Volkswagen Officially Adds the Letter 'R' to its Vocabulary

Volkswagen has announced that R has become official. In the vein of Audi's quattro GmbH (and AMG, M, SVT, SRT, Nismo. etc.), R GmbH - located near Wolfsburg in Warmenau - will be VW's official in-house tuner, allowing for performance and "individualised" vehicles, along with the "emotionalisation and growth" of the peoples' car.

According to the German automaker, the 'R' division currently employs a staff of more than 350 people.

Bundled together nicely under R will be the R vehicles (currently limited to the Golf R and Scirocco R), development of R Line accessories, and a Volkswagen Exclusive unit that will help customers customize their VDubs to levels once thought only accessible to VW's yuppie brother Audi.

Have a look at some of the 'R' and 'R Line' vehicles in the gallery below.

- By Phil Alex

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VIDEO: 2011 Volkswagen Polo GTI Snow-Sliding

Hoping to repeat the success of its Golf GTI series, Volkswagen applied the same spicy recipe to its smaller Polo hatchback with the launch of a GTI version that was unwrapped at last week's Geneva Motor Show. And this here is the first official video of VW's hot supermini on the move.

The second and smallest member of Volkswagen's GTI family gets a punchy 1.4-liter twin-charged petrol engine pumping out 180 horsepower and a 250Nm or 184 lb-ft of torque.

Power is sent to the front wheels through a seven-speed dual clutch transmission with the German firm announcing 0-100km/h (62mph) sprint time of 6.9 seconds and a top speed of 228 km/h (142 mph).

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VIDEO: New VW Golf VI GTD, the GTI's Diesel Alter-Ego

For those looking to combine the driving pleasures of the Golf GTI with the fuel savings of a diesel engine, VW has launched the new Golf GTD in Europe. The diesel alter-ego of the GTI is powered by a 2.0-liter TDi producing 170HP and 350Nm or 258lbs of torque, launching the hatch from standstill to 100km/h (62mph) in 8.1 sec and on to a top speed of 222km/h or 138mph. And what the GTD lacks in terms of performance compared to the GTI, it compensates with its lower fuel consumption (5.3lt /100km or 44.3mpg US). Hit the jump to watch the first promo video of the new GTD.

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2009 SEAT Leon Cupra Facelift with 240HP to Premiere at Barcelona Show

SEAT has chosen next month's Barcelona International Motor Show (May 9-17) to pull the covers off the facelifted version of the Leon Cupra which is essentially the Spanish firm's VW Golf GTI. Like the rest of the 2009 Leon range that was revealed at the Geneva Show in March, the Cupra has received a series of minor cosmetic upgrades that include a new grille design that sports a smaller badge, larger headlights and new door mirrors. Look closely and you'll also spot a new tailgate design and tail light clusters.

The Cupra in particular also gets a newly styled front bumper with larger air-scoops at each corner and the word 'Cupra' printed on the left side. The sport hatch's looks are rounded off with a new set of 18-inch alloy wheels.

For the interior, aside from the tweaked instrument and center console designs which are common to the rest of the Leon range, the Cupra also features a three-spoke leather steering wheel with aluminum color inserts and a matching gearbox knob along with a set of sport bucket seats for the front passenger and driver. A new option for the 2009MY Leon Cupra is the black leather upholstery with white cross-stitching that you can check out in the photos below.

Underneath the bonnet, the 2009 Leon Cupra gets the same 240HP 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine as found in the previous version. Top speed is clocked at 247 km/h or 154mph, the 0 to 100 km/h (62mph) sprint takes 6.4 seconds while it covers the first 1,000m from standstill in 26.4 seconds. At the same time, average combined fuel consumption is listed at 8.3lt /100 km or 28.3mpg US.

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