2025 Volkswagen Golf R Warmenau: Lightweight Performance Hatch for Australia

The 2025 Volkswagen Golf R Warmenau has been announced for Australia, with the performance hatchback receiving several new lightweight features as part of the package.

Named after the village in Wolfsburg where the company’s R performance arm is headquartered, the Warmenau package can be optioned on the newly-released Mk8.5 Golf R for those wanting to improve track times.

Priced from $6500, buyers get a set of lightweight 19-inch ‘Warmenau’ forged alloy wheels, which are said to be 20 per cent lighter than the Golf R’s standard wheels – improving unsprung weight, which can directly affect acceleration, braking, handling, and ride.

Being forged, the wheels are significantly stronger, allowing designers to use thinner spokes, which has the advantage of also cooling the brakes much more effectively.

According to Volkswagen’s test drivers – who test the car’s durability on Germany’s iconic Nurburgring circuit – the Golf R typically requires a new set of brakes after 18 hard laps. But by only fitting to the forged alloy wheels, the heat dissipation is that much improved, the brakes can last an additional three laps without needing to be swapped.

The Warmenau also comes with a titanium Akrapovic exhaust, which improves the Golf R’s soundtrack, while also saving seven kilograms.

To help differentiate the Warmenau package, owners also get real carbon-fibre trim throughout the interior.

The Golf R Warmenau is available alongside the Golf R Black Edition, which adds several blacked-out highlights such as tinted headlights, blacked badges – including illuminated black VW badges – and gloss black quad tailpipes.

CarSauce understands it took several years to get the black VW badges approved by the company’s board.

Limited to just 300 vehicles – which approximately half are already spoken for at the time of writing – the Golf R Black Edition also gets a matte black version of the lightweight 19-inch ‘Warmenau’ forged alloy wheels.