There’s no doubt about it. Summer is here, and Volkswagen has gone crazy with open-air motoring. The German auto giant rolled in to its 30th-annual hot-hatch festival at Lake Wörthersee in Austria with the Skoda Fabia RS 2000 roadster. Then it dropped the top on a Golf R Cabriolet concept. But just in case that wasn’t enough, VW also brought out a second Golf GTI Cabriolet.

Like the Golf R Cabrio, the formula for the GTI Cabrio is simplicity itself: take one new Golf Cabrio and one GTI, mix ‘em together and this is what you get: 207 turbocharged horsepower to redo your coif in the open air. Just for good measure, VW also outfitted the show car with a full body kit, dropped suspension and special 19-inch wheels. The Firespark Metallic paint is offset by the high-gloss black trim, a color combo continued into the cabin decked out in black leather – Wörthersee is, after all, in the Austrian province of Corinthia – with red and grey top-stitching.

Unfortunately, like the Golf R cabrio and the Skoda roadster, this is strictly a show car for the time being, but if enough fans demand it, the GTI Cabrio could become a reality. So which would you rather drive home from your local dealership? Check out the images in the high-res gallery, scope out the full press release after the jump, and cast your vote below.

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Continue reading Volkswagen brings GTI Cabriolet to join Golf R Cabrio at Wörthersee [w/poll]

Volkswagen brings GTI Cabriolet to join Golf R Cabrio at Wörthersee [w/poll] originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It wasn’t all about cabrios at this year’s GTI festival at Wörthersee, where Volkswagen also rolled out this hot GTI show car built by its own apprentices.

For the GTI Reifnitz (bearing the name of the lakeside town where the festival is held), the VW boffins borrowed a Stage III turbo kit and intercooler from APR and fitted an RSC performance exhaust. The result: a whopping 370 metric horsepower from an engine that normally produces 210. Nice work, boys.

Of course they didn’t stop there. The body’s been fitted with an aggressive wide-bod aero kit and a hood with twin vents, out of which the offset racing stripe protrudes and runs over the top of the red, white and blue car. The color scheme extends to the interior, which has been stripped out and fitted with a roll cage and racing buckets, all swathed in grippy Alcantara.

For the GTI faithful assembled at the Austrian lakeshore, the Reifnitz concept could very well be the hottest interpretation of the classic yet. Have a closer look in the gallery below.

Volkswagen rolls out 370-hp GTI Reifnitz at Wörthersee originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 06 Jun 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Volkswagen Group’s annual GTI-Treffen festival on the shores of Lake Wörthersee in Austria may be named for VW’s iconic tuned Golf, but by now – in its 30th rendition – it’s turned into a multi-marque celebration of the hot hatch. Case in point: the A1 Clubsport Quattro concept unveiled there this year by Audi. And now Skoda has joined in on the action with a hatch-based custom of its own.

To create the dramatic Fabia RS 2000 concept you see here, Skoda has taken its existing Fabia RS hot hatch, lopped off the roof and fitted a widebody kit housing 18-inch powder-coated alloys for a stance similar to its S2000 rally counterpart. The brightwork has also been blacked out, the open-air cabin fitted with four individual buckets with racing harnesses and carbon-fiber trim, and the hood louvered to vent the 200+hp 2.0-liter twin-turbo four.

All in all, a rather dramatic take on a bread-and-butter hatchback that blends the best of a road-going rally car with a four-door convertible. But while its occupants may enjoy the wind in their hair, the Wörthersee show stand is about probably as much daylight as this concept will ever see. Have a closer look in the high-res image gallery and the press release after the jump.

Continue reading Skoda unveils dramatic Fabia RS 2000 roadster concept at Wörthersee

Skoda unveils dramatic Fabia RS 2000 roadster concept at Wörthersee originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Jun 2011 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The annual Volkswagen hot-hatch gathering at Lake Wörthersee has been packed so far with enticing show cars. Audi came with a 500hp A1 concept, and Skoda rolled in with a radical rally roadster. But you didn’t think the VW brand itself would let its sister companies have all the fun, now did you?

Of course not. So feast your eyes on the Golf R Cabriolet concept. The recipe is as simple as can be: take one Golf Cabrio, and one Golf R. Put ‘em in a blender to extract the best parts of both, and voilà! The fastest droptop VW ever.

Along with fitting the Golf R’s 265-horsepower, 2.0-liter turbo four, the show car’s suspension has been dropped by an inch and fitted with 19-inch alloys shrouding massive 17-inch brakes. The interior has likewise been upgraded to Golf R specifications, all decked out in blue and gray with piano black and carbon-fiber trim.

Like the production Golf R tin-top, VW says the Golf R Cabriolet concept can reach 62 mph in under six seconds and power on to a top speed of 155 mph.

While the car you see here is strictly for show for the time being, if public reaction among its most dedicated fans and customers at the Austrian lakeside expo proves sufficient, there’s no telling what might ensue. In the meantime, you can check out the trio of images in our high-resolution gallery below and the official press release after the jump.

Continue reading Volkswagen drops Golf R Cabriolet concept at Wörthersee

Volkswagen drops Golf R Cabriolet concept at Wörthersee originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 02 Jun 2011 10:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Audi and all-wheel drive go together like mothers and apple pie. The German automaker has cultivated its Quattro systems as emblematic of its raison d’etre, incorporating it into its rapidly expanding range… with one exception: the A1. But that’s about to change.

After launching the diminutive hatchback in front-wheel-drive only, Audi is working on extending the traction to the rear wheels as well. And to give us an idea of what to expect, the company has launched the A1 Clubsport Quattro concept among the 18 vehicles on display at its annual celebration in Wörthersee.

The little beast is built around an extensively tuned 2.5-liter turbo five with just under 500 horsepower. Optimized by direct injection and channeled to all four wheels through a six-speed manual, Audi claims the concept can hit 100 km/h (62 mph) from a standstill in a scant 3.7 seconds, doubling that speed in 10.9 en route to an electronically limited, Autobahn-crunching top end of 250 km/h (155 mph).

The package is rounded out by an aggressive wide-body aerodynamic kit, decked out in matte white paint with a carbon-fiber roof, with a side-exit exhaust and 19-inch alloys. While the production A1 Quattro and the S1 or RS1 to follow isn’t likely to pack the 500 horses of the show car, gamers can check it out in Need for Speed ​​World for a limited time.

Audi has also released a series of visual mods – including decals and aero kits – for the existing A1 at the show. Want to read more? We’ve got the full press blast after the jump along, with an extensive batch of images in our high-resolution gallery.

Continue reading Audi unveils 500hp A1 Clubsport Quattro show car at Wörthersee

Audi unveils 500hp A1 Clubsport Quattro show car at Wörthersee originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 31 May 2011 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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