2012 VW Jetta GLI | Volkswagen wallpapers |

2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI

VOLKSWAGEN WALLPAPERS

Review, specifications, features and benefits

2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI

Click Thumbnail to download (size 1600 x 1200 pixels)

VW Jetta GLI

Volkswagen of America, Inc. announced the debut of the new 2012 VW Jetta GLI, which combines the comfort and sophistication of a Jetta with aggressive performance and handling in a sporty yet sleek package. The all-new Jetta GLI is the most differentiated Jetta GLI model ever made by Volkswagen. With a rich heritage that dates back to 1984, the new Jetta GLI is sure to appeal to both automotive enthusiasts and everyday drivers alike.

The Volkswagen Jetta GLI offers exceptional features and options, for equally impressive pricing. Available in three trim levels, the Jetta GLI has a starting MSRP of $23,495. The GLI Autobahn, with an MSRP of $25,545, adds 18" alloy wheels, sunroof, dual zone climate control, heated V-Tex Leatherette seats and the Fender® Premium Audio System. The top of the line Jetta GLI Autobahn with Navigation adds the RNS-315 navigation system and keyless access with push-button start technology for an MSRP of $26,445.

Engine and Transmission
The sporty Volkswagen Jetta GLI boasts the award winning 2.0L turbocharged four-cylinder gasoline engine, generating 200 horsepower and a full 207 lb.-ft. of torque at just 1,700 rpm, contributing to drivability and response of the vehicle in both everyday and performance situations. The Jetta GLI is offered with a six speed manual transmission as standard equipment. This new model is significantly lighter than the previous Jetta GLI and it offers power and performance coupled with German sensibilities. While EPA figures are not yet available, the Volkswagen Jetta GLI is expected to deliver 31 mpg highway with the manual and 32 mpg highway with the DSG® automatic.

Additional performance features for the VW Jetta GLI include:
    Track tuned four-way Independent Performance Suspension for superb handling
    DSG® automatic gearbox that offers steering wheel mounted paddles shifters, super quick shift times and rev-matched downshifts
    XDS® cross differential system that debuted on the Volkswagen GTI, that helps prevent inside wheel spin during cornering
    Four wheel disc brakes with floating red calipers

Premium Features
To make life on the road a little easier, the Volkswagen Jetta GLI offers sophisticated, German engineered premium appointments. Features include standard 6.5" touch screen premium VIII radio with Bluetooth and iPod connectivity, standard one-touch up/down power on all four windows, standard multifunction display (for vehicle status, trip, radio and navigation information when equipped), available dual zone climate control, available RNS-315 navigation system and available keyless entry with pushbutton start.

The 2012 Jetta GLI Autobahn and Autobahn with navigation models come standard with a Fender® Premium Audio System, bringing the concert stage to the vehicle for the ultimate music experience. Designed exclusively for Volkswagen, the Fender® Premium Audio System is embedded in the vehicle design and features proprietary Panasonic® speaker technology. The system covers the cabin with directional sound from front door speakers that generate imaging beyond the capabilities of traditional speaker designs. It cuts through the noise and other distractions with front dual voice coil speakers, with extended range for all musical genres.

The sound system features lower inter-modulation distortion and smooth mid-range response to eliminate harshness. It is harmonically complex, with extended range tweeters and properly voiced 16cm speakers revealing original instrumentation timbre and harmonic richness, bringing the raw emotion of live music to the driving experience.

Exterior
The Volkswagen Jetta GLI combines performance, space and comfort in one sleek package. At 182.2 inches long, 57.2 inches tall and 70 inches wide, it is more than 2.9 inches longer than previous Jetta models.

The front end of the car is defined by prominent horizontal lines. The VW Jetta GLI grille and the car's trapezoidal headlights help create a distinct look. Below the bumper is a cooling air intake and tray-shaped front spoiler that completes the masculine look of the car. The upper front end section shows a powerful transition from the v-shaped engine hood to the fenders on the sides while the shoulder section provides dynamic and muscular styling.

The aggressive styling of the Volkswagen Jetta GLI is powerfully emphasized by the arches of the wheel wells available with 17" or 18" alloys. Sleek lines and sporty shoulders dominate the rear section. The smoked taillights stand out with two distinct sections extending on either side from the fender into the tailgate above the dual exhaust tips.

Interior
Like the exterior, the interior of the Jetta GLI stays true to its sport and performance roots. Featuring sport bucket seats with red stitching and a sport flat-bottom steering wheel with red stitching, the GLI logo and aluminum accents, the interior styling consistently follows the clean, sporty lines of the car. The Volkswagen Jetta GLI is available in cloth or V-Tex Leatherette and also features sleek alloy pedals, shifter, dash and door trim.

Intuitive controls and well-arranged instruments allow drivers to enjoy a comfortable and ergonomically designed gear shift grip. Further up on the center console are the newly designed and intuitive controls for climate and radio. The console is also slightly inclined toward the driver to heighten comfort behind the wheel.

To increase versatility, the rear bench seatback is split 60/40 and folds. The trunk can also be opened from inside the car by a remote unlock switch.

Safety
The VW Jetta GLI includes several features designed to enhance driver and passenger safety including electronic stability control, tire pressure monitoring and Volkswagen's advanced Intelligent Crash Response System, which initiates automatic safety protection in some types of collisions — the electrical supply to the fuel pump is shut off, the doors unlock and the hazard lights switch on.

As part of the equipment package, the Volkswagen Jetta GLI also features driver and front passenger airbags, side airbags in front and Side Curtain Protection® airbags in front and rear.

2011 Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 35 wallpapers

2011 Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 35

VOLKSWAGEN WALLPAPERS

Review, specifications, features and benefits

2011 Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 35

Click Thumbnail to download (size 1600 x 1200 pixels)

VW Golf GTI Edition 35

The 35th anniversary of the Golf GTI was an impetus for Volkswagen to create a very special type of anniversary model. In Germany, from May 12th, 2011 orders are taken for the anniversary model offered under the "Edition 35" label.

Since the debut of the first Golf GTI in 1976, this sporty Volkswagen has enjoyed an uninterrupted history of success spanning 35 years. The GTI has long become a car with cult appeal as well as an independent brand. Milestone GTI anniversaries have always been celebrated with exclusive special models. Volkswagen now continues in this tradition with the VW Golf GTI Edition 35: its coherent design approach combines classic GTI elements with features specially created for the Edition 35. Not only does the front bumper glisten in a new design; the car's exterior and interior showcase the special model's exclusivity as well. The "35" signature appears on the wing panels, door sill plates, head restraints and centre seat panel. The highly equipped concept, with its love for details, is also crowned by a high-end metal key ring in action styling. Along with customised features, the special model also promises more driving fun with power increased from 210 to 235 PS compared to the production model.

The Volkswagen Golf GTI Edition 35 celebrates its world debut at the legendary GTI Meet at Wörthersee to be held from June 1st to 4th, 2011. Volkswagen will also be showing other well-known GTI anniversary models at this event, such as the Edition 20 and Edition 30. The anniversary model is available at a base price of 30,425 euros; it is a car that will appeal to both established GTI customers and interested prospective buyers. Its market launch in Germany begins in mid-June 2011.

1938 VW Beetle | Volkswagen wallpapers |

1938 Volkswagen VW Beetle

VOLKSWAGEN WALLPAPERS

Review, specifications, features and benefits

1938 VW Beetle

Click Thumbnail to download (size 1600 x 1200 pixels)

VW Beetle

The Volkswagen Type 1, more commonly known as the Beetle, Fusca, Coccinelle, Vocho, Bug, Volky or Käfer (German), is a compact car, produced by Volkswagen from 1938 until 2003. Although the names "Beetle" and "Bug" were quickly adopted by the public, it was not until August of 1967 that VW began using the name in marketing materials. It had previously been known only as either the "Type I" or as the 1200 (twelve-hundred), 1300 (thirteen-hundred) or 1500 (fifteen-hundred), which had been the names under which the vehicle was marketed in Europe prior to 1967; the numbers denoted the vehicle's engine size in cubic centimetres. In 1998, many years after the original model had been dropped from the lineup in most of the world (it continued in Mexico and a handful of other countries until 2003) VW introduced a "New Beetle" (built on a Volkswagen Golf platform), bearing a strong resemblance to the original.

In the international poll for the award of the world's most influential car of the twentieth century the Beetle came fourth after the Ford Model T, the Mini and the Citroën DS.

"The People's Car"

The origins of the car date back to 1925, when Béla Barényi submitted his concepts to the Maschinenbauanstant Wien. Further influences came from the 1931 Tatra T97, and the 1931 Porsche Typ 12.

In 1933 Adolf Hitler met with Ferdinand Porsche to discuss the development of a "Volks-Wagen" ("People Car"), a basic vehicle that should be capable of transporting two adults and three children at a speed of 100 km/h (62 mph), and which should cost no more than a 990 reichsmark (at an average income of 32RM/week).

Advertisement from ca. 1936 says "Five mark a week you must put aside - If in your own car you want to ride!"

Ferdinand Porsche formulated the original parameters of the Beetle several years before it was commissioned. However its production only became financially viable when it was backed by the Third Reich.

The Type 1's mechanics and chassis were shared with several German military vehicles of the period, including the Kübelwagen ("bucket car", later adapted for civil use as the Type 181 or "Thing"), used by both the German military and the SS, and the amphibious Schwimmwagen, built in small numbers

Ferdinand's career continued on to designing an iconic supercar of the 21st century - Porsche.

The military Beetle

Prototypes of the Kdf-Wagen appeared from 1935 onwards — the first prototypes were produced by Daimler-Benz in Stuttgart, Germany. The car already had its distinctive round shape and its air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. However, the factory had only produced a handful of cars by the time war started in 1939. Consequently, the first volume-produced versions of the car's chassis were military vehicles, the Jeep-like Kübelwagen Typ 82 (approx. 52,000 built) and the amphibious Schwimmwagen Typ 166 (approx. 14,000 built).

The car was designed to be as simple as possible mechanically, so that there was less to go wrong; the aircooled 985 cc 25 hp (19 kW) motors proved especially effective in actions of the German Afrika Korps in North Africa's desert heat. This was due to the built-in fan-cooling and the superior performance of the flat-four engine configuration. The innovative suspension design used compact torsion beams instead of coil or leaf springs.

A handful of civilian-specific Beetles were produced, primarily for the Nazi elite, in the years 1940–1945, but production figures were small. In response to gasoline shortages, a few wartime "Holzbrenner" Beetles were fueled by wood pyrolysis gas producers under the hood. In addition to the Kübelwagen, Schwimmwagen, and a handful of others, the factory managed another wartime vehicle:

the Kommandeurwagen; a Beetle body mounted on the 4WD Kübelwagen chassis. A total of 669 Kommandeurwagens were produced until 1945, when all production was halted due to heavy damage sustained in Allied air raids on the factory. Much of the essential equipment had already been moved to underground bunkers for protection, allowing production to resume quickly once hostilities had ended.

Post-war conflicts

Much of the Beetle's design was inspired by the advanced Tatra cars of Hans Ledwinka, particularly the T97. This also had a streamlined body and a rear-mounted 4 cylinder horizontally-opposed air-cooled engine. Tatra launched a lawsuit, but this was stopped when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. The matter was re-opened after WW2 and in 1961 Volkswagen paid Tatra 3,000,000 Deutsche Marks in compensation. These damages meant that Volkswagen had little money for the development of new models and the Beetle's production life was necessarily extended.

The Volkswagen company owes its postwar existence largely to British army officer Major Ivan Hirst (1916–2000). After the war, Hirst was ordered to take control of the heavily bombed factory, which the Americans had captured. His first task was to remove the unexploded bomb which had fallen through the roof and lodged itself between some pieces of irreplaceable production equipment; if the bomb had exploded, the Beetle's fate would have been sealed. Hirst persuaded the British military to order 20,000 of the cars, and by 1946 the factory was producing 1,000 cars a month. The car and its town changed their Nazi-era names to Volkswagen (people's car) and Wolfsburg, respectively. The first 1,785 Beetles were made in a factory near Wolfsburg, Germany in 1945.

Production boom

Production of the Type 1 grew dramatically over the years, with the one-millionth car coming off the assembly line by 1954. The Beetle had superior performance in its category with a top speed of 115km/h (72mph) and 0-100km/h (0-60mph) in 27.5 seconds on 31mpg for the standard 25kW (34hp) engine. This was far superior to the Renault 4CV and Morris Minor and even competitive with more modern small cars like the Mini. The engine fired up immediately without a choke and could only be heard in the car when idling. It had excellent road-handling for a small car. It was economical to maintain and, for many, a joy to drive. However, the opinion of some in the United States was not as flattering. Henry Ford II once described the car as 'A little shit box' out of frustration that it was the top-selling foreign car in the US market. During the 1960s and early 1970s, innovative advertising campaigns and a glowing reputation for reliability and sturdiness helped production figures to surpass the levels of the previous record holder, the Ford Model T, when Beetle No. 15,007,034 was produced on February 17, 1972. By 1973 total production was over 16 million, and by 2002 there had been over 21 million produced.

Beetle derivatives

While production of the standard Beetle continued, a Type 1 variant called the Super Beetle, produced from model year 1971 to 1979, offered MacPherson strut front suspension, better turning radius, and more space in the front luggage compartment. The Super Beetle was improved in 1973 to include a padded dashboard and a curved windshield.

The Super Beetle (VW 1302 and 1303 series, also called Type 113) is not the only Type 1 variant; other VWs under the Type 1 nomenclature include the Karmann Ghia and the VW 181 utility vehicle, not to mention the Brasilia and the Australian Country Buggy (locally produced in Australia using VW parts).Small fractions of people now call it the weevil.

Sales decrease

Faced with stiff competition from more modern designs — in particular Japanese economy cars in the North American market and superminis in Europe — sales began dropping off in the mid 1970s. There had been several unsuccessful attempts to replace the Beetle throughout the 1960s; the Type 3, Type 4, and the NSU-based K70 were all failures. Finally, production lines at Wolfsburg switched to the new watercooled, front-engined, front wheel drive Golf in 1974 (sold in North America as the Rabbit), a car unlike its predecessor in most significant ways.

Beetle production continued in smaller numbers at other German factories until 1978, but mainstream production shifted to Brazil and Mexico. The last Beetle was produced in Puebla, Mexico, in mid-2003. The final batch of 3,000 Beetles were sold as 2004 models and badged as the Última Edición, with whitewall tires, a host of previously-discontinued chrome trim, and the choice of two special paint colors taken from the New Beetle. Production in Brazil ended in 1986, then restarted in 1993 and continued until 1996. Volkswagen sold Beetles in the United States until 1978 (the Beetle convertible a.k.a. Cabriolet was sold until January 1980) and in Europe until 1985.

Pop culture

Like its competitors the Mini and the Citroën 2CV, the Beetle has been regarded as something of a "cult" car since its 1960s association with the hippie movement; and the obvious attributes of its unique and quirky design. Much like their Type 2 counterparts, Beetles were psychedelically painted and considered an art car ancestor. One of the logos used by the Houston Art Car Klub incorporated a Beetle with a cowboy hat.

From 1968 to 2005, a pearl white 1963 fabric sunroof Beetle with racing number "53" and red, white, and blue stripes named "Herbie" played a starring role in The Love Bug series of Disney comedy films. A yellow Wunderkäfer, called DuDu, appeared in a series of German films for children. Also made famous is the Autobot Bumblebee, a canary yellow Beetle in the toy, comic and cartoon line The Transformers. The Throttlebot, Legends and Generation 2 toy line versions of Bumblebee also transformed from robot to VW Beetle, though the Throttlebot-type was called Goldbug as it was a golden 1975 Super Beetle. (Note, too, that the G2 toy was painted anodized gold in colour.) In other countries, 'Bumblebee the Beetle' has been released in various colours.

The Beetle has appeared in Hollywood in many other instances, albeit brief. For instance, the opening shot of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980) featured a yellow Volkswagen Beetle. The sci-fi thriller The Arrival (1996) featured a few Mexican Beetles in the film — one scene in the film features Charlie Sheen hiding in the notorioulsy tight trunk.

During the early 1970s, the Beetle was used for advertisements where graphic art ads were decaled on newly-sold Volkswagens. A marketing consultant (Charlie E. Bird) in the Los Angeles area came up with the "Beetleboard" concept. Both standard and Super Beetles were used, until the original Beetle ceased production in Europe in 1978. This trend was resurrected after the New Beetle entered production (source — The Beetle Book).The Volkswagen Beetle has built a large fan base among off-road types in the form of the Baja Bug. Today, there are many online clubs and communities that keep Beetle aficionadoes on touch. Even the sighting of a Volkswagen Beetle is cause for violent fun in the car-sighting game known as "Slug-Bug" or Punch Buggy.