New Volkswagen: 239 Miles Per Gallon

Plastic News Tip Servce and Volkswagen Audi Corp. ^ | April 18, 2002 | Dr. Ferdinand Piech

[codebreaker]

Volkswagen Chairman Dr. Ferdinand Piech arrived at this week's annual VW shareholders meeting in a remarkable little car.

VW's new 'One Liter' concept car is designed to burn less than one liter of fuel over 100 kilometers.

On Sunday's three hour drive from VW's Wolfsburg headquarters to Hamburg, it did that and more, averaging 0.89 liters per 100km (239 miles per gallon) in traffic.

Yes, it's already licensed for use on public roads, comes complete with airbags, anti-lock brakes and other modern comforts--and can cruise at 75 mph all day.

Perhaps most suprising, given that the car's novel direct-injection single cylinder engine makes only 8.5 (eight and one half) horsepower, it is apparently fun to drive, and handles like a sports car!

[codebreaker]

Look like the wife will have to be my 'wingperson' after this car gets on the market.

[Bikers4Bush]

and can cruise at 75 mph all day.

With a heavy tailwind maybe.

[B Knotts]

Here it is:

No. Seriously. That's it.

[HELLRAISER II]

Your more optomistic than I am, I just don't believe a 1 cylinder motor could drive a safe car that fast.

[Poohbah]

Looks like a Bug that got caught in between a couple of feuding SUVs...

[Carolinamom]

I wouldn't want to be in that car in a pile-up no matter how many miles per gallon it gets.

[kidd]

I'm guessing that this car accelerates from 0-50 in about 5 minutes

[Hank Rearden]

Perhaps most suprising, given that the car's novel direct-injection single cylinder engine makes only 8.5 (eight and one half) horsepower, it is apparently fun to drive, and handles like a sports car!

Yeah, right. My Honda ST1100 motorcycle puts out 96 hp and even my damn Honda lawn tractor has 13 hp!

Maybe it goes down the road, but "fun to drive" and "handles like a sports car"? With 8.5 hp, no frickkin' way.

That's minibike territory.

[sixmil]

That engine must be used to make electricty to power electric motors otherwise you would need a hill, a sail, and a tailwind to do 75 with only 8.5 hp.

[Uncle Fud]

and can cruise at 75 mph all day

Possible mistranslation of "Can accelerate to 75 mph in a day??"

[kezekiel]

I drove a '93 Jetta full-time for nearly eight years and put over 180,000 miles on it. Volkswagens are superior cars for the money; the interior quality can't be beat in the price range.

[kidd]

You got it! Its the Squished Bug

[Hank Rearden]

I'm guessing that this car accelerates from 0-50 in about 5 minutes

I looked at the spec sheet; here's the exact quote:

Accelleration, 0-50mph: Eventually

[SlickWillard]

Perhaps most suprising, given that the car's novel direct-injection single cylinder engine makes only 8.5 (eight and one half) horsepower, it is apparently fun to drive, and handles like a sports car!

The only way a VW can get an 8.5 HP engine to power a car is if they've thrown safety to the wind. At this time of year, if you go down to your local Home Depot or Lowe's, there's gonna be a display of lawn mowers outside, almost all of which will be powered by a 6 HP or higher Briggs & Stratton [and we're not talking self-propelled, either]. A car with an 8.5 HP engine will be made of fiberglass [or worse - cardboard, maybe?] and will lack the steel necessary to protect its the occupants.

Sacrificing human lives at the altar of envirowackism is a pagan abomination.

[jumpstartme]

Looks like it got swatted by a VW bug swatter. Does the body pop back out? How about the crash test dummies, did they survive?

[Hank Rearden]

Sorry, my ability to read German is mediocre. Here's the correct specification:

Accelleration, 0-50mph: Eventually Probably

[sphinx]

I've seen something like that parked in our neighborhood (Capitol Hill) and wondered what it was, but the lines in your picture seem slightly different. Maybe it's just perspective, but do you know if the volkswagen is the only such vehicle out there, or are there competitors already on the market?

[P8riot]

"In a Yugo" comes to mind.

[Frankss]

Just wait till the EPA and safty groups redesign it for us. Impact resistant bumpers,air bags,side protection beams,pollution controls,automatic transmission,power brakes,air conditioning, they will get that mileage to 12mpg. But really, it goes to show that industry can be pretty clever.