It’s a sad thing to announce, however, the Volkswagen VR6 powering some of Volkswagen’s larger models will no longer be found in a new car in the United States. Volkswagen has never been afraid to upgrade its engines, however, the emissions are those of the VR6. problem.
“The VR6 engine is made of Amérique. La generation is old and emissions targets are essential. It’s not worth reinvesting in the engine for this,” Hein Schafer, Volkswagen’s senior vice president of marketing and product strategy, said at a panel discussion. Interview at the Chicago Auto Show.
The VR6 probably won’t be compatible with Volkswagen’s electrification plans, and emissions will be a factor around the world, so we don’t expect it to last long in other markets either.
The VR6 is an exclusive six-cylinder cross between a V-shaped design and an inline design that uses two banks of three cylinders offset from each other. Bays designed for an in-line four-cylinder engine. It first gave the impression of 2. 8-liter in the Volkswagen Passat B3 sedan and Corrado, depending on the geographic market, before installing an option on the MK3 Golf and the third-generation Jetta. Several models used a 2. 9-liter version, adding a Mercedes pickup truck and a cut cylinder to create the VR5.
In 2001, Volkswagen brought a 3. 2-liter edition that was used in the now mythical Volkswagen Golf R32 and Audi TT. It’s also the engine that animated the epic Bugatti W16 engine that was first imagined as W18 3-bank VR6.
In 2006, the VR6 became a 3. 6-liter engine in Volkswagen models and was extended for use in the Porsche Cayenne in a 3. 2-liter form, then upgraded to the 3. 6-liter version. After about 2010, Volkswagen began phasing out the VR6. through the reduction of the length of turbocharged sets to four-cylinder, however, it returned in the mid-length Atlas crossover in 2017 and as a redesigned unit for the Chinese market.
It is with the 2024 Volkswagen Atlas that the VR6 story ends, because even the Golf R’s engine has been reduced to a four-cylinder turbo. The 2023 Volkswagen Atlas is available with the VR6, but the new 2024 Atlas is supplied with a four-cylinder direct-injection TSI turbo engine with 269 horsepower and 273 pound-feet of torque. It’s almost as rugged as the outgoing VR6 in terms of power, but produces more torque over a wider rev range.