Being around since 2014, the Volkswagen Golf R Variant is getting ready to gain a mid-life cycle facelift.

The first prototypes have been already spied out in the open, and the latest one has been taken to the Nurburgring for some fast laps and, subsequently, a few technical adjustments.

Looking all production-ready, with its camouflaged front and rear ends, suggesting that this is where the exterior updates will be limited, the vehicle sounds as good as ever and even if Volkswagen hasn’t confirmed anything on the hot compact wagon for now, rumor has it that it will use the same 2.0-liter, four-banger TSI, from the current model.

However, instead of the 300 PS (296 HP) and 380 Nm (280 lb-ft) of torque that sit at its disposal in its current form, allowing it to go from naught to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 5.1 seconds, it could gain a minor power bump.

As for its reveal date, nothing is known so far, but we could be looking for a mid-2017 presentation, with the first examples to hit dealers by the end of the year.

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