Volkswagen Is Testing the Next-Gen Golf GTI TCR ... Outside of the U.S.

The next-generation GTI TCR is catching camera lenses, but it's unlikely to see American soil.

volkswgen gti tcr
Volkswagen

The Volkswagen Golf GTI entered its eighth generation at this year's (digital) Geneva motor show. It’s always a significant shift for various model variants when a new generation comes along: Sometimes the slower selling models don’t make the generational leap (we’re looking at you three-door Golf). Well, it looks like Volkswagen is sticking with its race-inspired GTI TCR for the MkVIII Golf if recent spy shots are to be believed.

For those out of the loop, TCR, or Touring Car Championship, is effectively the place where race-bred hot hatchbacks duke it out on road courses around the world. Building off the growing popularity of the series, Volkswagen cranked the standard GTI up a few notches and released a TCR-variant of the front-wheel-drive GTI.

Effectively slotted between the Golf GTI and the Golf R, the previous-generation GTI TCR sent an impressive 286 hp through the front wheels. That’s right, the GTI TCR is akin to the Honda Civic Type R and pushes lots of power through only the fronts. The expectation is that the next-generation models could see a horsepower bump and possibly crest 300 hp.

If you’re just hearing about the road-going GTI TCR for the first time, we’ll that's because you probably live in the United States. The Golf GTI TCR hasn’t made its way over to the U.S. yet, and with the ever-shrinking selection of hatchbacks here, it probably won’t this time either. Fortunately, we’ll still be getting the GTI and the more powerful, all-wheel-drive Golf R.

Of course, we won’t know for certain about its fate in the United States until the GTI TCR makes its official debut, so stay tuned. Stranger things have happened.

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