The souped-up, tricked-out Super CC "Eco Performance" concept Volkswagen brought to the big SEMA auto trade show this year highlights the automaker's commitment to sleek, understated design, but what's really cool is it's more powerful and more fuel efficient than the production car it's based on.

While the turbocharged CC Eco isn’t quite ready to be smogged and registered, everything from its design to its drivetrain to its fuel economy – as high as 27 mpg around town in "eco mode" – screams “road ready,” and we're ready to put one in the Autopia Fantasy Garage.

More details and pix...

Volkswagen started with a box-stock CC and tweaked the body with black chrome accents, different bumpers, an aluminum spoiler and 20-inch wheels to give the CC Eco the look of a whole new machine. Having kept the bodywork understated, the gearheads at VW's So-Cal design center went nuts under the hood. They gave the 2.0-liter TSI engine an APR Stage 3

turbocharger system with three performance modes – performance, GT

and eco — and a stainless-steel APR exhaust system.

The mods provide an impressive 311 horsepower and 313 pound-feet of torque in performance mode. Eco mode is good for 222 horsepower and 236 pound-feet while still returning 33 mpg on the highway and 27 mpg in the city. That's up from the stock 2.0-liter turbo's 197 horsepower and 28/19 mpg fuel economy.

The CC Eco gets 14-inch Brembo brakes with big honkin' calipers and cross-drilled rotors to rein in the ponies. No show car worth the name rides on a stock suspension, so VW slapped some H&R coilovers on the Eco. No doubt the folks at the VW

Design Center had a ball testing the car before sending it to Vegas for the show.

We’re glad to see that VW tricking out its production rides. Now if we could just get it to bring us that sweet plug-in hybrid it is working on...

Photos by Volkswagen. We have no idea why VW didn't release any photos of the engine or suspension. But there you have it.