VW Announces Race-Inspired Jetta TDI Cup Street Edition

A special edition Jetta inspired by the TDI Cup race cars will be arriving at Volkswagen's showrooms across the U.S. in the beginning of 2010, the German automaker announced. The Jetta TDI Cup Street Edition gets the front bumper, side skirts and rear valance that are found on the TDI Cup race cars along with larger brakes with red calipers, 18 inch alloy wheels with performance all-season tires, sway bars and a sportier tuned suspension.

However, what the replica doesn't get is the TDI Cup race car's more powerful 2.0-liter TDI diesel engine which is rated at 170 horsepower and nearly 300 ft-lbs of torque as it keeps the 2.0L turbo diesel of the standard car that delivers 140HP and 236 ft-lbs of torque.

The engine be mated to either a six-speed manual transmission or VW's DSG dual clutch semi-automatic transmission.

Other upgrades over the standard Jetta include sports seats wrapped in Interlagos cloth and a multi-function leather steering wheel that's fitted with paddle shifters when combined with the DSG transmission.

Volkswagen said that the Jetta TDI Cup Street Edition will start at around $25,000.