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2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
After two years of running on diesel power, the Volkswagen Polo R Cup car has made the switch to petrol for the 2012 running of the championship
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
This is the story of the 2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup racer car
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
The first thing you’ll notice different from last year’s car is the addition of a large spoiler mounted at the very top of the boot lid
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
Gone are the indented hood intakes, replaced instead by plastic grilles on either side of the hood
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
VW Motorsport announced that the 2012 edition of the car would be running with a 1.4-litre TFSI petrol engine mated to a six-speed DSG dual-clutch transmission as opposed to the six-speed manual on the previous car
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
On the inside the only real differences being the automatic gear selector for the DSG gearbox, the inclusion of paddle shifters behind the steering and the exclusion of a clutch pedal
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
In place of the 1.6-litre TDI unit is a cutting edge 1.4-litre direct injection petrol motor that features a twincharger – a unique combination of a turbocharger and a supercharger
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
Powered by a 1.4-litre TSI engine, the petrol model produces 179PS @6200rpm and 250Nm of torque @ 2000-4500rpm
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
Daytime running LED lamps is a nice touch to the headlamps on the new car
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
Paddle Shift on Steering Wheel
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
While it still vibrates and roars with that typical racecar feel, the massive vibes from the diesel unit are missing and there is a distinct feeling of refinement
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
Put your foot down though, and that exhaust sings a brilliant note that can easily make the previous year’s car fume with jealousy – something that was made amply clear when blasting down the start-finish straight at the BIC with the noise echoing off the grandstand
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
And with your foot down, it really moves like a bat out of hell too. The boffins at VW Motorsport have also played an interesting trick with the DSG gearbox. Stick it in D, and the car will only shift gears using the pedal shifters
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
Rev it all the way up in a single gear, and it’ll happily keep bouncing off the redline. Put it in S however, and it becomes fully automatic, though the engine will happily hold revs through the corners and only upshift a little short of the redline
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
The only really problem the gearbox suffers from is the fact that there is barely any immediacy in the downshifts, even when you pull the left paddle with enough RPM to spare for the car to blip the throttle
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
Down the back straight, the new TSI Race Polo really bared its teeth by crossing the 200km/h mark (on the speedo at least) before one needed to hit the brakes for the upcoming right hander
2012 Volkswagen Polo R Cup race car : In Pictures!
The car holds the revs at 3,700rpm and when you take your foot of the brake, it automatically shifts and puts the power down in such a way that you have the best possible acceleration off the line with as little wheelspin as possible
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