Behold the new Volkswagen Golf R Estate

Today is officially A Good Day, for we are able to bring you news of a new fast estate. Set to go on sale in the UK this coming September, likely for around £40,000, is this: the Mk8 Golf R Estate. 

Of course it uses the same drivetrain as the Golf R five-door hatch – a 2.0-litre turbo petrol making 316bhp and 310lb ft of torque, driving all four wheels through a seven-speed DSG. VW claims 0-62mph in 4.9secs – 0.2secs up on the hatch owing to an unspecified amount of extra weight – and a top speed of up to 168mph if you specify the optional ‘R Performance Package’. 

The real reason you’ll want to go for the R Performance Package, beyond the largely pointless (unless you live in Germany) 13mph hike in top speed, is the two extra drive modes it gives you. ‘Special’ is effectively Nürburgring Mode, and ought to work pretty well on rutted British B-roads. ‘Drift’, meanwhile, does what it says on the tin. “Drift opens up a whole new level of driving dynamics,” says VW, “and makes drifting much safer and more fun”. Count us in. 

What the Estate gives you over and above the hatch is significantly more boot space – 611 litres with the rear-seats in place, or 1,642 litres with them folded flat. That’s more than you get in, for example, an Audi RS4. And unlike the hatch you can get the Golf R Estate with a towbar, allowing you to haul up to 1.9 tonnes. 

The first cars should arrive in September and are likely to cost around £1,200 more than the equivalent hatchback. Sold?