What's the news?

Volkswagen has launched the fastest version of the Polo to date, the road-going Polo R WRC. The new model sits above the GTI in the Polo line-up and has been built to mark Volkswagen's entry into the World Rally Championship.

Exterior

The new Polo hot hatch sports a body kit comprising of front bumper and grille combo and 18-inch 'Cagliari' alloy wheels. The car's colour scheme is bespoke too - each example is painted in white, with rally-inspired grey and blue stripes on the bonnet and doors.

Interior

The Polo R WRC comes with WRC-inspired seats, a sports steering wheel trimmed in Alcantara and aluminium alloy pedals. Despite being a hot hatch, Volkswagen has also fitted plenty of standard equipment. Each car comes with goodies such as satnav, cruise control and climate control.

Mechanicals

Powering the model is a 220hp 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine, kicking out 350Nm of torque. These figures get the new Polo from 0-62mph in 6.4 seconds (half a second quicker than the Polo GTI) and onto a top speed of 151mph.

Anything else?

While all this sounds brilliant, we must address the elephant in the room; which surprisingly, isn't the hefty £27,340 price tag. The issue is that only 2,500 examples will be made, all of which are to be left-hand drive. Volkswagen has no plans to bring the car to the UK.

Despite this, Volkswagen UK is planning a WRC-themed exterior styling upgrade for the regular Polo; and success in the WRC could be enough for the company to add a Polo R to the range.

The rally car itself certainly looks the business; and with a 315hp turbocharged 1.6-litre engine under the bonnet, the WRC team shouldn't be short of power. Let's just hope they win...

James Giddings - 18 Dec 2012