Long-awaited VW Golf could finally come to India. Volkswagen introduced its first GTI performance offering in India last month - the VW Polo GTI. Further down the road, the company could bring in the bigger and more capable VW Golf GTI as well, says a new report from Autocar India. The VW Golf, one of the company's top-selling models internationally, is not sold in India for obvious reasons, but Volkswagen is keen on bringing it to the market later this decade. The standard Golf doesn't make sense for India because it will have to be imported probably in CBU or CKD form and hatchbacks priced around INR 18 lakh or more won't fetch volumes in India. Instead, the company will likely bring in the C-segment hatchback exclusively in GTI variant to justify the high pricing, say around INR 40 lakh. In an interview, Michael Mayer, Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India, said that Volkswagen has more GTI cars and so India might get one of them in 2018 or 2019. The company is considering the VW Golf GTI, he added. The seventh generation VW Golf range was given a facelift last month and is now available to pre-order in Europe.
With the 4XMOTION system, it is also possible to deactivate ESP. On vehicles with air suspension, the "Lock" switch can also prevent unwanted lowering of the vehicle from the Off-Road level to the Normal level by locking the system at 70 km/h. Volkswagen has further developed the Volkswagen Touareg's high-performance running gear with independent suspensions at all four wheels on the second generation of the successful SUV. The basic layout is still characterised by two double wishbone suspension at the front with upper aluminium suspension links and lower steel links. At the rear, the double wishbone suspension has forged aluminium upper links and lower wishbones made of steel. The increased track widths compared to the previous model are 1,656 millimetres in front and 1,676 millimetres in the rear. Like the first VW Touareg, the new version will also offer a standard steel suspension and optional air suspension system. Design changes and more intensive use of aluminium has reduced the weight of the running gear by a considerable 47 kilograms.
To also attain greater responsiveness and even more precise steering, the elasto-kinetics were also optimised, and the rigidity of the suspension joint was increased at the rear suspension. In summary, the Volkswagen Touareg's optimised running gear offers very good vibration control and ride comfort, a low roll angle, responsive handling, excellent dynamic stability and of course very good off-road performance. The running gear of the new VW Touareg with its double wishbone suspensions continues with a proven layout that enables large spring displacements and good wheel lift (4MOTION: 157 millimetres / 4XMOTION: 173 millimetres) in off-road driving. In front, the version with standard steel suspension and 4MOTION also produces an approach angle of 22º; the rear scores points with a 23º departure angle. With the "Terrain Tech" package (4XMOTION), these values increase to 26º each. It gets even more extreme when the Volkswagen Touareg is equipped with an air suspension: In the 4MOTION version, the values are 24º (front) and 25º (rear). The combination of air suspension and 4XMOTION produces the maximum angle of 33º, front and rear.
In alliance with its ground clearance of 220 millimetres, the new Volkswagen Touareg also cuts an excellent figure off of the paved peaks. When the SUV is ordered with the "Terrain Tech" package, buyers enjoy a ride height increased by an additional 10 millimetres in front and 15 in the rear. With the optional air suspension, ground clearance even increases to a maximum of 300 millimetres. Fording depths of 500 millimetres (steel suspension) and 580 millimetres (air suspension) ensure that the fish stay outside of the new VW Touareg too. As an option, Volkswagen is offering an air suspension on the new Touareg once again. Integrated here are an automatic levelling control system and ride height adjustment as well as electronic damper control. The air suspension guarantees exceptional comfort on drives on paved roads and - based on speed-dependent chassis lowering - the dynamic performance properties of a very sporty automobile.
In off-road driving, the air suspension also improves off-road properties while still offering exceptionally good comfort by its variable ride height. As an alternative to the automatic "Normal" mode (lower ride height resulting in reduced Cd value), the driver can select "Comfort" or "Sport" mode. When "Comfort" is selected, the skyhook system essentially aims to compensate in the best possible way for road unevenness, while "Sport" mode, with ride height lowered 25 millimetres, optimises road contact and enhances dynamic performance. Compared to the previous model, the air suspension in the new Volkswagen Touareg has been implemented as a closed system for the first time. This reduces the reservoir volume needed for the air system and permits the use of a smaller compressor. This, in turn, reduces power consumption, since the pressure difference to be overcome by the compressor is significantly lower than in an open system. These combined measures contributed toward reducing the weight of the air suspension by about 20 kilograms.
