Johannesburg - Two months after the facelifted Volkswagen Golf ‘7.5’ range went on sale in South Africa, two of the most exciting derivatives are set to go on sale this month, these being the GTD and the new Golf R.
Ahead of the pair’s launch, VWSA has posted pricing and specifications for the pair on its
, with the GTD listed at R506 700 and the R priced at R647 300.
Golf GTD
Touted as the GTI of diesels, the GTD is dressed up like its hot-hatch sibling and powered by a 130kW/380Nm version of VW’s familiar 2-litre TDI engine, mated to a six-speed DSG dual-clutch gearbox.
Local cars come with leather sports seats (heated up front), an eight-speaker sound system linked to a 20cm touchscreen, cruise control and ambient interior lighting.
The GTD rides on 18-inch Sevilla alloy wheels and comes with a styling kit that could see it easily mistaken for a GTI. LED headlights are also part of the deal here.
Best of all, the GTD costs almost R40 000 less than the GTI and our initial impressions indicate that it could be the pick of the bunch. Jesse Adams drove one in Spain earlier this year and was hugely impressed by it. Read his impressions
.
Golf R
Topping the line-up is a revised version of the all-wheel-drive Golf R, with outputs from its 2-litre TSI turbopetrol engine raised from 206kW to 213kW, while the maximum torque figure remains 380Nm.
As the hottest Golf of them all, the R receives its own specific body styling kit and sports suspension, as well as 19-inch Sebring alloy wheels.
Inside it gets the 20cm touchscreen Composition Media system as per the GTD, along with ambient lighting and leather sports seats, but over and above all that the R also comes with VW’s 30.5cm digital instrument cluster (Active Info Display in VW speak) as standard.
However, at R647 300, it does come at an almost R100 000 premium over the R545 800 GTI.