503-hp Volkswagen GTI concept headed to Worthersee?

Sketches show drop-top VW concept that could appear as a full-size mockup at annual fan meet

 VW 

The Volkswagen GTI Roadster concept, shown here in official sketches, might be revealed in full-size at the Worthersee fan meet in Austria. 

Volkswagen has issued a series of official design sketches hinting at the appearance of a radical open-top concept car to be unveiled at the Worthersee fan meet in Austria on May 29.

Called the GTI Roadster, the new two-seater was originally conceived as a virtual three-dimensional image in a joint cooperation between Volkswagen and Sony for inclusion in the PlayStation “Gran Turismo” video game series.

 Volkswagen 

Volkswagen added a huge rear wing to its GTI Roadster concept for the Worthersee fan meet. 

But with enthusiasm for the low-slung roadster running high among its design team, Volkswagen has decided to turn it into a full-size concept in homage to a long history of GTI models.

Created at Volkswagen's main design studio in Wolfsburg, Germany, the GTI Roadster is claimed to combine various styling themes being considered for future Volkswagen production models, with cues to be included in an upcoming racetrack version of the seventh-generation Golf.

The look is extreme, with the new concept flaunting a distinctive wedge-shaped silhouette and prominent ducting to cool the front-mounted engine, in addition to sizable wheelhouses, a shallow wraparound windshield and a giant rear wing.

 VW 

The Volkswagen GTI Roadster concept offers design clues toward future VW performance cars. 

As well as revealing design cues to be included on future Volkswagen models, the GTI Roadster headed for Worthersee showcases a new twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter VR6 direct-injection gasoline engine currently under development in Germany.

With a claimed 503 hp and 490 lb-ft of torque, the narrow angle VR6 engine drives all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. The 20-inch wheels get 235/35 front and 275/30 rear tires, and they could house 15-inch front and 14-inch rear carbon-ceramic disc brakes.