VW Golf GTI future plans

Volkswagen's global head of engineering for Golf and GTI, Rolf Trump, says fans should not expect to see any more than incremental increases in power over the generations to come.

“It's not all about power. We believe 210hp (the 155kW in MkVI) is sufficient and 230-240hp (172-179kW) is essentially the limit for GTI,” Trump says.

“Why put extra in when in maximum situations you can't use it. Most of the systems you have to control the car simply take the power off."

“From MKI to MkV, Golf GTI has been growing more and more powerful, and at this point we have realised we have nearly come to our limits with that.

“I don't think we have hit the wall. But with front-wheel drive there is only so much power you can get safely.”

Trump says the main area of effort now will be in optimising the GTI's consumption and emissions while still getting a little more out of the engine.

“We believe that with fuel economy and emissions improvements, that a moderate power increase is reasonable for a GTI and with that — albeit modest — increase we are still in a position to improve emissions and the dynamics of the car.”

“What we can continue to work on is weight reduction - and people are working on it very hard now.

“We are determined to work to make it not only more efficient but lighter - that is the future of it.”

However that future will not include a seven-speed DSG, even if one was developed - like stablemate Audi's seven-speed S-tronic (appearing in the sporty S-line models) that can handle up to 550Nm of torque, but is designed for longitudinally-mounted engines, while the GTI's four-cylinder is transverse-mounted .

“There are no plans to ever develop a seven-speed for this car,” Trump says.

“We believe the six-speed is perfectly suited to the GTI.

“The seven-speed gives you an overdrive function and does not make sense for sporty cars.”