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The Polo R WRC is being shown at the Johannesburg International Motor Show – which runs from 6-16 October – by Volkswagen South Africa, which is celebrating its 60th birthday in 2011. The 2013 rally challenger being displayed at the Johannesburg Expo Centre event is the styling mock-up, unveiled by Volkswagen Motorsport on the eve of the Rally d’Italia Sardegna back in May. And, excitingly, it has been revealed that the new Polo S2000 rally car will debut in 2012, and will share most of its visual cues with the Polo R WRC. From 2013, Volkswagen will contest the World Rally Championship with the Polo R WRC.

‘The new technical regulations of the World Rally Championship (WRC) perfectly suits Volkswagen’s philosophy with respect to the development of production vehicles,’ said Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Management Board of the Volkswagen Brand, Development Division. The new set of rules determines 1.6-litre turbo engines with direct injection. This is in line with Volkswagen’s strategy of downsizing engines – a philosophy that has been pioneered with small-volume, turbocharged but highly efficient powertrains. ‘The timing of the WRC debut is ideal for Volkswagen. The task of engineering a vehicle that is competitive and capable of winning at a large number of challenges holds great appeal,’ Dr Hackenberg continued.

The centrepiece of the Volkswagen Polo R WRC will be a 1.6-litre TSI engine with direct injection and turbo-charging that will achieve a power output of 220kW (295bhp) with a maximum torque of 350Nm (258lb ft). In accordance with the regulations, the four-cylinder powerplant will have its air intake reduced by a 33-millimetre air restrictor. To transmit the engine’s power to the wheels a sequential gearbox is planned, but substantial driving assistance systems are prohibited by WRC rules. The aim is to reasonably cap development costs.

The Polo R WRC will be fitted with a safety cage, four-wheel drive and an aerodynamically-optimised exterior. According to the regulations the minimum dry weight will be 1200kg. In the World Rally Championship the technical concept of a world rally car has to be based on the body shell of a production vehicle. At Volkswagen, ‘R’ is associated with models with superior dynamics, compelling performance data and sportiness. The entire ‘R’ model package is offered at outstanding value for money. Other new VWs being displayed in Johannesburg include the eco BlueMotion range, which has a Polo-based variant.

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Another surprise unveil at the IAA 2011 in Frankfurt was the unveiling of the first drivable prototype of the Polo R WRC, Volkswagen’s 2013 World Rally Championship (WRC) contender. At first glance the latest version looks little different to the styling prototype which appeared in Sardinia back in May, but closer inspection reveals actual windows you can press you nose against and see into the car (which we’re sure many rally fanciers will do in Frankfurt), a slightly louder Volkswagen ‘R’ corporate-coloured livery, and a meaner front bumper, with a larger air intake in which to suck all that gravel and snow. It’s full of visual swagger, and not so much of the sensible stuff that Polo has partly built its reputation on. Powered by a 1.6-litre TSI engine developing around 298bhp mated to four-wheel drive, rumour has it that the first test outing of the car will be at the French round of the 2011 WRC on 2 October. The full Volkswagen Motorsport press release and more pictures follow.

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Although all the hype was around the new Up! city car and the Beetle R Concept, Volkswagen had a surprise for Polo fans at the IAA 2011 in Frankfurt. Unveiling both the first drivable of the Polo R WRC rally car (see our seperate story) and the first-ever Polo R-Line, the company made sure its smaller car followers weren’t left out of the fun. The best-selling car in its class in Germany, the Polo now joins the Golf, Scirocco, Passat CC and Touareg in having an R-branded model in its range. Now, don’t get too excited, the Polo R-Line isn’t a fire-breathing 300bhp road-going version of the Polo R WRC rally car, but rather a stylised model to show what such a car might look like. Think of it as a Polo GTI with a bit more visual punch.

Available at the end of the year, the Polo R-Line shares a more jutting chin with the Golf and Scirocco Rs, has a gloss black radiator grille with ‘R-Line’ badge, deeper side sills, revised front and rear bumpers, a larger than standard rear spoiler and 16-inch ‘Mallory’ alloys (the IAA show car is fitted with 17-inch versions), which for all the world look like the larger 19” ‘Talledega’ versions fitted to the proper R cars. Inside, there’s microfibre front sports seats (in optional Alcantara and leather), embossed head restraints, black roofliner á la Polo GTI, leather steering wheel with ‘R-Line’ badge, gloss black accents and racing-style pedals. Nine colours including the new ‘Fire Spark’ will be available. Volkswagen’s full press release follows.

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Traditionally an impressive home motor show for German car manufacturers, Volkswagen is pulling out all the stops at 2011’s IAA in Frankfurt. With 54 show cars on it 8893m² Hall 3 exhibition stand, the company’s largest (not literally) launch is its all-new up! city car. The new Golf Cabriolet and Tiguan will also be Volkswagen’s stars of the show. In addition, there will also be a fleet of 74 test vehicles – the largest at the event – including nine electric-powered Golf blue e-motions. 1000 workers are on site turning the vision of 14 architects into reality, while 2870m² of carpeting will be laid along with 6400m² of glass flooring. Four hundred lamps and a similar number of moving lights will illuminate the two-floor stand, and 80 Volkswagen employees and 228 hosts and hostesses will welcome visitors. The 2011 IAA Frankfurt opens it doors on 15 September. Read more for the full official Volkswagen press release.

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Traditionally held on the first weekend in July, the British Volkswagen Festival (BVF) is one of the oldest fixtures in the VW show season calendar. Staged at the Three Counties Showground in the Malvern Hills, we have fond memories of driving our Manila Green 1978 Mk 1 Polo N to the event and back in one day back in 1992. One of the longest drives we’d undertaken at that time – from Lowestoft on the east coast to Malvern – it took around six hours to go one way in a 40bhp, 14 year-old car! It didn’t take our special correspondent Alex Grant (follow him on Twitter at @alexgrantuk) that long to get to this year’s event on 2-3 July, though, and just as at GTI International the weekend before, he snapped the best Polos at the show for us. Scroll through the slideshow below to enjoy some of the Polo-shaped BVF 2011 action.

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