The Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team today unveiled their new Beetle GRC rallycross car. The Beetle will run later this season in the Red Bull Global Rallycross championship, driven by both Tanner Foust and Scott Speed.
The Beetle, features a 1.6-liter four-cylinder TSI® turbocharged and intercooled engine making 544 horsepower. “The Polo has already proved super-competitive,” said Speed, “and we are really looking forward to racing a car that has been engineered specifically by Volkswagen Motorsport for GRC competition.” Foust added: “I know I can’t wait to race the No. 34 Rockstar Energy Drink Beetle. There’s no cooler looking car in the series.”
This rallycross car is the ultimate expression of the third-generation Beetle. Designed and engineered from the outset as a GRC car, it features a sequential six-speed transmission, with a fixed-ratio all-wheel-drive system that features multiplate limited-slip differentials at both the front and rear.
The car is fitted with an all-around strut-type suspension, with ZF dampers and about 9.1 inches of travel to cope with the rigors of the the jump and the off-road portion of a typical rallycross course. The car features 14.0-inch diameter front and 11.8-inch rear vented disc brakes, with four-piston aluminum calipers. The 17-inch wheels are shod with 240/640-R17 Yokohama competition tires.
With this combination of low weight, high horsepower, and all-wheel-drive traction, the Beetle GRC is predicted to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in an incredibly quick 2.1 seconds.
So the question is, when do we see a street version Volkswagen?
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