It seems that the petrolheads at VW aren’t going to let their Spanish cousins at Seat steal all the motorsport-inspired thunder at this year’s VAG enthusiasts Wörthersee show in Austria, on Lake Wörthersee. While the new Seat Leon Cup Racer may look pretty darn sweet, it’s blown well into the weeds by this here ‘Design Vision GTI’ that’s set to go on show at Wörthersee today.
This new Golf GTI-based motorsport monster is wider, meaner and wilder than the really-not-so-shy-Seat, and packs a whopping 500bhp and a chunky 560Nm of torque, and four-wheel drive to deliver it. The yearly show at Wörthersee is just massive with 150,000 VAG (Volkswagen Audi Group) lovers descending onto the shores of the lake to celebrate all things modified VAG. So, every year, the VAG designers make them something mega to look at, and, well, this has got to be the most mega yet.
These stunning design sketches show a highly modified MK7 Golf GTI – the latest GTI has just gone into UK dealers by the way, so if you fancy building one into one of these… – with super-wide bodywork – note the ‘flared’ C-pillars that blend into the rear wide arches and the rear bumper – and a 500bhp, 3-litre V6 turbocharged motor under the hood, a DSG gearbox and four-wheel drive. All of this VW big-budget-blowing means 62mph in 3.9 seconds for the Design Vision GTI, and surely the most stunning silhouette since Pammy Anderson first slipped into her red Baywatch swimsuit. If this is motorsport, I’m buying a helmet!
The vicious-looking Design Vision GTI has a longer wheelbase (for braking stability) and short overhangs (for general coolness); measuring 4,253mm long (15mm less than the production GTI), a mere 1,385mm tall (57mm lower than the road-going car) and 1,870mm wide; a full-fat 71mm wider than standard. Flat and fast circuit cornering should be easily achievable thanks to go-large track-width figures of 1,595mm at the front and 1,579mm at the rear. Sneaking under those monster arches are bespoke 20-inch turbine-style alloys fronting large ceramic brake discs. Track day weaponry just went nuclear.
Inside the Design Vision GTI, it’s all about the leather, Alcantara (automotive ‘suede’) and, of course, lashings of weight-saving carbon fibre, and being a big-budget concept there are neat futuristic tricks like an onboard camera, and a connection to let the driver network with social communities, like Facebook, from the car. The large display to the right of the main instruments cluster shows a graphic of the circuit being driven as well as the lap times achieved so far.
VW haven’t clarified what kind of racing – other than circuit – the Design Vision GTI is aimed at, or indeed what race series would allows such a high power, four-wheel driving monster to compete. The British Touring Car Championship certainly wouldn’t ‘cos this thing would maul the lot of them!
By Dan Anslow
For more articles like this, receive our weekly e-newsletter, including partner deals and all things motoring, register your email below.
Please note: You cannot subscribe to Smart-Motoring unless you put a tick in the checkbox below to indicate have read and agreed to our privacy policy.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.