2011 Volkswagen Golf Tdi Hatchback 4-door, Malone Tune Pd Exhaust Ecs Suspension on 2040-cars

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European car sales up 8% in February

Three weeks ago an analyst increased projections for European car sales this year, expecting them to climb three percent compared to last year instead of 2.7 percent. That number is a postive sign after years of hard times but it turns out February was especially good, overall European sales climbing eight percent on a wave of southern European recovery and discounts - and this comes after five months of gains including January's 7.2-percent jump over the year before.
The only country of Europe's five largest markets to post a decline was France, just as it did in January, Germany, the UK and Italy posting solid double-digit numbers, Spain rocking the charts with an 18-percent increase because of a government program to encourage trade-ins.
The only brand to miss the wave was Volkswagen, dropping 0.8 percent as it watched the double-digit growth at sister brands Audi, Seat and Skoda lift the Volkswagen Group sales up by seven-percent. Peugeot overcame flat sales at Citroën to improve the group by 3.5 percent, BMW and the Mercedes-Benz/Smart combo rose by four percent, the Fiat group jumped 5.8 percent, Ford was up 11 percent, the Renault Group 11.5 percent, General Motors 12 percent and the Toyota clan by 14 percent.

1000-hp Mk1 VW Golf is terrifyingly cool

There are plenty of things to love about the Mk1 Volkswgen Golf. The machine's horsepower isn't one of them. From the factory, the little hatch cranked a breathy 112 horsepower from the most robust form of its 1.8-liter four-cylinder engine. Boba motoring, however, has taken that figure and multiplied it by a factor of nearly 10. If 1,000 horsepower sounds terrifying in a machine with a wheelbase of just 94.5 inches, it should. A massive Garrett GTX4202R turbo force-feeds the little mill through a tweaked 16-valve KR head. The crew calls the beast the 16Vampir, and we think that's fitting.
Of course, we'd wager you quit reading right about the time you set your eyes on that headline. Those of you who've stuck around this long can point yourselves below to see the maniacal creation in action. You won't be disappointed.

Chrysler slows minivan production, hasn't built VW Routan this year

Chrysler has slowed production of its Town and Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans this week, Automotive News reports. The Windsor, Ontario plant will cut its three shifts from eight hours each to four hours each in an effort "to align production with market demand," a Chrysler spokesperson told AN. Chrysler also builds the closely related Routan minivan for Volkswagen at its Ontario facility, but has not built a single example thus far in 2013.
Sales of Chrysler's minivans fell 15 percent for the first two months of 2013, and a large part of that has to do with the 26-percent drop of the Grand Caravan alone (the T&C was only down by one percent). According to Automotive News data, as of March 1, Chrysler had an unsold inventory of 24,713 Town and Country models and 18,547 Grand Caravans - a 69- and 43-day supply, respectively.
"No sense running full speed now, then have a lot of vehicles sitting around a few months down the line," Chrysler spokeswoman Jodi Tinson told AN. Full production is expected to resume again on March 18.