Volkswagen is going ‘carbon’ for the Golf GTI
Volkswagen Golf MK7
The rumor-mill around Volkswagen has been churning out the idea that a carbon-infused Golf GTI may be coming sometime soon, actually right after the release of the Golf Mk7.
There’s an unconfirmed report that a limited edition of lightweight Golf GTIs are being constructed with carbonfibre and aluminium, as a nod to the original bare bones GTI of the 1970s which only weighed 810 kilos. The timing would seem to suggest that this limited edition might be ready to mark the 40 year anniversary of the Volkswagen Golf.
The report also says that the Carbon edition of the GTI would reduce the weights by about two hundred kilograms thanks to the widespread use of carbonfibre in the roof and bonnet, and the aluminium in the car’s front bulkhead, windscreen surround and floor panels.
The idea of the “Carbon” edition only became possible thanks to two significant production developments, the roof will be made up of a two-layer carbonfibre sandwich with a very thin steel core – this will allow the roof to be welded onto the body on a standard production line, while the aluminium components will be riveted or bonded to the steel understructure.
The report continues to say that this version of the GTI will be powered by the same 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine capable of generating 165kW, which is expected to come in the standard Golf GTI Mk7. Another place where the car will be reducing the weight is by making it a front-wheel drive and hence eliminating the heavy four-wheel drive system.
This reduced weight is also expected to help quite a bit with the performance and efficiency figures thus harkening back even more to the simple and agile original GTI.
