Volkswagen Polo R On The Backburner: Report
Volkswagen's plans for a hot R version of the dimunitive Polo hatch have reportedly been put on the backburner yet again.
While Audi is understood to be soldiering on with development of an all-wheel-drive version of the PQ25 platform shared by
Volkswagen's plans for a hot R version of the dimunitive Polo hatch have reportedly been put on the backburner yet again.
While Audi is understood to be soldiering on with development of an all-wheel-drive version of the PQ25 platform shared by the Polo and the A1, Volkswagen insiders have been quoted as describing the Polo R as too difficult to put a price on.
“We already have Polo GTI at £19,000 and then the Golf GTI is only another £6000 more; it would be difficult to price the Polo R between them,” an unnamed source at Volkswagen told British magazine Autocar this week.
In Australia, the Polo GTI starts at $27,790, while the larger and more powerful Golf GTI is priced from $38,990. Although an all-wheel-drive and more highly-tuned Polo R could conceivably slot in between the two GTI cars, Volkswagen is apparently wary of letting the performance Polo creep too far into Golf money.
Reports of an all-wheel-drive S-badged Audi A1 came to a head last month with Audi revealing a prototype A1 Quattro, described as part of the company's commemorative Fascination Of Quattro celebrations.
While the Polo GTI and the range-topping A1 are powered by a turbo- and super-charged 1.4 litre TSI petrol engine developing a respectable 135kW, the S1 would likely feature a more highly-tuned version of the same engine, or a larger 1.6 litre engine.