Thursday 21st October 2004

VW to build Boxster basher

Giant car group could be eating Audi's children...

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VW is to build a roadster to rival the Porsche Boxster, according to this week's Autocar. It will be a two seater and will launch in late 2007, says the report. Powerplants will carry four and six cylinders and will be located, as VW boss Bernd Pischetsrieder reportedly said, behind the driver where it belongs. He added that this layout also solves many packaging problems related to new pedestrian safety legislation.

Engines that could find their way into the open top are three direct-injection FSI petrol units, among them a 148 bhp 2.0 litre four-pot, and a more meaty 197 bhp 2.0 litre turbocharged unit -- the same one as the new Golf GTi uses. At the top of the range is likely to be a new 3.6 litre V6 offering around 280 bhp.

Transmission options will probably include a manual and the DSG quick-shifter. Suspension components from Polo and Golf will be used to reduce costs, apparently.

Other target cars include the BMW Z4 and Merc SLK -- the group's Audi division may not be too keen on the idea either, as it's likely to snaffle sales from the TT. However, the details are mainly speculation at this stage, as is the look -- the second pic came from www.autospies.com.

[Bill Carr]

I can't see people choosing this over a Boxster... it would have to be MUCH cheaper, which given the way vee-dub have been inflating their prices recently, in a half-baked attempt to lift the brand, I can't see happening.

[Wacky Racer]

Bill Carr said:

I can't see people choosing this over a Boxster... it would have to be MUCH cheaper, which given the way vee-dub have been inflating their prices recently, in a half-baked attempt to lift the brand, I can't see happening.

Read about this in Autocar yesterday......

Yes very nice indeed, but it would need to be AT LEAST 10k cheaper than a Boxster to stand any chance I reckon....

Which badge would you rather have on your drive???

[klassiekerrally]

Very nice car. But it is as superfluous (blame it on freetranslation.com) as a Jaguar Diesel.
If I would like to buy a small sportscar, I would choose a Boxter, an Elise or even an MX5 or an MG-F.
Not a Volkswagen...
Here we say 'schoenmaker blijf bij je leest' which means euh...
... that you should do what you do best, an stay with that.

[will_t]

More of a VX 220 / TT competitor than Boxter.
Where does this leave the TT ?
Will it drive any better than the TT ?
Am I interested ?
It would be nice to see VAG develop a drivers car.

More like a bag of bits with showroom appeal.

Will

>> Edited by will_t on Thursday 21st October 11:20

[robdickinson]

yet another paper launch of a possible, future VW 2 seater convertable? They do this every 3 months or so..

I'll believe it when I see it, and not a day before, I cant see VAG doing anything other than a golf platform convertable with bodykit ala TT, and it'll weigh 2 tons and be dull as ditchwater to drive.

[chaos]

Instead of competing with themselves and taking sales away from the TT, I would have thought it would make more sense to design a coupe to replace the Corrado as they currently have no car in this sector.

[traction]

klassiekerrally said:

Here we say 'schoenmaker blijf bij je leest' which means euh...

Stick to what you're good at.

Agreed.

Ta.

[will_t]

chaos said:

Instead of competing with themselves and taking sales away from the TT, I would have thought it would make more sense to design a coupe to replace the Corrado as they currently have no car in this sector.

I agree

Will

[Kawasicki]

wouldn't a new corrado be more of a direct competitor to the TT?

This is mid engined/rear wheel drive....nothing like a TT

Shane

[v8thunder]

As I've said before in relation to the Phaeton, Toareg and so on:

VW, YOU OWN AUDI. INFLATING THE IMAGE OF A COMPANY CALLED 'PEOPLES CAR' AND IGNORING YOUR PREMIUM BRAND WILL NOT WIN CUSTOMERS. NO-ONE IS GOING TO BUY A BOXSTER RIVAL WITH THE SAME BADGE AS A LUPO ON THE FRONT!

and breathe...

[will_t]

v8thunder said:

As I've said before in relation to the Phaeton, Toareg and so on: VW, YOU OWN AUDI. INFLATING THE IMAGE OF A COMPANY CALLED 'PEOPLES CAR' AND IGNORING YOUR PREMIUM BRAND WILL NOT WIN CUSTOMERS. NO-ONE IS GOING TO BUY A BOXSTER RIVAL WITH THE SAME BADGE AS A LUPO ON THE FRONT! and breathe...

Why are students so BL@@DY LOUD ?

[ATG]

If it's dynamically the equal of a boxster and it is a bit cheaper, then why not? Fine, perhaps it should have an Audi badge on it, but I think people on this thread are overplaying the imbalance btwn Porsche and VW a bit. VW has produced iconic cars in the past that young professionals aspired to own ... e.g. Golf GTIs, VR6s. Boxsters are stuck with being the bargain basement Porsche. Buy the VW and you can say you wanted something that was a bit of a laugh to own. Buy the Boxster and some will say you couldn't afford a 997.

>> Edited by ATG on Thursday 21st October 18:03

[Andrew Noakes]

v8thunder said:

NO-ONE IS GOING TO BUY A BOXSTER RIVAL WITH THE SAME BADGE AS A LUPO ON THE FRONT!

Lots of people by S-class Mercs, and they have the same badges as taxicabs and delivery vans.

Ford have just launched a 205mph supercar which has the same badge as a Ka. You reckon it won't sell?

[v8thunder]

That supercar's only got a Ford badge (and it's looks) thanks to a supercar made back in 1966, the Ford name a badge of defiance against Ferrari. You can bet if it'd been a clean-sheet design and the original GT40 had never existed, it would have been a Mercury.

VAG, on the other hand, are, to a member of the public, divided into distinct sections: VW is the boring, sensible family runaround side, hence Volks Wagen, and it always has been. Then they've got Audi, a brand with a reputation for luxury (Horch, Auto Union) and sporting prowess with technology (Audi Quattro, S-series). Skoda provides the Citroen-rivalling quirk factor, Bentley the uber-luxury, and Bugatti the supercars. They also have a controlling stake in Porsche, don't they?

Looking at all the badges (and therefore images) they can play on, it would be most appropriate to badge a mid-engined sports car as an Audi to make it remeniscent of the mid-engined Auto Union racers of the '30s. Everyone knows by now that the TT isn't a real sports car, and a replacement for the Corrado should be (in respect to the Corrado, the Scirocco before it and the Karmann-Ghia before that) a coupe based on the Golf.

All IMO, but what with VW hiking up prices for the Golf - remember, a car supposed to be as affordable as an old Beetle - they're devaluing their brand. No-one's going to pay premium money for a VW, but they will for an Audi.

Put it this way - IMO the Vauxhall VX220 would have sold better if it was a Pontiac or something.

[lightningghost]

good looking. but i hope they don't make it look like the one over the page.

[dinkel]

I see it this way . . .

[Black S2K]

Here we say 'schoenmaker blijf bij je leest' which means euh...

May I slightly mis-translate that as:

A load of cobblers - at last!

Having enteared the executive saloon sector, the 4x4 sector, now VW bring us another piece of absurd brand-stretching cobblers.

As long as we get a cheaper SEAT version, a Skoda 911 version, perhaps a Bugatti city car and an Audi version of that.

It's not as if the Piechs and Porsches aren't related.

Can they not see the disadvantage of being such brand whores?

[BrianTheYank]

I doubt that car will have any success at all, unless it is MUCH cheaper as said before. Looks crap and has the VW badge(who wants that on their sports car?)

[paulnederland]

So, if you want to drive a badge, buy McLaren buggy, add a Sony MP3 player and a boom-box for Ferrari sound.
Let the VW engineers do their work and they'll built something that outperforms a Boxster (standard only 225 HP !) in horsepower and outperforms a Z4 (front-engine !) in handling.
Where and when can I order the VW spider? Sign me up!