VW Could Soon Be Going Power Crazy With Hot R Versions Of The Passat And Polo

If you think the VW Polo could do with a little more power, or lament the demise of the old Passat R36, we have good news for you: both the Polo and Passat could soon be available in hot ‘R’ form. VW powertrain development head Dr Heinz-Jakob Neusser told Motoring that a wider range of R models are “under consideration,” and hinted that the Polo and Passat could soon be targeted for the ‘R’ treatment.

A hotter version of the Polo materialised a couple of years ago in the form of the 217bhp Polo WRC (below), but that was a limited-run, front-wheel drive car that never went on sale in the UK. The eventual Polo R, on the other hand, would most likely be four-wheel drive, borrowing its mechanical bits from the Audi S1.

What a Passat R might entail is more of a question mark, but the possibility of a turbocharged six-cylinder was mentioned by Dr Nuesser. As much as we’d like to see a six-pot, a heavily-boosted version of VW Group’s EA888 2.0-litre four-pot is what we’d expect, particularly with recent concepts like the VW Golf R400 and Audi TT Quattro Sport showcasing what the engine is capable of.

This isn’t the first time VW has been made noises about producing more R models, so this fresh news is very promising indeed. Watch this space.