Volkswagen: Development and Technology News
07-25-2005, 05:34 PM
#41
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good deal. can you imagine being beat by GM in any other country besides the US? That has got to be embarrasing. If Chinese perception that the qualtiy is similar, or worse as it may seem, they are foooked.
can we hire that guy to come over to GM
?
can we hire that guy to come over to GM
?
07-26-2005, 01:58 AM
#42
Race Director
Unfortunately, most of the folks below this new boss are probably still in denial about how bad things are. The slow change mentality in the German culture just does not mesh very well with the swift changes that are needed in today's global economy. The only thing that will keep VW afloat are the home folk Germans who will buy the brand no matter what. But in other markets like the US and China, they'll just watch as the red ink mounts.
09-10-2005, 10:49 AM
#43
_____ like a rabbit
New Volkswagen Premieres Play Music from USB Sticks
Universal USB connection onboard
Plug in, drive away and enjoy: Take thousands of songs with you using pocket mass storage media
The opening of the International Motor Show in Frankfurt is just a few days away. Volkswagen will bring endless driving fun with the world premiere of the Eos coupé/cabriolet, the new R32, which is the most powerful production Golf ever, and other models. These new cars have a universal USB connection onboard: This interface allows you to control storage media like sticks and players, which can hold several thousand music tracks, with the car radio.
Volkswagen is the first carmaker to offer this modern feature for a broad product range: We will start with the Golf, Golf Plus and Touran and then next year USB connections will be available for other models. For the first time, you will be able to integrate all common mass storage media in your car. You can simply plug USB sticks into the built-in console in the centre armrest to play audio files. The radio will recognise the memory as soon as you select the CD drive as the source. Larger USB players can be connected with a cable.
Up to six music folders can be displayed as CDs one to six on the radio or navigation system screen. Any information that has been stored for the music files – for example, the number of the song and the timer – will be displayed. The scan, search and shuffle functions can be selected using the radio buttons as you would for CDs.
When you switch the radio off, the track being played will be stopped and will then continue when you turn it back on. The supported formats include MP3, of course.
Volkswagen Individual has also come up with a solution for iPods. There is a connection in the compartment under the centre armrest for devices from the computer manufacturer Apple. The new preparation for USB storage media can be ordered from December as an alternative to the CD changer for the Golf, Golf Plus and Touran. The prices for both system preparations start at 195 euros.
Plug in, drive away and enjoy: Take thousands of songs with you using pocket mass storage media
The opening of the International Motor Show in Frankfurt is just a few days away. Volkswagen will bring endless driving fun with the world premiere of the Eos coupé/cabriolet, the new R32, which is the most powerful production Golf ever, and other models. These new cars have a universal USB connection onboard: This interface allows you to control storage media like sticks and players, which can hold several thousand music tracks, with the car radio.
Volkswagen is the first carmaker to offer this modern feature for a broad product range: We will start with the Golf, Golf Plus and Touran and then next year USB connections will be available for other models. For the first time, you will be able to integrate all common mass storage media in your car. You can simply plug USB sticks into the built-in console in the centre armrest to play audio files. The radio will recognise the memory as soon as you select the CD drive as the source. Larger USB players can be connected with a cable.
Up to six music folders can be displayed as CDs one to six on the radio or navigation system screen. Any information that has been stored for the music files – for example, the number of the song and the timer – will be displayed. The scan, search and shuffle functions can be selected using the radio buttons as you would for CDs.
When you switch the radio off, the track being played will be stopped and will then continue when you turn it back on. The supported formats include MP3, of course.
Volkswagen Individual has also come up with a solution for iPods. There is a connection in the compartment under the centre armrest for devices from the computer manufacturer Apple. The new preparation for USB storage media can be ordered from December as an alternative to the CD changer for the Golf, Golf Plus and Touran. The prices for both system preparations start at 195 euros.
09-10-2005, 11:08 AM
#44
Senior Moderator
pretty cool. this also means you can hook up any hard drive to it, if you have one of those USB hard drive kits. 
only thing is, I think most likely you would have to keep the stock radio - i.e. can't switch to a different head unit...... no biggie though, I think most ppl who buy these cars won't be switching em out anyway.
only thing is, I think most likely you would have to keep the stock radio - i.e. can't switch to a different head unit...... no biggie though, I think most ppl who buy these cars won't be switching em out anyway.
09-24-2005, 11:37 AM
#47
Suzuka Master
Volkswagen and Hybrid Tech **New Mgt. Skeptical (page 1)**
September 9, 2005
VW to Build Hybrid Minivan With Chinese
By MARK LANDLER and KEITH BRADSHER
Correction Appended
FRANKFURT, Sept. 8 - German carmakers, which have long favored diesel engines as their primary response to economic and environmental concerns, are scrambling to develop hybrid gasoline-electric cars, as the sales of these vehicles soar in many places along with fuel prices.
Volkswagen said on Thursday that it would develop, assemble and sell a hybrid minivan in China in cooperation with a Chinese automaker - a move that underlines the Chinese auto industry's rapid advance into a complex technological area of automotive design.
A day earlier, BMW announced that it would join an existing hybrid technology joint venture set up by General Motors and DaimlerChrysler. It did not say when it would roll out its first hybrid vehicle.
Volkswagen's announcement is its first public confirmation of plans to make and sell a hybrid anywhere in the world. It said it would develop hybrid technology on its own, rather than with a partner, for Europe and the United States, according to Reuters.
The flurry of activity, analysts said, was being accelerated by recognition that hybrid vehicles could soon spread beyond niche markets. They said that German carmakers, because of their focus on clean-burning diesel fuel and futuristic technologies like hydrogen, were in danger of missing out.
Toyota, which dominates the market, sold more than 60,000 hybrids in the first six months of 2005. It hopes to sell more than a million worldwide by early in the next decade. By 2008, Americans will be able to choose among some two dozen hybrid models from several carmakers.
"Until now," said Arndt Ellinghorst, an auto analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, "the Germans thought, 'We can make it with diesel.' They saw hybrid as a technology that was just filling a gap. Now they're seeing that particularly in the U.S., they're missing a market."
While hybrid engines are in their infancy in China, the country's auto industry is adopting some of the latest technology from abroad and even seeking ways to improve it.
Several government ministries have been heavily subsidizing research by Chinese universities and automakers into hybrid-propulsion and fuel-cell vehicles, in the hope of leapfrogging Japanese and Western designs.
The Chinese government has been increasingly intent on energy conservation, imposing gas-mileage requirements on all models of cars, minivans and sport utility vehicles introduced after July 1, and preparing to impose gas- guzzler taxes, too.
Volkswagen said it planned to develop and build a hybrid Touran minivan, in cooperation with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, and begin marketing it during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Its announcement signified the first effort by a multinational automaker to develop a hybrid in China; Toyota has already announced plans to start building its popular Prius hybrid in the northeast late this year.
A spokesman for Volkswagen in Beijing, Kai Grüber, said the company had chosen the Chinese market for its first hybrid because it was hard to sell diesel-powered cars in China.
Diesel engines provide greater fuel efficiency than gasoline engines, and Volkswagen, like BMW and Mercedes, has focused on selling diesels in Europe, as world oil prices have risen in the last several years.
But the quality of diesel fuel sold in China varies greatly, with drivers in some cities susceptible to buying poor quality fuel with high sulfur that ruins the pollution-control equipment in Volkswagen's latest engines.
Some Chinese cities, notably Beijing, also ban diesel engines in cars, citing concerns about the emissions of particulates. Hybrids make sense in markets where diesel cars have no big share, Mr. Gruber said.
Volkswagen has already begun collaborating with Tongji University in Shanghai to develop fuel-cell models, and it said Thursday that it would work with the university to develop the advanced electronics needed to make the electrical and mechanical systems operate together in a hybrid vehicle.
Honda, Toyota's principal rival in the global market for hybrid vehicles, has not announced any plans to build or sell hybrids in China. But a spokesman said the company was aware that fast growth in Chinese auto sales might make hybrids attractive for the market.
For BMW, the decision to join the G.M.-DaimlerChrysler venture was driven in part by a recognition that more advanced alternatives to fossil fuel, like hydrogen, might be further away than it first thought.
BMW has built a version of its luxury 7-series sedan that runs on liquid hydrogen or gasoline. It hopes to develop a commercial version in the next three years, though it acknowledges that its market will be small.
"We recognize that the infrastructure and availability of liquid nitrogen has not developed the way we thought it would two years ago," a BMW spokesman, Michael Blabst, said.
As a result, he said, the company decided to add hybrid technology to a strategy that includes clean-burning diesel fuel and hydrogen.
BMW, based in Munich, said it had been attracted to the G.M.-DaimlerChrysler venture because of its focus on "two-mode" hybrid engines, in which a vehicle is powered differently during city driving than over long distances.
"Two-mode engines have benefits in short-range driving but they also perform well on the autobahn," Mr. Blabst said.
Top executives from General Motors, BMW and DaimlerChrysler will appear together at the Frankfurt auto show on Monday to promote their partnership. With oil prices still near record levels, analysts said the industry gathering would be dominated by questions about how the carmakers could respond.
Mr. Ellinghorst of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said BMW's decision to team up on engine design with two rivals was a "big concession," given its proud engineering heritage. But he indicated that it was a practical one because it would be too costly at this point to try to catch up with Toyota and other rivals on its own.
As for Volkswagen, Mr. Ellinghorst said he was skeptical of the company's plans to go it alone everywhere but in China. "I would have expected them to join up with someone else, instead of BMW," he said.
Correction:
An article in Business Day yesterday about German carmakers developing hybrid gasoline-electric cars misstated a word in a quotation about fuel from Michael Blabst, a BMW spokesman. He said: "We recognize that the infrastructure and availability of liquid hydrogen has not developed the way we thought it would two years ago," not "liquid nitrogen."
Mark Landler reported from Frankfurt for this article and Keith Bradsher fromHong Kong.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/au...pagewanted=all
VW to Build Hybrid Minivan With Chinese
By MARK LANDLER and KEITH BRADSHER
Correction Appended
FRANKFURT, Sept. 8 - German carmakers, which have long favored diesel engines as their primary response to economic and environmental concerns, are scrambling to develop hybrid gasoline-electric cars, as the sales of these vehicles soar in many places along with fuel prices.
Volkswagen said on Thursday that it would develop, assemble and sell a hybrid minivan in China in cooperation with a Chinese automaker - a move that underlines the Chinese auto industry's rapid advance into a complex technological area of automotive design.
A day earlier, BMW announced that it would join an existing hybrid technology joint venture set up by General Motors and DaimlerChrysler. It did not say when it would roll out its first hybrid vehicle.
Volkswagen's announcement is its first public confirmation of plans to make and sell a hybrid anywhere in the world. It said it would develop hybrid technology on its own, rather than with a partner, for Europe and the United States, according to Reuters.
The flurry of activity, analysts said, was being accelerated by recognition that hybrid vehicles could soon spread beyond niche markets. They said that German carmakers, because of their focus on clean-burning diesel fuel and futuristic technologies like hydrogen, were in danger of missing out.
Toyota, which dominates the market, sold more than 60,000 hybrids in the first six months of 2005. It hopes to sell more than a million worldwide by early in the next decade. By 2008, Americans will be able to choose among some two dozen hybrid models from several carmakers.
"Until now," said Arndt Ellinghorst, an auto analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, "the Germans thought, 'We can make it with diesel.' They saw hybrid as a technology that was just filling a gap. Now they're seeing that particularly in the U.S., they're missing a market."
While hybrid engines are in their infancy in China, the country's auto industry is adopting some of the latest technology from abroad and even seeking ways to improve it.
Several government ministries have been heavily subsidizing research by Chinese universities and automakers into hybrid-propulsion and fuel-cell vehicles, in the hope of leapfrogging Japanese and Western designs.
The Chinese government has been increasingly intent on energy conservation, imposing gas-mileage requirements on all models of cars, minivans and sport utility vehicles introduced after July 1, and preparing to impose gas- guzzler taxes, too.
Volkswagen said it planned to develop and build a hybrid Touran minivan, in cooperation with the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, and begin marketing it during the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Its announcement signified the first effort by a multinational automaker to develop a hybrid in China; Toyota has already announced plans to start building its popular Prius hybrid in the northeast late this year.
A spokesman for Volkswagen in Beijing, Kai Grüber, said the company had chosen the Chinese market for its first hybrid because it was hard to sell diesel-powered cars in China.
Diesel engines provide greater fuel efficiency than gasoline engines, and Volkswagen, like BMW and Mercedes, has focused on selling diesels in Europe, as world oil prices have risen in the last several years.
But the quality of diesel fuel sold in China varies greatly, with drivers in some cities susceptible to buying poor quality fuel with high sulfur that ruins the pollution-control equipment in Volkswagen's latest engines.
Some Chinese cities, notably Beijing, also ban diesel engines in cars, citing concerns about the emissions of particulates. Hybrids make sense in markets where diesel cars have no big share, Mr. Gruber said.
Volkswagen has already begun collaborating with Tongji University in Shanghai to develop fuel-cell models, and it said Thursday that it would work with the university to develop the advanced electronics needed to make the electrical and mechanical systems operate together in a hybrid vehicle.
Honda, Toyota's principal rival in the global market for hybrid vehicles, has not announced any plans to build or sell hybrids in China. But a spokesman said the company was aware that fast growth in Chinese auto sales might make hybrids attractive for the market.
For BMW, the decision to join the G.M.-DaimlerChrysler venture was driven in part by a recognition that more advanced alternatives to fossil fuel, like hydrogen, might be further away than it first thought.
BMW has built a version of its luxury 7-series sedan that runs on liquid hydrogen or gasoline. It hopes to develop a commercial version in the next three years, though it acknowledges that its market will be small.
"We recognize that the infrastructure and availability of liquid nitrogen has not developed the way we thought it would two years ago," a BMW spokesman, Michael Blabst, said.
As a result, he said, the company decided to add hybrid technology to a strategy that includes clean-burning diesel fuel and hydrogen.
BMW, based in Munich, said it had been attracted to the G.M.-DaimlerChrysler venture because of its focus on "two-mode" hybrid engines, in which a vehicle is powered differently during city driving than over long distances.
"Two-mode engines have benefits in short-range driving but they also perform well on the autobahn," Mr. Blabst said.
Top executives from General Motors, BMW and DaimlerChrysler will appear together at the Frankfurt auto show on Monday to promote their partnership. With oil prices still near record levels, analysts said the industry gathering would be dominated by questions about how the carmakers could respond.
Mr. Ellinghorst of Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said BMW's decision to team up on engine design with two rivals was a "big concession," given its proud engineering heritage. But he indicated that it was a practical one because it would be too costly at this point to try to catch up with Toyota and other rivals on its own.
As for Volkswagen, Mr. Ellinghorst said he was skeptical of the company's plans to go it alone everywhere but in China. "I would have expected them to join up with someone else, instead of BMW," he said.
Correction:
An article in Business Day yesterday about German carmakers developing hybrid gasoline-electric cars misstated a word in a quotation about fuel from Michael Blabst, a BMW spokesman. He said: "We recognize that the infrastructure and availability of liquid hydrogen has not developed the way we thought it would two years ago," not "liquid nitrogen."
Mark Landler reported from Frankfurt for this article and Keith Bradsher fromHong Kong.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/09/au...pagewanted=all
01-13-2006, 02:09 PM
#49
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VW Set to Sell Hybrid - - Source: The Car Connection
Volkswagen will produce a hybrid passenger car for sale in 2007, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal. The paper says that the new VW's hybrid powertrain will be a "full hybrid" like that offered byToyota and Ford, meaning that it can be operated in electric-only mode. VW will source components from Continental AG and ZF for the new vehicle; the actual model line that will be converted to hybrid technology was not reported. VW's Audi subsidiary has confirmed it will offer a hybrid Q7 in the near future, and a corollary Porsche Cayenne hybrid also has been acknowledged publicly. Hybrid sales are expected to grow by 268 percent in the U.S. in the next six years, estimates J.D. Power and Associates.
01-13-2006, 04:17 PM
#50
The sizzle in the Steak
Who cares about Hybrids?
<----Waiting for Fuel Cell.....hybrid is a stop gap IMHO.
<----Waiting for Fuel Cell.....hybrid is a stop gap IMHO.
01-17-2006, 06:20 PM
#52
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Volkswagen Will Make Moonraker Permanent
VW Will Make Moonraker Permanent - - SOurce: The Car Connection
Volkswagen's Moonraker Project will become a permanent part of its effort to better understand - and tailor products to - the U.S. market, brand boss Wolfgang Bernhard told TheCarConnection.com. The once top-secret effort, headquartered near the Los Angeles suburb of Malibu, was set to wrap up at the end of June, but will now be attached to VW's new advanced design center alongside the Santa Monica Airport. "It was an experiment for us, and a risk," said Bernhard, during an interview. "But it has paid off well."
There's little question the German brand needed a better sense of what American consumers want and need, according to Stefan Liske, who spearheaded Moonraker, and is now product planning chief for Volkswagen of America. VWoA sales have slipped in recent years, due to a variety of problems, including quality snags. To better understand what went wrong, and how to fix things, Liske gathered 25 low and mid-level executives involved in product development, sales, and service - all but one of them German - then based them out of a large house near the beachfront community of Malibu.
"I was frightened how arrogant the Germans were when they came here," Liske told TheCarConnection. But after months of meeting U.S. buyers and touring the country, that attitude shifted, insiders report, Moonraker team members gaining insight into America's attachment to the automobile - and the Big Gulp. The project is expected to have a direct impact on future products.
VW is likely to come up with specific new products for the U.S. market. An extreme example made its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show earlier this month. "The GX3 is one of the outcomes of (the Moonraker) project," noted Bernhard, referring to the open-cockpit three-wheeler he says could go into low-volume production in 2007. More mainstream vehicles could follow. The U.S. will now play a lead role in the development of products primarily earmarked for this market, meanwhile, such as the next Jetta, which begins development this year. Even global vehicles, such as the Golf, will be influenced by American tastes, Bernhard said.
Moonraker "will continue," Bernhard added, and not only out of the advanced design center in Santa Monica. According to Adrian Hallmark, the new head of VW operations in the U.S., the automaker intends to set up a replica of the Malibu Moonraker house at corporate headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. It will provide employees a place to go during product development to become immersed "in a bit of Americana." -Paul A. Eisenstein
There's little question the German brand needed a better sense of what American consumers want and need, according to Stefan Liske, who spearheaded Moonraker, and is now product planning chief for Volkswagen of America. VWoA sales have slipped in recent years, due to a variety of problems, including quality snags. To better understand what went wrong, and how to fix things, Liske gathered 25 low and mid-level executives involved in product development, sales, and service - all but one of them German - then based them out of a large house near the beachfront community of Malibu.
"I was frightened how arrogant the Germans were when they came here," Liske told TheCarConnection. But after months of meeting U.S. buyers and touring the country, that attitude shifted, insiders report, Moonraker team members gaining insight into America's attachment to the automobile - and the Big Gulp. The project is expected to have a direct impact on future products.
VW is likely to come up with specific new products for the U.S. market. An extreme example made its debut at the Los Angeles Auto Show earlier this month. "The GX3 is one of the outcomes of (the Moonraker) project," noted Bernhard, referring to the open-cockpit three-wheeler he says could go into low-volume production in 2007. More mainstream vehicles could follow. The U.S. will now play a lead role in the development of products primarily earmarked for this market, meanwhile, such as the next Jetta, which begins development this year. Even global vehicles, such as the Golf, will be influenced by American tastes, Bernhard said.
Moonraker "will continue," Bernhard added, and not only out of the advanced design center in Santa Monica. According to Adrian Hallmark, the new head of VW operations in the U.S., the automaker intends to set up a replica of the Malibu Moonraker house at corporate headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany. It will provide employees a place to go during product development to become immersed "in a bit of Americana." -Paul A. Eisenstein
01-17-2006, 09:08 PM
#53
The sizzle in the Steak
01-17-2006, 09:55 PM
#54
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I don't know what Americans these Moonraker guys were talking to that led them to develop the GX3. 
VWoA need to tackle the important stuff first and worry about their glorfied tricycle later - or more like never.
VWoA need to tackle the important stuff first and worry about their glorfied tricycle later - or more like never.
01-18-2006, 10:30 AM
#55
I'm the Firestarter
Originally Posted by 330R
I don't know what Americans these Moonraker guys were talking to that led them to develop the GX3.
02-09-2006, 09:08 AM
#57
Fahrvergnügen'd
Google Earth and Volkswagen develop Navigation System
(Reuters) -- Volkswagen of America Inc., said Friday it is working on a prototype vehicle which features Google Inc.'s satellite mapping software to give drivers a bird's eye view of the road ahead.
The two companies are working with the graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp. to build an in-car navigation map system and a three-dimensional display so passengers can recognize where they are in relation to the surrounding topography.
Volkswagen, working through its Electronics Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, California, in Silicon Valley, is working on other advancements, including automatic personalized information updates for the navigation systems.
The car manufacturer showed off the prototype car at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
A spokesman for the automaker said there were no definite plans to use the technology inside cars. But the collaboration between the automaker and Google shows the progress the Web search leader is making expanding beyond the computer realm.
Google introduced Google Earth last June as a free satellite imagery-based mapping product based on technology from Keyhole, a company Google bought in October 2004.
Google Earth has attracted controversy since then from governments ranging from South Korea to India for offering a potential national security risk as it enables anyone to zoom in on aerial images of landmarks such as airports.
The two companies are working with the graphics chipmaker Nvidia Corp. to build an in-car navigation map system and a three-dimensional display so passengers can recognize where they are in relation to the surrounding topography.
Volkswagen, working through its Electronics Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, California, in Silicon Valley, is working on other advancements, including automatic personalized information updates for the navigation systems.
The car manufacturer showed off the prototype car at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January.
A spokesman for the automaker said there were no definite plans to use the technology inside cars. But the collaboration between the automaker and Google shows the progress the Web search leader is making expanding beyond the computer realm.
Google introduced Google Earth last June as a free satellite imagery-based mapping product based on technology from Keyhole, a company Google bought in October 2004.
Google Earth has attracted controversy since then from governments ranging from South Korea to India for offering a potential national security risk as it enables anyone to zoom in on aerial images of landmarks such as airports.
06-04-2006, 11:13 AM
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Volkswagen developing entry-level car that could be sold by Dodge
Volkswagen developing entry-level car that could be sold by Dodge - - By JASON STEIN | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS - - Source: Autoweek
ATHENS, Greece -- Volkswagen AG is developing an entry-level car that could be sold by Dodge in the United States, South and Central America, and possibly Europe.
"Our engineers are working on a vehicle," said Reinhard Jung, VW's head of production, at the launch of the VW Eos coupe-convertible here. Jung said the vehicle program is a VW proposal to DaimlerChrysler. A final decision is a "long way off," he added.
A VW-designed Dodge is "a viable option," said a DaimlerChrysler management board member who requested anonymity. "We are talking about sharing technology."
This year, the two automakers completed a deal for the Chrysler group to build a minivan for VW in 2008 to be sold in the United States.
Jung said the companies have determined that the VW Polo subcompact is too small to meet Chrysler's needs. If built, the entry-level car would be new. It is not clear where such a vehicle would be built or who would produce it.
VW's proposed vehicle is "about the size of the previous-generation Jetta," Jung said. "But there needs to be a final agreement on the concept."
Jens Meiners contributed to this report
"Our engineers are working on a vehicle," said Reinhard Jung, VW's head of production, at the launch of the VW Eos coupe-convertible here. Jung said the vehicle program is a VW proposal to DaimlerChrysler. A final decision is a "long way off," he added.
A VW-designed Dodge is "a viable option," said a DaimlerChrysler management board member who requested anonymity. "We are talking about sharing technology."
This year, the two automakers completed a deal for the Chrysler group to build a minivan for VW in 2008 to be sold in the United States.
Jung said the companies have determined that the VW Polo subcompact is too small to meet Chrysler's needs. If built, the entry-level car would be new. It is not clear where such a vehicle would be built or who would produce it.
VW's proposed vehicle is "about the size of the previous-generation Jetta," Jung said. "But there needs to be a final agreement on the concept."
Jens Meiners contributed to this report
06-04-2006, 11:37 AM
#61
Senior Moderator
Nice... Dodge and VW have done something like this before with the Dodge Omni using vw powerplants...
http://www.allpar.com/omni/omni.html
This is what I've been saying VW should be doing all along... Forget about $80K luxury cars, build some affordable basic vehicles like they did in the old days...
http://www.allpar.com/omni/omni.html
This is what I've been saying VW should be doing all along... Forget about $80K luxury cars, build some affordable basic vehicles like they did in the old days...
06-04-2006, 12:20 PM
#62
Race Director
Originally Posted by GreenMonster
Nice... Dodge and VW have done something like this before with the Dodge Omni using vw powerplants...
http://www.allpar.com/omni/omni.html
.
http://www.allpar.com/omni/omni.html
.
Biker, who had an '86 Shelby Charger modified with Stage II turbo.
06-28-2006, 08:01 AM
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VW shifts to dual-clutch transmissions
VW shifts to dual-clutch transmissions - - By DIANA T. KURYLKO | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS - - Source: Autoweek
WOLFSBURG, Germany -- The Volkswagen brand plans to replace all of its transverse-mounted automatic transmissions with its direct-shift gearbox over the next five years.
The direct-shift gearbox, VW's version of a dual-clutch transmission, offers improved fuel economy, smoother shifting and greater reliability compared with a standard automatic, says Wolfgang Bernhard, head of the VW brand.
In the United States, all VW models except the Touareg SUV and the Phaeton luxury car have engines mounted transversely -- east to west -- making them all candidates for the direct-shift gearbox.
There are still technological hurdles to using the direct-shift gearbox for longitudinally mounted engines, Bernhard says.
"But directionally, we are for the DSG gearbox," he says.
A dual-clutch transmission works like two automatic transmissions side by side. One clutch serves the odd gears and reverse, and the other serves the even gears.
Because the transmission uses two clutches with rapid switches from one to the other, no lurching between gears occurs.
Dual-clutch technology offers better fuel economy than automatic transmissions, which lose power and fuel economy in the torque converter. Unlike a manual gearbox with a clutch pedal, a dual-clutch transmission has no interruption of power when gears are changed.
VW's direct-shift gearbox allows the driver to shift gears manually using buttons on the steering wheel.
2004 debut
VW and its sister division, Audi, are the first brands on the market offering dual-clutch transmissions -- which were developed in-house, says a VW spokesman in Wolfsburg. BMW and Porsche are working on versions.
VW's direct-shift gearbox debuted in 2004 on the new-generation Golf sold in Europe.
"The transmission is very economical," says Michael Schaefer, manager of technical development for VW's dual-clutch transmission unit. "It has the comfort of a torque converter and the fuel economy of a manual gearbox."
Volkswagen of America offers a direct-shift gearbox on the Jetta with a 2.0-liter turbo engine, the Jetta GLI and TDI models, GTI and the turbo-diesel New Beetle.
Later this year, the direct-shift gearbox will be offered on the 2.0-liter turbo engine on the Eos convertible.
Next year it appears on the R32, a high-performance car based on the Rabbit that will have all-wheel drive.
Schaefer says that other than the R32 the direct-shift gearbox will be offered on front-wheel-drive vehicles with transverse-mounted engines. It eventually will be available on cars with longitudinally mounted engines, he says.
Building in-house
VW can build the transmission in-house at its Kassel, Germany, factory, Schaefer says. The automatic transmissions used by VW come from either ZF or Getrag, he says.
Schaefer says building the direct-shift gearbox in-house will give the company a price advantage as volumes increase.
The cost of buying the transmission or building it at VW is the same today. But VW expects to cut the cost, Schaefer says.
Bringing the project in-house is also a political move for VW, which is negotiating with unions over job cuts.
For the customer, a direct-shift gearbox costs about half of what VW charges for an automatic transmission, says a VW spokesman.
In the United States, a Jetta equipped with a combination direct-shift gearbox/1.9-liter turbodiesel engine costs $1,075 more than the manual version.
The direct-shift gearbox, VW's version of a dual-clutch transmission, offers improved fuel economy, smoother shifting and greater reliability compared with a standard automatic, says Wolfgang Bernhard, head of the VW brand.
In the United States, all VW models except the Touareg SUV and the Phaeton luxury car have engines mounted transversely -- east to west -- making them all candidates for the direct-shift gearbox.
There are still technological hurdles to using the direct-shift gearbox for longitudinally mounted engines, Bernhard says.
"But directionally, we are for the DSG gearbox," he says.
A dual-clutch transmission works like two automatic transmissions side by side. One clutch serves the odd gears and reverse, and the other serves the even gears.
Because the transmission uses two clutches with rapid switches from one to the other, no lurching between gears occurs.
Dual-clutch technology offers better fuel economy than automatic transmissions, which lose power and fuel economy in the torque converter. Unlike a manual gearbox with a clutch pedal, a dual-clutch transmission has no interruption of power when gears are changed.
VW's direct-shift gearbox allows the driver to shift gears manually using buttons on the steering wheel.
2004 debut
VW and its sister division, Audi, are the first brands on the market offering dual-clutch transmissions -- which were developed in-house, says a VW spokesman in Wolfsburg. BMW and Porsche are working on versions.
VW's direct-shift gearbox debuted in 2004 on the new-generation Golf sold in Europe.
"The transmission is very economical," says Michael Schaefer, manager of technical development for VW's dual-clutch transmission unit. "It has the comfort of a torque converter and the fuel economy of a manual gearbox."
Volkswagen of America offers a direct-shift gearbox on the Jetta with a 2.0-liter turbo engine, the Jetta GLI and TDI models, GTI and the turbo-diesel New Beetle.
Later this year, the direct-shift gearbox will be offered on the 2.0-liter turbo engine on the Eos convertible.
Next year it appears on the R32, a high-performance car based on the Rabbit that will have all-wheel drive.
Schaefer says that other than the R32 the direct-shift gearbox will be offered on front-wheel-drive vehicles with transverse-mounted engines. It eventually will be available on cars with longitudinally mounted engines, he says.
Building in-house
VW can build the transmission in-house at its Kassel, Germany, factory, Schaefer says. The automatic transmissions used by VW come from either ZF or Getrag, he says.
Schaefer says building the direct-shift gearbox in-house will give the company a price advantage as volumes increase.
The cost of buying the transmission or building it at VW is the same today. But VW expects to cut the cost, Schaefer says.
Bringing the project in-house is also a political move for VW, which is negotiating with unions over job cuts.
For the customer, a direct-shift gearbox costs about half of what VW charges for an automatic transmission, says a VW spokesman.
In the United States, a Jetta equipped with a combination direct-shift gearbox/1.9-liter turbodiesel engine costs $1,075 more than the manual version.
06-28-2006, 08:02 AM
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There are still technological hurdles to using the direct-shift gearbox for longitudinally mounted engines, Bernhard says.
06-28-2006, 08:06 PM
#66
I'm the Firestarter
That's the one reason I would ever get a VW. I wish Honda would start making these. Although I wonder if automatic transmissions will just improve to the point where they will be indistinguishable from a DSG to the average driver.
Since Honda is offering a paddle-shifted transmission on the Fit, I think they're getting serious about improving automatics.
Then they're ripping people off! I just priced a Jetta GTI and the DSG costs CAN $1400. On the Acura TSX the Automatic costs $1300. On the Accord EX an auto costs $1200. Only a marketing guy would try to claim that a DSG is cheaper for the consummer...
Since Honda is offering a paddle-shifted transmission on the Fit, I think they're getting serious about improving automatics.
For the customer, a direct-shift gearbox costs about half of what VW charges for an automatic transmission, says a VW spokesman.
06-29-2006, 06:35 AM
#67
Race Director
I'm dubious on the claim that it's more reliable than an AT. There's just as much complexity and lots of hydraulics at work in a DSG that could cause problems.
I'll take a plain ole MT thank you.
I'll take a plain ole MT thank you.
06-29-2006, 09:55 AM
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Originally Posted by Belzebutt
That's the one reason I would ever get a VW. I wish Honda would start making these. Although I wonder if automatic transmissions will just improve to the point where they will be indistinguishable from a DSG to the average driver.
06-29-2006, 09:56 AM
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Originally Posted by biker
I'm dubious on the claim that it's more reliable than an AT. There's just as much complexity and lots of hydraulics at work in a DSG that could cause problems.
I'll take a plain ole MT thank you.
I'll take a plain ole MT thank you.
06-29-2006, 01:29 PM
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I hope this is the replacement of automatics transmissions for all manufactuers. DSG can upshift insanely quick. Even the Drift King, Keiichi Tsuchiya driving in a Golf GTI w/ 6speed, couldn't outshift a Golf GTI w/ DSG. Good work VW.
Even though it's good to hear about Honda i-shift, I hope Honda is also looking into technology such as this.
Even though it's good to hear about Honda i-shift, I hope Honda is also looking into technology such as this.
Last edited by Nakamichi; 06-29-2006 at 01:34 PM.
06-29-2006, 01:42 PM
#74
Registered Abuser of VTEC
These will be good to replace automatic transmissions. Fuel economy might go up because of the direct linkage. Is it possible for this type of tranny to shift from say, 5th to 3rd in one go? Or does it have to go 5, 4, 3? I'm thinking about when in an automatic you're on the highway and then pin it and it downshifts instantly 2 gears.
06-29-2006, 02:18 PM
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Originally Posted by youngTL
These will be good to replace automatic transmissions. Fuel economy might go up because of the direct linkage. Is it possible for this type of tranny to shift from say, 5th to 3rd in one go? Or does it have to go 5, 4, 3? I'm thinking about when in an automatic you're on the highway and then pin it and it downshifts instantly 2 gears.
06-29-2006, 02:20 PM
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I think this is great news. Finally an auto that (in my mind) will give manual a run for its money. IMO Mercedes is set with their 7g transmission and I cant see them going for this after they developed that, but I hope it catches on and becomes the new industry auto.
06-30-2006, 12:38 PM
#77
Race Director
Originally Posted by youngTL
These will be good to replace automatic transmissions. Fuel economy might go up because of the direct linkage. Is it possible for this type of tranny to shift from say, 5th to 3rd in one go? Or does it have to go 5, 4, 3? I'm thinking about when in an automatic you're on the highway and then pin it and it downshifts instantly 2 gears.
DSG and SMG (like motorcycles) are one gear at a time - but you can tap the down button fast twice and achieve the same thing.
07-02-2006, 06:04 PM
#78
Three Wheelin'
Originally Posted by youngTL
These will be good to replace automatic transmissions. Fuel economy might go up because of the direct linkage. Is it possible for this type of tranny to shift from say, 5th to 3rd in one go? Or does it have to go 5, 4, 3? I'm thinking about when in an automatic you're on the highway and then pin it and it downshifts instantly 2 gears.
In your example of going from 5th to 3rd: Since 5th and 3rd use the same shaft, the tranny momentarily loads 4th so that it can switch over to third, so yes, the answer is 5th to 3rd is 5, 4, 3. I find this takes about 0.4 seconds to do, and if there is ANYwhere I could even question the way the DSG gearbox operates, it would be here. It is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Shifts are literally multiple times smoother than in my TL, yet there are WAY WAY quicker. It truly is the best of both worlds.
As far as "efficiency" goes - when I go for a spirited drive in the TT - and I mean spirited, with DSG blipping the throttle on the downshifts to 6 grand and a the engine seeing most of its time in the high rpm range, I get something abyssmal like 14ish mpg. I've spent close to $150 in gas in that thing, in just days doing some "spirited" commuting. Driven sedately, shifting manually at 2 grand, keepin up the with the flow, I get 21mpg. On the hwy, driving between 80 - 100mpg, I usually see 26mpg. IMO, 6th is too tall for hwy crusing since the engine is turning a shade of 3grand when doing 80mph. Since the 3.2 VR6 is such a torquey engine, they would have been better off making 6th taller in the name of more relaxed crusing and better fuel economy.
Another thing to contend with when you have a DSG gearbox, is that it needs to be serviced every 40k miles with a special fluid, that cost $40 freakin bucks a quart. It's an expensive service, but well worth the tech IMO.
07-03-2006, 01:39 AM
#79
Registered Abuser of VTEC
Originally Posted by vishnus11
Having just got back from winding out my uncle's 3.2TT DSG roadster on a country road for a while, let me offer my input!
In your example of going from 5th to 3rd: Since 5th and 3rd use the same shaft, the tranny momentarily loads 4th so that it can switch over to third, so yes, the answer is 5th to 3rd is 5, 4, 3. I find this takes about 0.4 seconds to do, and if there is ANYwhere I could even question the way the DSG gearbox operates, it would be here. It is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Shifts are literally multiple times smoother than in my TL, yet there are WAY WAY quicker. It truly is the best of both worlds.
As far as "efficiency" goes - when I go for a spirited drive in the TT - and I mean spirited, with DSG blipping the throttle on the downshifts to 6 grand and a the engine seeing most of its time in the high rpm range, I get something abyssmal like 14ish mpg. I've spent close to $150 in gas in that thing, in just days doing some "spirited" commuting. Driven sedately, shifting manually at 2 grand, keepin up the with the flow, I get 21mpg. On the hwy, driving between 80 - 100mpg, I usually see 26mpg. IMO, 6th is too tall for hwy crusing since the engine is turning a shade of 3grand when doing 80mph. Since the 3.2 VR6 is such a torquey engine, they would have been better off making 6th taller in the name of more relaxed crusing and better fuel economy.
Another thing to contend with when you have a DSG gearbox, is that it needs to be serviced every 40k miles with a special fluid, that cost $40 freakin bucks a quart. It's an expensive service, but well worth the tech IMO.
In your example of going from 5th to 3rd: Since 5th and 3rd use the same shaft, the tranny momentarily loads 4th so that it can switch over to third, so yes, the answer is 5th to 3rd is 5, 4, 3. I find this takes about 0.4 seconds to do, and if there is ANYwhere I could even question the way the DSG gearbox operates, it would be here. It is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Shifts are literally multiple times smoother than in my TL, yet there are WAY WAY quicker. It truly is the best of both worlds.
As far as "efficiency" goes - when I go for a spirited drive in the TT - and I mean spirited, with DSG blipping the throttle on the downshifts to 6 grand and a the engine seeing most of its time in the high rpm range, I get something abyssmal like 14ish mpg. I've spent close to $150 in gas in that thing, in just days doing some "spirited" commuting. Driven sedately, shifting manually at 2 grand, keepin up the with the flow, I get 21mpg. On the hwy, driving between 80 - 100mpg, I usually see 26mpg. IMO, 6th is too tall for hwy crusing since the engine is turning a shade of 3grand when doing 80mph. Since the 3.2 VR6 is such a torquey engine, they would have been better off making 6th taller in the name of more relaxed crusing and better fuel economy.
Another thing to contend with when you have a DSG gearbox, is that it needs to be serviced every 40k miles with a special fluid, that cost $40 freakin bucks a quart. It's an expensive service, but well worth the tech IMO.
That's pretty abysmal highway FE, but look at the speed you're driving! 100mph? When I think that's 160km/h, here they would revoke your liscense if caught.
07-03-2006, 07:29 AM
#80
Fahrvergnügen'd
Originally Posted by vishnus11
Since the 3.2 VR6 is such a torquey engine, they would have been better off making 6th taller in the name of more relaxed crusing and better fuel economy.
Most were in the 2500 to 2700 RPM range and Audi was at 3200 IIRC .. All autos (obviously) and in their crusing gear for the test.