Revisit: The Concept T… SUV, Sports Car, Dune Buggy?
July 9, 2006 – 8:00 am by Dan Volkens
Filed under Concepts
More like all of the above. From VW: “The sports car that redefines sports.”
* From Volkswagen Press Release:
The Concept T is a crossover vehicle blending a high-capability off-roader and an uncompromising sports car. With this automobile, Volkswagen is showing how the off-road and sports car worlds can be combined in future to produce an especially exciting and fascinating facet of the automotive experience - the off-road coupe.
The concept car is propelled by a 177 kW/241 hp V6 front-mounted transverse engine. In both on-road and off-road driving, this power is fed to the wheels by 4MOTION permanent all-wheel drive in conjunction with an automatic gearbox with a manual shift option (Tiptronic). The full-fledged Concept T off-roader accelerates to 100 km/h (62.5 mph) in 6.9 seconds and its top speed is electronically limited to 230 km/h (144 mph).
I remember when the Concept T was debuted, and I immediately took a liking to it. It’s a pretty radical design on Volkswagen’s part. I’m tired of every car basically looking the same across all manufacturers. I wanna see someone take a major leap of faith and throw something out on the market like this. I’d rock it.
Click on a thumbnail to view a larger version.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Revisit: The Concept T… SUV, Sports Car, Dune Buggy?
July 9, 2006 – 8:00 am by Dan Volkens
Looks fun. But why are the mirrors so damn high? It’s hips can’t be THAT wide.
True dat. Makes you wonder about the actual usability of the mirrors. Is it more dificult to see out of them looking all the way up there versus the typical location?
I like what they’re doing with the radical change here… at least it’s not like Chevy’s version of radical change where they revamp ugly cars of the past to make them ugly cars of the future. Seems like the Concept T will be going after a new target market for Vdub, which will be interesting to see.
i am actually on here looking for info about this vehicle. i would buy one right now if they were in production. i really hope it does. also, their website says it would also come as a 2+2 if it were to be made. this is exactly what i have been looking for. i have a real problem with new cars. it sounds stupid, but i don’t look at any new car and actually like it. of course there are vettes and gt’s and so on, but those are really expensive. i really hope that volkswagen makes this vehicle.
and bring back that german guy and his hot blonde assistant. i like watching them smash cars.
i noticed that no one talked about the james bond watch that comes with this vehicle. i think it’s actually more of a pda/remote control.
http://www.gizmag.com/go/2485/
if anyone has any more info on this, i would like to see it.
I love the idea of this car but get anxious thinking about the typical VW reliability issues. If VW is going to produce this car they need to approach it from a stance of sensibility. I would be taking this off road, in the desert, in the snow, in the mountains with mud. This car would be beat to death and I’d expect it to withstand what I would consider normal abuse for such a car. I don’t want electronic climate controls or an interior I would worry about dragging muddy gear in and out of. Nor would I need to senselessly worry about whether half the suspension would get stuck in 2 wheel drive mode when I’m stuck on top of a mountain in the Sierras in 10 foot snow drifts. If VW can figure a way to make this a usable vehicle then I’m all for it, sign me up 2 years into production (I’ll let someone else be the guinea pig for the problems, I already did my tour of duty with the NBs). I’ll almost pay any price.