 Inside Volkswagen's New Golf R And we say goodbye to IndyCar legend U.E. 'Pat' Patrick. BY WES RAYNAL VW's product-marketing VP takes us behind the scenes of the company's most powerful Golf ever, the upcoming Golf R. Here's what's happening in the car world: FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK It seems like all we've been writing about lately are crossovers and EVs. That could be because that's pretty much all we've been writing about lately. So it's refreshing to give some background on a car we're very much looking forward to — VW's 2022 Golf R. We reached out to Hein Schafer, Volkswagen of America's senior vice president for product marketing and strategy to discuss the notion that cars — including enthusiast cars — aren't totally dead, with the upcoming Golf R and GTI (the U.S. is the biggest market for both cars) as evidence. "Golf is pretty much the common DNA thread through the VW brand going back eight generations now," Schafer told Autoweek. "So basically post-Beatle the Golf is the car that has shown what the VW brand is all about. It's also been one of the models that has debuted a lot of new tech that you eventually see cascade through the rest of the VW lineup." Golf 8 continues that tradition. "In the GTI and R there's torque vectoring systems, new infotainment screens, new digital clusters, new shift by wire … so there's a lot of new technology debuting in the Golf 8 that is new to the VW brand." Schafer told us that even though the VW Group strategy is to go electric, one of the things the company has been "notoriously good at" is having fun-to-drive vehicles. He thinks that the new EVs will be fun to drive but Golf still is "a fun car to be in and a fun car to drive," adding "the new Golf R [and GTI] is a fundamental leap over the 7. "We still firmly believe our cars are driven by people who love to drive," he told us, "and we're very excited that our German colleagues executed the 8 and did so properly. We're very excited to get our hands on the car." Schafer said that though there is a slight performance upgrade (the new Golf R's 315 hp is 27 hp more than the previous Golf R) and the engine is a bit better he told us he's more excited about what engineers have done with the chassis, suspension and all the driver-assist features. "With a very minor horsepower bump the car shaved a lot of time [19 seconds!] off the seventh-generation Nurburgring time. The new car drives better, corners better and brakes better. It's going to be more fun to drive than the 7. That epitomizes our brand. We want to be a brand for people who love driving our cars." Changes to the new car include bigger brakes, spring and antiroll bar rates increased 10%, increased negative camber on the front wheels, and recalibrated steering for better feedback. The biggest mechanical upgrade is the new electronic torque-vectoring rear drive unit that Schafer referred to, able to apportion torque side to side and making the new R significantly quicker in corners, he said. VW has also upped the R and GTI's game considerably in terms of build quality for the eighth generation. "We realize the hatchback market is shrinking and to hold on to our customers we need to offer more value, more tech at more or less the same price, and I think we've done a hell of a job at that." We'll be the judge of that when we drive the new hatches, and we can't wait.
CAR NEWS AND NOTES Singer is adding a detour to its decade-long history of building 911s, adding an off-road option to its cars. Since 2009 Singer has built beautifully balanced — and expensive! — 964-era Porsche 911s, cars it "reimagines" with its own take on suspension, tires, interiors and delicious exteriors. Prices for those are around half a million to start, and that's not a typo. Now Singer is branching out to offer the same meticulous attention to detail but in a 964 911 in off-road trim. The first such offering is what you see here, called the "All-Terrain Competition Study," or ACS. Singer claims the car came about at the "request of a long-term client." The company looked to a golden era of Porsche rallying — the 1980s — and to the 911 SC/RS and 959 to reimagine this World Rally Championship-inspired, all-terrain machine. Take a look and tell us what you think. Henrik Fisker claims he is considering a radical pickup body style for his next production vehicle and previewed how it could look with a rendering on Twitter. The Fisker Inc. CEO tweeted: "Ok, yes, next vehicle might be a lifestyle pick up truck! But not just any truck! We want to create the lightest, most efficient EV pick up in the world! Making it, the most sustainable! image is just a teaser! Not the final: final will be way more radical!" Fisker says the recently revealed Ocean electric SUV is expected to go on sale in 2022. Even with all the EVs that have hit the market lately, cheap gasoline and thus larger vehicles still rule. In fact the EPA said this week in its automotive trends report that the fuel efficiency of the U.S. vehicle fleet actually declined in 2019, dropping 0.2 mpg to 24.9 mpg. The EPA pointed out that since 2004 fuel economy along with CO2 emissions had improved for 12 out of the past 15 years, but that means we've also seen declines at times, with the last taking place in 2014. Important to note, the average fuel efficiency of the U.S. vehicle fleet 15 years ago was measurably lower, at 19.3 mpg. RACING LINES U.E. "Pat" Patrick, the three-time Indianapolis 500-winning team owner, co-founder of Championship Auto Racing Teams with Roger Penske, and founder of the Indy Lights Series, died on Jan. 5 at the age of 91. Patrick co-founded Championship Auto Racing Teams and founded the Indy Lights Series. Patrick won three Indy 500s and 45 IndyCar races as a team owner. Patrick Racing's best season was 1989, when Patrick won both the Indianapolis 500 and the CART championship with driver Emerson Fittipaldi. You don't want to miss Mike Pryson's excellent tribute to Patrick, believe me. For the second time since its initial release, a race on the 2021 IndyCar Series schedule has been postponed thanks to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has been rescheduled to Sunday, April 25, so the season now begins April 18 at Barber Motorsports Park in Leeds, Alabama. The season opener was scheduled to take place on the streets of St. Petersburg March 7. The Grand Prix of Long Beach had already been rescheduled from April 18 to Sept. 19 and is now the championship-deciding race.
MOSTLY ODDS, SOME ENDS With Porsche's new GT3 due soon Porsche lined up five of its greatest GT3 and GT2 911s and Mark Vaughn got to drive them on the 1.8-mile road course at the Porsche Experience Center in LA. Longtime GT car manager Andreas Preuninger, the patron saint of GT greatness at Porsche, personally chose the five cars, and, according to Vaughn, they're wonderful choices — a chance to see and feel the progression of the greatest sports cars Porsche has ever made. Be sure to catch Vaughn's once-in-a-lifetime story.
LISTEN UP On this week's Quick Spin, Patrick Carone gives you a walk-around of the latest Genesis, the GV80 crossover, and then takes you along for a ride. In between he and Wesley Wren elaborate on Genesis' first crossover. Tune in here, on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or wherever podcasts are played. QUOTE OF THE WEEK "He was tough. He'd bust your balls for sure, without question. But he was fair. That's all you really want from a team owner. He was a competitor and would do whatever it would take to get the right equipment, the right people, the right organization, and he was willing to take chances."
WHAT'S AHEAD That's it for this week. As always we're on the case this weekend, monitoring and reporting on automakers' and sanctioning bodies' latest happenings . We'll continually update the site of course—you'll know what's happening when we do. Check back often! Thanks for reading Autoweek, and please stay safe.
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