FIRST MK.VI GTI - NOW IT'S THE GTD...
As the new VW Golf GTI hits the road for the first time its sister car has been unveiled at the Leipzig auto show: the diesel-fuelled Golf GTD.
Its ability to accelerate to 100km/h in 8.1sec and on to a top speed of 220km/h, along with a claimed average fuel consumption of about 5.4 litres/100km and a range in excess of 1000km on a tank, were designed to create a hot hatch of the moment.
Lessons learned through the creation of the sixth generation GTI have been applied to the GTD, VW says. Sharp responses and an agile chassis complement the car's substantial torque that's on call from only 1750rpm.
Powering the new GTD is a two-litre, common-rail turbodiesel engine capable of 127kW and 349Nm of torque that drives a six-speed manual or automatic DSG gearbox.
Its suspension is 15mm lower than that of the standard Golf and the car carries VW's adaptive chassis control with pneumatically controlled shock-absorbers, if specified. This allows the driver to select normal, comfort or sport modes to define suspension, steering and accelerator response settings. !--div[code1]top.DisplayAds('SquareAV',19,751);[/code1]/div--
The GTD's appearance will differ significantly from that of the standard Golf. It gains the GTI's honeycomb grille, badge and nose though with chromed rather than red highlights. At the back, body-coloured bumpers make the GTD appear lower and wider than it really is while the Golf's standard wheels have been swopped for unique 17" alloys.
Inside, the main contact points are unique to the Golf GTD - a flat-bottomed steering wheel, a GTD gearshifter and a standard tartan interior
The GTD's appearance will differ significantly
. The tartan finish is subtly different from that in the GTI, being grey, white and black instead of red, white and black.
As with the entire Golf range, the GTD will have, VW says, class-leading safety with ABS, ESP and seven crash bags, including a knee bag. The Golf was recently awarded a maximum five-star rating after EuroNCAP crash testing.
The car will be available in South Africa shortly.


