Volkswagen seems keen to capitalise on its recent domination of the World Rally Championship with an ultra-high performance version of the Polo. Last year, VW made a limited edition run of Polo R WRC models with a 220hp engine to celebrate its arrival on the world rally scene, but now plans are afoot for something a little more hardcore.

VW already has prototypes circulating of a new Polo R model, this time with 250bhp and, crucially for any rally-derived weapon, four wheel drive.

According to German car magazine Auto Bild, which has driven one of the prototypes, it can accelerate from 0-100km/h in under 6.0 secs and has a limited top speed of 250kmh.

The only doubt over producing the model would be the potential cost (we would suspect it would carry an Irish price of at least €45,000) and whether or not it would tread too heavily on the toes of the forthcoming Audi S1, which will use many of the same mechanical parts and which is due to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show.