We’re not going to lie; we have a serious soft spot for the Volkswagen Polo. That’s because the all-conquering Volkswagen Polo is built in Uitenhage, South Africa, and that makes it a bit of home-grown hero in our eyes. More than that, it was voted South African, European and World Car of the Year in 2010.
Sure, the Spanish-built Polo GTI followed in the regular Polo’s footsteps in 2011 and for a while its TSI/DSG drivetrain was a revelation in the B-Segment supermini stakes, but in the last year the Ford Fiesta ST, Peugeot 208 GTi and Renault Clio RS (arriving at JIMS) have wrestled back the junior hot hatch initiative with massively improved cars.
Now, however, the Volkswagen Polo has a bit of WRC pedigree because this week marked a first WRC championship win for Sebastian Ogier behind the wheel of a VW. That’s where Polo R rumours kick into high gear. In order to homologate the Polo WRC rally car, the FIA requires Volkswagen build 2 500 road-going models and although it’s not strictly the same car, it does sound like a cracking vehicle.
The Volkswagen Polo R WRC Edition, as it is known for now, was never allegedly part of the B-segment hatchback’s development plans, but since Polo R WRC Street Concept was shown off earlier this year at the Wörthersee Tour in Austria, Volkswagen development boss, Ulrich Hackenberg, has confirmed the Polo R WRC Edition will start being delivered to customers before the end of 2013.
Like many concept cars that appear at Wörthersee, Austria, they may showcase future technology but we were concerned the Polo R WRC edition didn’t exist. Well, we were wrong, here in the metal, is the most-powerful road-going Volkswagen Polo you can get. Under the bonnet is a Volkswagen Golf VII GTI engine, which means it’s the full-fat 2.0-litre TSI jobbie with the same 162 kW and 350 Nm of torque.
The Polo is smaller than the Golf so you get no prizes for guessing it accelerates faster than a Golf GTI: 0 to 100 km/h in 6.4 seconds, 0.1 seconds faster. The top speed is 245 km/h. The Volkswagen Polo R WRC Edition gets a six-speed manual gearbox, versus the DSG-only GTI, and it has 100 Nm of torque extra to deal with through its front-wheel drive layout.
What further sets the Polo R WRC Edition apart from the regular Polo GTI, is a Golf VI R-inspired go-faster body kit, tweaked front air intakes for improved cooling, optional LED daytime running lights fitted as standard, 18-inch ‘Cagliari’ wheels, a subtle rear spoiler and Volkswagen WRC blue, grey and white racing colours to complete the package.
Volkswagen says the Polo R WRC Edition can handle all that grunty-power and torque because of its trick sports suspension and an electronic XDS differential like you get in the Golf VII GTI. A proper mechanical front differential would have really sweetened the deal for us. The Volkswagen Polo R WRC Edition is priced at €33 900 in Germany (or R460 600), each of the 2 500 units is identical in spec and colour.
