2012 Volkswagen Tiguan Le on 2040-cars

Auto blog

VW “Tip of the Iceberg” in Diesel Emissions Scandal | Autoblog Minute

Some are calling Volkswagen just the tip of the iceberg in the diesel emissions scandal. Autoblog's Adam Morath reports on this edition of Autoblog Minute. Volkswagen Autoblog Minute Videos Original Video emissions scandal

BMW, Ferrari, VW cars use tungsten mined by terrorists

Bloomberg Markets is reporting that BMW, Volkswagen and Ferrari have been using tungsten ore sourced from Columbia's FARC rebel terrorists. The extensive story focuses on Columbia's illegal mining trade and calls into question the provenance of the rare ore that is used not only in crankshaft parts production, but is also found in the world's computing and telecommunications industry for use in screens.
The ore is mined by the FARC (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, or Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - People's Army), and exported to Pennsylvania, where it is refined. The refined ore is then sent over to Austria, where a company called Plansee turns it into a finished product. Now, it's important to note that we aren't talking about the world's supply of tungsten here. In 2012, Plansee's American refinery purchased 93.2 metric tons of tungsten, valued at $1.8 million. That's peanuts, with the entire Colombian tungsten mining industry producing just one percent of the world's supplies.
That doesn't make indirectly supporting FARC any more acceptable, though. BMW, VW and Ferrari are all committed to not accepting mineral supplies from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is also in the grips of a guerrilla insurrection funded, in part, by illegal mining. The same commitment would figure to extend to Colombian mining, but as BMW points out, it's difficult for a multi-national manufacturer to know where every item in its supply chain comes from. A company spokesperson says as much, telling Bloomberg, "These few grams out of the billions of tons of raw materials passing through the BMW supply chain are of no practical relevance."

Volkswagen Motorsport cranks out Golf touring car

Just when you thought Volkswagen had done all the hot Golfs we could handle, its motorsports division has come out with an even hotter one. This racing version is built to compete in the Touringcar Racer International Series (TCR) across Europe and Asia, and certainly looks the part. Based on the production Golf hatchback we all know, the TCR competition version promises to be to circuit-based touring car racing what the Polo R WRC is to the rally stage. And that little pocket rocket has been positively dominating the World Rally Championship. Developed in conjunction with Seat's racing department and Liqui Moly Team Engstler, the Golf touring car packs the 2.0-liter turbo four from the Golf R. Only instead of 292 horsepower and 280 pound-feet of torque in the production version, it's been tuned to channel 330 hp and 302 lb-ft to the front wheels (instead of all four) through a six-speed dual-clutch transmission. It rides on 18-inch alloys fitted to a track widened by nearly a foot and a half, along with a competition-spec aero kit to keep it glued to the tarmac and a stripped-out cockpit. Though the 2015 TCR series is already under way, a pair of these racing Golfs will be entered in the upcoming round at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, before the series heads off to Singapore (in support of the F1 grand prix there) and Thailand ahead of the final round in Macau. If everything goes well, customer teams will be able to pick these up and enter them in next year's championship. Volkswagen develops new Golf for the racetrack - Concept car for customer racing, in line with new TCR regulations - Production-based touring car with 330 hp, front-wheel drive and six-speed DSG gearbox - First competitive test this weekend in Spielberg (A) Wolfsburg (09 July 2015). A new Golf for the racetrack: Volkswagen Motorsport is developing its first racing car based on the seventh generation Golf. The production-based, 330-hp concept car is assembled in accordance with TCR regulations and is intended to help Volkswagen evaluate a potential customer racing programme from the 2016 season onwards. In order to accelerate the development of the car, the new Golf will be tested under competitive conditions between now and the end of the season: as cooperation partner, the Liqui Moly Team Engstler will run two cars at the eighth round of the Touringcar Racer International Series (TCR) at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg (A).