VW's Annual Worthersee Goodies

The Volkswagen GTI turns 35 this year. 35!  They've really been selling a hopped-up version of their shopping cart for 35 years now!  And it's really not that much of a surprise.  Sure, people were skeptical that the GTI would be popular when it first came out - who wants a fast Golf?  Why wouldn't I just get a Mustang? - but the combination of fun-to-drive and practicality sparked an entire market segment that still persists today, having gone through more troughs and waves than the stock market.  (OK, maybe that's a stretch.)

Also celebrating a milestone anniversary this year is the Wörthersee festival held in Reifnitz, Austria, which is officially putting 30 candles in it's cake.  This GTI-centric 3-day show attracts thousands of rabid fans to the middle of nowhere every year, so the least VW could do for those people is give them something special.  They've got quite a tradition of this, actually.

Remember the Golf W12 650, the MKV Golf that had a tuned Continental GT engine in the back seats driving the rear wheels?  Or the 408bhp Audi Q5 Custom Concept, or the TT Clubsport, or...  Well, they were all designed to make the crowds at Wörthersee go nuts.  And this year's no different, as VW presents one absolutely mental concept car, and one really nice production car to the crowds at the festival.

The concept car is just as absurd as that twin-turbo W12 powered RWD Golf.  Called the A1 Clubsport Quattro , it's based on the shell of the diminuitive Audi A1 subcompact, but rather than using a 1.4L turbo motor, it's got the 2.5L turbocharged inline-five from the TT-RS and RS3.  Of course, being a Wörthersee car, 340 horsepower just wasn't enough, so Quattro GmbH engineers fiddled with the turbocharger, intercooler, fuel injection, intake manifold, and exhaust system to increase power.  How does 503ps (496bhp) strike you?  Backing up the huge power number is an equally impressive torque output - 487 lb-ft (660nM), all of which is directed through a 6-speed manual transmission and Haldex Quattro AWD, sourced from the TT-RS, to all four wheels.

The concept has a curb weight of 3,064lbs (1,390kg), which equates to a power-to-weight ratio of "Holy cow, glad this car has race harnesses!"  Audi says the concept will sprint to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds and 200km/h in 10.9, which is alarming, but thankfully they've electronically limited the top speed to 155mph.  One has to wonder why they put a speed limiter on a concept car, though.  There are six-piston carbon/ceramic brakes up front and four pistons in the rear, 255/30/19 performance tires at all four corners, and adjustable coilovers holding the whole thing up.

For extra visual aggression, the fenders have been widened by 60mm, and the Clubsport Quattro has a CFRP roof to lower mass, a rear diffuser, along with wheels that were likely inspired by the original Quattro S1 rally car.  The interior has the racing buckets from the R8 GT, plenty of oh-so-trendy Alcantara, and a general feeling that this car will kill you if you look at it wrong.

Chances of production?  Are you kidding?  Of course not.  If you want to see the A1 Clubsport Quattro, you'll have to go to Wörthersee.  Alternatively, if you play Need for Speed World, you'll be able to drive this monster hot hatch as a free in-game rental from June 1-4.  While the likelihood of Audi selling a 503ps A1 hatchback is comparable to that of Donald Trump being elected president, VW did also introduce a limited-production GTI at Wörthersee that you'll actually be able to buy.

Called the Golf GTI Edition 35, it features a boost in power as well as some aesthetic details to set it apart.  The standard 2.0TFSI Turbo-four jumps from 210bhp (in Euro spec anyway; US cars still only have 200) to 235bhp, making it the most powerful GTI made to date.  No word on if this is a higher-output GTI motor (which uses a K03s turbocharger) or a de-tuned Golf R motor (which uses the far manlier K04), but VW does say that they're taking orders now (priced from €30,425), so get 'em while they're hot.