Next VW Golf GTI taking shape

IT’S the news Volkswagen Golf fans have been waiting for! These pictures confirm the German car maker is working on a high-performance replacement for its current hot hatch champion, the GTI.

Based on the same chassis as the current model, the next GTI will offer a revised cabin and exterior. Our spies caught a prototype in disguise being put through its paces before the car makes its public debut, tipped to be at the Paris Motor Show in October.

Sources say the hatch will be powered by an evolution of the current 2.0-litre turbocharged TFSI engine producing 211bhp. There will be a choice of gearbox: a six speed manual or a new seven-speed sequential. Three and five-door versions are in the pipeline, and these scoop shots show the latter, complete with finished bodykit.

Highlights include red brake calipers, as well as spoilers front and rear. In addition, broad side skirts take account of this model’s wider-than-standard track. Not everything on show here is likely to make production, though – the wheel design is sure to change dramatically, as we have shown in our artist’s impression.

But the next GTI will feature the active suspension system that debuted in the latest Scirocco. Sport, comfort and automatic modes are selected by pressing buttons on the dash. Based on technology originally developed for Audi’s TT, the set-up adjusts damper stiffness, increasing it to improve agility or reducing it to boost refinement.

The new GTI goes on sale next year and is set to cost £1,500 more than the current model.