Gute Fahrt Magazine 11/98

[Tom Nas <tnas@euronet.nl>]

OK, here's the news from this German monthly concentrating on VAG products-

-Their in-house artist has designed a proposal for an off-road VW. some
Golf/Bora touches, looks like it's a finished model already. Nicely done.

-The new sensation in VW circles: the first conventional car to reach the
magic (Greenpeace-suggested) 3 litre/km consumption mark- the VW Lupo
1.2TDI 3-cylinder. Tiptronic, alloy and magnesium everywhere, narrow tyres
(155 section Eco) with 61 hp, 140 Nm (more torque than any other current
Lupo engine) and a total weight of less than 800 kgs. It still looks
groovy, though- with its instruments surrounded by a TT-like alu ring with
torx bolts and the great-looking dash. Top speed 165 kph.

-They test the Passat V6 TDI Tiptronic, and find it superb, especially for
long-distance driving.

-Not only does VW 'go green', but the loony Lupo GTI- 120 hp 1.6 16v, top
speed over 200 kph, twin exhausts, lots of alu bits in the interior (even
drilled alu door handles)

-An interview with Ferdinand Piech about the current and future affairs of
VAG, the 3rd largest car maker in the world.

-The New Beetle is introduced in the true European version, with nice
clear-glass headlights and news of a high-performance 150 hp V5 version
with automatically-lifting rear spoiler above the rear screen (like on the
911)

-A test of the recently-introduced 180 hp A3 1.8T quattro. They consider
its electronically-controlled power delivery a bit too muted to be
sporting, but the overall impression is that it's a great car. This would
be a nice one to go rallying in... The test car is in yellow, with the
accompanying A3 sports seats (think of grey-upholstered seats with the
centre panels in chequered yellow/grey, 'fading' in the backrest from
yellow/grey into all grey via a 'Tetris' pattern). Very distinctive, if not
exactly easy on the eyes in this combo. Looks much better in the darker red
IMO.

-There's a test of the Bora 1.9TDI 90hp Highline, nice leather Recaros and
'Le Castellet' alloy wheels. Conclusion is: high quality, driver's car.
Looks especially sporting in the black exterior of the car tested.

-There's a test of the Lupo 1.4 16v 75 hp. VW seems to have discovered
screaming colours- this one's in retina-burning green. Nice car if you
remember to don your shades, though.

-If you don't mind travelling to Norway and spending (at the very least)
DM4350, there's an authentic Audi-organised driver training for winter
driving in Feb '99. The training is done in A4s 2.8q (193 hp). Should be
great fun!

-There's an article about repairing interior damage as done by the pros-
burn holes in cloth, screw holes in the dash or console, scratches and
tears in leather. Nice stuff, but it doesn't come cheaply.

-A test of the new Carrera 4 cabriolet- awesome car, lots of high-tech
gadgets which make it impossible to have fun unless deactivated.

-An interview with AudiSport director Dr. Ullrich and pics of the Audi R8,
looks incredible in matt black.

Tom

 _______________________________________________________________________
 Tom Nas                                          Zeist, The Netherlands
 tnas@euronet.nl
 1987 Audi 90q 2.3E, Tizianrot metallic, 167,000km

                        ENGINEERING TERMINOLOGY
       PHRASE: "Preliminary operational tests were inconclusive."
     TRANSLATION: "The darn thing blew up when we threw the switch."