VW Unveils Sporty Concepts at Austrian Tuner Gathering
The auto maker’s Design Vision GTI achieves a top speed of 186 mph and can accelerate 0-62 mpg in 3.9 seconds.
VIENNA – Volkswagen Group picks the small Austria city of Reifnitz alongside the Wörthersee Lake, host of the 32nd GTI Treffen, for the debut of several new concept vehicles.
The Treffen (translating as “meeting” in English) began as a small gathering of Golf GTI fans but has ballooned into a wildly popular Volkswagen tuner event drawing 200,000 enthusiasts from around Europe this week.
For years, VW has used the festival to show off new sporty concept vehicles and this year is no exception, with the auto maker unveiling its Design Vision GTI, a 503-hp racing version of the seventh-generation GTI now hitting the market in Europe.
The Vision GTI design team, under the aegis of Klaus Bischoff, head of design for the VW 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-in. wheels
The all-wheel-drive car is powered by a twin-turbo, direct-injection 3.0L V-6 TSI gasoline engine. It develops 369 lb.-ft. (500 Nm) of torque at 2,000 rpm and a maximum of 413 lb.-ft. (560 Nm) between 4,000 rpm and 6,000 rpm. Power is distributed via a dual-clutch gearbox.
The Design Vision GTI achieves a top speed of 186 mph (300 km/h) and can accelerate 0-62 mpg (100 km/h) in 3.9 seconds.
VW also shows the 333-hp VW Golf GTI Cabriolet Austria, a 2-seater convertible designed by apprentices from Volkswagen’s plants in Wolfsburg and Osnabrück, Germany.
VW’s commercial-vehicle division unveils the VW Amarok Power Pickup, a concept based on its Amarok truck powered by a 272-hp 3.0L V6 TDI.
The main attraction on the Audi stand is the TT ultra quattro concept. The lightweight show car tips the scales at just 2,449 lbs. (1,111 kg) and is powered by a 310-hp 2.0 TFSI engine with 310 hp.
From a standstill, it can reach 62 mph in 4.2 seconds. The top speed is 174 mph (280 km/h).
“The concept car pays homage to automotive lightweight construction,” Audi says in a statement.
The Audi TT ultra quattro concept uses carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer in the rear end, center tunnel, B-pillars and roof. Magnesium components in the floor and as hinge reinforcements reduce weight further.
The group’s Czech brand Skoda presents the Rapid Sport, a sporty version of its compact sedan.
SEAT, Volkswagen’s Spanish brand, shows the Leon Cup racer, a car destined for competition.
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