Our German correspondent slices and dices the latest rumblings, news, and quick-hit driving impressions from the other side of the pond. His byline may say Jens Meiners, but we simply call him . . . the Continental.
Have you ever wondered why the photography accompanying every new Porsche launch appears to be so fake? That’s because it is. Porsche made an executive decision several years ago to send out CGIs (computer-generated images) with every new vehicle launch instead of photos of the actual cars.
Porsche is not the only culprit here, and perhaps does a better job than some others; have you seen the three-wheeled Opel Insignia (the sister model of the Buick Regal) launched in 2013? (The picture is still downloadable on Opel’s press site.)
Yes, those CGIs are usually accurate to the last detail—but they lack the specific flair of the real thing. CGIs should go away once and for all. Put them in sales brochures if you must, add three computer-generated suns in the sky and a computer-generated unicorn in the foreground. But in press photography that aims to depict reality, they have zero legitimacy. We make our own photos as soon as it’s possible, but the press-release imagery is often all that’s available to accompany news stories about a car’s availability, pricing and, sometimes even the first-drive reports.
Turbocharging the VW Up Took Four Years
If only VW had left the styling alone. The facelifted model I drove at Lake Como in Northern Italy a few weeks ago has compromised the purity of the original design. As revealed at this year’s Geneva show, it’s now fitted with utterly conventional front and rear bumpers that include the sorry imitation of a rear diffuser, and taillights that look like toy blocks. The interior, on the other hand, is still great; the new colors and materials are playful and contemporary. With its new turbo, the Up is my favorite minicar—at least in its price range.
My favorite minicar regardless of price costs twice as much as an Up TSI: The Audi S1 with all-wheel drive, a manual six-speed transmission, and 231 horsepower from its 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder. When I drove it at the launch event in Sweden, Ulrich Hackenberg was still the all-powerful chief of Audi R&D. He seemed to really hate the green color featured at the launch, and he was unhappy that the dual-clutch automatic, available on lesser A1 models, didn’t fit the S1. I was fine with the color and love that this car is still manual-only. My affection for the S1 was rekindled by the drive to this year’s gripping 24 Hours of Le Mans; I drove there in Audi’s little rocket, then down to Bordeaux and through the beautiful Massif Central, where you rarely see any traffic except for the occasional Renault Mégane Sport or Lancer Evo. The S1 shows what can be done with a VW Polo platform, a nice budget and the support of a few car guys at the top of the company.
Audi’s Q2 Breaks New Ground—Not All of It Good
Or you could do an Audi Q2—the Polo-based crossover, launched at the Geneva auto show with the claim it was designed to be a “global car” in parallel with the announcement that it won’t be offered in the U.S. The last time we looked at a globe, the United States was still on it, but perhaps they get different ones in Ingolstadt. The Q2’s angular styling fronted by yet another interpretation of the company’s “single-frame grille” is a matter of taste—not ours—but at least we know it won’t set the a role model for other Q models: This design language is exclusive to the Q2.
Styling aside, Audi has managed to create a small crossover that feels expensive, stylish and quick; it generally lives up to the brand’s promise.
But during an initial drive, my colleague Matthias Knödler discovered a rather irksome trait: When the Q2 is pushed hard into corners, the stability control system cuts speed early and vigorously. We have discovered a similar characteristic on the BMW 2-series Active Tourer. It feels a lot like Ford’s dreaded “Curve Control” system. It’s controversial within Audi, as well, where some suggest that this shut-off-all-the-fun approach is not the best choice for a German premium car.
Who Killed the Hydrogen Combustion Engine?
In case you ever wondered what finished off the hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine project at BMW: It was the refusal of U.S. authorities to accept it as a zero-emissions technology. It only emits vapor? No, the regulators said, you haven’t taken into account that engines need to be lubricated, and it is possible that tiny amounts of engine oil might burn off during operation.
There were other challenges to using hydrogen in an internal combustion engine, but I’ve been told that for BMW, the attitude of U.S. regulators was the fatal factor. They are now working on fuel cell technology in partnership with Toyota.
The hydrogen ICE BMW drove just like a car burning gasoline, and it could have been built on the same production lines. Fuel-cell electrics, on the other hand, have far more commonality with battery-powered electrics. This could eventually help hydrogen-powered cars, but it also poses a short-term obstacle, since it requires a steeper investment in new production facilities. BMW’s idea was that ICE cars burning hydrogen could go into production earlier, helping to generate the demand necessary to build up the fueling infrastructure, but there’s not much potential there if the cars don’t qualify to fulfill the mandate that a portion of each manufacturer’s sales be zero-emissions vehicles.
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