Cheaper Volkswagen Golf R Grid Edition announced

Volkswagen has announced that a special edition, sub-$50K Golf R will arrive in Australia in December.

There are no images of it yet – because it hasn’t quite been built yet, but what we do have are the details.

At $47,490 in manual guise or $49,990 with DSG, The Golf R Grid Edition is priced a few thousand dollars south of the standard R hatch.

It has an interior fitted with ‘race’ sports seats rather than the leather usually associated with the inside of an R, plus a slightly smaller screen and no active dash.

For comparison, the regular R in manual costs $52,990, while a DSG-equipped version sets buyers back $55,490.

The Grid Edition joins the Golf GTI Performance Edition as a special that’s only available in the Australian market.

The Grid edition scores the same performance from the 213kW/380Nm 2.0-litre turbo four as the standard R, so the most noticeable differences will be in trim specification.

As previously mentioned, leather seats are swapped out for 'Race' sports cloth and Alcantara combination upholstery, while the exterior of the Grid Edition is adorned with black door mirrors.Also available in Grid Edition specification is the Golf

R wagon, which comes with a DSG gearbox and is priced at $51,990 – still less than a standard manual R.

The wagon scores black roof rails to set it apart from the rest.

However, if you’ve got extra cash to burn and can’t wait until December for the Grid Edition, the Golf R Wolfsburg edition is now available in Australia.

In either hatch or wagon form, the Wolfsburg comes with DSG only, and costs a few dollars more than its more basic variants.

At $57,990 for the Wolfsburg hatch, or $59,990 for the wagon (which isn’t a massive step up from the $57,490 standard price for an R wagon), the Wolfsburgs cop 19-inch ‘Pretoria’ alloy wheels, carbon fibre exterior mirror housings, extra paint options, and Nappa leather appointed upholstery.