Volkswagen Will Reveal 496hp Design Vision GTI Racecar at Wörthersee

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Wörthersee-Treffen 2013 begins on May 8, and it has saved one of its biggest surprises for last. Its big concept will be the Design Vision GTIVolkswagen Golf Design Vi...Germany, 2013 > present racecar with 496hp from a special twin-turbo V6 engine. 

The Design Vision is based on the seventh-generation GTI that will go on sale in the coming weeks. Volkswagen Brand Head of Design Klaus Bischoff and his team designed the racecar-inspired GTI. The concept was to treat the side sills and C-pillar as an independent, unified design element to not only draws the eye but to fit the 275mm-wide, 20in diameter wheels in the rear. The front axle gets 235mm-wide 20in wheels with similarly widened fenders. The wheels have five conventional bolts hidden by a center cap that makes them look like center-lock wheels. At the rear, the widened fenders create two large air outlets near the taillights, and there is a carbon fiber rear diffuser. 

The interior follows the exterior's racecar inspiration. The design team calls it "reduced design." All of the instruments and switches are oriented towards the driver. It includes buttons for the on-board camera, fire extinguisher and ESP deactivation. The display to the right of the steering wheel shows the circuit that the driver is racing on, and where the car is. 

Power has been more than doubled compared to a standard seventh-generation GTI. The 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder has been replaced by a 3.0-liter twin-turbocharged V6 with 496hp and 413lb-ft of torque. It is enough to get the car to a top speed of 300km/h and to 100km/h in 3.9 seconds. Power goes to all four wheels via a dual-clutch transmission. 

To cope with the larger wheels and extra speed, the Design Vision receives ceramic brake discs with 380mm discs in the front and 356mm discs in the rear. 

“We wanted to bring out the design elements of the GTI as concisely, dynamically and emotionally as we could so as to get to the heart of the fascination that this car emanates," said Bischoff.

Volkswagen is expecting 150,000 people to descend on the small town of Reifnitz, Austria, from May 8 to 11.