Car News Center

New Car :The Golf Through Time

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:02:58 +0000

I thought it would be a good to have a ‘though time’ series on the blog that looks back at all of the previous models of a car all the way up to today’s incarnation. I was going to start with the Beetle given that the new 2012 car has just been released, but thenRead more »

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I thought it would be a good to have a ‘though time’ series on the blog that looks back at all of the previous models of a car all the way up to today’s incarnation. I was going to start with the Beetle given that the new 2012 car has just been released, but then I realised that I knew nothing about the older ‘oval’ etc Beetles and would only get slated in the comments.

So, to start us off I have decided to play it safe and go for the most popular and highest selling VW of all, the Volkswagen Golf.

Mk1 Golf – 1974 to 1984

Mk1 Golf

The Mk1 Golf was first manufactured in May 1974 and was a front wheel drive replacement for the classic VW Beetle designed by the famous designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. The Golf was sold in the US and Canada as the VW Rabbit and in Mexico as the VW Caribe.The Mk1 Golf came in a number of different forms, including the GTI which was introduced in 1976, the Diesel-powered version also in 1976, the VW Jetta saloon in 1979, the Cabriolet in 1980 and a Golf-based pickup, the Caddy. The GTI Golf is well known for being the first ‘hothatch’ with a 1.6 injection fed engine driving 112bhp through the front wheels. The GTI was born from a ‘pet project’ of a couple of enthusiastic VW engineers who decided that it would be fun to stick more power in the popular little hatch. Once the car was finished the VW board decided that they liked it so much that they would develop a production version and the GTI was born.

There were a number of limited edition cars, but one of the most interesting Mk1 Golfs was the Oettinger tuned 16S that was only available in France. The 16S was created due to arrival of the Renault 5 Turbo to the hothatch scene and VW feeling like they needed more power to compete with the tiny turbo-ed pocket rocket. The inlet manifold alone is beautiful and worth the extra money for the car.

Oettinger Mk1 Golf 16S

Mk2 Golf – 1983 to 1992

Mk2 Golf

The Mk2 Golf was introduced in 1983 to replace the 10 year old Mk1. The Mk2 Golf was slightly larger than its older brother with a longer wheel base (by 75mm) and larger overall exterior dimensions. The mk2′s design was kept in-house at VW and was overseen by the design director Schäfer, who kept the overall look of the Mk1 with a more rounded look. The new Mk2 GTI continued where the Mk1 GTI left off with a 1.8 8v K-Jet injection fed engine producing 112bhp. In 1986 VW released a 1.8 16v version of the mk2 into the UK market which boasted a whopping 139bhp. The US and Canadian market were later given a 2.0l 16v version of the mk2 powered by the same 9A ‘bubble block’ engine found in the Corrado and Passat outside of the US.

Similarly to the Mk1 Golf, the Mk2 had many limited editions including the Fire and Ice, Golf country, Golf G60 and Golf Rallye. One of the last special editions that VW created using the Mk2 chassis was the Golf Limited. The Limited was created by the VW Motorsport division with only 71 cars ever being made (all of which went to staff). The Limited was based on the Golf Rallye with 4 WD and a supercharged 1.8. The difference between the Rallye and the Limited was while the Golf Rallye was powered by a supercharged 1.8 8v engine producing 160bhp the limited was fitted with a supercharged 1.8 16v engine producing 210bhp. The Limited was only produced in black with 5drs (there was 2 3dr cars made, one of which is in the VW museum and the other is written off, as far as i can research) with BBS RMs, small bumpers and a very distinctive blue strip around the grille instead of a red stripe.

Golf Limited

Mk3 Golf – 1991 to 1999

Mk3 Golf

The mk3 Golf was put into production in 1991 in Europe and 1993 in the US and is considered by many to be the start of the Golf ‘getting fat’. The Mk3 Golf featured new smoother styling than the previous two Golf models and put on some extra weight taking the Golf from just under 1000kg to 1155kg (for the VR6).

The Mk3 Golf was the first Golf to include the now famous VR6 engine. The VR6 engine was designed by VW with the purpose of being able to produce a FWD car with 6 cylinders. VW achieved this by taking a normal V6 engine and narrowing the V to only 15 degrees. this allowed for a smaller block and only one head instead of two (one for each bank of cylinders). This allowed for an increase displacement and more power within a relatively small area without using forced induction.

The Mk3 2.8l VR6 produced 174bhp and propelled the chubby Golf to 60 in 7.1 seconds. Mk3 VR6′s are still sort after today with the VR6 being the fastest Mk3 available and the engine delivering an addictive sound when on full chant.

The Mk3 Golf had many different special editions, including the 20th anniversary GTI edition, which was a limited run of 1000 cars built to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the GTI. Out of the 1000 cars built 600 8 valve models, 150 16 valve models and 250 TDI models. Other special editions include the Pink Floyd, Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, New Orleans, Europe, Avenue, Movie, Joker, Savoy, Special and Harlequin edition.

The Harlequin edition was based on the Golf GL and included limited edition Harlequin paint scheme, limited edition Harlequin sport cloth seats, and silver-faced gauges. They were offered with several different wheel options. Only 600 were made available in Europe.

Mk3 Golf Slammed Harlequin

That’s all for now, find the Mk4 to 6 sometime soon.

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New Car :BMW 2002 With Porsche Wheels

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:02:58 +0000

Everyone is using Porsche wheels these days, it’s nothing new but how about using some older wheels, say Porsche 356 steels? Someone over on Stanceworks went to the effort of seeing if this would work on his absolutely superb and mint BMW 2002. I think you will agree with me,

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Everyone is using Porsche wheels these days, it’s nothing new but how about using some older wheels, say Porsche 356 steels? Someone over on Stanceworks went to the effort of seeing if this would work on his absolutely superb and mint BMW 2002. I think you will agree with me, it does. It really does.

Of course it helps that he has a pretty damn awesome car to mount them on and you can’t deny he has a very nice Bimmer and with a slightly hot M10 engine pushing out around 150hp it should be a pretty nippy little ’02 so it can go as nicely as it looks.

My last two posts seem to have been about BMW’s ’02 range (read about the huge power 1602 here) so I will try and do it on something different next time. Maybe this is just a way of my brain telling me I need 60′s/70′s BMW in my life…

Anyway if you want to read the short build thread check it out on Stanceworks or just look at the guys Flickr to see some more of his pretty sweet photography skills.

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Car :Car of the Week – Audi 100 S Coupe

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:02:58 +0000

Its a rare sight these days when a classic Audi comes up on eBay, but I have spotted a nice example of a C1 Audi 100 coupe that I just had to share. The Audi 100 C1 was manufactured between 1968 and 1976 and came in two versions, a four door and a 2 doorRead more »

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Its a rare sight these days when a classic Audi comes up on eBay, but I have spotted a nice example of a C1 Audi 100 coupe that I just had to share.

The Audi 100 C1 was manufactured between 1968 and 1976 and came in two versions, a four door and a 2 door coupe. As you would expect from an early 70′s car, the C1 Audi 100 had few options with regards to the engine, with your options being either a 1.8 or a 1.9 carb fed petrol engine.

The example I have spotted in a pretty nice condition, though it sounds like it needs some tidying up and some TLC. With what can only be a small number of these cars on the UK roads today, this must be worth the £3.5 asking price for a piece of classic Audi history.

Audi100 Coupe

Audi 100 Coupe Interior

Audi 100 Coupe Rear

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Car News :Motorcycle vs. Car Drift Battle 2

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:02:58 +0000

Quick post about a video you have probably already seen From the creators of the original Motorcycle vs. Car Drift Battle comes the second installment of bikes, cars, drifts and general fun. Keep watching till the end for some cool extra shots.

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Quick post about a video you have probably already seen

From the creators of the original Motorcycle vs. Car Drift Battle comes the second installment of bikes, cars, drifts and general fun.

Keep watching till the end for some cool extra shots.

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Car News :Legendary Hot Rod Designer Chip Foose Loves MK2 Golf

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:02:58 +0000

Who would have thought that the legendary Hot Rod designer was a Golf man? New video from the VW marketing team has them talking to Chip Foose about his first VW. Surprisingly the well known Hot Rod designer has had three VW’s in his time, with his first being the classic mk2

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Who would have thought that the legendary Hot Rod designer was a Golf man?

New video from the VW marketing team has them talking to Chip Foose about his first VW. Surprisingly the well known Hot Rod designer has had three VW’s in his time, with his first being the classic mk2 Golf GTI.

The video sees Chip talking about how he found and bought the car, and has him drawing the classic 1985 GTI in classic Chip Foose style.

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Auto News :GSXR Powered VW Bug HotRod From the US

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:02:58 +0000

While mincing around Google+ (SWDubs Google+ Page ) I found something a little different in both the VW and HotRod world. The following video is of a GSXR motor bike engined VW Beetle HotRod that has been built by Hudlow Axle in Georgia. The car is actually a space frame with custom

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While mincing around Google+ (SWDubs Google+ Page ) I found something a little different in both the VW and HotRod world. The following video is of a GSXR motor bike engined VW Beetle HotRod that has been built by Hudlow Axle in Georgia.

The car is actually a space frame with custom made front and rear axles with a VW Beetle body. The bike engine is actually in the front of the car with a custom made fuel cell sitting in the usual place of the Beetles engine.

The creators certainly do not mind driving the car, with the video showing some nice drifts while testing the car on an empty road. I am not too sure the right rear is supposed to have quite so much movement, but that might be on the ‘to-do’ list.

Check out this made machine.

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Cars News :New 2012 F1 Cars

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:02:58 +0000

Its that time of year again when all of the F1 teams unveil their new cars and we all get to see the cars that we will be watching for the next 8 or 9 months (along with the new driver lineups). I wanted to create a blog post with all of the top teams new cars,Read more »

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Its that time of year again when all of the F1 teams unveil their new cars and we all get to see the cars that we will be watching for the next 8 or 9 months (along with the new driver lineups).

I wanted to create a blog post with all of the top teams new cars, but I am not sure they are all out yet, so I will just add them all as I find them.

McLaren MP4-27:

Ferrari:

Caterham CT01:

Sauber:

Force India:

Lotus:

More updated car image here as the are launched

Is it just me, or do all the other new cars have a bump in the nose cone except for the McLaren? Could be interesting this year.

More 2012 pics:

Mercedes:

Red Bull RB8:

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New Car :Shocking Ford Crapi Crash Video

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:02:58 +0000

Watch this shocking crash video of rally driver George Miedecke and co-driver Daniel Willson missing a corner at 140mph and plunging into Tasmania’s Huon River 8 meters below. The crash was at the Targa Wrest Point Rally and saw Daniel Willson taken to hospital with a suspected

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Watch this shocking crash video of rally driver George Miedecke and co-driver Daniel Willson missing a corner at 140mph and plunging into Tasmania’s Huon River 8 meters below.

The crash was at the Targa Wrest Point Rally and saw Daniel Willson taken to hospital with a suspected fractured vertebrae, and Miedecke escaping with only minor bruising.

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Auto News :New Audi RS5 Coupe Video

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:02:58 +0000

It would seem that Audi are gearing up to release the new RS5 coupe and has released a new promo video of the car in action. The new RS5 will sport a 450bhp 4.2 V8 and will rocket to 62mph in just 4.2 seconds. Audi are keeping the front end styling that they have sported in the

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It would seem that Audi are gearing up to release the new RS5 coupe and has released a new promo video of the car in action.

The new RS5 will sport a 450bhp 4.2 V8 and will rocket to 62mph in just 4.2 seconds. Audi are keeping the front end styling that they have sported in the last few years, but with a little more flare and the classic RS wide arches that we have come to expect from the top of the line Audi’s.

Thanks to German Car Scene for the original post and below YouTube video.

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Car News :Car of the Week – Supercharged Mk1 Fiesta

admin — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:02:58 +0000

Why visiting the Retro Rides forum today I stumbled across something really rather good. The Mk1 Fiesta in question belongs to Mark Davies and has recently been featured within Fast Car Magazine. The Fast Car site has a nice little write-up of the car, but in short, its a complete

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Why visiting the Retro Rides forum today I stumbled across something really rather good.

The Mk1 Fiesta in question belongs to Mark Davies and has recently been featured within Fast Car Magazine. The Fast Car site has a nice little write-up of the car, but in short, its a complete refurbished mk1 Fiesta with a 2.0l 16v supercharged engine pumping out 285 bhp through the front wheels.

Overall the car looks great and sounds like it commonly upsets some much more expensive cars.

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