VW’s Forgotten W12 Supercar Claimed 7 World Records And Didn’t Even Reach Production

While the Bugatti Veyron and Chiron are among the most famous cars to feature ‘W’ engines, the Volkswagen Group did design a supercar with a ‘W’ engine well before the Veyron.

The car in question was dubbed the Volkswagen W12 Concept Coupe that debuted at the Tokyo International Motor Show in 1997. It did not hit the production line but it did manage to break a number of world speed records during testing.

Read Also: Take A Look At Some Of VW’s Weirdest, Wackiest, And Wildest Concept Cars

Slotted beneath the sleek bodywork of the mid-engined supercar was a 5.6-liter W12 that was created by pairing two of VW’s 2.8-liter VR6 engines on a common crankshaft. The subsequent engine pumped out 414 hp, all of which was sent through a six-speed sequential transmission and a Syncro all-wheel-drive system.

Over the following three years, VW developed the W12 Concept Coupe and eventually ditched the all-wheel-drive system, replacing it with a rear-wheel-drive set-up. The engine was also enlarged to six liters and tuned to produce 591 hp.

Eager to break some records, VW headed to the famed Nardo circuit in Italy in October 2001. During a 24-hour high-speed run, the car clocked an average speed of 183.5 mph (295 km/h) and covered 4,402 miles (7,084 km). VW’s engineers then returned to the circuit on February 23, 2002, and were able to cover no less than 4,809 miles (7,739 km) at an average speed of 200.6 mph (322.8 km/h). When it was all said and done, the W12 had claimed seven world records and 12 international class records relating to distance and time.


The Auto World

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