The Worthersee Motor Show (Austria) is the stage where Volkswagen presented its latest prototype: the Golf GTI W12-650. With the tuning audience as the main recipient, this car repeats the formula used in the Renault Clio V6, which consists of placing the engine inside the passenger compartment behind the front seats.
The tuning style design was under the supervision of Klaus Bischoff, head of design at Volkswagen. While the development of the engine was carried out in conjunction with Audi, to be able to optimize the W12 of the Phaeton, which now delivers a power of 650 hp.
As far as exterior design is concerned, it is clear that it is a Golf although taken to extreme proportions, exaggerating the catwalks to accommodate tires much wider than standard ones. This also allowed to increase the dimensions of the troches to gain stability at high speeds and maneuverability in curves.
The front sector remains similar but also widened. It has an immense air intake cut into three divisions, one central and two narrower at the ends to send ventilation air to the front brake discs.
On the side there is a horizontal molding with a front air outlet and a direct power outlet for the W12 engine located in the center position ahead of the rear axle. Perhaps the best goal achieved in the design is the appearance tuning without excess ornamental details, maintaining the purity and simplicity of the original car.
The body was painted in grey except on the roof, as they took advantage of its carbon fiber construction to combine the color of the car with the neat frame of the panel of the mentioned element.
The mechanical part amazes singularly because it is applied in a small vehicle such as Golf. The engine used is a W12 located inside the passenger compartment behind the front seats. This location allows for a much more efficient weight distribution and is more suitable for mounting a transmission that sends power directly to the rear wheels.
With the already mentioned 650 horsepower W12, the Volkswagen GTI W12-650 is the most powerful Golf ever made. Those responsible for the construction of this prototype claim that it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds and reaches a top speed of 325 km/h.
© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —
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