Car Throttle

Small Peugeots have always been popular in the UK. Not only are they very affordable but the 206 and 207 were very stylish compared to other superminis at the time and in the 1990s the 205 GTI was one of the most fun hot hatches of it's time. Now though with very stylish and nimble rivals such as the Ford Fiesta among us it was time for the 207 to sign up for a gym membership. After spending some time working out, the result is the new 208. Weight wise it has lost 173kg meaning that the 208 promises to be more agile and efficient and it's more aerodynamic and compact with 7cm off the length and 1cm off the height. Even though it's smaller

One of the stars of this year's Frankfurt Motor Show was the smallest car there, the Volkswagen Up. This is VW's latest city car replacing the old Fox and challenging rivals such as the Ford Ka, Fiat 500 and Citroen C1. The big news now though is that Volkswagen have made a GT version of the Up that promises to bring back the spirit of the Mk 1 Golf GTI, a small, fast and cheap hot hatch. This little VW comes with wider front grille to help more air get to the engine which promises to produce around 100bhp. Attached to each side of the wider front grille are cooling ducts which have the job of keeping the brakes chilled and also house the LED daytime

The Volkswagen GTI turns 35 this year. 35!  They've really been selling a hopped-up version of their shopping cart for 35 years now!  And it's really not that much of a surprise.  Sure, people were skeptical that the GTI would be popular when it first came out - who wants a fast Golf?  Why wouldn't I just get a Mustang? - but the combination of fun-to-drive and practicality sparked an entire market segment that still persists today, having gone through more troughs and waves than the stock market.  (OK, maybe that's a stretch.) Also celebrating a milestone anniversary this year is the Wörthersee festival held in Reifnitz, Austria, which is officially putting 30 candles in it's cake.  This GTI-centric 3-day show attracts thousands of rabid fans

The Volkswagen Polo GTI, introduced at the Geneva Auto Show has made waves as being the true successor to the original Golf GTI. It is a good bit smaller than the current Golf and closer to the intended mission of the original (not that we don't love the current Golf GTI). Now VW has the Golf GTI making literal waves in this new video - but snow waves, that is. No doubt an entertaining car to drive in any iteration, the new video shows the little white Polo GTI sliding around in the expanses of snow. 178 horsepower, 184 pound feet of torque and a curb weight of only about 2505 pounds to throw around. Fun? Oh yeah. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f7Se8AMi4I

Volkswagen is on a roll globally, with the company rolling out successful new products and successfully completing a purchase of Porsche. The new Polo was introduced at the Geneva Auto Show last year, debuting with VW's new design theme. It's time to spice things up now with the GTI. The way vehicle segments have grown with each passing generation, it seems as if the Polo is the de facto successor to the original, MK1 Golf. Small, sporty and lightweight Styling changes aren't extreme , but they manage to provide a good effect. There is a new front bumper and airdam, along with the GTI staple honeycomb grille with horizontal red strips and GTI badge. There are also new headlight units with the option of LED running lights that

It's a VW tradition.  Every year at the Worthersee show in southern Austria, which is the largest VW and Audi show in the world, VW usually debuts some fantastic concept cars to thousands of adoring fans.  A few years ago, it was a MKV Golf with a twin-turbocharged W12 mounted where the back seats go, driving the rear wheels.  In a sign of the times, this year it's a pair of spruced-up production hatchbacks: a MKVI GTi and a new Polo.  While they're not overendowed with weapons-grade horsepower (sadly), they do present distinctly producable packages for the Golf and Polo. The GTi Worthersee is a modified new Golf GTI, and the biggest difference is the paint - called Firespark Metallic, it's a deep-deep-deep cherry red with

One topic that automotive enthusiasts can never seem to agree on is: what is the best-sounding car? I realize it's a HIGHLY subjective field, and there isn't a possible definitive answer.  Everyone has different tastes in what sounds good - heck, some people think Harley V-Twin's sound good - but I've compiled my top ten favorite automotive noises here for you to pass your judgement on.  I think they cover a wide spread, but I welcome your comments and critiques on my choices.

10) Subaru EJ20ET Displacement: 2.0L Mechanical Layout: 180° Horizontally-opposed Flat Four Valvetrain: Dual overhead cam, 4v/cyl Aspiration: Turbocharged Applications: Subaru WRX

The EJ20 is one of the most unique sounding powerplants out there.  It's got this off-beat staccato burble

Sometimes when there's nothing else to do, the best thing to do is get in the car and drive. So yesterday, myself and a group of car buddies went and did just that... Step one, meet up at a local burger joint and talk smack for a while: On the left is Patrick's Audi TT 1.8T Quattro with modifications, to the right is John's Nissan (S14) 240SX with a Skyline GT-T motor swap (for real!), and on the right is Brandon's Volkswagen GTI VR6.  Not pictured: my Saab. Here we are departing town, headed out to where the nice roads are.  And look!  The Saab hasn't even broken down yet! Another shot from inside John's car of us getting into traffic on I-98.  The weather was just

These days, the 1980's have something of a bad reputation. There was Rick Astley,MC Hammer pants, Metallica (personal opinion here!), a minor recession, massive inflation, and a general air of bad taste was prevalent.  However, you have to give the 1980's it's fair share of credit.  Cars were quite bad in the 1970's; by the 1990's the automotive world was well on it's way to the glorious state it's in now.  Cars of the 70's were awful almost entirely without exception; they were inefficient, unattractive, poorly performing, poorly built, crippled by emissions regulations, and filled with tacky tasteless features. The 1980's bridged that gap between then general feeling of Malaise in the 70's, and the revival of the automobile as we know it.  It was a

VW's 3rd-generation Golf GTi wasn't an absolute hit with fans of the original hot hatch when it was new, but thankfully as time goes by the appreciation for these cars has grown in the VW community to an impressive level, where today we're seeing really classy MKIII's on a regular basis.  Today's picture comes from NCDubs.org member VDUBNLUVN, courtersy of the "favorite shot of your car" thread. I'm a big fan of the fish-eye lens effect - it works well with the industrial background, and provides a great contrast the clean lines of this slammed MkIII.  The Europlate's a nice touch, too.