Having gained raving success with the Polo and Vento Cups since 2010, Volkswagen Motorsport India has officially revealed the race-ready version of its subcompact sedan - the 'Volkswagen Ameo Cup' that will be kick starting the 2017 season for the automaker's one-make race championship. The new Ameo Cup takes the baton forward from the automaker's other race cars and gets performance upgrades done completely in-house by VW Motorsport India. We shared the images of the camouflaged Ameo Cup race car a few months back and now we have the official car in flesh.
The Volkswagen Ameo Cup has been developed at the automaker's manufacturing facility in Chakan, near Pune and is a first for a car in a one-make series. The race-spec subcompact has swapped the humble 1.2-litre MPI petrol motor for the more powerful and outlandish 1.8-litre TSI engine. Now, a lot of you will find this engine familiar as it is also found on the recently launched Volkswagen Polo GTI, and has been updated to belt out 203 bhp of power at 6100 rpm and 320 Nm of peak torque available between 3200 to 4600 rpm. The performance spec motor comes paired to a 6-speed racing sequential gearbox with paddle shifters behind the steering wheel.
Braking performance on the Volkswagen Ameo Cup car is handled by the 334 mm ventilated discs on front tyres and 232 mm discs at the rear. Racing ABS is also part of the package for more controlled stops. Volkswagen has also worked with tyre maker MRF to develop special tyres for the race-ready Ameo Cup for better power dissipation on the tarmac. The 205/605 rubber are wrapped on new 17-inch alloy wheels. The Ameo Cup also comes equipped with a limited slip differential and a Sachs racing clutch while the front suspension comes with McPherson Struts with 2-way adjustable KW dampers. The rear uses a torsional beam axle on the race car.
The Volkswagen Ameo Cup car has seen a marginal difference in its dimensions but still remains a sub 4-metre model. There is a giant spoiler though that has been added for improved downforce. On the safety front, the cup car comes with an 8-point roll cage and 6-point racing seatbelts, as per the guidelines of the FMSCI.
With the bulk of upgrades, the Volkswagen Ameo Cup car is not only better than the stock model but also performs better than the Polo and Vento Cup cars, says Volkswagen. The race car has clocked the fastest lap time of 1.51.780 seconds on the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT), which makes it 4.6 seconds faster than its predecessors.
Much like the previous championships, the Volkswagen Ameo Cup one-make race will also see around 20 participants getting a seat on the race car. The 2017 season is all set to commence in June this year at the Kari Motor Speedway in Coimbatore, before moving to MMRT and finally ending at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in Noida.
