In a world of automakers with in-house tuners like BMW’s M-Series and Mercedes’ AMG, it’s a little curious that Volkswagen only has very few R models − the Golf R plus the Scirocco R for those living outside the U.S. Now comes word that Volkswagen is looking to expand its performance line.
According to Australia’s Motoring, Volkswagen’s head of powertrain development, Dr. Heinz-Jakob Neusser, has indicated the success of the Golf R has may spawn an expanded R performance line.
“We have had a lot of success with the R models, because the R models are very emotional,” said Nuesser. “The typical R models — from the technology side, the engine side — are at the highest level we can achieve, and as we showed with Golf R 400 … We are selling so many and the customer feedback is so positive, it gives us now the idea to think about other R models. It’s only a question of whether the market is willing to take the car and, from our side, whether it’s commercially attractive to make it.”
Right now, the Golf, Passat, and Polo seem to be the best recipients for the R performance line. “In the future, you may also see a wagon. It’s possible. It’s also possible for Polo, Passat — it’s possible for everywhere. It’s only a question of power and price range . . . We get a lot of positive resonance out of the market and, perhaps soon, we will see other R models. But it’s always a question if the market is able to use the car, if they find them attractive. But yes, in principle it’s always possible to do it.”
Six-cylinder engines and all-wheel-drive are also a possibility, but it even gets better than that.“We also have six-cylinder engines which fit longitudinally across the car and these can always be turbocharged, which means there is no limit [what Volkswagen can offer]. The question is do we need a six-cylinder? … It’s a question of power and torque. With too much you can’t get the traction, which is why we have 4MOTION in the toolkit, the platform system, and in each car this is possible.”
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