It's the dawn of a new era, folks. Regular compact utility vehicles are getting into the sportscar business, as Volkswagen is clearly testing the Tiguan R prototype at the Nurburgring.
With winter closing in, there aren't that many days of good weather to test at the Nordschleife. Which means we're going to see very little of the Tiguan R on the track and a whole lot of it at the Arctic circle.
Over the years, VW played with the idea of adding the R badge to nearly every car, including a limited production run of the Polo. However, it only really stuck to the Golf and Scirocco. This didn't stop them from making a Beetle R prototype, which very nearly made it to production.
But with the popularity of performance SUVs like the BMW X5 M, it's no surprise that Volkswagen wants to try something not yet attempted in the non-premium segment.
This Tiguan R prototype already has the trademark quad exhaust system installed. It rides a little lower than standard, and its R-Line body kit also features a silver chin spoiler.
The engine for this project has never been rumored. We know a 6-cylinder turbo has been developed for the MQB platform, but this prototype is making the trademark noises of the 2.0 TSI found in the regular Golf R.
We think that in this application, it will deliver at least 310 PS and 400 Nm of torque to all four wheels via a 7-speed DSG auto. Like with the Golf R Variant, a manual might not even be offered. If those numbers don't seem that impressive, then consider the fact that the venerable E92 M3 also packed 400 Nm from its 4.0-liter V8.
As far as acceleration is concerned, it should at least be faster than the current top Tiguan model, equipped with a 240 PS version of the 2.0 TDI. We bet that the scores on the doors will say 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) in around 5.5 seconds and a limited top speed of 250 km/h (155 mph).
Weight is always a problem for a performance SUV, but the Tiguan R shouldn't be too bad, considering they moved ahead to the testing phase. Our best guess would be just under 1.7 tons, about 100 kilos lighter than the 2.0 BiTDI.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News