The Golf sport has a new name - ABT Golf R

When ABT Sportsline deals with the VW Golf, the result is traditionally a compact super sports car. This is because the world's largest tuner of vehicles from the Volkswagen group has given all generations of the successful Wolfsburg car an optical and technical boost. The current super Golf answers to the letter R, which announces the most important characteristics of the car: the "R" stands for "racing" - it transports the experience of ABT, which has recently defended its DTM title and won the ADAC GT Masters. Instead of the series-standard 270HP (199 kW) the engine now offers a dynamic 310HP (228 kW). With a high-speed of 261 km/h the ABT R is especially fast - and it is also capable of quick acceleration: it sprints from a standstill to a speed of 100 km/h in 5.2 seconds.


"The compact car is really good fun, particularly on corners", states Hans-Juergen Abt. For the General Manager of ABT Sportsline each Golf is a challenge which he and his team are happy to confront: "VW gave the Golf dynamism when it was in the cradle - it defines sportiness in its class. And the Golf R is the champion of fast Golfs." Optically, some interesting details provide the vehicle with a particularly self-confident appearance: the ABT Daytime running lights, front apron and front lip make the Bavarian car seem even more powerful and perfectly harmonise with the new CR alloy. The especially light design wheel looks exceptional on the ABT Golf R, particularly in 19 inch. Fitting high-performance tyres are, of course, also available, meaning that nothing stands in the way of the especially agile shape of the Golf sport. The newcomer to the Golf family is, of course, absolutely suitable for everyday driving and is good-natured and not touchy in heavy traffic. But look out when it let's loose...


ABT ENGINE TECHNOLOGY
Engine: 2.0 TSI, 1984 ccm capacity
Performance tuning: ABT Power
Performance: 310 HP/228 kW (standard: 199 HP/270 kW)
ABT AERODYNAMICS
ABT front skirt


ABT OPTICAL CHARACTERISTICS
ABT daytime running light
ABT front lip spoiler
ABT WHEEL TECHNOLOGY
ABT BR wheel in 18 and 19 inches
ABT CR wheel in 18 and 19 inches
Available also as complete set of wheels with sports tyres

via:world car fans

Car Insurance Secrets, 8 Secrets Your Car Insurer Won't Tell You

Keeping your premiums from rising? That can feel like playing a game where the rule maker refuses to tell you the rules.

*If you have good credit, you'll pay less on car insurance.
Almost all car insurers including the top five pull your credit report.
Why? Studies have shown a direct correlation between your credit score and the likelihood that you will file a claim.
Car Insurers also know that if you pay your bills in a timely fashion and have had the same credit accounts for a long time, you're more stable than someone who pays late and frequently opens and closes accounts.
Car insurers use this information to create your "insurance risk score," which is one factor that determines your car insurance rate.

Tip: Your car insurance risk score is not available to you, but it may be similar to your credit score. If you have unusual credit activity, wait a month for it to return to normal before buying car insurance.

*Your car model affects your premium car insurance. You won't get these numbers from your Car insurer. But the car insurers do have a rating system for every car make and model.
Most use a system devised by the Car Insurance Services Office, which starts with the cost of the vehicle and then factors in safety and theft data.

Tip: You can file a claim on your home insurance. Most home insurance policies will cover smaller, less expensive items such as compact discs.

*Bad drivers will pay
You'll pay for your bad driving. The industry standard is to increase your premium by 40% of the insurer's base rate after your first at fault accident. Not all car insurers play by this rule.

Tip: Some car insurance companies have a forgive the first accident policy. So ask your Car insurance company if it has a forgiveness policy and how to qualify? .

*You'll pay for your friend's bad driving, too. If your friend borrows your car and crashes it, you'll have to file a claim with your car insurance company.

Tip: If your friend didn't have permission to take your car, in most cases you won't be held liable for the damage. But if your friend is uninsured and causes damage that exceeds your policy limits, the injured party can come after you for medical and property damage expenses.

*Your car's real worth
each car insurance company has its own proprietary list of car values.
The car insurance company may also ask local dealers what they'd charge for a similar replacement car.

Tip: If you disagree with your car insurance company's value determination, there are several things you can do:
Next time, get gap insurance. It wil l pay the difference between what an car insurer will cover and what you owe.
If you have maintenance records that show you've had the oil changed every 3,000 miles and you've had the car checked routinely by a mechanic.
If you've been paying premiums on any special parts or upgrades, make sure those are included in the car insurance company's evaluation.

*Odds and ends
Hit by an uninsured motorist? Try to "stack." (UM/UIM) coverages means collecting from more than one car insurance policy that you hold.

Tip: Check the language of your car insurance policy to see if stacking is allowed.
There are two scenarios for stacking:
First, if you have multiple cars on your car insurance policy with UM/UIM coverage on each, you can collect the limit of your UM/UIM coverage under as many vehicles as necessary to cover full payment for damages.
Second, if you have more than one car insurance policy with UM/UIM coverage, even if they're from two different car insurers, you can make a claim under each policy until all your damages are recovered.

*You can wait to add your teenager to your car insurance policy until he or she is licensed.

Tip: Don't forget to tell your car insurance company that you have a licensed teen. If you have to file a claim on his or her behalf, your car insurance company is entitled to charge you back premiums from the date your teen received a license.

*You must officially cancel your car insurance policy when you switch car insurers. you can cancel your car insurance coverage at any time by notifying the car insurance company in writing of the date of termination.

Tip: Call your car insurance agent and let him know you are canceling your car insurance policy. Give a specific date, or you may end up uninsured for a period of time.
The car insurance company will send you a cancellation request. Most often, the form is already filled out and all it requires is your signature.

Unintended Acceleration Round 2

News reports are out that that NHTSA is still getting Unintended Acceleration complaints from Toyotas which have apparently been repaired with the various recall fixes.

What is going on?

I think that what we are seeing is normal cases of UI, which happen to all brands of vehicles, amplified through the media and the Toyota recall frenzy.  In other words, people hitting the wrong pedal, or both pedals.

It is unreasonable to expect that Toyota's repairs will drive the number of UI cases to zero.  Instead, it should reduce them to "background" rates, similar to the other major automakers.

Spyker Interview

This morning Paul W. Smith (WJR 760AM) interviewed Spyker CEO Victor Muller about the acquisition of Saab, and the plans going forward.

A few interesting bits, from memory:

"We are going to return Saabishness to Saab" ... "We are going to restore the Saab DNA."

"Saab buyers are the most educated in the market, with 67% of them having a college degree or better"

"Saab buyers are very loyal.  We don't need new customers.  We just need to get our Saab customers back, who left for some reason."

"When Saab customers left, they didn't go to Volvo, they went to Audi and BMW mostly"

"Saab only needs to sell 100,000 vehicles to be a great company.  Audi sells 70,000 units in the US, out of 1,000,0000 produced, Saab can sell 50,000 out of 100,000, and make money!"

"We have 200 dealers in the US, and that is about right.  They have been very supportive."

I don't see Saab becoming a major player, after the damage that GM did to the brand, but it doesn't sound like Spyker expects them to.  It sounds like they expect to be a niche product, sitting somewhere between Volvo and Audi.  We won't see any more lame badge-jobs like the 9-2 or 9-7, so Saab will be limited to just a couple of products for a while.  

PSA & Mini in engine tie-up

BMW and PSA Peugeot-Citroen will carry on together developing 4 cylinder engines for next-generation models.

More than 1.3 million engines developed under the agreement have been used in Mini, Peugeot and Citroen models, and the two firms will now work at developing EU6 engines together.

Norbert Reithofer, BMW chairman, said, “We have always been very successful in our cooperation with our partners, and that is particularly true with regard to PSA. We are delighted to continue our engine cooperation and look into options for further collaboration.”

Components and systems will also be developed between the two firms.

Brake-Throttle Override And Two Foot Driving

Amazing as it sounds, there are people who drive automatic transmission cars with two feet.  They typically drive with the left foot resting gently on the brake pedal, with the belief that they can brake more quickly than if they move their right foot from the gas to the brake.  They of course neglect the possibility that they will overlap, and will reduce the effectiveness of the brakes.

It is likely that NHTSA will mandate, or Congress will pass a law which requires that automakers who use Electronic Throttle Control Systems (ETC) must have brake override logic, similar to the software update that Toyota is releasing as part of its recent unintended acceleration recall.   

As this feature becomes more widespread, two-foot driving will become a little bit more difficult.  The two-foot driver will find that if they overlap brake and throttle pedal application, that they will get abrupt reduction in engine torque, and therefore more abrupt deceleration, as the ETC system slams the throttle closed to reduce engine power.  In order to drive smoothly, they will have to take the time to lift off of the throttle before pushing the brake, giving up much of the perceived advantage of two-foot driving.

Wow! AdBlock on Chrome!

Wow.  I was sure that Google would not allow adblocking extensions to run on Chrome, but amazingly, they do.  Chrome + AdBlock is now my favorite browser, because it is fast.