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VW Golf BlueMotion concept is a diesel looker worth 73.5 mpg

The first Volkswagen concept from the 2012 Paris Motor Show is the new Golf BlueMotion, which has enough green blue street cred to be called "the most fuel-efficient Golf ever." How efficient does this seventh-generation Golf need to be to reach this grandiose claim? It burns 3.2 liters of diesel fuel per 100 kilometers. That's the equivalent of 73.5 U.S. miles per gallon (on the European cycle). VW says the car has 15-percent improved fuel economy compared to the previous model. We say it's yummy.

The Golf BlueMotion uses VW's new 1.6-litre TDI turbodiesel engine that offers 108 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque – enough so that it can skedaddle on up to 125 miles per hour. It's lighter than older Golfs, has stop-start with battery regen, still seats five and will be available in Europe in the summer of 2013.

The new Golf BlueMotion is also slipperier, with a drag coefficient of just 0.27 thanks to a lower chassis, underbody panels, partially closed off air inlets and other aero upgrades. While the car seen here is technically still a concept, the production car will be made available in two trim lines, Trendline and Comfortline. Trendline is the base version and comes with either two or four doors, a dust and pollen filter and a five-inch touchscreen. The Comfortline model gets "a more exclusive instrument cluster," 16-inch alloy wheels and ParkPilot proximity sensors front and rear.

VW has even come up with this quirky little tidbit: The Gold BlueMotion has a 50-liter (13.2-gallon) tank – enough for a theoretical range of 1,562 km. If the average driver goes 15,000 kilometers (9,300 miles) a year, they "will only have to refuel this Volkswagen ten times per year." Those numbers are a little low for this side of the Atlantic, but it's unlikely we'll get the Golf BlueMotion here, anyway.

http://green.autoblog.com/2012/09/26...orth-73-5-mpg/