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Child accident

Here is a mystery to why the Volkswagen marketers, releasing their representative sedan in 2002, chose the newborn name Phaeton. Phaeton is the hero of the ancient Greek epic, who disobeyed his father Helios, took a chariot from him and failed to hold the horses. The Chariot of Phaeton crashed, he himself died. It is difficult not to be superstitious about Phaeton to talk about a car that is not accepted by the market.
This year, Phaeton overtook the facation of facies. But it turned out to be some kind of very microscopic facelifting, taking into account the considerable scale of the car. Outwardly, the renewal process looks like marketer, already waving his hand, wanted to not change anything, but the time of change had come inexorably 5 years after the premiere, and something had to be done.
So, the hand of the artist-designer only slightly touched the powerful Phaeton case. The car has slightly changed the headlights. Such a dubious smiling drawing came out as the Touareg renewed last year appeared. We can also state in Phaeton the presence of a new concept of bixen headlights dynamic and static lighting, as well as a new LED daylight. LED daylight in the form of a narrow horizontal strip at the bottom of the headlight housing (this strip is called Chinese illumination) is automatically turned on with the ignition. Phaeton also had chrome moltening, and there are still new 19-inch alloy wheels. They decided to finish with the art design on this.
In the standard equipment of the new Phaeton, chairs have 12, or even 18 electrical adjustments. The Volkswagen Individual program implies the possibility of choosing almost any combination of materials and colors in the cabin. The updated navigation DVD system not only received a number of additional functions, but also became much more convenient for the eye and fingers of the driver. The new Phaeton also has a new phone with the Bluetooth interface, voice control, an additional tube and memory for 1000 records in the phone book (each record can contain up to 4 numbers). Finally, a new tire pressure control system has been installed in the car.
 
The main part of the facelafting load fell on the shoulders of German engineers. The changes primarily touched the engine, now the engine flagship is the V6 TDI, which is caused by the first large diesel of the concern, which meets the requirements of the Euro-5 standard (these requirements regarding the reduction of the ejection of soot by 80 percent are entered into force in 2009). Compared to the predecessor of the V6 TDI, the new engine has 8 horses more, but its consumption did not increase 9.6 liters per 100 km. As an alternative to TDI, there are three gasoline engines (V6, V8 and W12) for the new version of Phaeton, offering capacities from 241 to 450 horses. In addition, technical changes also include the installation of Adaptive Cruise Control with the new Follow-to-Stop function (acceleration within the maximum speed set by the driver and braking up to a complete stop), a system for reducing the Front Assist brake track, a shift assistant Side Assist and an assistant, and a change in the shift of the Side Assist. Automatic activation of near light with fast movement along the autobahn, as well as with rain.
In any case, whether this implemented facilifting is great, in 2007, Volkswagen still gave an occasion to at least talk about Phaeton (and usually no sound about it). However, it is necessary to talk about this car not so much in connection with facelift changes, but in thought about how the correct name and the right genealogy are still important for the fate of the machine. Recall that by the birth of Phaeton, the powerful former head of Volkswagen and the famous automobile functioner Ferdinad Piekh, who dreamed that this limousine would take a worthy place in the luxury segment, made a lot of efforts. But the dreams of this great automobile man did not come true.
 
Specialists and those who drove a lot on this car say that from a technical point of view, the representative of the Phaeton sedan is a very good car. She is strong, honest, hard -faced, useful, devoted. In a word, this is a real German car. Rather, it is Protestant since there is nothing superfluous in it. There is no eternal embellishment of limousine elegance well, except perhaps the notorious chrome moltening. And we personally checked Phaeton in the extreme left row with a modest dignity on the noisy autobahn and behaves well. The only thing that is somehow unpleasantly alarming this car, no one is afraid of. And the limousine surrounding cars and passengers in them are required to be afraid of respect in such fear.
It would seem that it is not a shame to go to the Dresden opera on Phaeton. Although, let's say in brackets, in no case should you take the Phaeton to the opera, which has a salon with granular burgundy skin, stitched not even with stitches, but some strange, but powerful scars. In this salon, there is absolutely nothing to worry about, it’s just not dressed. The burgundy salon with scars and the Black Tie format does not fit in any way.
 
The trouble only consists in the fact that no one will ever go to the opera on Phaeton. And not Black Tie, and this is not a cocktail. Personally, the sedan himself, called the name of the unfortunate crashed ancient Greek hero, is not to blame here. Phaeton is like a big child that has grown and no one now knows what to do with it. Where to put him, to which grandmother to send him. By the way, the head of the American division of Audi Alex, who publicly admitted that he did not understand why this car was needed, on the issue of Phaeton's need for Volkswagen. For this bold act, Mr. Mr. was fired.
The brand logo prevents this good from the point of view of endurance, design and even configuration to the car to stand on a par with pompous brothers in the classroom. Put your heart on the heart between S-Klasse Mercedes-Benz, 7-Series BMW and Audi A8, do you choose the Volkswagen Phaeton? No. And why? Because you are afraid to break the taboo of public consciousness. And branding in our time is everything.
 
On the other hand, Phaeton, a poor relative in the family of ceremonial representative limousines, can achieve success under certain conditions. Only marketers need to be redeemed by the car. Do not knock on the door of opera limousines there everything has long been busy. It is necessary to offer the car as a reliable representative machine necessary for working trips.
 
For example, the Pope Benedict XVI has for solemn, but the representatives of the PHAETON is precisely the working weekdays. A rare niche, a unique sentence, if you think, a limousine without the slightest signs of luxury. And on the paradox between the Protestant Phaeton and the Catholic Papa you can even skillfully play.

Abstracts after
1 VW is already thinking about a new car. By 2010, it will become smaller and cheaper.
2 Ferdinad Piekh once gave the Volkswagen engineers a sheet with a dozen requirements that VW Phaeton should satisfy. What kind of requirements are this, it remains a mystery.
3 In each VW Phaeton there is a little Bentley, or vice versa. The people's concern uses the same platform for Phaeton, Continental GT and Flying Spur.
4 Market failure Phaeton concept relative. For example, in Taiwan this year he became the best -selling representative of the representative class and the best, according to the press, a limousine.
Volkswagen Phaeton
Gasoline engine, w12
Working volume (l) 5998
Power (l. P. At rpm) 450 at 6050
Moment (Nm at rpm) 560 at 3000
The drive is complete
Gearbox 5-speed automatic
Length/width/height (mm) 5055/1905/1450
Equipped mass (kg) 2910
Maximum speed (km/h) 250 (285)
Acceleration to 100 km/h (c) 6.1
Fuel consumption, medium (l/100 km) 14.5
Price in Moscow $ 137 048
 
Text Ekaterina Istomin
Photo by Alexey Barashkov, Klaxon
      
 

A source: "Autopilot"