VW Golf GTI will bring two models

The hot new hatch doesn't look at all menacing on the Volkswagen stand at the Paris show, where it only wears a 'concept' label, but a big change is coming.

There will be two models of GTI for the first time in 2013. Even the cooking Golf has been upgraded to the level of the outgoing Golf R, with 350 Newton-metres of torque and a 0-100km/h sprint time of 6.6 seconds.

It also has a handy 162 kiloWatts of power to feed to the front wheels through its six-speed manual and DSG gearboxes. But wait, there's more. Volkswagen has developed a Performance Pack that lifts output from the 2.-litre petrol engine, with turbocharging and direct fuel injection, to 169 kiloWatts. The 0-100km/h time comes down just fractionally to 6.5 seconds.

But the big changes are in the driveline, where the PP GTI gets bigger disc brakes and a mechanical limited-slip differential. “We're looking at both models,” the spokesman for Volkswagen Group Australia, Karl Gehling, confirms to Carsguide. He hints that both are likely to make the trip, although not until the back end of 2013.

“It will be late next year. It's not launched in Europe until the middle of next year.” There is no hint yet on GTI pricing, although the current model is priced from $38,990 as a three-door hatch and $49,490 with five doors. Despite the performance push, Volkswagen says the new GTI will also be the greenest car to wear the tag.

Both GTI versions come with a stop-start system and satisfy the upcoming Euro 6 emissions standard, with fuel economy but by 18 per cent to as good as 9.65 litres/100km and CO2 emissions of 140 grams/kilometres. Both cars also come with variable-ratio steering and a flat-bottomed wheel for the driver.

The package for the new car is slotted into the seventh-generation Golf body, which means reduced weight, anti-collision system and a high-end infotainment system. But it also gets predictable GTI tweaks including red-painted brake callipers, chromed 80-millimetre exhaust tips and smoked LED tail lamps. The Paris show car also has cloth tartan seats and a golf ball gear knob, although these are not likely to be standard in the production model. 

As well as causing double trouble for shoppers forced to make a choice, the new GTI has the potential for mayhem in showrooms. The waiting time in Australia for the previous-generation GTI blew out to more than 18 months when the car first arrived and Gehling cannot promise any better in 2013. “We'll have to wait and see. With any new model there is likely to be a waiting list if demand exceeds supply,” he says.