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Monday, 3 April 2017

Choose Your Adventure: Jeep Unveils Wrangler Switchback and Safari Concepts

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This year’s Easter Jeep Safari will be the last for the current-generation Jeep Wrangler, as an all-new model is set to make its debut at the end of the year. So the Wrangler-based Switchback and Safari concepts will serve as the swan songs for the decade-old SUV before it rides off to the big mud pit in the sky.

Jeep Switchback

The purist’s choice among Jeep’s 2017 Easter Safari concepts, the Switchback includes a stepped “safari” top, painted white, that is reminiscent of the lid fitted to the original Land Rover Discovery. Complementing the roof are a set of unique half doors that feature holes in their sides, begging the question: Why have doors at all?

To maximize the Switchback’s off-road potential, Jeep also lifted the SUV by four inches, placed a Dana 44 axle at each end, and added a set of 17-inch wheels wrapped in 37-inch BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 tires. Additionally, Jeep tossed in a set of remote-reservoir Fox shocks, a winch, and a roof rack. All of the Switchback’s exterior lights are of the LED variety, while floorboards coated in spray-in bed liner protect the Switchback’s insides from the elements.

Jeep Safari

Unlike the Switchback, the Safari is a Wrangler Unlimited designed to appeal to modern techies. A dashboard-mounted iPad, a roof-mounted drone, rotating rear seats, and chic clear-vinyl doors are just a few of the strange concessions to modernity adopted by the Safari. Still, the concept is a Wrangler at heart, so it is fitted with a two-inch lift kit, 18-inch wheels with 35-inch BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 tires, Dana 44 axles with differential lockers, full-length skid plates, and an onboard air compressor. Overall length is trimmed, as well—a concession, Jeep said, to help the funky concept off-road.

Both concepts are powered by the Wrangler Unlimited’s stock 285-hp 3.6-liter V-6 engine, fitted with a cold-air intake, while a five-speed automatic transmission handles the shifting duties. Our adventure would probably include shifting for ourselves.

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Choose Your Adventure: Jeep Unveils Wrangler Switchback and Safari Concepts

By Unknown 09:11 Cars Leave a Comment

Volkswagen Golf and GTI Getting Updates for 2018, But Europe Has It Even Better

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2017 Volkswagen Golf GTI Sport

The Volkswagen Golf is up for its mid-cycle facelift this summer. All 2018-model-year Golfs will get minor cosmetic changes and a large infotainment screen borrowed from the new VW Atlas, but we dug up some news specifically on the high-performance derivatives that we know you really care about.

The GTI will receive 10 more horsepower, up to 220 for all versions (not just for the Sport trim level and above), and the transmissions will be revised for 2018, likely with shorter gearing. While the chassis remains unchanged, the GTI gets new bumpers front and rear as well as new headlights and taillights, and there are new color and trim choices.

The all-wheel-drive Golf R will keep its 292-hp rating, at least in the United States. In Europe, its power rating rises, thanks to a boost increase from 17.4 to 20.3 psi and new software and waste-gate settings, boosting output to 306 horsepower. And what’s more, there will be an optional performance package that includes an Akrapovič exhaust, a performance braking system from the limited-edition Golf GTI Clubsport, and specific wheels. Additionally, top speed rises from 155 to 166 mph. Again, not for us.

It is in the interest of reducing complexity that VW has chosen to drop the two-door Golf (including the GTI and the Golf R), a move that already hit the U.S. market for 2017. In Europe, almost all Golf models are still available with two doors, but the days of this body variation may be numbered. The eighth-generation Golf, due to be launched in about three years, could be four-door only. Global take rates, we are told, are below 20 percent.

At least the manual transmission is safe: about half of GTI buyers in the United States go for the row-it-yourself transmission. Save the manuals!

Speaking with VW execs, we got confirmation that the Golf R400 is dead. “That was under the old leadership. Those were car guys,” we were told, somewhat ominously. “Things are changing under new management. But we can do with 310 [Euro spec] horsepower what others need 380 horsepower for,” our insider added, in a comment that targets Mercedes-AMG’s compact 45 models but could also be construed as a jab at the Audi RS3.

But there’s no reason to believe that enthusiast cars are dead at VW. The limited-edition GTI Clubsport S “sold out immediately. Nobody thought we would do anything this extreme.” It was “a car for the fans.” Keep doing those!

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2017 Porsche 911 4S Targa PDK Tested: It Has the Looks—and the Moves

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2017 Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Targa Automatic – Instrumented Test

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Wrangler Meets Hot Rod: Here’s Jeep’s Quicksand Concept

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April 3, 2017 at 10:39 am by Alexander Stoklosa | Photography by Michael Simari and the Manufacturer

Forcing a Jeep Wrangler–shaped peg into a hot-rod-shaped hole sounds like a recipe for a casserole we wouldn’t want to eat, and yet here we are. Meet Jeep’s Quicksand concept, one of a gaggle of show rigs created for this year’s Easter Jeep Safari gathering in Moab, Utah. It is a Jeep, and it is also a hot rod. Somehow, it’s entirely awesome and still capable of playing in the dirt.

Atop a lengthened Wrangler chassis sits a rod-style chopped sedan-delivery body that lacks B-pillars, fenders, and glass save for its windshield. Equally lacking is much of a hood; an octet of polished velocity stacks proudly pokes into the driver’s forward view. Did we just say eight velocity stacks? Yes, we did. The Quicksand is powered by a 392-cubic-inch Hemi V-8 crate engine, because of course it is. Better still, the V-8 is mated to a Getrag six-speed manual transmission.

Jeep insists that the relatively low-slung Quicksand remains capable of Jeepy things beyond looking cool, although there’s no suggestion that it excels at much more than sand running. Who cares? Each corner is supported by a coil-over damper and an 18-inch vintage-look mag wheel. In front, those wheels are wrapped in massive 32-inch BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A KM2 mud tires; in back, the same tires are used, but in a 37-inch diameter.

The net effect is a killer stance, and it’s enhanced by the low roof and the V-8’s exhaust headers, which snake into a single, fluted blowhorn jutting from behind each front wheel. Cheeky details like the classic front-mounted Moon tank, a Warn winch, and a recovery rope pack—with a “Secure before Flight” tag dangling from it—live up to Jeep’s reputation for taking its Easter Safari concepts several off-road trails beyond normal. Also like many of Jeep’s clever concepts, this one has sucked us in like, well, you get it.