Volkswagen is often credited with inventing the "hot hatchback", when the original Golf GTI emerged in the mid-1970s.
The company could also lay reasonable claim to inventing the first diesel hot hatchback, as powerful TDI models of the car have been sold in Europe for well over a decade.
Now, U.S. customers might finally be able to enjoy a diesel Golf more powerful than the standard 140-horsepower TDI, when a "GTD" version of its seventh-generation model goes on sale in the fall of 2013.
According to Car and Driver, Volkswagen is "seriously contemplating" the decision to bring a sporty diesel to the U.S, to join the default GTI model.
The current, sixth-generation GTD produces 168-horsepower, and fries tires with aplomb as it puts 258 pounds-feet of torque to the road. From rest, a sprint to 62 mph takes little more than 8 seconds, and finally runs out of go at 138 mph.
Despite all that performance--and you can bet a seventh-generation car would offer even more--economy is barely any different from the less powerful diesels.
The 140-horsepower TDI currently on sale manages 34 mpg combined by EPA measurements, with an impressive 42 mpg highway--figures which VW buffs are happy to beat with impunity.
Would we be excited by a powerful, frugal, fun-to-drive Golf?
Is the Pope Catholic?
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