It is now one of the auto world’s most well-established traditions that VW has to unveil a cool concept Golf at the annual Wörthersee event. The thousands of VW fans that descend on the place expect to see something amazing, and this year it takes the form of a road version of the Golf GTI TCR touring car.
Volkswagen is adamant that Wörthersee-bound Golf GTI TCR is a prototype, but they also call it the “new top model” on a couple of occasions. So chances are we will soon see a production version of this bad boy, maybe as a limited edition model. The specs, juicy though they are, certainly fit the bill for a production car. The TCR has a TSI turbo engine with 190 PS and 370 Nm of torque, a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox (DSG) and a front axle differential lock.
That setup makes the Golf GTI TCR the fastest Golf ever. The top speed is restricted to 250 km/h, but if you have the limiter removed the hot hatch is capable of clocking 264 km/h. Visually, the car is pretty GTI-ish, save for flared arches, a subtle aero kit, TCR graphics on the sills, special wheels, and dual exhaust integrated into the rear diffuser. Again, all the features are virtually production-ready.
With more than 2.2 million units sold, the Golf GTI has become one of the world’s most successful compact sports cars. It all started life in 1976 as a 110 PS front-wheel drive car, which made high driving dynamics affordable. Originally, only 5,000 cars of the original GTI were to be built – 4,400 times as many have now been produced.
