The British, at the height of their wisdom, coined the term “hot hatch” decades ago, which came to identify the sportier versions of the common “hatchbacks”. In general, hatchbacks are cars with hatchbacks with three or five doors – the bulk of the B and C segment, that is, SUVs and small family cars. The hot hatch includes machines as iconic as they are desirable: from the Peugeot 205 GTI to the latest Honda Civic Type R and of course, without forgetting, their “father”, the Volkswagen Golf GTI.
Today the hot hatch is alive and recommended. But a threat looms on the horizon with the emergence of SUVs and Crossovers. These continue to gain market share from all other typologies and keep this pace, not long before they are the dominant force in the market. And as such, diversification of models and versions, including performance-focused variants, in these most popular segments, should be a matter of time.
The “Hot SUV” era approaches
If high-performance SUVs already exist in the upper segments, going down a few levels, where hot hatches live, little or nothing exists. But it is a scenario that could change drastically in the short and medium term, especially in the hands of the Volkswagen group – SEAT is already preparing an Ateca Cupra with 300 hp, and the German brand intends to launch a Tiguan R, as well as a T-Roc R. Will it be the definitive start of the Hot SUV era?Why go straight to R and not go through GTI? Well, according to those responsible for the brand, the acronym GTI is precious and forever associated with hot hatch. So, to identify these more powerful versions of their SUV, they decided to turn to their other performance sub-brand – the R.
It even fits well, as just like the Golf R, both of the planned high-performance SUVs come with four-wheel drive.
Tiguan R with five cylinders… by Audi
The Volkswagen Tiguan R is the one that seems to be closer to reaching the market, with prototypes already seen at the Nürburgring circuit (in the highlighted image). Currently the most powerful Tiguan is the 2.0 Bi-TDI, with 240 hp, but for the R something more special is planned.
The prototype sighted on the German circuit was equipped with the same engine as the Audi RS3 and TT RS – the phenomenal five-cylinder in-line turbo that these models delivers 400 hp. Wait… a Tiguan R with 400 hp?! Hold the horses there, it won't be like that.
I don't think we'll ever know how much Audi appreciated the idea of seeing its five-cylinder in a Volkswagen model, but it's pretty much certain that the Tiguan R won't come with “all the calories” that the cylindrical penta offers in the RS3 and TT RS. However, it will be far from anemic – it is estimated that it comfortably exceeds 300 hp.
T-Roc R prototype already exists
As for the T-Roc R, the good news is that a prototype of the T-Roc R already exists for the purpose of evaluating the feasibility of the proposal. But will it hit the market? It's too early to confirm. According to Frank Welsch, the person responsible for research and development at Volkswagen, who was in charge of designing the T-Roc R prototype, is confident that he will have the green light to move forward.
The comments from those who have tried the prototype have been very positive, but approval depends, above all, on the commercial performance of the T-Roc in general and also on more specific versions such as the 2.0 TSI with 190 hp. If there is enough market interest in a stronger T-Roc, the T-Roc R is likely to happen.
And if that happens, the chosen engine will fall on the 2.0 Turbo that we can find in the Volkswagen Golf R and SEAT Leon Cupra, the same one that will be used in the Ateca Cupra.
With all these models sharing the same base, the integration and development work is made easier. As such, the T-Roc R is expected to deliver around 300 hp, rivaling the Spanish proposal more directly.
Volkswagen is not the only one that is preparing and considering “hot” versions of its SUV. It is enough that one of these proposals, regardless of the brand, is launched and has success for others to follow. And then yes, the era of the Hot SUV will be upon us.