vw's impressive new cars and direction

jdyno718

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 23, 2015
Location
Colorado
TDI
2012 VW Passat SE Manual
HAHA, maybe, but I don't plan on being here in 50 years. that puts me in my 80's:eek: I'm going out in my 60's:D
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
We are actually entering a period where the average life expectancy is going down for the first time in a very long time. Like, since the Dark Ages. Poor habits, more carcinogens, rampant drug (opiates) addiction, and other factors play into this. :(

I think Volkswagen's "new direction" for us will be a bunch of lackluster EVs. But car ownership in general is also waning. More [young] people are opting to not bother when living in urban areas and things like Uber and Lyft are becoming more popular. I guess that is one way to curb automobile pollutants: force the manufacturers to make a bunch of stuff people don't want. :rolleyes:
 

jrm

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2013
Location
Oregon
TDI
2013 Passat SE with nav (totaled)
All very true- all my coworkers are the biggest ant-hill loving $1800 a month for a 4th story 1 bedroom wimps iv ever known. kind of shocking actually
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
Friend and I were talking yesterday that both of us and our peers at the times we were 16 (he is 20 years my senior) we were all climbing the walls in anticipation of getting our driver's licenses. Boys and girls. It was EXTREMELY rare for a 16 year old to not get his or her license to drive. Not everyone got their own car, but they at least maybe got to drive a parent's car at first. We never thought anything different. When I got my license, my 1973 Beetle never sat still long enough to collect any dust, that's for sure.

But now, it is more and more common for teens to take the "meh, I do not really need to drive" attitude. Which is not necessarily a bad thing in some cases, but it does point to a possibility that the "car culture" that this country has fostered for the last couple generations is changing.

Unfortunately, what it is being replaced with seems to be worse. :(
 

tdiatlast

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jan 21, 2009
Location
Fort Worth, Texas
TDI
2009 Sportwagen (boughtback); 2014 Passat TDI SEL (boughtback)
OH: Yup, the "car culture" is constantly changing, and to quote your previous words in that sentence, "...is not necessarily a bad thing..."

When you consider that "we" have had well over a century to refine personal transportation, every tank of fuel is still using c. 85-90% of our petrol/coal/wind/solar energy to move the AUTO down the road, and only 15% to move the human.

There's just something wrong about that.
 

oilhammer

Certified Volkswagen Nut & Vendor
Joined
Dec 11, 2001
Location
outside St Louis, MO
TDI
There are just too many to list....
OH: Yup, the "car culture" is constantly changing, and to quote your previous words in that sentence, "...is not necessarily a bad thing..."

When you consider that "we" have had well over a century to refine personal transportation, every tank of fuel is still using c. 85-90% of our petrol/coal/wind/solar energy to move the AUTO down the road, and only 15% to move the human.

There's just something wrong about that.

Well, it sort of depends. Much less fuel is used to bring ME to work in my 50 MPG Golf than it does my coworker's 15 MPG Silverado. And we are similar sized humans.

So even withing the confines of the existing tried and true technology, there are VASTLY better choices than others.
 

MyAvocation

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 9, 2004
Location
Hoffman Estates, IL
TDI
2017 Passat SEL TSI
We are actually entering a period where the average life expectancy is going down for the first time in a very long time. Like, since the Dark Ages. Poor habits, more carcinogens, rampant drug (opiates) addiction, and other factors play into this. :(
Rusty and Brian are both right. According to this book, the trend is on the cusp of major reversal. Today's yoots will likely live to 100+ -- and many of us will, at age 80, have the physiology of our 50s. Primary causes of death are predicted to become accidents and stupidity.

https://www.amazon.com/Truth-About-Your-Future-Money/dp/1501163809
 

Rico567

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Jun 13, 2003
Location
Central IL
TDI
2013 Passat TDI SEL Premium (Turned in 7/7/18)
The Twentieth Century may go down in history as the golden age of the automobile. But the reality of today's world is that for increasing numbers of people, the automobile is increasingly impractical and economically unfeasible. We in this country are habituated to thinking of the car as a necessity, but that's only been for a segment (albeit a large one) of society, and we've reached a time when it may move into the luxury / toy category.
Yeah, when I was a teenager, car keys spelled freedom, as they did for millions of others. I'm now a septuagenarian, and my view of our cars is that of an appliance that we need to do some things we still like to do. Apart from that, it's just a hole in the ground into which we throw money.
 

tikal

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 18, 2001
Location
Southeast Texas
TDI
2004 Passat Wagon (chainless + 5 MT + GDE tune)
In the USA there will be a very gradual level of change in the 'culture' of car ownership and its efficiency/overall environmental footprint. Plus there will be additional dramatic events to the level of 9/11 or worse (not necessarily terrorist attacks but extremely shocking such as catastrophic natural disasters with an intensity level not experienced in recent human history) that will have short lived substantial impact regarding energy for transportation usage.
 

Powder Hound

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Oct 25, 1999
Location
Under a Bridge, Crestview, FL, USA
TDI
'00 Golf 4dr White 5sp, '02 Jettachero 5sp, Wife's '03 NB Platinum Gray auto(!)
... every tank of fuel is still using c. 85-90% of our petrol/coal/wind/solar energy to move the AUTO down the road, and only 15% to move the human.

There's just something wrong about that.
Then ride a bicycle. You will immediately flip that equation backwards. And the fuel becomes renewable carbohydrates. I ought to be able to sell carbon credits. :rolleyes:

Works for me in the 5 or 6 months of the summer. My work has a gym with a shower, so I can get there on a warm summer morning and clean up before I hit the cubicle. I live close; I actually have to choose a scenic route to get some hill climbing and aerobic exercise on the way home so I extend the ride home to at least 3 times the necessary distance to get that in.

On the other hand, I realize that I'm among the minority when it comes to stuff like this. And I'm very lucky in that very few companies will dedicate some of the building to a 'non productive use' (management attitude). So it really wouldn't work for everyone.


Cheers,

PH
 

LarBear

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 25, 2013
Location
Billings, MT
TDI
2013 Jetta TDI DSG
In and near larger cities where public transportation is practical 24/7 not having a car is practical I guess, but in most of "flyover country" where I live getting anyplace without a car is very difficult. I rode a bike and it was great exercise, but not very practical for hauling a weeks worth of groceries or getting to the doctor who is not right next door. My oldest son lives in Switzerland and he and his wife have public transportation and no car, but the youngest lives in northern Saskatchewan and needs a car, as do my stepdaughter and stepson who live in OH, and UT and need vehicles to get to work and buy groceries. There's no optimal solution for everyone, no matter what some like to tell us there should be if we'd only comply.
 
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