Volkswagen Blue Sport Concept

Volkswagen Blue Sport Concept

The Maximum driving fun with minimal fuel consumption - This is the standard by which Volkswagen is starting the new car year 2009. The Blue Sport proves to be a compact and passionate car with a clear Volkswagen signature. The car offers pure dynamics with a powerful 180 PS Clean Diesel engine that is combined with the characteristic Volkswagen philosophy of efficiency.

The Volkswagen Blue Sport Concept is making its appearance at the car show in Detroit with a Flex Silver exterior and orange fabric convertible top. Its styling is clear and is reduced to the essentials; the car body itself has a lean and linear structure", explains Volkswagen chief designer Walter de Silva. The interior shows finesse in details and conveys a high level of technological fascination. Immediately visible to the eye is the intuitive and easy to operate touchscreen. Perfectly adapted to the interior are the leather upholstered seats in lightweight construction with their single-piece seat backs.


Behind the two sport seats of the 3.99 meter long Volkswagen Blue Sport Concept, a 132 kW / 180 PS strong Clean Diesel (TDI) with common rail injection and downstream NOx storage catalytic converter delivers dynamic performance. A 6-speed DSG dual clutch transmission - the most economical and agile transmission system in the world - transfers power to the rear wheels. In just 6.6 seconds the sports car is moving at 100 km/h; its top speed is 226 km/h. Also having a positive impact on the car's low fuel consumption of just 4.3 l/100 km and reduced emissions are two technologies that are part of the so-called Eco mode: an automatic start-stop system and energy regeneration. Together they propel the Volkswagen Blue Sport Concept to an additional fuel savings of up to 0.2 liter per 100 kilometers in city driving.

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Volkswagen Scirocco Studie R Concept

Volkswagen Scirocco Studie R Concept

It was a triumphant drive: in May 2008, three VW Scirocco GT24 cars lined up at the start of the 24-hour endurance race on the Nürburgring track. At the wheel: driving legends the likes of Hans-Joachim Stuck and Carlos Sainz. The teams drove two 238 kW / 325 PS strong race cars to a dual victory at the finish line, first and second in their class. Now Volkswagen is presenting a street version of the race car at the 2008 Bologna Motor Show: the Volkswagen Scirocco Studie R Concept. A genuine Grand Tourismo with a 198 kW / 270 PS engine that delivers aggressive propulsive power. This power is distributed by a 6-speed dual clutch transmission. Adapted directly from car racing are the coilovers, the four-piston brake calipers and a sound-optimized exhaust system with its oval, polished tailpipes.

Visually, in many respects the concept emulates the race car version. Take the front end, for example: here the design adheres to the motto "Form follows function"; it features three large air inlet openings that guarantee optimal cooling of the brakes and engine. The front splitter that was added minimizes aerodynamic lift of the front axle. Also adopted from the racing version is the engine hood with its auxiliary air vents.
The rear end is dominated by an integrated rear wing and distinctive diffuser in the lower section of the bumper.

The radiator screen, diffuser and underside of the rear spoiler are treated in high-gloss black, and this provides a strong contrast to the white exterior paint. Supplemented by a "Bologna 08" badge, red and green stylistic elements on a white background create an Italian tricolor. The outside mirrors are also coordinated with this color scheme.

The Interior
White and black create the basic theme, similar to the exterior color of the Volkswagen Scirocco Studie R. The seams of the Recaro racing shell seats, steering wheel, front armrest, gearshift lever trim and floor mat edging are designed in the colors of the tricolor. Inside, nappa leather in "Deep black" and "Berry white" is applied to the uncompromisingly designed racing shell seat. The shell seats are upholstered with a deep black leather in carbon look. An eye-catching feature here is the conspicuous yet refined contrast of low and high-gloss elements of the carbon structure. Interior accents also consist of genuine carbon composites. The footwell features aluminum pedals specially designed for this vehicle.

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Volkswagen Up Concept

Volkswagen Up Concept

There are cars that endure for all times. They are icons of their type, masterpieces of craftsmanship and technology; they put ideas into motion, make progress tangible and sometimes quite simply make everyday life better, more practical and enjoyable. Many of these cars carry the VW logo. "Bug, Beetle, New Beetle", "T1, Bulli, Samba bus, California", "Golf, GTI". Now Volkswagen is presenting - as a world premiere at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt - a concept car that once again has the right stuff needed to move more than just one generation. It is a small, pure and high-spirited Volkswagen that pays tribute to its environment. The overall concept is marked by an innovative, clear, intuitive functionality.

Concept
The up! is a city specialist, a car for four persons and all languages, for the job, the university, the drive to the beach and the excursion outside the city gates. A small car that shows a lot of size, because it offers more space than any other car of similar length (3.45 meters) and width (1.63 meters). Its engine - conceivable here are all facets of technology that can be sensibly applied - will run in the rear. And that changes everything: Space, mood and design.Walter de Silva, Chief Designer of the Volkswagen group, sums it up like this: "The up! is not a car whose form will become obsolete within a very brief period of time. It shines in its cleverness and yet is made with loving care. And so the up! is a clear and strong statement for future Volkswagen design." Furthermore, the team of designers and engineers has envisioned the up! concept car as the first member of an entire model line; other facets are entirely conceivable.
Exterior design
The fact that the engine of the up! runs in the rear has a decisive inf luence on its exterior design. That is because the up! has no classic radiator grille. It forges links to the Beetle. This fact alone gives it a great deal of independence. Dominant design characteristics are the headlamps that take an inward and diagonal line, between them the horizontally arranged air vents, the VW logo (as one of the few details kept in chrome), the tailgate that extends far forward and the smooth bumper with a circumferential black stripe as a detail of the "happy face" that is typical of Volkswagen.

The powerful appearance of the up!, despite all of its compactness, is emphasized by a very wide track width (1.42 meters) relative to vehicle width. The wheels are flush with the sporty outboard wheel arches and side skirts. The radial design of the wheels and surfaces extending right up to the edge of the rim make the 18-inch wheels appear significantly larger than they actually are.

The wheels that are arranged far outboard in the bumper areas reduce body overhangs to a minimum. All of these features are part of an unmistakable side profile with a very long roof arch as well as clear and large surfaces. Giving shape to its style here are the large doors and the lateral window surfaces, which incline sharply upward at the height of the rear wheel arch and thereby help to form the very independent C-pillar design.
Interior design
Mounting the engine in the rear opened up entirely new interior concepts. Relative to its exterior size, the space offering is exceptionally forward-thinking. The same is true of its variability: Except for the driver's seat, all other seats can be folded and removed. Since they are designed as light shells, they can be quickly stowed in one of the cargo areas - besides the front trunk there is also one in the rear - to free up space. Afterwards, the entire passenger compartment length can be utilized as a storage area for especially bulky objects.

To achieve the high level of seating comfort that is usual at Volkswagen, besides their ergonomic design, in the case of the up! this level of comfort is also attained by a simple yet very effective trick: Similar to a self-inf lating air mattress, air can be sucked out of the seat surfaces via a valve. This means that the seats can be adjusted 1:1 to the body anatomies of the occupants who have just taken a seat.

Intuitive controls
On its up! concept car, Volkswagen is presenting some completely new solutions when it comes to operator controls. Klaus Bischoff, Chief Designer for the Volkswagen Brand, comments on this: "Another reason the up! is so fascinating is because everything, every detail, was thought out anew. In the interior we have a touchscreen with new proximity sensor technology for controlling the navigation, radio, trip computer and climate control systems. It is operated absolutely intuitively. As a result, the most complicated functions can be controlled like child's play."

In the center of the instruments - equally easy for driver and front passenger to see and control - an 7-inch monitor shows the way that future human-machine interfaces will look and operate. Here all conceivable functions can be controlled via the mentioned touchscreen, which also reacts via proximity sensor to gestures, i.e. specific hand movements.

Menuing was restocked and reorganized so that people without computer science educations would be able to operate the system. The developers intentionally separated "display" and "control" levels from one another. Always shown on the screen is a control bar with standard functions such as climate control or audio volume control. Developers packaged functions of other higher-order systems - navigation, telephone, radio, images, movies, etc. - on a display level that has been referred to internally as the "main menu carousel" - a type of virtual carousel. It consists of the icons of different system functions (telephone, navigation, etc.).

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Volkswagen L1 Concept

Volkswagen L1 Concept

One of a unique Car in the world today is Volkswagen L1. It weighs just 380 kilograms a carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) body. The two-seater is powered by a new common rail turbo-diesel (two-cylinder TDI) and an electric motor. With its average fuel consumption of 1.49 litres diesel per 100 kilometres, this fully road-ready and extremely aerodynamic L1 (Cd 0.195!) is advancing to become the most fuel-efficient hybrid automobile in the world. CO2 emissions of the 160 km/h fast concept car are just 39 g/km.



The Drivetrain
The TDI, E-motor and 7-speed DSG are located at the rear, and they combine to create the most fuel efficient road-legal car hybrid drive in the world. Proof of this are its 1.38 litre per 100 kilometres fuel consumption and 36 g/km CO2 emissions. Serving as the primary drive source is a completely redeveloped two-cylinder turbo-diesel with common rail direct injection (TDI). It is operated in two different modes depending on the load conditions.


In the standard "ECO" mode, the 800 cm3 TDI develops a power of 20 kW / 27 PS (at 4,000 rpm); in "Sport" mode - used to reach top speed, for example - the car's power rises to 29 kW / 39 PS (at 4,000 rpm). The TDI's maximum torque is 100 Newton-meter (at 1,900 rpm). Naturally, the Volkswagen L1 also has a Stop-Start system that automatically shuts down the engine when vehicle has stopped and restarts when the accelerator or E-pedal is pressed.

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