VW finally releases engine shots of the GTI W12 650

Click image to enlarge
Engine and interior shots were curiously absent last week when Volkswagen unveiled its holy-crap-I-want-one GTI W12 650 concept at the 2007 Wörthersee GTI Meeting in Austria. The interior photo shown after the jump appeared a day or two later, and this week, the automaker saw fit to release a pair of official pics of the engine in its glassed-off carbon fiber cocoon aft of the driver and passenger.
As Vader would say of this 650-horsepower Stormtrooper helmet, "Impressive. Most Impressive."
Follow the jump for the other engine shot and the interior view. In addition, we've added all the new pictures to the gallery.
[Source: VW]









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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
FLR 8:49AM (5/25/2007)
I still don't see anything that resembles an engine, let alone a V12 engine under that hood. I just see an expansive engine cover and an expansive fan shroud.
It looks like a ruse to me.
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Vega 9:14AM (5/25/2007)
@FLR
Except for the fact that the thing started and sounded pretty badass, believe me. I was there.
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Bob 9:34AM (5/25/2007)
with a w12 the rabbit will be so fast that the turtle will never saw it passing
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Jacquester 9:57AM (5/25/2007)
I can't wait for that automatic transmission to crumble under all that power. I'm surprised to see it on a car like this. Maybe an SMG, but not a true Auto.
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macjunkie 10:25AM (5/25/2007)
yeah, cause #1 VW engineers have no idea what they are doing and #2 No 650hp super cars dont have auto trannys right.. [/sarcasms off]
Dondonel 10:20AM (5/25/2007)
Interesting how short the W12 actually is.
Otherwise its pretty sad to see how they waste a good engine on a hatch.
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bmoredlj 10:26AM (5/25/2007)
Stormtrooper#1: Do you know what's going on?
Stormtrooper#2: Maybe it's another drill.
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Peter 10:37AM (5/25/2007)
Freaky. Is there any cut away drawings showing how a W12 works??
Oh and what is wrong with hatches? Must be an American thing, as most of rest of world seems to get that a hatch is much more handy than a trunk.
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nastinupe 11:38AM (5/25/2007)
They should have put that engine in the TT.
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MikeW 11:52AM (5/25/2007)
A VR6 is an approximation on an inline 6 [VW didn't want to spend the money to drastically shorten an Inline6, like Volvo's new one].
VW took an inline6 and had the odd cylinders took a step forward and had the evens take a step back. Then the whole engine was 'scrunched' axially, the bore spacing is less than the cylinder bore because of the staggered cylinder arrangement.
Now you take two VR6s and try to make a V12.
http://www.autozine.org/technical_school/engine/tech_engine_packaging.htm
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Carletti 11:50AM (5/25/2007)
It's a little bit over the top really...but in a bad way. Like someone tried to "pimp" a Golf/Rabbit/GTI. The interior is unattractive as well. And the gages (and the lame fire extinguisher) on the top of the dash remind me of the incredibly gimmick-y Sentra SE-R.
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Bryan 12:07PM (5/25/2007)
It's just a concept guys. I like anything that pushes any kind of limit. Tell me that you never dreamed of putting a huge engine in the first car you bought?!? It's a cool experiment, they won't produce it.
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Dave 12:38PM (5/25/2007)
If only VW had as much cojones and as great a sense of humor as Renault:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault_Clio_V6_Renault_Sport
Then they might actually produce this monster. :)
flying.cars 12:57PM (5/25/2007)
Is the engine in the front? Or in the middle of the car like the clio?
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Alex Nunez 1:00PM (5/25/2007)
flying.cars,
Mid-mounted like the Clio.
-Alex
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Max 1:59PM (5/25/2007)
VWs DSG isn't really a true auto -- no torque converter. Two wet clutches.
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