DAS AUTO MAGAZINE

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... we have learned this time around. With each issue, the editors of das Auto. Magazine also expand their own horizons.

seven things …In ten years, we’ll be reading newspapers .Our report on the pre-sent and future of auto-matic driving revealed amazingly concrete in-sights: Computers today can drive more safely than tired drivers. Hu-mans are superior in complex situations. And in 10 to 15 years it will be possible to read the newspaper at the wheel, while driving down the motorway. Page 38

18 tonnes of CO2 per year are being saved

at the new Volkswagen biogas plant in Pune, India. Just one of the many clever ideas from the Think Blue. Factory initiative. Page 52

The story behind the smallest up!The body of the model car is pressed into its mould at up to 250 degrees. Page 68

International organized crime has dis-covered the trade in rhino horns for the East Asian market. !ere, rhino horn in powdered form is considered a sexual en-hancer and status symbol and keeps set-ting new record prices on the black mar-ket. It has become more lucrative than gold or ivory. A pair of horns weighs up to seven kilograms and fetches anything up to 200,000 euros. Page 76

Rhinoceros horn is the new gold .

No hot waxbefore polishing .Two valuable pieces of advice from our piece on spring polishing for your car: Avoid hot wax in the car wash if you want to care for and polish your car by hand! And don’t scrape o" stubborn bird droppings but instead soak them gently with wet newspaper. Page 62

The right Golf for everyone .Cars for certain character traits – does it make sense?We tried it out – and have linked all the Golf models to a particular character type. Lo and behold – the Golf fam-ily really does have the right model for everyone.

»Good advertising taps into the audience’s cultural background.«Amir Kassaei, advertiser Page 46

02/2013 Das Auto. Magazine 3

seven things

Golf: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 6.6 to 4.6 (urban), 4.5 to 3.3 (motorway), 5.2 to 3.8 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km: 122 to 99 (combined)

Das Auto. Magazine 02/20134

Personality question: Which Golf am I?

Page 20

Endangered: Hunting the rhino hunters. Page 76

02 /2013 issue.

standards.3 seven things

37 brand news 45 everyday heroes 55 technology news 66 car myths 86 on the road again

Child’s play: The best tips for entertaining on the road. Page 56

contentsdiscover more. 06 Beetle Cabriolet Six young creative minds investigate how

the beach, fun and the new Volkswagen get on together on the world’s most famous sunny island.

20 Golf Personality For the launch of the GTI, GTD and Variant: Find out which Golf suits you best.

28 WRC Fans What is a sports rally without the enthusiasm of its devotees? A photo report from the sidelines of the World Rally Championship.

think ahead. 38 Autopilot Sit in your Passat, take your hands o! the wheel

and let a computer chau!eur you around. We tested it. An automatic drive through Berlin.

46 Mad Ad Men "e Beetle campaign of the 60s is still con-sidered the best advertising of all time. Creative guru Amir Kassaei explains what we can learn from it today.

52 Think Blue. Factory. Ten clever examples showing how Volkswagen can reduce its impact on the environment.

live smarter. 56 Entertainment "e 800-kilometre trip to grandma’s is a

long haul for children. Get with our backseat programme.

62 Paint care Washing, polishing, sealing – these tips will help give your car its spring shine.

68 Model cars Deep in Germany, the term minicar gains a whole new dimension – 1:87 scale model.

76 Rhino With support from Volkswagen, South Africa’s rangers are #ghting back against the rampant poaching of rhinoceroses. "eir horns are in high demand in Asia.

Open Air: With the Beetle Cabriolet in Hawaii. Page 6

Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 10.3 to 4.9 (urban), 6.3 to 4.1 (motorway), 7.8 to 4.5 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 180 to 118 (combined) Golf: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 6.6 to 4.6 (urban), 4.5 to 3.3 (motorway), 5.2 to 3.8 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 122 to 99 (combined)

ImprintDas Auto. Magazin 02/2013 issue© 2013 Volkswagen AGPublisher: Volkswagen AG Berliner Ring 2, 38440 Wolfsburg, GermanyEditor-in-Chief: Rüdiger Schingale, Tel. +49 (0)5361 936309 Email: [email protected] management: Jörn Hinrichs

KircherBurkhardt GmbH Heiligegeistkirchplatz 1, 10178 Berlin Tel. +49 (0)30 440320, www.kircherburkhardt.comAdvertising department: KircherBurkhardt GmbH Heiligegeistkirchplatz 1, 10178 Berlin Tel. +49 (0)30 440320, www.kircherburkhardt.comProduction: Michael Wintermeier, Peter Becker GmbH Medienproduktionen Zu dem Balken 9, 38448 Wolfsburg, GermanyComposition: Peter Becker GmbH Medienproduktionen Delpstraße 15, 97084 Würzburg, GermanyPrinting: Mediahaus Biering GmbH Freisinger Landstraße 21, 80939 München, Germany

A further contribution towards preserving resources.

Das Auto. Magazine awarded the Blue Angel eco-label.

The paper used (Enviro Top) was produced, climate-neutrally and without optical brighteners and chlorine bleach, from recycled waste paper.

All other production materials used also comply with the requirements of the Blue Angel eco-label (RAL-UZ 14).

The Blue Angel is considered to be one of the most stringent eco-labels in the world.


contents

Minicar: A visit to the global market leader for minature models. Page 68

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Golf GTD: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 5.5 to 5.1 (urban), 4.0 to 3.7 (motorway), 4.5 to 4.2 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 119 to 109 (combined) Golf GTI: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.1 to 7.5 (urban), 5.4 to 5.1 (motorway), 6.4 to 6.0 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 149 to 139 (combined)

Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 5.4 to 3.9 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 124 to 102 (combined)

Das Auto. Magazine on all channels.

With our iPad app you get exclusive content, videos and more. Free in the App Store at: Das Auto. Magazine Our website keeps you up to date:www.dasauto-magazine.com

Das Auto. Magazine 02/201366 Das Auto. Magazine 02/2013

discover more. hawaii

meet the beetles .Young and hungry for sun, six creative minds took a two-week road trip for Volkswagen around Oahu, Hawaii’s main island. Their companions: three brand-new Beetle Cabriolets in the 50s, 60s and 70s special editions. Their mission: an unforgettable trip.Text Mary Sherpe Photos Georg Roske



70s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 4.9 (urban), 5.6 to 4.3 (motorway), 6.8 to 4.5 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 118 (combined)

meet the beetles .702/2013 Das Auto. Magazine


50s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 4.9 (urban), 5.6 to 4.1 (motorway), 6.8 to 4.5 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 118 (combined)60s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 6.4 (urban), 5.6 to 4.4 (motorway), 6.8 to 5.1 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 134 (combined)70s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 4.9 (urban), 5.6 to 4.3 (motorway), 6.8 to 4.5 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 118 (combined)

Tayo, whose nickname is -

tation as an all-round talent right at the start

of our trip: On the MTV show Dexpedition he

a coconut opener, and now he’s showing us his

skating skills.


surf and ride .Every morning we get to choose from three chic Beetles for our day trip – here’s a small sample of our activi-ties: Andro, Ana, Cat and I about to go canoeing (top), Ana going snorkel-ling (bottom left), Cat on the way to a great surf spot (bottom).

As Sun As Possible.For the Beetle Cabriolet campaign “As Sun As Possible”, the six pro-tagonists Ana, Cath-erine, Chris, Andro, Fab and Mary met in Ha-waii to experience some fun in the sun together. The group made nu-merous videos of their experiences, including parachuting, tarp surf-ing, hula dancing, rock climbing and cooking with a solar oven.The Internet not only has videos but also many photos and stories, mu-sic and blogs, links and background information on the six companions.On YouTube you can see videos classed under the keyword “myvolkswa-gen”.

All the information: www.beetle.com/asap

mehr erfahren.

10 Das Auto. Magazin 02/2013 Modell: X bis X (innerorts), X bis X (außerorts), X bis X (kombiniert), CO -Emission in g/km: X bis X (kombiniert), X

drive on .Ana and I try to connect my computer to the sound system. First result: it works (via Blue-tooth). Second result: we have consistently outstanding sound (particularly when playing the Beastie Boys and TLC).

11


aloha he .I grew out of !at shares a few years ago. In Berlin I have my apartment and at the cinema I don’t like sitting right next to friends because a minimum amount of privacy is very important to me. Well, at least that’s my general attitude. But short-term !at shares are of course a di"erent matter. Particularly when they’re in such a nice place as this with such an interesting mix of people.

It’s 6.00 pm local time in Honolulu. I land after a 25-hour !ight with an 11-hour time di"erence and meet Andro at the pool where he has already got his #rst severe sunburn. Andro is Slovenian. One of his hobbies is extreme sports and he is also an excellent #lmmaker. One by one, the oth-ers arrive – Catherine, whose nickname is Cat, a surfer girl, model and singer from Ventura, California. Ana, a singer with Por-tuguese and British roots, whose cover ver-sion of the Rolling Stones song “Angie” has already received two million clicks on You-Tube. Tayo, whose nickname is Fab, a pro-tagonist on the MTV travel/comedy/soap Dexpedition, a Norwegian and Italian cli" jumper and a self-professed entertainer.

60s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 6.4 (urban), 5.6 to 4.4 (motorway), 6.8 to 5.1 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 134 (combined)


Chris, a superb photographer and yogi from Big Sur, California. And me.

Our house is a little outside of Honolu-lu, right by the sea. It has a pretty pool and a huge kitchen which ends up being our living room for the next two weeks. $is is where we recover from our day trips, have a drink at night and make our plans.

We six have wangled ourselves a kind of dream job this season. Our mission from Volkswagen is to cruise around Hawaii’s main island in the new Beetle Cabrio, at 25 to 30 degrees in the shade, and partake in all the fun things to do, while #lming and photographing ourselves doing them and telling our audience all about it. For the six of us have one thing in common: lots


topless .At 30 degrees in the shade, we often use

the Cabrio’s top-down function – for exam-

ple, near Kuapa Pond (right), on the way to

the Diamond Head crater (bottom centre)

or at Sandy Beach with Ana and Chris.

check and smile .Andro and I are both fas-cinated by snapshots: here we are standing together on Lanikai Beach and sharing the conviction that the pho-

phone of Chris with div-ing goggles is really quite funny.

50s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 4.9 (urban), 5.6 to 4.1 (motorway), 6.8 to 4.5 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 118 (combined)60s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 6.4 (urban), 5.6 to 4.4 (motorway), 6.8 to 5.1 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 134 (combined)70s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 4.9 (urban), 5.6 to 4.3 (motorway), 6.8 to 4.5 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 118 (combined)

14 Das Auto. Magazine 02/2013

soundcheck.During our two weeks in Ha-waii, we not only listen to lots of music, but also make our own. Ana and Cat, especially, are both passionate singers and guitarists. And both use every moment to talk shop about songs and inspirations.

1502/2013 Das Auto. Magazine60s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 6.4 (urban), 5.6 to 4.4 (motorway), 6.8 to 5.1 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 134 (combined)



Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 10.3 to 4.9 (urban), 6.3 to 4.1 (motorway), 7.8 to 4.5 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 180 to 118 (combined)50s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 4.9 (urban), 5.6 to 4.1 (motorway), 6.8 to 4.5 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 118 (combined)60s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 6.4 (urban), 5.6 to 4.4 (motorway), 6.8 to 5.1 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 134 (combined)70s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 4.9 (urban), 5.6 to 4.3 (motorway), 6.8 to 4.5 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 118 (combined)

Perhaps our nicest evening was spent on

a deserted beach near Turtle Bay. Fire danc-

ers, guitar songs and a

the calm ocean – what more could you want?

of people are following what we are doing on the web, on Twitter and on Facebook. Most of them would be considered mod-ern, enthusiastic consumers with broad interests, online skills, an eye for trends and lifestyles and a hunger for new expe-riences. In short, the perfect target group for the Beetle Cabrio. And we’re doing a big test drive on behalf of our fans.

Oahu is an island with many faces. $e south doesn’t have a lot to do with typical panoramic shots from the Magnum TV series or the Elvis Presley concert Aloha from Hawaii, but instead seems like a mix of Los Angeles and Majorca with its dense

crop of buildings, wide streets and huge number of drive-ins and co"ee shops. $e north and west are a completely di"erent story. $e north has the best sur#ng spots with waves breaking into the legendary Pipeline, and in the west you can #nd un-touched nature. As a result, we are on the road quite a lot. $e trip from Honolulu to Kaena Point in the west or to Kahuku in the north can take one and a half to two hours, depending on the tra%c.

We spent 14 unforgettable days. $e six of us got on like a house on #re and had a whale of a time – snorkelling, taking surf-ing lessons, parachuting, skateboarding,



Very special editions

The Elegant: The 70s version features shiny chromium-plated wing mir-rors and a leather steering wheel. All three models also have light al-loy wheels, sport seats at the front, air conditioning, cruise control, a CD changer and heated front seats.

The Cool: The 60s version has inte-rior mood lighting, a dash pad in the colour of the car and leather cen-tre strips. Particularly attractive: the Fender sound system with eight loud-

a 400-watt output.

The Stylish: The 50s version has a three-spoke steering wheel, chro-mium wing mirrors, retro tyres and

The new Beetle Cabriolet is also

More information at: www.volkswagen.de

Das Auto. Magazine 02/2013 70s Beetle Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 4.9 (urban), 5.6 to 4.3 (motorway), 6.8 to 4.5 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 158 to 118 (combined)


hiking through the jungle, to name just a few highlights. $ere was always some-thing going on and we were almost always on the road. Most of the time I was at the wheel. $is is because the three Beetle Cabrios are special models – a light blue one, a brown one and a black one – and so they have manual gear shifts, which is why Cat couldn’t drive as she is only used to an

automatic. But it was also because I en-joyed it much more than I had anticipated.

Perhaps I should mention that I am anything but a classic “car buyer”. For just six months of my life, during the time after my 18th birthday, I was allowed to call my mother’s old car my own. Since this time, I have mostly lived in cities where I have been best served by a mix of cycling, public transport and car-sharing. And if I fall into temptation, then it’s because of 70s-style designer classics.

$e fact that I liked the Beetle Cabrio right from the outset has several reasons.

One is its great design with the laughing “front face”. At the same time, the new Bee-tle is just a little more streamlined, a little wider and a little lower than its predeces-sor, which I really liked. It has a powerful drive, is easy and stable to steer and o"ers a very high level of entertainment.

Of special note is the Fender sound system with eight speakers and precise-ly adjustable sound focus – our Hawaii

1902/2013 Das Auto. Magazine


soundtrack from the Beastie Boys and TLC sounded great even while driving with the top down. It’s also extremely easy to listen to your own songs from your smartphone or media player via USB or Bluetooth. Moreover, you don’t have to put the key in the ignition to start the car. You simply push the start button on the centre console and the Beetle starts up if it detects the key in its frequency range.

$e roof opens and closes incredibly fast – 9.5 seconds to open, 11 seconds to close. And it even does so in motion (up to 31 mph). $is really came in handy for us once when we spied a black cloud on the horizon when driving along the north coast and #ve minutes later the heavens

unleashed a tropical downpour. But we had a really good time in the Beetle with the roof up and the Fender sound system blasting out the Beastie Boys.

I’ve got no idea whether I’ll buy myself a car again soon. But if I do, the Beetle Cab-rio will be one of my top choices.

Mary Scherpe, 30, has been writing the Stil in Berlin blog since 2006. It attracts up to 90,000 readers a month. www.stilinberlin.de


discover more. golf models

With the Golf GTI, GTD, Variant and BlueMotion, Volkswagen has rounded out its model range such that there is now a Golf to suit every taste. To make sure that you aren’t overwhelmed by this wide range of models, we have prepared a character study to help you identify the Golf that suits you best.By Sabrina Künz and Jochen Förster Photos Volkswagen AG Illustrations

distinction .

the


The uncompromisingWhen asked whether it’s the design of the car or the technology that mat-ters most to you, you answer: both, of course! You take no risks. You are will-ing to accept neither cheapness nor ostentation. You really don’t care who else drives the same car as you do, the main thing is that it takes you safely from A to B – as comfortably as pos-sible, as often as required and over the longest possible time. You only buy the best on the market and believe that experience stands for quality. You have never accepted compromises and aren’t about to start now.

Summary: The new Golf VII is perfect for you.

Standard-feature highlights (selection)BlueMotion technology (start/stop and brake energy regeneration), multi-collision brake, electronic parking brake including Auto Hold, ESP (Electronic Stabilisation Pro-gramme), tyre monitoring indicator, air con-

knee airbag on driver’s side

Petrol engines: from 63 kW (85 hp) to 103 kW (140 hp)Diesel engines: from 77 kW (105 hp) to110 kW (150 hp)


Golf: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 6.6 to 4.6 (urban), 4.5 to 3.3 (motorway), 5.2 to 3.8 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 122 to 99 (combined)



The multi-talentedYou love your job but understand that a healthy work-leisure balance is good for everyone: your family, your part-ner, your colleagues and, last but not

not with nightclubbing but with action-packed trips with family and friends. You’re an enterprising type. If you feel like it on a Saturday morning, there’s

the hills with your son or a quick jaunt

daughter – and you expect your car to be able to handle all of this.

Summary: Golf Variant as irresistible as Reinhold

is also available as a 4Motion model with all-wheel drive.

Standard-feature highlights (selection)BlueMotion technology (start/stop and brake energy regeneration), multi-collision brake, height-adjustable driver’s seat, vari-

and fore/aft-adjustable steering, remote unlocking and automatic folding of the rear backrest, conveniently opening luggage compartment cover, knee airbag on the driver’s side, roof rails in black

Petrol engines: from 77 kW (105 hp) to 90 kW (122 hp) Diesel engines: from 77 kW (105 hp) to 110 kW (150 hp)

Golf Variant: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 5.4 to 3.9 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 124 to 102 (combined)


The marathon manYou need the right car to match your

that not only has perfectly functioning components but also possesses a discreetly elegant design. You like to

You waste neither time nor money. You want to go far and know that the best way of getting there is to use your re-sources economically. You have al-ready considered running a marathon, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or com-peting in a triathlon. When someone mentions great torque, you don’t think it means having a good chat with the neighbours.

Summary: We think you should take a look at the Golf GTD.

Standard-feature highlights (selection)

than series models, rear spoiler in car col-our, lockable wheel bolts with enhanced theft protection, heatable top sport seats at the front (with lumbar support), multi-function leather steering wheel with aluminium trim, stainless steel pedals, progressive steering, illuminated door sill panel, 7.5 x 17 inch Curitiba alloy wheels

Diesel engine: 135 kW (184 hp)

Golf GTD: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 5.5 to 5.1 (urban), 4.0 to 3.7 (motorway), 4.5 to 4.2 (combined), CO emissions in g/km:



Golf GTI: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.1 to 7.5 (urban), 5.4 to 5.1 (motorway), 6.4 to 6.0 (combined), CO emissions in g/km:

The athleteYou like to accelerate rapidly, just like your favourite speed machines from the Top Trump cards you played with when you were small. That hasn’t changed: sitting in the driver’s seat doesn’t just mean “accelerated motion between A and B”. It means really getting going. Enjoying the driving ex-perience. Emotions. And just a touch of adventure. You know that driving can also be sport: the Formula 1, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the WRC quick-en your pulse. “Attack is the best form of defence” is your strategy of choice in all areas of life.

Summary: The Golf GTI could be just right for you.

Standard-feature highlights (selection)

series models, sport chassis lowered by 15 mm, progressive steering, XDS electronic

-ed door sill panel, xenon headlights

Options: CarNet mobile online services,

lock (Performance series)

Petrol engines:

162 kW (220 hp)169 kW (230 hp) Performance



Golf Cabriolet: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.4 to 5.2 (urban), 5.4 to 4.1 (motorway), 6.4 to 4.4 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 150 to 117 (combined)

The sun queenrays of sun make their welcome ap-pearance, it’s time for you to hit the road. For you, enjoying the fresh air and clear views and feeling the sun and wind on your skin are just as much a part of the driving experience as a truly classical design. This is not to for-get quality – but quality applies to all Golf models. And certainly to someone with your dreams and aspirations.

Summary: Without a doubt, a Golf Cabriolet is the right car for you.

Standard-feature highlights (selection)Darkened LED rear lights, radiator grille with chrome strips, comfortable fabric seats, fully automatic, electric-hydraulic fabric hood, height-adjustable front pas-senger seat, matt chrome decorative inlays for the instrument panel and door clad-ding, rear bumper in sport design, chrome trim for convertible hood

Petrol engines: 77 kW (105 hp) to 155 kW (210 hp)Diesel engines: 77 kW (105 hp) to 103 kW (140 hp)



Golf Plus: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.8 to 5.2 (urban), 6.1 to 3.9 (motorway), 7.5 to 4.3 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 174 to 114 (combined)

The connoisseur An eye for that extra touch? Quality is all-important for you and you also ap-preciate the small comforts that make everyday life more pleasant. You like to know what is going on and there-fore would rather sit slightly higher in the car. You also like small but practi-cal conveniences such as a driving as-

a wide range of options for arrang-ing seats, space and luggage areas. Barstool or armchair? You’d usually opt for the comfortable cushioning.

Summary: The Golf Plus could be just right for you.

Standard-feature highlights (selection)ESP (Electronic Stability Programme) with counter-steering assistance including ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System) with brake as-sist, ASR (Anti-Slip Regulation), EDL (Elec-

Drag Torque Control), asymmetrically di-viding rear seat which can be moved and folded longitudinally with backrest angle adjustment and centre armrest, central locking with remote control

Petrol engines: 59 kW (80 hp) to 118 kW (160 hp) Diesel engines: 77 kW (105 hp) to 103 kW (140 hp)



Golf BlueMotion: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 3.2 (combined), CO emissions in g/km: 85 (combined)

The mastermindSome like to curb their indulgences, you like to curb your fuel consumption. Eco-nomical driving is not just about saving money, it’s a modern worldview that en-compasses sustainability issues, emis-sions values and the energy cycle. In short, you like to help ensure that our grandchildren inherit the earth while it is still intact. This doesn’t mean that you’re a slouch when the lights go green – for

Summary: The Golf BlueMotion was made with you in mind. It will be avail-able in late summer 2013. At the end of the year the Golf Variant BlueMotion

with corresponding 85g CO , top speed 200 km/h).

Standard-feature highlights (selection)Aerodynamically optimised, super low roll-ing resistance tyres, internal engine modi-

stop system

Diesel engine: 81 kW (110 hp)


discover more. wrc

to theFor many, the greatest thing about rallies is the fans. Who are these people? And what drives them to follow their idols who race at dizzying speeds over hill and dale, through mud and snow, on every single continent?

Championship.Text Jochen Förster Photos

metal!pedal


discover more. wrc

fans are famous for appearing anywhere, in any weather, to

catch a view of their heroes.

plus ça change .Our !rst drive up the Col de Turini is a textbook rally scenario – weather changes by the hour, chaotic tra"c, unpredictable turns and frenetic fans en masse. By the early morning hours, all roads leading to the most famous summit in the rally calendar are essentially massive car parks, packed with spectators who have been arriving in a steady stream since the night before. #ey’re all bound for the 1,607-metre mountain, all in their own cars – about a third in caravans – and parked all along the narrow, winding pass road, making it all but impassable for ambulances. And that’s how it goes on a tour. Suddenly the weather changes from rain to sleet, and then to snow. #e world around us turns to mud. #e organisers promptly close all access to the col. We at-tempt to make the ascent but are forced to give up, soaking wet, amidst euphoric spec-tators from Florence, Lyon and Barcelona. We witness a formidable crash.

In short, it was the usual chaos of the Rally Monte Carlo; for chaos, and its bosom buddy improvisation, are as inextricably a part of rallying as the primal scream is of skydiving. Some regard rallies as the last bastion of real motor racing. While Formula 1 devolves into a circle-driving competi-tion in which equipment, technology and rules play an ever more decisive role, a rally driver still never knows what awaits him around the next bend. No one curve is like another, and the driver who fails to react in fractions of a second when a chunk of ice, an errant rock or a deep rut appears out of no-where will quickly !nd himself in the ditch, or hopelessly out of contention.

Rally is a sport for adventurers – hands-on and unpredictable, always risky and not infrequently dirty, like life itself – undoubtedly the main reason why fans of the World Rally Championship are among the most loyal and enthusiastic of all

Particularly impressive drifts send a buzz through the crowd.


discover more. wrc

racing a!cionados. #e true fans are the ones who camp out in the sticks night af-ter night in any weather – albeit in some of the world’s most beautiful settings – just to witness the matadors of mud and gravel as they speed, drift and jump around the cir-cuits. In Sweden – generally with metres-high snow and 20-metre jumps at 20 below zero. In Greece – endless potholes and up to 50-degree heat. In Germany’s Eifel region – with 200,000 fans on the Panzerplatte at the Baumholder military training grounds.

Or here at the Rally Monte Carlo this winter, in the village of Moulinet at the foot of the Col de Turini. As I said, the sleet keeps pelting down and the temperature

Weather-resistant fans: “Inclement”

just isn’t in the vo-cabulary of true

hovers just above zero, but the visitors don’t mind. Indeed, it’s part of the expe-rience. Inclement weather? Not in the vo-cabulary of WRC fans.

Hundreds crowd the hairpin turns of Moulinet, some beneath makeshift tarpau-lin coverings, others warming themselves at impromptu !re pits, everyone consum-ing warming drinks and anxiously antici-pating the breakneck manoeuvres of the star drivers. #e French are out in num-bers, but there are even more Italians. A chorus of whistling greets each driver. Par-ticularly impressive drifts – the technique in which the rear wheels drift outwards – send a buzz through the crowd. All that’s


discover more. wrc

Hands-on experience: With the assistance of fans and race marshals, Volkswagen driver Jari-Matti Latvala pushes his car to the shoulder after the crash.

will feature 13 rallies in 2013, including stops in Argentina, Australia, Mexico

and will conclude in Wales in mid-November. From August 22 to 25,

take place in and around Trier.Volkswagen

teams – one with Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia and the other with Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila – have been highly competi-tive, with Ogier and Ingrassia post-

-pionship rally in Sweden.Information, videos, webisodes etc: www.volkswagen-motorsport.com www.rallytheworld.com

For fans, witnessing a crash up close is the ultimate rally experience.


Improvisation is standard operating procedure: A spectator keeps dry with a tarp and plasticbags on the Col de Turini.


Heaven for eccentrics: this Norwegian has

spent years following the rally caravan

around the world.

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missing is the great snowball !ght between the Italian and French fans who revere the Col de Turini – maybe next year.

pure adrenaline .#en comes the rush of adrenaline. Pre-cisely where we’re standing, Volkswagen drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Ant-tila slam their Polo R WRC into a stone wall at 80 km/h, demolish the opposing parapet and rip the front o$ the Polo. #ey’d blun-dered into the misdirected tyre track of the

the quintessence of rally on steroids, a Vin Diesel %ick in real time. Many will pocket pieces of debris as souvenirs. Luis, 24, from Barcelona remarks that “some rally fans wait a lifetime for such a moment.”

Latvala is not the only driver to su$er a crash that day. By midday, journalists’ on-line reports are describing “the toughest Monte stage of all time”. In late afternoon, the race directors cancel the remaining two night stages. #e notorious “night of the long knives” at Monte Carlo is over be-fore it begins, this time. But rally fans are pleased as punch all the same.

car in front, which had brushed the wall at the very same spot. Five seconds later, Latvala and Anttila are out of the car, ap-parently uninjured. Ten seconds later, 20 marshals and 200 fans are on the road. A minute later, wildly gesticulating marshals announce the impending arrival of the next car. #e car speeds toward the crowd – whilst the masses scatter to the sides – and passes Latvala’s hastily shouldered Polo at around 75 km/h with about 20 cm to spare from both the wall on the left and the Polo on the right. #e fans are going bonkers. Witnessing a crash up close is, for them,


think ahead. news

Brand and mobility What’s been happening in the world of Volkswagen? !e Europeans like the Golf best. !e Beetle GSR and cross up! introduce themselves.

news

exclusive beetle . The new Beetle GSR is a particu-larly rare species – Volkswagen has only produced 3,500 of them worldwide. GSR? The abbrevia-tion pays homage to a legendary model: the Beetle 1303, known as the “Gelb-Schwarzer Renner” (“yellow-black racer”) that in-spired automobile fans 40 years ago. And there were only 3,500 of those, too – in two colours, natu-rally, just like its sporty 2013 de-scendant with 210 hp/155 kW. The new Beetle GSR can be or-dered from May 2013 and will be delivered from autumn 2013. Price in Germany: 30,300 euros.

sporty look .Volkswagen presented the new Golf Variant and the study of an extra sporty version – the Golf Variant Concept R-Line – in Geneva. Never before has there been a Variant in the R-Line de-

shows Volkswagen’s vision: with individualised front section, modi-

18-inch R-Line rims.

new family member for the up !A new member of the up! family was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show. The cross up! is sporty, with an elevated body and 16-inch light metal rims. From the side, black covers on the wheel arches and sills, as well as circum-ferential door protection panels with cross up! lettering, make for a sporty look. Additional unmis-takable features include the silver roof rack, the wing mirrors paint-ed in light silver metallic, and the bumpers with silver inserts. The sporty look is continued inside the car with special chrome and leather details.

car of the year 2013: the Golf .

!e Golf is Europe’s Car of the Year. !e European Car of the Year award is one of the most renowned in the indus-

try. Since 1964, the best new cars have been presented. !is year, the jury – 58 auto journalists from 22 countries

– nominated eight candidates for the "nals. With 414 points, the Golf clearly outdid the competition – the car in second place lagged a full 212 points behind. !e Golf not

only scored for quality, comfort, low consumption and emissions levels, and good drive properties, but also in

the important category of safety.

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Golf: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 6.6 to 4.6 (urban), 4.5 to 3.3 (motorway), 5.2 to 3.8 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km: 122 to 99 (combined)up!: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 5.9 to 5.0 (urban), 4.0 to 3.6 (motorway), 4.7 to 4.1 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km: 108 to 95 (combined) Golf Variant: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 5.4 to 3.9 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km: 124 to 102 (combined) Golf GSR: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 7,6 to 7,3 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km:

38 Das Auto. Magazine 02/2013

on autopilot .


think ahead. autopilot

have no fear .My encounter with the future could end in a matter of seconds – with a crash into the grey brick wall about 20 metres ahead of me. !e silver Passat is driving towards it at 30 km/h. I intend to keep my hands in my lap, because I’m driving a robotic car which is one of Europe’s most highly-advanced autonomous automobiles. !is Passat steers, brakes and accelerates all on its own.

I’m less afraid for my life than for the "400,000 euros worth of technology built into this prototype. But it is 100 percent re-liable: !e car rounds the curve before the wall in time. I lean back, but then tense up again for a brief moment when two pedes-trians appear at the edge of the carriage-way. Are they in danger? Not at all. !e Passat calmly evades them. Seconds later it detects and subsequently goes around a bush protruding into the carriageway. Self-in#icted scratches on the paint, dents or worse are a thing of the past with this robotic automobile.

Only at the very start is there a hint of ten-sion: Our reporter tests autonomous driving.

on autopilot .even while sitting at the steering wheel yourself? Our reporter gave it a try. A test drive through Berlin with the self-driving Passat. And a look into the (not so distant) future of automatic driving.Text Annekatrin Looss Photos Martin Grega

VIDEO images from the Passat in Berlin plus an interview at: www.dasauto-magazine.com


My faith in the car grows quickly. All cause for concern has disappeared by the next curve, the next pedestrian. It’s a feel-ing comparable to being on rails. Almost like a rollercoaster. Not as terrifyingly swift, but fascinating just the same.

Armed with a "100 million euro insur-ance policy and special permissions, the research team at the Freie Universität Ber-lin (FU) has been allowed to test the vehi-cle in Berlin’s tra$c. It glides smoothly into the #ow of tra$c at !eodor-Heuss-Platz.

!e ten kilometres to the Brandenburg Gate go by without Tinosch Ganjineh hav-ing to intercede. !is 33-year-old informa-tion scientist is the technical director of the AutoNOMOS project.

!e Passat navigates the roundabout expertly like an experienced taxi driver, swims easily along with the stream on the Strasse des 17. Juni, fastidiously observing tra$c regulations. “!at always attracts attention,” says Ganjineh. !e silver Pas-sat drives somewhat more slowly than any

Inside the AutoNOMOS research project’s


of the others and maintains a larger safety gap. Finally, it parks on the centre strip in front of the Brandenburg Gate.

What sounds like science %ction is made possible by the FU researchers’ software. Twenty scientists developed it over a two-year period. !e Passat’s hard-ware, on the other hand, is already being used in serial production. !e only parts that researchers needed to retro%t were a high-precision GPS – to which the car owes its ability to know its location at all times

– and a few environment sensors with a range of 150 metres enabling it to %nd its way around in road tra$c.

Several laser scanners and radar sen-sors plus three cameras record the vehi-cle’s surroundings and deliver a three-dimensional image to the technology in the boot, which then evaluates the sensor data and transmits the appropriate ac-tions to the drive technology, which in turn brakes, steers or accelerates the car. Actua-tor engineering is also standard equipment

already in mass-produced vehicles with driver assistance systems. “Every modern medium-sized vehicle is essentially a mo-torised robot,” says Ganjineh.

Today, nearly all car producers provide vehicles that can maintain speed and stay in the carriageway, give warning when changing lanes or monitor the blind spot. In short, they can see and steer, brake and accelerate on their own. So will we be sit-ting behind the steering wheel without do-ing anything in ten years? Or even in %ve?

42 Das Auto. Magazin 02/2013


think ahead. autopilot

For years, researchers have been test-ing computer systems that enable drivers to take their hands o& the steering wheel. At least for a moment. On the motorway.

!ese systems would be overwhelmed by city driving with its complex network of streets. For that environment there is the parking assist system. And ABS. !is braking system, which launched the en-tire automation trend, has been standard equipment on passenger vehicles since the 1980s. Some research teams are competing with one another worldwide to develop modern steering systems. !e Berlin sci-entists are among the frontrunners in one discipline. !eir vehicles can recognise tra$c signals and react to them.

Volkswagen introduced its Temporary Auto Pilot in 2012. It can navigate a vehicle on motorways at speeds of up to 130 km/h by itself. It won’t be long until it is ready for serial production.

And where does it go from here? Car-to-car communication is the next step into

the future. Manufacturers have long been trying to create vehicular networks. !e ultimate goal, car-to-x, or the exchange of a car’s information with all possible vari-ables such as other vehicles, tra$c signs or tra$c signals, has been undergoing testing for some time.

One example of these tests is an EU project in which all well-known automo-bile manufacturers and suppliers are par-ticipating. “!e tests are going well. Now the manufacturers must decide how soon they will put the results into practice,”” says Ganjineh. Most of all, the liability issue still has to be clari%ed. As he sees it, “Autono-mous driving is becoming a slow revolu-tion”. Little by little, passive and warning systems are being replaced by assistance systems that intervene themselves.

And then what? Climb in, drive o& and %nally get some calls done in peace or catch up on some sleep? According to the Vienna Convention of 1968, every ve-hicle in Europe requires a driver who can

outside of the norm overtaxes the software.«

intervene immediately. !e FU researchers would prefer to send the Passat through the city streets without a driver. “It would work,” says Ganjineh. In ten to %fteen years it will have become routine.

It has been demonstrated that com-puters drive more safely than distracted or tired drivers. !ey react quickly and precisely. !ere would be less congestion, lower fuel consumption and fewer acci-dents if all cars were driven automatically. It’s a win-win for humans. Doesn’t demo-graphic change also demand that kind of technology? People could drive safely into advanced age. Of course, no one likes to be bossed by a machine. But at least one has the choice of being supported by it. Or not.

What can humans do better than the autopilot? “Up to now, everything that is outside of the norm overtaxes the soft-ware,” says Ganjineh. “Humans cope with unexpected situations better.” !anks to one thing that no computer possesses as yet: common sense.


Being driven by one’s own car was long considered a utopian concept. How far are we today from seeing it realised?

We are quite close to it. Systems such as active cruise control (ACC) already ex-ist. !e next step is partially autonomous driving in manageable situations such as tra$c jams. !at means the vehicle takes over some simple functions from the driver at low speeds. Staying in the carriageway, maintaining safety gaps, keeping speed. Such monotonous manoeuvres in con-gested tra$c become super#uous. !is “tra$c jam assistant” will be available in serial production very soon.

So we’ll soon be reading newspapers in

We’re not quite at that point yet. Drivers can relax in their seats, but they still have to remain alert and intervene if something unforeseen happens.

What’s needed before we read papers?For a car to drive at a highly autonomous level, it has to be able to master nearly all

»Man is the measure.« Volkswagen expert Arne Bartels on the prospects for autonomous driving.

eventualities. In other words, the system has to recognise sudden obstacles early and react. !is is precisely where the big-gest challenge lies – at higher speeds and in dense city tra$c.

complex situations.Up to now, yes. We simply have a lot more experience and are able to interpret such scenarios better. For instance, we can quickly recognise whether the obstruc-tion in front of us is a cardboard box or a massive boulder. A computer can’t yet do that to the same degree. We’re working on that. But the computer is superior with respect to qualities such as attentiveness and reaction time. A computer is never sleepy or distracted.

What about legal considerations?!e 1968 Vienna Convention speci%ed that every driver had to be in complete control of his vehicle at all times. National highway codes have followed that to this day. We will need changes in the law before we can

start mass-producing highly autonomous driving systems.

Do we need new driver training programmes? Many people are afraid

computer.

Tests have shown us that most people get used to the new driving style astonishingly quickly. !eir initial fear disappears within just a few minutes. Most of our custom-ers rely on our systems. We have to repay this extension of trust with maximum de-pendability. I think it will take at least ten years before highly autonomous driving is possible and permitted. !en you will be able to relax with a newspaper at low speeds in a tra$c jam. Fully autonomous driving – the vehicle drives, you take a lit-tle nap – that will remain utopian for the time being.

Head of Automatic Driving at VolkswagenInterview Jochen Förster

controls! Autonomous driving will soon bepossible – at least in part.


think ahead. heroes

Special materials: So precisely which alloy is the turbine made of? Ah, that’s a close-ly guarded secret.

42The turbine wheel o!ers more power with turbocharging despite downsizing – a paradox arising from a small component that spins almost out of control.

everyday heroes

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extremes of mechanicaland thermal capacity ."e smaller the engine, the more impor-tant the turbocharger. It increases the power of an engine by increasing the rate of #ow. To do this, the turbo uses a com-pressor in the intake manifold – which is then powered by the energy of the ex-haust gas thanks to the turbine wheel. "e wheel, part of the exhaust turbine, rotates rapidly, allowing the removal of heat and pressure from the exhaust gas. "e kinetic energy of the turbine wheel is transmitted via a shaft to the compressor in the intake manifold. "e rotation speed and intense heat place huge stress on the small com-ponent. "e charging and lubrication of the rotor are arts in themselves.

mm diameter:The turbine wheel in the turbochargers of Volkswagen’s two-litre TDI engine (110 kW), is hardly any bigger than a two-euro coin.

820 degrees Celsius: The paddle wheel must be able to withstand any exhaust gas temperature, even at full throttle on the open road.

revolutions per minute: The comparatively tiny com-ponent is driven by exhaust gases moving at high speed through the turbocharger.

232,000

1955

1959

1956

1949 1950


»good advertising takes the custo mers

seriously«

1954

1960 1961

1957

1951 1952


Original, bold, self-deprecating: The Beetle campaign of the 1960s is rated the best campaign of all time. It was created by the New York agency DDB.

Kassaei explains what the advertising industry today can learn from that era.Interview Jochen Förster

»good advertising takes the custo mers


think ahead. beetle advertising

“Mad Men” Season 1, Episode 3: In the most perfectly constructed TV series in recent years, a few advertising men are sitting in a meeting on Madison Avenue in Manhattan when one of them shoves a magazine advertisement under another’s nose. “Have you seen this?” one of them asks. “Yes,” says another. “I don’t know what I hate more, the car or the ad.” “No chrome, hardly any horsepower, foreign, that car is just repulsive,” opines a third man. A fourth !nds the ad witty. "ey trade arguments until one of them !nally con-cludes, “Repulsive or witty – the fact re-mains that we have been talking about it for the last 15 minutes.”

"at’s how it was for many – for adver-tising professionals and car salesmen alike. "e “Lemon” ad under discussion made waves as no other ad had ever done before, assisting the Volkswagen Beetle to unim-aginable sales !gures in the United States, and is today considered ground-breaking. AdAge magazine has even ranked the af-!liated “"ink Small” campaign as the best of all time. “Lemon” also marked the be-ginning of the ascent of Doyle Dane Bern-bach (DDB) from a small New York agency to one of the world’s leading creative agen-cies. For decades, DDB was considered the industry trend-setter, the industry it-self to be style-de!ning for society as a whole, and the advertiser’s profession as desirable.

According to surveys, however, the ad-vertising profession’s standing nowadays is at rock bottom – beaten to last place only by insurance salesmen. It is past time to !nd out what advertisers today can learn

from that bygone era, and who better to ask than Amir Kassaei, 44, DDB Worldwide’s New York-based Chief Creative O#cer and one of the advertising industry’s most colourful !gures.

Mr. Kassaei, the 1960s are thought of as the golden age of modern creative advertising, and today more than ever. Truth or myth?

Kassaei: Both. "e creative revolution that began in New York back then funda-mentally changed the world of advertis-ing. Prior to that, advertising was !rst and foremost information. "en a small agency in a Manhattan came along and made an unprecedented move: "ey were able to persuade the Americans to buy a German car, and on top of that, one that was so tiny by the then accepted US standard that it barely deserved to be called a car. And they met people on their level with precisely that image. “Lemon” is synonymous with a piece of junk. "at was new. DDB’s “Lem-on” ad became the most revolutionary

1965

famous advert for the German market explains very graphically

that Volkswagen has been careful about changes to a proven product

from the year dot.

Chief

DDB Worldwide

advertising became a cultural metaphor

that could change the world for the better.«


advertisement of all time. It was so iconic that Andy Warhol painted the motif. All of a sudden advertising became a cultural metaphor that could change the world for the better. Everything that has been done under the creative communication label since then is based on that supernova. In other words, a myth of origination that is rooted in reality.

overnight.Kassaei: An image that lasted into the 1990s. Advertisers then were not viewed as submissive prostitutes as they are now, but as people who could make the di$erence.

The alleged major glamour factor of the advertising industry in the 1960s has been the subject of the Mad Men TV

Kassaei: "e setting agencies were in during that era was surely much more glamorous than is the case today. "e in-dustry was considered cool, was still in its infancy and could draw on unlimited re-sources. Many people now think it has lost its justi!cation for existing. And today crea-tive communication alone is not enough to e$ect any change in society. "e product itself is what counts.

about?Kassaei: Carl Hahn, Jr., then head of Volk-swagen of America, was looking for ways to successfully place the Beetle in the US market. Hahn was a marketing man, and knew something about good communica-tion. So he turned to the young New York agency DDB, which had already attract-ed attention with innovative ads. DDB’s

1959

1960

ered the usual Beetle clichés (small, slow) with facts (economical, easy to park) in a light-hearted, ironic register, thereby setting new standards in the advertising industry.

there was a scratch on the glove

been so wry (and sophisticated).



Creative Director Bill Bernbach designed a campaign and presented it to Volkswa-gen’s top management in a legendary pa-per. "e campaign was so brilliant that you could print the ads again today exactly as they are. "ey haven’t lost one bit of their modernity. Volkswagen is still using the same structure and typography today, the famous Layout Number One created by Helmut Krone.

fantastic?Kassaei: "e premises more than any-thing else. You must be honest and con-sistent as a brand. You have to treat people like people and not like monkeys. You can even admit your own %aws because peo-ple !nd that endearing. "e main thing is to !nd a relevant truth about your prod-uct and convey it in a way that is unusual, intelligent and makes complete sense. And last but not least, humour is allowed. "e slogan “We pluck the lemons, you get the plums” is a prime example of well-crafted, wry, tongue-in-cheek wording. It plays with images masterfully (lemon equals junk, plum equals quality) and es-tablished itself in advertising circles as a turn of phrase. "at’s how DDB showed the industry that good advertising takes the clients seriously. It also exploits peo-ple’s entire creative potential, and cultural background. "e enormous success was !tting. Carl Hahn, Jr. thus became a hero in Wolfsburg, and – as is well-known – was

later made CEO. As far as I know, he is the only marketing professional who ever be-came head of a German DAX-listed cor-poration.

What can today’s advertising learn from the 1960s?Kassaei: For example, it could revive the requirement from back then to be not only a service provider but also a partner and driving force making quality demands on the customer’s product in order to com-municate this quality intelligently.

Why does a car like the Golf need any advertising at all?Kassaei: "e Golf per se doesn’t need any advertising. Its quality is known worldwide. But it always needs to keep re-establishing its relevance. It is our re-sponsibility to continue refreshing con-sumers’ understanding of this car’s quality

in the context of their own lives. Volkswa-gen is a gratifying client for advertising agencies. Of all the major automotive com-panies, Wolfsburg has best understood that product quality, design and marketing are integral components of the company’s success, and the reason behind the brand’s global ascent.

It seems that advertising no longer reaches people as easily today as it used to. Many are more educated about advertising consumption and reject it earlier.

Kassaei: I don’t believe that. "e princi-ples of good advertising have remained the same, and the average consumer is as in-terested in commercials now as they were then – i.e. not at all. She or he is much more interested in how do they take their chil-dren to school tomorrow or how do they pay their bills? So advertising has to meet people at their level in these situations and try to lighten up their lives and convey genuine values in the process, to produce something relevant. "en they will engage with you, but only then. Of course, no one will be able to match the explosive power of an ad like “Lemon” any time soon. But I’m going to keep trying.

1963

one of the best-known slogans in German advertising history is primarily thanks to this

Brilliantly simple.

Phot

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»Of course, no one will be able to match the explosive power of an ad like ‘Lemon’ any time soon. But I’m going to keep trying.«

1965This advert explains

everything the Beetle can do because of its

other things, it’s al-ways able to suck in

enough cooling air.


think ahead. think blue

production prefers to think blue .With the Think Blue. Factory. environmental programme, Volkswagen is reducing the environmental impact of all its factories. Drastically. Worldwide. Ten examples show how, working together, small ideas can have a big impact.Text Kay Dohnke Photos Think Blue/Volkswagen AG

!e magic number is 25. By 2018, Volkswa-gen wants to reduce energy and water con-sumption, waste, CO2 and solvent emissions by 25 percent at every factory. !e goal is to become the biggest environmentally friend-ly car manufacturer in the world. How? By applying !ink Blue. Factory.

Volkswagen builds new factories ac-cording to strict environmental standards. In existing factories, individual migration paths will be developed. Depending on their age, factories may be completely renovated, redesigned or have their processes modi"ed to ensure compliance with environmen-tal objectives. But the programme doesn’t simply dictate everything to the factories. It also relies on employees’ ideas, initiatives and exchange of information. “!e objec-tive is to ensure that the best measures and ideas are known across all factories and en-courage employees to adopt them,” explains Hubert Waltl, board member for production at Volkswagen passenger vehicles. Experi-ence from daily processes plays a central role. Since the end of 2012, 51 employees in Bratislava have been working as o#cial !ink Blue. Factory. ambassadors, raising employees’ awareness of environmental and energy issues, and gathering ideas. In the future, such ambassadors will be active at all locations. Bring on 2018!

Cold and warmth – cleverly used

Emden, Germany: Innovative measures have already enabled

a halving of direct CO2 emissions at the site – for instance, by using energy from a biomass power station. For the construction of a body production hall, they’ve taken things a step further. The building rests on 3,300 20-metre-long energy piles which utilise the geother-mal properties of the earth through the use of water channels: the water absorbs the coldness of the ground and passes it on for the purposes of welding in the body construction pro-

cooling tower would have required 25,000 cubic metres of fresh water per year. At the same time, heat from the welding process is used to heat the building in winter.

Capture heat – save energyAt the Kassel plant, one Think Blue. Factory. project is all about heat.

More precisely, about waste heat from furnaces that can be drastically reduced.

and externally. The use of a new ce-

hardening furnaces in hall 3 enables natural gas savings of 14 percent –

plus the interior coating lasts two years longer and thus also saves maintenance costs. In the neighbouring hall 2, the shape-hardening furnaces are treated with an innovative low-emission coat-ing. Thanks to the silver-coloured coat-ing, the furnaces radiate up to 60 per-cent less heat into the environment – an energy saving of 10 percent.


think ahead. think blue

Making a resourceout of waste

A careful look at local condi-tions at the Pune site in India also

showed the way to an innovation in the spirit of Think Blue. Factory. The start-ing point in this case was the generally inadequate state of waste manage-ment in India. To address the problem, Volkswagen installed its own high-tech biogas facility on the factory grounds which now converts half a tonne of or-ganic waste into biogas and fertilizer every day. The energy that is produced is used for cooking in the central kitchen, while the resulting fertilizer is used on the green spaces of the factory grounds. This enables the site to avoid 18 tonnes of CO2 annually.

Where the sun shines even at night

The shift workers at Autoeuropa in Portugal knew it well, the dark

path from the bus stop to the brightly lit factory in Palmela – until an employee from body production simply calculated the light requirements and envisioned solar collectors as the energy source. Volkswagen implemented the plan. The factory has thus not only improved the safety of the path to the building, but also saves the almost 300 kilograms of CO2 that would have resulted from fossil fuel-generated power. Palmela has also reduced environmentally damaging sol-vent emissions. Shorter spraying inter-

amount of solvents required for clean-ing the painting system by 14 percent – practical environmental protection, clev-erly devised.

Environmental focus x 5The Think Blue. Factory. programme

Energy consumption Car manufacturing requires a lot

of energy. Electricity can increasingly be drawn from renewable sources such as solar, wind and hydroelectric power.

Water consumption Water is necessary in quantity for both cleaning and cooling

closed cycles make savings possible in this area.

Waste prevention Optimised processes and the improved utilisation of materials both

help in the prevention of waste. If neither is possible, then materials will be recycled whenever it is feasible.

CO2 emissions These are usually the result of energy

consumption – so saving energy means less CO2.

Solvent emissions These can damage the environment in a number of ways. Reducing

solvent emissions not only protects the environment but also reduces ground and water contamination.

These solar cells now light the path to the Palmela factory in Portugal.

New and prize-winning

At the Uitenhage plant in South Africa, a Think Blue. Factory. con-

cept is improving material utilisation in metallic paints. Until now, the second coat of paint was applied with pneumatic

about 35 percent of the material. Elec-trostatic atomisation technology has en-

– and a correspondingly large reduction in the amount of paint dust for disposal. The Volkswagen Group of South Africa received two important environmental awards for these and other innovations.


“Prevention” plays a central role in Volkswagen factories as they strive

for greater sustainability. The factory in Polkowice, Poland found a relatively

amount of the CO2 emissions in the en-ergy sector. Since December 2011, the factory has drawn energy from hydro-electric power plants, making it possible to avoid over 50,000 tonnes of carbon

emissions annually. The move also in-

Following training workshops, they dis-covered further potential for reductions that enabled the factory to avoid another

2. And the reforesta-tion of a 68,000-square-metre parcel of land in the vicinity of the factory com-pensates for emissions from activities such as heating the logistics halls.

Rain can helpAt the Kaluga Volkswagen factory in Russia, the Think Blue.

Factory. team focussed its attention on the use of water. In the past, drink-ing water had been used both to clean the roads around the plant and to water the green areas of the factory grounds. Now the location has com-pletely switched to using surface wa-ter that has been collected on the fac-tory grounds and fed into the rainwater channel. This has reduced the need for fresh water treated to the level of drinking water quality. Every litre counts

Water is valuable in sweltering Mexico. For several years now,

Volkswagen has been conducting a re-forestation project on the slopes of the volcano Popocatépetl near the Puebla site to promote the raising of the water table. The impetus from the Think Blue. Factory. programme has ensured that the water needed for cleaning vehicle bod-ies is used and treated in optimal cycles. The water is also used in the air treatment cabins in the paint shop. The savings po-tential is some 6,000 cubic metres of wa-

roughly 40,000 bathtubs.

Exhaustively adhesiveA little becomes a lot when the car manufacturing process is working

at full speed. That’s a problem when it comes to waste – and an opportunity to do some good. At the factory in Pam-plona, Spain, adhesive is pressed from large barrels as necessary. Until now, some two or three kilos of residual ad-hesive was always left behind in the barrel and had to be disposed of – until clever technicians optimised the press. Now the barrels are emptied down to the very last drop, and that means more than 5,000 kilograms less adhesive in the rubbish annually.

Body cleaning in Puebla works using sustainably extracted water.

Continuous environ-mental action

Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA: Volkswagen has been building

the Passat for the American market here since 2011 – in a new state-of-the-art factory. Environmental aspects drove planning from the outset, and in December 2011 the factory received the highest distinction: the LEED

-tally friendly, low-pollutant and low-emission sustainable construction. But that was only the beginning. In the course of production, a procedure has been developed in which paint dust is no longer captured using water but is disposed of in a dry state. The super-

in the production of cement by add-ing it to the material mix. So beyond saving the water, the waste can be utilised further through thermal post-processing without generating addi-tional combustion emissions. And the solar power plant that was put into operation in early 2013 and generates 9.5 megawatts from 33,600 modules shows that even in a sustainably designed building, there is always potential for further environmental improvements.


think ahead. news

Knowing more Sustainability and innovative products are paying o!: Volkswagen is painting the future a sunny yellow by winning the Gelber Engel Award.

news

aerodynamic ! 0.9 litres of consumption was once just a vision, but now it has be-come a reality. This number makes the XL1 the most economical se-ries car in the world. Thanks to its plug-in hybrid system, the car can be driven purely on electric power and thus locally without emissions for a distance of up to 50 kilo-metres. The XL1 is 3.90 m long, 1.67m wide and just 1.15 m high. In comparison: a current Polo is of a similar length (3.97 m) and width (1.68 m), but much higher (1.46 m).

winner of the race . AUTO TEST and ÖKOTREND have dubbed the eco up! and Passat 1.4 TSI EcoFuel two of the most envi-ronmentally friendly cars. For the eco ranking, aspects such as fuel consumption, noise and exhaust emissions were tested throughout the entire life cycle of a vehicle.

super savings in wolfsburg . In the future, Volkswagen’s car

-cient and environmentally friendly. The amount of energy required for paint to dry is reduced by about one-third through the use of the

-

This is thanks to an employee ini-tiative from Andreas Schultz. The idea has resulted in an annual en-ergy saving of more than 1,200 megawatt-hours and reduces CO2 emissions at Wolfsburg by around 700 tons. In addition, Volkswagen is saving around 90,000 euros in energy costs.

a new angel .For the second year running, Volkswagen has won the ADAC’s Gelber Engel (“Yellow Angel”) Award in the Innovation and Environment cat-egory. In 2012, the multicollision brake con-vinced the jury. In 2013, the eco up! and its three-cylinder natural gas engine outraced the competition. Hubert Waltl of the Volkswagen Brand Management, Production and Logistics business unit: “We set ourselves the goal of becoming the most innovative high-volume manufacturer. We regard the award as con"r-mation that we are on the right path.”

eco up!: Natural gas fuel consumption (CNG), m³/100 km: 3.8 (urban), 4.4 (motorway), 5.5 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km: 79 (combined), A+Passat 1.4 TSI EcoFuel: Natural gas fuel consumption (CNG) m³/100 km: 8.8 to 8.7 (urban), 5.4 to 5.3 (motorway), 6.6 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km: 119 to 117 (combined); petrol consumption in l/100 km: 9.0 to 8.8 (urban), 5.6 to 5.4 (motorway), 6.8 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km: 158 to 157 (combined), AXL1: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 0.9 (Ø NEDC), CO2 emissions in g/km: 21 (Ø NEDC)

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56 Das Auto. Magazine 02/2013 Sharan: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 11.5 to 6.7 (urban), 6.6 to 4.8 (motorway), 8.4 to 5.5 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km: 196 to 143 (combined)

live smarter. kids in the car

»are we nearly there yet?«

start.5702/2013 Das Auto. Magazine


»are we nearly The 800-kilometre trip to grandma soon tests parents’ nerves. So good entertainment is vital. Our tips will help keep your back seat quiet.Text Patrick Ganz Photos Gunnar Knechtel

Practical picturesAn extra map for the kids performs two tasks: Splitting the route into attractive stages makes it easier for children to understand how much time the journey will take, and also gets them looking forward to the next cas-tle or large bridge.



Sharan: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 11.5 to 6.7 (urban), 6.6 to 4.8 (motorway), 8.4 to 5.5 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km: 196 to 143 (combined)

all hands on deck.The children are wide awake and boisterous. Keeping their hands busy will calm their travel bug and even encourage development of their language skills.

100KM



brains instead of game boy .It’s the time for brain games. But remember,

only age-appropriate activities will keep your kids distracted.

form a word snake in a group

250KM

teamwork at the pit stop .Turn refuelling into a game by letting kids perform their own

Depending on their age,

an hour before the stop,

the aim of their mission.

350KM

Sharan Extra Organisation The

storage package gives you a good overview – with nets in the boot, storage compart-ments by your feet, a removable waste bin, folding tables on the front seats and cup holders.Multifunctional steering wheel With this extra op-tion the driver has everything under control.Park Assist Mum and dad basically let the car park itself.

For

www.sharan.de

Das Auto. Magazine 02/201360 Sharan: Fuel consumption in l/100 km: 11.5 to 6.7 (urban), 6.6 to 4.8 (motorway), 8.4 to 5.5 (combined), CO2 emissions in g/km: 196 to 143 (combined)


a break with a workout .From about the age of four up until puberty, children have boundless energy. So head for an adventure playground in the country – and be prepared with the right exercises to ensure the rest of the trip is a breeze.

450KM



pump up the volume .

Slowly but surely, your back seat passengers are

probably getting a little tired. Time for digital entertainment which,

depending on your child’s age, will either busy them

or calm them down.

manage. Headrest mounts are

-

650KM

At home, it’s worth taking a look at the App Store before your trip. For older game

various games such as the up! Challenge or Volk-

swagen GTI Edition 35. For younger kids, there are painting patterns and games that parents and chil-dren can pick out and test

Choose your digital pasttimes wisely.

you have reached your destination.


02/2013 Das Auto. Magazine 63Polo: 10.4 to 4.0 (urban), 6.0 to 2.9 (motorway), 7.6 to 3.3 (combined), 139 to 87 (combined)

.Road grit, slush, salt – a quick scrutiny of the car does not inspire enthusiasm. !e only cure is to roll up your sleeves and get to work. !e "rst step is a thorough clean-ing, either by hand or in a car wash facility. De"nitely start with the high-pressure water blaster, and don’t forget to wash the under-carriage in spring.

Car "nish care is a matter of faith: Is the quick jaunt through the car wash su#-cient, or should it be done by hand? !ose with time and leisure to spare will probably choose the second option. Since it is for-bidden to wash cars on the street (Germa-ny), o$ you go to a self-serve car wash. It is easier to clean the more inaccessible areas harbouring stubborn dirt and salt residues by hand. !e car-owning neat freak should utilise as soft a sponge as possible or a wash-ing mitt. Caution: Use lots of water for wash-ing and rinsing so that small stones or dust can’t be distributed across the "nish. Use car

shampoo for washing. Washing-up liquids are not a suitable alternative because the fat solvents they contain dry out the paint’s pro-tective coat. !e car must be dried o$ once the dirt has been removed, which is accom-plished most e$ectively with a high-quality chamois leather or micro"bre cloth. Please dry o$ the vehicle completely, otherwise the car care agents cannot be distributed prop-erly and streaking may occur.

For those in a rush, the care programme starts at the car wash. Modern facilities utilise textile washing brushes instead of brushes with "ne synthetic bristles that could leave abrasion marks. When select-ing the programme, you should skip the hot wax treatment, as it impedes polishing. !e advantage of a car wash is that it dries the car at the end of the cycle. Tar, bird droppings, insects and resin should be removed with special cleaning agents (see page 69) before the surface is washed.

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Text Photos Illustration

Das Auto. Magazine 02/201364 Polo: 10.4 to 4.0 (urban), 6.0 to 2.9 (motorway), 7.6 to 3.3 (combined), CO2 139 to 87 (combined)

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Clear coat

Filler

Primer


.If a "nish appears dull, microscratches on the topmost layer (the clearcoat) are the culprits. A trick helps to reveal damage: Slip the wrapper of a cigarette pack over your "ngers and lightly stroke the body of the car. !is makes it easier to "nd uneven spots. !en it’s on to the polishing. !e sur-faces of a new car can be sealed directly.

!e various product designations such as paint cleaner, pre-cleaner or polish can be confusing. !ese contain "ne polishing particles that very slightly abrade the clear-coat and make it appear smooth. Depend-ing on the surface condition, you can use polishing agents with varying degrees of abrasiveness. However, once the clearcoat "nish is gone, then no amount of polish-ing will help, which is why regular care is obligatory. In this case, too, it is best to use only clean and dust-free polishing spong-es or cloths, otherwise you may scratch the paint. When working with the polish, use two cloths (one to work it in and one to bu$ it up) and treat only one section at a time, otherwise the polish will dry out and cannot be brought to a nice gloss. Knock o$ the polishing dust afterwards, otherwise you can rub particles in with the wax, which results in streaking. A bu#ng machine facilitates the work, but inexperi-enced users should be careful not to apply too much pressure, and be well-advised regarding the attachment, as it a$ects the agents’ e#cacy. !e machine should also be adjustable so that it does not rotate too fast, otherwise the polish will get too warm and result in streaking. Direct sunlight can have a similar undesirable e$ect.

.After the polishing procedure, the clear-coat has to be resealed with wax. It does not contain abrasive materials, but is only for protection. !e application is gener-ally straightforward. Simply use a cotton or micro"bre cloth to rub wax sparingly and evenly onto the surface. Serious au-tomobile enthusiasts swear by substances

.

.

containing a high percentage of natural wax, which they even massage into the "nish by hand.

More and more manufacturers of care products are o$ering nano sealants. !ey promise that these "ll in microscratches, and advertise them as having a lotus e$ect which causes water to bead and carry dirt o$ the car. Experts are divided about the bene"t of these often expensive products. !e only thing that really helps to deter-mine what is best for your own car is to give it a try. Volkswagen products have the ad-vantage of being speci"cally developed for the materials used in the respective model. Have fun cleaning!

Das Auto. Magazine 02/201366 Modell: X bis X (innerorts), X bis X (außerorts), X bis X (kombiniert), CO X bis X (kombiniert), X

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tions

True or false? If you think you know everything about cars, then take this test. Eight statements and the truth revealed.

car myths

! -

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True. But the experts don’t quite agree on exactly how much greater the wear and tear is from trucks than from cars. !e "gure could be anything from

10,000 times to 100,000 times more, because it is dif-"cult to calculate all the variables such as the num-

ber of axles, average weight and tire width. And of course, all of these measurement values are politi-

cally sensitive. !e keyword here is truck tolls.


-

-

Sorry, wrong – even if it initially sounds quite logical that a car with a larger circumference of tyre is faster

at the same number of shaft revolutions. Experts at the US magazine Car and Driver tested a Golf with

15- and 19-inch wheels, and found that the opposite is true. It’s not even the sprint to 100 km/h that

takes longer for the car with bigger wheels. Even in the quarter-mile race the car with 15-inch wheels "nishes "rst. And for the same model

!


any fits in

space .parking


live smarter. model cars

In the tranquil town of Dietenhofen near Nuremberg the notion of “minicar” takes on an entirely new dimension: Here cars like the up! are made by hand – at a scale of 1:87. We visit the world’s leading maker of miniature car models.Text Sabrina Künz Photos Olaf Tiedje


Kurt Augustin is a toolmaker. He did his apprenticeship at Herpa, and will be celebrating his 40th anniversary there in September 2013.

super small .Something crunches softly under my shoe, so I stop and lift my foot. !ere’s a glint of silver on my sole. A nail? No, at closer glance it turns out to be a car part meas-uring just four millimetres, namely a rim for a wheel. I look out over the factory hall. Everywhere there are tiny axles, panels, rims and car body parts. A veritable sea of microscopic automotive components. Wel-come to the town of Dietenhofen, the home of very unusual Volkswagens. !e home of models at a scale of 1:87.

When development work starts on a new miniature car, everything is kept strictly con"dential because the mod-els are based on the original designs for their road-going counterparts. And it’s not enough just to shrink them down to size, because important details would be lost. Instead, product designers carefully exam-

ine the original cars and make important features such as prominent lines, the logo and other characteristics larger than they really should be in the smaller scale. When the designers are satis"ed with their work, they send an injection-moulded prototype to Volkswagen. Only when the designers and developers there have approved that prototype does actual production of the miniature car begin. From the "rst secret data to mass production, the process takes about three months.

More than 200 people work for Herpa, the world’s leading producer of miniature car models. !e Volkswagen models that come from its factory are not trinkets for children, but rather small works of art that have to meet collectors’ highest standards. Automobiles from Herpa are the Champi-ons League for fans of miniature cars.


Red is the operative word: Plastic granules (opposite page) are injection-moulded into car bodies (above).


!e basic material consists of plastic granules which are dyed on the basis of Volkswagen’s speci"cations to match the car’s original paint job. !e life of an up! starts in the injection moulding depart-ment, where cylinders exert about 90 bar of pressure to shape the molten plastic which can reach 250 degrees. By way of comparison, the tyres of road-going pas-senger cars have two or three bar of pres-sure. After 11.8 seconds – which include "ve for cooling – a small red car body falls onto the conveyor belt.

!is injection-moulding process is run by Kurt Augustin, a master craftsman in miniature construction. Trained as a tool-

A matter of millimetres: Each production step is checked for quality. No irregularities, however slight, go unnoticed.

maker, he has worked at Herpa for 40 years, starting with his apprenticeship. Back at the beginning he built machines, but now he operates them. He places a premium on precision. “Just like with the real cars, every detail has to be right,” he says. Quality as-surance is a huge topic. !e cars undergo a quality check after every production step. If a component shows the slightest defect, it is sent to the recycling department.

close inspection .!e up! consists of 24 individual compo-nents. In addition to the plastic parts such

as the car body, chassis and windows, there are also tyres, rims and axles. Once mould-ed, the plastic components go on to be em-bossed. Here is where they get their “bling”, namely chrome-plated details like the logos for Volkswagen and the up! itself. Because these embossed details are small and frag-ile, inspectors like Friedrich Glößinger care-fully scrutinise the results. Before produc-tion even begins, Glößinger compares the "rst component to the proofs from Volkswa-gen – detailed sketches that specify the de-sired results. No matter how tiny, every de-tail is embossed individually, which means it forms its own production step which has to be inspected individually as well.


Marco Gerlach has worked at the paint shop for 13 years. He and his colleagues print the cars based on dealers’ orders.

Details like the black window frames are printed onto the plastic components by means of silicon pads.

Doesn’t that drive one a little crazy? Glößinger grins. “No, I love this work. How-ever, nothing pleases me more than not "nding anything wrong.” He too has worked for more than 20 years at Herpa, which has a long tradition in the region. Has his work changed the way he looks at cars? “Without a doubt. When I drive on the autobahn I of-ten remark to myself, ‘Hey, I’ve built one of those!’ And I’m really thrilled when I see an uncommon special model.”

When the parts on the up! have been embossed and approved by the inspec-tor, they are sent to Marco Gerlach and his colleagues at the paint shop. Depending on the model and the job, the cars receive

markings such as the window seals, tinted windscreens, airbrush images and adver-tising slogans. A special feature of cars from Herpa is that everything is printed onto the vehicles themselves instead of onto de-cals. !e printing process uses silicon pads, whose soft surfaces protect the sensitive materials and shape all the details down to the last millimetre. Whilst this is relatively simple for the windows and the tinting on the rear of the little up!, real challenges arise in connection with miniature model lorries. And the printing process for a “Lord of the Rings” aeroplane, for example, con-sisted of 200 separate steps. If something goes wrong at step 197, the whole proce-

74

Intricate embossing work requires a sure hand in order not to shift the templates.


live smarter. model cars

»When I’m driving on the autobahn I often remark to myself, ‘Hey, I’ve built one of those!’«Friedrich Glößinger, quality inspector

dure has been for nothing and the person in charge will surely not be honoured as employee of the day. But jobs of this enor-mous complexity excite the entire sta#, who proudly display the successful results in glass cases lining the walls. When all the parts are ready, it’s time for the "nal round of production, which is assembly. !is is done at employees’ homes, although we’re not talking about leisurely tinkering at the kitchen table. Targets are demanding, with 100 minutes allotted to assemble 170 up! models from a bag of individual parts.

To make sure that everything works, Christian Münz assembles the "rst mod-els while still on-site at Herpa. In contrast to models from other manufacturers, these products are not glued but rather snapped together. For a scale of 1:87, the pins are less than a millimetre in diameter and have to "t the holes with 100 per cent precision, or they won’t hold. Münz also checks to make sure that the assembly instructions are clear to his colleagues who will also be working at home.

And then – following the "nal inspec-tion – every little up! has its outside mir-rors mounted. !is is done very carefully, so they will not join the world of lost parts scattered by mistake on the $oor.

Friedrich Glößinger has been inspecting the quality of embossing and printing for more than 20 years.

ONLINE More info: www.herpa.de

besser leben.

Das Auto. Magazin 02/2013 Modell: X bis X (innerorts), X bis X (außerorts), X bis X (kombiniert), CO X bis X (kombiniert), X76


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.R53 raises her head. !e excited chirping of birds has alarmed her. She glances in our direction, then back to her calf that is sleeping right next to her in the bush. We stand rooted to the ground, less than 100 meters away. It’s ten o’clock in the morn-ing in the Shamwari Game Preserve. !e air shimmers at 38 degrees Celsius in the shade, the earth glows in a dark red light. No quick movements now. Nothing in the savanna of South Africa is more dangerous than an anxious white rhino mother. Not bu"alo. Not hippos. Even the assault ri#es and pistols of Jaco and William would be useless if R53 decides to attack. !e cali-bres are too small for such pachyderms.

R53 goes back to chewing grass. We slowly approach from the other side, al-

ways against the wind. Rhinos are as jumpy as they are shortsighted but smell and hear quite well. Accidentally stepping on a dry branch might betray us. R53 shrugs her ears. !e birds have now calmed down and are looking for parasites on her back. Jaco raises his hand into a $st and we stop, maybe 60 meters in front of her. For a few minutes we cower in the thicket, and enjoy the sight of the colossal lady rhino living on leaves, grass and branches. But the best news this morn-ing is simply that R53 is alive.

!e rhino is the third-heaviest land mammal after the elephant and the hippo, a full-grown bull can weigh up to 3.6 tons. With a 50-million year history of evolution, it is also one of the oldest. As a one of the “Big Five” (elephant, rhino, bu"alo, lion, leopard)

it is a great attraction on every safari tour. It is also now among the most endangered of large animal species. In 2012, 633 animals were slaughtered in South Africa alone; in 2007 the number was 20. !e poachers ren-der the animals defenceless by shooting them with tranquilizer guns, and cut o" both horns with machetes. !e animals either die from the anaesthesia or bleed to death in agony. And in cases when they survive, they can hardly protect themselves or their young from lions or hyenas.

So, the horns. International organized crime has discovered the trade for the East Asian market. !e horns of white and black rhinos in Africa are reaching ever higher prices on the black market, and are way more pro$table than ivory or lion skull by


now. “More expensive than gold,” says park ranger William. A pair of horns weighs up to seven kilograms and fetches up to 200,000 euros. !e butchers’ and horn tra%ckers’ business is highly professional. Within 36 hours, a rhino horn can be delivered fresh to the table of a dealer in Vietnam, where the new, fast-growing middle class is using it in powdered form not only as a medicine against cancer and fever, but also as a status symbol.

.Midday in Shamwari, Rodney Visser screens today’s rhino sightings on the park map in his o%ce that the rangers update

daily. Rodney is a burly Boer, who has led the Department against organized crime in the nearby provincial capital of Port Eliza-beth for years.

Four years ago he was hired to pro-tect the pachyderms of the Indalo Park Group, which also includes Shamwari. Although there is a national police task force to tackle the problem, Rodney knows who to ask to anticipate poachers, because that is essential in a safari park measuring 250 square kilometers – about the size of Frankfurt. !e employees of Rodney’s Anti Poaching Unit (APU), including Jaco and William, are constantly on the move. How many rangers work in Rodney’s unit? He won’t say. And the number of rhinos liv-ing in Shamwari is also a secret. Each rhino

has its own code, but that is top secret. R53 is has been made up, as have the names of the rangers. Rodney on the other hand knows every waterhole in Shamwari. Now and then he answers his phone calls with a few words and hangs up.

Rhino horn is “the new gold among gangsters,” says Rodney. Between the years 2011 and 2012 alone, the number of animals slaughtered nearly doubled. And those are just the o%cial $gures. !is year, he was prepared for the worst. Meanwhile, in northern Kenya, Al-Qaeda Islamists invade the country to make money from ivory and rhino horn – now that piracy has become less and less e"ective. “We expect new at-tacks on the parks here in the Eastern Cape. !e ma$osi who became rich with the


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plunder of abalone shell$sh beds and cheap drugs from Asia, focus now on the stocks of wildlife and safari parks.” And South Africa is home to around four-$fths of the total rhino stocks on the continent. !e tempta-tion is huge. Last year, a prominent veteri-narian and a park owner were brought to trial because they systematically purchased rhinoceroses, dehorned, and hastily buried them. Other reserve owners are suspected of secretly trading in horns. On hunting farms throughout the country trophy hunt-ers can purchase licenses for the legal shoot-ing of the less-protected white rhino – for a much smaller price than the horns alone will bring overseas.

“!ose who do not arm themselves quickly,” explained Rodney in his farm-

house over tea, “are in the same position as the neighboring farm was last year. !e four rhinos there could be seen from the national highway, and one morning they were lined up nicely next to the road – all dead with their horns cleanly removed.” How poachers could do this so quickly and without leaving any trace is inexplicable even to Rodney.

!e images of mutilated rhinos miser-ably bleeding to death that have been seen around the world since then have brought South Africans to the barricades and have united activists, safari park owners and breeders on Facebook and the like. Cou-rageous women such as Alison !omp-son on oscap.co.za or Elise de Villiers on stoprhinopoaching.com try to persuade


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Port Elizabeth

Grahamstown

Shamwari Game Reserve

SOUTH AFRICA


the authorities to act quickly. Rodney and his team work with the Wilderness Foun-dation, which in 2011 launched the For-ever Wild initiative because the race with the rhino-killers seemed impossible to win. Among other things, since last year it has managed to stop Vietnamese people from participating in safari hunts in South Africa. !ere are co-operation agreements involving concerned countries and prov-inces, and monitoring has been improved by infrared technology and SUVs. Some 267 were arrested nationwide in 2012, al-most twice as many as in the year before.

.Early afternoon, time for the next patrol. Jaco and William jump in their Amarok and ride the gravel roads surrounding Shamwari, looking for suspicious vehicles or damaged fences. !e roads are patrolled by the rangers day and night. During the day, the poachers’ scouts are on the fenc-es pretending that their cars have broken down. In the dark, poachers are hard to catch – rangers on foot and in cars have lost the trail of the thieves several times. !e APU men work with the police because the poachers use stolen cars. A few days ago, Jaco and William were able to arrest two car thieves after a chase.

At night in Shamwari the starry sky is wide and clear, every sound can be heard from far away. In the distance: a car, the crackling of the camp$re behind us, the click of a gun safety. !e rangers of the APU unit camp in the hills to get a better view of the lights and suspicious activities, while in the luxury camps, guests relax before the next safari. From up here, William and Jaco discover a glowing cigarette tip kilometers away with their thermal imaging camera. Now and then the eyes of lions also gleam in the lights of their weapons.


!e APU troupe is a mixed bunch - men from the surrounding villages – Xho-sas, Coloureds, Afrikaners and English, like William and Jaco. William is 23 and from a hunting family. He spent his youth in na-ture and loves animals. !e same goes for Jaco, 30, who worked for years in Port Eliz-abeth as a veterinary assistant and cared for injured penguins, seals and sharks. Both were trained by Protrack, South Af-rica’s $rst specialist school for rangers who remove traps on farms and in parks in an e"ort to put a stop to poaching. Both are professionals. In Rodney’s team, they lead the mobile application groups.

It’s a demanding as well as highly dan-gerous job. “!e problem is that our oppo-nents are often heavily armed, they have superior AK-47 style Kalashnikov ri#es and highly outclass us. !ey don’t run away, they attack us. We need to be faster than them,” William says. He and his colleagues work out daily, and undergo weapons training in preparation for the real thing. !ey also need to be familiar with the hab-its of wild animals. Not only to survive in the wilderness but also to deduce unusual circumstances based on the animals’ be-

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havior. Why aren’t the rhinos where they usually are? Why is this herd of elephants so restless? Were they frightened by one of the small planes poachers use to detect rhinos? Or are poachers already nearby waiting in hiding for the night?

“When we are on foot there are other rules in place,” says Jaco, as we approach a lioness and her three large daughters in the Amarok. “You have to make noise when lions approach you, never run away. But you have to run when encoun-tering angry elephants; they won’t be impressed by a bit of noisemaking. You should never annoy them.” Jaco brief-ly listens to the walkie-talkie, William checks the magazine on his ri#e. “Beside the hippos only the bu"alos are really dangerous. !ey get annoyed easily and love to show o".” !ese are vital experi-ences they gather every day and ones that cannot be learned at any school. Impro-vising is important in the $ght against poaching.

All the same, the battle is reaping its $rst successes. Since 2011, no more rhinos have been attacked in the Sham-wari Wildlife Reserve.

besser leben.

02/2013 Das Auto. Magazin


live smarter. on the road again

Roads you will never forget. Episode 3: Paci!c Coast Highway

on the road again

it never rains in southern california . You can never vouch for the weather. But with seven to twelve hours of sunlight a day, good weather for photography is almost guaranteed. California State Route 1 – otherwise known as the Paci!c Coast Highway – winds along the West Coast of the US. It’s best to start the trip in San Francisco and then drive south to Los Angeles. "e advantage of this is that you are driving on the ocean side and can easily stop if you are overcome by

the beauty. And you’ll !nd lots of places to stop. Particularly impressive is the ap-proximately 100-kilometre coastal sec-tion of Big Sur, south of Monterey. "e ocean breaks violently against the rugged cli#s. Otters, whales and sea lions enjoy the location. Solitude is the only thing that the car tourist will rarely !nd among the like-minded freedom-lovers in sum-mer. But you shouldn’t let this spoil your fun. Have a good trip!

How long does it take?Floor the pedal and you can com-plete the roughly 750-kilometre route in a day. But that would be much too fast to enjoy it properly!

When should you do it?The most popular months are June to September. You should allow for extra time as it can get very foggy on the coast.

What else is there to see?High above San Simeon you will

eccentric fantasy of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst.

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