CAR OFF ROAD: volkswagen

Showing posts with label volkswagen. Show all posts

Friday, June 12, 2009

The Reality of Racing

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is “What’s it like to be a race car driver”? Most people are shocked or think I’m kidding when I start to explain what being a professional race car driver truly means.

From the outside looking in, driving race cars seems like living the high life. Money, women, parties and fast cars seem to be the name of the game when stereotyping a race car driver. But this is about as true as saying that a Canadian is someone who’s a lumberjack, wears plaid, and can talk to beavers.

Let me briefly give you a glimpse into the reality of life as a race car driver, and let me preface the following by saying that this is not a sob story nor am I looking for pity, as I truly am living a “dream”, but rather these are the choices I have made and chosen to live with in order to succeed.

Racing is a business first and foremost! If you can’t beat someone in the boardroom, you won’t even have the chance to beat them on the track. It is unlike hockey, baseball, football, etc where if you have the talent, chances are you will at least get a shot. Racing is the only sport in the world where talent guarantees you nothing!

Unless your parents, relatives, or a great friend are billionaires, the sport is extremely difficult to break into. In order to get a spot in many of the entry level professional racing series, young drivers are expected to find upwards of $250,000 to fund their race season. This cost sky rockets as a driver advances through the ranks and can reach multiple millions of dollars for a season in a series such as IndyCar.

As a race car driver with a considerable amount of talent you have 2 options, go home to cry and complain about how unfair things are … OR go out, pull up your socks, and attack the business of racing.

I won’t go into all of the business details here but I will clarify a negative stereotype of racing and business. Most people assume that when I talk to a potential sponsor I am looking for a boatload of money in exchange for putting their sticker on my car; this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Being successful at the business of racing means creating “Win-Win” partnerships between someone and yourself which usually entails the necessity to provide a huge return on their investment in you. I have put my Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) Degree to good use and have been fortunate to place myself in a position where a company would be better off investing in what I am doing rather than putting their marketing dollars in anything else.

When I started racing karts back in 2001, I cut everything else out of my life and made racing a total commitment. I dropped my football season tickets, I stopped going out for lunch, buying CDs, video games, or whatever else I would have spent money on at the time. Everything I had went into chasing what seemed like an impossible dream.

The Reality of Racing

I turned 27 this month and little has changed. I rarely go for an evening out because I can’t afford gas, nor an activity, and one’s social life takes a pounding because of this. I still live at home with my parents so I can avoid rent payments for now, and fortunately we all get along. I have simply put everything I have into pursuing a career as a race car driver.

Fortunately I was able to use my talent and earn a spot racing for Volkswagen this season. This has significantly reduced my expenses for the season but still leaves me with having to meet a budget greater than most people’s annual income. By my shoestrings I am surviving.

Oh, did I mention crash damage yet? I am responsible for covering the cost of repairing any damage on Volkswagen’s race car…no matter how it happened! I could be lapping the track doing a fine job when another car could simply run into me, through no fault of my own, and I will be the one getting an invoice for up to $7,000. Imagine you’re parked at a red light and someone hits you from behind, or runs a stop sign and broadsides your car, now imagine getting an invoice for the full amount of damage in the mail…it’s a tough pill to swallow.

Try driving a race car at life-risking speeds around a track and have expectations to be the fastest driver there. Then pile on the fact that you can’t afford to race again if even a small scratch appears on your race car. Now try to race wheel to wheel against one of the lucky few that has a billionaire funding their racing and doesn’t care if they crash into you…welcome to life as a professional race car driver!

Driving race cars, and all that it entails, is the hardest thing I have ever had to do in life…but because of this, it is also one of the most rewarding. When I have given everything, am dead tired and question whether the hardships are worth it, all I have to do is look into the grandstands and realize I am one of the lucky few as there are 40,000 spectators who would love even the smallest chance to be in my position.

Friday, May 29, 2009

VW & Chinese Firm BYD Partner For Electric Cars

Volkswagen seems to be on a real tear these days with continuing rumors of them acquiring Porsche outright, and sales numbers indicating that they could displace GM and become the second largest automaker in the world. And now word comes out that VW will be partnering with the Chinese automaker BYD to make electric cars.

A memorandum of understanding was signed last week between Volkswagen and Chinese automaker BYD to partner “in the area of electric mobility” and vehicles using lithium-ion batteries. “Hybrids and electric vehicles will play an increasingly important role [for VW], of course. Particularly for the Chinese market, potential partners such as BYD could support us in quickly expanding our activities,” said Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Board for Technical Development at Volkswagen.

A memorandum of understanding (or MOU as the MBA types like to say – essentially it’s the legal version of a promise ring) was signed by BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu and VW’s Martin Winterkorn in Wolfsburg, Germany last week. Chairman Wang Chuanfu seems to be quite the interesting guy in addition to working with VW. There are reports on the net that he drank (as in swallowed) battery fluid as a stunt recently. I don’t know any more than that, and I didn’t really want to know … the rumors are creepy enough.

Anyway, this is very interesting news that seemed to pop up out of nowhere and caught everybody by surprise. Sure, VW, like very other carmaker on the planet, is interested in EVs and getting as much of a jump as possible. And partnering with a Chinese firm makes a lot of sense, especially if China decides to start taking care of the environment (no grantees there yet). And perhaps VW was spurred to action by another German automaker (cough-cough, Daimler) hooking up with another EV (cough-cough, Tesla) automaker, but who knows.

What is known is that Volkswagen is one of the biggest selling brands in China, and that EVs are going to be pushed into the mainstream, kicking and screaming if necessary, by a combination of proactive government regs, carmakers’ desires to maintain profitability, and the environment letting us know that burning oil is a real killer.

What will come of VW partnering with BYD? Obviously some sort of EV product for the home (Chinese) market, and potentially for the Euro market as well. North America? Time will tell, but by inking this partnership, Volkswagen could have an arrow in its quiver all ready to go if the need or opportunity presents itself in the North American market.

Source: AutoBlogGreen

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

2011 Volkswagen Touareg spotted

Volkswagen is preparing its 2011 Touareg, and the company’s most expensive expensive Stateside offering is slated to lose weight. Although the German automaker is reportedly aiming for a 600 pound drop, shedding 300 pounds is said to be more realistic, and the going speculation is that the mass will be taken out of the SUV’s exceptional four-wheel-drive capability.

In terms of its sheetmetal, the Touareg is being designed by Walter de’Silva, the pen behind the Audi Q7, TT, and A5 among other VW Group products.

Part of the diet challenge is that the SUV is also widely expected to gain a third row, going from a five-seater to a seven-seater, in part to distance itself from its newer, less-expensive Tiguan brethren.

If Car and Driver’s sources are on their game, word is that the U.S. engine lineup won’t change, but the European V10 diesel will be swapped out for the Audi V8 TDI (already employed in the Q7), and the W12 will go on hiatus, possibly to return in sunnier economic times. There will also be a hybrid in the offing, with the same supercharged 3.0-liter V6 setup seen in Porsche’s Cayenne Hybrid.

[Source: Car and Driver]

Volkswagen Presses Forward With Chattanooga Plant

Months before the full impact of the current global recession kicked in, Volkswagen made a commitment to build a one billion dollar manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The plant, which will be the first one VW has operated in the US since shutting down its Westmoreland, PA facility in the late 1980s, is expected to build about 150,000 cars annually.

Daytime Fireworks Display Marks Start Of Construction

Volkswagen Presses Forward With Chattanooga Plant Yesterday, local and state officials were joined by Volkswagen representatives to begin work on the plant, building a symbolic wall to stress the automaker’s commitment to the Tennessee Valley. In an unusual move, the automaker also launched a daytime fireworks display to herald the start of construction on a plant that may employ as many as 2000 people directly.

The site Volkswagen chose is located on 1580 acres and will soon house several buildings including a body shop, paint shop, assembly and offices. The mid-size model to be manufactured at the plant will be U.S. specific, perhaps based on an existing VW platform but designed more like an American model. Volkswagen says that 30% of the cars will come equipped with the company’s clean burn turbo-diesel technology. The first cars are expected to roll out sometime in 2011.

Volkswagen Aims To Triple Market Share

The Chattanooga plant represents a commitment Volkswagen made last year to triple its annual sales in the US market within the next ten years. That announcement looked overly ambitious when it was first made, but given the decline of Chrysler and General Motors, Volkswagen may be able to step in and grab market share, perhaps well before the first model rolls out. Year to date, Volkswagen says that its US market share surged by 43%

Last month, I reported that VW’s Audi unit decided to not construct an assembly plant in North America for its upcoming Q3 compact SUV, choosing to use VW’s SEAT plant in Martorell, Spain to build the vehicle. Audi officials noted that no additional factory capacity was needed, choosing to grab an underutilized facility in the Volkswagen Group arsenal instead.

The New #1 Automobile Manufacturer?

With the Tennessee plant coming online and other strategic moves underway for Volkswagen — including a pending full merger with Porsche — the German automaker is on track to reach their next goal which is to overtake Toyota as the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. That goal looked unrealistic just months ago, but given Toyota’s own troubles, VW may soon become the new #1.

Folksvagenovi zeleni automobili

Folksvagen je na Sajmu automobila u Ženevi još jednom pokazao svoju ekološku nastrojenost proširivši svoju BlueMotion seriju sa pet novih automobila koji nude dobre performanse uz nisku potrošnju goriva i manju emisiju štetnih gasova. Tek što je nova generacija Folksvagenovog gradskog modela Polo ugledala svetlo dana, predstavljen je i njegov koncept ekološke verzije - BlueMotion. Najefikasniji Polo svih vremena u serijskoj proizvodnji trebalo bi da se nađe 2011. godine. Pokretaće ga 1,2-litarski trocilindrični TDI dizel agregat sa 75 konjskih snaga, koji u proseku troši samo 3,3 litra goriva, uz emisiju ugljen-dioksida od samo 87 grama po pređenom kilometru.

Golf BlueMotion je izuzetno talentovan automobil za svakodnevnu upotrebu, s tim što se njegov 1,6-litarski dizel agregat zadovoljava sa samo 3,8 litara goriva u proseku, uz emisiju ugljen-dioksida od 99 g/km. Za one kojima je obični Golf premalen tu je i njegova povišena Plus verzija, takođe u BlueMotion seriji. Višak lima ne utiče preterano na ekološke mogućnosti, s obzirom na to da isti 1,6-litarski TDI u ovom slučaju troši 4,3 litra, a emituje 114 g/km ugljen-dioksida.

Elegantni Passat CC BlueMotion može da pređe čak 1.300 km s jednim punjenjem. Zahvaljujući brojnim modifikacijama, njegov 2,0-litarski TDI agregat sa 140 KS troši samo 5,2 litra goriva uz emisiju ugljen-dioksida od 139 g/km. To je jedan od “najčistijih” dizelaša na svetu, a zadovoljava i Euro 6 norme, planirane za 2014.

Ekološke mogućnosti nisu svojstvene samo dizelašima. To dokazuje i porodični Touran TSI EcoFuel, čiji 2,0-litarski moćni turbo benzinski agregat s kompresorom i 150 KS kao pogonsko gorivo koristi prirodni gas, i to samo 4,8 kilograma na 100 pređenih kilometara, uz emisiju ugljen-dioksida od 129 g/km. Prema aktuelnim cenama prirodnog gasa u Nemačkoj, svakih 100 km ovim automobilom košta samo 4,60 evra.

Izvor: Internet Krstarica

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

No Automakers Meet Obama’s New Fuel Economy Standard [I Feel Gassy]

No Automakers Meet Obama’s New Fuel Economy Standard [I Feel Gassy] The just-announced fuel economy policy changes demand 42 MPG for cars and 27 MPG for light trucks. A look at the data shows not a single automaker currently meets the new guidelines proposed today.

Using the Model-Year 2009 Fleet Fuel Economy standards provided by the National Highway Safety Transportation Administration (NHTSA), we determined the current ratings for passenger cars and light trucks and compared them to the goal for each of the greater automakers selling cars in the U.S. A few automakers, probable KIA and Hyundai, report their given conditions separately since of a different ownership arrangement. We also took a look at what barriers exist for them reaching those standards.