The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team have just released detaild of their 544 horsepower Global Rallycross challenger
Before we get started, this is not a wind up. No joke. No spoof. Yes, what you see before you, is a Global Rally Cross Volkswagen Beetle, powered by a 1.6-liter four-cylinder TSI turbocharged and intercooled lump making 544 horsepower. Enough to propel said Beetle from 0-100kph in 2.1 seconds. Quick then.
The Beetle is no stranger to the Rally Cross scene having been a force to be reckoned with during it’s first generation years in events across Europe, the UK, Australia and the United States. It had one key advantage back then. An engine hanging over its rear wheels. Less we forget, this was well before the days of all wheel drive, so having that much needed weight hanging out back gave it an advantage like no other. Not such the case with this one though is it?
The car you are looking at is the The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team car and will be entered into the burgeoning WRC championship from the third round of the season. Due to be driven by Scott Speed and Tanner Foust, the mighty looking 544 horsepower Beetle should be very rapidly up to dominating speed. Unlike it’s road car version (much better this time round), this one has been designed and engineered from the outset as a GRC car.
Featuring a sequential six-speed transmission, with a fixed-ratio all-wheel-drive system that features multiplate limited-slip differentials at the front and rear. Strut-type suspension all round and ZF dampers with 9.1 inches of travel to cope with the rigors of the off-road portion of a rallycross course, this Beetle will plain hustle.
All we need do now is hope that Volkswagen has the humour to actually leverage Motorsport over and above pretty marketing pictures and actually make a variation of one of their dominating race cars available to the buying public. You know… how it used to be done.
Come on Volkswagen. Stop ploughing millions into the Dakar, the World Rally Championship and now this, without at least giving the public the chance to run one themselves during their mundane drive to work. Please!
