PoloDriver

Finally it’s official! Although consistently denied, there is a Polo which will be hotter than the current 178bhp GTI, and here’s the proof: the Polo WRC Street concept, unveiled today at the 31st GTI Festival in Wörthersee, Austria. Powered by a 2.0-litre engine developing 217bhp (220PS/162kW), the limited-edition Polo ‘WRC Street’ will go on sale in late 2013, after the rally-prepped Polo R WRC hits the asphalt, gravel and snow tracks, to capitalise on the motorsport model’s halo effect. Additional features of the Polo WRC Street includes a black rear spoiler and diffuser, sports suspension, multi-spoke alloy wheels, black wheel arch trims and ‘R-WRC’ graphics and badging. It certainly looks the part, and initial web reports suggest that an even hotter Polo R road-going model is also in the pipeline.

Another star of the Volkswagen stand in Reifnitz, is the Polo R WRC itself. Contesting the FIA World Rally Championship in 2013, the 1.6-litre turbocharged motorsport model is currently in development, being tested by Volkswagen’s lead driver, Sébastien Ogier. Seen in Austria as a running car, the four-wheel drive Polo R WRC develops 296bhp (300PS/220kW), and gets to 62mph from rest in 4.1 seconds. Other cars on the Volkswagen stand at the Wörthersee 2012 event which runs from 16-19 May is the production version of the Golf GTI Cabriolet, a black and red-themed Golf GTI ‘Black Dynamic’ which was built by nine Volkswagen apprentices, and the Golf GTI ‘White Concept’ with Oryx White matt paintwork.