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VW’s carbon GTI: First Real Competitor to JCW Minis?
Image courtesy of TEKARBON
By Zack Klapman
VW announced it will make a special Carbon Edition GTI to celebrate the model’s 40th anniversary. The roof and hood will be carbon fiber, and many of the other panels will be aluminum. It’s not just a gimmick; target weight for the car is 2,500lbs. That’s seriously light. The idea for the reduced weight is to pay homage to the original MK1 GTI, which weighed a little over 1,700lbs. But, now that we understand airbags and crumple zones, 2,500 is damn light for a modern car.
The engine is the 222hp 2.0Liter you get now. Production will be limited, and-of course- it will be more expensive.
All this brings the name Sir JCW Cooper to mind. Until this GTI, Mini has had the lock on fast and expensive hatches. Civic Si? Cracker please. You can’t option one of those above $40k, and they don’t come as a hatch right now. No, Mini has owned the game of over-priced hatches, at least in this country. But if the GTI carbon comes here, itshould give Mini a run for it’s giant bag of money.
To compare: The JCW Mini Cooper weighs 2,668lbs, makes 208HP and hits 60MPH in 6.2s. Mein GTI Carbon is predicted to weigh 2,500lbs, pack 222HP and has a goal of less than 6 seconds to 60MPH. In Imagination Land, the edge goes to the GTI. Of course this is all speculation. As fun as a JCW Mini is (and they’re very, very fun) I’d love to see what the Germans can come up with. If they can smooth the ride slightly without losing the grip, Mini might finally have competition. It will still have the edge for decoration options though. I don’t think Germany wants to offer people the “German flag roof” option. Little too intense.
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2012-09-19 00:00:46
Source: http://www.thesmokingtire.com/2012/vws-carbon-gti-first-real-competitor-to-jcw-minis/
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