VW GTI Roadster Vision Gran Turismo

Following the sketches revealed last week, VW has lifted the virtual veils off the GTI Roadster Vision Gran Turismo, a car designed exclusively for the Gran Turismo 6 video game.

The Mother of All Parking Fails Happened Right in front of the DMV!

It starts with a simple bump to another car stationed behind, but this parking incident quickly escalates from a silly facepalm into a massive "holy crap!" episode. Seriously, you have to see it to believe it.

Hot VW Golf R Wagon Pictured and Filmed Running Around the 'Ring

There's something about heated up station wagons that gets many motoring enthusiasts (myself included) all charged up. Perhaps it's the allure of having a car that satisfies many needs and wants, including the one for speed, while also defying mainstream car culture – at least in the U.S. were estates are officially an endangered species.

Scary Close Call Will Make You Move from Your Chair

Brazilian college student and motorcycle driver Renan Ribas together with his cousin, who was riding at the back, are extremely lucky to be alive after a Volkswagen Polo that had just made a dangerous and foolish pass slid out of control on the BR-280 highway in São Francisco do Sul, this past Saturday, clipping the bike before crashing into another vehicle. 

Now, That's What I Call Quick Thinking

Once in a very rare while, you can luck out and get yourself out of trouble avoiding an accident the last second, just like the two drivers featured in the following (unrelated) videos.

After GTI, Consumer Reports Tries out Regular VW Golf Too

The Consumer Reports first drive of (a Euro-spec) Volkswagen Golf leaves nothing to question, just like the car itself. It makes it clear that you can’t really fault it on the mundane stuff (space, practicality, economy or drive), and that American buyers should give it more of a shot than they previously, as this seventh incarnation coming in early 2014 is bigger inside and out, yet lighter than before and very efficient.

The Golf, like most other US-bound VWs, ditches the 2.5-liter naturally-aspirated petrol engine as the range base, replacing it with a new 1.8-liter turbo unit that offers the same power as before (170 hp), yet a bit more torque, most of which is served low in the rev range.

As usual, whenever a car reviewer climbs aboard a modern VW, he or she raves on about how everything is nice to the touch and feels well screwed together – the new Golf is no exception, though I do feel that it’s a step down in perceived solidity from the brick-like Mark V model.

To me it just felt a bit flimsier than before, and the seat no longer goes down as low as it did in the older models thanks to the MQB platform (SEAT Leon and Skoda Octavia both have the same issue).

However, Golfs destined for the American market are not going to be imported from Europe, being built instead at the group’s Puebla plant, in Mexico.

By Andrei Nedelea

VIDEO

Ever Had One of Those Days When Everything Goes Wrong?

We certainly all know about having "a case of the Mondays", the "Monday blues" or as Prince wrote and The Bangles [sic…] vocalized, a "Manic Monday", but for this poor Swedish driver of an older Volkswagen Passat estate, Tuesday was just not his day.

Filmed here from a security camera at a gas station in the Swedish city of Falun, the man had connected the fuel pump to his car, and while he was waiting, he decides to check the fluid levels under the hood and use the water gun to fill up the washer.

From there on, it all goes…down the hill. Check out what happened in the video that follows the break.

VIDEO

Consumer Reports' First Drive of 2015 VW GTI, Calls it a Grown-Up Car

The seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI has been on sale in Europe for more than six months, but in the United States, the car will only arrive early next year as a 2015 model.

Given that the GTI is traditionally a high-volume seller in the U.S., Consumer Reports was acquainted with an Euro-spec model to find out what buyers should expect from the new GTI when it launches next year in the country.

As far as the design is concerned, the publication noticed the car has retained its understated looks, with only GTI enthusiasts recognizing that it’s a new model when seeing it on the street. First driving impressions are positive with CR praising the car’s “phenomenal” grip and describing it as a grown-up GTI that knows how blend fun and refinement.

The engine gets good marks too, although it doesn’t offer as much power as some rivals, while the double clutch gearbox receives credit for quick and smooth shifts. Scroll down to watch the review.

By Dan Mihalascu

VIDEO

Ford Focus ST vs. VW Golf R and…Subaru BRZ in MT's Head2Head

What are the criteria for comparing one car against another? Well, basically, they should belong to the same category; have similar performance stats and, perhaps more importantly, be close in price.
The new 2013 Ford Focus ST and the soon-to-be replaced VW Golf R that are featured in latest episode of "Head 2 Head" from Motor Trend are a match in two out of these three criteria: they're both compact hatchbacks and each gets a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 256hp in the VW and 252hp in the Ford.

Volkswagen Reveals Production Golf R Cabriolet in Video

It's been a year and a half since Volkswagen displayed the Golf R Cabriolet Mk6 Concept at the 2011 edition of the Wörthersee GTI meet in Austria, and even though the company has already presented the hatchback versions of the seventh generation Golf, it appears that the Germans will finally go ahead and produce the car.
VW released a video in which it simply states, "Take a look at the new Golf R. It boosts the level of adrenaline in just a few seconds and is now open to the top. The Golf R Cabriolet."

Scoop: MQB-Based 2013 VW Golf Estate or 2015 Jetta SportWagen

This fresh spy video from Spain shows the station wagon version of the seventh generation Volkswagen Golf that will be named the Golf Variant (Estate in Britain) when it is introduced in Europe in 2013, and Jetta SportWagen when it arrives in North America within the next two years.

C&D Puts the VW Passat Against Newcomers Ford Fusion, Honda Accord and Nissan Altima

It's the most popular passenger car segment in the U.S.A. with well over 1 million annual sales and four representatives in 2011's list of the 10 bestselling models overall, including the Toyota Camry that finished 3rd behind the Ford F-Series and Chevy Silverado trucks, followed by the Nissan Altima (4th overall), Ford Fusion (6th) and Honda Accord (9th).
We are talking of course about the mid-size category, which is the subject of Car & Driver's (C&D) magazine latest comparison test.
The publication took its previous winner, the North American market VW Passat (not to be confused with the Passat sold in other regions) that beat the Toyota Camry and Hyundai Sonata, and compared it against three newcomers, the 2013 versions of the Ford Fusion (to be sold in Europe as the new Mondeo), Honda Accord and Nissan Altima.

New VW Golf Mk7's "People Are People" Commercial with Depeche Mode's Dave Gahan

For more than 30 years, Depeche Mode has been one of the most iconic and influential groups in the music industry, churning out one hit after the other, and it is the sounds of the English band that Volkswagen chose as the theme for one of the commercials it has prepared for the European launch of the seventh generation Golf hatchback.
The television spot is named "People Are People" after the homonymous song from Depeche Mode's fourth album, "Some Great Reward" that was released in 1984.

Video: Jay Leno Takes the New 2012 VW Beetle for a Spin

Some guys have all the luck. Like Jay Leno. Not only is he a famous and wealthy TV presenter, but he also gets to drive a bevy of new cars well before anyone else.
After driving the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG E-Cell, which won’t enter production for another two years, and the new SLS Roadster wasn’t enough, Leno was also invited to VW’s headquarters at Wolfsburg to try out the new Beetle.

Yeeeee-Haaa! Fail Jump: The VW Caddy Edition

Many have tried, but few, if any that is, have succeeded. We’re talking about people who try to imitate the driving style of the Dukes of Hazzard, but who eventually end up in a situation that’s closer to what you’d expect from Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane than Bo and Luke Duke.
In this video, we see the driver of Volkswagen Caddy small van getting off the road to use a knoll as a lifting ramp… Do we need to say more? Watch the clip for yourself after the break (for a better viewing experience we propose playing both videos at the same time).

VW’s Force is Strong: German Brand Scoops 34 Awards in Cannes

Volkswagen won an amazing 34 “Lions” in the 58th International Festival of Creativity in Cannes. The German automaker, which came away with more awards than ever before (8 Golden, 14 silver and 11 Bronze), also won a “Titanium Lion” for the “Think Blue” campaign.
However, the star of the show was, of course, “The Force”, Volkswagen’s extremely successful TV ad that features a Lilliputian Darth Vader wannabe and the new Passat. This ad alone, which has been watched by over 40 million viewers on Youtube, won three awards, two Gold and one Bronze.

Greenpeace wants to Turn VW Away from the Dark Side, Launches Spoof Star Wars Ads

The rebel alliance from…Greenpeace launched a coordinated attack against the Volkswagen Group this morning by airing spoofs of the German firm’s now famous mini Darth Vader commercial, taking over advertising hoardings to install their own banners on billboards located in London and unleashing “eco-storm troopers” to protest on London's Old Street.
Greenpeace went ahead with the attack to draw attention to its concerns over the German company’s ecological record.
The environmental activist group claims that the car giant is “spending millions of Euros every year funding lobby groups who are trying to stop Europe increasing its commitment to greenhouse gas reductions from 20% to 30% by 2020” and calls Volkswagen to turn away from the Dark Side.

New 2012 VW Beetle Makes Music Video Debut in Britney Spears’ “I Wanna Go”

Ever since Hershey’s chocolates appeared in William A. Wellman’s 1927 Wings movie - the first and only silent film ever to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, the practice of product placement has become an every day part of our television and cinematic experience.
Volkswagen is one of the many automakers that has adopted this strategy spending millions of dollars each year to place its products not only in movies but in music videos as well. One of our eagle-eyed readers, Dallas Howell, noticed the product placement of the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle in Britney Spears’ brand-new, paparazzi-bashing "I Wanna Go" music video.

Alleged Dealer Employee Slams Ferrari 456 into an Oncoming Volkswagen Gol

A violent accident between a Ferrari 456 and a Volkswagen Gol that took place in Martinez, an affluent city located near the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires was caught on tape by a nearby security camera.
The video shows the blue Ferrari 456 after the driver lost control of the car as it heads slideways towards an oncoming Volkswagen Gol hatchback. The impact, as you can see for yourself in the security footage, is severe. Both drivers were taken to the hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.
Although we could not confirm this, media reports from the country citing police sources state that the driver was not the owner of the car but a dealer employee who was taking the Italian supercar for its technical inspection.

VW Salesman Likes to Bang and Jump on Doors

As the adage goes, there is no such thing as bad publicity and it is better to be reviled and even mocked at than to be ignored. In the case of Larry Roesch Volkswagon (that’s how the name of the German automaker is spelled on the dealer’s Youtube account), making the automotive ridiculist was intentional to grab some media and customer attention. And since we’re here talking about it, you could say that their goal has been achieved…
The VW dealer has published a series of intentionally cheap and corny commercials starring one of the company’s salesmen, Nick Pontarelli. In two of the videos, Pontarelli abuses a Volkswagen Golf GTI and a Jetta by forcefully shutting and climbing onto the doors to prove the cars' ‘German’ strength and quality. His final statement is “try that with a Hyundai or a Honda”. Watch the clips after the break.