The Toyota Prius has reclining bucket seats, a CD player, a digital instrument panel in its dash, and shiny stainless steel buttons for its climate control system. The trunk holds five grocery bags and the backseat has room for six-footers. To a casual observer it looks like a typical Japanese economy-size car with a slightly bigger than normal interior. Looks deceive. A peek under the hood reveals a big difference: A battery about half the width of the car sits next to a small four cylinder engine. The car's hybrid gas-electric propulsion system combines electric motors that drive the car much of the time with a conventional gasoline engine that applies supplemental power and driving range, along with mechanisms that recycle leftover energy into fresh battery charges. Any time the driver steps on the brakes, power is transferred from the car's forward motion back to the battery. When the Prius runs on battery power--which is most of the time during city driving--no pollution at all issues from its tailpipe. When a driver wants to go fast, additional power comes from the engine. The Prius isn't an anomaly.
Also available today is Honda's Insight, a sleek, sporty hybrid gas-electric vehicle that gets up to 68 miles per gallon with a manual transmission. But the Insight is a niche product that seats only two and has virtually no cargo space. Next year, Honda will sell a gas-electric version of its popular Civic sedan. Meanwhile, a current diesel powered Volkswagen Jetta with a manual transmission sips even less fuel than the Prius while on the highway (although it pollutes as much as some SUVs). Nissan, on the other hand, markets a conventionally powered version of its Sentra coupe that is tuned to pollute as little as the Prius. And General Motors has recently updated some fuel-saving 1980s technology by letting eight cylinder cars shut down four of their cylinders while running at low speeds. The Prius, in other words, doesn't involve any miracle technology that isn't also being marketed somewhere else. But it brings together a lot of interesting features in one package. What the car offers is a glimpse at the way steady, incremental, market-driven steps are bringing us vehicles that save energy and pollute less--without harsh or utopian government mandates. The Prius is an important case study because it involves a curious reversal of poli-economic stereotypes. Under the Clinton administration, the U.S.
There's also a 12V Power Socket at the centre for all to use. Lookin' at this angle from the back.. Beetle Cabrio is indeed very eye-catching! It's the nicest Beetle I've ever driven. The boot is just a small opening at the back.. It can be opened by just pressing the Volkswagen logo at the back. The boot space is 225 litres no matter the soft top is opened or closed. Thanks to the K-fold feature of the fabric top. The rear seats can be pushed down to create more boot space by pulling this catch here. Beside it is a hook for you to hook on to your plastic bags so that your groceries and stuffs wouldn't be rolling all over the boot. So it will look like this when the rear seat is down. Both rear seats can be pushed down. And yes.. just right below its the Fender sound system's Subwoofer that provide solid sound to your ears. Now.. this is how it looks like when the soft top is up. Underneath the bonnet of the Beetle Cabriolet is a 1.2 TSI engine with an output rating of 105 PS.
This turbo-charged 1.2-litre four cylinder engine follows the downsizing principle in an extreme form, resulting in maximum power with low fuel consumption and emission values. Its maximum torque output of 175 Nm is available from 1,500 - 4,100 rpm. A brisk performance is achieved via a quick-shifting 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox (DSG), with the car accelerating from 0-100 km/h in 11.7 seconds and a top speed of 178 km/h. It also has extremely low fuel consumption of 5.9 L/100km in the combined driving cycle, with a CO2 emission value of 139 g/km. Initially I wasn't quite use to it when the top was opened, because the windscreen seemed to become smaller and darkens.. I got used to it! Instead, I enjoyed the feelin' when the soft top was down and simply just enjoy the natural breeze from the outside.. I like how this car brought happiness to the people around me.. So when they got to sit in this Beetle Cabriolet, they got excited and that kinda mood which created happiness is not something you will always get. Furthermore, its a Beetle that is so cute and has a smile at the front! With that said.. I brought my parents, and my nephew and niece out with this Beetle Cabriolet.. With this car.. I can have the top up or down anytime. Enjoy the natural breeze outside. What I like most about this car is front LED lights and the back lamps which are really nice as compared to its predecessor. I also like the power it has when I step on the accelerator. Thanks to the 4-cylinder, TSI petrol engine with 8 valves, turbocharged engine! I can also have an option to switch to Sports mode when I need more power and speed!
Since the introduction of SAIC Volkswagen in 2000, Passat has written a generation of legends. It is not only a car, but also a microcosm of the spirit of the times. After 18 years of market hardening, Passat has always defended the glory of the German middle and high-class car. Each generation of Passat has successfully led the development of the B-class sedan segment market, regardless of its design, product technology or market performance. With the trust of over 2.5 million users, it has become a pivotal 鈥渨ind vane鈥?and a long-lasting star model in China's auto market. Recently, the highlights of the new generation of Passat products have been pre-empted. The new car is leading from the inside out, and the German middle and high-class drivers are returning. The new generation Passat uses the latest mobile rhythm design concept of the Volkswagen brand to perfectly integrate the pure texture of the machine with the aesthetics of industrial design, presenting a car art with aesthetics.
