What are they putting into the (very clean) water at Wolfsburg these days?
I’ve always been a fan of small, fast hatchbacks, but this is something else. Yes, we’ve had mid-engined Renault 5s and Clios before, but this is the first time VW have tackled the concept of a hugely powerful, rear-wheel drive super-hatch.
And, boy, has it done it well.
Unveiled last week, it quite literally blew me away.
The Golf GTI W12-650 design study was created to take a starring role at the largest GTI festival in Europe, which was held last week in Woerthersee, Austria.
The idea is a simple one of course; big engine, little car. And, I’m surprised it’s taken Volkswagen this long to come up with the super-Golf. Borrowing an engine from the upmarket Phaeton will have been an easy job.
And I’m sure the company has the engineering skill to mate it to a box of (admittedly complex) bits.
So, the GTI W12-650 is a marriage between a three-door Golf GTI bodyshell, to a mid-mounted bi-turbo 650 PS W12 engine? If only it was that simple.
The 6.0-litre engine is bespoke, and is a development of the Phaeton’s unit. Linked to a pair of turbochargers, it is mounted on a unique aluminium subframe.
Cooling is provided by air being sucked in through a pair of side-mounted vents just ahead of the rear wheels. The rear-wheels? Yes, that’s right: the W12-650 is rear-wheel drive, too.
The performance figures are as impressive as the car itself.
The fastest-ever Golf produced by VW sprints to 62mph in 3.7 seconds, and could potentially shred its 295-profile tyres up to a 201.8mph maximum speed.
The maximum power of 648bhp is produced at 6,000rpm, while peak torque is capped at 553lbs ft at 4,500rpm. So, this singular concept GTI has the power of three regular ones.
Environmentally friendly? Of course not. An intoxicating performance powerhouse? Yes, undoubtedly.
That bodyshell’s not standard either, and if you look hard enough, doesn’t bear much resemblance to a road-going hot Golf.
Only the headlamps, doors, bonnet, and rear lights are taken from the standard Golf GTI.
A 160mm gain in width accommodates the mid-mounted engine, bespoke drivetrain, and the side-mounted cooling systems that 6.0-litre powerplant necessitates.
More air is fed into the car by the integrated cooling scoop on the carbon fibre roof, and the floating C-pillars further help in keeping the engine cold, by acting like flying buttresses, as the inner rear windows taper inwards.
Ride height is lowered by 70mm, and the extensive use of under floor aerodynamic aids (including a diffuser negating the need for a large rear wing) keep the super-hatch pinned to the ground at very high speeds.
Hugely-blistered wheel arches wrap themselves around a set of 19-inch wheels styled to mimic the road car’s alloys. It looks like a Wicked Art car caricature made real.
A nod to the Mk1 and Mk 2 GTIs sees the grilled topped and tailed with a red surround, while unique mesh-filled bumpers finish off the super-Golf’s look.
The interior sees the door trims replaced with screens, showing the internal door mechanisms, while three round gauges placed in the middle of the instrument cluster are also reminiscent of the original incarnation of VW’s evergreen hot hatchback.
Of course, the company will never make it. It’s a show car, pure and simple.
But, however long it’s taken them to do it, I’m glad it’s here. It shows that Europe’s largest car maker can still ratchet up the excitement scale a notch or two, as well as doing the worthy - if slightly dull - stuff.
So, although the hottest Golf ever may still be a GTI, it’s very much above par.
Update, 8 June 2007: It has been announced that the Golf GTI W12-650 will take centre stage at the UK’s biggest gathering of water-cooled and high-performance Volkswagens, GTI International, on 16/17 June.
[...] had pulled out all the stops to get the new super-Golf concept GTI W12-650 over to these shores, especially for the [...]