PARIS MOTOR SHOW: Volkswagen Golf GTi concept
Hot new VW Golf GTi debuts at ParisVW’s new Golf GTi the least “conceptual” concept car at Paris show
Volkswagen has shown a thinly-veiled ‘concept’ of what will be the next Golf GTi at the Paris motorshow, just weeks after revealing the rest of the seventh-generation Golf range.
While most concept cars come draped in unworkable curves and creases, packing over the horizon technology and a haze of baffling designer-speak, the hot Golf GTi concept stepped out in what is basically its pure production skin.
Due on sale in Europe late next year and in Australia between six and 12-months later, depending on European demand, the new GTi will be offered with two different power outputs.
Base models of the GTi will run a 162kW version of Volkswagen’s direct-injection, turbocharged four-cylinder engine, while a hotter Performance Pack will deliver 169kW.
With six-speed manual or dual-clutch transmissions fitted, the GTi will deliver 6.0L/100km of fuel economy regardless of the power output chosen.
That’s an 18-percent improvement over the existing GTi, along with another 7kW of power in the basic version, or 14kW more with the Performance Pack. Torque figures climb even higher, the new GTi’s 350Nm equating to a 70Nm leap over the existing car.
In fact, VW has given the new GTi precisely the same levels of performance as the existing Golf R, which indicates the next Golf R, due in two years, will head towards the 180kW level.
VW is claiming a 6.6 second 0-100km/h sprint and a 246km/h top speed for the base car, while the Performance Pack cuts one tenth of a second from the sprint and runs out to 250km/h.
The new GTi continues with an electronic diff lock for the front wheels and adds a variable steering system, which switches levels of steering assistance for regular or enthusiast driving.
The GTi sits 15mm lower than the standard Golf, with other body differentiations including a deeper front fascia with wider air intakes, twin tailpipes, and a subtle hatch spoiler.
Bigger wheels and brakes house the GTi’s signature red brake callipers, with other familiar design cues including the honeycomb grille and a black strip across the front bumper bar.
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