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Last Monday I was at the 21st century Beetle Launch training. Trainers travel across the country with  semi truck, tents, a LOT of traffic cons, and of course cars.

Some Beetle history: Volkswagen Type 1, also known as Beetle or a Bug holds a few records, such as longest production car, and a few titles, such as Most influential car of the 20th century, Ugliest car ever, etc. Say what you will – this car made history.

In 1994, Volkswagen unveiled the Concept One, a “retro”-themed concept car with a resemblance to the original Beetle.  It was meant to be developed as an electric car, but public reaction was so strong that VW decided to make a production version which was launched as the New Beetle in 1998. With some quality problems in the first years – still the car yet again made history starting a wave of retro cars – PT Cruiser, MINI, and a few American cars that were not as successful – Chevrolet SS and Ford Thunderbird come to mind. The car went only through one facelift going from MK4 to MK5, but it looked the same, save different mirrors and lights.

And now history is about to be made – again.

Here are my (and others) overall impressions of this car: They did with the Beetle what they should have done with Jetta and the Passat. The car looks, feels and drives great – like a modern, 21st century VW should. If you wanted a Sirocco in US – Beetle is your answer. If you are thinking about a GTI, but don’t need much space and 4 doors – you have to check out Beetle Turbo. If you like the new TT, but need a bit more room – you know what I am going to say by now. As someone said it: “It’s a Beetle, not a Bug”.

Let’s talk about looks:

The car is lower, wider, not as bubbly as the New Beetle, and it looks more like the original. Remember that Porsche was built on the original Beetle, so it is natural to see the resemblance. The car looks very proportional, masculine and sporty.

Base models come with steel wheels in a couple of different variations, but they look great on the car:

Door windows are frame-less,only the mirror housing stands out while also serving as a space for a speaker.

Interior:

Exterior paint is seen through interior – doors, dashboard and steering wheel. There are two gloveboxes – a conventional one with the iPod cable inside, and a higher one, more retro-styled with less space inside.

As always – there is plenty of room in the front, a little bit more shoulder room than the old one. Even though the roof line is lower – I can’t imagine anyone not having enough head room. Backseat room is better than the old one, special configuration of the hatchback allows for tall people to have enough head room.

There is more room in the trunk, it is deeper, and rear seats now split 50/50.

Spare is a space saver. With Fender sound system – subwoofer is placed on the right side of the trunk. Unlike the old model – hatchback can be opened by using the logo, just like Golf.

Driving experience:

We got to drive both Beetle 2.5 and Turbo on a slalom course, with no limitation on speed, as long as we stayed withing cones. The comparison drive put Beetle against Fiat 500, Scion tC and MINI S. My guess is that at VW Academy someone decided that they have to have a comparison drive, and then they just randomly picked up some cars, because it is hard to classify the Beetle. I guess MINI would be a comparable car in terms of cross-shopping, but not MINI S, and the other two didn’t make a lot of sense. Fiat 500 is tiny, and it will go against Honda Hit and the like, Scion is about 8″ longer, and MINI S is awesome as it is – should go against GTI, not a Beetle. But we got to try them, and I guess it is good to have some frame of reference.

2.5 is a known powertrain, but it important to mention that Beetle never got the 170 Hp version that Jetta and Golf have – until now. Pair it with a lighter car (2012 Beetle is less than 3,000 lbs., less than Scion tC), stiffer body, wider stance – it was fun to drive, it shifted at the right places, brakes felt fine.

The Turbo version was just a blast. O the second run I put DSG in manual, but didn’t bother to shift it, so it shifted automatically around 7,000 RPM. Turbo comes with the same XDS diffirential that GTI has and electromechanical steering. I will say it again – this car will give a good run for the money to GTI, and any car that tries to compete with it.

More about Turbo: it will be distinguished by side sills, spoiler, 18″ wheels and 2-tone mirror housings. Our pre-production cars didn’t have it, but in later production Turbo will have the performance dials – boost, temperature and a stopwatch:

Stuff:

There will be 3 powertrains: 2.5, 2.0T and TDI. First two will be available with manual, and I am hoping for manual TDI option as well.

Standard options: Bluetooth,  17″ wheels, heated seats, iPod interface.

2.5 with sunroof will include panoramic roof, KESSY, MFI steering wheel, Premium 8 sound and armrest.

2,.5 with sunroof, sound and Nav will add RNS 315, Fender and 18″‘s.

Turbo comes with sport suspension, large disc brakes, 18″ alloy wheels, dual exhaust,, alloy pedals and fog lights.

Sunroof and Sound package will add KESSY, MFI steering wheels, sunroof, Premium 8 with Fender and armrest, and Nav package will add RNS 315 and leather seats.

There are a coulple of Launch versions for Turbo – Black Turbo for pre-order only, and White Turbo which is not available yet.

Here is a video walk-around, I apologize for the wind noise and the length – somehow my memory got full, and it was cut short:

Please feel free to email or call me with specific questions, and I will make more videos once we get our demo cars.

I got back from Atlanta last night, where I went with the first group for Passat Launch training. The training consisted of two parts – getting to know the new 2012 Passat, and a tour of the brand new VW factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Since these two topics are somewhat separated – I will start from the factory.

Volkswagen Factory in Channanooga

We were given an extensive tour of the factory yesterday morning. It was a pretty long walk, basically walked the full length of the assembly line – about 3 miles. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take cameras or phones with us, so I only have a couple photos taken outside, and two stock photos I found on line, that may or may not have been taken there.

The whole area in Georgia and Tennessee is beautiful – very green, tall trees. The factory has its own exit off the highway with highway overpass towards the factory and a dead end in the opposite direction.

Once you get off the freeway – you drive for about two miles through the forest and hills towards the factory, divided highway, 2 lanes in each direction.

This is me before going in for the tour. We had to wear long sleeve, helmets, clear glasses and headphones to listen to our guide.

The factory has been building cars for about a month, most of the were pre-production cars for training and press, and it is not yet at full capacity. They are still finishing up some things – you see people still working on construction, landscape, some areas of the assembly line. I tried to take as many notes as possible during the tour, and I will put them in in points:

• For those that prefer cars that are built in Germany – after seeing and hearing how it is arranged – I would feel confident buying a car built anywhere else. All VW factories around the world (by the way – this is 62nd VW factory) is run by VW in Wolfsburg, not VW of America. Passat was designed in Germany, and they control all aspects of the production. As I will mention later – they have quality control people that answer directly to Wolfsburg.
• Around 1,900 employees are working at the factory, which were chosen out of about 80,000 applicants – 42 per hire. I think there is an opportunity missed for a reality show… Among other facilities the factory has (gym, clynic, etc), they have German classes for employees, so they can communicate better with engineers and management from VW. There is also a uniform store, they have pretty cool uniforms such as jeans with VW logo, but unfortunately we were not allowed to shop there…
• Right now the factory runs one shift, but it has the capacity for 3 shifts around the clock, 150,000 cars per year, 31 cars per hour.
• This is an assembly plant, which means that it gets engines from other plants 2.5 from Mexico, TDI from Poland and 3.6 from Germany), pre-stamped sheet metal is delivered from US suppliers, and they put the frame and the body here.
• The assembly of the frame and the body is impressive. The whole process is done by robots – I think they said about 50 robots, which cost $30,000 each base, before they get customized. The image of them working, with sparks flying reminds the scene from Terminator 4, where Skynet builds terminators. I was happy to remember that April 19th, 2011 has passed, and these guys are not going to stop building Passats, and start a war against humanity… So these guys put the hole body together including doors, but the doors are taken off for easy access installing other components after the paint job, and they are assigned to a specific car.
• We could not see the actual process of laser wielding, because it is too bright and dangerous to vision, and this process is done in an enclosed box. It takes about 7 minutes to put the front end, B-pillars, side and roof together, which is 40% more than spot wielding, but this is what separates boys from men. Laser wielding is used in making of all Audi’s Bentleys and VW’s, while there is no American or Japanese manufacturer is going that, BMW is not doing that, and Mercedes is using laser wielding on expensive cars only, C-class, GLK, E-Class – are all spot-wielded. You can tell the difference right away by looking at a roof of any car: if it has a black plastic stip running on the side of the roof – it is hiding spot wielding. This is fine for building planes, where you want to have flexibility, but not for cars, where structural rigidity is important to improve handling and to eliminate road noise.
• Another process we could not see was the paint shop – it is almost a sterile environment, 100% dust free. They use a new paint technology – water based paint and no primer, which reduces cost, waist and corrosion. Hot wax is injected into the paint to prevent corrosion as well, which allows VW to offer 12 year corrosion warranty.
• The rest of assembly is done by highly trained people, which quality assurance overseeing every step. While walking by the assembly line, we heard loud music – apparently the line was stopped when an issue was located, and the music was playing until it was resolved, so everyone knew what was going on. Every station has a person responsible, with his or hers information and photo posted.
• The one phrase you hear and see everywhere in the factory is “Passion for details”. The biggest part of the process which was seen throughout the whole line was QA. Gap tolerance is half a millimeter (normal for car industry is one millimeter). All cars go through “Zebra lighting” paint inspection, where the car is inspected in three different lights, every function and button is checked whether it works properly, and every car goes through a dynamometer, which takes the car to 90 MPH, and checks the the transmission goes through all 6 gears at the right points. Every shift two car bodies are randomly takes aside, checked by computer and a sonogram against standard, and taken completely apart to check the wields, bolts and everything. An engineer employed by Wolfsburg takes one car every shift for full check – he takes in on a speed course, highway, city drive, and checks how everything else works. His report goes directly to Germany.
• Another major accent goes to efficiency and sustainability. All parts are delivered “just in time”, so there is no need for bid storage. Parts and components are brought inside through miltiple access points directly to the target work station, so there is less commotion inside the factory. The factory is built on a landfill, rain water is recycled, new paint process saves 50,000 gallons of water every day, and unused paint is recycle as well – the list of things they do to minimize the impact on the environment is huge.

The new 2012 Passat

Now to the car: I got to drive and ride in the car for the 80 mile and back ride from Atlanta to Chattanooga. We had the pre-production equivalent of 2.5 SEL.

Looks: the car looks very proportional and small – smaller than the Passat B6, I think this is mainly because it doesn’t have a huge trunk lid. Some of my classmates called it “Baby Phaeton”. Chrome trim line runs acound the car – on doors and rear bumber:

Lights and fog lights are integrated well into the front grille design:

Interior look like VW should look – clean, simple, high quality:

Ride: nice firm steering feel, very confident on turns, low road noise, neither floaty nor bumpy, even in the back seat. Back seat is very roomy and comfortable with plenty of head room. The trunk is big, even though it is actually smaller than the new Jetta’s trunk: 15.1 vs. 15.5 cubic feet. Still enough room:

Leather seats with swede inserts look very high-end:

Rear windows don’t roll all the way down, as it should be in a family car, and as you can see in this photo – for some reason you can see a painted frame from inside:

One huge problem that hopefully VW will fix soon – no AC outlets in the back. You do get air from under front seats, but competition, as well as Jetta MKV have it.

The key is the same as a standard VW key, except for the remote start button:

It looks like you can have both iPod adapter AND AUX input:

In the glove box you have the TPMS reset and the Valet button:

Armrest can be extended, but not raised:

Dash board is nice and soft, but there is a weird design element – a step by the windshield with same trim as the car – wood trim in our case:

Here is a video walk-around:

Performance – we all know what to expect from this engine. Obviously it is not the fastest, but it does the job well, better than Camry’s 4 cylinder, and it has a nice low-end torque, which makes up for the lack of horsepower. Of course, there is also the TDI and 3.6, both will offer better performance to those that require it. It was enough to get to 80 MPH on a highway, merge into traffic safely without even having to kick it to Sport mode.

We got to compare the new Passat against the competition on a slalom course: we had all brand new Camry, Accord and Sonata. Camry is very old now, it was the slowest of the bunch with scary kicking from brakes. Very floaty feel, which might be a good thing considering that it has the oldest owners.  Accord, even though it has 190 HP – didn’t feel fast, mainly because with the V-Tec you have to spool it pretty fast to get to good power. Handling wise – we were just scared to push it, it felt like it is going to lose control any second. The Sonata is the newest and the hottest right now, and it is pretty impressive – aggressive design, nice list of features and 198 horsepower. It felt fairly fast, but there was a significant understeer – after one lap my elbow started to hurt. It was not much firmer than Accord. One thing about lists of features: all these cars come with bunch of features, and that is what customers want, and how people compare them. What people fail to see is the difference in the quality of components. Look at navigation in any Japanese car, and compare it to RNS-510 (I will try to put a video later). Compare their Bluetooth system to VW’s, which gives you better sound quality, access to phone book and call history and voice activation. Compare USB or AUX jack with full iPod integration. Better quality equals more value.

I was able to steal a couple of minutes and record a quick walk-around of Camry and Sonata:

Here is a short video of me driving the car on the way back to Atlanta Airport:

It is this time of the year – we are making room for new year model. Here is what we have for VW specials this months:

Purchase specials:

2011 GTI, 2-door manual, Black Pearl Metallic

MSRP: $24,697, Sale price: $22,997 plus tax and license

2011 Jetta S, automatic, Platinum Gray

MSRP: $17,865, Sale price: $17,997 plus tax and license

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDI, automatic, Candy White, mat kit

MSRP: $27,185, Sale price: $25,997 plus tax and license

2011 Routan SE with RSE, Mercury Silver

MSRP: $34,610, Sale price: $27,997 plus tax and license

2010 Eos Komfort, manual, Reflex Silver, iPod adaptor

MSRP: $33,339, Sale price: $26,997 plus tax and license

2011 Tiguan S, automatic, mat kit, Reflex Silver

MSRP: $25,875, Sale price: $22,997 plus tax and license

Lease specials:

2011 Jetta SE with Convenience package, automatic, Reflex Silver

39 months lease, 10,000 miles per year: $249 a month plus tax with $0 down

2011 GTI, 2-door manual, Black Pearl Metallic

36 months lease, 10,000 miles per year: $299 a month plus tax with $0 down

2011 Tiguan SE, Reflex Silver

36 months lease, 10,000 miles per year: $349 a month plus tax with $0 down

2012 CC Sport, automatic, Candy White with black interior

39 months lease, 10,000 miles per year: $329 a month plus tax with $0 down

Purchase specials are not combinable with other offers

Lease specials are subject to credit approval, fees and tax extra. Vehicles are subject to prior sales, all offers are valid until May 31st, 2011

We got our first Audi A7, and I recorded a couple of videos. Enjoy!

Audi of America has released information regarding the US version of the all-new Audi A7 – a five-door luxury coupe. Later this month we will receive our demonstration car (watch for a video walk-around and a test-drive), we can already place sold orders, and cars for sale should start arriving by the end of May.

Highlights of the car:

• Aluminum-hybrid lightweight construction
• Standard Quattro, 3.0 supercharged V6 with 310 HP
• New navigation system – handwriting recognition, Google Earth navigation, online Point of Interest search, Wikipedia destination information, real-time weather and gas pricing and more.
• Audi first – heads-up display
• All the innovations that were introduced with 2011 Audi A8 – night vision, full LED headlights, Audi Pre-sense Plus, Bang&Olufsen Advanced Sound system, standard Audi Drive Select, etc.
• Rolling WiFi Hotspot

Pricing:

• Premium: $59,520
• Premium Plus: $62,870
• Prestige: $65,580

Standard equipment highlights: quattro all-wheel-drive, 18” wheels with all-season tires, Xenon plus headlights with LED Daytime Running Lights, Leather seating surfaces, 4-seat configuration with folding rear seats, Power, heated front seats with driver lumbar support, Automatic power tailgate, Audi drive select, SIRIUS satellite radio, Audi Music Interface, Bluetooth telephone and music player connection, Homelink, Keyless go, Power sunroof, 3-zone automatic climate control,Automatic headlights with light/rain sensor

Premium Plus: 19” 10-spoke wheels with all-season tires, MMI navigation plus with MMI touch and Google Earth, Audi Connect, Front and rear parking sensors and rearview camera, 7” Driver Information System and 8” MMI screen, HD Radio, CD changer and Jukebox

Prestige: S-line exterior, BOSE surround sound system, Advanced key, 4-zone climate control, Ventilated front seats, Adaptive headlights and cornering lights, Power adjustable steering column, Ambient lighting plus (LED interior lights)

Optional:

Innovation package: LED headlights, Audi pre sense plus, Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go, Audi side assist, Head Up Display, Night vision assistant

Sport package: larger wheels with performance tires, sport suspension, 3-spoke steering wheel

Driver Assistance package: Audi Pre-sense Plus, Adaptive cruise control, Audi Side Assist

B&O Advance Sound system

Again, we should have a car available for test-drive later this month, and we are accepting sold order.

We don’t know yet what exactly these cars will look like, but we do know how they are going to be configured. Here are the packages for 2012 Eos and CC:

2012 CC:

2.0T Sport: 2.0T, 200 HP / 207 lbs-ft TSI™ engine, 17” Phoenix alloy wheels w/ 235/45 R17 94H all-season tires, 3-spoke leatherwrapped
multifunction steering wheel, auto-dimming interior rearview mirror, front and rear power windows, power heated exterior side mirrors w/
integrated turn signals, cruise control, daytime running lights w/ low beam assist and “coming home” function, front windshield wipers w/ intermittent control and rain sensor, climatic single-zone A/C, MFD “Plus”, compass, electric parking brake w/ hill hold control, front and rear carpeted floor mats, Matte Chromium decorative inserts for dashboard, center console, and doors, leather-wrapped gear shift knob, analog clock, heated sports comfort front seats, 12-way full power adjustable front seats w/ lumbar, rear seat pass through, leatherette seating surfaces, Premium VIII touchscreen radio w/ 8 speakers, HD radio, Bluetooth®, Aux In, MDI w/ iPod® cable and music tagging, and satellite radio, ESP®, ABS, ASR, EDL, EDTC, TRSP, LATCH, driver and front passenger front airbags, front and rear head curtain airbags, driver and passenger side-thorax airbags, TPMS

R-Line 2.0T: Includes Sport features plus: 18” Mallory alloy wheels w/ 235/40 R18 95H all-season tires, shaded tail lamps, R-style front
bumpers and side sill extensions, aluminum door sill plates w/ “R” logo, fog lamps

Lux 2.0T: Includes Sport features plus: 18” Dayona alloy wheels w/ 235/40 R18 95H all-season tires, RNS 315 navigation system (deletes
HD radio) w/ integrated compass, fog lamps, heated front washer nozzles, climatronic dual-zone A/C, “brushed aluminum” decorative inserts for
dashboard, center console, and doors, chrome interior trim

Lux Plus 2.0T: Includes Lux features plus: panoramic power sunroof w/ tilting, RNS 510 navigation system, HD radio, rearview camera w/o
Park Distance Control, front footwell lighting w/ light strips in door trim inserts, Homelink®, “Zebrano” wood inserts for dashboard and doors

Lux Limited: Includes Lux Plus features plus: 18” Interlagos alloy wheels w/ 235/40 R18 95H all-season tires, Bi-Xenon headlights w/ AFS

Vr6 4-Motion Executive 3.6: Includes Lux Limited features plus: 3.6L, 280 HP / 265 lbs-ft VR6 engine w/ 4Motion four-wheel drive, 18” polished Interlagos alloy wheels w/ 235/40 R18 95H all-season tires, headlight washer system, 3-spoke leather-wrapped multifunction steering wheel w/ shift paddles, power rear-window sunshade, electrically adjustable/heated exterior side mirrors w/ memory function, rearview camera w/ Park Distance Control, MFD Premium, 12-way full power adjustable sport front seats w/ lumbar, memory for driver seat and exterior mirrors, and active climate control, leather seating surfaces, Dynaudio® premium sound system w/ 10 high-end speakers, 600W amplifier, and DSP

Pricing:

Sport MT: $28,515

Sport DSG: $29,615

R-Line MT:$30,460

R-Line DSG: $31.560

Lux: $31,420

Lux Plus: $33,865

Lux Limited: $34,665

VR6 4-Motion: $40,390

Add $820 destination fee to all orders.

2012 Eos:

Komfort: 2.0T, 200 HP / 207 lbs-ft TSI™ engine, 6-speed DSG® automatic transmission w/ Tiptronic®, front disc brakes,
17” Michigan alloy wheels w/ all-season tires, hill hold control, black grill w/ chrome fins, electrically adjustable exterior side mirrors,
leather-wrapped multi-function steering wheel w/ audio, phone, and MFD controls, power sunroof w/ tilt, slide, and wind deflector,
front and rear power windows, “Microtech Anthracite” inserts for dashboard, console, and door trim panels, leather-wrapped brake
lever handle and gearshift knob, wind blocker, front and rear footwell lights, intermittent windshield wiper control, cruise control,
Climatronic dual-zone climate control, multi-function display “Plus”, heated front washer nozzles, compass, front and rear floor mats,
power driver’s seat w/ lumbar, comfort heated front seats, “Titan Silver” decorative inserts, leatherette seating surfaces, Premium VIII
touchscreen radio w/ 8-speakers, Aux In, HD & satellite radio, and MDI, Bluetooth®, ESP®, LATCH, airbags, curtain airbag system,
electronic alarm system w/ vehicle immobilization, TPMS, daytime running lights, front fog lamps w/ cornering lamps

Lux: Includes Komfort features plus: 17” Fontana alloy wheels w/ all-season tires, electrically foldable exterior side mirrors
w/ door surrounding lights and curb view, KESSY keyless entry system, real wood decorative inserts for dashboard, center console,
and door trim inserts, intermittent windshield washer control w/ rain sensor, power front seats w/ lumbar, interior auto-dimming
rearview mirror, leather seating surfaces, RNS 315 navigation system w/ integrated radio system (deletes HD radio) and integrated
compass, park distance control, daytime running lights w/ low-beam assist and “coming home” function

Executive: Includes Lux features plus: sport suspension, 18” Kansas alloy wheels w/ all-season tires, RNS 510 navigation system,
Dynaudio® premium sound system w/ 10-channel amp, 600 Watts, HD radio, and10-speakers

No pricing is available yet, but the cars are already in transit.

Here is what we are expecting to see from VW this year, by model:

Jetta: the NCS Jetta is going strong, sales and feedback from clients are great. The TDI version of the sedan already hit the showrooms, and GLI should come out around May. There are also unconfirmed rumors of Jetta Hybrid, we will wait and see about that.

Tiguan, CC and Eos: all three models are getting a facelift for 2012 year model, expect front design to be in line with other models, such as the new Jetta.

Touareg: new generation just came out, supply is getting better for all trims, except for the Hybrid – only selected dealers are going to sell them in limited numbers.

Routan: – nothing new, VW is spreading rumors about Routans selling well somewhere else, but we don’t see it here.

Golf/GTI: nothing new with GTI, we are waiting to see how VW is going to change packaging for 2012, but no word yet. There is surprisingly few gas Golfs being shipped to US, but on the plus side – we get a lot of Golf TDI’s, just not the right configuration, mainly base cars. The big this is the confirmation ov 2012 Golf R, here is what we know:

• 256 HP 2.0T with AWD, manual transmission only, 2-door and 4-door
• Pricing – about $35K
• Standard options: 18″ wheels, leather, Premium 8 sound, Xenons, Climatronic and Bluetooth
• Optionals: navigation, Dynaudio and keyless entry.

NMS/Passat: the word is finally out – and the new Passat will be called….. Passat! Why it had to be such a bid deal – I have no idea. The car itself will be a larger, more luxurious version of the new Jetta, as it should be.  More legroom, nicer interior, standard features will include Bluetooth, Intelligent Crash Response system and automatic climate control, options features will be two choices of navigation system, leather power seats with memory, keyless start, wood trim, upgraded wheels and more.

Engine choices: the base engine will be 2.5 (same as in the Jetta). The good news is the TDI engine for Passat, which looks like the powertrain of choice. Also there will be available V6 engine coupled with DSG – but no All Wheel Drive option. We will have to see how it will work out, because it didn’t really work for Eos – they offered V6 for only one or two years, and it was scrapped after that due to low demand.

Pricing will start from $20K, but a nicely equipped TDI model will probably be in the high $20K’s, and it probably will be the most popular model.

The car looks good, and it should be a success, unless something happens, like a big recall or reliability issues.

New “New” Beetle: after almost 12 years – the New Beetle is reborn… again! Oprah already gave away a couple of hundreds of those. The car looks more retro than the futuristic style of the outgoing model, lower, longer, and overall reminds more of the old Porsche (which was based on the original Beetle). We heard that VW toyed with an idea of rear-wheel drive, rear engine car, based on the Up! concept, but that it not happening, and the real thing will still be FWD, front engine. There definitely will be a TDI model, other than that – some suggest the old 2.0 engine, as well as 2.0T from GTI. I personally think that it will be more likely to see the same 2.5. There are also talks about Hybrid.

Last week I had the chance to learn all about the new 2011 Touareg Hybrid. The launch training was conducted in Henderson NV – outskirts of Las Vegas. We got to drive all variants of the new Touareg, and to compare it to the direct competition – Acura MDX and BMW X5.

So first, what is a Touareg Hybrid? The car is a parallel hybrid – meaning it can be powered by gas engine, electric motor, or both at the same time. It shares the AWD system with other Touaregs, as well as the 8-speed automatic transmission. The main engine is a V6 3.0 with a supercharger producing 333 HP (same engine as the 2011 Audi Q7 S-Line), and an electric motor producing about 45 HP. Both sources together will propel the car with the combined 380 horsepower. In terms of equipment – Hybrid will come in one trim level -fully loaded like the Executive package, plus a couple of upgrades, such as memory front seats.

The car can be driven in a few different modes:

• Electric: moderate acceleration and driving up to 35 MPH
• Gas: harder acceleration and driving at highway speeds
• Boost: full throttle, when both electric motor and gas engine move the wheels
• Coasting: once you get up to speed – you can maintain your speed with electric motor only, if you are very easy on the gas pedal
• Sailing: once you let go of the gas pedal at higher speeds – the engine will shut off, and the car will keep rolling using its own momentum, or gravity if you are driving downhill. At the same time E-Machine will use the movement of wheels to charge the battery
• Regenerative braking: any time you touch your brakes – electric motor will start working as a generator, using kinetic energy of braking to charge the battery, which in turn will help to slow the car down thus lowering the brake wear.

Vehicle information display will keep you updated in real time about the way the car is working:

Also, navigation screen will give you more information, car display has 3 different modes:

Energy flow display:

Fuel economy display:

Onboard trip computer:

Overall driving impressions: quiet, powerful and seamless. It is virtually impossible to tell when engine shuts off and the car is running on electric only, and when the hybrid manager decides that more power is needed, and engine kicks in. It is so quiet in all modes, that I was able to separate the wind noise coming from the outside mirror. Once you step on the gas, especially in Sport mode – there is more power than TDI or a V8 might pull, relatively quiet, and without hesitation. Another new sensation is driving at highway speed at 0 RPM:

After driving the Hybrid – the regular gas model feels slow (100HP less!). Another different feeling is braking – the regenerative braking makes the brake feel more sensitive, and if you drive slow enough – there is a sound that generator produces when the car is slowing down. We were not able to notice an weight difference even while driving hard and taking sharp turns. The vehicle is tuned perfectly, and 20″ wheels help too.

Appearance: the car looks the same as other Touaregs, except for one special color Tungsten Silver, wheels and Hybrid badges all around – front grille, sides and hatch.

Here is the video of the drive:

Some FAQ:

• They considered putting a TDI engine, but it doesn’t work as good with stop/start system – not good enough for luxury experience.
• Mileage is rated at 21 city/25 highway. Yes, it is less than 28 MPG highway for TDI, and if you are a highway flier – Hybrid might not be for you, but is is perfect for combined driving with traffic, frequent stops, and it is more powerful.
• AC runs off the Hybrid battery, but if you are stuck in traffic – engine will turn on when needed.
• Hybrid can tow the same 7,700 Lbs as other models.

From what I have heard – so far only 190 dealers have signed up to sell Hybrid, and availability will be limited. We do accept orders!

In conclusion I want to address some of the concerns of Touareg’s existing and prospective owners: a lot of people worry about the quality of the car and the service. Regarding the car – VW will provide 10 years/100,000 miles powertrain warranty, and 8 years/100.00 battery warranty. In terms of service – to VW Touareg is what A8 is to Audi. Loaner vehicles will be provided, special executive service team will be available, and dealers will do everything possible to exceed client’s expectations.

We shot a couple of videos: first one is a walk-around of a 2011 Touareg V6 Sport, and the second is a test-drive in the same car in Potrero Hill neighborhood in San Francisco.