VW unveils improved Polo R WRC for 2014 title defense

The Polo R WRC is primed and ready for the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship (WRC).  Aside from design tweaks to freshen up its looks, the Polo R WRC also received a plenty of improvements under the hood.

It will make its debut at the Rally Monte Carlo from 14th to 19th January, Volkswagen and begin the defense of its title with a 315-hp World Rally Car. The exterior is given a striking new design featuring grey and blue stripes.

The Polo R WRC won ten of the 13 rallies last season.

“If you don’t go forwards in motorsport, you go backwards.  When it comes to technical development, you simply cannot afford to let up for a single second. Although we won some laurels in 2013, we have certainly not rested on them. The manufacturers in the World Rally Championship agreed not to homologate any new World Rally Cars for the 2014 season. Despite this, we tried to take full advantage of the options still available to us. Many detailed aspects of the 2014 Polo R WRC have been further developed since we made our debut twelve months ago. Every single member of the team cannot wait to find out where we stand compared to the strong competition we will face from Citroën and Ford, as well as our new opposition at Hyundai,” said Motorsport Director Jost Capito.

The 2014 version of the Polo R WRC is the sum of the detailed further developments performed on the 2013 car. As well as the new design, the World Rally Car from Wolfsburg has also been honed under the bonnet. After last season, the team played ten so-called jokers, which allowed it to alter individual components compared to the homologation documents submitted previously. Besides optimizing chassis components and new set-up variants for the drive train, the priority for the engineers was to improve the stability of the car. Volkswagen used one joker to install a new software version for the on-board electronics.

As well as the pure performance, a major plus in 2013 was the reliability of the Polo R WRC. In 13 World Championship rallies – three with two cars and ten with three – the works team did not suffer any engine damage. There was just one technical fault: a loose connection in the electronics.