Tag Archives: hot hatch

Volkswagen Design Vision GTI Concept

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VW Design Vision GTI Concept 2013 FrontHasn’t it always been your dream to leave a 911 Porsche in the dust while riding the hottest and one of the first hatches ever created, the Golf GTI? Introducing the Design Vision GTI Concept, the 503hp and 413 lb-ft of torque Golf GTI, the supercar killer. The three-door monster was developed to wow the crowds of the Wörthersee tuning festival in Austria last spring and has now been revealed at the 2013 LA MotorShow. With this one of a kind edition, Volkswagen is giving us a spectacular glance into the future of the GTI and showing us the flexibility and performance potential of the “MQB” chassis it shares with the stock MK7. All of these ponies were able to fit into the hatch by adding 2 cylinders and a turbo. In fact the Design Vision incorporates a twin-turbocharged VR6 TSI engine combined with a DSG dual-clutch gearbox driving all four wheels. In other words the ingredients for a bonkers version of the all mighty GTI that burns the 0-100km/h in just 3.9 sec.

VW Design Vision GTI Concept 2013 BackAnd isn’t it just a beauty sitting on those 20 inch wheels?! Ok the plastic body might be a bit too wide and the interior too rough, but hey it is still a concept and it needs to incorporate and be able to handle those 500 horses. I really hope that VW is able to produce a more subtle, but as crazy version, of this Design Vision concept. Watch the video attached to take a glance at the burps and other amazing sounds emitted by that amazing engine.

VW GTI MK7 Banner Bahn

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GTI MK7Volkswagen Netherlands is launching the new GTI in the best of ways, combining the best of both worlds, online and offline. The campaign connected the paid banner media space of the top four websites in Netherlands with the real world by challenging the users to catch a Volkswagen Golf GTI. Users had to click on the GTI that will be passing and drifting through the banner space at very high speed. The car is actually driven by a real driver in the real world on 4 asphalt painted versions of the websites. The first user to click on the car wins it! YEP a simple click and you’ll find a GTI MK7 in your garage the next morning. Well it is a bit too late by now the campaign was running on September the 13th but it is still an awesome idea that is definitely worth sharing. Feel free to check the promotion video and the making of attached here below.

N.B: For the full review of the GTI MK7 you can always check my previous article by clicking right here 🙂

Volkswagen Golf 7 R

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Volkswagen-Golf_R_2014Being a fan of hot hatches, I have been looking forward to that little one for quite some time now. The R is back with some pretty impressive figures. Starting with the engine obviously. The all-wheel drive Golf now has 296hp, compared to the 267hp of the Golf 6 R. The 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine sends all of its 300 ponies to the all-wheel drive system (With a clever XDS+ electronic diff lock on both axles) through a six-speed DSG allowing it to burn the 0-100km/h in just 4.9sec. That is M135i performance! Even though, the R is still far behind the performance of the A45 AMG and its 360hp. (Check the full review of the A45AMG by clicking here). Other than that, for the first time since the Mk5 Golf, the ESC has a Race setting, which allows you to turn the stability control completely off. There’s a new ‘progressive steering’, which is more responsive and an optional Dynamic Chassis Control to switch between Comfort, Normal and Sport modes.

Volkswagen-Golf_R_2014 RearThe new R is 5 mm lower than the new MK7 GTI and sits on 18 inch alloy wheels which look pretty beast in the EVO Frankfurt review here attached (You are welcome EVO). The pair of centrally mounted exhausts has been dumbed for a twin-oval chrome-tipped versions at each side of the car remind us of Audi’s S models. Hope that change won’t affect the exhaust note negatively. The Tail lights are smoked, like on every R model. All in all, even though looking at the first snapshots, I didn’t really like the new MK7 design, seeing the car in live made me change my mind. It is a great update over the MK6. The rear tail lights look really good specially at night. The interior is neat, clear and tidy as usual. With the price of the MK7 GTI at around 50,000$ in Lebanon, the R is expected to be launched with a starting price at around 65,000$ which is quite expensive for a hatch. But when you consider that an A250 with its front wheel drive, 210hp engine costs approximately the same price, the R suddenly becomes a bargain! Just wish I could put my hands on one of these ASAP and be the “lucky one” like in the new commercial attached below.

Volkswagen commercial: Are you GTI Enough?

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GTI 35 special editionFor those of you who missed it, this is the commercial of the VW Golf GTI VI 35 anniversary edition. This special edition of the already amazing GTI has still the standard 2.0 liters V4 turbocharged engine but the German engineers were able to squeeze out of it 235hp and 221 lb-ft of torque. This is an augmentation of almost 10% compared to the stock GTI’s power. Not a crazy increase but it is nice to have. The 35 edition has several limited edition “35” badges here and there like on the door sill plates, the steering wheel and seats. This limited edition features a “half golf ball” as a gearlever that pays homage to the stickshift of the original 1976 GTI. This commercial that was released for the launching of the 35 edition GTI is just stunning. The driving sensations the car delivers are so well advertised and represented. This is one gorgeous car commercial just pure car/human interaction. I am still waiting patiently to see how the new special edition GTI VII will look like. Knowing that the stock GTI VII can be bought with a special racing package delivering 230hp, a special edition version will have at least 30 additional hp. Looking forward.