Photo: Volkswagen
Trying to wash the bitter taste left by the Dieselgate scandal, Volkswagen is betting on a new type of marketing to promote its cars, one that has the company attempting to enter both history and record books.
The first attempt, and a successful one at that, to regain some lost glory was the return to the Pikes Peak hill climb following decades of absence. It was this June that the I.D. R Pikes Peak managed to become the first electric car in history to set a new all-timer ecord time on the climb.
For this month, Volkswagen has a new record in sight: that of the BGC/G class of the Southern California Timing Association, which it will be trying to break starting August 11 on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
This time, the record attempt will be made not with a purpose-built car, but with a “specially prepared but near-production” vehicle.
More specifically, it’s a Jetta GLI with which Volkswagen plans to reach speeds of more than 335.5 kph (208.572 mph) to take the win.
The car is equipped with a four-cylinder turbo engine that develops in excess of 500 PS, a version of the less powerful one that will make it into the production version GLI.
To make it reach the incredible speed, Volkswagen has stripped the interior of the car naked, leaving only the controls for driving, a bucket seat with racing belts and a roll cage.
The aerodynamics and other technical specs have been tweaked with the help of Bonneville specialists from THR Manufacturing. The engineers added special salt flats wheels and tires, a limited slip differential and two brake parachutes.
“With this attempt at the record we want to underline the sporting potential of the new Jetta and inspire our customers with the more powerful Jetta GLI,” said in a statement Hinrich J. Woebcken, Volkswagen of America CEO.
Provided everything goes according to plan, the Jetta GLI will become the fastest near-production Volkswagen ever. The current title belongs to a Beetle LSR which reached a speed of 330.11 kph (205.122 mph) at the same location in 2016.
For this month, Volkswagen has a new record in sight: that of the BGC/G class of the Southern California Timing Association, which it will be trying to break starting August 11 on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.
This time, the record attempt will be made not with a purpose-built car, but with a “specially prepared but near-production” vehicle.
More specifically, it’s a Jetta GLI with which Volkswagen plans to reach speeds of more than 335.5 kph (208.572 mph) to take the win.
The car is equipped with a four-cylinder turbo engine that develops in excess of 500 PS, a version of the less powerful one that will make it into the production version GLI.
To make it reach the incredible speed, Volkswagen has stripped the interior of the car naked, leaving only the controls for driving, a bucket seat with racing belts and a roll cage.
The aerodynamics and other technical specs have been tweaked with the help of Bonneville specialists from THR Manufacturing. The engineers added special salt flats wheels and tires, a limited slip differential and two brake parachutes.
“With this attempt at the record we want to underline the sporting potential of the new Jetta and inspire our customers with the more powerful Jetta GLI,” said in a statement Hinrich J. Woebcken, Volkswagen of America CEO.
Provided everything goes according to plan, the Jetta GLI will become the fastest near-production Volkswagen ever. The current title belongs to a Beetle LSR which reached a speed of 330.11 kph (205.122 mph) at the same location in 2016.
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