VW Golf GTI Cabriolet

A new VW Golf GTI Cabriolet is set to be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show next month, Auto Express has learned. 

A soft-top GTI debuted at 
the Worthersee tuning event in Austria last year – where it starred alongside an R Cabrio – and it’s rumoured that the new model will be a last hurrah for the MkVI Golf, which will be replaced in 2013. 

It would be only the second time that a Golf GTI Cabriolet has been available – the last was the MkI version in the eighties. 

While the GTI’s engine has been offered in the Golf Cabriolet and Eos hard-top for some time, a full GTI-spec car hasn’t been available. The move would allow UK customers to buy a ‘proper’ drop-top GTI, with the 208bhp 2.0-litre turbo matched to GTI-specific suspension (including optional Adaptive Chassis Control) and a GTI interior incorporating tartan seats. Six-speed manual and DSG gearboxes would feature, 
as would 17-inch alloys.

The Worthersee GTI wore 19-inch Glendale alloy wheels – available as a £1,005 option over the GTI hatch’s standard Monza 17-inch alloys. It also had the Edition 35’s LED lights, plus an aggressive bodykit with bespoke front and rear bumpers and side skirts. It’s been suggested this car is an optioned-up production-ready GTI Cabriolet and not 
a one-off show model.

That’s not all, though. There’s a good chance that VW could also put the Worthersee Golf R Cabrio into production. This would be the most powerful VW convertible produced, with a 268bhp 2.0-litre turbo and four-wheel drive.

The GTI Cabriolet is likely to cost around £27,000 – around £4,000 more than the hatchback. An R version would be priced at around £35,000. The GTI version would arrive in showrooms 
by September.