Ultimate VWs R ready to blast in

By Luke Madden

22nd March 2010

Things ‘R’ about to get serious for Volkswagen! The German manufacturer has officially announced the formation of its own performance division, known as Volkswagen R GmbH.

The new company joins the likes of Mercedes’ tuner AMG and BMW’s M Division in separating from the parent brand in order to concentrate on producing hot versions of regular vehicles.

Models the R division has already taken charge of include the fastest-accelerating VW ever – the Golf R – as well as the 261bhp Scirocco R.

The scorching Golf features four-wheel drive, a fiercely tuned 2.0-litre turbo engine and an aggressive suspension set-up.

With a staff of more than 350, Volkswagen R will concentrate on sportiness, exclusivity and building “the emotionalisation” of the VW brand, according to Ulrich Riestenpatt gt. Richter, general manager of the new company.

The division’s formation means we can expect to see more R-badged performance models in the future, although bosses have confirmed that the Polo won’t be among them.

As it has such a large workforce, the R division will be able to take the lead in building new cars from the ground up. The first of these is likely to be the agile, mid-engined BlueSport roadster (above), which debuted as a concept at 2009’s Detroit Motor Show.

VW’s R-Line models will also fall under the control of the new company. Although these variants don’t feature any mechanical tweaks, they do add a host of cosmetic upgrades. The Passat CC R-Line, for example, gets a brand new bodykit, smoked tail-lights, 17-inch alloy wheels and special R-Line badges.

The R division is based in Warmenau, near company HQ in Wolfsburg, Germany.

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