Thursday, July 16, 2009

Jetta TDI Cup Edition for 2010

Volkswagen-Jetta-TDI-Cup-2010.jpg
(Volkswagen)

There's already plenty of Jetta special editions (Wolfsburg Edition, Loyal Edition, the old Trek — can anyone think of others?), but the 2010 model year will offer a welcome "track" model based off the TDI Cup racers. It's called, of course, the TDI Cup Edition.

Introduced as a concept at the 2008 Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas, the production TDI Cup Edition features the "Thunderbunny" body kit originally designed for the Rabbit and currently on all TDI Cup racers: a wide-mouth front bumper with a more aggressive rear valence and bigger side skirts.

While the brakes and sway bars are upgraded to GLI status, the rest of the car is unchanged. What really would have made this Jetta special (and justifiably pricier) is the racer's modified diesel engine, tuned for 170 horsepower and Volkswagen's claimed "nearly" 300 foot-pounds of torque. But the regular engine is quite satisfying, save for that clunky DSG.