VW Arteon VR6 Turbo ‘Good Fit’ For Australia

Volkswagen is working on a new V6 turbo-powered version of its Arteon sedan that will see it produce over 300kW and is on the cards for Australia, if it goes into production.

Confirmation of the new hot VW was reported by British publication Car Throttle over the weekend with the online outlet told a narrow-angle 3.0-litre turbo VR6 had been shoehorned into the Arteon’s front-end that combines with the latest version of Haldex all-wheel drive.

“We’ve combined it with the last version of the Haldex, where you can provoke a bit of oversteer. This is a real agile, powerful car,” Volkswagen product spokesperson Martin Hube said. “You can beat all the Porsche Panameras out of your way!”

The engine had been originally developed to sit above the 2.5-litre V6-powered Volkswagen Teramont SUV produced for the Chinese market but the boffins at Wolfsburg figured the thinner narrow-angle 301kW V6, which was originally developed by the German maker in the 1980s, would also fit in the new sedan. 

The Australian version of the Arteon is currently available in only one tune that’s powered by the same 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine as in the Golf R. The smaller engine produces 206kW of power and 350Nm via a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission and accelerates from 0-100km/h in 5.6 seconds. The new turbocharged VR6 engine would add almost 100kW of power and make it a hot albeit pricier rival to the likes of the upcoming new Holden Commodore VRX and Kia Stinger GT, even encroaching on the Volkswagen-owned Audi A5 line-up.

Speaking to TMR, Volkswagen Group Australia PR manager Kurt McGuiness said the local arm would readily embrace the new model to its line-up.

“We know our Australian customers love a performance Volkswagen, and given all locally-delivered Arteons are sporty R-Line cars, a V6 variant would be a good fit in our range. If and when such a model becomes available, we would certainly be considering it.”

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