VW Polo R WRC... Fastest Polo ever build

The VW Polo has been a sales winner for years, but now Volkswagen is chasing motorsport success in the World Rally Championship. And in order to meet FIA regulations, the company has had to build 2,500 Polo R WRC high-performance road cars to homologate its new rally racer.



Instead of the 300bhp 1.6-litre turbo engine, six-speed sequential gearbox and four-wheel-drive system of the WRC entry, the road car uses a 217bhp 2.0 turbo engine from the Golf GTI, making it the most powerful Polo ever. The engine is mated to a six-speed manual gearbox, and drives the front wheels only.

And even after the first few miles of driving the new hot hatch, it’s clear the engine delivers overwhelming punch from low revs – often a little too much for the front tyres to cope with.



As well as beating the 178bhp figure developed by the current hottest Polo, the GTI, the Polo R WRC has 100Nm more torque, at 350Nm, ensuring impressive in-gear acceleration. On paper, the WRC is a mere half-a-second faster from 0-62mph than the standard GTI, but it feels much quicker than the 6.4-second time VW claims.

As the seven-speed DSG fitted to the Polo GTI wouldn’t be able to handle the larger engine’s extra torque, the WRC makes do with a six-speed manual. However, while it doesn’t have the sequential gearbox ‘feel’ that would make the R WRC seem more like a rally car for the road, the manual gearbox does deliver a more involving drive.

It’s clear that this Polo is all about performance. As well as the upgraded engine and gearbox, the suspension has been stiffened and lowered, plus larger, 16-inch brake discs have been fitted. These are covered by 18-inch lightweight alloy wheels with wide 225-section tyres.



But even on a dry road the Polo overwhelms its front tyres, particularly in the first three gears, and regularly triggers its ESP system. In the damp, more committed driving means that the yellow traction control light is almost constantly flickering away. It demands plenty of concentration, making it particularly difficult to make the most of the WRC’s hefty power reserves.



The tweaks to the bodywork, meanwhile, are minimal. While the rally car gets swollen wheelarches, a low-slung front splitter and huge rear wing, the Polo R WRC features a subtly uprated front bumper and small roof spoiler. Even the rally-inspired decals are kept to a minimum.

Inside, the WRC features more supportive front seats, trimmed in Alcantara. There’s a sports steering wheel covered in the same material, too, while the motorsport theme is further extended with WRC badging and aluminium pedals.



VW has confirmed that no more than the compulsory 2,500 cars will be built. They’ll all be left-hand drive, and won’t be sold officially in the UK.

In Germany, the starting price is 33,900 Euros (around £29,100), making the most powerful Polo ever a very expensive proposition. Still, it’s quite a bargain if you put it next to the rally car.

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[Source:autoexpress.co.uk]

2014 Volkswagen Golf GTi ?

Design Vision GTI is  based on the 7th Golf's GTi generation... and is only an "idea"

Design Vision GTI remains Volkswagen’s answer to the question nobody was really asking having driven the new Golf GTI. Namely, how can it be improved further? Chris Harris didn’t have a whole lot to say against the seventh-gen GTI when he drove it last week. And he didn’t even get a go with the uprated 230hp GTI Performance version.

He can now skip that and go straight to this, the 503hp, 3.0-litre, direct injection, V6 turbo powered Design Vision GTI VW will be bringing along to the Worthersee meet. And to think Audi and SEAT must have been pretty chuffed what they came up with too…

To be fair, while Audi and SEAT’s concepts have half a grip on reality – respectively lightweight technology for road cars and customer racing vehicles for touring and endurance competition – the Design Vision GTI is a little more unhinged. VW is claiming 503hp, a 186mph top speed and 0-62mph in 3.9 seconds from its concept. Even your most ambitious Worthersee fanboy probably couldn’t reliably see that kind of power from the standard GTI’s 2.0-litre turbo, the Design Vision GTI benefitting from access to a somewhat better stocked toybox than your average Euro tuner. Indeed, though there’s no official confirmation the twin-turbo petrol V6 was possibly purloined in a late night excursion into the Porsche factory and levered out of a facelifted Panamera before being given a light tickle to go beyond 500hp and 369lb ft. It also drives through a four-wheel drive transmission and DSG twin-clutch gearbox, ceramic brakes bringing it all back down to earth.

If nothing else the Design Vision GTI demonstrates a somewhat unexpectedly extreme take on VW’s MQB Modular Transverse Matrix (Modularen Querbaukasten in case you were wondering about the anglicised description/abbreviation disparity) that underpins the new GTI. Here the front axle has been moved forwards for a longer wheelbase despite a 15mm reduction in overall length. It’s also 57mm lower and 71mm wider with 57mm extra in the front track and 63mm in the rear. Sadly this is just one of the reasons VW says “the concept car belongs on the race track.” Still, if this can be achieved with the MQB platform even as a one-off concept it bodes well for possible future production models, the four-wheel drive underpinning this car perhaps hinting towards (but, sadly, probably not) a reprise of V6 R Golfs of years gone by.

Finishing touches include a pared back interior with a giant racer style DSG gear selector, minimal switchgear, plenty of carbon and special helmet storage bins behind the seats. RS Porsche style fabric door releases finish the minimalist look.

So far VW has only released the following concept sketch; more photos coming as soon as we can get hold of them.

[Source: pistonheads.com]

Old vs New Scirocco Shootout!

On this episode of Head 2 Head, Automobile Magazine's Jason Cammisa heads to Germany to pit the last Volkswagen Scirocco sold in the United States against the current 2012 version - a Twincharged I-4-powered TSI which remains tantalizingly out of reach to American buyers.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJtcTgBdLF8]

BMW M3 E30 with Volkswagen Scirocco 1st generation

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Great Pictures by Nilz Photography
© Nilz Photography
All Rights Reserved

Volkswagen Polo GTi 1.4lt 180bhp DSG 7-speed

Can a hot hatchback work with an automatic gearbox?

If you’d asked me a few years ago, I’d have laughed it off as a fairly silly query. But with the constant improvement of twin-clutch transmissions  it’s now a perfectly valid question.

Buying a GTI is as much about performance as quality, though, and this is where things got intriguing. There’s no doubting the Polo’s punch: its turbo- and supercharged 1.4-litre petrol engine produces 178bhp and 184lb ft of torque, the latter available from just 2000rpm. And with power sent to the front wheels via the near-seamless shifts of a seven-speed DSG ’box, acceleration was as effortless as it was relentlessly brisk. Passengers were often astonished the first time I passed a national speed limit sign, eyes widened by how quickly such a meek-looking machine gathered pace. If you don’t know your cars, the 17in Monza alloys and red-striped grille are too subtle to be giveaways.



And the answer to my initial question? DSG still has flaws, namely poor pick-up from a standstill and the occasional unexpected downchange, but it’s an admirable bit of technology. Yet each time I returned to the Polo after a night or two in a manual car, I immediately missed the intimacy of nailing gearchanges myself. I appreciate the efficiency and refinement a dual-clutch ’box provides, but cars this small – especially heated-up versions – need a manual option. The Polo doesn’t have one.



So, it’s fast, classy, comfortable and a piece of cake to run, if far from pulsating dynamically. It’s rare, too – 599 Polo GTIs found UK homes in 2011, a mere 1.3 per cent of Polo sales. But while the large mileage I covered in our car proves how pleasurable it was to live with, I’ve not pined for the Polo since it left. It felt more GT than GTI, and badged thus it would have delivered on its promise far more sweetly.

PhotoGallery

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Νέο Volkswagen Golf GTI...Εικόνες από την Γενεύη!

Επίσημο: Volkswagen Golf GTI 2013

Αυτό είναι το νέο Volkswagen Golf GΤΙ παραγωγής το οποίο θα παρουσιαστεί στην έκθεση της Γενεύης την επόμενη εβδομάδα. Σε σχέση με το πρωτότυπο που είδαμε στην έκθεση του Παρισιού τον Σεπτέμβριο του 2012, η έκδοση παραγωγής του νέου Golf GTI δεν διαφέρει σχεδόν καθόλου.

Το αυτοκίνητο φορά τον 2,0-λιτρο TFSI και είναι διαθέσιμο σε δύο εκδόσεις. Η  απλή -Stage 1- GTI έκδοση αποδίδει 220 άλογα στις 4.500 σ.α.λ – 6.200 σ.α.λ με 350 Nm ροπής από τις 1.500 σ.α.λ έως και τις 4.500 σ.α.λ, 70 Nm περισσότερα από την προηγούμενη γενιά και ίδια, με την ροπή του Golf R. Με την τέταρτη ταχύτητα, τα 80-120 χλμ/ώρα τα κάνει σε 5,0 δευτερόλεπτα, ενώ με την πέμπτη ταχύτητα μέσα σε 6,0 δευτερόλεπτα. Τα 0-100 χλμ/ώρα τα κάνει σε 6,5 δευτερόλεπτα ενώ έχει τελική ταχύτητα 246 χλμ/ώρα.



Το Stage 2, ονομάζεται GTI Performance και αποδίδει 230 άλογα στις 4.700 σ.α.λ – 6.200 σ.α.λ με την ροπή να παραμένει η ίδια, στα 350 Nm από τις 1.500 σ.α.λ έως και τις 4.600 σ.α.λ. Τα 0-100 χλμ/ώρα τα κάνει σε 6,4 δευτερόλεπτα ενώ η τελική του ταχύτητα, περιορίζεται ηλεκτρονικά στα 250 χλμ/ώρα. Η έκδοση αυτή διαθέτει και το νέο ηλεκτρονικό μπλοκέ διαφορικό VAQ, ενώ επίσης φορά και μεγαλύτερα φρένα 17″ (340 x 30 mm μπροστά και 310 x 22 mm πίσω) με τις κόκκινες δαγκάνες να διαθέτουν το λογότυπο GTI. Με λιγότερο βάρος, περισσότερη δύναμη αλλά και με το νέο ηλεκτρονικό μπροστά διαφορικό VAQ, το νέο Golf GTI γυρνά στην “Πράσινη Κόλαση” σε 8:30, 8 δευτερόλεπτα γρηγορότερα σε σχέση με τη προηγούμενη γενιά.



Τόσο οι εκπομπές CO2, όσο και η μέση κατανάλωση έχουνε μειωθεί και το αυτοκίνητο πληροί τα στάνταρ του Euro 6 το οποίο θα τεθεί σε ισχύ από το 2014. Σε αυτό συμβάλει και το σύστημα Start/Stop που βρίσκεται στον στάνταρ εξοπλισμό, ανεξαρτήτως κιβωτίου. Η απλή έκδοση έχει μέση κατανάλωση 6,0-λίτρα/100 χλμ και 139 γρ/χλμ εκπομπές CO2 με το 6-τάχυτο μηχανικό κιβώτιο, ενώ με το 6-τάχυτο DSG 6,4 λίτρα/100 χλμ και 148 γρ/χλμ εκπομπές CO2. Αυτό σημαίνει μείωση κατά 18% (1,3 λίτρα) σε σχέση με τη προηγούμενη γενιά. Με το αυτόματο DSG κιβώτιο η δυνατή έκδοση έχει μέση κατανάλωση 6,5 λίτρα/100 χλμ με 150 γρ/χλμ εκπομπές CO2.



H βασική έκδοση ζυγίζει 1.351 κιλά (συμπεριλαμβανομένου ενός οδηγού 68 κιλών, αποσκευών 7 κιλών και το ντεπόζιτο να είναι γεμάτο κατά 90%). Τα φρένα του αποτελούνται από μπροστά αεριζόμενους δίσκους 312 x 25 mm και 300 x 12 mm πίσω. Οι δαγκάνες είναι βαμμένες σε κόκκινο χρώμα και πίσω συναντάμε διπλές χρωμιωμένες απολήξεις εξατμίσεων. Διαθέτει σπορ χαμηλότερη ανάρτηση και πατά πάνω σε 17″ “Brooklyn” ζάντες με ελαστικά διαστάσεων 225/45.



Στιλιστικά διαθέτει επιθετικό bodykit αποτελούμενο από νέο μπροστά προφυλακτήρα, νέα γρίλια, πλαϊνά μαρσπιέ, διαχύτη και σκουρόχρωμα πίσω LED φωτιστικά σώματα. Στο εσωτερικό η Volkswagen έχει τοποθετήσει bucket καθίσματα, σπορ τριάκτινο δερμάτινο τιμόνι, νέο επιλογέα ταχυτήτων, χωρίς την ανάγλυφη υφή από μπαλάκι του Golf όπως του πρωτότυπου, νέο πίνακα οργάνων, μαύρα γυαλιστερά διακοσμητικά και ατσαλένια ανοξείδωτα πεντάλς.

Θα είναι διαθέσιμο σε τρία χρώματα κόκκινο, άσπρο, μαύρο και στη Γερμανία να είναι διαθέσιμο από τον προσεχή Μάιο με αρχική τιμή τα 28.350 ευρώ.  Αν θέλεις να μάθεις τα πάντα για το νέο Golf GTI ρίξε μια ματιά σε αυτό το άρθρο.

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[Πηγή: Volkswagen]