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Volkswagen Golf GTE Sport Concept is good, clean, plug-in fun [w/video]

If racing and hypercars have shown us anything, it's that high performance and hybridization are not mutually exclusive. With the Golf GTE Sport Concept, Volkswagen is showing it understands that fact. This wild hatchback originally premiered at the annual Worthersee festival back in May, but it's making its auto show debut in Frankfurt. The Golf GTE Sport uses both gas and electric sources to develop 396 total system horsepower. That gas engine, a 1.6-liter, turbocharged four-cylinder, was swiped from the engine bay of Volkswagen's three-time World Rally Championship-winning Polo R WRC, and generates 295 hp on its own. A pair of electric motors – one per axle – each produce 113 hp, and are fed by a lithium-ion battery pack. Total electric range is an impressive 31 miles. Of course, you don't care about that. You care about what the Golf GTE Sport can do when you switch out of EV or hybrid mode and switch into GTE. In this setting, both the gas engine and electric motors kick in to deliver max performance. Sixty-two miles per hour arrives in just 4.3 seconds and the top speed is an impressive 174 mph. The styling is like a mix of older Golf concepts: VW's two Vision Gran Turismo cars, the Roadster and Supersport, with some of the current GTI thrown in. Check out our live images from Frankfurt and let us know what you think. World premiere of the Golf GTE Sport: Plug-in hybrid sports car catapults the GT idea to the future - Lightweight and high-strength body of the Golf GTE Sport is made of carbon - Concept car with a top speed of 280 km/h is a zero emission vehicle and a race car in one Five key facts about the Golf GTE Sport: 1. Golf GTE Sport is powered by a 295 kW / 400 PS plug-in hybrid system 2. Progressive Golf GTE Sport bridges the gap between road cars and racing sport cars 3. Avant-garde exterior design of the Golf GTE Sport perfects the idea of C-pillars with two-level construction 4. Golf GTE Sport debuts with digital instruments arranged on three levels and tailored to motor racing 5. Golf GTE Sport accelerates to 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds and has a top speed of up to 280 km/h on the racetrack Wolfsburg / Reifnitz, May 2015. Ringing in a new era: with the Golf GTE Sport presented as a world premiere at the legendary GTI event at Lake Worthersee on 14 May 2015, Volkswagen is catapulting the GT tradition into the future.

Someone is leaving anti-diesel flyers on Volkswagen TDIs in Portland

As if some Volkswagen TDI owners don't already feel bad enough, given the recent diesel scandal, someone is further shaming them. Flyers full of bad information are being left on TDI cars in eco-friendly Portland, OR. Portland-based sandwich joint Lardo posted a picture of the flyer to their Instagram account yesterday morning. Along with annoying font color changes, the flyer incorrectly states that the diesel car spews two to four times more pollutants than a Chevy Suburban. The author of the flyer also throws a Nazi mention in there for good measure, though they get the history wrong, too. Volkswagen wasn't founded by Nazis, though the Nazi government did create a nationalized car industry to build the 'People's Car', originally designed by Ferdinand Porsche. The factory ended up making war machines instead. Volkswagens weren't really produced until after the fall of the Nazis at the end of World War II. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Volkswagen outfitted their "clean" diesel cars with a device that would only limit emissions during testing. Once on the road, the car spewed 40 times more pollutants than it claimed. The automaker plans to 'refit' 11 million faulty vehicles. Today, the automaker launched a website dedicated to consumers unlucky enough to own the bum vehicles. Eco-warriors aren't the only ones leaving judgmental, passive-aggressive notes on cars. Like this incident in Portland, these notes often fall flat, like when this paralyzed man in Michigan parked in a handicap spot and was accused of stealing the spot simply because he drove his BMW to the gym.

2015 VW Golf R ready for your pre-order on January 8

If you want to be the first person on your block with Volkswagen's latest Golf R parked in your garage, you need to clear some time from your schedule on January 8. On that day, VW is opening the pre-order books for the first 500 Stateside examples of the new hot hatch, and they come with some neat accessories, too. Don't worry about specing just the right Golf R because all 500 early models are identical. In addition to the obvious 2.0-liter turbocharged engine with 292 horsepower 280 pound-feet of torque and 4Motion all-wheel drive, the six-speed dual-clutch gearbox is the only option here. Every one of these hot hatches comes in Lapiz Blue Metallic paint with 19-inch wheels covered in summer performance tires. Based around the DCC and Nav trim, each of them also has VW's adaptive damper system, bi-xenon headlights with LED running lights, a Fender audio system, parking sensors and navigation. Beyond just being the first ones to own VW's latest hot hatch in the US, the deal for these 500 folks also includes a Volkswagen R watch, carbon fiber and stainless steel keychain and a certificate. All three items are serialized to match the VIN of the buyer's Golf R. The total price for each one of these 500 Golf R's is $39,090, plus $820 destination and delivery. But potential buyers don't have to come up with all of that on January 8. They just need to visit VW's Golf R site and pay a $500 reservation fee to get in line, which goes toward the purchase of the car. The money is refundable for anyone who backs out, and any additional orders are put on a waiting list in case of any cancelations.