Golf R400 Will Get Made, If VW Can Find A Gearbox That Won't Get Killed By The Torque

When we first saw VW's mad 395bhp Golf R400 concept, we rather wanted it to become a production reality. A report suggested that it would indeed be heading for showrooms eventually, but Autocar says company insiders are suggesting there are engineering and cost-related hurdles to get over first. The main one of these is the gearbox.

Manual gearbox fans might be disappointed to learn that should the R400 go into production, VW wants to send the massive power and torque of the 2.0-litre turbo through a DSG dual-clutch auto. The only problem is, the standard Golf R's six-speed DSG can only take up to 280lb ft of torque. Shove through the R400's 369lb ft, and it ain't gonna be happy.

The solution could come in the form of the 10-speed 'box VW recently announced it was developing, which can manage anything up to 369lb ft. All that power and torque and 10 cogs to swap would make this monster an intriguing thing to drive. Here's hoping it does indeed get made.