VW reveals 197bhp XL Sport

This is the XL Sport, a superbiked-engined, sports-car iteration of VW’s eco-hyper-pod XL1, unveiled on the eve of the Paris show.
A one-off design study, the XL Sport is the 200 millionth car produced by the VW Group, and a fitting way to mark that slightly terrifying landmark. It ditches the XL1’s ultra-efficient 47bhp two-cylinder turbodiesel in favour of nothing less than the most powerful two-pot in the world: the 197bhp V-twin engine from the Ducati 1199 Superleggera motorbike.
In a slippery, carbon-monocoqued microcar weighing 890kg, that spells proper performance. VW says the XL Sport will get from 0-62mph in 5.7 seconds, with top speed standing at 168mph, which we’d imagine feels beyond terrifying with your buttocks three inches from the tarmac.

On the other hand, the bike-engined XL Sport is unlikely to get close to its eco-brother’s official economy figure of 313mpg.
VW boasts the XL Sport boasts the best aerodynamics of any sports car, with a drag coefficient of 0.258, and frontal area of just 1.7m2. That Ducati twin – modified slightly for XL duty – will rev to 11,000rpm, driving the forged magnesium rear wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox.
Though of similar proportions, the XL Sport is some 4cm longer and 18cm wider than the XL1, with vents ahead of the rear wheels providing cooling to that high-revving engine.
Not a bad way to celebrate your 200 millionth arrival, is it? That figure is yet more terrifying, considering it was only in 1999 that the VW Group passed the 100 million mark, with a somewhat less exciting Beetle. So that’s 100 million cars in 15 years. Nearly seven million cars a year.