The new car, whose official title is Polo R WRC, just like the World Rally Championship Polo race car it’s inspired by, is set to make its debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show in March.
The Polo R WRC shares much in common with its bigger brother, the Golf R, including its turbocharged and direct-injected 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine, which in the Polo is tuned to deliver 220 horsepower.
However, unlike the Golf R, as well as its racing cousin, the Polo R WRC misses out on all-wheel drive and instead remains a strict front-driver.
According to Autocar, a Polo R WRC with all-wheel drive was still possible. After all, the platform underpinning the car is the same one found in the Audi A1, which is already offered with all-wheel drive.
Additionally, Volkswagen’s R&D Ulrich Hackenberg admitted that all-wheel drive would be preferable in certain countries, though he stressed that there were no plans to add the feature to the Polo R WRC currently.
Despite only coming with front-wheel drive, the new Polo R WRC should be a competent track weapon. It boasts a 0-60 mph time of around 6.4 seconds and a top speed of 151 mph.
