A selection of wild cars from the 2013 GTi Meeting

Every year, in Austria, a group of GTi enthusiasts come togethere for a special even presented by the Volkswagen Group. GTi Meeting or Worthersee Tour, whatever you want to call it, it's all about the noise, the girls, the smokes, the speedo boys, the celebration, and some wild modified concepts presented by the Volkswagen Group as part of saying "thank you" for their loyalty. This year though promises to be even more because here are a small selection of cars as seen on this year's GTi Meeting...

Design Mission GTi Concept - The star attraction of this year's GTi meeting because it maybe a hyped-up version of the Golf VII GTi but with 299kph of top speed and 503PS of power, which is less than 2007's GTi W12 Concept,  you might be surprised that VW sure knows how to make a GTi even more wilder...

Skoda Rapid Sport - How do you make the Skoda Rapid more hotter for this year's meeting? The Sport Concept, that's for sure! The red and white paint scheme adds a nice touch on it!

Golf GTi Cabrio Austria - A group of rookies from all sorts spend the whole year creating this car which is based on the Golf VI GTi Cabrio and hard work pays off.

VW Amarok Power Pickup Concept - From the looks of it, the Amarok Power Pickup doesn't look quite as sporty as expected to be but it comes with a body kit and large 22-inch wheels, together with some sporty upgrades om the interior and the fitment of a 3.0-liter turbocharged V6 diesel (TDI) that churns out 268hp and a peak torque of 600Nm.

Seat Leon Cup Racer - Using the latest generation Leon, the Cup Racer version adds some racing peripherals on it as well as the 330PS engine equipped on it.

Seat Ibiza SC Trophy - The race-spec version of the Ibiza SC was made to compete in one-make races in Spain and Italy. It was rigged with a 1.4-liter turbocharged engine with 200 PS (197 hp) mated to a 7-speed DSG gearbox.

Audi TT ultra quattro Concept - Guess this Audi TT's taking too much Zumba sessions and losing so much weight really means more fun for this kind of TT here...

Threats from North Korea - A Week in Review (May 11, 2013)

And now, the week in review of what's what at the Korean peninsula...

May 6, 2013

- SoKor President Park Geun-hye arrived Sunday on the first stop of her six-day trip to the US and it's expected to serve as an opportunity for the two countries to further develop their 60-year alliance.

- Park Geun-hye's approval rating climbed back to more than 50% due to the part to public support for her handling of inter-Korean tensions.

- Fighters for Free North Korea representative Park Sang-hak, an activist who sent pro-democracy leaflets into North Korea, will be awarded the 2013 Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent in Oslo, Norway on May 15.

May 7, 2013

- North Korea withdrawn its Musudan missiles from a launch site located in easter part of the country and Pyongyang lifted the military's combat duty posture number one, which is the army's highest level of combat readiness.

May 8, 2013

- South Korean president Park Geun-hye and her US counterpart Obama held their first summit and pledged to improve their 6-decade alliance between the two nations and stand together against any provocations the North Korea can possibly throw at them.

- The Bank of China shut down a number of North Korean bank accounts and said it would no longer do business with the Foreign Trade Bank, the largest foreign exchange bank run by North Korea. It was the first time a Chinese entity publicly announced it was stopping business with North Korea.

- International hacktivist group, Anonymous, said it will hack any key North Korean websites at the end of June. They revealed the list of North Korean targets on Twitter earlier this week and the attack would go down at the stroke of midnight on June 25th, especially the KCNA (Korean Central News Agency).

May 9, 2013

- South Korean President Park Geun-hye, while in the US for talks with US President Obama, state clear that she will never tolerate North Korea's nuclear program, and will firmly respond to any provocations by Pyongyang.

- South Korea has been "aware" that China recently closed the account of a key North Korean bank may be part of Beijing's commitment to enforce sanctions against Pyongyang.

May 10, 2013:

- South Korean president Park Geun-hye returned home from a visit to the US that included her first summit talks with Barack Obama and a speech to a joint session of Congress.

- Pyongyang's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea denounced Park Geun-hye's visit to the US as a "prelude to war" and said this could only worsen the tensions of the Korean peninsula.

- Presidential spokesperson Yoon Chang-jung has been fired amid allegations of "misdemeanor sexual abuse" while accompanying President Park Geun-Hye on her trip to the US.

- China strengthened its inspections on cargo shipped to North Korea from its eastern port city of Dalian.

Bagong Gang

On the May 10, 2013 episode of Bubble Gang...

- "Bad News" gags for those running for elections

- The most untrustful person when it comes to signing your permit...

- An introduction to different people you'll encounter at the gym

- Two morons are arguing about not getting their indie film project

- Bubble Gang does Ariel by spoofing this commercial as AERIEL!

- Our gay friend's telling a heartbreaking story...

- Useful advices from Tata Lino

- This guy's showcasing his "market ability".

- IyoTube in Mang Jose

- That's why we all need exclamation points...!!!

- Highlights of Bubble Gang auditions in Bagong Gang

What's in our Car Town garage today? (May 10, 2013)

What's in our Car Town garage today?

1964 Lincoln Continental Convertible

The term "land yacht" is what best describe to this classic Lincoln which became a "cult classic" because of its completely different level of uniqueness especially it has suicide doors that is quite an unexpecting feature for an American car. Favored by collectors and appeared in several movies and TV shows, this Continental is all about keeping up with its looks, especially when it was the type of car used by the Secret Service of the late US President, John F. Kennedy.

1964 Lincoln Continental

2013 Ford Police Interceptor

By the moment Ford finds a replacement to the Crown Victoria-based Police Interceptor since it was out of commision in 2011, Ford decided to use the sixth generation Ford Taurus as its basis for its Police Interceptor, much as when Dodge decided to use the Charger for police purposes and General Motors seek help to Australia for the Caprice PPV. The Taurus-based Police Interceptor is powered in either a 3.5L Cyclone V6 or the high-performance EcoBoost V6 as applied on the SHO model. In Top Gear USA, Tanner Foust seeks the Ford Taurus Police Interceptor as the best next-generation cop car in America.

2013 Ford Police Interceptor

1970 Opel Manta A

Betcha didn't know that this first generation Opel Manta was one of the only few models to be ever sold in the USA and they're sold at Buick dealerships rather than their own dealership network aside from the Rekord, the Kadett, the GT, and the Ascona relative. Anyway, the first generation Opel Manta was praised by many as being one of the best handling cars in its class and it has a record of participating rally races in Europe and North America respectively. This classic Opel sure knows how to stay quirky at all times...

1970 Opel Manta A

Let's Do The News! (May 9, 2013)

(cheers and applause)

2014 Volkswagen Golf GTi

RH: So, you love this thing, don't you?

JC: Yeah. Exactly. That's definitely the perfect definition of a hot hatch. I like it.

RH: I see what you did there because think about it, it's nimble, it's old-school, it has the same GTi spirit, and overall, a chance to break your neck when all hell breaks loose.

(audience laughing)

JC: That's the point and the best bit of being a GTi is that it wants to be as bad as...John Travolta to be precise. He's often being the bad guy in every action movie he has been...

(audience laughing)

RH: I had no idea what are you talking about...

JC: Anyway, let's do the news folks!

JM: Now, every year, the world's GTi owners gather together at some venue in Austria were everyone around here would want to act like morons, doing some ridiculous moments, or something like this...(imitates Candice) It's not a party! It's an intimate get together!

(audience laughing)

JC: Yeah, right. And in here, looks like Volkswagen's gonna showcase their latest GTi concept for the show, here's the pic so far...

JC: ...now what this is is what their latest GTi concept will be for some sort of GTi meeting in Austria. It's like it always happen every year when Volkswagen showcased their GTi concepts as part of saying thanks for their loyalty.

JM: Yeah, and do you still remember the Golf GTi-W12 a couple of years ago?

JC: Uh...yeah and sadly though, for a Golf with a W12 engine, I think most of the stuff isn't done. I got spun-off uncontrollably even though I'm trying to be gentle with it. Thing is though, when this monster Golf shows up soon, I'd expect it would be much worse than the GTi-W12 I tried. Most of the stuff in the dashboard doesn't work, well except for the sat-nav which thinks it's in Germany, the chassis doesn't work, the engine doesn't work...everything doesn't work...

(audience laughing)

RH: Oh, geez...I'd expect you might end up crashing in one of those...

(audience laughing)

RH: Anyway, I got some news that the second season of the anime we really don't want to see, which is Kuroko no Basuke or Kuroko's Basketball, is coming this fall and what do you guys think?

JC: I'd expect death threats from someone who disliked this show...

(audience laughing)

JM: Yeah, right. I mean there's so many death threats out there in Japan targeting against Kuroko's Basketball manga and anime, from the creator's nooks and crannies, to something that has further connection with this show. Think about it, those dojinshi events connected to the show got cancelled until further notice and last year's Comiket saw less customers because of the booth connected to KuroBas is gone for safety purposes. I wonder that if the second season could sparked fury to those responsible to the death threats?

JC: Beats me, James. Haters gonna hate...

(audience laughing)

JC: Now anyway, I got a bit of those notifications from my iPhone and says someone invited me to a game that I never played...What was that?

(audience laughing)

JC: Are they going to invite me to play a rather boring game that doesn't make any sense?

RH: Oh wait, let me guess...I got mine too and it says they invited me to play...um...let me see...let me see...oh! Candy Crush!

(audience laughing)

JC: That's right! It turns out that there's so many morons out there inviting me to play one of the most boring puzzle games of ages! I never played Candy Crush before and let me tell you something, why would you want to invite me to some super boring game in a form of a puzzle game? You know I don't like a puzzle game because puzzle games are RUBBISH!

(audience laughing)

JC: Tell you what? Someone out there is playing one! Who here plays some puzzle games aside from Candy Crush? Hands up!

(some audience raising hands)

RH: Well, some people do play boring puzzle games aside from Candy Crush saga...

JM: I do...

(audience laughing)

JC: WHAT?! James, you too?

JM: Yeah, only in my break time...

(audience laughing)

JC: (facepalm) You know I really don't like such games because you'll waste time doing nothing but flipping stuff...This is much worse than when I was playing the Montezuma game in my PSVita...

(audience laughing)

RH: Huh? Montezuma? You're playing a puzzle game, too?

JC: I know but I quit playing it. Puzzle games are no fun. And you know what else is not fun? INDIE GAMES, with the exception of Minecraft because it's more fun.

(audience laughing)

JC: Now, I had someone who has a baby boy who was going to celebrate his 1st birthday somewhere. I noticed that the little boy's birthday party theme would be "pirates". Do you know anything that has something to do about pirates?

RH: I do...Let's see...there's this...One Piece because of the Straw Hat Pirates, Peter Pan because of the villain named Captain Hook and his crew, Pirates of the Carribean franchise because of that Captain Jack Sparrow, Spongebob Squarepants because of Patchy the Pirate or The Flying Dutchman, Jake and the Neverland Pirates as seen on Disney Junior, which is an educational show...

JC: Jake and the Neverland Pirates? Guess my friend's baby boy likes that more than his old favorite, which is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Perhaps no wonder this baby boy has a fond of pirates and that's why the baby boy's mama chose "Pirates" as the party theme. Here's what sums it up...

RH: Hmmm...Irvine Dylan's Birthday Party...blah blah blah...May 12...blah blah blah...United BF Homeowners Association...blah blah blah...Paranaque...blah blah blah...wear pirate gear or swimwear... Oh really? Do they had a swimming pool?

JM: Swimming pool in the library, perhaps?

(audience laughing)

JC: James, this isn't the TARDIS. We're dealing with someone's pirate party planning. Here's the location in question...

JM: It is a swimming pool. Are Irvine Dylan's guests going to swim here for the party?

(audience laughing)

JC: Shut up, James! I know it's a birthday party but that's more like a combination between a birthday party and a poolside party! It's a birthday poolside party! (imitates Phineas) I know what they did today!

(audience laughing)

RH: You know, you should better leave the imitation to me because I'm the youngest...

(audience laughing)

JM: Wait a minute...there's something in my butt....Oh man! It itches! Must be itching! Ow! Ow! Must scratch!

(audience laughing)

(Squirrels in my Pants playing)

JC: Anyway, that's the end of the news and in the meantime, THERE'S SOMETHING ITCHY IN MY PANTS!

Mahal, IHAW NA!

You wouldn't believe what you just saw because almost-forgotten comedienne Mahal guested on the IHAW NA segment of May 8, 2013's Banana Nite! I know what you're thinking but...never mind about that. Cheers for Mahal...

Meanwhile, Chazz challenged everyone to do the PASA CARD in another CHAZZ DO IT!

Volkswagen Golf VII GTi

A true hot hatch needs to be somewhat fun to drive, has some of the gadgets for the driver to enjoy such as listening to music, a boot to put something at the back, and everything else that what makes a hot hatch, the hot hatch but not all hot hatches are made to be hot hatches because they all come in different shapes and sizes. It's the year 2013, and it's going to be the golden year for hot hatches good, bad, and ugly. From the Renault Clio 200 EDC, the one with the double clutch gearbox and 5 doors that doesn't make any sense for a hot hatch to the Peugeot 208 GTi which is a sensual hot hatch for the chosen few, there's a whole lot of hot hatches coming right at you and for Volkswagen, they're not absent for the hot hatch race.

2014 Volkswagen Golf GTi

Welcome everyone to the brand new Golf GTi, the latest version of Volkswagen's most talked about hot hatchback everyone wants to have one. When I said "most talked about", I wonder if this is the kind of car that sparked a worldwide trending topic in the social medium? Anyway, started out in life as a Volkswagen Golf VII, the plain-looking one with the new type of platform, but the GTi injects some of the historical GTi heritage in the latest Golf so by the looks of it, it's not all that bad but be warned though, the GTi is the bad boy of the Golf range so the only thing the new GTi is good for is being as bad as John Travolta. Gosh, why would I want to make tortured metaphors on this? Oh well...

With the sport-tuned suspension, turbocharged petrol direct-injection engine (TSI) with 220PS of power output, and a whole lot of gizmos loaded on it, the new GTi loves to turn a bored driver into an extreme brainiac. So extreme, there's going to be a whole lot of science abuse out here. So, science abuse eh? How was it? Well, since this car wants me to turn into a brainiac with the love for abusing science, this isn't a car, it's like thermite disguised as a...um...well, what do you call those kind of candy that goes "pop" when it gets dipped on your tongue? Well, I don't know what kind of candy but I tried one of those "popping" stuff. Anyway, that's how it feels like. It's a thermite made to look like candy because that's what the new GTi best described.

2014 Volkswagen Golf GTi interior

No matter which transmission you chose, either a 6-speed manual or the 7-speed DSG, the new GTi has a 0-100kph time of 6.5 seconds, bridging the gap between the Renault Clio 200 and the Peugeot 208 GTi. Top speed is 246kph, meaning it's quicker than the 208 GTi or the Renault Clio 200 as well, even with 5 doors! Wait? 5 doors?! Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the new Golf GTi is available in either a 3 door for the tangy ones or a 5 door for the not so daring. Okay, I said the daring part but never mind. The 3-door version is daring for the hardcore but the 5-door is for those who had friends and then go out to the nightclub to waste themselves dancing. Pricing starts at 28,350 Euros, which means that this GTi's reasonably priced. Every speedo boy wants to have one for a living though but for the matured speedo boys, there's a patch for that...

2014 Volkswagen Golf GTi

There's also a new PERFORMANCE version of the new Golf GTi and what you get on this update is an additional 10PS of power, 250kph of top speed, and then there's the newly engineered electronic front differential lock developed specifically for this variant. Anyway, we don't need words to explain what's what, this GTi Performance version turns the normal Golf GTi into what it feels like it's been acting like "Jack the Ripper". Ouch. So Jack the Ripper-ish, the only thing that you might expect next is the snapping of your neck. While I'm not going to demonstrate how neck-breaking this Performance is, it's still the new Golf GTi I know. A perfect track wolf on a track day and a pefect cruising buddy on your weekends. This car won't make you disappoint, it will always plant a huge smile on your grin until you are opted to do the face dance. What you're looking up here is what I believed to be the best GTi ever made and you are more than welcomed to find one at your nearest VW dealer.

Available colors:

• Pure White
• Schwarz
• Tornadorot
• Carbon Steel Grey Metallic
• Limestone Grey Metallic
• Night Blue Metallic
• Reflexsilber Metallic
• Tungsten Silver Metallic
• Deep Black Perleffekt
• Oryxweiß Perlmutteffekt
• Blau
• Dark Violett Perleffekt
• Deep Blue Perleffekt
• Inky Blue Perleffekt
• Lichtblau
• Mercato-Blau Metallic
• Moonlight Blue Perleffekt
• Ravennablau Metallic
• Silberblau Metallic
• Techno-Blau Perleffekt
• Ultramarinblau
• Violet Touch Perleffekt
• Ginstergelb
• Yellow
• Platinum Grey Metallic
• Silbergrau Metallic
• Zinngrau Metallic
• Bright Green Perleffekt
• Minzgrün
• Racing-Grün
• Resedagrün
• Colarot 2000
• Dark Burgundy Perleffekt
• Flash-Rot

Photo: Volkswagen