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VW going turbo-only in 3 to 4 years

This really was a matter of when, rather than if. Volkswagen will apparently be the first manufacturer to phase out naturally aspirated engines in favor of turbocharging its full slate. VW is kind of responsible for ushering in this push towards small-displacement, turbocharged engines that's taken the industry by storm. When it dropped its direct-injection, 2.0-liter turbo in the 2005 GTI it demonstrated that strapping an iron long to an engine can enhance the powertrain as a whole. VW made fuel economy gains, while also giving a linear, non-laggy turbo experience that it has replicated, model-after-model, to this day.
Speaking with The Detroit News, Volkswagen's executive Vice President of Group Quality, Marc Trahan, told the paper that, "We only have one normally aspirated gas engine, and when we go to the next generation vehicle that it's in, it will be replaced. So three, four years maximum."
Really, it's hard to get teary-eyed about either of these engines going away. VW has access to smaller powerplants that could easily match the performance of the 2.5 five-cylinder and the 3.6 V6, while gobbling up less fuel and providing a better driving experience. What we are sad about is that a similar statement about the extinction of NA engines came from the Vice President of Powertrain Engineering at Ford, Joe Bakaj. We'd certainly get teary-eyed over a world without Ford's excellent 5.0-liter V8.

Tanner Foust checks out his new VW Beetle GRC rally car

Racing driver and Top Gear USA host Tanner Foust is a very busy guy. After all, he's competing in rounds of both Global Rallycross series and FIA World Rallycross Championship, not to mention his TV duties. However, we probably shouldn't feel too sorry for him, because his job puts him behind the wheel of some truly crazy machinery.
Case in point is his latest ride in Global Rallycross - the Volkswagen Beetle GRC. The German company claims that this all-wheel drive Bug makes around 540 horsepower from its 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder and can shoot to 60 in under 2 seconds. Plus, if this video is any indication, this Volkswagen sounds like a machine gun when throwing revs at idle, and it can do some wonderfully easy four-wheel drifts.
Previously, Foust was driving a VW Polo for Andretti Autosport in GRC, but the team unveiled the look of the Beetle GRC at the Chicago Auto Show. Now, Foust is finally getting to show off his new office to the public, and like VW's tagline for the new car claims, it's way hotter than Herbie.

German prosecutors raid VW, Audi offices

As Volkswagen continues to try to put its diesel emissions scandal behind it, the company has had mixed success. It has agreed to pay penalties and fix or buy back affected vehicles in the US, and has made a strong push to evolve into a greener, mobility-focused company. The scandal just won't die, though, and has, in fact, just escalated. Prosecutors have searched Volkswagen's Wolfsburg, Germany, headquarters, as well as Audi offices in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm and even the homes of some Audi executives, Reuters reports. The raids, which coincided with Audi's annual earnings press conference, are related to 80,000 diesel vehicles with possible emissions cheat devices sold in the US between 2009 and 2015. European vehicles aren't part of this particular investigation. "With these search orders, we aim to clarify in particular who was involved in deploying the technology concerned and in the provision of false information to third parties," the Munich prosecutor's office says. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler, who says his residence had not been one of those searched, says he is supporting the ongoing investigation, admitting that the company has a long way to go to recover from the scandal. The Dieselgate scandal, as it has come to be known, broke in September 2015. Related Video: