The GTI meeting at Wörthersee is a veritable cult and pure automobile passion. Just like the car everybody is celebrating and driving there. There ought to be 150,000 fans showing up again in 2013. From 8 through 11 May 2013, they will turn the Austrian city of Reifnitz into a Mecca of the GTI scene. Traditional highlight: the world premiere of a concept car conceived by Volkswagen engineers and designers especially for the meeting. This year, it is a visionary GTI for car racing—the “Design Vision GTI.” An unmatched 370 kW / 503 PS Golf. The progressive design study is based on the seventh-generation GTI that was launched just now in Europe, transferring the design and power potential of the icon to the world of car racing. Visually, particularly intriguing: The design team under the aegis of Klaus Bischoff (Head of Design of Volkswagen Brand) has drawn the C pillars and side sills outward as autonomous body elements, thus creating space for substantially enlarged track widths and specially developed 20-inch wheels (with 235 tyres in the front, 275 tyres in the rear). The “Design Vision GTI” achieves 300 km/h, and despite extreme modifications, it comes across as very homogeneous thanks to the precise styling based on the Volkswagen design DNA: this “Super-GTI” could start tomorrow in a racing series!
The new Golf GTI is already more of a clear leader on the road than ever with an output of 162 kW / 220 PS or 169 kW / 230 PS (Golf GTI Performance), respectively. Now Volkswagen has more than doubled this power on board of the “Design Vision GTI,” with the 503 PS (at 6,500 rpm) mentioned above. So what’s working under the bonnet in the front is not a series four-cylinder but a V6 engine. As with the 2.0-litre engine of the production GTI, however, the 3.0 litre engine of the concept car is a TSI – a direct injection petrol engine with turbocharger. In this case, two turbochargers are on board. Two three-way catalytic converters arranged close to the engine optimise emission behaviour. The V6-TSI develops 500 Nm already in the lower engine speed range (as of 2,000 rpm) and a maximum torque of 560 Nm (between 4,000 rpm and 6,000 rpm). This force is distributed to the front and rear wheels via a dual clutch gearbox (DSG) and an all-wheel drive.
With this drive concept and a specially designed sports chassis, the “Design Vision GTI” virtually eats up any type of race track. And pretty damn quick at that: After a mere 3.9 seconds, the study is already going 100 km/h fast.
In order to slow down the GTI with corresponding power, going 300 km/h fast as mentioned above, Volkswagen uses ceramic brake discs all around. In the front, the brake callipers grip onto 380-mm discs; at the rear, the diameter is 356 mm. The ceramic brake discs and red-painted brake callipers shine through the spokes of the 20-inch alloy wheels, which have likewise been redesigned. The front wheels (8.5J x 20, ET32) are fitted with 235/35 tyres; the rear wheels (9.5J x 20, ET25) are equipped with 275/30 tyres.
The design of the new rims adopts the formal concept of the “Austin” GTI wheel, which in turn is a subtle derivative of the “Denver” GTI classic. The wheel of the “Design Vision GTI” features blades that are integrated into the design and discharge the hot air of the brake system optimally through the wheel openings. The wheel bolts are covered; this way, the appearance of a central lock is created. A shallow press-in depth allows for a slight key shape of the wheels, which in turn creates visually exciting reflections on the polished surfaces.
News Source: VW
