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Volkswagen Says "Definitely Not" to Polo R Hyper Hatch

Audi is getting a lot of attention with its new S1 pocket rocket these days. After all, this little car has somehow managed to revive the aging A1 and give it a fighting chance against the far newer MINI.
VW Polo R WRC 5 photos
Photo: Volkswagen
VW Polo R WRC by ABT at Essen 2013VW Polo R WRC by ABT at Essen 2013VW Polo R WRC by ABT at Essen 2013VW Polo R WRC by ABT at Essen 2013
When customers come to an Audi dealership for an A3, they ask to first see the S1. So why should Volkswagen have such a car as well? Wowing every family man and giving him pocket rocket wet dreams?

Building such a car has already proven to be viable, as VW celebrated its reentry into the World Rally Championship with a limited edition of 2,500 cars packed with 2-liter turbo goodness. But they don't want to take things any further than that, at least until a segment is firmly established.

In an interview with Telegraph.nl, a Volkswagen official has completely ruled out the possibility of building a Polo R model.

That means that for the foreseeable future, the front-wheel drive GTI model will remain the flagship of the range. That's not really such a bad thing, since the hot Polo recently received an engine bump from 1.4 to 1.8 liters and now develops 192 HP (141 kW) and 320 Nm (236 lb-ft) of peak torque.

But we just wish that Volkswagen would admit the B segment hatchback is moving towards all-wheel drive and give the Polo the power it deserves after a history that's almost as long as the Golf's.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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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.
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