Volkswagen GTI
First Look: 2013 Hyundai Veloster Turbo
Hyundai took the wraps off the hotly anticipated Veloster Turbo at today’s North American International Auto Show. The Veloster Turbo is destined to go toe-to-toe with the Volkswagen GTI, Honda Civic Si, and Mini Cooper S.
Driven: 2012 Volkswagen Beetle
It was a relief to see the 2012 Volkswagen Beetle in person, and to see that it, in fact, lived up to its name, forsaking the cartoonish architecture of the last-gen “New” Beetle. With its flatter, longer roof, lowered stance, and upright windshield, we actually felt the instinctual urge to slug the nearest person in the arm. Some of the amassed Bugs were sporting retro wheels—and they actually looked great! Looking at the group of 2012 Beetles in the Volkswagen headquarters parking lot, we found it easy to recall some of our favorite driving experiences on the rainy, meandering coastal highway of central Oregon in our friend Luke Frels’s 1974 Beetle. Clearly, this new car was doing what it was meant to do, which is inspire an emotional response to the vehicle—a wholly welcome psychological manipulation.
Winding Road Video: Volkswagen GTI Stock vs. Magnaflow Exhaust
Turn up your speakers, plug in your headphones, Winding Road has made an in-depth exhaust note comparison video.
Base Versus Loaded: 2011 Volkswagen Golf GTI
After toying around with various configurators for previous Base Versus Loaded pieces, many of which allow users to tack on enough options to nearly double the price of the base vehicle, it’s refreshing to be able to load up a car for just a few thousand dollars. Such is the case with the Volkswagen GTI.
Secondhand Gems: Cool $35K Crossovers
You’re not as young as you used to be. You may not be old, or even middle age, but whereas you once terrorized streets in a pimped out MkIV Golf GTI or atomized countless sets of rubber in a Camaro Z28, you now prowl the aisles of Home Depot looking for the proper shade of cranberry seat cushion for your seven-piece bistro patio set. That is, unless you’re packing the cooler with soda for the weekly little league game, or loading up the 2.2 kids, the dog, and four suitcases full of stuff for two days with the grandparents.
Volkswagen Unveils Golf R Cabriolet Concept
At this year’s GTI Meet in Wörthersee, Austria, Volkswagen has unveiled its Golf R Cabriolet concept. After displaying the Golf Cabriolet in Geneva, it has decided to go a step further and explore the concept of a droptop version of its sporty Golf R.
First Look: 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI
Volkswagen has unveiled a more potent version its Jetta sedan. The latest iteration of the GLI badge, which debuted in the US way back in 1984, is powered by Volkswagen’s familiar 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder, which it borrows from the Golf-based GTI. Power figures remain the same, with 200 horsepower and 207 pound-feet of torque sent to the front wheels. Gearbox choices mirror the GTI, with a standard six-speed manual and the optional (and awesome) six-speed DSG.
First Look: 2011 Volkswagen Polo GTI To Debut In Geneva
The three-door performance hatch’s 1.4-liter gasoline engine benefits from both a supercharger and a turbocharger, boosting throughout the rev range, and minimizing turbo lag (this is the same technology found in Europe’s MkV Golf GT). 178 horsepower and 182 pound-feet of torque are put to the wheels via a compact seven-speed DSG transmission.
Secondhand Gems: $17K Front-Drive Heroes
Front-wheel drive gets a bad rap. Not every performance machine on the planet needs a buffet of horsepower and torque driving the rear wheels. And yeah, torque steer can sometimes be a handful, but then again, reining in a Corvette ZR1 on an aggressive launch isn’t exactly a simple case of point and shoot. Like it or not, plenty of really great cars tend to be overlooked just because they’re labeled as wrong-wheel drive, and folks, that’s just a shame.
Finalists Announced For North American Car And Truck Of The Year
The 2010 North American International Auto Show is only a few weeks away, and the final ballots are being tallied for the North American Car and Truck of the Year Awards, one of the most prestigious honors that a U.S.-market car can achieve.
Keepers: Volkswagen Golf GTI Mark II—Community
There are but a handful of cars that truly enjoy a massive, worldwide enthusiast community, and the GTI is arguably at the top of that short list. It doesn’t matter where you are—Europe, Asia, Africa, North America; the GTI faithful are everywhere, driving the wheels off their little hatchbacks and loving every moment of it. As such, local and regional Volkswagen clubs are commonplace, and most of them have at least some sort of connection to a small online villa called VW Vortex.
Keepers: Volkswagen Golf GTI Mark II—Shopping
Locating a Mark II GTI in stock condition is about as difficult as eating chocolate pudding with chopsticks. The situation is further complicated by age; the newest Mark II GTI is still 17 years old, so when shopping for a GTI, standard used-car guidelines should be followed to the letter. The good news is that these cars are generally available in good condition for less than $5000, with “project cars” going for even less.
Keepers: Volkswagen Golf GTI Mark II
Browse through the pages of just about any history book on performance vehicles, and the term “hot hatch” will inevitably show up, usually in close proximity to the letters GTI. The formula is a familiar one—take a rather unassuming, practical car, add performance goodness, and simmer until frothy and delicious. Volkswagen followed this recipe back in 1976 with the Rabbit, turning the small, three-door hatchback into a pocket-rocket GTI. It wasn’t a terribly fast car, but it made all the right noises while offering ballet-dancer balance and super-glue grip. The term “hot hatch” was born, though six years would pass before that first-generation, Mark I GTI (renamed Golf for the domestic market) would hit U.S. shores. It was replaced just two years later by its slightly larger, slightly more powerful successor, the Golf GTI Mark II.
Driven: 2010 Mazdaspeed3
Our love of the Mazdaspeed3 can be traced back with a very exact timeline, as it first bloomed about 30 seconds after we ignited the engine on our maiden voyage in it. Back in October of 2006 we lauded the first generation Speed3 as, “The most complete front-drive compact yet,” and were left certainly stunned at the car’s combination of price and performance. Three years and one generation on, and we’re tempted to conclude that Mazda still has the best thing going in the hot hatch game, by a long shot, though clearly not a car that is all things to all people. Which is probably a good thing.
Driven: 2008 BMW 123d
America would really like this car. The BMW 1-Series is a fantastic little creature, and we like it so much that it earned the honor of being one of our favorite cars in 2008. Furthermore, the American automotive marketplace is in dire need of more fuel-efficient vehicles, and we’re slowly starting to see clean diesel cars trickle into our pond from BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen. Looking past the oil-burning powerplant, the 1-Series hatchback configuration is incredibly more useful than the lonely coupe and convertible options that we have currently. Americans are finally starting to warm up to the idea of hatchbacks and small wagons—it’s now a well-known fact that SUVs are not the only useful tool for $200 grocery loads. What’s more, we think America would find much more to like about a small, useful five-door than the seemingly unnecessary BMW X6 or even the upcoming 5-Series GT, which don’t provide much in the way of space or utility, and carry ultra-premium price points.
Driven: 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt SS Coupe
When General Motors introduced the first Chevrolet Cobalt SS for 2005, it was praised within the sport compact scene for its supercharged power and relatively cheap price point, though the car didn’t really have the overall refinement to make it something extra special. Thus, Chevy has gone back to the drawing board and come up with something it can really be proud of. This latest addition to the Cobalt lineup was tuned and tested on Germany’s Nürburgring and finally has the power and poise to be taken seriously as a true performance car.
Categories
Most Popular
