Report: Volkswagen’s heads of R lineup discuss future, entails more diesel power and AWD

Volkswagen has been making a big statement with their R lineup. And to make sure that the Wolfsburg manufacturer continues with their trend, the brand has shed some details pertaining to the R lineup’s future.

According to Ulrich Riestenpatt gt. Richter, Volkswagen R’s Executive Director and Dr. Hendrik Muth, the marketing head, the two announced that they want to focus on diesel and AWD for the future at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show last week.

Throughout history, diesel has a history of adding quite a bit of weight to an automobile because of their typical iron-block construction. And that’s due to the fact that diesels work from compression combustion, where the fuel is ignited through compression of the cylinders.

As a result, diesel engines have to be made to withstand stronger forces. But because technology is continuously advancing over time, engineers have found ways to make diesel engines lighter and stronger than ever before. Not to mention, oil-burners offer uncanny amounts of torque while returning significantly higher fuel economy figures than their gasoline counterparts.

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From these recent words, it leaves the possibility for a diesel powered Golf R with all-wheel drive. Not to mention, Richter added that him and Muth have the power to make an R version of any vehicle in Volkswagen’s lineup. So it wouldn’t be irrational to ponder about the possibility of a Passat R or a Jetta R.

The Volkswagen R duo also said that they respect the concept of hybrids. However, the fuel savings of hybrid-electric powertrains are still faced with complications from weight and that hybrid-like fuel economy ratings can be better achieved with diesel-powered automobiles and less overall weight.

– By: Chris Chin

Source: AutoBlog