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Volkswagen Official Denies Polo R Plans

A Volkswagen official said that the company is unlikely to build an R version of the Polo supermini, since it would interfere with the future Audi S1, already in development.

I would say there have been some ideas about Polo R, but more in the press than the company itself because we have our GTI and within our company Audi has an S1," Dr. Ernst Linder, technical chief of the new Polo, told Drive.com.au. “The S1 topped our GTI and to put a car above both, we think we’ll not have the same volume to make it interesting," added the VW engineer.

He went on to say that Audi’s S1 version will use the same supercharged and turbocharged 1.4-liter TSI engine that powers the Polo GTI and develops 182 horsepower. Linder said that a Polo R designed to outperform the S1 wouldn’t make financial sense, as extra power would require other features that could make the Polo R more expensive than the Audi S1.

From the technical point of view, of course we can do something,” Linder said. “From the financial point of view it doesn’t make so much sense. It would be too expensive and we have the S1. The S1 will have 182 horsepower and it’s a very sporty car. If we put much more power in the Polo, we need something like four-wheel-drive. This is a technical feature that is very expensive,” Linder added.

A Polo R would also require more power and would therefore need to use a different, more expensive engine. The VW engineer says the 1.4-liter TSI is already close to its maximum power output, with only 10 to 20 additional horsepower available.
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