Golf Mk7.5: More Power, Tweaked Looks and First in Class Gesture Controls

Volkswagen has revealed its updated Golf, set to go on sale in Europe in 2017 and in the US in 2018. Outside there are a few minor changes, but the real updates are happening to the infotainment system, which gets new, bigger screens, not that you even have to touch them now that you’ll have gesture controls.

That’s right, you too can live the dream of the future and pretend you’re Tom Cruise in Minority Report. The Mk7.5 Golf allows you to operate the car’s gadgets by waving your hands like a conductor. So far gesture control systems have been the reserve of the fanciest of luxury cars, but Volkswagen wants to be the first to offer the system in the compact class.

Not everything will be touchlessly operable, though, so new, bigger screens (up to 9.2 inches) are being added to the Golf, which do away with the physical buttons of the current generation. Instead, everything will be done through the touch-sensitive tablet-like screen in the center console.

Information won’t be limited to the center console, though, as Volkswagen’s Digital Cockpit will replace the conventional, analog dials (speedometer and tachometer) with digital versions.

Much like Audi’s lauded virtual cockpit, the new instrument cluster features a 12.5 inch screen that can change the dial sizes to prioritize navigation or vehicle information.

Plugging your phone into the car won’t be an issue anymore, either, as an inductive pad will allow you to charge and connect your phone to the car wirelessly.

Under the hood come new engines with more power and efficiency. The European GTI, for instance, will come with about 10 more horsepower (roughly 230 hp) in standard guise, and 15 more (245 hp) in Performance trim. A new 1.5-liter gas engine is also being introduced in Europe that gets up to 51 mpg, but that engine likely won’t find its way to our shores. The relevant information here, then, is more power more, more efficiency, model year 2018.

The new engines will send power through a manual transmission or a newly developed 7-speed DSG dual clutch ‘box that’ll phase out the current 6-speed DSG.

New driver aids like traffic jam assist (which allows the car to follow the road for short periods of time at low speed, like Tesla’s Autopilot) will join existing ones, like lane departure warnings. These come along with a whole suite of safety features like pre- and post-crash braking and accident alert (which alerts emergency crews to your accident, not you. That would be unnecessary).

And to top it all off, you get a new grille, new LED headlights, and full LED taillights.

Unfortunately, there’s been no news about the new Golf R yet. Moreover, some of the updated Golf’s new features will be reserved for Europe, but just which ones Americans will miss out on remains to be seen. More on that when it becomes available.

The post Golf Mk7.5: More Power, Tweaked Looks and First in Class Gesture Controls appeared first on VWVortex.

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Waterfest Moves to Atco Dragway

Waterfest 24 will be held at Atco Dragway, in Atco, New Jersey. The summer event will take place at its new venue on July 21 and 22. Long held in Englishtown, New Jersey, the festival has been such a large part of the VW scene that the latest iteration of the Golf even comes with optional “Englishtown” wheels . The new venue, however, is an NHRA drag track a scant 52 miles southwest of Englishtown. The ¼ mile drag track opened in 1960, which makes it the oldest drag strip in New Jersey. The announcement came today on a social media post that announced the new location. Waterfest is North America’s largest VW/Audi show. As many 20,000 people show up for the annual show, making the second largest show in the world—with Worthersee being number one. 2018 will be Waterfest’s 24 th year in existence. The post Waterfest Moves to Atco Dragway appeared first on VWVortex . from VWVortex http://ift.tt/2GQjkuc via IFTTT

Macau Gets Messy with 16-Car Pileup

The Macau Grand Prix is always good for an accident or two or 16— you may remember Audi’s race ending crash last year —and this year’s event didn’t disappoint. It didn’t take long for things to get messy on the tight road circuit. On the opening lap of the qualifying race a 16-car pileup caused the race to be suspended. Things kicked off when Daniel Juncadella hit a wall on the exit of Police bend, one of the tightest parts of the already tight circuit. The following car of Raffaele Marciello was able to avoid the carnage, but Laurens Vanthoor, who was in the upside-down Audi that ended the race last year, could not avoid Juncadella and together they blocked up the road pretty much completely. “I couldn’t see him [Juncadella] at first. Then I saw the car standing still,” Vanthoor told Motorsport. “I tried to brake but it was just understeering and I couldn’t do anything. There’s room for one car there and you’re blind.” Fourteen more cars would eventually crash into the corner c

The First of its Kind: Integrated Engineering Releases Highly-Anticipated IE450T MK6 Golf R Turbo Kit

After two long years of development, the team at Integrated Engineering has finally announced the release of their IE450T kit for the MK6 Golf R. With their turbo kit bolted on right out of the box, the sport AWD hatch is transformed into a 450bhp monster, with hardly any noticeable increase in spool time. In fact, 435 ft-lbs of torque are achieved at all four wheels, at a mere 3300rpm! By now you are probably asking yourself how this is even possible on a 2.0L engine that made nearly half that power from the factory. By employing true twin-scroll technology into the cast turbo manifold and pairing it with a state-of-the-art BorgWarner EFR turbocharger, IE was able to keep spool time at a minimum and bring the fastest-spooling big turbo setup to the market. “We wanted to offer a kit that would dramatically increase the power output without making the car lose its amazing street-friendly drivability,” mentioned one of the IE engineers. We are told the IE450T leaves the car driving jus

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