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TRANSLOGIC 150: Volkswagen XL1

How do you build the world's most fuel-efficient production car? Start with the world's most aerodynamic design. The Volkswagen XL1 is capable of 261 miles per gallon thanks to its sleek shape and ultra efficient plug-in diesel hybrid powertrain. The downside is that only 250 will be made and none will be sold stateside. That didn't stop us from taking our turn behind the wheel of this truly revolutionary ride.

Seat Leon Sport Cross concept leaks before Frankfurt debut

Seat's big Frankfurt Motor Show debut has been teased/leaked ahead of its official debut. The teasers are, of course, directly from Seat and show the new Leon Cross Sport Concept in a pair of sketches. You can check those out below. The leaked stuff, available up top, is far juicier, though. The shots originally came from AutoForum.cz, Auto Express reports, and look to be stock images of the three-door hatchback. In short, it looks like a Seat Leon, which is to say the MQB-based Spaniard is a more attractive Volkswagen Golf. In concept form, though, this new Leon is something of an anomaly. It wears the steroidal sheetmetal of the high-performance Cupra, especially with the large wheels and prominent quad exhausts, but its boosted ride gives it much more of a soft-roader character. Think of this, then, as a high-riding Golf GTI. It'll be a lot more potent than the beloved hot hatch, though. According to Auto Express, the Leon Cross Sport will use the Golf R's 296-horsepower, turbocharged four-cylinder engine and Haldex all-wheel-drive system. That should mean that there'll be some very real off-road performance behind the soft-roader looks. We'll have much more on the Cross Sport Concept when it makes its debut at Volkswagen's huge Group Night event later today. Stay tuned.

Crash test videos show how rust compromises safety

These recently released Swedish videos serve as a reminder that rust isn't just a cosmetic flaw, when it comes to cars. The insurance company Folksam and the homeowner organization Villaagarnas Riksforbund gathered examples of two relatively popular, but by now rusty cars, and then performed crash tests with them at the Thatcham Research facility in Britain. The results are sobering. The rustier cars chosen for the tests were first-generation Mazda6s, cars that have a reputation for early-onset rust in salty surroundings, such as the Nordic countries in Europe or the Salt Belt in the U.S. The cars in the other end of the spectrum were fifth-generation Volkswagen Golfs, which thanks to their body treatment only really start to show rust at over ten years old. But rust isn't just on the surface, it goes bone deep. While the Mazda did decently well in Euro NCAP testing as a new car, there's now a 20 percent higher risk of death in the 2003-2008 Mazda due to the degradation of its bodyshell. In the rusty car, the chassis rail separates from the floor, the footwell ruptures, the sill gives way, the seat mountings move and the dummy's head hits the B-pillar; all important failures, despite Thatcham saying the cars actually performed better in the crashes than they expected with all the rust. But still, the corroded structure isn't able to transmit loads in the way it was originally designed to do. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. The Golf does significantly better — despite rust flakes flying when the Golf hits the wall — as the years have only caused it to lose a single point. An important thing to remember is that the cars aren't tested in comparison to corresponding new, 2018 cars: the tests are in reference to the crashworthiness standards in place when they were new. The cars' airbags inflate like they were supposed to, but on the Mazda the dummy's head bottoms out the airbag due to the car's structure failing, meaning the airbag cannot perform as designed. Driven cautiously, an older car is still mostly fine for driving around. But tests like these remind us that it's not enough that a car runs and drives, if the body has turned into Swedish knackebrod. And if you repair the visible rust and the structure underneath remains as compromised as ever, there's an ugly truth under all the bondo. Perhaps it isn't such a bad idea to have yearly roadworthiness inspections.