Volkswagen GTI Roadster Concept Showcased

At an event held last month in Wörthersee, Austria, Volkswagen showcased an insanely attractive looking GTI Roadster Concept. The car is based on the same Volkswagen GTI Roadster Vision Gran Turismo car that was released for the Gran Turismo 6 video game, and the German car giants have done the unimaginable as they showcased the car in the flesh.

The GTI Roadster is essentially a Golf GTI show car, and this two-seat convertible is powered by a 3.0-litre V6 twin-turbocharged TSI engine that produces 503bhp and a mighty 560Nm of torque between 4,000 and 6,000 rpm. The power of the TSI engine is transferred to the 20-inch wheel-and-tire combination via a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission and a 4MOTION all-wheel-drive system. The lightweight sportscar sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in an estimated 3.5 seconds and goes onto a top track speed of 307 km/h.

The awesome performance is matched with the awesome design of the car. The overall design is quite radical but very aggressive and it looks beautiful from every angle. The low slung body sits on huge 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped around in 235/35 ZR20 front and 275/30 ZR20 rear tires while stopping power comes from 15-inch front & 14-inch rear vented disc brakes.

Klaus Bischoff, Head of Design at Volkswagen said, "When Sony asked us if we would develop a Vision GTI vehicle exclusively for the game to mark the 15th anniversary of Gran Turismo we didn't hesitate for a moment. An in-house competition was immediately launched and young Volkswagen designers submitted their designs. The submissions were judged by Bischoff and none other than Kazunori Yamauchi, Director of Polyphony Digital and Vice-President of Sony Computer Entertainment—and the inventor of the "Gran Turismo series".

The interiors of the car is also very nicely setup. The driver and passenger sit in a dual carbonfiber monocoque. The two sides are partitioned by an open bar that ascends from rear to front, with a fire extinguisher beneath it. The GTI Roadster is equipped with two race-style buckets, placed low. The seats and the four-spoke grip steering wheel are covered with Alcantara.

Although the car looks fabulous and boasts of some great performance, it is highly unlikely that it will ever see production. Until then you can drive it in the video game.