Possible Volkswagen Tiguan R spied testing at the 'Ring

8 years ago - 27 October 2016, Autoblog

Crossovers sales have been taking off for the past few years, and so every automaker is introducing more and more to the market. Volkswagen revealed the all-new Tiguan, based on the variable MQB platform, more than a year ago.

While the new vehicle is on sale in Europe it has yet to reach our shores. As these spy shots reveal, the automaker is already cooking up new variants of the small crossover.

Some luxury automakers have built some hot and fast crossovers, like the Porsche Macan or the Mercedes-Benz GLA 45 AMG, but that go-fast formula hasn't trickled down to more mainstream products. It appears Volkswagen is looking to change that with the Tiguan R.

While it looks similar, the vehicle in these photos - captured at the Nürburgring - does look different than the Tiguan R Line that's currently available in Europe. The biggest tell is the quad exhaust tips that look similar to those on the 292-horsepower Volkswagen Golf R. The R Line just has two outlets mounted on the right hand side. Our spy photographer claimed the car was louder than the standard the vehicle.

While this car was badged as an Tiguan R Line, this could simply be a test mule. The Tiguan shares a platform with the Golf R, so transplanting some of the go-fast bits wouldn't be too much of a stretch. Then again, this could simply be a change to the R Line package.

We know the Tiguan will have several variations aside from a possible R model. Volkswagen is currently working on three-row and electric variants as the company moves away from diesel. Expect to see the US version of the crossover in the coming months.