WORTHERSEE 2018: Volkswagen shows off Golf GTI TCR

The go-faster Golf family just got bigger and angrier with the debut of the Golf GTi TCR Concept.

Flagging a production car it should be building by the end of the year, the GTi TCR concept is another piece of the effort Volkswagen is making with the international TCR production-based racing series, which its Golf TCR has dominated.

The GTi TCR, which debuted at the renowned Worthersee GTi festival in Austria, will turn the Golf even more wicked.

The front-wheel drive, five-door hatch will punch out 213kW of power, which it hopes to tame with a mechanically locking differential.

The most powerful front-driver in Volkswagen history, the GTi TCR Golf will be limited to 250km/h, though de-limited versions will hit 264km/h.

Though there’s no word on its 0-100km/h sprint times, the GTi TCR has uprated brakes, suspension and gear-shifting to match the added urge.

It will sit atop a four-model Go-Fast Golf range, which starts with the Golf GTi, moves to the GTi Performance, reaches up to the Golf R and tops out a the TCR.

"At the moment, the Golf GTI TCR Concept – an athlete derived from racing sport – is a study,” Volkswagen’s Board Member for Sales, Jürgen Stackmann, said.

“But at the end of the year, we want to make this GTI vision come true."

All that power and 370Nm of torque (from 1600rpm) from the turbocharged, 2.0-litre four will run through a strengthened, seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

It will have 18-inch wheels as standard, though 19-inch versions will be optional, while its extra performance demanded Volkswagen fit two extra radiators to cool the engine.

It will be able to be ordered with adaptive chassis control (with adjustable damping rates) and even firmer springs and bushes.

There’s an aggressive new front splitter, a new side panel for the sills and a large rear diffuser.