Once in a while Volkswagen does something completely crazy, and for the 2007 Worthersee festival, the company slotted its largest engine into one of its smallest cars to come up with something utterly bonkers. Worthersee is the world’s largest annual celebration of the Golf GTi, so it was fitting that VW should use its then-current hot Golf (the Mk5) as the basis for a show car that gave the punters a fresh perspective on this most staid of car makers.
Mounted in the middle of the Golf GTi W12-650 was a 6.0-litre W12 engine taken from the VW Phaeton, with a couple of turbochargers strapped on to boost peak power to 641bhp, while the maximum torque was pegged at 553lb ft at 4500rpm.
The bespoke drivetrain and cooling system needed some accommodating, so Volkswagen widened the Golf by 160mm and fitted 19-inch alloys with 295-section tyres – which no doubt had their work cut out trying to harness all of that power. The car was claimed to be capable of 202mph, with the 0-62mph sprint taking just 3.7 seconds.
A unique aluminium subframe was built for the engine to be located behind the two front seats, while transmitting the power to the back wheels was a six-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission. Another unique touch was the carbon fibre roof which incorporated a scoop to channel air to the radiators mounted in the side of the car.
