VW Polo GTI R5 gets new livery 11 | 10 | 2018

    VOLKSWAGEN HAS UNVEILED the final livery for the 270bhp Polo GTI R5 rally car. From next month the four-wheel drive car will be used by customers in international and national rally championships. The new look is a reinterpretation of the eye-catching design which was also used on the Golf GTI TCR touring car. (Related: Roadtest — VW Polo 1.0TSI SE)

    “We purposely used many of the design elements from the production vehicles of the GTI family for the Polo GTI R5,” Nico Mühr, Exterior Design Volkswagen said.

    “In addition to the typical colours of red, white, black and the distinctive line on the front grill, it is the GTI icons with their honeycomb structure in particular that give the rally Polo its distinctive look.

    VW-Polo-GTI-R5-for-rally-customers-2-copy--2-.jpg

    “Ultimately, the Polo GTI R5, despite its extreme rally look, remains clearly identifiable as – no doubt the fastest – a member of the Polo family.”

    The first VW Polo GTI R5 cars will be delivered to customers after having completed 20 months of development and 10,000 test kilometres in all manner of climatic conditions.

    The bonnet conceals a 1.6-litre turbo engine with direct injection, which enables the four door car weighing just under 1230kg to accelerate from 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds.

    VW-Polo-GTI-R5-for-rally-customers-3-copy--2-.jpg

    The demanding development period and gruelling test programme, is due in part, according to Gerard Jan de Jongh, Technical Project Lead Polo GTI R5, to the regulations.

    Only minimal technical modifications are allowed to be made to an R5 during the specified motorsport lifetime of five years,” he explained. “This is why we prepared ourselves as well and thoroughly as possible.”

    Related: VW T-Roc gets new 1.6TDI engine

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    Jim McGill

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