67 Vw Beetle/baja on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2014 VW Golf brings storied hatchback's seventh generation to US

The seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf in US-specification officially debuts at the 2013 New York Auto Show. The new model is the first VW in the States to ride on the company's MQB architecture, and as such, it makes use of plenty of high-strength and ultra-high-strength steel to keep weight down. All told, the new shell is 51 pounds lighter than the outgoing generation, despite the fact that the finished car is a full 2.2 inches longer and .5 inches wider than the 2013 model.
Buyers can expect to find a base model powered by a 1.8-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine (blue car above) with 170 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. That means the powerplant delivers the same horsepower as the old naturally aspirated 2.5-liter four-cylinder while weighing less and producing seven extra pound-feet of torque. TDI (silver car above) buyers, meanwhile, will enjoy a new 2.0-liter turbo diesel four-cylinder mill. VW says the engine yields 10 more horsepower than the old lump, which means the Golf TDI now boasts 150 hp and 236 lb-ft of torque.
GTI (red car above) buyers will now get their hands on a revised 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder with approximately 210 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque - Volkswagen hasn't finalized power numbers for that machine. We're happy to see that the GTI still features its trademark plaid seats. Volkswagen says the new Golf and GTI will go on sale as a 2015 model, but doesn't say when the car will actually hit dealerships.

Scott Pruitt unfiltered: EPA administrator talks climate science, car emissions

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt gave Reuters a wide-ranging interview on Monday at his office in Washington, discussing issues from climate science to automobile emissions. The following is a full transcript of the interview: REUTERS: You have said the EPA will focus on a "Back to Basics" approach under your leadership. What does this mean for how EPA enforces polluters? You have been critical of the idea of regulation by enforcement. PRUITT: I think what I'm speaking about, there is a consent decree approach to enforcement, where you use judicial proceedings to actually engage in regulation. Enforcement should be about existing regulations that you're actually enforcing against someone who may be violating that, very much in the prosecutorial manner. As attorney general [in Oklahoma], I lived that. There was a grand jury that I led. Being a prosecutor, I understand very much the importance of prioritization, of enforcing the rule of law, of addressing bad actors. That's something we are going to do in a meaningful way across the broad spectrum of cases, whether it is in the office of air or the Superfund area, or otherwise. REUTERS: Do you want to see states play a bigger role in enforcing polluters, even though some have less of a capacity to do so – financially and personnel wise? PRUITT: I think the state's role is really, when you look at this office working with states, it should be how do we assist, how do we engage in compliance and assistance with states. The office [at EPA that deals with enforcement] is called OECA, the Office of Enforcement, Compliance and Assistance, so those are the tools we have in the toolbox to achieve better outcomes. So what we ought to be doing is working proactively with state DEQs [Departments of Environmental Quality] to get their state implementation plans [for federal regulations] timely submitted, provide assistance and technical support, drive a draft of state implementation plans, and then actually work with them on how to achieve through those plans better outcomes and air and water quality. As far as enforcement is concerned, we will actually work with states. We actually did that recently with Colorado. There was an oil and gas company that was emitting some 3,000 tons, is that what it was, it was quite a bit of ... it was an ozone case. In any event, we joined with Colorado in that prosecution. So sometimes states will do it, sometimes we will join with them.

Autoblog Podcast #327

New York Auto Show, Jim Farley interview, 2014 Chevrolet Silverado fuel economy, Ford fuel economy app challenge
Episode #327 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and this week, Dan Roth, Zach Bowman and Jeff Ross talk about this year's New York Auto Show, Chevrolet's latest assault in the pickup truck fuel economy battle, and Ford's reward for developing a better fuel economy app. Dan also has an interview with Ford's Jim Farley about the future of Lincoln. We wrap with your questions and emails, and for those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. Keep reading for our Q&A module for you to scroll through and follow along, too. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #327: