Here’s a quick look – and some random thoughts – about the VW Arteon; more to come!
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As I am in the market for a new car and the electric propaganda is unavoidable, I did consider going that route. Even with the $7,500 federal subsidy, an electric car grant worth several thousand more from my employer, and “free” charging at work, I could not financially justify any electric car. The math just doesn’t work.
Given that Teslas have become what Lexus was in the 1990s for the executive class, the “free” charging at my work is now time limited. You must move your car in the middle of the day so that all of the executives are afforded an opportunity to charge. They also report the electric use as “income” to the IRS.
Although I rather have a higher displacement six or eight cylinder car, the turbo fours have thus far been decent enough and I appreciate the fuel economy improvements. I had a turbocharged VW Jetta as a rental recently that I drove for nearly 500 miles. I was able to get 50+ MPG without any hybrid batteries or other electrical wizardry. Ten years ago I got similar mileage in a rental Prius.
Although the boost pressure is very high on many of these new engines, I would hazard a guess that very few family car drivers will ever tap into that potential. Where I see potential failure is these engines have far more stringent maintenance requirements than what many are used to. With high temperatures, direct injection, and loads of emissions equipment, you really need to stick with the manufactures’ approved oil specifications and intervals. I know many people who still take these late model turbocharged fours to quick lube places whenever they get tired of the maintenance reminder nagging them and they leave with 5W-30 mystery oil. I highly doubt a generic 5W-30 mineral oil can withstand the conditions created by the new generation of turbocharged engines. Perhaps even worse, I have heard several friends insist that the because they upgraded to “synthetic” oil (i.e. paid way too much for some other mystery 5W-30 oil) it was more than sufficient for their turbocharged late model car. How difficult is it to read an owner’s manual?
From that picture it looked like it might be a RWD architecture, yahoo. But then I looked it up. Not. Another fancy mini-van to me.
BTW, I’m pretty sure stock boost on older STI’s was 15psi.