The Scooter -- Volkswagen's fun transportation of the future

New Gullwinged Three-Wheeler Is Perfect Blend Of Performance Motorcycle and Sports Car

TROY, MICH. -- The face of future transportation may be radically altered if Volkswagen has anything to do with it. While more and more automotive insiders predict that cars of the future will be limited to indistinguishable four-wheeled boxes, Volkswagen is proposing a unique three-wheeled alternative called the Scooter.

The Scooter is a sporty, wind-tunnel-honed, gullwinged vehicle that'll top 120 miles per hour, handle better than most sports cars and carry two in refined comfort.

Unveiled at the prestigious Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland, the teardrop-shaped Scooter is a prototype concept vehicle designed by Volkswagen AG's Research Department to fill the void between a high-performance motorcycle and a sports car.

The Scooter's streamlined styling has produced a drag coefficient of only 0.25, a remarkable achievement for a 10-foot-long vehicle. This was made possible through the use of flush bumpers, seamless glass and flush headlights and door handles.

The Scooter's advanced design doesn't stop with its smooth fiberglass skin. The two gullwing doors, and rear window can be easily removed for the fun of wind-in-the-hair motoring, and a stylish attache case fits cleverly into passenger side of the dashboard to double as a traditional glovebox.

Underneath the 1200-pound Scooter is a blend of proven VW powertrain technology up front -- front-wheel drive, transverse-mounted four-cylinder engine, four-speed manual transmission -- combined with a newly developed swinging arm axle design at the rear.

A pair of standard 6 x 13-inch alloy wheels and 175/60-13 tires transmit the fuel-injected engine's 88-horsepower to the road, while a single undriven 7 x 15-inch rear alloy wheel and wide-section 235/55VR-15 tire contribute to the Scooter's exceptional handling and braking.

Although the Scooter in only a design exercise and there are no plans for production, it is fully funtional vehicle that meets international safety standards. According to Dr. Ulrich Seiffert , head of Volkswagen's Research department, the Scooter perfectly marries the safety of a passenger car with the fun of a motorcycle.

source: Volkswagen. Please mention www.allcarindex.com when using this text.

Engine & performance:

Type: VW Polo, 4-cylinder, in-line

Capacity: 1043 cc and 1378 cc

Power: 40 hp @ 5300 rpm and 90 hp @ 6000 rpm

Torque: 121 Nm @ 3800 rpm

Top speed: 220 km/h

0-100 km/h: 10.9 s

Tyres:

Front: 175/60 VR13

Rear: 235/55 VR15

Dimensions:

Length: 3175 mm

Width: 1498 mm

Height: 1235 mm

Wheelbase: 2150 mm

Weight: 550 kg