As of the time of this writing, the Volkswagen Golf R is the only car offered by VW with an R badge. All of that is apparently about to change, as reports indicate that VW will be giving the R treatment to a big portion of its lineup, beginning with the T-Roc R, Tiguan R, and Arteon R. Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard this rumor, but there’s more to it.
Golf R Power; Audi RS3 Power
According to the report from Autibild, the T-Roc will probably take on the Golf R’s 2.0-liter four-banger. In the Golf R, it’s good for 292 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque, but VW could tune it to deliver a little more for the T-Roc. As for the Tiguan R, it may very well get the same 2.0-liter but with more power. Or, another option would be to dip into the Audi pool and snag up that 2.5-liter five-cylinder that’s good for some 400 ponies in the Audi RS3. With that engine, Volkswagen could drop it in off the shelf, giving the Tiguan a nice power bump and some decent performance while it’s at it.
As for the Arteon, well it’s a midsized car, so there are some more options here. Volkswagen has been hinting at a new turbo six-cylinder lately, and the Arteon R would be the perfect fit. The new VR6 should deliver more than 400 ponies – more than enough for the Arteon to kick the hell out of the Porsche Panamera if tuned correctly. The same engine could also find its way into the Touareg R, should VW decide to slap an R badge on it sometime down the road as well.
That’s the latest R-badge news coming out of Germany, but we have seen a Golf R recently that was wearing a pair of RS-specific exhaust outlets. That could mean that the current-gen Golf R may get a special five-cylinder run before the generational switchover. That program was supposedly discontinued, but a Golf R400 could still be in the works. If it is, there’s still some time for it to happen as the next-gen model won’t hit showrooms until sometime after mid-2019.
References
Read our full review on the 2018 Volkswagen T-Roc.
Read our full review on the 2017 Volkswagen Tiguan.
Read our full review on the 2018 Volkswagen Arteon.
Read more Volkswagen news.