What's this then?

If you prefer filling your sports Volkswagen Golf from the black rather than the green pump, then you'll be pleased to know that a new Golf GTD will make its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Even though the Volkswagen Group is making serious inroads towards a fully electric future with its range of models using its MEB platform, the performance boffins in Wolfsburg will give the diesel Golf at least one more outing as it joins the rest of the eighth-generation of the evergreen hatchback.

How much performance are we talking about?

You'll have to wait until the new Golf GTD makes its official debut at the start of the show in March, but Volkswagen has said that the car will feature an increase in performance along with a significant reduction in both CO₂ and NOx emissions. It will stick with the familiar turbocharged four-cylinder diesel set-up and will be more than likely offered with the choice of both manual and automatic DSG transmissions. The latter is helped by a new twin-dosing SCR exhaust that uses double the AdBlue injections to make what comes out of the (hopefully not fake) exhausts cleaner. In fact, Volkswagen has gone as far as to say that the new Golf GTD will be one of the cleanest combustion engines currently on sale.

Any word on styling?

To keep interest levels up, Volkswagen has thus far only released a portion of a design sketch. That could be totally accurate or nothing more than an artist's impression. Still, it does showcase a full-width light bar similar to that of the electric ID.3, in addition to some new LED fog lights that bear more than a passing resemblance to those that adorn the front bumper of the equally sporty Renaultsport Megane RS. Expect the internet forums and Facebook groups of the world to be in a tizzy when the covers come off it next month.