MK5 200
MK6 210
MK7 220?
Ide say its going to be 220, Dont think many would like to bet me im wrong either
I'd bet against you.
As has been said the Mk5 offered a significant jump in power over the Mk4. Now some may say that the Mk5 was unique in that it sought to re-cast the GTI as a class leader, but in reality it was just VW making a brilliant - and competitve - product. To do so VW gave the GTI more power - a good deal more power in fact.
Admittedly the game has moved on considerably since then and the power outputs of hot hatches has reached quite silly levels (not necessarily bad levels of power, but plain silly nonetheless).
At the very least the GTI will have
230bhp IMO. I suggest this because the Mk4 was 20bhp down on the ST170, and the Mk5 was 20hp down on the Gen 2 ST (rated officially at 222bhp). The new ST has been released with 250bhp, so I'd imagine VW won't let the ST get too much of a power advantage. As for the VXR, well I don't think it's really a rival for the GTI anymore (perhaps the next Scirocco
) - the looks alone put it in a different market from the typical GTI customer and the practicality of a 3 door only line-up is sure to be a factor for some.
As for the 260hp figure - that can safely be thrown out the window I think. That's simply too ambitious.
The rumoured 250bhp is perhaps possible. If I'm honest, there's about 10% of me thinking that it will be 250bhp, purely on the grounds that the Mk7 is clearly going to be an all new effort from VW. All this talk of 'GTI only' lighter panels and mechanical diffs... I don't think VW is going to go to these lengths and then release the car with only 10bhp more.
But we shall wait and see.
