Within the late 2000s, Volkswagen toyed with the concept of a super-efficient automobile powered by a plug-in hybrid two-cylinder diesel engine. The limited-production automobile was referred to as the XL1 and it was pegged to be probably the most fuel-efficient automobile ever made.
The 12 months 2013 got here after which VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech introduced a two-pot-powered sports activities automobile that is constructed for efficiency. That one was referred to as the XL Sport Idea, and its engine was touted because the world’s strongest two-cylinder engine.
Sadly, that automobile was stillborn and remained an idea, however Petersen Automotive Museum tries to revisit the sports activities automobile’s greatness in a deep-dive video.
65 Images
Sourced from a Ducati 1199 Superleggera, the XL Sport’s respected V-Twin engine revved as much as 11,000 rpm and made as much as 197 horsepower (147 kilowatts). Whereas that latter quantity wasn’t precisely distinctive for sports activities coupes, all of us must do not forget that the XL Sport comes with physique panels made out of carbon fiber strengthened plastic (CFRP). This saved the load low at a measly 1,962 kilos (890 kilograms) – so gentle that Petersen Automotive Museum calls it the lightest fashionable sports activities automobile.
That truth allowed the XL Sport to tout efficiency numbers like a 0-62 mile-per-hour (0-100 kilometer-per-hour) dash of 5.7 seconds and a prime pace of 168 mph (270 km/h).
The VW XL Sport boasted different efficiency bits reminiscent of a dual-clutch seven-speed gearbox, titanium connecting rods, pushrod rear suspension, desmodromic valve gear, ceramic brakes, and varied magnesium-alloy elements. It additionally had a pair of wing doorways that added pizzazz to the entire package deal.
Are you able to think about the XL Sport Idea as a manufacturing automobile? I do know we do and it will have been a stable addition to the VW lineup again then. Then once more, that is not possible now with the automaker’s present foray into electrification. Oh, what might have been.
