Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Volkswagen debuts tuned Jettas for SEMA

It's easy to get the impression that SEMA is all about unattainable and outlandish show cars, ones that will never see the street, but in reality there is plenty of iron (or carbon fiber really) from all sides of all ponds that we could see people driving on the street. And just to reinforce that point, Volkswagen has brought a couple of tuned Jettas to SEMA that could almost pass for stock cars. This being SEMA, all that really means is that you're not looking hard enough -- the subtle cars you see are probably sleepers.

VW Touareg BlueMotion hits the UK

Volkswagen has announced the VW Touareg BlueMotion for the UK Offering improved economy and lower emissions, the Touareg BlueMotion manages to drop in to a lower Co2 band by emitting 219g/km (a reduction from 244g/km on the V6 TDi) and it delivers 34mpg as opposed to 30.4mpg on the V7 TDi. These improvements have been achieved by the usual ECU tweaking, low rolling resistance tyres, some aerodynamic tweaks and a lower ride height (exactly the same sort of stuff that Ford has done on the EConetic range). And the penalty for the lower emissions and better economy is very slight, with the Touareg BlueMotion still managing the 0-60mph in 8.5 seconds and a top speed of  126mph.

VW group design future

By Adam Towler Motor Industry 23 June 2008 19:01 VW Group’s Design Director Walter De Silva shed light on the future direction of Volkswagen design during a lecture earlier this week at the old Fiat Lingotto factory in Turin. Extolling his own thoughts on design amid the current world – “constraints are what promotes creativity” - he described VW as being immersed in a process of defining their design language as Audi had already done to achieve the quality and diversity necessary. Audi design DNA was “understood by everyone in the company” he said, “right down to the smallest details”.