Hybrids Electrics Hydrogen Cars Volkswagen Shows Off 57 mpg Sporty Drop-Top
Posted by admin on Sunday Feb 8, 2009 Under Hybrids Electrics Hydrogen Cars
Hybrids Electrics Hydrogen Cars
Herbie and the talking Beetle in the VW commercials have a new reason to feel inferior - and this time it’s not Brooke Shields trying to sell rebadged Chrysler Minivans. It’s a gorgeous drop-top roadster that reportedly gets Prius-beating mileage and weighs in at barely more than a Mazda Miata, most likely making it a very agile ride.
For now, the BlueSport Roadster is just a concept. But many present for its unveiling at the Detroit Auto Show believe the car is headed for production.
Motor Authority reports, “VW’s goal was to build a convertible sports car that was affordable, economical and quick, and the numbers for the BlueSport seem to indicate they’ve achieved their goal.” The diesel-powered, mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-seater may get some astonishing fuel-economy numbers.
Autoblog Green notes, “The car is powered by a 180 PS Clean Diesel TDI engine that uses a NOx storage catalytic converter to reduce CO2 emissions. Using a 6-speed DSG dual clutch transmission, the Concept BlueSport gets 54.7 mpg (US); punch the Eco mode button to get 57.36 mpg in city driving.”
Left Lane News adds, “The car, if ever produced, would be relatively affordable and extremely lightweight.” The concept weighs in at just 2,200 pounds.
VW, according to Jalopnik, is “promising fairly realistic performance. This includes a 0-60 MPH time of 6.2 seconds and a top speed of 140 MPH. Jalopnik thinks the car could be on its way to production. “There’s no definite word,” they write, “though the design looks closer to a production vehicle than most we’ve seen.”
The New York Times, however, is skeptical that we will ever see a BlueSport in showrooms. “It looks real,” they write, “it could be real, but it’s called a concept for a reason. It requires a new platform, it is a niche vehicle and past VW roadster concepts are still in the company’s concept garage.”
VW may have the flexibility to build the new model despite poor market conditions. While other automakers are scaling back new models due to the recession, Wired notes, “VW is among the few automakers that didn’t take a beating last year. Although sales were down for the industry as a whole, VW sold 6.2 million cars last year, a 6 percent increase over 2007.
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