VW First Drives

Volkswagen is the original brand within the Volkswagen Group that also contains Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Ducati and Scania. The brand traces its roots back to Ferdindand Porsche, founder of Porsche, who developed the original Volkswagen Beetle for the German government. The Beetle entered the US market in 1949 and today the Volkswagen brand produces a full line of vehicles including many diesel-powered models.

VW Vehicles:

Indicates a Reviewed Model

0

First Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Tiguan 1307980620

Building Momentum With A Mid-Life Refresh At first blush, Munich seems like an awfully long way to travel for the chance to drive a mid-cycle refresh. But Volkswagen has good reason to ask us to schlep across the Atlantic to drive its updated-for-2012 Tiguan: Momentum. The compact crossover had a bit of a knock-kneed start out of the gates when it ...
0

First Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Passat 1306252620

Americanized Sedan Shows Its German Roots The 2012 Volkswagen Passat is facing a kind of perfect storm of skepticism from long-time fans of the brand. Volkswagen has wasted no chance to tell the world that the company's newest sedan will be custom-tailored to the American market, with styling and packaging tweaks designed to set the vehicle apart from ...
0

Second Spin: 2014 Volkswagen Golf Blue-e-motion 1300723080

Wolfsburg Questions Its Own Wisdom With EV Golf Yes, we know. "2014" sounds so impressively future-y, doesn't it? When we're testing a car and the R&D people involved look at us and say it won't be on the market until 2014, our eyes dilate, too. "Wow," we say to ourselves while keeping a straight face in front of the mega-powerful board member, ...
0

First Drive: 2012 Volkswagen Golf R 1299517020

A Hotter GTI Is Hatched
0

First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid 1287158280

A Porsche Cayenne Hybrid For The People Fuel economy is a funny thing. In Europe, better efficiency has always boiled down to two simple concepts: diesel fuel and turbos. But like the 35-year-old who won't drink tequila because of a bad experience in college, American buyers' stomachs start turning whenever manufacturers talk about oil-burners – ...

0

First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Jetta gets with the (American) program 1279727820

For Volkswagen of America, it doesn't get more brot-und-butter than the Jetta. Forced into the shadow of the best-selling Golf, VW Germany's refrain was "Sell more Golfs!" To which VoA would steadfastly reply, "Americans don't want hatchbacks!" This went on for over two decades until the corporate mothership finally recognized that its compact sedan was ...
0

First Drive: 2011 Volkswagen Touareg lightens up while getting serious 1268668680

The outgoing Volkswagen Touareg range has always lived on the wrong side of the tracks in America. It was a big, expensive Volkswagen. Notice that we can't just say it was a big, expensive vehicle, because those adjectives are almost as much the norm as anything else – we must qualify those descriptors with the word "Volkswagen." And we can't help ...
0

First Drive: 2010 Volkswagen Golf evolves the German hatchback 1255622220

Outside of North America, the Golf has been Volkswagen's bread-and-butter model for more than three decades, making the diminutive hatch one of the best selling global vehicles since its mid-Seventies launch as the Beetle's successor. But in the States, it's a totally different story. Except for a few brief periods when fuel prices spiked, the ...
0

First Drive: 2010 Volkswagen GTI reminds us why we like hot hatches so much 1255017300

Performance Icon. That two-word phrase is bandied about so often there's hardly any meaning left in its 15 letters. After all, if a Porsche 911 is rightly referred to as a performance icon, can we call a Honda Civic Si the same? And are we talking any old 911/Civic Si, or just certain years and models? For instance, there is no doubt that the B13 Nissan ...
0

First Drive: Volkswagen Touareg V6 TDI 1233075480

The way Volkswagen talks up the $42,800 Touareg V6 TDI, you'd almost think it was the ninja of SUVs: a single package with so many highly developed capabilities that its gas-engined foes are annihilated and left on the side of the road with ninja shuriken lodged in their tailgates before they even realize they've been outdone. The engine alone promises ...