VOLKSWAGEN ANDRETTI RALLYCROSS TEAM UPDATES BEETLE GRC CARS FOR 2015 SEASON

After a strong performance in its inaugural season, the Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross team is ready to challenge for this year’s driver and manufacturer titles in the Global Rallycross Championship. In 2015, the team will be on the attack with two Beetle GRC race cars, which debuted in the final races of 2014.

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 the front and rear.

For the 2015 season, the team has chosen to change the engine specification from the car that ran in selected rounds of the 2014 series. In place of that car’s 1.6-liter turbocharged and intercooled TSI® four-cylinder engine, there is now a 2.0-liter TSI engine that produces 553 horsepower and 465 pound-feet of torque, compared to 544 hp and 387 lb-ft for the 2014 car.

Volkswagen believes that the extra torque of the larger engine will be important for standing start performance, which is a key element in Global Rallycross racing, as well as acceleration from slow corners. Another factor was that weight equalization for the 1.6 liter engine will be removed in the future, moving the U.S. series in line with the FIA World Rallycross series.