Volkswagen GTi Excessive a hot-up

The difference is that Volkswagen's latest in-house hotrod job could easily have implications for the Golf GTi.

Volkswagen was never going to build the W12 Golf but it could easily take the tweaks from the Golf GTi Excessive and apply them to a limited-edition hot-up model or a catalogue of fast parts. They include a set of flared guards and a free-flow exhaust system, but run much deeper on both the cosmetic and driving angles.

The GTi Excessive was unveiled at the world's biggest annual gathering of Volkswagen fans at Worthersee in Austria. The show was held for the first time in 1982 and draws tens of thousands of Volkswagen enthusiasts.

Apart from the GTi W12 concept the show has been used to preview the Scirocco GT24, since run at the Nurburgring 24-hour race, the Polo Worthersee '09 concept built as a tease for the upcoming Polo GTi production car.

This time the GTi - which is about to be overtaken by the Golf R - is honed with the sort of equipment which will be easy for fans to apply to their own cars. There are firmer springs and dampers with a slightly wider track, thanks to offset wheels, a move which requires 30 millmetres flares at each corner.

Uprated 370-millimetre front brake discs are fitted behind the 19-inch flow-formed BBS alloys, which are fitted with 235x35 ZR19 track-style tyres. The 2-litre TSI engine is left unchanged apart from a free-flow and marginally-lighter exhaust system, which improves power to 160 kiloWatts and lifts torque to 286 Newton-metres.

Visually, the Excessive change runs to a deep front splitter and a pair of revised airdams either side of the grille.  There are sill extensions in gloss black, with a new diffuser and titanium-tipped exhaust pipes on the rear below a bigger wing above the rear window. Inside there are Excessive seats with integrated headrests, with brushed aluminium and gloss black trim highlights.