Archive for Volkswagen

Just look at what Volkswagen did with the new Volkswagen Polo. While the previous one wasn’t really inspiring in terms of looks even in Polo GTI form, the new Polo so much better. It looks lower and wider, with body panels that play around with lighting in a much nicer way than the outgoing Polo’s bodywork. Being able to stretch your wallet only as far as a B-segment hatch never looked so good.

Volkswagen claims the Polo will be able to score a 5-star raring in the new Euro NCAP crash test system, which will mean it will equal the score of a much larger car, the Mazda 6, mostly thanks to its new more rigid chassis. This same chassis first made its debut on the new SEAT Ibiza. Despite a new stiffer chassis, the new Polo is also lighter by 7.5%.

ESP stability control is also now standard on all European models, though it probably won’t be in development countries where the Polo is sold. The ESP system also has Hill Hold Control which helps prevent the car from sliding down while you slowly get the clutch and accelerator pedal on terms when taking off from a slope. There are plenty of airbags including head-thorax airbags integrated in the front seatbacks.

Transmission choices consist of a manual transmission or a 7-speed DSG dual clutch gearbox. These will be mated to 7 different engines – 4 petrol and 3 TDI (no more Pump Duse) oil burners, which VW says 5 are all-new or used for the first time in a Polo. The new Polo 1.6 TDI BlueMotion does 90 PS with 3.8 liters of diesel per 100km fuel consumpion and 96g/km of CO2. There is a new inline-4 1.2 liter turbocharged TSI engine that also debuted on the SEAT Ibiza, producing 105 PS, equivalent to a 1.5 liter engine but with a much nicer and usable torque band.

Look after the jump for a hi-res gallery and a video.

Click here to read the rest of New Volkswagen Polo is a pretty good looking car!

Volkswagen’s American division has announced that it has shipped 16 Passat-Lingyu fuel cell cars over from China for a demonstration run at the California Fuel Cell Partnership event. These fuel cell cars with zero harmful emissions which are based on the VW Passat were jointly developed in China by a partnership between Volkswagen Shanghai, Volkswagen’s Research Group and the Tongji University.

With the hydrogen fuel cells located on the floor of the Passat, it is able to produce 55kW of power by simply converting hydrogen into water and electricity with the help of oxygen. The energy produced is then channeled to a 376 Volt lithium-ion battery pack. The Passat-Lingyu is able to reach a top speed of about 145 km/h, and is able to deliver 235 kilometers in terms of range will a full tank of fuel. These environment-friendly cars were first presented at the Olympic Games in China last year.

Volkswagen has signed a letter of intent with Japanese company Toshiba Corporation to work together on the development of electric drive units and power electronics for the upcoming Volkswagen New Small Family range of cars. Also in development are battery systems with high specific energy density for a next generation of electric cars such as the VW NSF or even other VW Group cars like the Audi A1 Sportback Concept.

Volkswagen’s Dr Martin Winterkorn said there is still a considerable amount of R&D to be done until Volkswagen can produce an electric vehicle, one that is emissions-free, affordable, and safe, not to mentioned ready to be produced large-scale.

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Volkswagen’s D-segment offerings will be split into two after the introduction of a new car aimed at the North American and Chinese markets, while Europe will continue to get the Volkswagen Passat. Above is one of the first sketches released by Volkswagen of the car that has not received a name yet. It is currently referred to as the Volkswagen New Midsize Sedan. Many car manufacturers have their D-segment cars split into 2. For example, Ford’s European and American line-up are totally different, while Honda has two different Accords for North America/Asia and Europe/Japan.

According to an unnamed Volkswagen executive, the NMS project was created because the company felt American and Asian customers don’t really appreciate the refinement of its current offerings such as the Passat, hence its dismal sales in comparison to competitors like the Camry and the Accord, though the Passat is also more expensive because of the extra costs that go into its refinement.

So VW decided to develop a new car more down to the H and T badge standards, with a focus on strict cost-cutting targets. The new Volkswagen NMS will be built on the sale PQ46 platform as the Passat, which is an enlarged version of the Golf’s PQ35 platform.

If you lack the dough for a GTI but still want your standard Golf to look fast, or perhaps you prefer having a diesel model (but will the Golf GT TDI be revived?), you can still kit it up with these new official accessories for the Mk6 Golf.

The official bodykit which is called the “Sport & Design Pack” includes front and rear aprons, side skirts and a roof spoiler. The “Wheels & Tires Pack” is a choice of either a multi-spoke 17 inch alloy set or a larger 18 inch set that are 18 inches in size. Both wheels come in Brilliant Silver, but the larger on also comes in Topaz Sterling Silver.

The Transport packs include a roof box and the Comfort & Protection pack includes a removable washable waterproof plastic tub that is placed in the boot.

Look after the jump for more photos of the various packs.

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Four new Volkswagen models can be expected to hit Malaysian roads this year, and they will all come in the second half of the year. One is a cabriolet version of the popular Volkswagen New Beetle, which commands 25% of Volkswagen Malaysia’s total sales. The top selling unit currently is the Golf GTI at 30% of total sales, and this year we’ll see a replacement model for that car, the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk6 (shown above). The Golf’s younger sibling will also be making an appearance here and I look forward to seeing more of this particular car on the road – the Volkswagen Scirocco. Lastly, the Passat will get a sexier counterpart in the form of the Volkswagen Passat CC, Volkswagen’s take on the four door coupe body.

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When the new Volkswagen Touareg debuts in 2010, it will get a gasoline-electric hybrid powertrain, in addition to the petrol and diesel options that it currently has. Volkswagen has released preliminary details on the hybrid powertrain, which reveals a few interesting things about what’s going into the next generation of Volkswagens. Firstly, this is the first time the new supercharged Audi 3.0 liter V6 is installed in a Volkswagen. By itself it produces 333 PS at 5,500rpm and 440Nm of torque from 3,000rpm. With the help of the E-Motor, this is boosted up to 374 PS and 550Nm of torque, which can take the Touarag up to 100km/h in 6.8 seconds.

By itself, the E-Motor puts out 52 PS and 300Nm of torque, which is what powers the vehicle in pure electric mode during city driving at speeds of up to 50km/h. This E-Motor is installed between the engine and the transmission, which is another new bit of equipment in a Volkswagen. It now has a total of 8 ratios, up from the previous 6-speed box.

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This 8-speed box has been tuned for hybrid usage. It has a special torque converter with larger lock-up system, an auxiliary electric oil pump (to maintain a supply of oil when the V6 TSI is switched off), a transmission heater to reach optimal operating temperature faster, and a modified transmission controller.

To make up for the additional hybrid equipment including NiMH batteries, some weight reduction had to be done in other areas of the car. Hence, the 4Motion all-wheel drive loses the center transfer box with the lockable differential and the offroading low ratios. In its place is a lighter Torsen differential from the Audi Q7, which has no low ratio capabilities.

Look after the jump for many diagrams showing the different hybrid operation modes.

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Some official details of the production version of the Mk6 Golf GTI have been revealed, along with official production versions of the car’s 3-door body done up in a hot red paintjob. Under the hood will be a 2.0 liter TSI engine. No official details have been revealed as of now, but expect power output to be around 200 horses, perhaps the same 210 PS that the GTI Concept had, a mere 10 PS increase over the Mk5 GTI.

Other features that the Concept car had are an LSD called the XDS system, and Adaptive Chassis Control which is much like Audi Drive Select. It can vary steering assistance, throttle response and adjust pneumatic damper settings.

We’ll have to wait until the official press release is out to find out if these make their way into the production car. In the meanwhile, please enjoy the nice photos of the red Mk6 GTI after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Initial production shots of Golf GTI Mk6 revealed

Are you looking for a new car? People normally go for the usual suspects from the Toyota and Honda and recently Nissan marques like the Civic and the Altis, but for those who are looking at being different there are some decent choices in the market such as the upcoming Peugeot 308 VTi and 308 Turbo, or you could even pick from one of these pre-owned Volkswagens.

All prices are without OTR costs (road tax etc) and insurance. For more info please call 03-22959947. I’m actually quite surprised that there’s a CrossTouran for sale. It’s the only car listed there fitted with the new 1.4 liter TSI engine that Europeans and even our neighbours down south (with the Golf GT) enjoy, and it’s not even launched in Malaysia! It could possibly be the most unique 7-seater MPV on the road.

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Volkswagen says the Concept BlueSport will make it into production if other marques in the group such as Audi and SEAT want it to, according to a senior Volkswagen executive. He says for economies of scale, the investment for the car needs to be shared between at least three different brands.

There is word that an Audi version is already ready (an Audi R4?), and such a roadster would fit into the SEAT brand image. Our graphics artist Theophilus Chin has already whipped up a SEAT version for us, depicted in this story. Porsche is also a suggested brand, as something like this could be positioned as an entry level model that could also reduce the company’s overall CO2 emissions levels, but when queries Porsche executives denied to comment.

Porsche also has this philosophy where an entry level Porsche or someone’s “first Porsche” is not a low-end model, but rather a hand-me-down or a used Porsche, in order not to compromise brand qualities. But I say that has long gone with models like the Cayenne. Look after the jump for more angles of the SEAT BlueSport.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Concept BlueSport needs to be built by 3 brands for economies of scale