice of VW machinery, it was only available last year because last year was the actual 20th anniversary of the 2002 Mk4 R32. This is likely why this new limited edition has been introduced, people like to be different, just like everyone else. Details of the new car, which looks to be called the 333, will only be released at the end of the month, but what we can see is a Mk8 R with paintwork in a colour not offered in the usual palettes buyers can choose from. We can’t see any bodywork changes, but the teaser vid is just that, a teaser and so in those shadows there may be some unseen things. The Akrapovic exhaust is clearly visible, so we’re thinking that it’s not an optional extra with a silly price tag, but likely a part of the overall 333 package. As for the name, it may just be because the car uses the same turbocharged 2.0-litre EA888 powerplant that has the aforementioned 248 kW of power on tap, which is 333 hp and a good idea for the name of the special edition. We’d like to see the interior with special accents like stitching matching the exterior paint with special commemorative badges and maybe even a numbered badge. We’re once again guessing but it may even be limited to just 333 units. That number spread around the world could mean that this limited edition will be very sought after and will be snapped up by collectors. We’d love to see at least one unit touch down here in South Africa, but the way Volkswagen is handling the regular 8R it may only arrive just before 2030.
Take a look at the YouTube video that does a great job of making Volkswagen fanatics sit and think up a gazillion questions about the new version that seems to be called the 333 - is it faster? Does it just have a fancy paint scheme and decals? Will this be the last, last version? Still, we do like what we see: New Golf R 333 Limited Edition | Sneak Peek | Volkswagen R
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