Austin wrote:

>While cruising from Prescott to Phoenix Thursday I was passed by a 'VW LUPO
>1.4' and an 'AUDI A3 1.8' (as badged on the back); they both had mfgr.
>plates, & I had to push the 8V GTI up to >90 to catch/keep up.  I hope they
>were a joke 'cuz they were both *seriously* ugly (imagine the dwarfed
>offspring of a Geo Metro + Mitsubishi Expo).

Karl Batzler wrote:

> Laugh all you want at the new VW Lupo...that 1.4L that you had trouble
> keeping up is a 16V DIESEL reported to get an excess of 70mpg.  Turns out
> the VW/Audi does some of their endurance testing at a facility outside
> Phoenix AZ.

Dave wrote:

> Those two are no joke.  They exist and are in production.  The Lupo is the
> replacement for the Polo, and there is a european race series based solely on
> these cars.  The Audi A3 1.8 you saw is based on the same chassis as the new
> Golf 4.  And that 1.8 is a turbo, capable of 200+ hp.  Too bad we will never
> see these cars on our shores...
>
Some explaining is needed.....

The Audi A3 has been on the Euro market since 1996, and its primary competitors
are the VW Golf and BMW 3series Compact. Engines range from 100 to 180 hp, the
latter available with Quattro. Diesels are 90 and 110 hp TDIs. Maybe Audi will
give the A3 a go at the US market, rumored are a S3 model with the 225 hp engine
from the TT.

The Lupo is not a replacement for the Polo, but a smaller car than the Polo. The
Lupo is coming to the Euro market as we speek, while its nameplate twin Seat
Arosa has been out for a year already. Lupo engines range from 50 (1,0) to 75 hp
(1,4) and Diesels from 60 (1,7 SDI) to 61 hp (1,2 3-cyl TDI) The 1,4 is
available with a 4-speed A/T, the 1,2 TDI is the fuel sipper (3l/100 km)

As always, to get more info, check:

http://www.audi.com  for the A3 or

http://www.volkswagen.de   in English or
http://www.drei-liter-lupo.de  German Only!

PerL