Volkswagen just made the Golf R even faster

For the sum of £2,300 (on top of the ‘base’ hatch’s £32,710), you can amp up your Volkswagen Golf R to 166mph.

Yes folks, it’s time for the Performance Pack option for Volkswagen’s venerable Golf R hot hatch. For that £2,300 outlay, not only does VW remove the 155mph top speed limiter to allow that 166mph top speed (168mph if you buy the more expensive estate), you also get better brakes and bigger wheels.

Those brakes are dubbed ‘R-Performance’, and shave 2kg from the braking system’s overall weight. We’re told these ‘built pin discs’ with their aluminium brake pots and cast steel friction ring means that under ‘stress’, the Golf R’s braking is more durable. Perfect, VW claims, for when you hit the track.

Elsewhere, the 18in standard-fit ‘Cadiz’ alloys are shelved in favour of 19in ‘Spielberg’ alloys. If you buy the hatch, you even get an extra rear spoiler that adds a not-insignificant 20kg of downforce.

So, harder, more durable brakes, new wheels, more speed. All nice and lovely.

If you want more schportiness, there is something else you can option on your hatch (not for the wagon, sadly) R: a titanium sports exhaust system. This is 7kg less than a regular R’s exhaust, arriving via the medium of exhaust specialist Akrapovic, and features round rear pipes and valve tech for “an incomparable exhaust sound”. Yours for £2,975.

You’ll note there is no power increase, but as standard the Golf R hatch (equipped with a DSG ‘box) produces 306bhp from a 2.0-litre turbo petrol, and will go from 0-62mph in 4.6s. Probably more, as VW can be quite conservative on those figures...