Report: VW's Got More Rs on the Way

What was once a proud nameplate adorning the VW Golf R32, the Passat R36, and the Touareg R50 has now been reduced to only one actual “R” and a smattering of R-Line appearance mods. That may be changing, though, thanks to new leadership in the R division.

Jost Capito, the R Division’s new chief, hasn’t had what you’d call an uneventful couple of months. Jost was head of the highly successful, though sadly shrinking Volkswagen Motorsport division late in 2016. He then left the team to take a job high up with McLaren—a regrettable albeit understandable move.

Following a shakeup in ownership there, though, he was being asked not to leave butt prints on the door before his cheeks could even leave prints in his seat.

Now he’s back at VW and according to a report from Car and Driver, he’s looking to get some real power back into the R division, something they expect to do through the use of more extreme body cladding and pumped up engines.

SEE ALSO: Honda Civic Type R vs Subaru WRX STI vs VW Golf R vs Ford Focus RS: Sport Compact Comparison

Car and Driver claims that a new, more extreme Golf R is on its way, as well as a new Tiguan R, something we recently saw testing at the Nurburgring—though the speculation at the time was that it was being propelled by an Audi inline 5.

The report, however, claims that both the more extreme Golf R and the anticipated Tiguan R will be powered by uprated 4-cylinders, like the T-Roc R and the Touareg R that the publication also expects to be on their way.

The Arteon R, meanwhile, will reportedly benefit from a turbocharged VR6, which is a happy thought, indeed.

It could easily be described as foolhardy to get your hopes up too high based on these rumors, but hope springs eternal and optimism is a nice fault to have, so let’s all hope this becomes a reality.

[source: Car and Driver]
This story originally appeared on VW Vortex.