VW Reveals First Official Convoy Vehicles For the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay

Approximately two months before the Olympic torch arrives in China, Volkswagen unveiled the first convoy vehicles with the official Olympic design to the public in a presentation that took place in Beijing. These models will be part of 1,000 cars which will accompany the Olympic flame gradually on its way across China.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Torch Relay will last 97 days in total and will cover more than 40,000 kilometers or 25,000 miles. The flame will arrive in Sanya in the South of China on May 4 and will arrive in Beijing on August 8. It will be carried through 113 cities and regions from all 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of China and will be carried also on top of the Mount Everest.

Geneva Preview: 2009 Lotus Europa Coupe

The most comfortable Lotus for everyday use, the Europa coupe has been enhanced for the 2009 MY. The updated Europa coupe will be offered in Europe in two guises; a new entry level model priced at £27,950 / €37,500 and the range topping SE model available for £32,995 / €41,500. Note however that Euro prices are without taxes, delivery & other related costs.

Both versions of the Europa now offer increased levels of comfort over the Elise and Exige. As with all 2008 Lotus road cars, the Europa and Europa SE now come with driver and passenger airbags and an engine start button as standard. The Europa interior is furnished with leather sports seats and comes as standard with a high quality stereo system. -Continued

The Europa SE also gets new light weight alloy rims wrapped in wider, high performance tyres, for increased levels of grip. These new high performance wheels are larger with 17” rims up front, and larger 18” rims on the rear. The new wheels house high performance AP Racing four pot brakes and larger (308 mm) diameter discs.

The Europa has a mid-mounted 2 litre turbo charged engine, tuned in the SE with an all new calibration to 225 Hp and with 300 Nm of torque. 0-60 mph in the SE comes in 5.5 sec (0-100 km/h in 5.7 sec) and the sprint to 100 mph (160 km/h) takes just 13.0 sec (estimated). The Europa SE will hit a top speed of 143 mph (estimated).

Volkswagen Golf Variant by ABT

Capable and practical it may be, but the standard VW Golf Variant is no head turner. VW Group tuning specialist ABT, wants to change that by offering a full bodykit for the Golf Station-Wagon that includes a low front spoiler, side skirts, rear-wing and a 2-pipe rear muffler combined with new alloy wheels in sizes up to 19 inches and a lower sport suspension.

For those in need of more power, ABT also offers a series of upgrades for all engines. The 1.4 TFSI delivers 210hp instead of 170hp. Depending on the serial performance, the 1.9 TDI now delivers either 115hp or 130hp. In both versions, the diesel engine delivers additional 25hp. The performance of the two-liter diesel engine is increased from 170hp to 190hp. –More images after the jump