When Volkswagen started work on the Golf R MK8, the folks from Wolfsburg asked their colleagues at Audi if they could use the 2.5-liter TFSI engine from the Audi RS3, though they received a negative answer. It’s probably safe to say we are never going to see a performance Golf with the inline-five from the factory, but that doesn’t mean VW enthusiasts won’t build one. In fact, a Golf R MK7 2.5 TFSI already exists and it’s featured in a new video.
Attached at the top of this page, the 12-minute clip introduces us to Kavin, the owner of the white hot hatch, who asked Innovative Motorsports to swap the engine of his Golf R with a 2.5-liter inline-five from Audi. “I never meant to mod it, but one thing leads to another. I started modding, modding, modding, and the four-cylinder exhaust note just wasn’t cutting it for me.” And that’s how everything began. VW won't build a five-cylinder Golf R but Kavin did it.
Innovative Motorsports is a company specialized in swapping RS3 engines into Golf MK7s. The whole process takes about five weeks and starts with a crashed RS3, which is used as an engine donor. Virtually all the hardware is replaced, including the engine, transmission, and even the subframe in this case. We are happy to hear the end result is a completely functional five-cylinder Golf R without any instrument cluster lights and fully emissions compliable.
The best part is that no fabrication is needed as both the Audi RS3 and the Golf R are based on the same MQB platform. This means nearly the entire procedure is not that difficult as the engine and transmission simply bolt right into the car. The wiring and software are probably the hardest part as the entire engine compartment is basically rewired.
But what are the costs of such a project? Well, according to the owner Kavin, it depends very much and what you have and what you want to achieve. In his case, he managed to sell his old engine, transmission, and rear differential to recoup some of the money he spent on buying the RS3. The range is huge – you can go from as low as $15,000 to nearly $80,000, depending on what you can do on yourself and what you are putting into the car.
