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http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/news,view.spy?artid=58348&pg=2


Volks wagon is remaking their lupo diesel so that it can archive prius city mileage, but as well improving its hwy mileage as well. Not only that, this is a car for the masses so it will be more affordable than a prius when it comes out. To make it even more exciting, its as clean as a prius when numbers are compared (off by a few). Only a 5 speed is offered but with over 150 pounds of torque at a low 1800 rpms you can't complain at all! The first two gears are exactly like the same as the other lupos so that acceleration can be fast from stop but then the 3rd 4th and 5th gears are very far apart to get the best hwy economy. With a co drag of .30 and getting 3.2L/100km in the hwy ...now that's a car I want to have! Espically when you can pair it up with biodiesel and never have to pay for gas again.... now if only VW can improve upon their reliability ratings.

but the sad part is... this car isn't coming to North America for a long long time...:mad:

http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/news,view.spy?artid=58348&pg=1 this is first page link, the first link is to the 2nd.


Where the hell is the edit button?

Probably because it isn't as clean as they say. Also, I'd love to see a hybrid version of this. Image the MPG number then ;) It would make the current crop of hybrids look like gas guzlers ;)

I'll take mine in silver, please. :)

...with a full set of shop manuals.

I'm not too impressed ---- 59.8 mpg hwy. Not bad, but here in WA diesel is 45 cents higher each gallon than gas!

I guess it depends on what you are comparing it to. It's amazing compared to my Accord, which has given me a maximum of ~37mpg on the highway. But compared to a HCH II or something similar you can't make up the added price of diesel.

good point brick! I guess we both still have gas misers while the rest of the hybrids are gas sippers.

transport canada is thinking of allowing 3L Lupos to be sold in canada.

HOLY after reading what the DSG gearbox is actually capable of I WANT ONE NOW!!!!!

taken from http://www.vwvortex.com/artman/publish/article_319.shtml

While the above power figures don't give a good first impression, keep in mind the Lupo weighs in at only 1,882 lbs - over 1,000 lbs. less than a Golf 1.8T. According to Volkswagen the top speed of the Lupo 3L TDI is 165 km/h (102 mph) and acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h (0-62 mph) takes 14.5 seconds. The engine is not only unusually refined, but also has decent thrust. Volkswagen claims that the Lupo 3L can actually do better than 3 liters per 100 kilometers of consumption, although we were not able to test this as we were limited to 3 days of in-town driving since the low-sulphur fuel required for this car is not available here and VW only had limited supplies. None-the-less, we never saw less than 68 miles per gallon during all our around town driving - pretty impressive.

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At the time we drove the Lupo, we were aware that it had a strange new transmission, but what VW didn't tell us till now is that it is in fact the new direct shift gearbox (DSG) found in the R32 and Audi TT 3.2, albeit with very different programming and one less gear.

In simplest terms, DSG is a dual-clutch electronically controlled transmission similar on the outside in appearances to a tiptronic automatic, but more like a manual gearbox mechanically inside - there is no clutch pedal. DSG utilizes 2 clutches, 2 main input shafts and 2 sets of gears - 1st, 3rd, 5th and Reverse on one shaft and 2nd, 4th on the other. What you see in the car looks very similar to a regular tiptronic gate with P, N, and E (for economy instead of drive) and a gate to the left for manual shifting.

Drop the transmission into the "E" position and it behaves very much like an automatic transmission except that the transmission always selects, independently of accelerator position and speed, the operating conditions of the engine which are most favorable for optimum fuel consumption. When you come to a stop the transmission goes into neutral and after 4 seconds of sitting the engine is shut down automatically. Lift off the brake and the car fires right back up and smoothly engages the clutch. A switch on the dash will defeat the automatic starting and stopping of the engine and adjust the shift program to something a little sportier if you need it. While driving if at any time the car is coasting the transmission will also go into neutral and the engine falls back to idle to minimize friction losses and optimize economy. All of this is seamless in operation and actually becomes easy to get used to since it requires no effort on the part of the driver.


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In practice, direct shift has clear advantages. The engine is started with the brake pedal depressed and the slector lever in Park. In position "E" the car drives off when the accelerator is depressed, and the driver can select between the Economy and the automatic mode by means of the switch mentioned above. The battery and starter motor have been beefed up, to cope with the frequent starting. The latter is designed to handle more than 200,000 starts.

wow why haven't we got this car already!!!

I'm not too impressed ---- 59.8 mpg hwy. Not bad, but here in WA diesel is 45 cents higher each gallon than gas!

This comment was true last year, but look at gas vs. diesel prices now in WA.

The last diesel fuel I purchased was $2.81/gallon, where as reg unleaded was $3.09/gal

transport canada is thinking of allowing 3L Lupos to be sold in canada.

Hey Phil...

Can you point me to some more info about this? That's quite something if it's true.

Darin

Having been driving around in a small car for the past year and a half, I can vouch that they are safe and practical. Accident avoidance gives you a 100% survival rate. You can't say the same for any type of safety features.

It is too bad that the U.S. can't seem to see this obvious point. Oh yeah, I guess that it isn't just you that you have to worry about, it is that OTHER guy. Like my 5th grade teacher used to (and probably still does) say, "It isn't you that I don't trust, it's that person next to you!" Maybe that doesn't quite fit this situation, but it is a great thing to say nevertheless.