The all-conquering Volkswagen Polo is our favourite B-segment car. It was also voted South Africa’s, Europe’s and Japan’s Import Car of the Year back in 2010 when it first launched. The brilliant Polo GTI followed in 2011 and since then rumours have been rife of a Polo ‘R’ model. The Polo R was allegedly never actually a part of the B-segment hatchback’s development plans, but new reports out of Europe say the Volkswagen Polo R is confirmed and it will be shown off at the next Geneva Motor Show in March 2013.
Volkswagen development boss Ulrich Hackenberg has confirmed the Polo R’s debut in late 2013 as the new Polo flagship in light of Volkswagen’s World Rally Championship (WRC) assault and the marketing opportunities that will arise. Rumour seems to suggest the Polo R will borrow the 2.0-litre turbocharged engine of the outgoing Golf VI GTI. The Polo GTI offers 132 kW of power and the Polo R WRC Street Concept, which Volkswagen showed off earlier this year at the Wörthersee Tour in Austria, delivered a hefty 162 kW and a 0 – 100 km/h time of 6.0 seconds.
It is more likely that the production Polo R will have both a seven-speed DSG gearbox and a manual option as well. Front-wheel drive is likely to remain the only layout, but we certainly hope for a mechanical limited-slip differential to tie that front end down.
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