Last month, production of the regular Volkswagen Golf for the American market came to an end after four decades. Yes, the more powerful Golf GTI and Golf R will continue the legacy of the Golf in the USA, but more affordable versions of the venerable hatchback are no more.

For those who can afford to stretch to the high-performance Golf R, we've just stumbled upon some intriguing news. While we already know that the Golf R will be powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 315 horsepower, it appears that an even more potent version may be on the horizon. Could this be the Golf R Plus that some VW fans were hoping for?

What we do know is that a more powerful Golf than we expected is in the pipeline, but whether or not it will be branded as a Golf R Plus remains up in the air. A VW enthusiast shared the news on his YouTube channel, volkswizard. At around the 03:40 mark in the video, he points to information in the owner's manual for the new Golf 8 which includes a list of engines for the range. The two most powerful engines are a 235 kW (315-hp) turbo-four as well as a 245 kW (329-hp) version of the same engine.

With the 315-hp Golf R already being the most powerful Golf yet, it's possible that the 329-hp version is a Golf R with some sort of performance package. BMW does something similar when you progress from an M car to an M Competition version.

It's worth noting that the owner's manual in question is for the UK market, so there's no guaranteeing that we will also see a more powerful Golf R stateside, but it'd be one of the quickest hatches if it does get here and should be even better for testing out the hatchback's new drift mode.

The 315-hp Golf R is already seriously quick, with a 0-62 mph time of just 4.7 seconds and a top speed of 155 mph. It's already quicker than other hot hatches like the Honda Civic Type R. Both versions of the turbo engine indicated in the manual have an identical torque output of 310 lb-ft. We hope to know more about this more powerful Golf R before the 315-hp version arrives in the US later this year.