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- Polo R The happy people at R GmbH have decided to show us a picture of the new Polo R. It seems the official tuning arm of the People's Car, a.k.a Volkswagen, have come up with the R version of the Polo GTI. This Polo R is the fourth R version following the Passat, Golf and Scirocco versions already shown to the general public. According to the still secretive R GmbH, the Polo R makes 210bhp from a new direct injection 1.6liter turbocharged TSI engine. The base Polo GTI has a supercharged and turbocharged direct injection 1.4liter engine. That small four-pot makes 178bhp and 249Nm of torque. The reason I said that R GmbH are secretive is that torque figures of the R has not been released at yet but I expect that it should at least make 270-280Nm. Pretty impressive figures for a production 1.6liter engine. - the Polo R is derived from this car, the Polo GTI. According to sources, unlike the Golf R, the Polo R is front wheel drive like the Polo GTI. I believe as according to some, a front wheel drive is capable of handling up to 260bhp without much handling and grip problems. And because the Polo R only has 210bhp front wheel drive is sufficient. I would also expect a more aggressive electronic XDS differential as well as the usual higher (and harder) specced suspension to go along with the engine upgrade. The usual seven speed DSG transmission would be the gearbox utilised in the R. Of course the biggest change is the visible one. The front bumper is clearly more aggressive with those three large air intakes. The R specified blue color follows the other R cars released recently. This is a Volkswagen which I kind of fancy. It is small (therefore light and nimble), specced well, looks like a hot hatch from the 1980s and early 1990s. Compare this to a Golf GTI which has grown and grown and grown until it looks like a mini MPV. I'd buy this Polo for proper hot hatch thrills. But of course, more information would be released by R GmbH soon and then I would want to test drive the Polo R first before making any solid conclusion on this latest R version of a Volkswagen.

One tuning division has basically emerged right after the announcement that one is in the midst of winding down its business. We already know that Mitsubishi's Ralliart division is basically winding down its business due to Mitsubishi pulling out from most motorsport activities due to the ailing economy but when it comes to the powerhouse Volkswagen, things are different. It has somehow seen the need to set up its own performance tuning company simply called R GmbH. Sales of the R versions of their cars must be very encouraging for this to happen. Now Volkswagen has officially passed the Scirocco R and the Golf R as R GmbH's first models and other products that would emerge from this new company are something called R line design packages. This probably is something like Audi's S line packages, bodykits, spoilers, rims exhaust tips and interior trim. This was also announced at the Geneva Motor Show recently. Volkswagen states as follows: