Volkswagen killed the VR-6 in Europe within the mid-2010s, however the V-6/inline-six mashup of an engine continued in North America till a few years in the past. The final automotive bought within the US with the narrow-angle V-6 was the 2023 Atlas. Except you are dwelling in China, this would possibly come as a shock–VW continued to supply this uncommon energy in vehicles such because the Talagon and the gas-powered Audi Q6. Nevertheless, not anymore. The VR-6 is formally lifeless.
VW spokesperson Andreas G. Schleith took to LinkedIn to share the unhappy information. The final VR-6 engine was assembled on December 12, 2024. The engine had been in manufacturing for almost 34 years, premiering on the 1991 Geneva Motor Present within the third-generation Golf. Since then, virtually 1.87 million engines have been assembled. The VR-6 went on to energy many VW merchandise: Corrado, Beetle, Passat, Vento/Bora/Jetta, Touareg, Phaeton, Transporter, Eos, CC, and Sharan.
Picture by: Volkswagen
The VR-6 was additionally utilized in many non-VW fashions, such because the Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q7, Audi TT, SEAT Leon, SEAT Alhambra, and the Skoda Excellent. A number of vehicles exterior the VW Group additionally had it: the Ford Galaxy, Mercedes Vito, and even RVs from Winnebago. Among the finest-sounding V-6s additionally served as the muse for the W-12, which died in July when Bentley assembled the final twelve-cylinder powerhouse.
Lest we overlook the notoriously unreliable W-8, a short-lived engine that powered the Passat within the early 2000s. It spawned a W-16 spinoff for the mighty Veyron and the Chiron that adopted. Bugatti is discontinuing the sixteen-cylinder monster after the Mistral and Bolide manufacturing ends. The brand new Tourbillon has a V-16 as an alternative.
VW additionally produced a smaller VR-5 within the Nineties and 2000s, which powered the Golf, Bora, Beetle, Passat, and SEAT Toledo.
Why did the VR-6 survive for therefore lengthy? It was a small but peppy engine, a one-engine-fits-all resolution that introduced good energy to front-wheel-drive vehicles from smaller segments. In the end, the proliferation of turbocharged inline-fours with wholesome horsepower, low-end torque, and higher gas economic system rendered the VR-6 out of date. Lighter and smaller, trendy four-pots enable VW to realize economies of scale by making only one engine for dozens of vehicles a part of the Group.
Past the manufacturing vehicles we talked about, VW additionally secretly produced a sixth-generation Golf prototype in 2009, which featured a turbocharged 3.2-liter VR-6 rated at a large 463 hp.
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Sourcing information and pictures from motor1.com
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