At the Worthersee festival in Austria, car lovers congregate to celebrate pretty much everything to do with the Volkswagen Golf and modified cars. It’s also where the German automaker engages in annual fan-service, often resulting in some amazing vehicles based on their current cars.
This year, VW rolled out the GTI First Decade, a 301kW hybrid hot hatch that was created once again by their merry band of ‘apprentices’ to commemorate the 10th year that the youth engineering program was instituted, giving them the opportunity to construct their most creative and technologically impressive spin on the Golf.
Of course, you can’t have missed the extreme livery of dark and light blue, paired with 20-inch black wheels and the rear spoiler from the GTI Clubsport (locally called the GTI 40 Years). Despite its monumental power, the electric assist only amounts to a paltry 13kW electric motor that can drive the rear wheels, leaving the vast majority of the power to be generated by the 2.0-litre turbo petrol motor, and sent to the front wheels.
It can be set up to drive in fully electric mode, internal combustion-only mode, or both motors can work together to create that high combined output. There’s also regenerative braking to ensure that there’s always some hybrid assist to boost acceleration.
You can definitely tell this car had nearly zero input from the suits at VW AG - not that that’s a bad thing - as in the boot there’s a 1,690-watt sound system with 11-speakers and a subwoofer. Inside, there’s also plenty of blue trim and badges to guarantee you’re well aware you’re in the GTI First Decade.
The second concept seen is called the Golf GTE Estate ImpulsE, which is a wagon version of the showroom Golf GTE plug-in hybrid hatch. Here, it’s wearing equally ostentatious livery but under the skin, shares much in common with the GTE production hatch.
Supposedly due to the larger dimensions, Volkswagen has squeezed in a battery that has double the capacity of the GTE hatch, specifically a 16.8kW unit that will double its electric range. There’s upgraded brakes and larger 19-inch wheels.
Usually, we’d say that, like the weird and wild concepts to premiere at the Worthersee festival, especially, don’t hold your breath for any of them making it far along to road to becoming a production reality. However, the GTE Estate with its larger battery is far too pragmatic a proposition to not be offered soon.
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