The Volkswagen brand has done it again breaking its own record for the longest distanced travelled on a single tank of fuel, this time with the U.S. built 2012 Passat TDI SE sedan equipped with a six-speed manual gearbox. John and Helen Taylor managed to drive the diesel-powered Passat for an impressive 1626.1 miles (2,617 kilometers) through nine states on one tank of fuel improving the previous record held by a VW Passat 1.6 BlueMotion diesel (1526.6 miles) in Europe by 99.5 miles (160.1 kilometers). The couple began their journey on May 3, 2012 in Houston, Texas and finished on May 5, 2012 in Sterling, Virginia. VW says that in order to make the drive as realistic as possible, they added 120 pounds of luggage and drove only during daylight hours to simulate normal traffic conditions. They each took turn on the wheel and didn't drive more than 14 hours a day. The Passat TDI's 2.0-liter turbo diesel produces 140 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque and with a manual transmission returns an EPA estimated fuel economy rating of 43 mpg (5.5lt/100km) on the highway. Over the course of three days, John and Helen Taylor achieved an average fuel economy of 84.1 mpg (2.8 lt/100km), which VW says comes to 4.65 cents per mile. The Taylors aren't your normal driving couple, however, as the pair has participated in many events all over the world having collected more than 90 world fuel economy and vehicle-related records from their drives. “We’re excited to have broken the record for the longest distance driven on one-tank of fuel,” said John Taylor. “The Passat TDI was the perfect car for the trip. It offers plenty of interior and cargo space, yet is frugal enough to help us achieve this record.” PHOTO GALLERY
At some point or another, most German automakers have advertised the fact that their vehicles' doors close with a solid "thump" as a sign of quality engineering – which through the years may or may not be accompanied by numerous other sounds such as falling windows, but that is another story. Volkswagen is the latest company to promote this aspect through a humorous commercial for its Jetta compact sedan in the States. The German carmaker VIDEO
On the occasion of the European press launch of the facelifted CC in Southern France this week, Volkswagen released a fresh batch of pictures and videos of its mid-size model. The CC, which made its world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show last November, will first go on sale in Germany and Luxembourg in the beginning of February, followed by the rest of Europe at the end of the same month, and then globally, including America, Russia and Asia in spring 2012. For its first makeover, the CC, previously known as the Passat CC, gained redesigned front and rear sections that bring it in line with the rest of the range while VW also made some subtle changes to the interior trim and added new driver assistance systems, such as the Dynamic Light Assist (automatic main beam control) and a camera-based traffic sign detection system. In Europe, the CC launches with six engines, all with direct-injection technology and battery regeneration functionality. The diesel lineup includes three powerplants with 140PS, 170PS and a BlueTDI version with the 140PS unit, while the petrol range also comprises of three engines with 160PS, 210PS and 300PS, the latter with standard all-wheel drive. All engines up to 210-horses may be paired with VW's DSG dual clutch transmission as an option.PHOTO GALLERY
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