Tuner adds heat to Volkswagen Golf R32

A German tuner has taken the range-topping Volkswagen Golf R32 hot hatch and beefed it up – to 372bhp.

ABT Sportsline – which has previously built some crazy cars including a modified Audi A5 – has taken the Volkswagen Golf R32’s 3.2-litre V6 engine and tuned the engine management system and fitted a supercharger.

This has increased power from an already adequate 250bhp to 372bhp – just eight less than an Aston Martin Vantage sports car.

This means the Volkswagen Golf R32 will accelerate from 0-62mph (100kph) in five seconds and on to a top speed of 168mph – 13mph more than the standard R32.

Handling should be sublime with the R32 benefiting from four-wheel drive, while ABT has also fitted a sports suspension and 19-inch alloys wheels.

But this isn’t the fastest Golf in a straight line.

Last year Volkswagen unveiled the Golf W12-650, where they had taken a standard Golf GTi and fitted it with a rear-mounted twin-turbocharged version of the 6-litre W12 engine from the Phaeton.

Add Lamborghini brakes and an Audi R8 chassis and you have 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds and a top speed of over 200mph.

But it was a show car designed in just six weeks so, when it came to lapping the Top Gear track the Stig managed a time of 1min 29.6seconds – just 0.8seconds quicker than a standard R32.

ABT hasn’t disclosed a price for its 372bhp Volkswagen Golf R32, but expect to pay about £32,000 plus import taxes for the left-hand drive hot hatch.