VW Unveils Up! Lite Concept at LA Show [96mpg diesel hybrid]

Green Car Congress ^ | 2 December 2009 | Mike Millikin

[zeugma]

“As in previous years, the ‘65 Beetle was powered by a 40-horsepower, four-cylinder, 1200cc (1.2-liter) aluminum-magnesium engine, which was linked to a four-speed manual transmission. The vehicle also came with independent front suspension and telescopic shock absorbers.” CarGurus’ Review

LOL. It has the same displacement as my Harley Sportster.

[ShadowAce]

It has the same displacement as my Harley Sportster.

My ride:

[zeugma]

Slick. Like the color.

[wolf78]

How much does it cost?

The thing is, it's a concept, whether the real car will look exactly like it remains to be seen, though VW has a pretty good track record in this regard. Most of the car is hi-ten steel and aluminium, the chassis is taken from the next-generation Lupo, so it's an off-the-shelf part, only the roof is expensive carbon fiber. If they build it like the concept, I'd expect it to be maybe slightly cheaper than the larger (4-cylinder), yet more conservative (NiMH-battery) Prius, but definitely in that region.

The first next-gen Lupos are going to be built in the Eurozone (Bratislava), so the further devaluation of the dollar might kill export prospects. Maybe a few years later they might import it to the US from India or Mexico. So putting a dollar price on it is especially hard.

[freekitty]

I know. Just thinking about my father who was friends with the Cadillac dealer and others in Ft Worth. He was their guinea pig for years. Every diesel stopped dead in the middle of the street.

[freekitty]

You didn’t see that POS Cadillac that diesel.

[wolf78]

It would be interesting to know how the aerodynamics of the old beetle compares with this new kid.

No problem. The up! lite (aka. Lupo II Coupe) concept has a drag coefficient of 0.237. The Beetle has a drag coefficient of 0.48. However, the Coupe is not gonna be marketed as the 21st century people's car, that role is going to the standard Lupo II (the up! concept) with a drag coefficent of 0.33:

[kitkat]

Somebody please tell this woman what’s a direct shift gearbox.

[Tony in Hawaii]

Basically it’s a manual gearbox and clutch that’s controlled by a computer. You don’t have to shift gears and it’s more efficient than a conventional automatic.

[Squantos]

Yikes !

[wolf78]

Basically it’s a manual gearbox and clutch that’s controlled by a computer. You don’t have to shift gears and it’s more efficient than a conventional automatic.

Not quite: What you describe also refers to an electrohydraulic manual transmission (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrohydraulic_manual_transmission), which is one type of semi-automatic (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi-automatic_transmission).

A direct shift gear box is different in that it is a dual clutch transmission (see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dual_clutch_transmission). As the name says, a DCT has two clutches with a computer pre-selecting the next likely gear. It's much faster and more "seamless" than an electrohydraulic manual, in fact it combines the speed of a racecar gearbox with the seamlessness of a traditional automatic and has the same fuel consumption as a manual (no torque converter eating half the power).

[Chewbacca]

Nice light weight car.

How does it perform on snow and ice? The low weight wouldn’t provide much traction on it’s own.

[Tony in Hawaii]

I was just trying to keep it simple.

[DemonDeac]

“Plus the new BMW diesel is quite a machine.”

Some of the ones in Europe can do 0-60 in less than 7, hit 140, and return 40 or more MPG! All with mountains of torque.

[DemonDeac]

“I have an ‘06 Dodge (Mercedes) Sprinter that is very large. It gets 23 mpg with its aerodynamics and turbodiesel engine at 65-70 mph cruise. That is on par with a Honda CRV.”

Those things are so far ahead of traditional American V8 vans that it isn’t even funny.

[VOA]

The Volkswagen concept has a top speed of 160 km/h (100 mph)
and accelerates to 100 km/h in 12.5 seconds.

Unless things have drastically slowed down on the autobahn...
this otherwise excellent exercise in fuel economy would be...
dead meat.

[Gay State Conservative]

Plus the new BMW diesel is quite a machine.

I own one and can confirm your observation.Corvette-like acceleration and 43mpg on the highway.It ain't cheap....but it's FUN!

Only problem for future diesels is that starting in 2011, all must use the Urea liquid for emissions. And Urea freezes at 15 degrees F. BIG PROBLEM.

Having done some research on that very subject I've learned that my vehicle has a heating system for the diesel fluid.The upcoming winter will be my first in a diesel so we'll see how things work out.

[Gay State Conservative]

For the the money both the VW TDI and BMW 3 series turbo diesel suck.

Can't speak for the VW but I dare you to drive the 3 Series diesel and say that.It's the first car I've ever owned that gets 43mpg on the highway and it's also the first I've ever owned that can literally pin me back in my seat.

If they were about a third cheaper then we would be tawkin.

With the 3 Series you certainly pay for what you get.But you get a lot!

[Gay State Conservative]

The two companies are selling them as fast as they are available, in the US.

My understanding is that that's true for VW but not BMW.Various things I've read plus an admission recently made to me by a BMW dealership's service manager suggest to me that BMW can just barely give their diesels away.I haven't seen any stats,however...from VW *or* BMW.