This is the Volkswagen Golf GTE Sport Concept. It has just been unveiled at the 2015 Worthersee meet, and is a rally-car engined, 395bhp, Nürburgring-honed monster.
Volkswagen has form in knocking out wild, one-off Golf concepts, and this new GTE Sport certainly lives up to its barmy predecessors. Lets start at the bottom and work our way up.
Top Gear drives the one-off, 500bhp Golf GTI concept
It features the 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine from the Polo R WRC car; an engine that has helped Volkswagen claim the WRC crown twice. It's slotted up front under that long, swooping bonnet and packs 295bhp, and is backed up by a pair of electric motors.
One of these electric motors has been positioned up front, inside the housing of the six-speed dual-clutch gearbox, while the second sits on the rear axle. Yep, it's an all-wheel-drive Golf. Both motors produce an equal 113bhp, but unequal torque: the front motor kicks out 243lb ft, the rear 199lb ft.
Total torque stands at 494lb ft, and Volkswagen assures us that wherever possible, the concept runs purely on electricity, up to a range of 31 miles.
Things get more interesting when you choose not to run purely on electricity, which we suspect would be EVERYWHERE. This is because when you select the ‘GTE' mode, you get the full, banzai, 396bhp. That means 0-62mph in 4.3 seconds and a top speed of 174mph.
Meet the 192mph GTI Roadster for Gran Turismo
Volkswagen reckons that this drivetrain is good enough to go racing, too. "The boost effect is so strong that the drive unit would also perform well if used in professional touring car races," we're told. Oh yes. The figures certainly back it up: 0-31mph takes 1.8 seconds, 0-81mph takes 6.5s, and 0-124mph takes just 15.9 seconds.
The drivetrain isn't the only nutty thing about this concept, though. That wild two-door bodyshape is built almost entirely from lightweight carbon - just like the Veyron, and just like the VW XL1. We're told the striking front is an indication of where the next generation of sporty Golfs could go - all streamlined headlights and air inlets and crossbar - while the side profile is all about those amazing C-pillars. Just look at them.
Even these, say VW, could make production, reaching "a degree of perfection that allows it to leave the show car stage", which sounds mighty fine to us. There's aero stuffed in there too, directing flow to cool the rear brakes, which we assume are of a beefy nature.
The rear is massively wide too, and to cap it all off, VW has whacked on a set of upward-hinging doors. These gullwing doors swing forward and take a bit of the door sill and roof with them, framing fat 20-inch wheels.
This is a W12-engined Golf
It's a strict two-seater inside, with racing buckets and five-point harnesses, a Knight Rider-special steering wheel, three transparent instrument displays and much carbon fibre.
"The concept car breaks down traditional barriers between road and motorsport vehicles," says Volkswagen, casually mentioning that this particular concept has been ‘balanced for the Nürburgring north loop'. Hands up who'd like to see a production version?
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