Rat Rod Vw Bug on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Volkswagen Golf R Evo may debut at Beijing Motor Show

If a report in Auto Express is correct, a lighter, faster brother to the Volkswagen Golf R will be shown to the world at the Beijing Motor Show in April. Said to be called the Golf R Evo, the even harder hot hatch would be unveiled as one of those concepts that's practically a de facto presentation of the genuine thing. The Evo in its name will come from having a carbon fiber roof and CF in the bodywork, lighter wheels, thinner bucket seats up front and a roll cage instead of rear seats.
If there's a power increase, it's been described as "a small bump." However, as the report mentions, if the Jenny Craig regimen can drop 100 kilograms (220 pounds) from the the 3,247-pound weight of the European Golf R, then the Golf R Evo will do about the same damage on the scales as the Golf but have at least 50 more horsepower and 44 more pound-feet of torque.
Since we still don't have the current Golf, this isn't something that should keep you awake even if the 'concept' does become a production model. But it is good to know that the Golf R is really going to start pushing its boundaries.

Taxpayers wasted $51 million on VW diesel credits

The scope of Volkswagen's diesel emission rules evasion continues to widen with 11 million vehicles now potentially affected around the world, and the company is setting aside over $7 billion to start paying for it all. However, the costs could go even deeper. In a piece that's well worth a read, an analysis by The LA Times finds that the government distributed as much as $51 million in green car subsidies to buyers of these models in 2009 – the first year of the dishonest engine management software. The short-term effects of this scandal on VW are already quite dire. On September 21, the company's stock fell over 20 percent at one point on the German exchange, ended down 17.8 percent that day, and have continued to tank. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency has forced a stop-sale on 2015 and 2016 diesel models with the 2.0 TDI, and the agency has begun analyzing the 3.0-liter V6 TDI in the Audi A6, A7, A8, Q5, Q7, and Porsche Cayenne to look for similar issues. The Justice Department has also started a criminal investigation, and the automaker has instituted its own external probe, as well. The emissions irregularities were first discovered by researchers at West Virginia University and the International Council on Clean Transportation. The EPA and California Air Resources Board were eventually made aware and launched their own investigations.

New safety and connected features help distinguish VW's lineup

Volkswagen may have wrested the title of world's largest carmaker away from Toyota this week, but the company still has some work to do in the United States. Despite its worldwide dominance, Volkswagen's American sales have languished. Unlike its red-hot Audi brand, mainstream Volkswagen sales have been afflicted by an assortment of maladies. An aging lineup, a reputation for mechanical gremlins and a lack of a competitive crossover vehicle have all hurt. In the US, the brand's cars claim only two percent of the overall market. As we reported earlier today, Volkswagen took steps this week to upgrade some broader aspects of its weaknesses here. At its Electronics Research Laboratory in Silicon Valley, the company announced it would make several advanced safety features and connectivity options available throughout the bulk of its lineup. Features that have long been available on its premium Audi cars will spread to its more economical offerings. In one big way, they will overstep their premium siblings. Volkswagen said Apple CarPlay, Android Auto (pictured below) and MirrorLink will all be available on a revamped infotainment system. Cars equipped with the new Car-Net-branded systems are arriving in showrooms now. Only last month, Hyundai became the first to offer CarPlay, debuting the smartphone-projection system in its 2015 Sonata. Chevy, Honda, and now Volkswagen, have quickly followed suit. On the safety-minded side, features like adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking, park steering assist and automatic post-collision braking will be optional equipment on most of the brand's 2016 model-year cars. Previously, the features had only been available on the Touareg SUV. They're now available on most Golf variants, the CC, Jetta, Sportwagen and some Beetles. Though the Passat sedan is one of the company's most competitive cars, it was curiously absent from the announcements, though an update could come later this year. While the advanced safety equipment is a boon for motorists increasingly interested in the technology, Volkswagen also added some basic safety tech that's long been available in mainstream competitors' cars, adding features like blind-spot monitoring and lane-departure warning. One of the big differences consumers might note is the cost of the driver-assistance systems.