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Yeah, I think the "innovation" is that they've made a car radio as smart as a laser printer. Stick a USB key into the front of it, tell it to "print" the firmware file and bam, firmware upgraded.

I would bet anything that you can't upgrade the car's ECU via the USB port.

Seriously though, there is nothing "innovative" about this. Other car manufacturers have been doing that for years (offering updates for stuff like navigation / car infotainment via USB, so that the car owner can do the update himself). Just as an example, here's the download page of Volkswagen (I am sure other car companies are doing the same): http://www.volkswagen.de/de/servicezubehoer/VolkswagenOriginalZubehoer2/Downloads/Software-Updates_und_Anleitungen.html

It is really sad that people in the US do not like diesel cars. Where they use their big SUV because they need space for kids and stuff, we here e.g. in Germany use stuff like the Touran ( http://www.volkswagen.de/vwcms/master_public/virtualmaster/de3/modelle/touran.html ) which has more than enough space for a family with 3 kids AND all the stuff they want to lug around for a holiday. And it is available with the same engines as a Golf, e.g. a 170hp TDI or a 105hp TDI Bluemotion, so it gets similar fuel economy (e.g. 6.6l / 100km for the 170hp diesel). I have looked at the US Volkswagen website, and it seems they have the "Routan", which looks like the Touran, but they only offer big fat petrol engines with 18-20 mpg. Sad. And silly. The 3.8l/197hp engine they offer on the US Volkswagen page makes the car go from 0 to 60 in 10.2s, while the German 2l/170hp diesel makes the German Touran go from 0 to 100km/h in 9.0s.

I drive a VW Touran 1.9 TDI (77kw/105hp) which uses 5.6l/100km Diesel combined (data from my car computer, 5.9l/100km according to the data sheet).

'units' says:

You have: 5.6l/100km
You want: mpg
                reciprocal conversion
                * 42.002604
                / 0.023808048

From www.vw.com I understand this model isn't sold in the US (I'm from Germany) and be aware that it's a Diesel engine. The (not really) equivalent with a 75kw/102hp Otto engine gets only 29mpg (8.1l/100km).

Here you'll find some pictures and technical data (in German).

I drive a VW Touran 1.9 TDI (77kw/105hp) which uses 5.6l/100km Diesel combined (data from my car computer, 5.9l/100km according to the data sheet).

'units' says:

You have: 5.6l/100km
You want: mpg
                reciprocal conversion
                * 42.002604
                / 0.023808048

From www.vw.com I understand this model isn't sold in the US (I'm from Germany) and be aware that it's a Diesel engine. The (not really) equivalent with a 75kw/102hp Otto engine gets only 29mpg (8.1l/100km).

Here you'll find some pictures and technical data (in German).

No, your parent was right.

The most popular car in europe, the VW Golf, is right now in its 5th incarnation, since about a year or so. I bought my own Golf IV in 2000, and it was already 2 years old then (my car, not the general Golf IV model, that was older). It is not a "98' Golf", though, but a "Golf IV", and nobody really cares about the production year, except maybe a local garage, when a certain part changed due to some production reason.

And that is really different from the habit of labeling american cars by their production year and the model name. It just is. No amount of "Puhleaaase!" can change that.

A smart car being an extreme example and vw lupo being an example of a smaller, more economical car with better use of interior space...

I'd think that if a car maker had a 78MPG car, they'd produce it worldwide.

You said 78 intentionally? Because they do. Volkswagen is making the Lupo 3L TDI who run 100km with 3 liters in normal conditions (reglementations on fuel consumption are accurate, I am regulary below when I drive slowly). This is exactly 78.4 MPG.

Here it is in german and in french.

No the pickup isn't spectacular. It's a 4 cylinder engine and a small one. Total HP is somewhere around 90 *I think*. You don't buy this for power.

You truly are north american ;) There are cars sold in europe with half the Horse Power (think Smart or Lupo).

I'd LOVE to make my next car a diesel - i'm impressed with the progress they're making in the European market. The mileage and durability seem good, and the ability to run biodiesel/veg oil would be a great bonus. I just with they'd send more models to the states.

I didn't have a lot of time to shop when i bought my current Golf, so i never got a chance to test out the TDI. I'm driving a turbo(1.8 gas) Golf now and love it, but will be buying either a van or larger station wagon in a couple of years (2 kids) and i'd want something more efficient than a typical gas v6. I've talked to a local VW dealer, and the Passats (presumably wagons too) will have their new tdi engine.

Even better would be a VW van such as the Sharan in a diesel, but there doesn't seem to be much hope that they'll make it here any time soon. Unfortunately, Mercedes stopped selling their excellent diesels here about 4-5 years ago.

On the plus side, i'm seeing quite a few VW TDIs around here (Twin Cities), so my initial fears of winter driveability seem to be unfounded. There are also quite a few hybrids around here though i haven't had a chance to drive one myself.

I'm sure at least some do it already...

With places like Mercedes it's quite common in Germany at least that after you ordered your car (and waited a couple of weeks) you actually go to the factory, get a tour, and then pick up "your" car that was manufactured as you specified.

I'm sure other car-makers are similarly capable of producing custom made cars... eg
VW or
Smart

and many others... I think the difference for this guy is that he will source components from lots of different manufacturers, though i'm not sure how that's better than VW or DaimlerChrysler who also choose their components from sub-contractors and get them cheap in bulk

Ponxx

There really isn't much to do in the way of research here. Most of the major manufacturers list their affiliations on their web sites.

• Ford makes it easy. They list their brands right on the front page. Along with the previously mentioned Volvo, Jaguar, and Mazda, there's the surprise of Aston Martin (think it was a coincidence that the major cars in the last Bond movie were a Ford, a Jaguar, and an Aston Martin?).
• GM makes you have to look a little more. Aside from the previously mentioned Opel, Isuzu, and Suzuki, GM also has ties to Fiat and Subaru, as well as owning Saab. (Toyota isn't listed, but I mentioned it before because Toyota sells the Cavalier under the Toyota brand in Japan.)
• Chrysler/Dodge make you work harder. You have to know that they're part of Daimler-Chrysler, and then you'll see that they not only have Chrysler, Dodge, and Mercedes Benz, but also Maybach and Jeep as well as "strategic relationships" with Mitsubishi and Hyundai.
• Similarly, Volkswagen makes it pretty difficult to find their list of brands, but it can be found. They're pretty small-time, only having Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, and Skoda alongside the Volkswagen moniker.
• Porsche actually makes you have to learn history before you can get to its complex relationship with other brands. For instance, did you know that Dr. Ferdinand Porsche founded Volkswagen on Hitler's request? Also, before Porsche even formed Volkswagen, he did designs for Mercedes and Daimler. Over the years, Porsche (the company) and Porsche Design (separate company, same family) have consulted for quite a few different firms. As well, ties to Volkswagen have remained strong (the original 356 was based around a Volkswagen engine, as was the 914; lots of parts in all models of cars have been shared with VW; and the most recent model, the Cayenne, shares a base platform with VW's Touareg).

I get laughed at for having a 1.9 liter 4 cylinder engine.

Volkswagen has a very nice 1.9 liter 4 cylinder engine for their Volkswagen Golf that is actually great fun to drive. This baby comes in at 96 kW (130 hp) in a 1200 kg car, getting you up to 200 km/h (125 mph) effortlessly, eating all of 4-5l/100 km standard Diesel fuel (1l gas is about $1 in germany, 1l Diesel is about $0.85 in Germany).

The minimum speed on german Autobahnen is 60 km/h (slightly over 35 mph). There are no sections with a higher minimum speed, but there are sections with three or more lanes where the inner lanes have a minimum speed of 80 km/h (50 mph), whereas the outer lanes are standard german Autobahn. The recommended speed on a german autobahn is 130 km/h (80 mph), and there is no general speed limit (although many sections have speed limits and the sheer amount of traffic in germany very effectively limits speed even more).

The top speed of the Volkswagen 1L car was reported as 120 km/h (75 mph during its 230 km (140 mile) cruise.

Volkswagen offers a 3L TDi version of the Lupo right now, which uses standard Diesel fuel available at almost all gas stations in Europe.

You can bet that security was a top concern for the designers of the 1L Volkswagen as well as for the Volkwagen Lupo 3L. Germany is a country the size of Utah, but with 80 million people living in that area. Also, because there is no general speed limit, speed differences on german Autobahnen are extreme as there are only two lanes per direction and there is no cruising as in the US.

Instead vans and transports crowd the outer lanes at 100 to 120 km/h (60-75 mph), while the inner lanes are occupied by personal vehicles running from 160 to 250 km/h (100-150 mph). If you have been learning driving in Nevada or Utah, you might be in for quite an experience.

Germany requires you to have at least 12 hours of theory (attendance required) and 12 hours of practice before even allowing you to take the drivers exam. After the exam, you are on probation for two years, about any recorded offense within the probation will see you at a drivers retraining... The cost for the aquisition of a drivers license in Germany runs at about $1000 to $1200 at the moment.

The minimum speed on german Autobahnen is 60 km/h (slightly over 35 mph). There are no sections with a higher minimum speed, but there are sections with three or more lanes where the inner lanes have a minimum speed of 80 km/h (50 mph), whereas the outer lanes are standard german Autobahn. The recommended speed on a german autobahn is 130 km/h (80 mph), and there is no general speed limit (although many sections have speed limits and the sheer amount of traffic in germany very effectively limits speed even more).

The top speed of the Volkswagen 1L car was reported as 120 km/h (75 mph during its 230 km (140 mile) cruise.

Volkswagen offers a 3L TDi version of the Lupo right now, which uses standard Diesel fuel available at almost all gas stations in Europe.

You can bet that security was a top concern for the designers of the 1L Volkswagen as well as for the Volkwagen Lupo 3L. Germany is a country the size of Utah, but with 80 million people living in that area. Also, because there is no general speed limit, speed differences on german Autobahnen are extreme as there are only two lanes per direction and there is no cruising as in the US.

Instead vans and transports crowd the outer lanes at 100 to 120 km/h (60-75 mph), while the inner lanes are occupied by personal vehicles running from 160 to 250 km/h (100-150 mph). If you have been learning driving in Nevada or Utah, you might be in for quite an experience.

Germany requires you to have at least 12 hours of theory (attendance required) and 12 hours of practice before even allowing you to take the drivers exam. After the exam, you are on probation for two years, about any recorded offense within the probation will see you at a drivers retraining... The cost for the aquisition of a drivers license in Germany runs at about $1000 to $1200 at the moment.

Same guy who named it named this thing. That's not German ... that's the model name. I swear.

Check out the VW Lupo TDi .

The mileage is "3 Litern auf 100 km", and this translates to, roughly, +78mpg.

Remember:
1US Galon = 3.789 L
1 mile = 1.609 Km

And you can buy it today... if you live in Europe.

I was almost willing to trade a little ugliness (Honda Insight) for some great gas mileage, but then I saw the car live at the dealership and decided it was really way too ugly for only getting 56/58 MPG.

The magic number European car makers have been aiming for is 3liter/100 km which is just over 70 Miles per galon. And there are some cars that will do this and not look quite as ugly:
Audi A2 1.2 TDI and VW Lupo as well as some little Citroen vehicle I can't find at the moment.
Bottom line:
1. these cars use Diesel to achieve this great mileage. U.S. diesel is too dirty (too much sulfur) to use in these cars.
2. There is no demand for these cars in the U.S. Please buy a Ford Excursion like all the rest of us brave citizens.
sorry.

All you looking at the performance and gas milage of this car, have a look at what powers it. Sure there's an electric motor which gives you the fast 0-60, but if you look at the specifications page, you'll notice that all that electricity is powered by a Volkswagen TDI diesel engine.

This is the 1.2 liter Lupo engine. Without the electric motor it gets 78 miles to the gallon anyway! Now while cars with this engine aren't sold in the US, one can purchase a Golf or Jetta with a slightly larger 1.9 liter TDI which makes 50 MPG, and generates between 90-115 HP. (with a torque peak of 155 lb. ft. @ 1900 rpm) 0-60 is a pathetic 10s, but 0-40 is a phenomenal ~4 seconds, which I find easily leaves a Subaru WRX or a BMW M3 in the dust.

(Yeah, that's me in my diesel Golf playing "the fast and the furious" on the streets of Boston twice a day.) :-)

Go here instead of here.
Secret windows code

Go here instead of here.
Secret windows code

http://www.volkswagen.de/international/english/ind ex_2.htm

They used to. The new generation of turbo-diesels are actually quite clean.

More interesting than the new A2 is the VW Lupo 3l in German or French - yes thats 3 litres of diesel per 100km!

VW proved their point by driving one around the world in 2000 and the average fuel used for the journey was 3 litres per 100km. Amazing