Just because they're advertising the engine as being 256HP doesn't mean that's what it produces. This is the same thing that they've done many times in the past (including with the R32, which was advertised as being 10HP less than the same engine as found in the Audi TT 3.2). The Golf R engine is the same as the one in the Audi TTS, but is being advertised as being less powerful so as not to tread to heavily in TTS territory.
This isn't a guarantee that it hasn't been detuned, but really, why would they bother to develop an entirely new set of programming? They just advertise it as being less powerful than it is, and that way it doesn't step on Audi toes.
-Tim
Perhaps, but in Australia and other Asian markets where you have hot, humid climates and can't find octane at the gas pumps with as much knock resistance as you can in Europe (99 or even 100 RON is available there, which is roughly equivalent to 95 or 96 AKI, our rating system) the R is stated at 256hp, too. If the car really needs that high octane to produce 270hp, then the concern about it running on lower-grade stuff in tough climates seems legitimate. If that's the case then I doubt VW would just "say" it's 256hp and leave it alone. So, they wouldn't have to tune something especially for us, to follow that to it's conclusion.
And since we DO have some similarly extreme climate zones especially across the southern tier of the country and we don't have that ultra-high octane they do in Europe
, it wouldn't shock me if they really do give us that 256 hp ECU version, quite apart from any marketing concerns about Audi products.
I guess it would help to know what the minimum and recommended RON numbers are on European Golf Rs are, especially compared to a normal GTI. Secondly, we could ask our Australian R friends
what numbers tuning flashes are generating for the cars in their market. My hunch is, (though I may be missing something), that a re-flash of a 256hp Golf R will bring you to the same level of power that a re-flash of a 270hp car would, so it's all good. This may be a misplaced analogy, but I believe that chip tuning of the old 150hp 1.8T brought a bigger jump in power, but ultimately arrived at about the same level as a chip of a 180hp 1.8T - both around 200-205hp. I don't think it was anything more than ECU tuning that separated those motors, at least in terms of power output - plenty of other minor differences (VVT, etc.) that had to do with other things, like emissions.
:beer:
