One of our favorite high-end tuners is HPA Motorsports, best known for its 500-hp, twin-turbo Golf R32 that was featured in Gran Turismo 4 as well as various national automotive mags. In one of the coolest moves ever by an automaker, VW called up the people at HPA and asked if they wanted to build some project vehicles together for SEM . The result is three officially sanctioned vehicles that bend the rules of tuning to their breaking point.

We have the Jetta R GT (no pics, what's up VW?) that boasts a 500-hp twin-turbo 3.2L V6, 4MOTION all-wheel drive and DSG transmission. Then there's the Touareg R GT with another 500-hp, twin-turbo V6; KW Variant 3-way coilover suspension and six-speed automatic. But nothing beats the Passat R GT, which contains a mighty 575-hp, twin-turbo 3.2L V6; 4MOTION all-wheel drive and DSG transmission. All three vehicles were also given subtle styling tweaks that enhance their new muscles.

Read on for the entire press release, which is a good read, and all the pics…

[Source: VW]

PROJECT R GT

An Uncompromised Synthesis of Power and Style

The dream of every high-performance tuner is access to the best, most durable, precise components; intelligent and adaptable control systems; and progressive, appealing styling.

It?s the dream of every high-performance tuner to transform that excellence into the extraordinary, to create exhilarating answers to the question, ?What if???

Volkswagen shares this drive to push the dynamic and aesthetic boundaries of its vehicles.  The vast network of engineers and designers within VW?s worldwide reach never need  to be urged to challenge conventional wisdom, and this philosophy is reflected not only in the unique character of VW?s production vehicles, it?s also fully displayed in a trio of stunning ultra-high-performance projects built for SEMA 2005 in combination with HPA Motorsports.

When VW began to develop plans for its first official appearance at the SEMA Show, it asked its California-based design studio and HPA to work on a number of questions:

- What if Volkswagen?s R concept of high performance, so persuasively presented in the athletic R32, could be magnified into ?supercar? proportions?

- What if Volkswagen?s rich crop of technology could be distilled into a more potent mixture?

- What if its narrow-angle V6 powerplant, 4MOTION all-wheel drive and DSG dual-clutch transmission were to be blended to blow away the world?s most discerning performance enthusiasts?

- What if Volkswagen?s designers had no other goal except to turn their visions into sculptures of composites and metal?

- And what if an R GT series of vehicles were to be built, to act as dream-makers, as forerunners, perhaps, to a line of factory-bred ultra-high-performance specials?

The answers to those questions might very well be found among an intriguing trio of project vehicles built specially for the SEMA Show.  The Jetta R GT, Passat R GT and Touareg R GT are not just flights of fancy branding.  The badging on each of these one-offs tells a story of advanced platforms enriched with strategic applications of factory and aftermarket expertise.

The Jetta R GT began its transformation as a base 2005 model with a 150-horsepower, 2.5-liter five-cylinder engine and front-wheel drive.  After the combined efforts of Volkswagen Design and HPA, however, it now sports fresh-as-