2011 Volkswagen Eos Facelift Unveiled ahead of LA Show Debut

Four years after it hit the market, Volkswagen is giving the Eos coupe-cabriolet its first cosmetic makeover. The facelifted model, which will have its world premiere at the Los Angeles Auto Show in late November before going on sale in January 2011, receives an updated design and a host of new features.

The exterior restyling brings the Eos in line with VW's latest models such as the new Touareg, Passat B7 and Jetta. At the front, there's a new, and less prominent, upper grille which is now completely separated from the lower. Also new are the headlamps that incorporate horse-shoe shaped LED running lights, the bumper design and the more chiseled side mirrors.

Out back, the changes include a revised bumper housing a diffuser and new, rectangular-shaped tail lamps with LED technology.

Inside the cabin, the changes are really rather difficult to spot, being limited to some fresh colors, new controls for the air conditioning system and additional features such as the keyless locking and starting system, a new multi-function color display and the remote control for the retractable hardtop.

Aside from the use of BlueMotion technology with a start-stop system and regenerative braking on the 140HP 2.0-liter TDI diesel engine that reduces fuel consumption by 0.7 lt/100 km, bringing it down to 4.8 lt/100 km [49 mpg US], there aren't any other changes under the hood.

More details on the 2011 VW Eos will be released at the car's LA Sow premiere in November.

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BMW’s Concept 6 Series Coupe Live from Paris: What do You Think? [Updated]

*Post has now been updated with a video of the car from the Paris Show floor featuring BMW's Design Director Adrian Van Hooydonk

Here are the first live pictures of BMW's Concept 6 Series Coupe at the Paris Motor Show. As previously reported, this is nothing more than a thinly disguised 2011 6 Series Coupe, which is set to arrive in showrooms next year with straight-six and V8 engine options.

Here's the skinny: Bangle is out, Van Hooydonk is in (as the Bavarian firm's design boss, as Van Hooydonk was responsible for the exterior of the previous 6er). Phil has already given you his 'Two Dents' on the concept based on the pre-show photos. Now here's my take on the live pictures:

The front there-quarters remind me of an aging actress who has recently had a facelift: her lips have been pulled long and thin, her eyes bulge out of the sockets and her ears are drawn back. The rear three-quarter, on the other hand, is a little too much like the current 3-series coupe.

Many of our readers were very vocal with their opinions on our last post. So our question is this: what do you think of BMW's Concept 6 Series Coupe now that you've seen the live pictures? Is it better, or worse? Tell us in the comments section below.

By Tristan Hankins

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Opel's Hot GTC Paris Concept: Live Photos and New Video Trailer

Meet the star of Opel's Paris Motor Show stand and probably one of the best looking concepts of this year's show, the GTC Paris Concept that will spawn next year's three-door Astra model.

Even though the mainstream variants of the production Astra GTC will lose the muscular bumpers, LEDs and tall 21-inch wheels of the design study, it's safe to say that what you see here is more or less what you'll get when the car arrives in Opel and Vauxhall showrooms across Europe in 2011.

For those wanting something closer in looks to the concept, there's good news as the flagship OPC model is expected to keep most of the styling features including the chunky bumpers.

The same goes for the GTC Paris Concept's direct injection and turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with 290-horsepower that strongly hints at the specifications of the Golf R / Scirocco R-rivaling Astra GTC OPC model, which is also due in late 2011.

For full details on Opel's Paris Show attention-grabber, hop over to our previous story here.

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