Top 10 Best Mods & Upgrades
Eos, the Greek goddess of the dawn, was said to have opened the gates of heaven, allowing the Sun to rise each day. And, although your Volkswagen EOS hasn't quite yet made it into Greek mythology, it does perform it's own special opening in the form of it's amazing retractable roof. The only hardtop of it's kind, the VW Eos has a 5-piece folding roof with an independent glass sunroof that effortlessly transforms itself from a hardtop coupe into a breathy convertible. Volkswagen introduced the 6-speed sport compact in 2006, and ever since the "volks", or people, have taken notice. Some of the post popular VW Eos accessories we sell are customer floor liners from Weathertech and Husky. They provide superior protection of your stock mats and are a breeze to clean. When you have your rooftop down it makes sense to protect your upholstery, so another great option is our waterproof neoprene seat covers from top-brands Coverking & Caltrend. They come in a variety of colors to match your car or personal taste and are made with pride in the USA. AutoAccessoriesGarage has the top Eos aftermarket accessories or performance parts, and when you shop with us, rest assured you're getting the best price around. 1. Better yet, every Eos accessory you find here ships to your door absolutely free!
The Geneva Motor Show is just a a few weeks away. And despite Volkswagen scrapping another unveiling plan at the last minute, they will be showing off the second model in their BlueMotion line. The first was the Polo, which was all fine and good, unless you needed more space. It's for that reason that Volkswagen has now added the Passat to their BlueMotion lineup, which is set to debut at the Geneva Motor Show. The BlueMotion lineup, not to be confused with Bluetec which is an entirely different thing, is Volkswagen's cleanest and most fuel efficient models. For example, Volkswagen's Polo BlueMotion model produces 103g of CO2/km, one gram less than the Toyota Prius, and does 60.3 mpg. The Passat BlueMotion will be equipped with a 1.9L TDI engine producing 105 hp. Fuel consumption and emission numbers should be forthcoming. Eventually, Volkswagen plans on expanding the fuel-sipping line to all their volume-selling cars.
I find the average pickup truck's buckboard ride and apple cart handling a constant source of wonder. If they can put a man on the moon, why can't they put the lunar rover's suspension on a pickup truck? Yes, I know: if you want to carry heavy things, coil/leaf suspension is your only option. But why would anyone who doesn't schlep stuff for a living actually choose to drive a pickup? Dunno. What I DO know is that rough-riding, foul-handling pickups are America's favorite form of personal transportation. And the US (or at least the US media) is hybrid crazy. So it was only a matter of time before Detroit answered its petro-political critics by building a hybrid pickup truck. First out of the blocks: the GMC Sierra Hybrid. The beauty of it- well, the beauty of the concept- is inescapable. Fit a gas-electric hybrid motor to a pickup, boost its gas mileage by a respectable margin, and voila!
A politically incorrect gas-guzzler becomes a deeply desirable statement of environmental consciousness- with a healthy shot of blue collar chic at no extra charge. Yes, now even redneck America can have their cake and the Kyoto Agreement too! OK, back to reality. First of all, the GMC Sierra Hybrid is not a real hybrid. Its Panasonic lead-acid batteries don't provide propulsion; the sub-system only powers the Sierra when it's stationary. In other words, when the pickup comes to a halt, so does its internal combustion engine. The batteries kick-in to power all the electrical goodies (AC, lights, radio, windows, etc.). Then, when you take your foot off the brakes, the V8 spools-up, and away you go. C'mon, did you seriously expect a 42-volt battery to provide motive force for a 7000lbs. pickup truck with a 9200lbs. towing capacity? What we have here is no more or less than a standard GMC Sierra pickup truck with a battery-powered electronic stop - start system that recharges itself with energy generated by the brakes.
A system that also shuts off fuel to the powerplant whilst coasting, and smoothes out the resulting engine vibrations. The technology is certainly impressive, but the driving experience is prosaic. Stomp on the quasi-hybrid's gas pedal and you get the same response as you would in a regular Sierra. Its 295hp Vortec 5300 propels the pickup to 60mph in under eight secs. Again, I'm no fan of the way this (or any) pickup truck handles bumps and bends, but there's no question that the General's demi-hybrid has enough grunt to leave a tree hugger's Toyota Prius for dead. Things start to get hinky when you take your foot off the gas. There's a strange sensation of increased drag- something between engine braking and the feeling that you've run out of gas. The fact that the slowing effect is caused by the fuel-saving engine cut-off feature is morally comforting, but dynamically distracting. Braking feel, as the stoppers reclaim energy for the batteries, is similarly peculiar.
