2016 Volkswagen Passat Alltrack

SPECIFICATIONS:

year:

2016

make:

Volkswagen

Model:

Passat

0-60 time:

7 sec. (Est.)

Top Speed:

155 mph (Est.)

•  

The Volkswagen Passat has occupied VW’s mid-sized sedan segment since 1973. In the 42 years since, the Passat has become one of the company’s go-to models, evolving through eight design generations and a handful of other names in various markets — Dasher, Santana, Quantum, Magotan, Corsar and Carat — to retain its place in the Volkswagen hierarchy. Until recently, the Passat was built exclusively as a sedan , but recent trends in the industry gave VW the opportunity to shed the Passat’s sedan skin to build other body types. One such model that was born out of this transformation is the Passat Alltrack, a high-riding, four-wheel-drivewagon that bridges the gap between the standard Passat Estate and an SUV like the 2012 Volkswagen Tiguan .

The Passat Alltrack is in its second generation, and while it may look the part of a wagon, it functions like a true off-roader, thanks in large part to a raised ride height, permanent 4Motion all-wheel drive, and electronic differential lock. It also has a total of four engines: a turbocharged gas mill and three turbodiesels, all of which carry enough power to handle road conditions that standard wagons would have a hard time dealing with.

The Passat Alltrack is an interesting car that might command a following if Volkswagen makes it available in the U.S. Unfortunately, there are no plans for that, which is a shame considering that a vehicle like this could be a hit among American customers looking to hit two birds, or in this case, car types, with one stone.

SOURCE:TOPSPEED

VW Launching the Convertible Bug in Dedicatory Fashion

Volkswagen has a long history of doing things the right way, especially when it comes to the maker’s storied past. One of the key moments in VW’s recent history was the release of the New Beetle back in the late-1990s. In this instance, Volkswagen made sure to build a car that was new, but still paid tribute to its historic predecessors. When Vee-Dub redesigned the New Beetle in 2011, dropping the “New” in the process, it hit a homerun in terms of making it look even more retro, yet remaining modern.

Volkswagen is now in for yet another change for the Beetle and it is again paying direct tribute to its past. This new change is the upcoming convertible models, which will debut at the 2012 Los Angeles Auto Show in November. According to a Car and Driver report, VW is making three special edition Beetle convertibles that pay homage to its past generations, one for the 1950s, one for the 1960s, and one for the 1970s.

There is no mention of what each decade’s special edition will come with, but we do know that they will include: unique color schemes, custom upholstery and white-wall – yes, white-wall – tires. From what we can tell, these three launches will not gobble up every Beetle convertible, so there should be plenty of normal convertible Beetles available for those that don’t want a special edition.

We all have to stand and applaud VW for not being afraid of paying homage to its very humble roots as the “People’s Car” and a car that was not the most popular amongst hot rodders of the day. As soon as we know more details on these special dedicatory Bugs we will let you know. One thing we hope for are a nice set of dog dish rims that came on the Bug through its early years.

2011 Volkswagen Beetle EV “Black Current”

In the high-octane, torque-twisting world of the drag strip, a paradigm shift is slowly taking shape with the most unlikely of cars leading the way. Unassuming look aside, the “Black Current” Volkswagen Beetle EV by Oliver Young is an electric vehicle that has done some serious damage on the drag strip becoming the first street-bodied EV to post a nine-second, quarter-mile time. That time looks more impressive when you take into account the fact that this little Beetle once destroyed a Tesla Roadster on a drag strip.

While it’s not the fastest quarter-mile time ever posted by an EV – that title belongs to the Current Eliminator, which covered the same distance in seven seconds at 160 mph – the Black Current does hold the record for being the fastest ‘street-bodied’ EV in the world - at least until proven otherwise.

For now, though, Oliver Young can stake claim to this tremendous achievement and on a grander scale, he and his ‘Black Current’ Beetle EV are giving EVs the proper exposure in the world of drag racing, something that was unheard of as late as a decade ago.

Exterior and Interior

While the Volkswagen Beetle Black Current may look like a stock-bodied Beetle in shape and form, the Young boys made sure to add a few elements to make it lighter, including a fiber glass front, fiber glass rear wings, and acrylic windows. Meanwhile, the chassis used in the car is made of Full Chromoly that’s been certified to 8.50 spec to go with a standard Volkswagen Beetle front suspension and the interior paneling wrapped in rolled aluminum.

Performance

For an EV to post a nine-second, quarter-mile time is downright impressive, bordering even on the fluky if you’re a glass-half-empty kind of guy.

On the flip side, there’s nothing fluky about it, the Young brothers decided to outfit the Beetle with plenty of punch, including 450 Lithium Cobalt Oxide Cells (LiCo4) and twin 9" inline motors with two small speed gearboxes operated by solenoid. This setup is capable of gear changes in a fraction of a second. On top of that, the car also has a Manzatia Micro PFC30 charger and a custom built BMS with digital lithium regulators.

To ensure that their achievements are a result of speed and hard work, and not of happenstance, Oliver Young and his brother Sam ran the car a number of times at the Santa Pod Raceway in the UK, clocking an initial time of 9.82 seconds at 133 mph followed by a second run that clocked 9.51 seconds at 135 mph.

Pricing

Beetlemaniacs itching to grab a piece of this EV wonderkind will be disappointed to know that the car isn’t for sale and as a one-off EV racer, we don’t think it’ll end up in the auto classifieds.

Competition

As the fastest ’street-bodied’ EV in the world, the Beetle Black Current has one EV in its sights: the aforementioned Current Eliminator. While it’s got a long way to go before it can even sniff the batteries of the Eliminator - seven seconds at 160 mph is a mountain to climb - it does give Oliver Young a challenge at hand. We don’t know how long its going to take, but we certainly wouldn’t put anything past him.

2011 Volkswagen Concept Sports Car by Steel Drake

Volkswagen may have debuted the Bluesport sports car concept back in 2009 with hopes of producing it under the VW brand, but we highly doubt that anyone really planned on seeing it live and in production form. Then after the company announced it would shelf the concept until people started buying cars again, we thought it would be left there collecting dust until it was primed and ready to be published in a book of concepts that never stood a chance. Nevertheless, plans for the BlueSport are still in the works and graphic designer, "Steel Drake," has taken the opportunity to preview Volkswagen’s future sports car.

His rendition screams, "I’m the Audi R8’s forgotten younger brother," but Drake made sure to throw in his personal influence to differentiate it. Of course, that just left us with a front end that looks like it’s melting off, concave curves oddly place at the front of the doors, and the matching droopy taillights at the back. He did throw in some LED lights to try to balance the quirkiness with some normalcy, but that may have been a wasted attempt.

We don’t see this concept ever making it to the Volkswagen drawing table with their stamp of approval, but it does open the doors to what changes Volkswagen could make in order for their new sports car to compete in a populated segment. Ball’s in your court, Volkswagen. Show us what you got.