2006 New Beetle Tdi, Navy Blue on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Dyno run hints VW GTI power might be significantly underrated

Are you one of the lucky owners of the 2015 Volkswagen GTI? If yes, you should be happy, because your 210- or 220-horsepower hot hatchback might actually have more like 260 ponies under its hood. That's according to a dyno test from a vendor on, of all places, a Ford Focus ST enthusiast forum. The company is estimating a 15-percent drivetrain loss with the GTI's best result a whopping 263 horsepower and 314 pound-feet of torque at the crank. That's a tremendous difference from the 210 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque that Volkswagen claims. Of course, this is merely one dyno session on one car. We'll have to wait until more 2015 GTI owners get on the rolling road to see if Volkswagen really was as conservative about its hot hatch's output as FocusST.org claims. Featured Gallery 2015 Volkswagen GTI: First Drive View 32 Photos News Source: FocusST.orgImage Credit: Copyright 2015 AOL Volkswagen Hatchback Economy Cars Performance vw gti dyno

Least satisfying vehicle rankings seek to highlight the worst cars of the year

Consumer Reports polls its members on all sorts of topics related to how they buy and use products ranging from mobile phones to humidifiers for indoor plants. Cars are regularly one of CR’s most interesting topics, and its recent study on the least satisfying vehicles to own offers insights into the cars people wish they hadnÂ’t purchased. CR polled thousands of members with questions about what they liked and disliked about the vehicle theyÂ’d owned for a few years. When asked if they would definitely repurchase the same car, the following vehicles came back as the least likely to be purchased a second time: Kia Forte: 51% would buy again Nissan Altima: 51% would buy again Nissan Kicks: 49% would buy again Volkswagen Taos: 48% would buy again Kia Seltos: 48% would buy again Jeep Compass: 46% would buy again Mercedes-Benz GLA: 45% would buy again Infiniti QX50: 40% would buy again Mercedes-Benz GLB: 39% would buy again Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport: 38% would buy again When Autoblog tested the VW Atlas Cross Sport in March 2022, we liked the styling and the price was right, but it lagged rivals in driving excitement and interior quality. A number of recalls donÂ’t help the Cross SportÂ’s cause much, either, as some models have more than a dozen actions by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Even the 2023 model already has four recalls. The annoyance of recalls and the hassle of just-average reliability ratings could have played into the Cross SportÂ’s place as the least satisfying vehicle. On the other end of the spectrum, the Chevrolet Corvette earned the top spot as CR's most satisfying car. The Porsche 911, Rivian R1T, Ford Maverick Hybrid, and Hyundai Ioniq 5 round out the top-five most satisfying vehicles to own. Given the rabid following the 911 has built over the years and the insane performance Chevy derived from the latest Corvette, itÂ’s not surprising to see them in the top spots. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Green Infiniti Jeep Kia Mercedes-Benz Nissan Volkswagen Car Buying Used Car Buying Consumer Reports worst cars

Piech and Winterkorn still at odds about VW leadership plan

Volkswagen Group Chairman Ferdinand Piech (above, right) and CEO Martin Winterkorn (above, left) will be meeting in the coming days to discuss who the next leader of the Volkswagen Group will be. This, of course, comes after a report last Friday in Der Spiegel where Piech said he didn't want Winterkorn to be the automaker's next chairman. Oh, to be a fly on the wall of that conference room. As Automotive News reports, Winterkorn had been widely viewed as the probable replacement for the 77-year-old Piech, until last week, when the current chairman said he was keeping the CEO "at a distance," in the German paper. While Winterkorn confirmed to German media on Monday that he still had a job, analysts aren't sure what Piech's comments will mean for the 67-year-old CEO's future, with some indicating he may end up being a "lame duck" leader. According to AN, Piech doesn't think that Winterkorn has the vision to lead the sprawling Volkswagen Group empire, even though the current CEO has the support of a number of other VAG stakeholders. "Piech knows what he is doing and will assume that he can get the supervisory board to implement his decisions," former BMW executive turned analyst Helmut Becker told German media, AN reports. Winterkorn has just over 18 months left on his contract, while Piech's term has another two years left on it, meaning it will still be some time before we find out how the Volkswagen Group's leadership issues play out.