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Volkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering Building

It's no secret that Volkswagen of America is doing rather badly, with sales that are almost half of what they used to be for key models. The Passat used to be their top performer along with the Jetta, but a mid-life facelift hasn't done anything to stem the tide of Dieselgate disaster.
Volkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering Building 15 photos
Photo: Accuair
Volkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering BuildingVolkswagen of America Has a GTI-inspired Passat It's Considering Building
With fuel-efficient 2.0 TDI engine completely out of the picture, the increasingly autonomous and stranded US division is looking into a sports Passat.

Motor Authority
says it has been shown a pre-production study behind closed doors. And while they weren't allowed to take any photos, what the described has an uncanny resemblance to the Jetta GLI sports treatment: black mirrors, red brake calipers, and s chin spoiler.

We know that fans of the Passat have been asking for go-fast versions for many years. But they seem to be on the wrong track with this project.

The engines being considered are the 3.6-liter V6 with 280 horsepower and a re-tuned version of 1.8-liter turbo. Considering those two have already been installed on the Passat, people are going to call this sports model "just a trim level" like the R-Line or "fake" like the Golf Alltrack.

In our objective opinion, the best thing to do would be to shoehorn the entire Golf R powertrain. The Hyundai Sonata Turbo would make short work of any 1.8-liter contender.

With cash resources scarce this year, the hot Passat is likely to remain just a design study, locked away in Chattanooga. It's such a real shame, as between the Rockstar Energy race car and the new R-Lino model, this old sedan is starting to look good. Of course, that won't translate into sales, not when the Europeans have been enjoying a brand new model for about two years.

Since there are no photos of the supposed Passat GTI, we thought of showing you the next best thing. That's right, it's the officially sanctioned tuning project that sits on AccuAir suspension and Vossen wheels.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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