The full name of this car is the Volkswagen GTI Roadster, Vision Grand Turismo. Or the Volkswagen GTI Roadster, Design Gran Turismo. I'm not sure which, since the press release gives both names. It doesn't matter. What you need to know is that it's a chopped-down GTI, with over 500 horses.
We first saw sketches of the GTI Roadster leak out yesterday, but today VW confirmed that the bonkers hatch-roadster thing is real. Alright, so we still only have sketches, but they do look properly nuts, and the company promises that a really-real real-life version is actually set to debut next week at the famous Woerthersee Festival in Austria.
And you'll be able to drive it, sort of, in Gran Turismo 6 on your Playstation.
Previous gifts to the teeming VW masses at Woerthersee have included the properly nuts Golf W12 concept, so this follow up is no different. Particularly astute observers will note that this car is called the "GTI Roadster," and it appears to have no roof. That is because the car has no roof. Which is not normally seen in most GTIs.
But beyond the whole "no roof" thing, you'll see it's also festooned with a wild assortment of carbon fiber aerodynamic bits. And carbon fiber aerodynamic bits are important, when your chopped-down crazyGolf sports a twin-turbo 3.0-liter VR6 engine with 503 horsepower and 491 pound-feet of torque.
All through a twin-clutch DSG gearbox, because of course.
But my favorite part isn't the big wing, or the big racing-style front splitter, or even the big engine.
It's the steering wheel. But when I say "steering wheel," it's more like "steering yoke." Because it looks like someone saw an F1 car, and then they saw the cockpit of the world's must futuristic tactical bomber, and then they said, "yes, I'd like some of that in my Volkswagen, please."
I want that steering wheel so bad it hurts. In fact, I want this whole car so bad it hurts.