Vw Touareg 2004 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

2015 Volkswagen Golf SportWagen First Drive [w/video]

Volkswagen currently offers five Golf models in the US, and in just a few weeks it will add the 2015 SportWagen to the lineup. The previous version sold as the Jetta SportWagen, although it was technically a Golf. For the new model, VW product planners decided to align all the hatchbacks under the same name. The SportWagen employs the same engines as the Golf, but significantly stretches its new MQB architecture. The result is greater practicality in the form of cargo room. With the seats up the SportWagen holds 30.4 cubic feet, almost 8 more than the Golf. The gap widens to nearly 14 cu ft with the seats folded; a max capacity of 66.5 cu ft puts the SportWagen into compact crossover territory. That added functionality leads VW to think it can sway buyers shopping the likes of the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. And with the high-mpg diesel variant – 31 mpg city, up to 43 highway – VW hopes to lure those considering fuel-sipping MPVs like the Toyota Prius V and Ford C-MAX. What separates this Golf from those other two segments is the driving prowess we've come to expect from Wolfsburg's best-selling nameplate. While the silhouette is similar to the outgoing Jetta wagon, designers honed the character lines to give the Golf SportWagen a more modern, angular aesthetic. The LED headlights look sharp, the hood now scoops down at a steeper angle into the front fenders, and the general proportions – in line with other Golf models – have changed. The new SportWagen is lower, longer, and wider and than the Jetta SportWagen it replaces. Specifically, it is 1.1 inches longer, 0.7 inches wider, and despite being about an inch lower, actually boasts more headroom. Inside, things look pretty familiar to the current Golf family. There are small, premium touches such as a sporty, flat-ish-bottom wheel, piano-black trim, and an optional one-touch panoramic sunroof that makes the cabin a bright, airy, and pleasant place to be. Otherwise, it's your standard Golf fare, but with a whole lot more room out back. The same two engines that power the standard Golf – the 1.8-liter turbocharged inline-four TSI, and 2.0-liter turbocharged TDI diesel – are also found under the hood of the SportWagen. Gasoline-powered models come with a five-speed manual or a traditional six-speed auto, while the TDI gets six-speed transmissions across the board – either as a row-your-own manual, or a dual-clutch DSG auto with steering wheel-mounted paddles.

Volkswagen could build plug-in hybrids in China

When you're Europe's largest automaker and your largest global market happens to be the one most notorious for its pollution (China), some solutions just present themselves. Volkswagen may be heeding that call. During the upcoming Beijing Motor Show, the company is expected to announce plans to produce plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in China, Reuters says, citing sources within the company. Few details have emerged, though the plug-ins will likely be produced at VW's Foshan factory in South China, which currently makes the Golf and Audi A3 and has plans to eventually make 600,000 vehicles annually. News has been percolating for a while, as Oliver Schmidt, general manager engineering and environmental office for Volkswagen Group of America, said last March that the company was planning at least two plug-in hybrid lines under the VW badge (and another three with its Audi and Porsche affiliates), including possibly a Touareg and Jetta PHEV. VW said late last month that it was looking to speed up development of "particularly eco-friendly models" made by Shanghai Volkswagen as well as developing a "new, very eco-friendly vehicle" with First Automotive Works (FAW). Earlier this year, VW unveiled its Golf GTE plug-in hybrid at the Geneva Motor Show. That model has a 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and an electric motor to provide 201 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. The car can travel as many as 81 miles on electric power alone.

Are more diesel scandals about to erupt?

More automakers may soon be embroiled, like Volkswagen, in diesel emissions scandals. According to the Daily Kanban, either the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) or the Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) will soon announce from 10 to 15 more cases of automakers cheating national diesel emissions rules. The outlet says three of the incidents are attributed to Opel. Studies conducted by the DUH, the University of Applied Sciences in Bern, Switzerland, and the UK's Leeds University found that Opel's diesel Zafira, Corsa, and Vectra models emit more NOx than European regulations allow when tested in ways that go beyond the European testing protocol, such as when done on a four-wheel rolling road instead of a two-wheel rolling road. Opel said the accusations had no merit. Specifically on the Zafira, the DUH asked Opel about the emissions findings, and Opel said that no General Motors software contains any measures to enable cheating. Opel then tested a Zafira of its own "both on a two- and a four-wheel roller dynamometer," finding that "The emission behavior determined in each case does not differ from one another." That makes this a case of he-said-she-said for the moment. The Daily Kanban's sources say the cheating methods "range from the crude to the highly sophisticated," with those at the latter end complex enough to render Volkswagen's methods "pedestrian." As for any automakers who might be named, the matter of real-world emissions exceeding a legal limit doesn't mean a carmaker has designed systems that cheat, it might mean the company designed the car to pass a test. Related Video: News Source: Daily KanbanImage Credit: PATRICK PLEUL/AFP/Getty Images Government/Legal Green Volkswagen Opel Emissions Diesel Vehicles vw diesel scandal icct