H2O International is now behind us and all we have to say is BRAVO!
Another great event that no one on the East Coast should miss. It has become the pilgrimage of a typhoon of VW’s, Audi’s, BMW’s, Mercedes’s, Honda’s, Mazda’s, Subaru’s, Volvo’s?… my point being, the city of Ocean City, MD is taken by storm. Everywhere you look, in every hotel parking lot, every restaurant, in every nook and cranny, you will find some derivative of a slammed, wheeled up, crazy painted, cambered out, stretched, poked, bagged, coiled, stickered, HID’d vehicle. You have to see it to believe it. And we’re not talking about a few blocks; No, we are talking about a 10 mile stretch of pavement littered with the hustle & bustle of pieces of artwork shuttling back and forth stopping for the occasional spur of the moment, this empty parking lot will suffice, GTG (GetToGether for the newbs;)
Definitely, definitely mark your calendars for this event next year…
What’s better than being track-side during one of racing’s most enduring races besides being one of the drivers? Being able to watch the multitude of perspectives uploaded to ‘The Network’ covering the 24 Hours of Nurburgring. This is where the engineering of these mechanical wonders and the perseverance of the spirit of racing is put to the test. One lap around is over 15 miles and with an entry list of over 200 cars, there is definitely no shortage of action.
Stephen Brooks has been putting out some exceptional car videos for a while now. His newest short ”Low n’ Slow – A Beetle Film”, is no exception. The two STATIC dropped Beetles contrast each other perfectly and the effects are sick too.
(Source: Stephen Brooks)
(Source: Jalopnik)
A report from Jalopnik today has some fighting news about the new Golf R scheduled to come to the U.S. later this year. There will only be 1,000 units of the 266 hp hot hatch shipped to the U.S., and while VW did say that eventually more will be shipped, it still seems like a very small initial run. Those 1,000 cars will be up for pre-order and as reported from a dealer, they will only be available in red. I thought the R stood for race not red. This is quite the surprise after it has almost exclusively been shown off in blue. All this limitation has me a bit worried, so if your cool with red, I would pick up a Golf R while you can. Pre-orders will be available through VW dealers and start in early July so plan accordingly.
Awol.tv’s newest episode E3S6 looks at VW Days, an event held every year in France. The show looks amazing and feature a lot of sweet older VW’s. If you’re willing to make the trip or already live in Europe, check out the site here. But, if you’re like most of us and can’t make it all the way to France just to look at some awesome Volkswagens then hopefully awol.tv’s E3S6 does it justice.
http://www.awol.tv/episodes/1?episode=153
(Source: awol.tv)
Another video for your viewing pleasure, comes from Club Golf in France who help run the event.
(Source: Club Golf)
(Source: Autoblog)
Worthersee is the uncontested ultimate Volkswagen/Audi car show in the world. For 30 years this event has gone on, and both companies reward their customers for their loyalty with cool concepts like this year’s A1 Clubsport Quattro. This concept is the first A1 to feature all-wheel drive, a staple of Audi’s design theory, and Audi did not stop there. The engineers at Audi have built a 2.5-liter turbo engine that sits devilishly under the hood capable of producing 500 horsepower. All of that power in the small hatchback will go from 0-62 mph in just 3.7 seconds and hit the limiter of 155 mph in 10.9 seconds. On the outside a more aggressive wide-body kit, carbon fiber roof, rear spoiler, and side exhaust were all added along with some unique 19-inch fan blade wheels. While the A1 Clubsport Quattro is most likely just fan service for Worthersee just as the GTI W12 was a few years ago, the car is available for download on Need For Speed and a similar body kit for the current A1 was released at the show
(Source: Autoblog)
Generally, work vans are boring, white with a company logo slapped onto the side, often dinged up, and the drivers seem miserable. Volkswagen seems to agree with me that conventional work vans are lame and decided to come out with the Transporter Sportline. While it’s still designed to do the day to day duties of a work truck, there is just enough pizazz for a miserable truck driver to crack a smile. Under the hood will be a fair 2.0-liter turbo diesel producing 180-horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque which is quite the improvement from the standard version, that only produces 100 horsepower and 180 lb-ft of torque. The new VW van has two options for transmission, either a six-speed manual or DSG automatic which should add a bit of excitement. The van only comes in the gloss black as pictured above, and went through some other cosmetic changes including 18-inch alloy wheels, a new front grille, and new front and rear lights that come smoked-out standard. All in all the new Volkswagen Transporter Sportline is a very sleek work truck that, as far as I can tell, has one major flaw. It’s too nice. The average plumber, electrician or roofer beats the crap out of their trucks, so I can’t see why they would pay more for something that will get beat up anyway. However, it may have limited success with high-end services who want to portray a more sophisticated look that the Transporter Sportline brings to the table.
