"Diesel is not about the horsepower, it's all about torqueage."
Posted on 01/12/2009 1:01:08 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Maximum driving fun with minimal fuel consumption: that's how VW has started car year 2009 by presenting the Concept BlueSport roadster at the North American International Auto Show.
"The BlueSport proves to be a compact and passionate car with a clear Volkswagen signature. The car offers pure dynamics with a powerful 134kW Clean Diesel engine that is combined with the characteristic Volkswagen philosophy of efficiency," Volkswagen's board chairman Martin Winterkorn confirmed at the Detroit show.
The Concept BlueSport is making its appearance at the car show in Detroit with a Flex Silver exterior and orange fabric convertible top. "It is the symbiosis of outstanding technology and timeless VW design that makes this car an exceptional sports car. Its styling is clear and is reduced to the essentials; the car body itself has a lean and linear structure", explained VW's chief designer Walter de Silva.
The interior shows finesse in details and conveys a high level of technological fascination. Immediately visible to the eye is the intuitive and easy to operate touchscreen.
Perfectly adapted to the interior are the leather upholstered seats in lightweight construction with their single-piece seatbacks.
Behind the two sport seats of the 3.99m long Concept BlueSport, a 132 kW strong Clean Diesel with common rail injection and downstream NOx storage catalytic converter delivers dynamic performance.
POSITIVE IMPACT
A six-speed DSG dual clutch transmission – the most economical and agile transmission system in the world – transfers power to the rear wheels. In just 6.6 seconds the sports car is moving at 100km/h; its top speed is 226km/h.
Also having a positive impact on the car's low fuel consumption of just 4.3 litres/100 km and reduced emissions are two technologies that are part of the so-called Eco mode: an automatic start-stop system and energy regeneration.
Together they propel the Concept BlueSport to an additional fuel savings of up to 0.2 litres/100km in city driving.
OK, How much American HP and gas mileage? I don’t habla KW’s and liters per 100 km.
1 gallon = 3.79 liters. 100 kilometres = 62.13 miles. 1 hp = 0.74 kw.
It’s very cute.
So 181hp and depending on gas tank size 600-800 miles per tank! Wow!
Looks like an Audi TT.
Volkswagen has it all over Toyota on fuel economy. The Prius is a sad joke.
I love how the more asthmatic an engine the more likely it is to be described as “sporty”, “powerful”, etc.
This thing has 178 horsepower. It’s hard to find a car with less than that without going to a bargain-basement Civic/Corolla/Scion.
Even at 2650 lbs, that’s pretty slow. 6.6 seconds to 60, and almost certainly wrong-wheel-drive...sorry, but while it may be a cutesy efficient economy car, it’s no sports car.
My much more heavy 1984 Mercedes 300D turbo diesel only rates at 123hp, and it is certainly no dragster, but on the highway it runs with the big dogs all day long. It was designed for the autobahn, not the funny car circuit.
In the early 70's, we considered a sports cars "speedy" if it ran 0-60 in under 10 seconds. All, IIRC, were RWD.
The FIAT 850 Spyder was considered a sports car back then. You could race around the neighborhood having fun, and nobody would notice! My FWD 1980 VW Rabbit Diesel was the same: "slow" yet "sporty"!
MY BMW M3 sedan is an entirely different ballgame ("sports sedan"), but still returns good mileage.
According to the article this car is rear wheel drive.
How many years ago did VW produce a RWD? 1979 Beetle?
“How many years ago did VW produce a RWD? 1979 Beetle?”
Well, 1979 was the last year air-cooled Beetles were sold in the US, but production of the air cooled Beetle continued until finally halted in Mexico in 2004.
Proud owner of a 1969 VW Beetle convertible (currently under restoration).
Too bad the Federal Government effectively legislated the Beetle into oblivion (emissions/safety regs).
We could really use a modern-day Model T right now.
Enjoy your Beetle.
"Diesel is not about the horsepower, it's all about torqueage."
I’ve got a Miata. NO power at highway speeds, but it is like driving a go-kart to work. Put the top down, don’t slow for corners and enjoy!
And with the top down, you can SENSE if it is ok to change lanes. It also was the last of that model year on the lot, and only cost me $1000 more than an entry-level Civic.
Power is the only thing that has a direct effect.
So whatever your power output is at any given point (coupled with the weight of the car) determines your acceleration and the “seat of the pants” feel.
Torque is just the “base” for power, with engine speed being the multiplier. When two cars with the “same” power feel very different, it’s because they only share the same PEAK power.
If you take a turbocharged Honda that wheezes its way to 300 horsepower at redline but only has 150 lbs-ft, and a Chevy V8 with 300 hp and 300 lbs-ft, neither one of them is putting out those numbers when you’re cruising along at 2500 rpm and floor it.
But the Chevy’s torque curve might have it putting out 200 horses or so, while the Honda is struggling to make 100. Even down low in the rev range, you don’t “feel” the torque...you feel the force of acceleration, which is caused by power. Having a fat torque curve means at every point along the rev range you’re producing more power.
Torque is an instantaneous measure of “strength”, but power is the measure of how much work you can actually do. You can gear power into higher torque, but all the torque in the world won’t make you accelerate any faster if you can’t make the power.
Also, in the traditional sense (imagine snooty British accent), a true sports car has to be light above all other things. A Lotus Elise hence is a true sports car, even though it only has 200 hp (I think there also is a 140 hp version), because it corners like no other. This of course would make a Lamborghini or a Corvette a supersports car.
A Camaro SS or a Mercedes AMG isn’t really a sports car, it’s a muscle car.
YOu are looking at the wrong numbers. Diesels always make very little HP compared to gassers. However they absolutely blow a comprable gasser out of the water when it comes to torque. I’ve been in a TDI passat with a tweaked turbo and higher pressure injectors.. At peak (around 4600 if I remember correctly) it put out all of 240 horses. However, at 4600 rpm it was also putting 400+ ft/lbs of torque to the road. And it was still giving low thirties in city and mid forties on the highway for MPG.
Don’t count out a diesel. It needs to be geared differently, but it can make for a fun car.
I’m aware that diesels tend to be torquy-er, but that’s useful for driving around down day to day, not so much for performance.
Torque is an instantaneous push. It has to be multiplied how often it’s done to get any work done—that’s power. For a given peak horsepower, an engine with more torque is more useful because when you build torque early you’re multiplying it into power.
So an engine with more low end torque has more all around power. 400 lbs-ft at 2000 rpm is fantastic because it means you’re producing a lot more power from there on up than a comparable power.
Once you’re up top, that 400 lbs-ft doesn’t mean much because the diesel can’t rev out enough to multiply it into serious power. You’re only getting 240 horsepower because you’re only at 4500 rpm, and the power is what determines how it accelerates (whether it’s 400 lbs-ft at 4500, or 300 lbs-ft at 7000).
In day to day driving where you cruise efficiently at 2000 or 2500, torque is great because it lets you get moving or pass without having to wait forever or downshift and rev the car to a million. But when you’re driving aggressively, you keep the engine up high. Torque that can’t be multiplied into power doesn’t matter a bit then.
* than an ENGINE WITH comparable power, I mean.
VW traditionally under-advertises their acceleration numbers.
What I’ve read is that it is rear wheel drive.
I’m glad you have figured out what a “sports car” is. People have been arguing about that for decades.
Which is the complete opposite of my Honda Civic Si, which is all about high-RPM horsepower and not about torque.
I already want one of these VW Bluethings.
It took you 8 months to post your reply?? (:^o)
Took me 8 months to find the thread! :-)
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