Volkswagen

Sometimes, a car needs a full redesign to address a fundamental flaw. Perhaps it’s too small, or too big. Maybe its styling is stale or unappealing. Or perhaps its platform can’t support modern needs.

The 2020 Passat has revised interior and exterior styling, more standard features, and an updated engine. That’s a cheaper set of changes than a full redesign, and Volkswagen is passing those savings on to the customer. Is that enough to excuse the Passat’s old bones? Or are you better off opting for a fresher competitor? Here’s what we learned from our time behind the wheel.

Diesel cars have a bad reputation for being slow. And that’s because old diesel cars were indeed slow and this fuel type was usually associated with trucks and busses. Modern diesel cars are still somewhat slow compared to their gasoline counterparts, but there are a few notable exceptions. The eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf GTD is one of them and this new video from Automann-TV reveals that it’s impressively fast.

The Volkswagen Golf has been on the circuit for almost five decades now, but it is still as popular as ever. In recent times, it looked like Volkswagen is paying all the attention to strengthen its SUV portfolio, introducing a new model every year for the last four years in the States. This led to people assuming that the enthusiasts are left out to dry. However, the company re-instilled the faith by announcing the return of the Golf R after a small hiatus. Arriving as a 2022 model year, the new Golf R will be the most powerful Golf ever built!

The Volkswagen Golf is one of coolest hatchbacks out there, especially if it wears a "GTI" or an "R" badge. However, there’s one sports car feature you don’t get with a Golf. That’s rear-wheel drive.

The Golf has been a front-wheel-drive car since day one, even though some versions are offered with AWD. Ever wondered what’s it like to drive a rear-wheel-drive Golf? Well, someone from Finland converted a seventh-generation Golf to RWD and dropped a BMW engine under the hood.

For over 40 years the Golf has been defining and refining the hatchback formula. With generation eight, we get plenty of performance. And with the recent rise in performance in the hot hatch scene, the German brand had to bring a bigger gun in order to stay competitive. The Golf GTI Clubsport Mk8 is tailored specifically to the harsh terrain of the Nordschleife. Could they have made the ultimate hot hatch, or is it just an overly stiff grocery-getter? Let’s find out.

Volkswagen just unveiled the Clubsport version of the latest Golf GTI. While it’s not a big departure inside and out, the Clubsport cranks out an extra 54 horsepower and 22 pound-feet of torque and it’s 13 seconds quicker than the standard Golf GTI on the Nurburgring Nordschleife. That’s all excellent news, but if you were hoping for a beefed-up Clubsport S version and a new Nurburgring record, we have bad news: Volkswagen isn’t going to do it.

Whenever the Clubsport badge is attached to a Golf, you know that’s going to be a special car. In this case, the Mk8 Golf-based GTI Clubsport promises to keep day-to-day usability intact while it spices up everything else, including your weekend spent on the Nürburgring.

Volkswagen only recently introduced its first I.D. all-electric production model, but it’s been toying with the concept since the Dieselgate emissions scandal in 2015. Following its withdrawal from motorsport, Volkswagen developed the I.D. R, an all-electric race car with 671 horsepower.

The German brand first raced the I.D. R at Pikes Peak in 2018, setting a new record for electric cars. It also set records at the Nurburgring Nordschleife, Good Festival of Speed Hillclimb, Tianmen Mountain, and Bilster Berg. More recently Volkswagen gave the EV to F1 driver Nico Rosberg for a hot lap around the Nurburgring F1 track and the I.D. R sounds like a space ship under full throttle.

The paradigm shift towards SUVs and crossovers has forced automakers to abandon sedans and pour in most of their resources into developing new, budget high-ride vehicles. Take Volkswagen itself, for instance. The company has launched four SUVs in less than half-a-decade, but that didn’t deter it from introducing a fifth product in the series.

The company has unveiled a new compact crossover for the U.S. market called the Taos. The Taos will slot below the Tiguan in the automaker’s lineup and will take on the likes of Jeep Compass and Subaru Crosstrek. Can it make a name for itself and co-exist without affecting the Tiguan’s sales?

With the Volkswagen ID.4 revealed, we’re naturally wondering what’s coming next. Knowing Volkswagen, and the fact that the ID.4 and ID.3 share the same MEB architecture, a handful of electric models will probably share the same bones. So, why not an ID-based truck? Well, rendering artist KDesign AG was thinking the same thing and threw together the renderings you see here. Overall, it doesn’t look too bad at all, really.

The Volkswagen ID.4 – the first ID EV model to make its way to U.S. shores, has finally been revealed, and it looks to compete in a cut-throat segment. Riding on VW’s new MEB architecture, the same underpinnings that supports the ID.3 hatch, the ID.4 features an 82-kWh battery (77-kWh of which is usable) and a rear-mounted motor that’s good for 201 horsepower and 228 pound-feet of torque. VW’s press release promises a range of 520 km or 323 miles on the WLTP scale, which boils down to about 250 miles of range per charge in the real world. To help ease the pain of range anxiety, however, the ID.4 will come with three years of unlimited charging. In a DC fast charger rated at 125 kW, VW claims that the ID.4 can suck in 198 miles worth of electricity in 30 minutes.

According to VW, the ID.4 is capable of hitting 62 mph (100 kph) in 8.5 seconds and tops out at just 99.41 mph. Come spring of 2021, VW will offer an AWD model that will boast a total of 302 horsepower, an extra 101 ponies coming from the front motor. Torque, we suspect will be somewhere in the 300 pound-foot range, but that is purely speculation at this point. VW’s new EV does offer up 8.26-inches (21 cm) of ground clearance, which is said to be enough to handle “gentle off-road terrain.”

The inside is fairly basic for an EV, but comes off as a decent blend between modern design and futuristic tech. A driver-oriented infotainment system sits atop the dash with a small horizontal screen providing basic driving information like speed, range, and the like. Luggage capacity is rated at 19.17 cubic-feet with max storage coming in at 55.62 cubic-feet. Overall, the ID.4 could bring quite the fight to models like the Hyundai Kona EV, Chevy Bolt, and Nissan Leaf, but only time will tell how successful it can really be.

Volkswagen and Tesla have been having some sort camaraderie for quite some time now that seems a little more than just healthy, mutual respect. Recently, Elon Musk test drove the Volkswagen ID.3, and now, VW’s CEO, Herbert Diess, took a drive in the Tesla Model Y. This leads to speculations if Tesla and Volkswagen are joining forces, but the German automaker’s CEO put an end to the rumors saying there is no deal between the two companies. But, could the two giants tag-team EVs in the future?

The Volkswagen ID.4, the company’s second dedicated electric vehicle, is set to debut on September 23, but the German carmaker has already unveiled the crossover’s interior. Not surprisingly, it looks a lot like the ID.3, the compact five-door hatchback that Volkswagen introduced in 2019.

Perhaps equally popular and recognizable as the Golf nameplate is the GTI badge. It has been honoring the Golf moniker since 1976 and during that time, it became synonymous with fun driving as well as daily driving suitability.

Along the years, Volkswagen refined the recipe and it’s safe to say that the 2020 Golf GTI is the most advanced of its kind. VW never went astray from the FWD setup in the Golf GTI, but it had to find ingenious solutions to keep it relevant and engaging.

The Volkswagen ID.4 launches for the 2022 model year, and it will look like a modern-day vehicle, albeit with some minor EV twists here and there. But, it is riding on VW’s MEB architecture, which is, essentially, set to be passed around the company like a dirty diaper and used to underpin an entire fleet of models. We’re talking about small hatchbacks, midsize crossovers, and even large vans, so it’s a very versatile platform. Following the ID.4, the MEB structure will underpin the retro-styled ID.Buzz and ID.Cargo, retro-styled vans. Now, it looks like the Buzz and Cargo might not be so lonely, thanks to VW’s new trademark filing for the name “E-Thing.” Can you feel the retro vibe yet?

While we’re waiting to see how the Golf 8 GTI really is like, let’s take a moment and appreciate this unique, Golf 7 GTE called the GTE HyRacer. Developed by the members of a Volkswagen Retail Group Germany apprenticeship program, this is the latest in a rather long line of interesting one-off builds and it was supposed to take center stage at the annual Worthersee show in Austria. Sadly, the show’s been canceled due to the pandemic but not the project which did get completed and now we can share with you the result, a stunning prototype that one-ups even the Golf 8 GTI in terms of power.

There’s no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown a rather massive monkey wrench into the engine that is the auto industry. It’s been so bad that every time we turn around, we hear about another automaker that’s drastically down on sales. Now, a new study from German website Handelsblatt, paints a crystal clear picture of how automakers are weathering the COVID storm, and I can tell you know, it’s not pretty. In fact, some German brands are really taking up the tailpipe.

The ID.3 is a very important car for Volkswagen. The company is aiming to capture a strong market share in the EV segment with this product, and even pitting it against the likes of the Tesla Model 3. The ID.3 looks futuristic and is pretty spacious on the inside. And, it even comes with a host of new tech features. But, it is as good in real-world conditions as it sounds on paper? German YouTube channel Autogefühl has a brutally honest review on this new EV for us.

It has barely been a month since Volkswagen revealed the refreshed Arteon and Arteon shooting brake. As a model that just landed in the States two years ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if you haven’t paid it much attention, and that means you probably didn’t know that there’s also an Arteon R – a mid-level performance car with more than 300 horsepower. Sounds great, right? Well, if you live in the United States, that’s too bad, because it’s our latest forbidden fruit.

Two years ago, we reported that the VW Beetle was going to die and would never come back. Then, come late-2018 and the Beetle’s demise became a confirmed fact. Part of that coverage indicated that the Beetle would be replaced, in part, by the I.D. Buzz E.V. and the T-Roc subcompact crossover. It was also reported that the Beetle would return as an electric four-door, but given the introduction and push of VW’s new I.D. range of vehicles, that didn’t make a lot of sense. Until now, that is, as VW has filed trademark for a number of names with the European Union Intellectual Property Office, including “e-Beetle.” Here we go again, folks.

If you’re from China and you’re in the market for a new four-door sedan, you might want to steer clear of the Volkswagen Passat. The German sedan of Chinese roots was recently subjected to a safety test by China’s C-IASI (that’s the country’s equivalent of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety), and to the surprise of many, the Passat recorded one of the worst performances of any car in the crash test.

A video of the C-IASI’s crashworthiness assessment shows the Passat undergoing several crash tests that end in a similar fashion: the sedan gets beaten up pretty badly. The Chinese Passat’s poor performance in the crash tests has bought into question the quality of the model relative to Passat models that aren’t built in China, including Passat models that have received good safety ratings in American crash tests. Is this a case of one Passat being much safer than the other?