Volkswagen is working on an uprated ‘Clubsport’ variant of the new ID Polo GTI, with more power and a system that will simulate the power delivery and gearchanges of its ICE hot hatches.
Autocar first reported that a more focused version of the electric hot hatchback was in the works last year, when it was still known as the ID 2.
Insiders suggested that it would take output from 223bhp to around 282bhp while gaining a fully mechanical limited-slip differential in place of the existing BorgWarner active unit.
Now, speaking to Autocar during a world-exclusive drive of the near-production-ready ID Polo GTI, dynamics chief Florian Umbach has confirmed further details.
“We are working on something,” he said. “There is certainly more peak power that we can find from the motor and battery hardware that we have and more torque that the front axle could handle also. There is clear potential.”
Umbach added that Volkswagen is also developing “a similar kind of paddleshift power delivery that the [electric] Hyundai N cars have”.
“This is simply a software thing,” he explained. “It’s all about motor control and an audio soundtrack to match.”
The ID Polo’s digital instrument panel can be customised on the fly to mimic that of the Mk1 Golf, and it’s possible that the simulated combustion engine and gearbox could likewise imitate the seminal GTI’s power delivery.
However, Umbach said: “These are the kinds of things that the executive board will only let us explore if the GTI is a commercial success, of course. If people respond to this car as it is, we can really take it to the next level.”
In keeping with its forebears, the new Clubsport model is also expected to have a more focused chassis set-up, sitting lower than the regular ID Polo GTI, as well as more aggressive styling.