Among the closest things to unicorns in the automotive world of today are unique engines, and an increasingly rare collection are that of 5 cylinders arranged in a row, which also applies to two rows of such, V10s. Some of the most iconic and memorable cars have featured either of these layouts, and they’ve always been attached to high performance.
But, in an odd turn, Volkswagen may be looking to borrow Audi’s 2.5-litre straight-5 from the Audi TT RS and the RS3 to slot into a new fast Tiguan, possibly called the R. The idea isn’t really outlandish, but it isn’t without its controversial bits either. Chiefly, it surrounds whether the Tiguan even deserves an engine this special.
A prototype of this mutant SUV was spotted tearing through the Nurburgring, albeit with a considerable amount of understeer and resulting tyre squeal. However, the deep rattle of the five-pot could be very clearly heard. Autocar says that the motor would be a detuned version from the one found in today’s Audis, where they produce between 270kW and 295kW. We figure 250kW to be a good guess.
In a previous exchange they had with Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess, he revealed that the R brand, constituting of the Scirocco R and Golf R so far, has the potential for expansion. He also said that their SUVs receiving a GTI variant is out of the question, which pretty much seal the odds toward a full-fledged Tiguan R to be the first new addition to that line-up.
From the outside, this Tiguan R prototype looks very much like any second-generation Tiguan equipped in R-Line trim, with larger wheels, more aggressive front and rear bumpers, and side skirts to accentuate its slightly lowered stance.
Apart from the obvious change in soundtrack and pair of large bore exhausts on either side of its behind, replacing the twin exits on normal Tiguans, there really isn't much to tell this apart as anything out of the ordinary, possible explaining why Volkswagen felt comfortable enough to let it loose on a public racetrack virtually undisguised.
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