Archive for the ‘Volkswagen’ Category
Thursday, November 29th, 2007
January’s Dakar Rally promises to be the toughest yet for the Volkswagen works team and its squad of TDI-powered Race Touaregs, for the 30th running of the world’s toughest motorsport event will be longer and more arduous than ever.
Special stage distance has been lengthened by a third over last year, to 5,736 km (3,562 miles), with the treacherous sand dunes of Mauritania set to provide much of the drama during the 16-day trek from Lisbon, Portugal, to the Senegalese capital of Dakar.
Volkswagen will field four works cars – for Spaniard Carlos Sainz, South African Giniel de Villiers, Germany’s Dieter Depping and American Mark Miller – while a fifth Race Touareg will be run by customer team Lagos and driven by Portugal’s Carlos Sousa. Volkswagen is bidding to become the first manufacturer to win the legendary classic with a diesel car.
Newly crowned FIA Cross-Country Rally World Champion Sainz says the 2008 Dakar will be his most arduous yet: ‘It will be longer, tougher and more difficult. We expect lots of sand dunes and there will be two cross-country legs after which we will be allowed no assistance from mechanics.’
Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen added: ‘At almost 6,000 timed kilometres we are in for a very long event, and many days will be spent in the dunes of Mauritania. It will be a great challenge but also a great strain: the drivers and co-drivers will be spending many hours in the cars on the long stages, which means the team will not be able to start work on the cars until late in the evening.’
He believes that the team has a good chance of success following recent tests and promising results in the UAE Desert Challenge in early November, in which Volkswagens finished second and third: ‘We drove a lot on sand on this event and it confirmed that we have achieved notable improvements on this type of terrain.’
‘In Mauritania the rally will return to locations that have not been used on the rally for more than a decade,’ said Dirk von Zitzewitz, who will co-drive for de Villiers. ‘The organisers have announced a number of so-called erg crossings - sand stages that have not previously been driven - and the famous Nega pass, near Kiffa, as special challenges. More than once in the past the outcome of the rally was decided on such types of stage.’
The Volkswagen team’s Race Touaregs, powered by 2.5-litre TDI engines delivering 280 PS, won ten of the 2007 Dakar’s 14 special stages but failed to prevent Mitsubishi claiming a seventh successive overall victory. The Mitsubishi team, led by three-time victor Stéphane Peterhansel, is likely to be Volkswagen’s chief opposition once more. Volkswagen last won the Dakar in 1980, when Swede Freddy Kottulinsky drove his Iltis to victory.
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Wednesday, November 28th, 2007
For the second year running, the Volkswagen Caddy DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) has achieved honours at the What Van? magazine Van of the Year Awards.
The Caddy DSG, which uses twin clutch technology to provide faster gearchanges than a conventional automatic gearbox, received the exclusive Editor’s Choice award at the magazine’s 2007 awards ceremony in London on Wednesday 28th November. Last year the Volkswagen DSG won the What Van? Technology Award.
‘More and more manufacturers are offering an alternative to the conventional manual gearbox as an extra-cost option. Nobody, however, has come up with a solution that is quite as novel – or quite as effective – as Volkswagen’s DSG. It’s so impressive that it’s a worthy winner of the What Van? Editor’s Choice Award for 2007,’ said Neil McIntee, the Editor of What Van? magazine.
Gemma Cox, Product Manager, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles said: ‘The What Van? awards are a great testament to Volkswagen’s advanced and efficient technology in the Caddy DSG and the quality Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles provide.’
The efficient, six-speed Volkswagen DSG uses two clutches which allow gear changes to occur in less than four hundredths of a second, enabling it to achieve the same 0-62 mph time of 13.3 seconds as the manual transmission with the same 1.9-litre, 104 PS TDI PD engine.
For the driver, the DSG is as easy to use as a conventional automatic transmission with added bonus of being able to select a manual mode and change gear by simply nudging the gearlever up or down.
The DSG is unique in the commercial vehicle market and is exclusively available in the Volkswagen Caddy van with an on the road price of £12,836.28 excluding VAT – a premium of only £1,000 over the equivalent model with manual transmission.
Other recent awards for the Volkswagen Caddy include Best Small Van from Van Fleet World and Professional Van & Light Truck magazines.
Full information of the Volkswagen Caddy van range is available from www.volkswagen-vans.co.uk or by calling 0800 717131.
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Wednesday, November 14th, 2007
Volkswagen today unveiled the third and most advanced iteration yet of the up! family of concept vehicles at the Los Angeles Motor Show.
Named space up! blue and taking its visual inspiration and drivetrain layout from the classic 1950s Samba Bus, the concept vehicle is powered by a pioneering high-temperature fuel cell linked to a series of 12 lithium-ion batteries. The innovative power sources are linked to a rear-mounted electric motor developing 61 PS and
88 lbs ft of torque. The only by-product of this highly efficient drivetrain is pure water.
(more…)
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Tuesday, October 30th, 2007
The new Volkswagen Tiguan has been awarded a class-leading insurance rating by Thatcham and the Association of British Insurers (ABI).
When sales start early next year the new Tiguan will be placed in insurance group nine making it the least expensive vehicle to insure in its class.
This low insurance rating combined with the Tiguan’s three-year warranty, 12-year body protection warranty, the option of flexible servicing and free Volkswagen Assistance for the first year work to reduce the cost of ownership and provide peace of mind. (more…)
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Friday, October 26th, 2007
The new Caddy Maxi has made its world debut in front of press at the European Road Transport Show in Amsterdam.
Measuring 470 mm longer than the conventional Caddy (bringing the overall length to 4,873 mm) the new Maxi lends greater versatility and load carrying capacity to the popular Caddy range.
The new Caddy Maxi is capable of carrying a load weighing up to 800 kg in a cargo bay measuring 4.2 cubic metres. The load floor measures 2,250 mm in length and can be extended to over 3,000 mm in length through the adoption of the Vario partition system and a folding passenger seat. Between wheel housings the new Caddy Maxi measures 1,170 mm in width while the vehicle is capable of towing a trailer load of up to 1,500 kg. (more…)
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Wednesday, October 24th, 2007
The Tokyo Motor Show today saw the debut of the space up! – the latest concept vehicle to join the Volkswagen up! small car family.
The space up! takes its inspiration from the up! concept vehicle which was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show last month. Modest external dimensions belie the vehicle’s versatility. Its spacious interior features four individual seats, three of which can either be folded or removed completely to allow for up to 1,005 litres of luggage space.
Access to the boot area in confined spaces is made easier through the adoption of a pair of side hinging rear doors intersected by a Volkswagen roundel. As with the up! concept the space up! features a translucent panel at the rear into which are set the car’s high-intensity LED brake lights.
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Monday, October 22nd, 2007
The Tiguan, Volkswagen’s new compact 4×4, is now available for ordering from UK retailers ahead of its UK launch in February 2008. Prices start at £19,370 for the entry-level model, the S 1.4-litre TSI 4MOTION.
This vehicle takes Volkswagen into a new market segment and has been eagerly anticipated since its debut as a concept at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November last year. The final model was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show last month, just ahead of its on-sale date in mainland Europe.
All Tiguan models will be offered with standard 4MOTION ‘intelligent’ four-wheel drive. The front axle adopts a strut type system linked to a lightweight aluminium support frame with electromechanical power steering. A four-link rear axle lends the Tiguan sharp dynamics suited to off-road applications.
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Tuesday, October 9th, 2007
In a world premiere, Volkswagen will be presenting the Touareg R50 on October 11 at the Australian International Motor Show in Sydney. Its power of 258 kW / 350 PS (at 3,500 rpm) positions the new Touareg version among the most powerful SUVs in the world. The Touareg R50 can be ordered in Germany at prices starting at 88,260 Euro; it will be introduced to the market this November. (more…)
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Monday, October 8th, 2007
An official event to celebrate 60 years of Volkswagen vans held in Hanover, Germany, last weekend (5-7 October) attracted 71,000 visitors with an amazing selection of over 5,000 Transporter vans and campers – from the original ‘split-screen’ T1 to today’s fifth-generation models – and included the highlight of an exclusive concert by British rock legends, The Who. (more…)
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Saturday, October 6th, 2007
A new price match campaign designed to reassure new and existing Volkswagen customers that they will always pay a fair and competitive price for the service, maintenance and repair of their vehicles is being launched today, under the strapline ‘A competitive price. Promise’.
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