I suppose its a sad day when the addition of LED’s to golfs become newsworthy, but news on the automotive front have been a bit dull this week.
Anyway, for those who care the new Golf R is going to have LED taillights like the ones pictured above offered as standard and the GTI and GTD will have it offered as a R3500 option. Why can’t they just include it in the price and add it anyway? Well they’ll make more money this way is the obvious answer.
The benefits of using LED’s are they last longer and illuminate quicker – 0.2 seconds quicker than conventional bulbs in fact.
All this means that people will see you hitting the brakes a fifth of a second quicker, shaving a full 5 meters off the braking distance from 100km/h.
Plus they look cool.
Straight from the halls of the Los Angeles Motor Show, German car maker Volkswagen has announced that their new Up! Lite concept vehicle is actually the world’s most fuel-efficient car. Running on a mix between 2-cylinder 0.8-litre TDI engine that outputs 51hp and a electric motor working drawing its energy from a lithium-ion battery, putting out 14 hp more, the new Volkswagen Up! Lite Concept is capable of doing 100km with only 2.44 liters of fuel. But on top of being green, the Up! Lite vehicle also manages to achieve a max speed of 160km/h and goes naught to 100km/h in only 12.5 seconds — the lightweight aluminum, carbon fiber and steel body, helps it out, too. On the exterior the concept car gets the eye with its 18″ wheels and LED daytime running lights, while on the inside there’s a 5.7-inch touch screen, an MP3 player, Internet connection and a telephone. What else you want?
It’s official – Porsche will offer the Panamera with a hybrid drivetrain. The company confirmed the at the LA Autoshow.
The vehicle will most likely go on on sale in 2011 and will probably not be offered in 4wd guise. Lots of rumours are floating around regarding which system will be used, but the general consensus is that it will not be using the system we’ve seen on the Cayenne.
If all today’s hybrid announcements are anything to go by Porsche will have a host of electric spares to choose from when it raids the VW group’s electric/ hybrid parts bin.
The boss of VW R&D Ulrich Hackenberg(real name) has said at the LA Auto show that the next Golf will definitely be offered with Hybrid and full electric versions.
Greenpeace rejoice.
This is up Lite concept from VW. It is Lite on fuel. Using only the faintest whisker of fumes of fuel to go on to a consumption figure of just over 2 liters per 100km.
How? Well the name kinda gives it away. Weighing in at only 695kg it really is Lite. It weighs as much as a stack of feathers because of the extensive use of Aluminium, Carbon fibre and lightweight batteries.
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The Volkswagen Amarok is scheduled to make it’s world debut on the 15th of December. We have however decided to not make you wait that long. All hail Carblog.
Good news is that you don’t have to ride around in one of those hideous looking Transporters if you want a double cab from VW. Isn’t this thing just the best looking double cab you’ve seen in a while. From every angle it looks the business and if the engine stats are anything to go by it will mean it too.
Initially there will be a 2 liter 4 cylinder common rail diesel producing about 120kw and 400nm which will be the strongest unit available. Fuel consumption will be awesome as the predicted range
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I like the VW Touareg. It’s got a bit of attitude and went against all the perceptions that you shouldn’t pay big bucks for a VW.
This is the new one. Updated to fall in with the new VW design language – front looks alot like the new POLO and GOLF6. From the rear though it doesn’t look like much is going to change and it basically looks like the current one.
I’m thinking it looks more like a facelift than a complete new model which looks like it’s a bit of a VW trademark these days like they did with the Golf.
Let’s hope its more than just a nosejob.
Believe it or not, Toyota is no longer the world’s largest automaker as they’ve been overtaken by the VW-Porsche group who sold 4.4 million units this year, 400,000 more than the Japanese manufacturer. After joining forces with Porsche, the Volkswagen Group got help from the German government and benefited from programs in the UK and even China, that has helped with their sales. However, analysts believe that the title will soon be brought back to Toyota’s HQ considering that the company has a production capacity to manufacture about 10 million vehicles a year, far more than VW-Porsche. Enjoy the crown guys, it’s nice being #1. [guardian.co.uk via jalopnik.com]
It’s not just the next generation VW Passat that will arrive in 2011, as Volkswagen America have confirmed that it will also ready a new mid-size sedan (NMS) for a late 2011 release. The black and white design sketch does not reveal much. Although reported to be larger in size, the VW NMS will cost $8000 less than the current Passat model which means it will compete with the likes of the Toyota Camry and the Honda Accord.
Speaking of Honda, the company incidentally announced the Acura TSX Sport Wagon for an American release in 2010, stiffening the competition furthermore. Taking advantage of the weak dollar, Volkswagen will build it at their Chattanooga, Tennessee facility, and aims to sell 100,000 NMS units per year. Looks great, isn’t it?
The next generation Volkswagen Touareg has been captured by spy-photographers yet again and this time these images reveal a host of new features. The first conclusion drawn from the photographs is that a smaller Touareg is also in the works other than the SUV but nothing more can be said about it. The bigger SUV will come with new LEDs at the front and a new set of taillamps at the rear. The Touareg will be powered by a 3.0 liter supercharged V6 which is also found in the hybrid drive system of the Porsche Cayenne S Hybrid. Other engine options will include the range topping 5.0 liter biturbo V10 TDI diesel capable of churning 350 hp and 850Mn of Torque. [via WCF]
The Volkswagen GTI has also been an adorable hatch but that is not enough at times to draw admiration. Certain power-upgrades can do the trick and that is what UK Tuning House APS has done with the Golf. It has made the iconic hatch touch 250 horses courtesy of a turbocharged engine. The upgrade has also picked up the torque to 395 Nm which gives this commuter a breath of fresh air as far as the engine is concerned.
The tuning house calls this power upgrade-Stage One, which is reflective of the higher power upgrades to come. APS outfitted the Golf with a turbocharged engine that helps achieve 250bhp with 395 Nm and 5800 rpm. Courtesy of this engine, this car clocks 0 to 60mph in 6.2 seconds and can achieve a top speed of 155mph. The price of this ECU is £599.
