Volkswagen’s bread and butter, the sixth-generation Golf only hit the streets in 2009 and just two years later, already details are leaking out on what to expect in the MK8 Golf when it debuts in 2016. More specifically, engine and mechanical details are leaking from Wolfsburg. Autocar is reporting that the next gen Volkswagen GTI will get a 20-hp boost over the current GTI.

For those doing the math, a 20-hp boost in the 2016 Volkswagen GTI would bring the GTI’s power ratings up from the current 200-hp, to 220-hp. Autocar is reporting that the power boost will come from minor changes in the current 2.0-liter turbocharged I-4. The most dramatic change to the engine will be the addition of a new valve lift system that was developed in conjunction with Audi. The next GTI and Golf R should also get new electronically controlled, mechanical locking differential so the future VW hot hatches can continue to put power down on the road.

In other engine news, Volkswagen’s Europe-only 1.4-liter ‘Twincharger’ I-4 will lose an appendage. The Twincharger, a compound-boost setup featuring both a supercharger and turbocharger, will lose the supercharger and soldier on with its single turbocharger. Autocar expects the new 1.4-liter turbo I-4 to produce around 150-hp. That engine will likely stay in Europe. As we reported in the August issue of Motor Trend, we’re also expecting Volkswagen to add a small sub-liter displacement diesel-electric plug-in hybrid into the 2016 Golf in Europe. We’re expecting the 0.8-liter diesel-electric hybrid powerplant to put out a combined 85-hp, which would work just fine in Europe, but wouldn’t do well in North America.

On the other side of the Atlantic, we’re expecting the MK8 2016 Golf to get some new engines as well. As we reported in the August issue of Motor Trend, we’re expecting the 2016 Golf to lose its aging 2.5-liter I-5. In its place, we’re expecting the future Golf to get a more refined direct-injected 1.8-liter I-4.

Autocar is also expecting the Golf Cabriolet R that was unveiled at Worthesee to see production. Don’t expect the Golf Cabriolet R to make its way to North America though; Volkswagen has a nasty habit of withholding some of its better offerings from the North American marketplace. Yes, Volkswagen we’re still bitter we don’t have the gorgeous Scirocco.

The 260-hp all-wheel drive convertible Golf R is apparently favored for production over the GTI Cabriolet because profit margins with a range-topping R Cabriolet would be higher than with a comparable GTI. Autocar expects the Golf Cabriolet R to debut before 2014, when the engine that it shares with the standard Golf R no longer meets European Union emissions standards. Reportedly VW won’t re-engineer the current Golf R engine to meet the new standards, and will instead use an up-rated version of the same turbocharged 2.0-liter from the current GTI in the next Golf R.

For more details on what to expect on the 2016 Volkswagen Golf, check out the Future Performance feature in the August issue of Motor Trend on your iPad today. Or if you’re one of the handful of people left that don’t own an iPad, you could do it the old fashioned way and buy the August issue of the print mag from your local newsstand, on-sale now.

Source: Autocar, Motor Trend

Read more: http://wot.motortrend.com/2016-volkswagen-gti-to-get-a-power-boost-98797.html#ixzz1SgnqD053

When Audi Canada launched its YouTube Channel in mid-May,  Mike Briscoe’s goal was to get 20,000 channel views by the end of June.

The channel blew that goal out of the water. As of today, it has reached 55,000 channel views. Not bad for the car company’s first foray into the social mediasphere in Canada.

“In a sense, the channel is a bit of an experiment,” said Briscoe, director of marketing and product strategy at Audi Canada. “It’s a channel that’s coming out of nowhere… we didn’t have anything [like this] before.”

The channel went up on May 16 and aligned with the launch of the Audi A7. It will also serve as an Audi brand channel. “We’ll be taking what we can from a global, Audi AG perspective and putting up anything that we think is relevant for a Canadian Audi consumer or potential consumer,” said Briscoe.

This includes unique Canadian content. For example, when the Audi Drive Experience comes to Canada in September, the resulting video footage will appear on the channel. The Audi Drive Experience, which already exists within the global Audi world, will give more than 1,000 people across the country the chance to drive Audis alongside driving instructors to learn the benefits of the cars firsthand.

Briscoe added that Audi Canada may also add content from Le Mans 24 Hours, a 24-hour car race held in France every year, to the channel. The link between consumers here and the race is how Audi incorporates race car technology into its regular models. “It’s very Canadian relevant content because when you look at an R18, the Audi race car, Audi has won that race many times.”

The Audi Ultra lightweight technology used in the R18 ultimately gets translated into everyday Audi models, such as the A6, which is launching in September. “So that’s relevant content for Canada. It’s something we need to be highlighting and the YouTube Channel is a great place to put it,” he said.

As for now, the channel features videos and information on the A7, which was initially unveiledin Canada at the Interior Design Show in Toronto in January.

TV spots for the A7 aired throughout May and June in primetime, including during House and the Stanley Cup playoffs.

This particular model lent itself well to a visual platform, said Briscoe. “What we really wanted to show was the fantastic exterior and interior design of the car. This car is going beyond the boundary to show what Audi can do [with design] and what better way to show that than on YouTube where you can show the video and you can see it well?”

There’s been some positive feedback in the comments section of the channel about the look and functionality of the A7. “Sexy beast! Love the design and totally geeking out over all the cool tech,” posted one fan.

Audi Canada’s target, added Briscoe, is aged 45 to 55 with relatively high household income – a demo that’s YouTube savvy.

New content for the channel will go up in August.

Lowe Roche, Audi Canada’s AOR, created the YouTube channel and will monitor and maintain it.