Archive for Volkswagen

Click for enlarge image

Belgian Tuner Caractere has been known for adding some aggressive yet not completely over the top touches to Audi and Volkswagen vehicles, and this is their kit for the Volkswagen Tiguan, which was recently launched in Malaysia. Anyone who can afford RM250k for what Volkswagen calls the “GTi of SUVs” can now rest assured that if somehow all their peers get to decide Tiguans as well, theirs can still look different. Look for more shots after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Tiguan styling bodykit by Caractere

We’ve already seen photos of the Mark 6 Golf GTI (which Volkswagen calls a concept BTW), but there’s nothing like watching a car in motion, looking at how its wheels spin, how the sky plays tricks on its shiny paint, and most importantly listening to its engine note. Look after the jump for over 4 minutes of video footage of a red Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk6 being put through its paces in the countryside.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk6 Driving Shots

Volkswagen Malaysia has unveiled the Volkswagen Tiguan to the press yesterday, a prelude to a nationwide launch that will be held on this coming 18th of October. The Tiguan was launched in the European market in the mid of 2007 and has since entered other markets to other countries such as Russia and Singapore.

Now you may be wondering what Tiguan means. It’s apparently derived from from two animals – Tiger and Iguana. The power of a tiger and the off-roading capabilities of an iguana, it seems.

Look after the jump for more details on the new Volkswagen Tiguan.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Tiguan 2.0 TSI on sale in Malaysia!

Abt Sportsline has announced a tune-up kit for the Volkswagen Scirocco comprising of both aerodynamics and performance upgrades.

The performance upgrades takes the 1.4 liter TSI engine from the standard 160 horsepower up to 200 horsepower, an amazing horsepower to displacement ratio that lets the small 1.4 liter motor equal the power put out by the EA888 in the Mk5 Golf GTi.

The 2.0 TDI engine gets a power boost from 140hp to 170hp. Abt says a 2.0 TFSI equipped Scirocco will be available with an upgrade kit that takes it up to 240hp from a standard 200hp. To cope with the extra power, upgraded brakes with 345mm discs are also available.

The full bodykit consists of a new front and rear bumper, with quad rear mufflers arranged in pairs with vertical alignment, flanking the diffuser. The suspension kit also lowers the car by 30mm. The standard wheels for the package are 19 inch AR diamond-machined black alloys with wheel spacers, but drivers can also opt for either 18 inch or 20 inch wheels.

Look after the jump for a rear shot of the Abt Scirocco.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Scirocco tuned by Abt Sportsline

Autocar UK reports that performance versions of the Mk6 Volkswagen Golf will go beyond the GT, GTi and the R32-replacing higher-powered version of the Golf GTi.

According to the report, the Mk6 range will also gain a turbodiesel-powered GTD as well as possibly a top of the line high performance Golf that in conventional R nomenclature would be called the “R40″. This would be powered by a turbocharged inline-5 engine that will also be slotted into cars like the Audi TT-RS, producing 350 horsepower with decent fuel economy and emissions to boot. This seems a little hard to swallow at the moment, does Volkswagen want to take the Golf that far?

The much more realistic Golf GTD will be powered by a new twin-turbo version of the company’s 2.0 liter inline-4 TDI turbodiesel, a concept that BMW (204hp 2.0L twin turbodiesel) and Mercedes-Benz (204hp 2.2L twin turbodiesel) have also done.

The GTi will produce about 210 horsepower while the R32-replacing GTi “plus” will have a Haldex all-wheel drive and produce nearly 270 horsepower, equalling the new Audi S3 in performance and even the number of cogs, as the 7-speed S-Tronic DSG is expected to roll out in this range of Volkswagens.

Related Posts:
Volkswagen Golf GTi Mk6 – Initial Photos

The first initial details on the new Mark 6 Volkswagen Golf GTI have been unveiled by the German manufacturer. Like the previous Mk5 car, it is powered by a 2.0 liter TSI engine. The EA888 gets its power bumped up by 10 PS (only?) to 210 PS, but no other details have been revealed about the engine at the moment. The car’s CO2 output is 178g/km, a drop from the 189g/km of the Mk5 GTI. The 0 to 100km/h sprint is achieved in 7.2 seconds.

The press release also mentions MacPherson struts at the front and a multi-link setup at the rear with tuned springs, dampers and anti-roll bars. There is a system much like Audi drive select installed in the car called Adaptive Chassis Control. Choose between comfort, normal and sport to remap steering settings, throttle response as well as adjust the pneumatic dampers. There is also an electric LSD which Vee-dub calls “XDS”.

Volkswagen calls this a GTI “concept” in its press release but I’m pretty sure this is really very close to the production version, which will go on sale in spring 2009.

View a collection of hi-res photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk6 “Concept”

Volkswagen will be displaying their new Pickup Concept not at the Paris Motor Show but the 62nd IAA Commercial Vehicles Show this week. The concept pick-up truck previews an upcoming 1 tonne pick-up truck that will apparently be called the Volkswagen Taro (after its old Taro pickup which was a rebadged Hilux) or a Volkswagen Robust. But hey, who knows it might even be called both – different names for different markets. Look after the jump for a hi-res gallery of the Volkswagen Pickup Concept.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Pickup Concept previews new 1 tonne “Taro/Robust” pickup truck

Click to enlarge

Not very long after the Golf Mk6’s debut, Volkswagen wastes no time in quickly releasing a special edition called the Golf Collectors Edition.

The Volkswagen Golf Collectors Edition comes in a single color called Moonlight Blue Pearl Effect which is essentially a very dark blue. It also has a body colour front grille instead of the usual black. Wheels are 18 inchers in the Vancouver design, given a special high-gloss polish for the Collectors Edition.

On the inside you get “natural leather”. The natural leather comes in a brown tone called Iowa and Volkswagen says it is meant to remind you of hand-crafted Italian shoes. This leather is found on the seats, the center arm rest and the door trim. Lastly, the door tread plates are made of alumininum and have the words Collectors Edition on them.

While this is all very nice, everyone is waiting for the new Golf GTI Mark 6, which apparently might make a debut at the upcoming Paris 2008 show.

Look after the jump for two more photos of the special Golf.

Click here to read the rest of Mk6 Volkswagen Golf Collectors Edition

Volkswagen is stepping up efforts to find a production base in South East Asia and will send a team of 20 people led by the VW group’s head of overseas manufacturing Christof Spathelf to ASEAN countries to look for suitable locations for its production base, or possibly multiple production bases.

The scenario could be either base or bases because according to sources, Vee-Dub’s top executives are having internal debates on whether to pick one single factory that can produce between 120,000 to 150,000 cars a year, or choose several bases – up to 5 factories in 5 countries to assemble CKD kits. VW group production head Jochem Heizmann said the ASEAN market is very varied from country to country – Thailand is a strong market for pickups while Malaysia is a strong passenger car market.

Because of this scenario, there may just still be hope for CKD Volkswagen cars here in Malaysia. One thing’s for sure – Volkswagen wants to try to enter without substantial investments so we may see some form of JV at least in terms of production capacity sharing with the owner of an existing plant.

Volkswagen predicts the ASEAN market countries will collectively hold a sales potential of 3 million new cars per year by 2018 from 1.7 million in 2007. ASEAN is considered a “gap in the map” that has to be filled in Volkswagen’s plans along with Russia and India.

Source

Abt’s kit for the Volkswagen Passat CC (Comfort Coupe) is quite limited at the moment but features engine tuning programs for both the 1.8 and 2.0 TFSI engines, a 4 tailpipe exhaust system, a choice of Abt wheels, a choice of either lowering springs or a full-fledged sports suspension with compression, rebound and height adjustment, as well as aesthetic bits for the interior. Look after the jump for two more photos.

Click here to read the rest of Abt kit for the Volkswagen Passat CC