The Continental: Another Electric says Goodbye, Fahrvergnügen, and What’s Up With Audi Design?

Each week, our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental. Electric carmaker Coda is gone. In February, I wrote about the failing gamble of a company, which had pompously chosen its name to denote the end of the internal combustion engine. Now the company has filed for bankruptcy. In its demise, Coda joins Fisker and Carbon Motors, proponents of "alternative powertrains" which have recently turned into footnotes in the book of automotive history. Gullible investors bought into the electric vehicle hype, which was fueled by government and parts of the consumer media. Let's recap that we are neither running out of fossil fuel, nor exactly choking to death from the exhaust fumes of today's (excessively) regulated cars. I'll believe in EVs when they are better than conventionally powered cars. They weren't over a century ago, when they were all over the place—and subsequently replaced by gasoline-powered cars—and they aren't now. But who knows? Let's revisit the matter in a century. While the electric future is very far away, or might never happen at all, it would make sense to focus on real issues such as global standards for gasoline fuel. Sulfur-free fuel would enable carmakers to globally launch lean combustion technology. Engine guru Hans-Peter Lenz pointed out the topic at the Vienna engine symposium recently. And the industry agrees. The sulfur content in fuel is problematic especially in Africa and Asia, says Toyota R&D executive Toshiaki Tanaka. Meanwhile, there are other challenges to fend off. The E.U. bureaucracy is obsessed with regulating average fleet consumption. Carmakers have to meet an average of 95 grams per kilometer for their fleet by 2020—this is equivalent to 58 mpg for gasoline engines. That's a tough nut to crack, unless you can take advantage of questionable hybrid vehicle emissions ratings, or the even more dubious electric vehicle emissions ratings. But while this is already an ambitious goal, lawmakers are suddenly talking about 60 to 70 grams of CO2 per kilometer—which equals around 80 or 90 mpg. Europe's premium carmakers thus face an uphill battle. Daimler R&D chief Thomas Weber asks rhetorically whether it makes sense to begin a discussion "without any technological background." Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn seconds: "Thomas Weber is right: It is irresponsible." VW GTI vs. Audi S3 Volkswagen's MQB platform is playing host to several extremely interesting vehicles. Last week, I drove both the 220- and 230-horsepower Mk VII Volkswagen GTI and the 300-horsepower Audi S3. Both are fitted with VW's new EA888 engine, which replaces the EA113 workhorse. The all-wheel-drive S3 is the upscale sibling of the upcoming Golf R, which also will have all-wheel drive. The Golf R's engine will make 290 or 300 horsepower—a final decision has not been made. The 70-horsepower gap between the GTI with the Performance package and the S3 is noticeable, but it is not huge. As a customer, I would think hard about making the leap. One of the most fascinating aspects of the new GTI is the electronically controlled, Haldex-supplied limited-slip differential, part of the optional performance package. Unlike the limited-slip differentials on the last-gen Ford Focus RS and the Opel Corsa Nürburgring Edition, this one is usable in everyday traffic: It does not jerk the steering wheel, nor does it induce understeer in normal driving conditions. But when you need it, it pulls the GTI into corners with a vengeance. Exit speeds in key segments of the Nürburgring race track are between 1 and 5 mph above the regular GTI, which already is a good performance car. I hear the limited-slip differential could be used in other VW Group brands, such as SEAT, but not in a front-wheel-drive Audi. The four-ring brand wishes to protect the superiority of its quattro offerings. Meanwhile, VW figures on a 50 percent take rate for the Performance package in the German market. Gear Proliferation and Fahrvergnügen I asked VW CEO Martin Winterkorn whether the ten-speed dual-clutch automatic his company has announced would enhance fun to drive (i.e. "Fahrvergnügen"). He answered in the affirmative, and said that he was "not happy we were overtaken after we launched the seven-speed transmission." Daimler R&D chief Thomas Weber said that the spread of a transmission's ratios and the downspeeding of engines is an important topic, but "the spread does not solely have something to do with the number of gears." He announced "interesting news soon" on the topic of multi-speed transmissions. Excuse me, but I am not convinced. Audi Design Inconsistencies Audi's design language has been criticized as being too conservative, but it also has been impeccably consistent. No more. Examples? For the S models, Audi recently launched a separate line surrounding the front air intakes, which have a curious resemblance to glasses. This element has been launched progressively, but the S8 still needs to catch up. But will it? While the regular S3 hatch has the flourish, it has been abandoned on the new S3 sedan. What will set the S models apart in the future? Another example is the specific front air intake design for Audi's RS models, which just launched with the RS6 Avant and the RS7 Sportback. (You can admire the cars in press photos, since they won't be in dealerships until some time down the road.) But before anyone has associated this attractive element with the RS models, Audi has gone and plastered it onto the base A3 sedan—not the S, not the RS. If there is a strategy behind this, I don't get it. First Drive: 2015 Volkswagen GTI Instrumented Test: 2013 Audi S8 Instrumented Test: 2013 Tesla Model S On a lighter note, is former CEO Franz-Josef Paefgen back at Audi? This question was prompted by the appearance of a dark green RS7 Sportback in the parking area in front of the company's Ingolstadt headquarters. Paefgen, who later headed Bentley, had a weak spot for dark green cars with beige interiors. But it turned out this dark green car actually belongs to Rupert Stadler. Nice choice. Marketing chief Luca de Meo's prefers a matte Daytona gray RS6 Avant. from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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