Fast estates aren’t dead. Repeat after me. Fast estates aren’t dead. Say hello to the VW Arteon R Shooting Brake.
There’s something about a Shooting Brake model that makes it look stunning. Usually, mid-life updates aren’t great. They feature new lights, maybe a new wheel design and some software updates. Yawn. But VW has just updated the Arteon and brought about an R model as well as a Shooting Brake.
You guessed it, the engine is the EA888 engine from the Golf R and every other fast VAG around. That means that it produces 316bhp and 310lb ft of torque here. It also drives all four-wheels via a new “R-Performance Torque Vectoring” system. This new system allows the usual torque split between front and rear wheels as well as the ability to split power between the two rear wheels. 0-62mph takes around the five second mark and it’ll go onto the regular limit of 155mph.
The R model sits 20mm lower on the standard adaptive dampers and also gets hefty 20inch wheels and some R designated brakes. You get the usual quad exhaust out back and various other touches to make it look sportier around the rear and front bumpers.
Inside you’ll find carbon trim, sports seats and an R button on the steering wheel for race mode. On that point, VW has finally ditched the shoddy plastic paddles in favour of some nice shiny metal ones.
So now you really can have your cake and eat it. Would you buy a VW Arteon R?
