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News - Roadster on V W's Cards
Volkswagen’s ambitious plan to sell more than five million cars a year by 2018 may not necessarily mean we’ll be swamped in a sea of minicars and crossover SUVs. The German firm has just announced that it has reinstated plans to introduce a compact, mid-engined coupe/roadster model to its line up as soon as 2011.
The new model will be powered by a range of mid-mounted four-cylinder engines, including a 125 kW version of the company’s 1,4-litre TSI petrol unit and possibly a 1,6-litre TDI engine developing 93 kW. The powerplants will be mated with a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission sending power to the rear wheels.
Obviously, it’s too early to accurately predict the car’s performance credentials, but figures of a curb weight under 1 000 kg and a 0-100 km/h time of 7,0 seconds have been bandied about.
Autocar has described the car as “a cut-priced alternative to the Lotus Elise, designed to be stylish and lightweight while offering genuine performance and class-leading fuel economy.”
There is also speculation that the car will be built around an aluminium spaceframe, possibly implicating Audi’s involvement in the project which could spawn the long-suspected ‘R4’ - a compact sibling to the R8.
This is not the first time that Volkswagen has gone the mid-engined coupe and roadster route. Back in 2003, the company unveiled the Concept R, which would lend a number of its styling cues to the Eos, at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The 2005 Tokyo Motor Show also saw the spartan Eco Racer R&D project, break cover. Hopefully, this latest installment in the VW compact roadster saga will produce something more than a stillborn concept.
News - Up! Goes back to the front
Volkswagen’s Up! is about to shed a couple of ‘People’s Car’ connotations with a forecasted increase in production costs and the shelving of a rear-wheel drive set up.
Sources at VW have now revealed that a combination of production cost issues surrounding the concept’s mid-engined layout, difficulty in implementing a nose mounted radiator set up to provide coolant to the engine towards the rear of the car and the handling issues regarding the car’s rearward weight bias.
“For cost, design and aerodynamic reasons, we will probably have to put the engine at the front,” a VW source told Car Magazine UK.
Certainly, from a production cost standpoint the concept’s unique rear-wheel drive platform was always going to incur a heavier burden on the model’s production-worthiness. Adopting a front-wheel drive set up will ensure that the Up! will have much greater drivetrain and component commonality with other front-wheel drive VWs. That means reduced development costs and easier integration into the company’s existing production lines.
Despite this major turn in the Up’s development, the car’s proportions will not undergo any major changes. The four-seater production car will only be 4mm longer than the concept, maintaining the model’s city car status. Power is believed to come from a 1,2-litre three cylinder engine, which will be produced in both naturally aspirated and turbocharged variants to accommodate the numerous spin-offs that the standard Up! will produce.
The only major change that the Up’s re-engineering will entail is a delay in European sales, which will now commence in 2011.
Car of the Month - Fiat 500 Abarth
Latest CAR Magazine - September 2008
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| In CAR magazine's Big Green Issue - on sale from August 18 - we feature cars that are equipped with some of the latest technology to minimise or eliminate the impact of harmful exhaust emissions on the environment. We look into alternative types of fuels, such as compressed natural- or liquefied petroleum gas, bioethanol and -diesel, and the powerplants of the future, such as Mercedes-Benz’s Diesotto, which offers a dizzy mix of power, torque and economy.
We also review some real-world fuel savers that help minimise the carbon footprint of automotive users… CAR tests the Lexus GS450h petrol-electric executive saloon, which offers the performance of a V8 with the economy of a diesel courtesy of its Hybrid Drive (two motors that produce an effective 254 kW) mated with a continuously variable transmission. And in the Budget Babies comparative test, none of the contestants have a fuel index higher than 7 litres/100 km.
Performance aficionados should not feel left out, however. Watch out, Porsche and Ferrari, there’s an electric sportscar in the wings – and it is called the Tesla Roadster. It only has a peak torque figure of 286 N.m, but its all available from zero r/min, giving the single-speed prototype that is subject to a driving impression in the September issue of CAR, a zero to 100 km/h of 3,9 secs!
CAR’s even got some kicks for hot hatch lovers. Alfa Romeo’s new MiTo may recall Alfa’s much-loved ‘Sud of the past, but it was designed by Manuel Diaz at the Arese design centre under the direction of styling chief Frank Stephenson, and is said to herald a new wave of models from the Torinese marque. The Volkswagen Scirocco, meanwhile, is basically a squashed, three-door GTI, but its far from a pastiche of the 1974 original, which itself charmed a generation.
Apart from the driving impressions, which includes a lip-smacking review of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupé, there is also a road test of the Jeep Cherokee 2,8 CRD Limited AT and Lotus Elise SC/Exige S, a long term test of the Toyota Yaris T3 Sprint Saloon and Buying used feature on the Nissan Sentra/Sabre. Starting in September and running until December, CAR will contribute 10 per cent of all revenue derived from our subscription drives to Treehuggers. Treehuggers is a Heart Of Healing initiative and facilitates tree planting anywhere in South Africa. Its primary focus is to green NGOs, schools or parks where proper maintenance is assured and funds are pooled in our Treehuggers Account, until a meaningful intervention can be financed. | ||||||||
