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Old 12-10-2012, 10:55 AM   #1
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Default Volkswagen Unveils WRC Polo, Plus a Street-Legal Version



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It is obvious Volkswagen is taking its first ever foray into a top echelon FIA World Championship serious extremely seriously. A year ago I visited the Volkswagen Motorsports HQ in Hanover, Germany and saw the very first prototype Volkswagen Polo WRC bodyshell being assembled. Since then the team has been relentlessly testing the car at locations all over the world.

As part of the “test” program Volkswagen entered Sébastien Ogier, its number one driver, in a Skoda Fabia Super 2000 in the junior S2000 division in WRC events in the past year as the team learned the ropes involved in the real world of actual completion. On several occasions Ogier astounded insiders by finishing as high as fifth overall, despite being in a far less powerful car.

Volkswagen Polo R WRC Rally Car

On Saturday Volkswagen unveiled the actual Polo WRC rally car in its race livery. Although it’s primary sponsor is Red Bull it is not adorned in the more usual bright blue and red colors, such as last year’s championship-winning Citroen WRC cars. Instead the VW Polo R WRC is painted in more subtle white and blue.



Jacky Ickx at Volkswagen Polo R WRC Unveiling

The unveiling was shown live on via the Internet and featured none other than Jacky Ickx as the main commentator and translator as the unveiling was held in English and then translated into French for the hundreds of fans and media gathered outside the famous casino in Monte Carlo.

This is of course where the first rally of the 2013 WRC season will take place in January. Volkswagen hopes that its top-notch three-car team will perform well in its first year on the circuit. Ogier left the Citroen team a year ago and he has been joined by Jari-Matti Latvala who drove for the Ford WRC team for several seasons. The third driver is Andreas Mikkelsen who drove a second Skoda during the past season.

As part of the homologation process required for rallying, Volkswagen has to sell road-going versions of the rally car. Rather than delay this some time it has simultaneously introduced the street-legal cars that 2500 people can buy in Europe. It goes on sale today in Europe at a price of about $40,000. The front-wheel drive VW Polo R WRC is powered by a 2.0-liter TSI engine producing 217 bhp and 258 lb.-ft. of torque. It has a six-speed short-shift manual transmission and Volkswagen says it has top speed of 151 mph and a 0-62 mpgh time of 6.4 seconds. On paper it looks like it’ll outperform the Ford Fiesta ST.
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Old 12-10-2012, 11:28 AM   #2
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Old 12-10-2012, 12:16 PM   #3
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Wow that will be a fun little CAR!!!
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Old 12-10-2012, 01:10 PM   #4
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Another front-wheel-drive "road going rally car".

The whole reason I was a Subaru fan in the first place was because they offered something very similar to their rally cars for the street, same with Mitsubishi. Turbo four banger with AWD and bodywork without the stickers.

It just seems ass-backwards to give us a car with graphics and a badge but not the drivetrain.
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Old 12-10-2012, 01:22 PM   #5
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So lets see,

I bought into the Impreza RS due to its connection with the WRC and the cool looks.

Now I own a 2013 Golf R for the looks and performance and would you lookie here, VW now has a legitamate Rally connection...

Yeah me...
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Old 12-10-2012, 01:37 PM   #6
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Originally Posted by SCRAPPYDO View Post
So lets see,



I bought into the Impreza RS due to its connection with the WRC and the cool looks.



Now I own a 2013 Golf R for the looks and performance and would you lookie here, VW now has a legitamate Rally connection...



Yeah me...
WRC was the reason many were drawn the Impreza line( RS, WRX, or STi.). The decline from WRC also signifys the decline of the impreza (What progress since 08!), not to mention it seems like since they moved on from WRC, more brotatoes have flocked to subarus...









Come at me Bro.
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Old 12-10-2012, 01:44 PM   #7
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Agree on the Brotatoe comment.

Back in the 2000-2002 days, nobody would have ever even dared mention putting air bags on a WRX.
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Old 12-10-2012, 01:55 PM   #8
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God dammit. I wish VW would just bring the Polo GTI state side. The Fiesta ST is too boy racerish for me, the Fiat 500 Abarth has too many plastic bits and pieces for something north of the $20K mark, and the Mini has the BMW bait-and-rape pricing.
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Old 12-10-2012, 02:33 PM   #9
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no mechanical diff no care....
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Old 12-10-2012, 02:43 PM   #10
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The stickers say "race" but the brakes say "commute".
This car appears to be transgendered. If that's at all possible...
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Old 12-10-2012, 04:34 PM   #11
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No anti-lag no care or something.
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Old 12-10-2012, 06:48 PM   #12
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Originally Posted by SCRAPPYDO View Post
Now I own a 2013 Golf R

Whaaa? When did you pull the trigger? Any regrets thus far? Used to the steering yet?






They should bring this polo over. If priced right, if would be good competition for the Fiesta ST.
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Old 12-10-2012, 07:12 PM   #13
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Scrappy?

Golf R?

Me jelly.

But I will test drive the Fiesta ST, at minimum.
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Old 12-10-2012, 11:46 PM   #14
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WRC was the reason many were drawn the Impreza line( RS, WRX, or STi.). The decline from WRC also signifys the decline of the impreza (What progress since 08!), not to mention it seems like since they moved on from WRC, more brotatoes have flocked to subarus...









Come at me Bro.
They are not working on progress of the current body. They tweaked what they could, but no reason to spend gobs of money on something with the limitations it has. Start fresh and build something that surpasses "progress".

There is no decline of the Impreza. 184% sales increase YTD ending November. You need to think differently now about the "race" side of Subaru. It won't be them taking a "passenger" car and building it up.

They will return. Remember what they said about the new WRX/STI. They are building it to win at motorsports. Will it? I can't wait to see.....
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Old 12-11-2012, 12:19 AM   #15
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They will return. Remember what they said about the new WRX/STI. They are building it to win at motorsports. Will it? I can't wait to see.....
yeah, building a WTCC Impreza is sooooo much better

there is no car in the Subaru portfolio for the WRC
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Old 12-11-2012, 12:24 AM   #16
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yeah, building a WTCC Impreza is sooooo much better

there is no car in the Subaru portfolio for the WRC

I don't remember them saying they were not returning to WRC. Where did you see this?
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Old 12-11-2012, 12:49 AM   #17
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no, but there is no car for the WRC, the new Impreza is too big (like the old one), and there isn´t a turbocharged model.

You don´t invest big bucks in a car at the end of the production like the current STI.

Subaru won the 24 hours at the Nürburgring two times in a row with a JDM STI (class winner SP3T)
The Toyota GT86 won both classes (V3 and SP3) this year at the Ring.

The BRZ GT 300 was a desaster

what´s left?

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2...c-entries.html

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Possibly joining Citroen and Honda in the 2014 World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) season are automakers Subaru and Renault.

According to reports, Renault is currently in negotiations with RML, the team that has led Chevrolet to three consecutive championships. RML intends to compete as an independent program with the Chevrolet Cruze next season before developing a Renault model for 2014. Earlier this year, Chevrolet announced that it would pull from WTCC following this year's season.

SEE ALSO: Chevrolet Announces Exit from WTCC

In addition, Subaru is expected to make a decision before the end of this year on whether or not it'll compete in WTCC in the near future. Rumors of Subaru joining WTCC has been floating around since 2008 but the Japanese automaker has continued to focus on the World Rally Championship (WRC)
I´m disappointed because the decision should be made in november, now we have the 11th of december
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Old 12-11-2012, 08:11 AM   #18
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Well any motor sport is good, as it can be used to improve the breed. And subaru is one of the very few companies that actually try to do this. So I will NOT poo poo any motorsports that subaru participates in (except X games which is moronic)

Subaru needs to be in WTCC as far as I am concerned, it attracts a more affluent audience and is seen on the WORLD stage. Rallying as cool as it is (and it is FREAKISHLY cool) seems to be a more niche customer base. Subaru has not eluded to its rally heritage in a long time (racing around a wet underpass). The days of that blue bugeye running around the dirt in that commercial are long gone (sad face)

JustyWRC, I really like it when you post things about Subaru. I take your words with much more weight than most. And I thank you for any insight you give us on what is coming

Let me make one thing clear. I was torn very hard on my decision between buying a 2013 STI or a 2013 Golf R. It took me months of soul searching and test drives. I will only give my reasons as it may pertain to others comparing small sporty cars with an 'R' products from VW.

I had a 2011 WRX that was pretty good out of the box(that I sold back in march), but it needed help in key areas. So to get it where I liked it, I went stage II COBB, sways, new wheels and tires, new brake pads, DOT4 fluid, and a short shifter. Then it felt like the car it needed to be. It was just about perfect (brakes still marginal but I could live with them) When I got behind the wheel of the 2013 STI, it felt very much like the exact car I already had. But the STI can be made whatever you want. I could have made it as fast as as brutal as anything I could dream up. But this was my daily driver, and when I looked at the interior of the STI, it was just very economy car. Which is okay. It was GOOD economy car but still felt less like 36000 dollars. THe ride was a tad harsh (thinking of hauling around my wife and two kids) but that is price you pay for the amazing handling.

Then came the R product from VW. I have avoided VW products like the plague for years, hell my lifetime. But the draw was too strong. I could get the R loaded with literally EVERYTHING imaginable for less than the spartan STI. Was it dynamically the equal of the STI, heck no, but this may surprise you. It drove very well and dynamically it is not leaving much on the table that a set of decent summer tires would not fix. The golf R is the car I WANTED subaru to make. A car with WRX capabilities, but with a nicer interior and a decent set tech package. For the first time in 12 years Subaru did not have the car I needed and wanted to buy. A well appointed 4 door with a manual that is quick and fun to drive. What I wanted was a spec B legacy GT. And I would have paid 40k for it without any heartburn at all.

Now back on topic. If the polo R is anything like the Golf R, it will be a great mix of German solidity, firm but never jarring ride, that has great turn in and puts power down wonderfully. It will have simply stunning seats and materials inside with a great stereo.
It will pamper the owner with user friendly tech and a very good climate control. It will do this all while being a total blast to drive.

DEX and Skylab. I have an entire thread about purchasing my Golf R with a more in depth review of it. If you can wade through all the VW hate in the thread, I give many impressions about it and how happy I am with the car. NO regrets AT ALL.

But here are the cliff notes:

Both the Golf R and the STI are extremely capable of going VERY fast on any road in the world.
The STI leans more toward all out race car speed and dynamics
The Golf R leans more toward being sophisticated while maintaining incredible dynamics

Both can be made whatever you want them to be with tuning. With that in mind, it boils down to this.

I can make a Golf R a great track car (the ESC can be defeated totally now) but I will not as it is meant to be a very fast DD, not a track rat. If I wanted a track rat I would have bought the STI.

I cannot make the STI more sophisticated and more upscale. It will be faster on the track, but the reality is, I spend 2-3 days a year on the track for about 60 minutes a day. I spend the other 363 days a year driving the car on the street.

know thyself, be true to thyself, then buy the right car. The Golf R was that car for me.

Lets hope subaru offers something similar in the future.

Last edited by SCRAPPYDO; 12-11-2012 at 08:20 AM.
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Old 12-11-2012, 08:52 AM   #19
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I don't remember them saying they were not returning to WRC. Where did you see this?
Do you remember them saying they were returning to WRC? I remember reading somewhere that they were interested in getting back into motorsports, but not qualifying which motorsport. An all out attack on road racing would be interesting.
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Old 12-11-2012, 09:08 AM   #20
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Do you remember them saying they were returning to WRC? I remember reading somewhere that they were interested in getting back into motorsports, but not qualifying which motorsport. An all out attack on road racing would be interesting.
I believe the wording was "Back into motorspots", but they did also indicate tehy would be returning to rally. They just didn't say the front-line WRC. It might be Group N again.
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Old 12-11-2012, 12:52 PM   #21
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no, but there is no car for the WRC, the new Impreza is too big (like the old one), and there isn´t a turbocharged model.

You don´t invest big bucks in a car at the end of the production like the current STI.

Subaru won the 24 hours at the Nürburgring two times in a row with a JDM STI (class winner SP3T)
The Toyota GT86 won both classes (V3 and SP3) this year at the Ring.

The BRZ GT 300 was a desaster

what´s left?
The new WRX/STI...is what I was referring to.

I was under the impression the new WRX/STI will NOT be based on the Impreza.


I have enjoyed driving the VWs they have at our training events. Fahrvergnugen(I had to look that up) all day long. My only issue with them is their reliability. Also the dealer here for them has a really bad reputation.
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Old 12-11-2012, 01:03 PM   #22
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I was under the impression the new WRX/STI will NOT be based on the Impreza.

show me the person who really knows

A WRX or STI was always based on an Impreza. It doesn´t make sense using the term WRX or STI for a complete new car.

And a smaller car than an Impreza, but with more power than an Impreza makes much lesser than zero sense.

There is a smaller car, the BRZ, we all know that this car isn´t capable for AWD, so this car will never be a winner as a Rally car, agreed?

Subaru´s portfolio is now limited to Motorsport like WTCC.
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Old 12-11-2012, 01:14 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by SCRAPPYDO View Post
So lets see,

I bought into the Impreza RS due to its connection with the WRC and the cool looks.

Now I own a 2013 Golf R for the looks and performance and would you lookie here, VW now has a legitamate Rally connection...

Yeah me...
Jealous
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Old 12-11-2012, 03:14 PM   #24
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Originally Posted by torquemada View Post
A WRX or STI was always based on an Impreza. It doesn´t make sense using the term WRX or STI for a complete new car.
Why

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Originally Posted by torquemada View Post
And a smaller car than an Impreza, but with more power than an Impreza makes much lesser than zero sense.
Why

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Originally Posted by torquemada View Post
There is a smaller car, the BRZ, we all know that this car isn´t capable for AWD, so this car will never be a winner as a Rally car, agreed?
Maybe not WRC but in some two wheel divisions who knows. Subaru designed the BRZ off a modified Impreza frame. Who says they can't/won't use another modified frame and create a smaller than Impreza WRX/STI...not you or me.
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Old 12-11-2012, 03:23 PM   #25
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Originally Posted by torquemada View Post
show me the person who really knows

A WRX or STI was always based on an Impreza. It doesn´t make sense using the term WRX or STI for a complete new car.

And a smaller car than an Impreza, but with more power than an Impreza makes much lesser than zero sense.

There is a smaller car, the BRZ, we all know that this car isn´t capable for AWD, so this car will never be a winner as a Rally car, agreed?

Subaru´s portfolio is now limited to Motorsport like WTCC.

You do realize that "STI" has been put on MANY models over the years? Impreza, Legacy, Forester, Exiga. Shoot. They even backed a Vivio WRC car.



Subaru has been rethinking a lot of things the past few years. Why couldn't they use the term WRX or STI for a completely new car? Heck. They might even give it a new name.
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