Volkswagen celebrates 40 years of GTI with 400 horsepower GTE Sport plug-in hybrid concept - CNET "The Volkswagen GTI is turning 40 years old soon, and VW is celebrating the occasion with a new GTI Clubsport and the insane GTE Sport plug-in hybrid concepts." 1.6-liter turbocharged and direct injected four-cylinder engine two 85 kW electric motors all-wheel drive lithium ion battery pack. 31 mile (50 km) EV range 394 horsepower and 494 pound-feet of torque This car would definitely get you noticed on the streets...
An interesting approach, exploit the instant torque of electric drive to make a pocket-rocket. But some of us had noticed even in the Prius, that instant torque was nice at a light. Bob Wilson
They should take the regular GTE and cut performance and price by 25-30%, that would make it a real competitor (albeit with DSG transmission) to the Prius C / Auris Hybrid.
Golf is an Auris competitor, agree. But certainly not comparable to a Prius c, which is our Yaris HSD in Europe.
Thing is, the smaller the ride, the lighter it is typically. To delver all the power/torque, a car needs to be heavy to some to degree, just to keep the tires' traction on the road. Consider Chrysler's 700+hp charger hellcat, trying to outrun the Tesla plugin on the quarter mile - the drag race starts around 14:15 ; I'd pity the vee dub .
Did the Internet discussion finally agreed that the Hellcat owner is an idiot? There are two keys for the Hellcat. A Red one for 700hp max power and a black one for 500hp ECU limited. From the discussion, he was using the black key.
As an electric motor spins, it generates a back-EMF that limits the current and power. In contrast, a gas engine at peak rpm is on the verge of self-disassembly. Bob Wilson
