Vorderman Volkswagen

Volkswagen’s new MEB platform, which will underpin the automaker’s line of ID electric vehicles, has been recognized by Autonomous Vehicle Technology Magazine in its first annual awards edition. VW’s MEB platform won AVT Magazine’s ‘Electrification’ category for its first ACES Awards (Autonomy, Connectivity, Electrificiation and Mobility Services). With VW setting a lofty goal of selling 150,000 EVs a year by 2020 and one million by 2025, it’s easy to see why AVT picked the scalable MEB platform for its electrification award. When it comes to mass adoption for EVs, the MEB platform may prove to be extremely important. “It is an honor to be recognized for the MEB platform,” said VW America’s president of e-mobility, Matt Renna. “We at Volkswagen are committed to making the electric future of the auto industry a reality, and we believe the technology and scale of the MEB platform can do that.” SEE ALSO: Volkswagen Previews Production I.D. Hatchback VW also shared some small details o...

There was a time. A time when an electric clock felt noteworthy and a parcel tray attached to the trunk by a string felt like the height of technology. And it was a good time because it produced the Scirocco. This utterly English review from Tony Bastable for the Thames TV’s Drive-in features everything you’d expect from a ‘70s review. An ill-advised haircut, excessive amounts of trouser, and a pretty great car. Bastable complains about a few of the car’s interior features, calling the seats good but impractical, complaining about pedal placement, and butchering Giugiaro’s name. But he finds a whole lot to love in his circles around a parking lot near London. It’s fun to drive and gets a truly impressive 30 miles per gallon. For all its lack of features, as we know them today, it’s amazing how modern the Scirocco (and the whole lineup) look on paper. The post Watch: The ’74 Scirocco, Now Complete With Wing Mirror! appeared first on VWVortex . from VWVortex https://ift.tt/2...

Considering Porsche’s rich history, it’s not surprising that it has some interesting prototypes hanging around in its warehouses. For its latest video, it’s listing five of the weirdest. It starts out fairly normally, with the 984, a lightweight sports car focused more on the chassis than the engine. Tipping the scales at less than 2,000 lbs and only making up to 150 hp, the car was only supposed to cost $14,000. Things get weirder, though, with the number two car: the Cayenne Cabrio. Developed in 2002, this two-door, convertible SUV, with a Targa roll bar is probably best left to the annals of history. It’s hard to tell if its two tails are proof that Porsche really wanted to make this happen, or whether they were saving money because they didn’t have faith in it. Either way, they were kind of ahead of the curb with the convertible SUV thing, which goes to show you that that’s not always a good thing. These two concepts are followed by the 911 Carrera 3.2 Speedster (a single seat ...

For those who follow along weekly, Wednesday is traditionally reserved for our “Ratty Rescue” series that features a crusty car looking for a new owner. But when you stumble across a car like this, you have to feature it. Consider this additional “Find Of The Day” as our Christmas gift to you, our faithful readers. Getting right to it: this is a 1990 Corrado. And it’s not just any Corrado. This is a Euro-market Corrado. It’s right-hand drive, it’s in very good condition, and it has an engine we never got in North American Corrados: Volkswagen’s wonderful 16V engine. A little history to put this in perspective. In 1974, Volkswagen created the original Scirocco; a sports-coupe based on the upcoming Golf/Rabbit platform. They redesigned it in 1982 but didn’t put a serious engine into the car until the Scirocco 16V debuted in 1986. Unfortunately, the Scirocco’s days were numbered and the model was discontinued in 1988. [ See image gallery at www.vwvortex.com ] Behind the scenes engineer...

Volkswagen is taking the I.D. R to Austria’s famous Ice Race at Zell am See, but only as a showpiece. The car will be doing another hot lap in the near future, though, and VW plans to announce that record attempt at the January 19-20 event. Reports and common sense indicate that the car will take on the Nurburgring at some point and attempt to beat the track’s 6:45.9 electric record (set by the NIO EP9 in 2017). But of course, there’s any number of tracks where the I.D. R can flex its muscles. If it does take on the Nurburgring it’ll have its work cut out for it, since the NIO EP9 made 1,450 hp and accelerated from 0-60 in just 2.3 seconds. That said, the I.D. R can hit 60 in just 2.2 seconds and also has some of the best aero on the planet. Aero designed in conjunction with Porsche, which currently owns the outright record around the track of 5:19.55. While the 919 is living proof that the Volkswagen Group has no qualms about competing with itself, an outright record for the I.D....

Automakers trademark all sorts of things, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll ever use them. From old outdated nameplates to inexplicable new made up words, automakers reserve the rights to a bunch of different wordmarks for a myriad of reasons. We recently stumbled across one very confusing trademark filing submitted by Audi to the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The German company moved to legally reserve the word’ Adui’ with the USPTO, effectively reserving the right to market its misspelled name. A filing for ‘Adui’ was also made in Germany. We can’t possibly imagine what Audi would want with ‘Adui’.  The automaker filed it under multiple trademark classifications, most of them covering random consumer products such as hats and clothing, stationery, computers, toys, games decorations and more. It was also filed under Nice classification 12, though, which is for automobiles. There’s only one thing we think this could be for: reducing the ability to make knock-off g...

The Rabbit GTI has always been the Volkswagen to buy and with the name’s return for the seventh-and-a-half edition of the Golf, that hasn’t changed. The 2019 Golf GTI Rabbit Edition is the Volkswagen to buy. If I had any money at all, I’d go out and buy one today. I didn’t need to drive it alongside a Mk1 Rabbit GTI to come to this conclusion, but sometimes things go well for you and I’m not about to turn down the opportunity. I’m not just bragging about my weekend, though, driving these two cars back to back did teach me something important and helped me to reach my conclusion. Both Rabbits GTI share a spirit of everyman humanity that elevates the GTI and helps explain why it’s the hot hatch we all talk about when we talk about hot hatches. Capturing the low-buck fun of the original, the real performance, and the spirit of unencumbered simplicity that makes the GTI the legend it richly deserves to be, the GTI Rabbit edition comes together to become something greater than the ...

The Volkswagen group has a knack for picking names that difficult to pronounce in just about every language. Case in point: Taycan. The company’s upcoming electric kinda coupey, kinda sedaney product of the future is selling like hotcakes despite the fact that no one knows quite how it’s supposed to be pronounced. But fear not! Porsche’s media department is here to help out with an 18-second video that features only two words of dialogue, both of which are “Taycan.” And the second reading of the word may unwittingly be the funniest thing on the internet. The first one is good, but the way the silence is punctuated with perfect timing by the second “Taycan” is comedy gold. Kinda reminds us of these other pronunciation manuals: The post Porsche Proves Germany Only Capable of Unwitting Comedy appeared first on VWVortex . from VWVortex https://ift.tt/2SV4asH via IFTTT

Volkswagen is set to reveal the Jetta GLI at the Chicago Auto Show in February and we now have photos of the car at Germany’s favorite test track, the Nurburgring. The photos show an only slightly less camouflaged GLI, but there are few new details that can still be gleaned. First and foremost, the front grille appears to have GTI-style strakes in the lower corner, under the headlights. Around back, meanwhile, it has a subtle, but attractive spoiler for high-speed stability. That’ll be important at the Nurburgring, which the GLI could have presumably easily skipped since the car won’t be sold in Europe. The look is rounded off by a set of red brake calipers and un-adorned tailpipes—unlike the regular Jetta, the GLI pictured here doesn’t have molding to visually work its tailpipes into the rear bumper. [ See image gallery at www.vwvortex.com ] Whether these last two features will make it to production isn’t exactly clear, but they would both fit nicely into the GLI’s performan...

Volkswagen has released a series of images of its upcoming, brand-reinventing electric hatchback. These are the first shots of a non-concept I.D. The photos show the car under camouflage, so we’ll have to wait to get a better sense of all of its design details, but they do reveal the overall proportions and look. And they look reasonably like the concept, first revealed in Paris in 2016. [ See image gallery at www.vwvortex.com ] That said, the design has changed a bit and a more accentuated beltline appears to have been added (and of course the suicide doors have been done away with). The wheels, though, are about as close to the corners of the car as could be reasonably expected which will be good for everything from handling to interior volume. Volkswagen promises that the I.D. Hatch will have Passat-rivaling interior volume despite being roughly the same size as a Golf. And we have no reason to doubt (the broad strokes) of their claim because electric cars’ drivetrains are more c...

You’re either a wagon lover, or you’re wrong. Looking for a new sleigh to get you to grandma’s house in a hurry? Check out this week’s Find Of The Day : a tricked out 2007 Passat wagon. When Volkswagen released the B6 Passat sedan and wagon in 2006, they were quite a departure from the B5.5 models. For the first time ever, Volkswagen’s “large” sedan moved from a platform shared with Audi to the PQ46 one based loosely on the Golf. The 2006 Passat has a transverse mounted engine vs. the B5.5 (and all previous Passat’s) longitudinal engine configuration. The engine and trim levels were streamlined; gone were the 1.8T engine, the Torsen-based 4-motion, the TDI engine, and the outrageous W8 engine. Only two engine options were available on B6: the all-new 2.0T and the everlasting VR6. [ See image gallery at www.vwvortex.com ] The styling was all new, and a huge shift from the previous model; after only one life cycle Volkswagen abandoned their Bauhaus-inspired designs. The interior is som...

Audi’s planning on putting on a show at CES 2019 next month. No really, they’re turning the inside of a car into a new digital experience and movie theatre to show off what the self-driving car could mean for passengers. The Consumer Electronics Show is January 8th to the 11th in Las Vegas. It’s where all the new gadgets come out to play. Audi will be showing off a new Immersive In-Car Entertainment system. This one will be stationary, but you’ll get the idea of what the future of in-car entertainment has in-store. Audi says that “thanks to automated driving, occupants will have ‘free’ time in the car in the future in which they can use the next generation of in-car entertainment, for example.” The booth will show off just what exactly that means. The automaker says the infotainment system will “offer an experience for all the senses.” Though we’re hoping they don’t add a smell component. Our cars smell enough as it is. Audi calls the journey the destination with the new format. We...

The 2019 World Rallycross Championship will be without its champions for the 2019 season. PSRX, Volkswagen Motorsport’s partner in the series, has announced that it will not race this coming season. “The important thing to understand here is that this is a pause – a pause and not an end,” said Petter Solberg, team owner and twice champion, in a statement. “As a team, we continue and we work together.” Unfortunately, uncertainty is the word of the day here. Solberg cited uncertainty about next season’s entry list as a reason for the hiatus and added that the team might be back (though it’s uncertain) in the coming years. “We can’t say much about this now, but there will be more to talk about in the New Year,” said Solberg. “I still believe in World RX. I still believe this championship can deliver the most sustainable, relevant, entertaining and competitive racing anywhere in the world.” As for Volkswagen Motorsport, the possibility exists that another team will buy its race chassis...

We knew something was up in the van ride from the Puebla Airport to our hotel. The strong scent of sulfur assaulted our noses from the open windows of our T6 Transporter.  The smell was coming not from any factory, but from the Popocatépetl volcano just outside of the city and we were on our way to the 2018 VW GTI Track Day at  Autódromo Miguel E. Abed in Amozoc. This year marked the 11th Track Day, which was started by Club GTI dé Mexico back in 2007, and for the past three years, Volkswagen dé Mexico has co-sponsored the event. Owners converge on the track to show off their cars, hang out, and drive their cars on the track at high speeds. The tagline for the event, Passion. Friends. Family ., is incredibly accurate. For the past 11 years, a group of very passionate people has celebrated the iconic GTI. Along the way, people have made friends and even created families. “One of the Club members got married in a Golf GTI second generation.” said VW Mexico PR Manager Mauric...

Recent remarks made by Volkswagen head of brand strategy Michael Jost sent the automotive community into a bit of a frenzy. Jost, speaking to media at an industry conference, proclaimed that 2026 “will be the last product start on a combustion-engine platform,” from VW. Many took this as evidence that VW is phasing out the gasoline engine, but that’s far from true. Jost was saying that VW will begin work on its next-generation combustion engine platform around 2026. The platform will be the last all-new internal combustion engine vehicle platform from VW, but it will remain in production for many years after its introduction. Furthermore, it may take three to four years for the platform to actually reach production, so we may not see the VW platform in question until closer to 2030. As vehicle platforms require major invest, they also tend to stay in production for more than 10 years. That means VW will be building new internal combustion cars until 2040 and beyond. Speaking to Au...

Bram Schot will become the chairman of Audi’s supervisory board as of January 1, 2019. He takes the position after serving as Audi’s interim leader following former CEO, Rupert Stadler’s arrest in June. “As interim CEO, Bram Schot has already done a convincing job in recent months,” said Herbert Diess, the VW Group’s CEO. “With the benefit of a strong mandate, he will further accelerate the transformation of the company and lead the Four Rings to new successes.” Along with the chairmanship, Schot will continue to be in charge of sales and marketing for the brand, the position from which he rose to the chairmanship, but only temporarily. Schot has been in charge of sales of marketing since 2012, and in 2017 he rose to the board of management. He moved to that position from his job as President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Italia. “The Audi workforce wants clear conditions at the top of the company,” says Peter Mosch, head of Audi’s works committee. “That’s why we employee representative...

This week we’re all about Volkswagen’s hot hatch, so our Ratty Rescue is a not-too-terrible 2004 GTI. If you liked our recent Find Of The Day , well sorry, this one’s totally different (we couldn’t find a rough Anniversary Edition). But if you’re in the market for a cheap GTI, this one fits the bill. Let’s start with the three best features of this car. First, it runs. In fact, the seller, VWVortex member billy8904! , says it runs like new after $2300 of work, so you can drive it home. That’s not always the case with our Ratty Rescues . Next, it rides on BBS RC wheels. Sure they’re a little rough around the edges, and they need a good cleaning, but they’re freaking BBS RCs! Perhaps the greatest OEM wheel design offered on the MKIV GTI. And last, this 2004 is only $2,500 . That’s pretty much a steal. [ See image gallery at www.vwvortex.com ] The good news doesn’t end there. This GTI also has Koni coilovers, an ECS intake, and an AWE exhaust. Oh, and that $2300 of repairs covered new r...