The facelifted Volkswagen Tiguan family,
which is due later this year, will welcome the addition of a hot Tiguan R. Boasting
a model-specific body kit, it will set itself apart from the rest of the lineup
with new front and rear bumpers, bigger side skirts and a roof-mounted wing.
The diffuser will have cutouts on each side for the quad exhaust pipes, and the
performance SUV will also feature oversized wheels and ‘R’ badges as seen on
this prototype spied at the Nurburgring recently.
VW took extra safety measures for the test
car and fitted it with a roll cage, but it’s obvious that it won’t carry over
to the production version. We don’t know what they did to the rest of the
interior to differentiate it from the regular facelifted Tiguans, but we could
be looking at new front sports seats, unique upholstery options, different
graphics for the infotainment system and ‘R’ logos spread throughout the cabin.
The sporty makeover, complete with a
re-tuned suspension and bigger brakes, will be complemented by a meaty engine,
understood to be a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. Recent voices have
claimed that it will develop over 300 HP, channeling the output to the 4Motion
all-wheel drive system through a dual-clutch automatic transmission.
The power unit might be shared with the
all-new Golf R, where it will probably kick out 328 HP. The extra
oomph does make sense, since the smaller T-Roc R packs a 296 HP 2.0-liter four-pot and sprints to 100 km/h in 4.8 seconds. Those
looking to go green with the facelifted Tiguan will be able to order the Tiguan
GTE plug-in hybrid, which could use the 1.4-liter four-pot and electric motor
from the new Golf GTE, where it makes 242 HP and 400 Nm of
torque.
