To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Golf GTI, Volkswagen is reviving the memory of the wildest Golf ever released by the brand: a concept featuring a W-12 engine under the hood.
The 6.0-liter twin-turbo engine, borrowed from a Bentley Continental GT, is mounted behind the seats and produces an incredible 640 hp. This power is then sent to the rear wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission sourced from the Phaeton.
With all that power, it can go from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.7 seconds, and it is speculated that it could reach a top speed of 325 km/h, although this was never tested. Considering that this concept was unveiled in 2007, it remains quite impressive even 19 years later.
The Golf GTI W12-650 also features front brakes from the Audi RS4, while the rear axle and brakes come from the Lamborghini Gallardo. To turn it into a true Frankenstein of VW Group brands, engineers had to widen the body by 160 millimeters.
Aesthetically, it also stood out for its carbon-fiber roof with an integrated cooling scoop to channel air to the rear radiators and its quad exhaust setup, while the side-mounted cooling vents never made it to a production car.
Even so, it must have been nerve-racking to drive a Golf delivering an impressive 750 Nm of torque solely to the rear wheels. With that in mind, it’s no exaggeration to say that the GTI W12-650 may be the wildest hot hatch ever created.
Photos: Volkswagen. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
