All The Car

We can't begin to tell you how big this is. VW is returning to SEMA '06 after its triumphant debut last year with the Jetta, Passat and Touareg R GT concepts. Only this year, VW's concentrating on the Golf platform, with versions of the GTI and Rabbit being worked on as we speak.

But wait, there's more Not only is VW continuing to embrace the performance and tuner markets with these extraordinary concept cars, but they chose us to be the very first people to see them publicly through these design drawings.

And by that, we don't mean the staff on eurotuner. We mean all of us. VW considers the staff, readers and advertisers of et to be the right sort of enthusiasts - and by that we mean hardcore enthusiasts.

So it's with great honor we refer you to the illustrations on this page because this is the first time anybody outside Volkswagen has ever seen them. Seriously.

We had to make all kinds of boys scout pledges to ensure they wouldn't get into the wrong hands, and that we wouldn't show them to anybody but you. But they needn't have bothered - hey, guys, we're on your side. We want these cars more than you do, so we're not going to jeopardize all your hard work. Your secret's safe with us.

Oh, and in case you're thinking these sketches don't represent the final product, allow us to remove any doubt. We've seen the clay modeling based on the drawings and it looks even better in the flesh!

So what can we tell you?

This is where we have to be careful, because they threatened us with wedgies if we gave too much away. So let's defer to our old chum, Derek Jenkins, head of VW's Design Center.

He gave us a list of some of the partners they've been working with, and it's an impressive roster. It includes APR for the tuning (big turbo, chip, FMIC, exhaust, intake, etc), Brembo, H&R (coilovers and sway bars), Recaro, and OSIR for carbon fiber products.

"What's exciting about this year's concept," Derek said, "is that it could be recreated by almost anybody. We've got so many off the shelf parts that it should be very accessible to enthusiasts. And we're hoping that the custom parts we've made could be licensed to a tuner so they could bring them to the market."

We can't tell you about all the custom parts on the R GTI but we can discuss the wheels you see in the illustration. The finished product will be almost identical. They're 19s, but we can't tell you how wide they are because it would spoil one of the many surprises. However, we can tell you they're billet. The design was one of many conceived for the car; once chosen, each was machined from a block of aluminum.

"The message we want to put out with this car is one of authenticity," Derek told us. "The designs and treatments are more accessible than last year's Jetta R GT. The R GTI will be more like last year's Passat R GT in that it won't take too much for it to be produced, or for the aftermarket to do something very similar.

"We're also continuing our stealth approach. These cars are race-inspired, not full of bling. Form definitely follows function here and we've incorporated a lot of lightweight composite solutions that will make sense to enthusiasts. We didn't really look at this area last year, and the Jetta probably ended up heavier than it started, whereas the R GTI should be significantly lighter.

"We're also pursuing the graphic elements we used last year. This time it's an evolution of those ghost graphics, but these will be really exciting," Derek continued.

"And the car will be fully driveable from the start. We learnt another lesson from last year and decided the car should be working from the very beginning."

We may have hinted last month we're partnering with VW in a very special event where up to five VWs, all specifically commissioned for SEMA, will be scrutinized in detail and on the track before they even reach SEMA. So shortly after you read about their unveiling, you'll also know exactly what they're capable of.

And of course we'll have the full story on the R GTI, as well as some behind the scenes insights like the ones we brought you on last year's R GTconcepts.

We wish we could tell you more about the R GTI, because it incorporates so many exciting details. However, we've been sworn to secrecy and don't wish to spoil the surprise. So look out for our full SEMA coverage, our R GTI feature and the inside story in et very soon.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006 9:32 PM | Comments