Golf GTI W12 concept

Golf GTI W12 concept. It looks like pure show candy: a
642-hp, mid-mounted W12 engine under cartoonish stretched bodywork. Yet not only is it a
driver, complete with a 202-mph top speed, but the company let us put it through its paces
at Gros D�lln in Germany, a former Soviet airbase.

The GTI W12 was commissioned to wow the crowds at this year�s Worthersee GTI festival in
Austria,
but designer Marc Lichte was told that it also must be a full runner. Therefore, it was
built to standards far closer to a prototype, and Lichte had the chance to rummage through
the more exotic reaches of the corporate parts bin.

It�s got Audi RS4 front brakes, a Lamborghini Gallardo back axle, a VW Phaeton six-speed
automatic gearbox and a twin-turbocharged, 6.0-liter W12 engine from the Bentley
Continental sitting where you�d expect to find the groceries in a standard GTI. Vast sill
extensions add six inches of width, while mammoth air intakes (including scoops integrated
into the roof and rear side windows) feed air to the mid-mounted motor.

And it drives almost as nicely as it looks. With drive to the rear wheels only, VW decided
to limit the engine�s torque output to 222 lb-ft in first gear and 331 lb-ft in second.
But from third gear upward, the full 553 lb-ft is available. The official 3.7-second 0-to
-62-mph time makes it quicker than a Gallardo.

It even corners pretty well, certainly considering its short wheelbase and lack of any
kind of stability control. Without the weight of an engine in the front, turn-in is a fair
bit blunter than with a standard GTI, but the big 295 profile tires find plenty of grip,
and the cornering line can be tightened up nicely on the throttle.

Relevance? None whatsoever. You won�t be surprised to hear that VW has no plans to put a
642-hp, mid-engined, rear-drive Golf into production. And it won�t be a U.S.-market
Rabbit, either. That�s not going to stop us from thinking the world would be a more
entertaining place with cars like this in it.