Volkswagen is giving Mazda’s MX-5 some serious competition. The firm wowed the crowds at January’s Detroit Motor Show with its stunning BlueSport concept – and now, Auto Express has driven it.
It was designed from the outset to provide all the thrills of a performance car, but with a fraction of the environmental impact. The similarities between the BlueSport badge and VW’s low-emission BlueMotion brand are no coincidence. The two-seater is fitted with a 2.0-litre TDI engine which produces 178bhp and 350Nm of torque.
That’s plenty of power for a car of this size, and thanks to the addition of VW’s six-speed DSG gearbox, automatic stop-start and regenerative braking, it’s efficient, too. Economy of 42mpg and CO2 emissions of 113g/km are more comparable to a supermini than a sports car. A host of weight-saving measures – the most significant of which is the manually operated roof – has ensured kerbweight is kept to 1,200kg. Acceleration is brisk – 0-60mph takes only 6.6 seconds, while the top speed is 140mph.
Read Article