Volkswagen Golf GTD visits the ABT gym

ABT has been rather busy this year after unveiling five tuned works for Audi from the A5 Sportback to the R8 V10. Now the well renowned German tuners have turned their attention to VW's diesel powered performance Golf.

"The objective was to make this compact diesel even sportier. Our ABT Golf VII GTD is a very stylish power package," said Hans-Jurgen Abt, CEO of the world's largest tuner of cars produced by the Volkswagen Group.

ABT has provided the Golf GTD with a subtle cosmetic and power enhancement. Aerodynamic elements come in the form of the front spoiler and grille, side skirts and trunk lid attachment. The headlights are mildly concealed with eyelids, while the mirrors are fitted with two-tone covers. Around the back, the Golf GTD features the signature quadruple exhausts and a rear skirt insert for a more menacing look. The GTD sits on 18 or 19-inch alloy wheels.

Going skin deep, ABT upgraded the 2.0-litre diesel from 181bhp to 207bhp, with torque figures also increasing to 430Nm from 380Nm. Sadly no performance figures are released but naturally the car should be able to sprint faster with a slightly higher top speed. The stock GTD accelerates to 100km/h in 7.5 seconds and climbs to a top speed of 229km/h.