Abt Sportsline debuts 300-hp Volkswagen Golf GTI Dark

Audi and Volkswagen Group tuner ABT Sportsline is coming to the states at last. At this week's Essen Motor Show, it revealed, among other things, its own special version of the Volkswagen Golf GTI, dubbed the GTI Dark. As in, the dark side of the force.

The stock 2014 Volkswagen Golf GTI is no slouch by any measure, with its 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-four making 220 hp, but that wasn't enough for Abt Sportsline. For the GTI Dark, it bolted on its own power pack, with the final output amounting an impressive 300 hp and 309 lb-ft of torque. What does this all add up to? How about a 5.8-second sprint to 62 mph and onto an electronically limited top speed of 160 mph? All this power comes without 4Motion, so we can see now why they've gone for the dark-side reference -- you might need the help of the dark side of the force to drive this car at the limit.

Abt Sportsline
An all new styling package complements the serious bump in power.

The dark-side theme extends to the Golf's appearance as well, as Abt has fitted it with darkened headlight and taillight lenses, in addition to carbon-fiber mirror caps. The exterior appearance package of the show car also includes all-new side skirts, a front spoiler of Abt's own design, a trunk-lid lip and a rear skirt, along with a four-pipe exhaust system finished in a chromed-black color. The car sits on 20-inch five-spoke Abt CR light-alloy wheels. The GTI Dark also includes a Abt's height-adjustable suspension kit and redesigned stabilizers. Thin red stripe accents are present throughout the exterior, from the skirts to the wheels, and they do add a menacing look to the already sporty appearance of the GTI.

Abt Sportsline
Red stripe accents throughout the exterior create a mean look.

Abt Sportsline is perhaps better known for its Audi tuning efforts in Europe, but they've always produced tuning parts for VW Golf and VW Polo models. And now that the tuning house is opening up a location in California, a number of their parts will be available for U.S.-market Audi and VW models. And that's likely to include the current-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI.

"After all, the GTI has always been part of the family. We have always teased out the best performance from all its generations,” says Hans-J

By Jay Ramey