2001 Volkswagen W12 Nardo Concept

The story, the concept, the world record.

The Italdesign Giugiaro study of the W12 Coupe, which is systematically oriented towards top performance and high levels of driving dynamics, is the third phase of evolution of two W12 concept cars becomes the fastest cars in the world.

The W12 Syncro prototype was first unveiled at the 1997 Tokyo Motor Show, while the ‘roadster’, a more advanced version of the W12 Syncro, made its debut at the Volkswagen stand at the 1998 Geneva Motor Show. The final evolution of this sports car project, with its W12 engine inspired by the world of motor sports, was showed at the last Tokyo Motor Show and now is entering the decisive phase of production development.

On October 2001 a prototype of Volkswagen’s new W12 coupe in the final stages of development set the world speed record for distance covered in 24 hours. The long term development of this project becomes a real partnership between Volkswagen technical and Italdesign Giugiaro staff.

The design.

The long and flat body of the Coupe, with the restrained styling of the rear spoiler with automatically extends as of 120 km/h, transports the timeless elegance of Volkswagen design into the dynamic sector of the ultimate sports car. Due to the monocoque construction and the location of the longitudinal engine fitted behind the passenger compartment, the front end of the vehicle could be kept extremely flat. With a length of 4.55 metres and at more than 1.92 metres wide, the design study W12 Coupé has a very impressive appearance due to its dimensions alone.

This is further underlined by the height of the two-seater vehicle, just 1.1 metres. The design study has been further reflned in comparison to its two predecessors; newly designed headlights and rear lights echo even more strongly the characteristics of the future top class models from Volkswagen.

One of the most famous studios in the world is responsible for the design of the vehicle: Italdesign, Giugiaro, Fabrizio Giugiaro, Styling Director,said: ” this is one of the most fascinating cars in the world and for sure the fastest and most reliable never built”.

The sports car, finished in orange pearlescent, has two wing doors that open to the front and roof centre part made of special glass which extends from the windscreen through to the end of the engine compartment. The first glance of the W12 with its double V construction can be made through the transparent bonnet.

Alongside air intakes in the front end, the six-litre assembly breathes through other ventilation openings near the partition between the engine and passenger compartments. Leather, aluminium and carbon dominate the design of the new concept for the interior of the W12 Coupé. Seats, fittings and door trims have been finished, for example, with a black/grey suede and a colour coded smooth leather.

Smooth leather has been used for the element where the driver has direct access to the function elements – namely the steering wheel. The steering wheel itself is not perfectly round, but is rather extremely similar in form and function to the concepts used in Formula One racing. Alongside the use of leather, the aluminium elements in the interior are particularly noticeable as they have a red sheen and thus correspond to the exterior colour. Volkswagen is using a new chemical procedure to achieve the colouring and surface coating of the unpainted alloy. The layout of the instruments is classic.

Two round main displays show the most important information such as speed, revs, fuel tank (100 litres) and engine temperature. A colour display in the centre of the dash panel is used to control the functions of the air conditioning, the navigation system, the on-board computer and the car telephone. Furthermore, the amount of space in the W12 Coupé is extremely comfortable. A generous and ergonomically perfect situation has been realised despite the low level of the vehicle typical of a sports car.

There is no doubt – this design study is more than a show car. All the details of the W12 Coupe are fully-functional and the concepts are close to production standards.

The W12 engine.

In the future, all Volkswagens in the upper and luxury classes will be equipped with the high-torque W engines. They are characterised by exceptionally low levels of vibration and the best possible acoustic qualities. They are, depending on the model in question, used as standard- in the W12 Coup̩ for example Рor as an option. The Volkswagen brand will launch them as an eight-cylinder, as can already be seen in the Passat W8,and as a twelve-cylinder version with varying levels of output and set-ups. A 16-cylinder version has also been developed on this basis within the Volkswagen Group.

It will be used as of 2003 in the Bugatti EB 16.4 Veyron, which was shown in its most current version last September at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The technology of the twelve cylinder engine integrated in the design study W12 Coupé: with a length of 513 millimetres, a height of 715 millimetres and a width of 710 millimetres, the engine is particularly compact. The capacity of the W12, which weighs just 239 kilograms, is 5,998 cm3. The engine, which is located between the passenger compartment and the rear axle, has an extraordinarily torsionally rigid aluminium crankcase with wear-resistant cylinder sleeves. A further indication of the systematic light-weight construction approach can be seen in the valve covers and timing chain covers made of magnesium. The basic layout of the W12 engine is made up of two very thin V6 four-valve modules which are configured at an angle of 72 degrees with a joint crankshaft with seven main bearings to make up a V-V arrangement, i. e. a “W”. The cylinder angle is just 15 degrees within the two V6 banks. This makes the construction, which is very compact in comparison to V12 engines, possible.