Ever driven at night and loved the deserted streets? Get inspired. People in the UK get to create their own video and enter to win a digital HD camcorder (open to UK residents only). Visit VW's Night-Driving Site.
Take me to website directly.
Have you ever had the urge for an alcopop? Perhaps you've recently pouted in a family photograph.
The symptoms of a midlife episode are subtle, but revealing.
Take this simple test to determine if you are going down the slippery slope towards a Midlife Crisis. It's not too late.
VW in the UK has a humorous website regarding what seems to be an international problem - the midlife crisis. Check it out for grins.
My heart jumped in my chest. It was as if VW finally pulled all the stops, as if Volkswagen's top management gave its designers the go ahead to build the best GTI they could dream up -- as if they gave them Carte Blanche. My first look at the W12-650 this afternoon still has my adrenaline pumping.
I remember having the same feeling in France when I moved from Paris to Montereau in 1984 as a GTI passed our moving truck going at, what looked like, 200km/h on the Autoroute. I couldn't wait to grow up so I could get one.
This new Golf hits 325 km/hr (that's 202mph). Let's just admit that if this rocket sees production it crushes everything south of a true exotic. I look at this car's statistics and I can't help but think of the Bugatti Veyron. Angry Vortexers would finally be silenced. WRX STIs not even worth mentioning, forgotten. We're entering a new realm with this GTI.
But what emanates from this car is the true spirit of the GTI. It tugs at the heart of every GTI enthusiast. It unites MK1, 2, 3, 4 and 5s into one big family. We finally have our big brother to protect us. The super Golf GTI W12-650 gives every true GTI and VW enthusiast a wonderful validating feeling that whatever VW they drive is made by the best car company in the world.
Volkswagen is stirring the pot once again. Selling Volkswagens for a living, I can't help but be very exited about the future at the dealership. There are so many exciting models coming in the next couple of years, it's thrilling. I already see the smiles on owners' faces as they drive off the lot in their cool new Volkswagen.
Thank you Volkswagen for allowing this to happen. For satisfying every GTI fan in the world with your awesome new GTI W12-650 Concept. Give it life!
Watch the unveiling video at Wörthersee 2007 a GTI car show/fest in Austria:
Offical VW GTI W12-650 Site
GTI W12-650 in the news:
Vortex
Autoweek
Edmunds
Wörthersee 2007 Show coverage
Discuss it on VWVortex
Pictures from the gathering at Wörthersee:
VW Press Release:
Golf GTI W12-650 - Key Aspects
Showtime at Wörthersee: The 325 km/h GTI
World premiere of the 650-PS Golf at GTI Meeting at the Wörthersee
W12 bi-turbo engine with 6.0 liter displacement and 750 Nm torque
325 km/h fast showcar sprints to 100 km/h in 3.7 seconds
Wolfsburg, 17 May 2007 - Daring to create something unique, leaving conventions behind and awakening passion – these have been at the heart of the GTI concept since its inception. To date, more than 1.67 million car drivers have fallen under its charm. The Golf GTI has been an icon for a long time now. A brand in itself. A label of sportiness. To drive a GTI is to make a statement; across the globe. Since 1982, its greatest fans have been celebrating it every year at the Wörthersee in the Austrian state of Kärnten. Thousands come for this event. Five days of Mardi Gras in May. For this occasion, Volkswagen has put a Golf on wheels that is like no other: The GTI W12-650 showcar. This sports car is a tribute to our GTI friends at the Wörthersee, car fans who made the GTI a legend. It is a concept that was designed just for them.
No Golf has ever been more powerful, or wider, or faster. The GTI W12-650 gives the appearance of having come directly from the racetrack. A Golf that could be the pace car for the 24 hour race at Le Mans. Its name is its mission: W12 cylinders, 650 PS (477 kW at 6,000 rpm). A showcar, no more, no less. At the same time it demonstrates the enormous potential that such a car can offer.
3.7 seconds, 325 km/h, 750 Newton-meter
Its 6.0-liter bi-turbo engine is longitudinally mounted directly behind the driver and front passenger. This transforms the GTI into a classic mid-engine sports car. A six-speed automatic transmission hammers the maximum torque of 750 Newton-meters (at 4,500 rpm) to the rear axle. It catapults the GTI to 100 km/h in just 3.7 seconds. The bi-turbo propels drivers who keep their foot to the gas pedal well beyond the 300 km/h barrier. The speedometer needle does not pause until it reaches 325 km/h. The Golf GTI W12-650 outpaces nearly all other cars of this world.
1.88 meters wide, 235 tires in front, 295 in back
Under the broad 1.88 meter (production: 1.76 meter) width and low 1.42 meter (production: 1.50 Meter) height of its body, engineers and designers have brought together automotive technologies not seen in this combination on any other car. Each component is sourced internally. That in particular is a tribute to the unequaled breadth of technology at Volkswagen AG.
The chassis components of this showcar, for example, were adapted directly from a super sports car. Mounted on the front axle are 235 tires in 19-inch format, while in the rear there are 295 tires. Naturally, alloy wheels are also used: Due to the gigantic tire dimensions, the brightly machined “Detroit” GTI wheels are “dished” in the direction of the wheel hub and are custom built; the pitch circle with the wheel nuts lies much deeper than the rim circle.
70 millimeters lower, 160 millimeters wider
The axles were “pushed” 70 millimeters further into the body; the wheel well cutouts and gigantic wheel arches are part of the shoulder section, as in a coupe. Klaus Bischoff, Director of Volkswagen Design: “In the rear, the showcar is 80 millimeters wider on each side. However, the body of the GTI easily takes this in. We already have a strong shoulder section here on the production model. We were able to draw it outward even more distinctly, like on a sports car.”
The chief designer continues: “Our goal was clearly defined – despite the somewhat dramatic engineering changes, it was very clear that the GTI was to remain a classic GTI. The design of the Golf is like a fingerprint. If it is erased, the entire character of the car is ruined. That could not be allowed to happen under any circumstances.” That is also why as many components as possible, such as the headlamps, the doors – newly hung due to the wide side skirt – front hood and taillights were taken from the Golf.
C-pillars as part of air duct for engine cooling
“Our greatest challenge”, says Klaus Bischoff, “was to provide the six-liter mid-engine with sufficient air, without watering down the GTI’s side profile. In addition, provisions had to be made for sufficient downforce at the rear axle on such a fast type of car. But for aesthetic reasons we did not want to put an enormous rear spoiler on the car.”
In both cases a trick helped. Klaus Bischoff: “The strongest Golf design elements are the C-pillars. But it is precisely here that we needed air ducts for engine cooling air. Therefore, the C-pillars were redesigned on short order to assume this function of routing air to the engine. In doing so, we simply made the rear windows turn inward. This created two ducts between the windows and the C pillars, on the left and right, through which air flows for engine cooling. We got the rest of the cooling air in front via the gigantic radiators and the ducts connected to them, as well as on the sides via air inlets on the side skirts.” Expressed differently: At first glance all parts of the rear section look like a production GTI, but it was actually redesigned intensively.
Carbon-fiber roof is a diffuser
Innovative body construction has also prevented the lines of the GTI W12-650 from being ruined by a roof-mounted wing. Klaus Bischoff: “This GTI carries its wing internally. The roof is part of an enormous diffuser that supplies sufficient downforce to the rear axle. It consists of a carbon-fiber material and directs the air over and under the rear spoiler to achieve road grip, like in car racing.”
The bumpers of the showcar are powerful and at the same time coherently designed. In the rear, as in the front, the GTI W12-650 is characterized by enormous air inlets and outlets. Two dual chrome-plated tailpipes frame the air outlet in the rear. At the front of the car, the eye-catching straight-line grille between the headlamps, with its red frame, is reminiscent of the first GTI.
Interior with racing ambitions
Every modern-day GTI driver would feel at home right away in this interior. The leather Alcantara covers for the race car bucket seats are newly designed. Three round gauges in the middle of the instrument cluster are also reminiscent of the original GTI. Details taken from car racing, on the other hand, include the transparent “flip-up switch covers” for important functions such as ESP deactivation. To prevent accidental switch activations, the transparent covers are “flipped up” with the index finger before activating the switch underneath. Another reference to car racing is the integrated fire extinguisher in place of a glove box. For weight reasons, the door trim was completely “stripped”; only screens are used, which quite intentionally offer a view of the internal workings of the door mechanisms.
Volkswagen Group delivers record in first quarter 2007
The Volkswagen Group delivered more vehicles to customers during the first three months of 2007 than in any previous quarter. Worldwide the Group sold 1.47 million vehicles. That means a 7.9 percent rise compared with the same period in the previous year. Volkswagen Passenger Cars, the core brand, delivered 850,000 vehicles. The most important growth market was China where Volkswagen is the market leader which was proved by a vigorous 23 percent growth.
Volkswagen models voted “Company Cars of the Year”
Six gold awards for Volkswagen Group brands
Wolfsburg, 16 May 2007 - With six first places, the Volkswagen Group was the most successful company in “Company Cars of the Year 2007”, an event organized by the specialist journal “Firmenauto” and DEKRA, the German motor vehicle inspection association. The best fleet models in a total of nine categories were honored in an overall ranking and an importers ranking. The Volkswagen Group with its Volkswagen, Audi, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands not only won six gold awards, but was also ranked second four times and took four third places.
In the run-up to the award ceremony in Bad Gögging, 150 fleet managers tested 70 different models over a two-day period. This involved more than 1,900 test drives over some 50,000 kilometers. In the compact class, the testers voted the new Golf Variant the winner, while the Touran Eco Fuel took first place in the alternative powertrain category. The Audi Q7 and A8 models convinced the jury in the SUV and top class categories respectively. Skoda won the testers’ vote in the small car category and the van category with the Fabia and the Roomster. The Skoda Fabia even took first place in both the overall ranking and the importers ranking.
"Apart from drive behavior and comfort, efficiency played an important role in the judging. With this achievement, the Volkswagen brands have impressively confirmed the outstanding position of our models in the fleet business," Dr. Stefan Brungs, Head Volkswagen Group Fleet International, commented.
Finally all the suspension components are gathered. This is a set of H&R Special Edition yellow springs. Lower than Sports but not as low as Race.
This is the VR6 upgrade for the struts provided by www.parts4vws.com.
These are the Bilstein Sport Front Struts and Rear Shocks also bought from Mike at www.parts4vws.com.
I picked up the bushings and anything made of rubber for the rear shocks, which am sure after 12 years will be shot. Now gotta put all this on the Mk3.
I read this article this morning and thought it was interesting since I get questions about quality all the time. In the last three years, Volkswagen has taken drastic measures to not only improve the quality of their cars, but to surpass every other manufacturer.
Have you driven a VW lately? Okay, so I’m mixing ad metaphors here, but the point remains, when did you last drive a Volkswagen? If it’s been awhile, Adrian Hallmark can’t really blame you. The CEO of Volkswagen of America admits the company generated a lot of “venom” with the massive quality problems it experienced earlier this decade.
Now, add the fact that recent models haven’t been all that exciting – and yet they’ve carried a sizable premium compared to other mainstream marques, such as Toyota or Nissan – and, well, now you understand why the company has been losing sales and a lot of money in the U.S. market. Read More...
"International Engine of the Year Awards 2007," the world's most important engine competition in the world with an awards jury - consisting of 62 high-ranking international motoring journalists from 30 countries - awarded the principal prize, the highly sought-after "International Engine of the Year" to the Bavarian automobile manufacturer BMW. Volkswagen's 1.4-litre turbocharged and supercharged TSI unit triumphed for a second year in the 1-litre to 1.4-litre class. Its larger sibling, the 2-litre turbo developed by Audi and housed in the Golf GTi and Audi A3, topped the 1.8-litre to 2-litre category.
Volkswagen will have a new 4-door coupe available in the summer of 2008. This is supposed to be a spy photo of it. It will most likely have the 2.0T and the 3.6 V6 of the current Passat, possibly up to 300hp. The current name for the project is CC or 511.
Market launch in the second half of 2007
Wolfsburg, 27 April 2007 - Volkswagen is continuing its drive train offensive. At the International Vienna Engine Symposium (26 - 27 April), Europe's largest car maker presented its new TSI petrol engine (90 kW / 122 PS) and the world's first seven-speed dual clutch gearbox (DSG) for the compact and mid-class. Both products are scheduled for market launch in the second half of the year.
TSI stands for maximum power coupled with minimum consumption by combining direct injection and turbo-charging with reduced engine capacity. The award-winning TSI engines with a power output of 103 kW and 125 kW are popular choices, for example for the Golf and Touran. The new 90 kW TSI will be the third option in the TSI engine line-up.
With 200 Newton metres of torque at 1,500 rpm, the torque of the current 1.4-liter turbo engine is almost 30 percent higher than the torque of the 1.6 FSI engine. The TSI has low-end torque gains of up to 66 percent. In spite of the improved performance and torque characteristics, consumption has been reduced by approximately six percent. Technically, the new TSI is based on its compressor counterparts with 103 and 125 kW. In contrast to twin-charged engines, the "small" 90 kW TSI uses just the turbo-charger for boost - an additional compressor is not required.
World's first seven-speed DSG gearbox for volume models
Transmission would be similar to picture from http://www.fourtitude.com/news/publish/Audi_News/article_1912.shtml
A further innovation is the seven-speed DSG gearbox. In contrast to the six-speed DSG gearbox, the clutches of the new gearbox do not run in an oil bath. This further improves efficiency. Volkswagen's six-speed DSG gearbox gave automatics sensationally low consumption figures. Thanks to this efficiency and sporty shifting characteristics, the DSG provoked a boom in the popularity of DSG gearboxes in the compact and mid-class. For example, the DSG is ordered in 25 percent of Tourans today. The new seven-speed DSG gearbox has added an attractive option to the Volkswagen range. It will be available for vehicles from the Polo to the Passat. The transferable maximum torque is equivalent to a maximum of 250 Newton metres.
The combination of the two new products results in excellent consumption figures and convenience, comfort and driving enjoyment. In the Golf, it has a fuel consumption of just 5.9 l/100 km. Both the seven-speed DSG gearbox and the 90 kW TSI show once again that Volkswagen makes highly innovative technology available to all drivers.
