PoloDriver

As if being new and distinctive wasn’t enough, renowned Volkswagen Group tuner ABT has focused its attention to the smallest member of the VW family, the Up, releasing details of a very bright styling kit. The Kempten, German-based company says that the red, white and black kit ‘draws upon the extravagant designs of the “Swinging Sixties” with which the power versions of plain mass-consumption cars – from “Herbie” the Beetle to Renault Gordinis and Mini Coopers – showed that sensible can also be cool.’

The father of ABT Sportline’s managing director was very much into his motorsports and was successful, too, both inspirations which the tuner has used to embellish the small Volkswagen. Still ecological and economic, the graphics lend an aggressive air, with the champfered window line, front and rear bumper ‘smiles’, and side skirts being picked out in contrasting red on this white car. A black roof and bonnet matches the glass tailgate, while the white stripes evoke those classic white lines of blue Renault Gordinis.

Lowered suspension springs and a fruitier twin-pipe exhaust with red-trimmed tunnel help the sporty looks, too, while mirror caps and ABT-branded red hub covers complete the makeover. The car will debut at the Geneva motor show next month, where we expect ABT Sportsline GmbH to release final and official pricing details.

Fresh from its recent class victory at Rally Sweden, Volkswagen Motorsport gave the much-awaited Polo R WRC rally car its first official public outing at the weekend. The ‘reveal’ took place at winter sports resort Ellmau in Austria at Volkswagen’s Winter Night event, with driver Sébastien Ogier piloting the near-300bhp four-wheel drive Polo around the ice and snow-covered track. Carlos Sainz, who has also had a hand in developing Volkswagen’s 2013 rally challenger, appeared in a Race Touareg.

In related Polo R WRC news, wrc.com reports that the first tests of the ‘proper’ car were completed last week. Volkswagen Motorsport ran the car in Norway, with Ogier and Dieter Depping sharing the driving, close to the Rally Sweden stages, where Ogier had competed only a few days earlier. Completing the 1000km test programme with no reported faults, the team focused on transmission and suspension components, and compared the results to the Škoda Fabia S2000 cars, VW currently runs in the 2012 World Rally Championship (WRC). The official WRC website states that the Volkswagen Motorsport testing circus moves to Spain later this week, with the focus on gravel.

[Source: German Car Scene]

All Volkswagen Racing South Africa’s 2012 National Rally Championship hopes rest on the rather broad rear shoulders of the latest Polo S2000 rally car, unveiled to the press at Stellenbosch vineyard yesterday morning. Replacing the Polo Vivo S2000 (and the series four-based Polo S2000 before it), the latest version of the company’s rally challenger, according to Volkswagen Racing South Africa, ‘pushes the boundaries of what has been done previously, and rewrites the rally car rules from the ground up.’

Using some of the most advanced technologies available, the new Polo 6R-based cars are built at Volkswagen’s Uitenhage plant from scratch, and are not deconstructed production vehicles, as was the practice in the past. The S2000 car uses tweaked standard Polo parts (also made locally at Uitenhage), which have been extensively tested to meet the exacting standards of competition at the highest level.

Powered by a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine producing 270bhp/200kW driving all four wheels, the latest Polo S2000 boasts 184lb ft/250Nm of torque at 7200rpm, and makes effective use of a Sadev 4/45 six-speed sequential ‘Powershift’-equipped gearbox. Inside, the interior electronics have new EFI systems and the wiring harnesses are constructed to aircraft specification. Tolerances within the build process are down to 1mm.

Known as the P5R (Volkswagen Polo 5 Rally), the new Polo S2000 is designated PQ250, and is based on the five-door fifth-generation Polo 6R body, unlike the three-door Polo R WRC. Taking the large wheel arches and pumped-up looks from the WRC car, the Polo S2000 does without the oversize rear wing, as it does not comply with S2000 regulations. The rally car is 15mm wider than its road relation, with an 8mm longer wheelbase.

With all these far-reaching changes, drivers now have to undergo specific training to drive the Polo S2000 – it is no longer a turn-key rally machine. And those lucky drivers have also been announced. Long-standing Volkswagen driver pairing Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson will drive one car, with Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries piloting another. Newcomers Hans Weijs Jnr and Bjorn Degandt, will drive the third car in Volkswagen Racing South Africa’s offensive. With an enviable record of six consecutive national rally titles since 2005 in the S2000 class, the VW team has set the standard for all other crews to follow.

Jetex has recently announced a new 3-inch high-flow race cat and downpipe for the 2010- Polo GTI 6R. Designed to be used with their cat-back 27-HADR system, the 100-cell race cat can be fitted to an OE exhaust system, but some modification will be needed. With a pipe diameter of 76mm + 63.5mm (3 and 2.5 inches respectively), it complements the 27-HADR system perfectly, and fits directly to the turbo itself. To get the full performance effect, Jetex recommends that the complete pairing should be fitted in conjunction with a Stage 2 remap. For further information and prices, call 01789 298989 or email sales@jetex.co.uk. The kit should also fit the latest Škoda Fabia vRS.

With the Volkswagen Group holding many brands in its hand, it can afford to manufacture and market many cars with the same mechanical components, and has been doing for many years. Take the Polo for example. All of the group’s supermini models share its components (for reasons of simplicity, we’re disregarding which group model came first), and so all offer much the same package, but with slight styling and tuning differences. Or do they? We’ve got, courtesy of Škoda UK, a Škoda Fabia vRS for the week, to see if there really are major differences between it, and the Polo GTI which shares the same 1.4-litre 178bhp TSI engine. Check the site in a few days’ time to find out what we discovered.