Autowelt
@Autoweltmedia • 8,671 subscribers
German & German associated cars only. Facts & opinions only for my car focused audience. I offer SMM and consultation on how to fix your X. Free audits limited.
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In October 1984, Volkswagen launched the first AWD Passat only with the five-cylinder engine, and using an AWD system borrowed directly from Audi. The Syncro's drivetrain came from the Audi 80 Quattro rather than the simpler Golf Syncro system. The 2.0L five-cylinder produced 115 PS. The 2.2L option added 136 PS. In North America, the car was sold as the Volkswagen Quantum Syncro. VW's own press material at the time described it as ideal for people who experience long winters and need a large cargo space for work or leisure. The whole system is purely mechanical with center and rear locking difs with knobs that can lock either one for extreme road conditions. When first shown at the 1983 Frankfurt Motor Show, the car was meant to be called the Passat Tetra. The Syncro name stuck. A family estate with quattro's DNA, wearing a VW badge - most people drove past it without ever knowing.
Autowelt248,327 görüntüleme • 26 gün önce
The Up GTI weighs about as much as the original 1976 Mk1 Golf GTI and makes almost identical power - 115 PS from a 1.0L turbocharged three-cylinder, in a body the size of a city car. It is a genuinely strange thing to exist in 2018, a hot hatch built on the smallest, cheapest platform VW makes, with a six-speed manual and a chassis tuned specifically to be thrown around. On The Grand Tour, the Up GTI went around the Eboladrome test track faster than the Countach and the Testarossa. Whatever the exact comparison, the point stands: a city car with 115 PS embarrassed cars costing many multiples of its price simply through being light, direct, and uncomplicated. Rare not because few were built, but because nothing else like it exists today.
Autowelt162,321 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
In the late 1990s, Rolls-Royce needed a new engine. The old pushrod V8 that had powered their cars for decades could no longer meet European emissions regulations. Rolls-Royce's went looking for a supplier and BMW stepped forward with something specific, a 5.4L aluminium alloy V12, built exclusively for this car. The M73 engine, the same unit from the BMW 750i, 850i, was adapted for the Silver Seraph with a five-speed ZF automatic gearbox. It produced 326 PS and made the Silver Seraph the first Rolls-Royce with a twelve-cylinder engine since the 1939 Phantom III. It was also the first Rolls-Royce ever designed using computer-aided design software. The body was 65% stiffer than the car it replaced. And then, while the Silver Seraph was still in production, BMW acquired Rolls-Royce entirely. The engine supplier became the owner.
Autowelt45,953 görüntüleme • 18 gün önce
Modern RS engineering reached its peak with the C8 RS6. Still a 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8, now around 592 hp, paired with mild-hybrid systems and far more chassis complexity. The character shifted slightly - heavier, more managed, quieter, but the aftermarket solves that easily.
Autowelt264,586 görüntüleme • 6 ay önce
The first Touareg had a V10 TDI. The second generation replaced it with something far less in size: a 4.2L V8 TDI, 340 PS and 800 Nm, which is actually 50 Nm more torque than the V10 it succeeded. This is also the generation that moved onto the same platform as the Porsche Cayenne, sharing its underpinnings and several engines with Audi and Porsche - a level of platform sharing that is unusual for a VW-badged car. As a daily driver it solved everything the V10 made difficult, but lighter, simpler, far less likely to leave you searching for obscure parts. Most people who know the Touareg only remember the V10 story. The V8 that replaced it was the better car in almost every way, and almost nobody talks about its since its not as great as the V10
Autowelt90,983 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
The W140 was the most overengineered car Mercedes ever built. Double-glazed windows, soft-close doors, and a body structure so rigid it weighed nearly two tonnes before anyone sat in it. Mercedes built it at a time when cost and weight were secondary concerns, the brief was simply to make the best car in the world, the perfect luxury car. The S420 uses the M119 4.2L V8, 275 HP and 400 Nm, not as powerful as the S500, not as expensive as the S600, but the same platform, the same interior, and the same build quality that allows these cars to cover 400,000 km and still drive as they should. This was just the base V8 model for the people that didn't want to pay the premium for the S500. Credit: @Esprit1196 from youtube.
Autowelt116,290 görüntüleme • 3 ay önce
The 1.9 TDI became almost independent from any single car. It powered Golfs, Passats, Octavias Ibizas and so much more, and in many cases the same engine was swapped through several bodies over its life. The mechanical simplicity and conservative boost strategy made it nearly impossible to kill in normal use. Later 2.0 TDIs delivered better performance and cleaner emissions, yet they never matched the 1.9’s reputation for tolerance. Gearboxes wore out, interiors collapsed, but the diesel kept commuting. It turned from an engine into a benchmark for what durability in everyday transport should look like.
Autowelt175,676 görüntüleme • 7 ay önce
The W126 300SD was never sold in Europe. It existed specifically for North America, where US Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations following the 1973 oil crisis had forced every manufacturer to think about fleet fuel consumption across their entire range. Mercedes' solution was the OM617, a turbocharged 3.0L five-cylinder diesel producing 125 PS and 250 Nm, fitted into the full S-Class body and sold as a premium, efficient alternative to the V8 models alongside it. 78,725 built for the US and Canadian markets. 0-100 km/h in around 16 seconds. That is a number that explains the car's existence entirely, this was never about performance. It was about allowing Mercedes to sell 500SELs in North America without breaching fleet economy targets. The OM617 developed a legendary reputation for reliability, with documented examples covering well past 800,000 km on original internals. A diesel S-Class nobody outside North America ever got to buy, built for regulatory reasons rather than enthusiasm.
Autowelt34,866 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
The 525e was designed at a time when power was no longer the only thing that mattered. The e stands for eta, the Greek letter used in thermodynamics to denote efficiency. BMW took the M20 2.0L petrol engine, stroked it to 2.7L, and optimised it not for peak power but for maximum torque at the lowest possible RPM. The result was 125 PS, almost identical to the 520i alongside it, but with 240 Nm available from just 3,250 RPM, which was more low-end torque than even the turbocharged 524td diesel at the time. 0-100 km/h in around 11 seconds is honest about what it is. What those numbers don't tell you is that the 525e pulls from 1,500 RPM, cruises at motorway speeds without working, and does it all with the inherent smoothness of a naturally aspirated inline-six that simply cannot be replicated by a diesel or a four-cylinder. Fuel consumption ended up being somewhere around 8 to 9 L/100 km and with a 70 L fuel tank the car could even do 1000 km trips. BMW sold it with a very long final drive ratio specifically to keep revs low at speed. It was designed for people who drove and appreciated the journey rather than the sprint. A slow BMW that is genuinely enjoyable, in the most honest way a BMW can be.
Autowelt47,069 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
The E46 330i is the car BMW wanted you to buy. Rear-wheel drive, the same M54 3.0L straight-six producing 231 PS, a chassis widely considered one of the most balanced and communicative BMW ever built. The 330xi adds the xi all-wheel drive system with a fixed 38/62 front-to-rear split. It weighs more, sits slightly higher, and the steering is noticeably heavier due to the added front drivetrain components. In dry conditions and on a demanding road, the 330i is the better driver's car. In wet and icy conditions the 330xi is the one to be more confident to drive in. In snow and ice, particularly in mountainous or cold-climate regions, it is genuinely transformative, the combination of xDrive and a good set of winter tyres makes it capable in conditions where a rear-wheel drive car requires significantly more skill. If you live somewhere that sees serious winter weather and you need one car to do everything, the 330xi makes complete sense. If you live somewhere mild, the 330i is simply the better car. The xi is not a compromise. It just has a specific reason to exist and if that reason applies to you, it is the right choice.
Autowelt36,633 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
Audi RS6, C6. This breaks 300 km/h. A twin-turbo V10 wagon. Built for speed, but only upwards to 250km/h, factory limited. But capable of going to 320 km/h without the limiter. And tuned versions like this example with 850 hp set the number even higher. A family car doing supercar numbers, it is literal insanity.
Autowelt72,138 görüntüleme • 4 ay önce
BMW 540i, G30. Powered by the B58 straight-six, one of BMW’s most reliable modern engines. Exact same version of engine as the M140i and M240i. Just used differently here and this isn’t a car you push all the time since its all about smooth effortless speed. You get rear-wheel drive, estate versions, even hybrid options in the 545e. And a much more refined experience overall. Most people go straight for the M340i, but this is just as good in a different way. Better interior, the best in the pre-LCI. A proper balance daily car and a tuners favourite.
Autowelt90,993 görüntüleme • 5 ay önce
The MK1 Scirocco was styled by Giugiaro and launched six months before the Golf it shared its platform with. For the MK2 in 1981, VW brought design in-house under Herbert Schäfer - Giugiaro submitted a proposal and it was rejected. The result was a longer, lower, more aerodynamic coupe that was 10% more slippery through the air than its predecessor, assembled by Karmann in Osnabrück throughout its eleven-year production run. The range ran from a 1.3L base model all the way to the GTX 16V - which used the same 1.8L 139 HP 16-valve engine as the MK2 Golf GTI. A coupe that shared its running gear with one of the most famous hot hatches in history, in a body that the Golf GTI never had. Produced until 1992. Never directly replaced really. This Scirocco in the video is a GT.
Autowelt45,916 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
10 years ago, this is what an Audi RS5 was. A naturally aspirated V8 revs all the way to 8500 RPM. And the way it builds power is just smooth and even. That’s what makes it special. Look at the rivals: W205 C63, F80 M3 are both turbocharged. This wasn’t so this was screaming compared to the muffled noise from the Mercedes and M3. And you can hear the difference immediately. The sound alone puts it ahead. Compared to newer cars, it’s the same story. They might be faster. But they don’t sound like this when they have gone more quiet, downsized and use filters because EU wants them.
Autowelt74,726 görüntüleme • 4 ay önce
Putting a diesel in a two-seat roadster sounds like a decision nobody at Mercedes should have signed off on. They did it anyway. The R172 SLK250 CDI used the OM651 2.1L twin-turbo four-cylinder. 204 HP, 500 Nm of torque from just 1,600 RPM, available with a genuine six-speed manual or a seven-speed automatic. 0-100 km/h in 6.5 seconds and a top speed of 244 km/h, which is not slow for a roadster of any kind, let alone a diesel one. Fuel consumption sat around 4L/100km combined, a figure that made it more efficient than almost anything else in this class, petrol or diesel. It was the first diesel SLK Mercedes ever built, and it outperformed the contemporary diesel Audi TT it was positioned against. A genuinely fast, genuinely efficient diesel roadster that nobody asked for and nobody remembers.
Autowelt38,462 görüntüleme • 2 ay önce
The SL 65 AMG was never meant to be popular. It was a technical demonstration disguised as a road car. The M275 twin-turbo V12 delivered torque at a level that made numbers almost irrelevant. Mercedes solved performance with cylinders and displacement rather than software. Today you can't buy a completely new SL 65 since the flagship is a V8. It was excessive, intentional, and entirely unrepeatable.
Autowelt97,777 görüntüleme • 7 ay önce
BMW M3, E92. 414 hp. From a 4.0L naturally aspirated V8. Revving to 8,400 rpm with no turbo. 0–100 km/h in around 4.6 seconds. Back then, 400 hp meant revs and sound in the 2000s. Not torque, not instant speed. This was about the experience, this car wanted you to rev the engine hard, this is a backroads car for going fast. One of the last naturally aspirated M3s. Compared to a modern M340i with maybe similar power, this feels slower, but this M3 is way better feeling and its a V8 M3, the only V8 M3 and the older M3's feel way way more alive.
Autowelt58,875 görüntüleme • 4 ay önce
A 2.3 tonne SUV with a tri-turbo diesel straight-six makes more sense in Europe than almost anywhere else. The N57S used three turbochargers with two small units working in parallel below 1,500 RPM, handing over to a larger third turbo as revs climbed, producing 381 PS and 740 Nm in the F15 X5 M50d. 0-100 km/h in 5.3 seconds, which made it quicker than the contemporary X5 50i's twin-turbo V8 despite using a fraction of the fuel. That comparison is the whole point. The 50i's petrol V8 made more peak power, but the M50d beat it on torque, beat it on real-world overtaking response, and did it while returning genuinely usable motorway economy on long European journeys where fuel prices and distances actually matter. One reviewer put it simply: the M50d is the car that could convert petrolheads into dieselheads. Not as outright dramatic as the X5 M's S63 V8, and nowhere near as efficient as a standard 30d. But for European roads, European fuel prices, and European distances, the M50d sat in the one spot that made genuine sense.
Autowelt29,649 görüntüleme • 1 ay önce
Audi 200 Turbo Quattro, C3. A turbocharged five-cylinder, manual gearbox and quattro. Back then, there were no S or RS models. This was as far as you could go. 217 hp in the 20v version, which was serious performance for the time with permanent all wheel drive from derived from Audi's rally technology. 217 horses was plenty to get you to 240 km/h and there was an Avant version as well. And a tuner favourite too. What makes it important is what came after. This car laid the groundwork for the urS4 and urS6. A real piece of early Audi performance history.
Autowelt64,069 görüntüleme • 4 ay önce