VW Is Considering Golf R Upgrade For The T-Roc

We haven’t even seen the production version of the Volkswagen T-Roc, and already there’s talk of a high-performance variant of the crossover. During an interview with Autocar, development boss Frank Welsch admitted that the company is toying with the idea of dropping the Golf R’s engine in the T-Roc.

For whatever set of reasons, using the GTI’s engineering for the new crossover wouldn’t work. Instead, Welsch said only the higher-powered R’s engine is under consideration. For now, the company is going to sit back and see how much people take to the regular variants on the T-Roc. If they’re a success, the T-Roc R could see the light of day.

Basically, Volkswagen needs to justify making a hopped-up version of its subcompact crossover. There’s something about needing to make money or some nonsense wrapped up in there. If people don’t really buy the T-Roc, the fear is a more performance-minded version won’t sell, either.

If the T-Roc gets the Golf R’s heart, it would be pumping out 310 horsepower and 280 lb.-ft. of torque. It’s possible Volkswagen could tweak the engine to make up for how much heavier the T-Roc is, at least a little bit.