With the slightly misleading title “VOLKSWAGEN’S JETTA HYBRID IS THE WORLDS FASTEST HYBRID”, the German automaker informed us today about a new speed record achieved by a specially prepped Jetta Hybrid sedan driven by Motor Trend magazine writer Carlos Lago at the Bonneville Salt Flats.
We say ‘misleading’ because it gives the impression that the hybrid speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats was made by the same 2013 Jetta Hybrid saloon that you will soon be able to park under your garage, which obviously, is not the case as VW itself reveals further down in its press release.
The regular 2013 Jetta Hybrid combines a 1.4-liter turbocharged, direct-injection four-cylinder TSI gasoline engine that produces 150hp with a seven-speed DSG dual-clutch automatic transmission and an electric motor that provides an additional 27-horses.
The car that reached a top speed of 185.394 mph (298.363 km/h) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Nevada during the Southern California Timing Association’s (SCTA) annual Speed Week was specially modified according to SCTA rules.
Volkswagen doesn’t go into a lot of details about the changes made to the Jetta Hybrid nor does it reveal the performance numbers. Here’s what the company does say:
“To achieve the kind of horsepower needed to run at 185 mph (298 kph) at Bonneville, the powertrain was modified by Volkswagen R&D in Wolfsburg, Germany. Project integration and other modifications to enable the car to run safely on the salt were handled by A-Salt Racing and Advanced Product Engineering, based in Camarillo, California. The implementation and final calibration of the drivetrain in the car was supported by the engineers from the Volkswagen Test Center California in Oxnard, CA.”
According to Volkswagen, the 185mph run is the fastest speed ever achieved by a production-based hybrid car on the Bonneville Salt Flats.
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