Will the real hot crossover please stand up.
Back in August, we were overjoyed at the idea of a 5-cylinder turbo-petrol Volkswagen Tiguan, with our earlier article drawing comparisons between unique engines and unicorns (all within context). Indeed the prospect of a relatively-inexpensive mass-market high-performance family car with a unique, characteristic burble is not something to be scoffed at, and while we believe for a while that our prayers had been answered, we now have reason to believe that some German engineers are just having us on.
Attention was drawn by readers and observers as to the odd nature of the ‘Tiguan R’ prototype, doing laps at the Nurburgring without a shred of camouflage, with only its enormous wheels and equally-large tailpipes giving away its high-performance nature. It was odd that something this revered would be given little to no protection as it was being put through its paces, but then we spotted something else.
Germany has state-specific plates (like we do), and some pointed out that the Volkswagen Tiguan R prototype, which would have been built and registered in Wolfsburg, was wearing plates that were registered in Ingolstadt. It would have been odd for Volkswagen to go with a 5-cylinder powerplant, but it wouldn’t be so odd of Audi did, would it?
Putting two and two together brought us to the conclusion that this ‘Tiguan R’ is likely just a test mule for the new RS Q3, which makes the most sense given the critical acclaim the 2.5-litre five-cylinder turbo-petrol managed when plonked in the RS3 and TT RS, and will offer blistering performance with little practical compromise.
The sun hasn’t set on the Tiguan R though, with reports suggesting that the hot-crossover is definitely in the works. Volkswagen boss Dr. Herbert Diess has said in the past that the idea of a ‘GTI-SUV’ was preposterous, while the ‘R’ brand had room to grow. We’re quite sad that this 5-cylinder monster isn’t a Tiguan R, as that will likely pack a similar 2.0-litre turbo-four as found in the Golf R rather than this ‘unicorn’ of an engine.
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