Volkswagen R division to go solo

By Tim Beissmann | January 28th, 2010

Volkswagen’s famous “R” performance family is about to follow the lead of fellow German manufacturers and become its own entity, according to company insiders.

To be officially announced at the Geneva Motor Show in March, the marque will create vehicles that are more “from the ground up” than the current performance offerings like the Passat R36 and the Touareg R50.

“BMW has its M, Mercedes has AMG, and our sibling Audi has Quattro. This new R division will be our Quattro,” a VW executive said.

The R division plans to ply its personalisation and performance trade to every feasible model in the range, meaning we could see race-bred versions of everything from the new Polo and Jetta to the Tiguan and Touareg.

A Caddy Life R sounds ambitious though I’m afraid.

(with Edmunds Inside Line)

Peter S

Never been a fan of the exhausts in the middle rear on R32. Changing this would get me to buy one and hose off a few WRXs, EVOs and Clubsports.

Valet Dabess

yeah i don’t like the exhaust in the middle either but that’s not gonna stop me from buying one
Ray Stone

Pete, how old are you? If the location of the exhaust pipes is enough to put you off buying a car and you need to hose off WRX’s etc just how small is your willy?
If you have the need to hose off other cars on public roads to inflate your ego you shouldn’t have a license. Grow up, take the car to the track, get your rocks off there and then drive like a responsible citizen on the road.

smokin’R32

“Our sibling Audi has Quattro” umm dont they mean ‘S’?
Quattro is just their AWD badge

James007

Lol!! You know, I think you’re right there!!

I wonder then if this means Australia will finally get to see the Scirocco in some form or another??
Martin

And there’s Audi’s RS range as well.

http://www.ausmotive.com Liam

Yeah, which is all overseen by quattro GmbH.

McBain

From Wikipedia:

“Quattro GmbH is is a wholly owned private subsidiary of the German automobile manufacturer AUDI AG, part of the larger German automotive concern, Volkswagen Group.
Founded in October 1983, it primarily specialises in producing high performance Audi cars and components, along with purchaser specified customisations.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quattro_GmbH

Who?

was just about to post that, thanks McBain

jimmy james

The only car I’m interested in is the Scirocco. Everything else in the range is a yawn.

VW Oz should just send the bean counters out to a nice lunch and while they’re busy sipping a peppery pinot from Otago, fill out the paperwork and get the Scirocco on the list in Australia.

And remember VW OZ, the Scirocco costs LESS than the equivalent Golf in other markets, NOT MORE.

Price it sharply and watch your brand image go through the roof with a car thats actually considered cool!

Sciroccos look unique enough to pull people into showrooms for a look. They might end up buying one, or buying something else. But at least they’re in YOUR showroom…

And while we’re at it, RENAULT, where in blazes is the RS250 Megane???

Shak

The stupid thing is that because our regs are to strict and NZ’s arent, they get the beautiful Scirocco and we dont. How is fair that the superior country gets the inferior product.

Jig

If it is a serious R, from the ground up rather than making tweaks of existing model line up then yes, I would seriously consider it.

The current R is good but can be bettered which is why I have opted the ABT Sportsline Supercharger on my MKV R32.
Paul

So does that mean that VW Australia can now release the VW Scirocco into Australia?

Common VW Australia, why the hell you dont give your customers or potential customers WHAT THEY WANT, and instead force down our throats what you THINK we should have is pathetic.

You have such a great car that is the Scirocco, and you still refuse to release it here.

Or at least give us the Scirocco R!!!!

As I keep saying, make the VW Golf R come to Australia in a full out spec form (with leather, xenons, sunroof, electric seats etc etc etc) and price it accordingly. Coupled to the fact this has AWD as standard spec too.

Then release the Scirocco R inbetween the Golf GTI and Golf R price range! and offer it with less standard equipment and also remember the Scirocco IS NOT AWD, therefore IT SHOULD COST LESS ANYWAY!!!

Common VW Australia, pull your finger out.
Baddass

I don’t know why the letter ‘R’ is universally known to be sporty.

Dick Justice

‘R’ as in ‘Race’… makes perfect sense to me

Fasthonda

The VW ‘R’ division as it stands now, doesn’t really stack up to the other tuners.We’ve seen good examples over the past few years but I feel if it is to be taken seriously,it needs to prove it self with(as the article mentioned)by engineering vehicles more “from the ground up”.
It will be tough because I’ve always believed that VW(Inc. Golf,Passat,Polo) is quite “the little lost child” without the massive help of Audi.