Performance Passat off the agenda

Volkswagen looks unlikely to revive an R-Line version of its new Passat range.

If you thought 'sometime next year' was stringing us along for the launch of the new Passat Alltrack, then a petrol-powered, high-performance variant is even further off.

In fact, despite a history of building high-performance Passats of the R36's ilk, VW management has declined to confirm any plans for a high performance model of the new big car.

The German giant previewed the swoopy, CC coupe variant of the Passat with the Sport Coupe GTE concept at the 2015 Geneva motor show, VW's technical manager for Passat, Heiko Nause, told Drive that there were currently no plans at all for a model to replace the all-wheel-drive, hard-charging R36 Passat of several years ago.

Clearly, the bits and pieces required to do it are in place, with a good selection of high-output turbocharged petrol (and even diesel) engines and an all-wheel-drive platform lifted from the new Passat Alltrack, but Nause was resolutely keeping his powder dry.

A high-performance, petrol-engined model makes most sense for markets like North America where diesel power in passenger vehicles simply doesn't compute.

But an all-wheel-drive Passat with a 200kW or so from a 2.0-litre engine, all-wheel-drive and a sporty look should also work in Australia where the brand has a high call-up for performance variants of other models.

A possible sticking point right now is that the Passat sedan has not yet been engineered for the all-wheel-drive system, and that alone may determine the future of a hotter Passat down the track.