New VW Golf ads, unpimp your ride...

[billy]

Very funny.

http://www.youtube.com/w/Volkswagen%3A-Un-pimp-Your-Ride-I?v=wey9--VVxAg&feature=Views&page=1&t=t&f=b

[Lobo6]

Very funny.

http://www.youtube.com/w/Volkswagen%3A-Un-pimp-Your-Ride-I?v=wey9--VVxAg&feature=Views&page=1&t=t&f=b
Billy, intersting take on the "new" VW GTi. I think this ad was made for the Euro market, they usualy get more "creative" w/ their TV ads.

Here's my take, The night I was flying from Boston to Orlando on my way to Sebring, (is Lobo ever going to shut up about Sebring? No, there's little else to discuss at the end of Feb) I was in my aisle seat and a youg guy sitting in the window seat was on his cell phone till the last second before our plane left the gate and he ended his call. I could not help but overhear his end of the conversation, some parts went like this..."LA is going to be tough, not feeling the love there"..."NYC isn't going to be a cake walk either but easier than LA"..."tell them we have 6 pilots in the can"..."Yeah, I've got the reception ready in Orlando, just be there"...."hold on I've got another call"..."yeah babe I can be in San Fran a week from tomorrow night and we can have dinner"...""hold on, I got another call coming in"..."Tell coorporate it will be OK, I have another call on hold"..."Listen I told you LA is not feeling the love, it's going to be a tough sell"...."Hey I have to turn off the phone we are taking off...yes I'm in Boston". Well I let this guy have a quiet minute or so, and then looked over and asked "I don't think you are in the music / record biz, but I've had plenty of cell conversations like that in my music biz days...are you in the TV or the movie biz?" This kid (I'll call him a kid as he was at least 20+ years younger than me on the surface) looks at me and is almost relived that someone kind of comprehends what he is doing and that it has been a tough day at the tail end of what had to be a tough week. He tells me he works for the ad agency that used to do the Mini Cooper TV ads, print adds etc. I compliment him on the great job his firm did as the Mini is back and clearly a hit. We own one, so it has to be a good car :) He tells me his firm dropped Mini because VW approuched them with a huge offer to help in the re-launch of the VW GTi. They dropped Mini as Mini didn't need TV spots anymore and VW didn't want any conflict of interst issues. He asks me if I'd like to see the 6 "pilots he had in the can"...TV ads, so after take off, he passes this lap top over and says just hit play / enter/ whatever. By that time he had asked me what my business was, and hearing that I had spent 25 years in the music biz and was going to Sebring to crew for a Porsche team, he wanted my feedback. Well I may have been the first "outsider" to see the TV spots that have aired during the Olympics. After watching them all and they still needed editing as they all ran over 60 seconds. I told the guy that I didn't envy his job and the ads were kind of lame. The best one was a young guy and his girlfriend driving with the windows down, girl says to guy "can't you put the windows up?" her hair is blowing allover the place, the guy responds "Honey I want to hear the engine" and after one last compliant from the gf he says "it's really hard to hear the engine with all your yapping". After watching all the ads I flipped through the spec book for the new GTi, if my memory serves me right its a 1.6 or maybe a 1.8 engine w/ 200 hp. I asked the young guy what the car weighed as it wasn't listed. He went rummaging thru his brief case and came up with a piece of paper and proudly announced about 3200+ pounds. That's when I told him that his company should have kept the lower money Mini Cooper deal as he was now going to be really working for his money. :p

If Toy Car 1 doesn't send me a response because of the "yapping" comment I'll be disappointed, but dear I didn't write the copy. :)

[Lobo6]

I need to pay more attention. Billy was referring to the VW Golf and the "book" I wrote earlier was about the GTi. which VW is very serious about "re-launching" :rolleyes:

[Toycar 1]

If Toy Car 1 doesn't send me a response because of the "yapping" comment I'll be disappointed, but dear I didn't write the copy. :)

OK, here's your requested comment - interesting story, but I have no clue what you mean with "didn't write the copy" part. Language barrier maybe? :confused:

And guess what my everyday car is... A VW Golf, but it's not a GTi, it's a TDI (fuel efficiency you know, need to save the pennies for tires :D )

[Lobo6]

OK, here's your requested comment - interesting story, but I have no clue what you mean with "didn't write the copy" part. Language barrier maybe? :confused:

And guess what my everyday car is... A VW Golf, but it's not a GTi, it's a TDI (fuel efficiency you know, need to save the pennies for tires :D )

What the "I didn't write the copy" meant was, I did not write the script for the TV ad. There cannot be a language barrier between the USA and Canada. :) And I agree that saving $$ for tires is #1 in our home.

[billy]

The VW turbo diesels are great cars. Very popular in Europe. Lots of torque and you can't beat em for economy.

[Toycar 1]

What the "I didn't write the copy" meant was, I did not write the script for the TV ad. There cannot be a language barrier between the USA and Canada. :) And I agree that saving $$ for tires is #1 in our home.

So that's what you ment. You don't have to worry about that, I'm not the kind that "shoots the messenger", besides that I didn't find the TV ad offensive in any way. Language barrier? Maybe not, but English is not my native langauge so I don't always get it :eek:

[Toycar 1]

The VW turbo diesels are great cars. Very popular in Europe. Lots of torque and you can't beat em for economy.

Being born and raised in Europe certainly have something to do with my choice of car :)

[Lobo6]

So that's what you ment. You don't have to worry about that, I'm not the kind that "shoots the messenger", besides that I didn't find the TV ad offensive in any way. Language barrier? Maybe not, but English is not my native langauge so I don't always get it :eek:

I was born in Europe and English is my second language also. So that make's two of us do don't always "get it" :)

[jstecher]

I absolutely love how the box just falls on and crushes his car...hilarious!

Lobo I really didn't believe your 3200lbs on the car because it looks so small but then i looked it up and sure as heck it was 100% spot on. This goes back to my earlier belief that all new cars are getting to damn big and bulky. Hell everything darwfs me in my car. My neighbors Hummer has its doors open just about at the top of my car. Even the new "small" cars like the Focus or smaller BMWs are a ton bigger than me.

Maybe this is why I like the Mini and the Elise. The smaller the better in my opinion.

[Lobo6]

Well as usual I didn't pay enough attention. Billy's post was about the Jetta and my long post was referring the GTi. Both cars face a similar problem. Not enough HP and too much weight. VW really wants to revive the GTi to its former glory as a pocket rocket. This will a very tough sell with 3200 lbs and 200 HP. especially to the market they want to attract.

Even the Mini Cooper S would benifit from going on a diet. I believe ours is about 2700 lbs or so and a lot of fun to drive. At 2300 to 2400 lbs it would be a stone cold killer. But the tuner market is booming for the Cooper and you can get them up to and over 200 supercharged hp. Turbo on the way (2007?)

BMW has lost some of it's vision with the sedans. Have to agree with John, getting too big and too heavy. Shame too as they do build great cars, great big fat ones now;)

[jstecher]

I wish they wouldn't have followed down the path they are on. The M5 is really a huge car. Its fast as all hell but is really BIG. I liked the current E46 M3 quite a bit but it was always so much bigger than my E36 M3 that it just seemed massive parked next to it.

I wonder Lobo if when they go to the new Turbo setup in the Mini are they going to pull a VW and increase the weight correspondingly. :)

[Lobo6]

I wonder Lobo if when they go to the new Turbo setup in the Mini are they going to pull a VW and increase the weight correspondingly. :)

God, I hope not, but BMW owns Mini Cooper so anything is possible. :( This is not a new trend either, I've seen a new model introduced and sure enough it starts to gain size and weight. The Datsun 240Z was a case in point, by the time the last Nisson 300Z was built you could barely see the family lineage. The re-intoduction of the 350Z looks good and has fans on this forum. I hope it doesn't develop a "weight" problem as it is already pretty heavy.

A good friend and BMW fanatic has said, and I quote, "The fun stopped when the E36 versions ended and the E46 hit the showrooms".

[sbranda]

Actually I just looked at the SPEC on VW's site and it's 3308 for the manual or 3353 for the automatic. This is just damn heavy for type of car it is, however I think a good deal of the reason for the size and weight increases in cars today are the constantly changing safety requirements.

Even the Elise is heavy for the type of lotus it is. If you go back to the 60's and 70's and look at the ultra-lightweight "go-kart" style lotuses from back then, you're talking 1400-1600 lbs compared to 1900+ for the Elise despite all the technology advantages of the Elise.

[uwaeve]

I drive a Z and it is fat to the tune of 3400 lb. :mad:

[Lobo6]

Actually I just looked at the SPEC on VW's site and it's 3308 for the manual or 3353 for the automatic. This is just damn heavy for type of car it is, however I think a good deal of the reason for the size and weight increases in cars today are the constantly changing safety requirements.

Even the Elise is heavy for the type of lotus it is. If you go back to the 60's and 70's and look at the ultra-lightweight "go-kart" style lotuses from back then, you're talking 1400-1600 lbs compared to 1900+ for the Elise despite all the technology advantages of the Elise.
I do agree that the Feds have a hand in all this. The other culprit is the manufacturers themselves who load up these cars w/ luxo options that they believe the marketplace wants. :(

[Lobo6]

I drive a Z and it is fat to the tune of 3400 lb. :mad:
That's why I love my 93 RS America. 2970 w/ full tank. Still heavy but not as bad as your car. I could still lose about 50 to 70 pounds by doing a few easy things but my wife won't let me. :eek: Well it is still a street legal car, why? I don't know as I drive on the street about 1000 miles a season. :confused:

uwaeve, you have a lot of motor to help you make up for the weight. Nisson is doing the same thing as BMW, make the engine put out more HP to compinsate for the extra weight. The only loser is, us, the driving community.:rolleyes:

[Conan]

I drive a Z and it is fat to the tune of 3400 lb. :mad:Yeah, I don't get why the new ones weigh so much more than the 2003 versions. Mine's roughly 3250 lbs.... which is still pretty heavy for a 2 door coupe. I'd like to get it down below 3100 lbs without going to the extent that 350ZNV has. :)