VW's baby roadster is coming!

pricing

20k so nearer 35k when it goes on sale yeah, lets face it you muppets never ever get it right do ya

By fastpep1 on 30 June, 2010, 7:34pm

Porsche will have it rebadged before you can hay-fever sneeze?

How close will this car get (in top spec form) to a basic Boxster, I wonder AutoExpress?

Will Porsche take this car and use it as the basis of a low CO2 range starter for themselves? (Would make sense, especially as a baby Porsche hybrid)

Will be fascinated to see how Honda, Toyota and Mazda will go about providing the fierce level of competition for this VW group(Porsche) small roadster... (sounds like its a little bit fatter than a MX5?)

I notice that you include a rather optimistic sounding 0-60 time for the derv engine, (surely thats really for the 204bhp petrol with a 30k price tag?) but what is the real level of performance going to be for the petrol's??

Final point ,as a MK2 MX5 1.8 owner, the very thought of having a diesel unit stuffed inside a sporting roadster makes me want to cry... diesels are fine within the confines of rep mobiles, 4x4`s and vans, but leave them well out of any roadsters engine bay! The last thing I would want to hear sat with roof down and gunning from the lights is the terminal drone and rattle of a diesel!!!

Petrols and Hybrid-Petrols only please, and in that respect the Honda S2000`s replacement could well be the ticket with V-Tec linked hybrid IMA power... More details AutoExpress please!

By LegioIXHispana on 30 June, 2010, 7:52pm

Deja vu

Surely it's an MR2?

By johnniebj on 30 June, 2010, 11:11pm

I wonder what Audi will be offering then

If VW go with the mid engine layout, will Audi have one out called the R4?. And if you were to drive it daily you could call it the...wait for it...'R4 Daily'

By LANMAN on 1 July, 2010, 12:01am

Menacing

The sheer look of this car is Menacing, produce it in Red and Black stripe.

By ghsbloke1 on 1 July, 2010, 6:51am

".....plus a manually operated canvas folding roof. The car will tip the scales as low as 1,200kg – similar to rivals such as Mazda’s MX-5."

Except that the excellent MX-5 is available with a quick-acting powered folding roof.

I can't see anything about this VW which the MX-5 doesn't already do better. And as for a diesel engine? OK for applications which don't require a significant rate of change of engine speed - but emphatically NOT in a small sports car!

By nickwilcock on 1 July, 2010, 7:55am

Bull

The mx-5 with plastic is below 1100 kgr. For 1.8 litres is even closer to 1000 kgr. And this roadster will have Polo's steering.
The rack will be the same.

Add VW prices to that. No thanks!
And porsche will rebadge it.

By giorikas81 on 1 July, 2010, 8:39am

VW - get on with it !

We heard from Auto Express about this car months ago and I, for one, am ready to place an order, it looks fabulous - so VW get on with it, I want one now ! !

By andyackerman1 on 1 July, 2010, 10:01am

Pricing

35k! With that amount, I could buy about 5 Sciroccos in my country and if you take the hat off the muppet and let the wind come in, the fabulous VW topless is priceless. No muppet show on earth can rival the sexy appeal of what I just saw. Kudos to the VW manufacturers. You have the Japanese models to compete with. So, yes, keep the pricing low and affordable. 25k would be reasonable.

By whitley on 1 July, 2010, 4:36pm

Hmmm

I have to agree with other comments made here. What's the deal with shoving a diesel engine into a roadster? :-O That's almost an oxymoron. It might very well do 0-60 in around 6 seconds but if the roof's down while you'[re attempting it, A), it probably won't achieve it because of the drag factor and B), the sound track for such a nice looking car will be all wrong. Dump the oil burner and shove a decent 2.0 TFSI lump into it and crank it up to 250 bhp+.

By nick7 on 1 July, 2010, 5:56pm

Nice Looking Car - But why, I can never understand why VW insists on competing with its up market brand Audi.

By F1RacingFan on 1 July, 2010, 5:57pm

without VW badge, what would you think this is?

AUDI?

and agree with most people about diesel into roadster :(

Btw, isn't a diesel a bit old technology already?

We want to cruise nice and supersilently on the low revs in a cities and we want to hear uprev whiz on those B-roads!

By hubabuba on 1 July, 2010, 8:36pm

About time we had an alternative to the MX5 but......

....it will never sell for 20K - not with a VW badge.

Shame as my experience of the Mazda MX5 Cabriolet Coupe was awful - the car, dealership and manufacturer all letting me down badly.

Maybe Skoda could bring out their own version!

By gavsmit on 1 July, 2010, 9:55pm

i agree

Yep i agree with the priceing ,there is no way on earth this car will sell for 20k ,the first comment hit it spot on closer to 30k .As for a deisel version ,not in a roadster ,i know deisel have come a long way ,i just dont think its wright.

By jemyd on 2 July, 2010, 7:23am

Rattle & Hmmmm...

A diesel engine In a two seat convertible, huh?

That sounds as unpleasant as waking up the morning after polling day to discover that we had a government non of us actually voted for... Weird!!!

By sgtgrash on 3 July, 2010, 1:49am

VW Baby Boxer Electric?

VW would find themselves a leader in innovation if they'd simply focus on electric technology.

... and my head is hung low for the human race because they don't get it...

By luvtheearth on 5 July, 2010, 5:41pm

I like diesel

Well I'm glad someone is offering the OPTION (note it's an option, you can still have a petrol if you want) of a diesel open top roadster. I would love a slightly sporty car with no roof, but why should I have to put up with 30mpg?

I don't care much about the sound of a car, I like to drive - and lots of torque means good driving to me.

I'd love one of these but I am also highly sceptical about 20k

By molgrips on 10 February, 2011, 9:13am