Tabla de contenidos para June 2015 en topCar

Volkswagen C Coupe GTE concept THE VW C Coupe GTE is a vast four-door coupe, very much in the manner of the Mercedes-Benz CLS, and the ‘concept’ is powered by a plug-in hybrid drivetrain. Its size is such that it’s even based on the VW Group’s larger MLB architecture – the platform used for the new Audi Q7. Combining a 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine with an electric motor buried in the eight-speed automatic gearbox, the C Coupe GTE pushes a maximum of 180kW and 500Nm in the direction of the front wheels. This means 0-100kph in 8.6sec and 232kph flat out. Intersted? You can’t have one anyway. So don’t worry about it. But perhaps for the first time ever, it looks like buyers in China are going to have access…

IMELDA MARCOS, not usually quoted in this magazine, once said that the media went into her closet looking for skeletons and all they found were beautiful shoes. Well, in my closet there aren’t many beautiful shoes, and there aren’t many skeletons either. However, and allow me to come clean here, as a youngster I was a big fan of Ford. My fondness can be easily traced. In the ’60s and ’70s, Ford-powered cars won in Formula 1. They won Le Mans. They won world championship rallies. My boyhood heroes – Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Emerson Fittipaldi – all drove Fords or, at least, used Ford power. Ford had some great fast cars, from Escort Mexico to Fairmont GT, the ultimate muscle car to a young schoolboy. Plus there…

NEED TO KNOW FORD FOCUS 1.0 ECOBOOST TREND 4-DOOR PRICE R229 900 ENGINE 999cc turbo 4-cyl, 92kW@6000rpm, 170Nm@1400-5500rpm TRANSMISSION six-speed manual, front wheel drive SUSPENSION MacPherson strut front, independent integral link rear LENGTH/WIDTH/HEIGHT 4534/1823/1484mm WEIGHT 1306kg PERFORMANCE 11.1sec 0-100kph, 192kph, 5.0L/100km, 116g/kg ON SALE Now WHAT A DIFFERENCE 67 years makes; back in 1948 the tag ‘made in Germany’ was instigated by the Allies to put consumers off buying German. Ford these days will be going all out to trumpet the fact that its latest Focus hails from Saarlouis, on the Franco-German border. A good idea, because its updated volume seller is indeed a quality product, befitting of its Teutonic roots. Equally sensible, suggests Ford, is the inclusion of the company’s little 1.0 EcoBoost engine, currently available in the Fiesta…

INFINITI QX80 PRICE R1238000 ENGINE 5552cc V8 petrol, 298kW@5 800rpm, 560Nm@4000rpm TRANSMISSION seven-speed automatic, four-wheel drive SUSPENSION Independent double wishbone front and rear LENGTH/WIDTH/HEIGHT 5305/2029/1945mm WEIGHT 2829kg PERFORMANCE 7.5sec 0-100kph, 210kph, 14.8L/100km, 350g/km CO2 ON SALE Now IN THE RAREFIED atmosphere of the F-segment, few vehicles reach the heights of Infiniti’s latest addition – at over five metres long and nearly two metres high the QX80 behemoth comfortably trounces the Mercedes-Benz GL, the Range Rover and even the leviathan Lexus LX. It is, to misquote Alfred Kinsey, the be-all-and-end-all of Size Matters. Happily, its performance equals its presence, a 5.6-litre naturally aspirated V8 more than a match for the nearly three tonnes it must heft around. Inside there is everything befitting a club lounge, swathes of (real) leather, plenty of…

‘ISN’T IT IRONIC? While Volkswagen is obliterating all opposition in the WRC with a four-wheel-drive Polo, Audi, the company that revolutionised rallying with its Quattro system, is sitting on the sidelines making fast road versions of Polos. In fairness, Audi is occupying itself with other motorsport endeavours such as Le Mans, DTM and Rallycross, and calling the S1 a hotted-up Polo is about as far off the mark as fitting a home-made aerofoil to the bootlid of your A4. Nevertheless, taking your smallest shopping trolley, completely reengineering the floorplan to absorb multi-link rear suspension and a 2.0-litre turbo that requires an additional propshaft and rear differential to drive all four wheels sounds pretty extreme. In fact, it’s not far off the radical lengths RenaultSport went to when converting a Clio…

Roll Stability Control Uses gyroscopic sensors to detect fast cornering or sharp swerving, selectively applying individual brakes to reduce the likelihood of a rollover Blind Spot Information System with Cross Traffic Alert Uses sensors to alert the driver of vehicles approaching their blind spots, both on the road and in parking situations Terrain Management System Provides greater control in even challenging off-road environments with four terrain settings Curve Control Senses when you enter a corner too quickly and reduces engine torque and applies four-wheel braking to keep the vehicle under control Hill Launch Assist Improves the drivers ability to start on steep hills Seven Airbags The Everest will feature front, side, curtain and knee airbags as standard Active Park Assist This system scans for available parking spaces and uses Electric…

REMEMBER WHEN RENAULT used to be good at Formula One? Those years with Williams in particular, when the boffins at Viry-Chatillon produced the best V10 in the business and Nigel, Alain, Damon and Jacques won world titles at a canter? That was a magical era for the French, perhaps summed up best by Ferrari’s engine technicians, who binned their lunchtime bottle of chianti for claret. That was the 1990s, but the noughties were good for Renault too. They had their own team, and they muscled in on Ferrari’s domination to win world titles in 2005 and ’06. Then came the success with Red Bull between 2009 and ’13; their V8 wasn’t the most powerful engine, but its driveability, packaging and weight were second-to-none. The victory champagne kept flowing. With such…

MONTH 12 UPS | Great value for money. Tough and hard wearing. Feels like a member of the family DOWNS | Rough edges. Lack of refinement. Inevitable separation anxiety WITH THE ADVENT OF MASSIVE 5yr/150 000km warranties to provide customer peace of mind and the perception nowadays that modern cars are ultra-reliable, the notion of performing a long-term test may seem a little antiquated. Not so for our Franco-Japanese Duster that’s built in India. Embarking on a twelvemonth stint it was anyone’s guess how it would perform over a full year. In a nutshell there were plenty of dirt road adventures and even a brave showing at the 2015 Wesbank COTY competition. But month 12 is upon us and here’s how our final report card tallies-up. Specification wise, you’ve got…

THE AUDI PROLOGUE Allroad concept is a plug-in hybrid delivering a combined 540kW of grunt. That’s serious firepower, explained by the 4.0 TFSI V8 twin-turbo, an engine familiar from large Audis and Bentleys. Here, an electric motor is integrated into the eight-speed automatic gearbox, beefed-up to cope with a ginormous 900Nm of torque produced by both engines. Lithium-ion battery packs with a 14.1kWh capacity are packaged in the rear. As expected Quattro AWD is standard and performance claims are typically sky-high, as is the habit of conceptual show cars. Audi claims a 0-100kph sprint time of 3.5sec and just 56g/km of CO2. That equates to 2.4L/100km combined economy. We somehow can’t see this delivering in the real world, but the thought pleases us. Visually it’s standard soft-roader fare here: the…

FROM THE DBRs and DB4GT of the 1950s to the significantly more recent N430 Vantage, fast, track-ready road cars have always been a part of the marque’s DNA. And with the Vulcan’s outlandish form previewing Aston Martin’s future design direction, albeit turned up to 11, the timing of this ultimate Vantage is immaculate. The final piece in the puzzle is a desire that’s burned within Aston for years – to build a hard-charging V12 Vantage for the trackday driver. So here it is – the tuned, lightened, lowered, widened and aero-enhanced Vantage GT12. At its core the GT12 is based on the venerable aluminium VH chassis clad in carbonfibre bodywork; wings, door casings, front and rear bumpers, bonnet and – should you tick the box – the roof. Although the…

IN THE WORLD of Formula 1 three things are utterly predictable: mumbles over tyre degradation, grumbles over (lack of) engine power and downforce, and promises of a grand prix in South Africa – more latterly in the Cape, whether on the Mother City’s outskirts or its streets. The quickest way of ensuring your name hits the morning papers – other than in Match, Hatch and Despatch classified columns – is to announce plans to promote a SAGP, usually through mentioning F1 tsar Bernie Ecclestone. Forget the considerable resources and political clout required to host Formula 1; forget F1 insight, just bounce Bernie’s name about in familiar fashion, and your name gets writ large on front pages… That Africa – more particularly its most southerly country – deserves a grand prix…

VW GOLF SV 1.4 TSI COMFORTLINE PRICE R325200 ENGINE 1 395cc, 16v 4-cylinder petrol turbo, 92kW @ 5 000rpm, 200Nm @ 6 000rpm TRANSMISSION Six-speed manual, fwd SUSPENSION MacPherson strut front, multi-link rear LENGTH/WIDTH/ HEIGHT 4 338/1 807/1 578mm WEIGHT 1 174kg PERFORMANCE 9.9sec 0-100kph, 200kph, 5.4L/100km, 125g/km ON SALE Now FOR MANY SOUTH Africans, the words Volkswagen and Supervan are synonymous with Sarel van der Merwe drifting a front-wheel-drive Golf during the Castrol Rally in the late 1980s. Now I understand VWSA’s reservations given the word ‘van’ in SA is a bit Postman Pat, but I reckon the marketing folk missed an opportunity to pay homage to our moustached motorsport legend. Instead they renamed the all-new Golf Sportsvan (as it’s known in Europe) simply as the Golf SV. Yes…

NICHE, AS THE saying goes, is the new mainstream, as much in motoring as in food or fashion. And no niche has had as much recent success as the high hatch, laterally known as the small SUV, the miniature MPV, the shrunken estate, the beefed up broodvantjie. The new breed has been raised from mere hatch servitude with all the fanfare of a working class grunt winning the Lotto. Of the long – and growing – list we selected three players to best represent the breadth of choice now available – Opel’s butch-ish top of the line 1.4T Mokka Cosmo, more SUV than MPV, Nissan’s rainforest frog Juke 1.2T Acenta, for style over space, and, Kia’s Squarebob hipster pioneer, the cavernous Soul 1.6 Start. Both Soul and Juke were base…

IN THE COMPACT executive sedan market, the Blue Oval has generally been perceived as more blue overall than Opal blue. The best example of this was Ford’s previous effort in this segment, the Mondeo, which never enjoyed the sales success it deserved in South Africa despite ticking all the right boxes. The badge lacked the necessary status for those wishing to announce their ‘arrival’ onto a higher social standing and the model was discontinued in 2006. From 2010 to 2014, however, Ford’s sales volumes grew by over 50 per cent thanks to a flood of diverse new products, including the Fiesta, Focus, Kuga and Ranger. Now it’s the turn of the new Mondeo, though this time badged as a Fusion, built in Valencia, Spain. Has Ford’s brand perception grown by…

ELECTRONIC STABILITY PROGRAMME WITH ROLLOVER MITIGATION AND TRAILER SWAY CONTROL Helps to keep the vehicle under control even in adverse conditions FORWARD ALERT Works with Adaptive Cruise Control to give drivers a visual and audible warning when the gap to a vehicle ahead drops below a safe distance FRONT AND REAR PARK ASSIST Uses sensors to detect obstacles and provide audible warnings when the vehicle approaches obstructions when parking. A rear-view camera gives a clear view behind the vehicle, giving greater confidence when parking and hitching up a trailer LANE KEEPING ALERT AND LANE KEEPING AID Work together to help to prevent the driver from unintentionally drifting out of a lane when driving at higher speeds ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL Makes use of radar sensors to maintain both a preset speed…

JUST AS MOTORSPORT flourished throughout South Africa from the 1930s up to the global oil crisis in the early 1970s, the then Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, also boasted a healthy calendar of events during that time, even after the sanctions brought about by the country’s Unilateral Declaration of Independence in November 1965. Of necessity as much as convenience, in the early days most of the circuits were based on airstrips rather than them being purpose-built facilities, but no matter the venue, racing really thrived. Not surprisingly, most of the tracks were situated in and around the country’s two major cities, the capital Salisbury (now Harare) and Bulawayo. Belvedere in Salisbury was an early hotbed of activity. There were two circuits: the first a tree-lined street layout around the old horse racing…

DOES ANYONE actually enjoy parking? The fear of dinged alloy wheels, the worry of panels scraped by multi-storey concrete pillars and dented doors from careless neighbouring cars make it a worry for motorists of all persuasions. Help is at hand in the shape of clever tech being pioneered by BMW, Audi and Volvo, or rather their giant suppliers such as Bosch and Valeo. The big game in town is developing software that marries data from existing sensors with the nascent autonomous systems appearing on more and more connected cars. The side benefits? Cars that can park actually themselves. We’ve tried Bosch’s prototype system at the firm’s Boxberg proving ground in Germany, parking a VW Passat from an iPhone. It’s an unnerving experience, as you step out of the car and…

MONTH 12 UPS | Genuinely capable on dirt DOWNS | Still not as economical as we had hoped AS THE TIME CAME to bid farewell to the ever restful Tiguan we looked around for something to mark its last month, a trek befitting of a sophisticated German with pretentions of butch. Happily the Easter break beckoned and an expedition into the Cederberg was arranged. Add various members of the family from all over the world and presto, a decent challenge. There are a number of ways into the Cederberg, just as there are a number of ways to stay in the mountain kingdom outside Citrusdal. The very posh choose Bushmans Kloof and get ferried everywhere, including, if your car is low and expensive, to the lodge itself. Or you can…

THINK OF IT as a shrunken baby brother to the GLE Coupe, already unveiled in production guise. What you see today is Daimler’s X4 to that car’s X6. The mud-plugger that’s donned sportswear is 4 730mm long and rides on a 2 830mm wheelbase. In other words it’s a bit bigger than a BMW X3 or Audi Q5, but tellingly it’s a mite lower too, at just under 1 600mm tall. The GLC Coupe recently unveiled at the Shanghai show featured a pure V6 petrol model with the accent on performance. In this case, there’s an AMG-derived direct-injection bi-turbo 3.0-litre V6 petrol engine tuned for 270kW and 520Nm. A switchable exhaust lets drivers choose from a refined engine note or a ‘passionate sound of a high-powered sports car.’ Drive is…

1 Blame China – that’s where they love their SUVs, and also where 25% of Citroëns are sold. Hence this compact SUV concept making its debut at the Shanghai show, clad in super chunky, Cactusturned-up-to-11 armour. 2 Alloy bumps – out go Cactus’s squidgy ‘airbumps’, replaced by robust bits of motorsportderived aluminium foam. D-shaped alloy ring over the side windows directs airflow, helped by extractor vents in the wheelarches. 3 Twin screens – madcap interior has two screens (one portable) and a head-up display, four huge seats resembling movie spaceship props discarded due to over-embellishment, each fitted with speakers and… microphones? 4 Joking, right? – well, Aircross has a credible hybrid powertrain, with 163kW 1.6 turbo engine and 71kW electric motor. EV range 50km, CO2 a piffling 39g/km,2.8L/100km. On sale?…

PORSCHE 911 TARGA 4 GTS PRICE: R1728000 ENGINE: 3800cc, flat six, 316kW@7500rpm, 440Nm@5750rpm. TRANSMISSION: seven-speed manual or seven-speed dual clutch, all-wheel drive SUSPENSION: MacPherson strut front, multi-link rear, active suspension management LENGTH/WIDTH/HEIGHT: 4509/1852/1291mm WEIGHT: 1560kg PERFORMANCE: 4.7sec 0-100kph, 303khp top speed, 10L/100km, 237g/km ON SALE: Now AHEAD, THE ROAD THREATENS grievous bodily harm, a patchwork quilt of try-it-on and be very careful. A well cambered arc follows a tight hairpin bend, both shadowed by pale Andalucian dolomite rising thousands of metres to the right, dropping vertically to the left. The 911 Targa 4 GTS’s flat six barks, the noise bounces off the rock, returns just before the hairpin exit and fills the open cabin as second becomes third. Hard on the throttle, bark becomes bawl becomes banshee as most of…

YOU MIGHT NOT think we’d be all that interested in a predominantly commercial vehicle show at TopCar, but there was a particular exhibit at last year’s Hanover gathering that caught our eye – the futuristic VW Tristar concept. As both a precursor to the recently revealed T6 Caravelle/Transporter and an unusually cool bakkie, we naturally jumped at the chance to test it at the Millbrook Proving Ground in England. After handing my camera and phone over to the security guards, I was led away to the makeshift Volkswagen camp where the gleaming Hanover star awaited. Harking back to the original T3 Synchro TriStar double cab from the 1980s, the Tristar concept has big boots to fill. Its juggernaut ancestor proved to be a tough and reliable companion for farmers and…

THE POLO GTI has always been shunned by enthusiasts owing to its tepid performance and somewhat harmless appearance. Many felt it never deserved that hallowed badge referring to it more as a fast Polo than a genuine GTI. While its performance figures have never been too shabby the 9N3 Polo GTI was criticised for its underwhelming 110kW/220Nm 1.8-litre 20VT engine while the following generation suffered reliability hiccups what with its controversial twin-charged 1.4-litre powerplant. Volkswagen will hope the new 1.8-litre turbo GTI revokes the negative perceptions of its predecessors for good. Is it a case of third time lucky or will Polo’s new flagship suffer the same verdict as the last two offerings? More wolf; less sheep In the past the Polo GTI has been lambasted for its innocuous styling…

DOWNSIZED TURBO ENGINES are all the rage right now with every manufacturer from Ferrari and Porsche to Kia and BMW investing huge amounts of cash to develop eco-friendlier engines without sacrificing power. This new acumen doesn’t necessarily spell the end of driver enjoyment as we know it but rather paints a promising picture for enthusiasts. Of all markets it is the small car segment where things are heating up in terms of performance, efficiency and value for money so we’ve gathered a string of B-segment staples to put to the test. While the Opel Corsa, Renault Clio and Ford Fiesta each employ a three-pot turbo setup the all-new Mazda2 has thrown the proverbial spanner into the works by eschewing the downsizing route of its rivals in favour of an all-new…

Price R3688000 Engine 3855cc twin-turbo V8, 412kW @ 7 500rpm, 755Nm @ 4750rpm Transmission seven-speed dual-clutch, rear-wheel drive Suspension Double wishbone front, multi-link rear Length/width/height 4570mm/1910mm/1322mm Weight 1730kg Performance 3.6sec 0-100kph, 316kph, 10.5L/100km, 250g/km CO2 On sale Now You don’t fight the explosion of forced induction; you ride it like a tidal wave OF ALL AUTOMOTIVE objects, a red Ferrari is perhaps the most evocative and admired by car lovers the world over. A symbol of Italy, any rosso corsa coachwork wearing the famed prancing horse is as much a manifestation of artistic brilliance as it is of sports car superiority. This is the overarching perception anyway, but the previous-gen Ferrari California went some way to dissuade punters of that. It may have borrowed the hallowed California nameplate from its…

BENTLEY SPEED 6 Price: R2.25m + (est) On sale: 2019 Engine: 4.0-litre V8, 450kW @ 6000rpm, 650Nm @ 2000rpm (est) Transmission: Seven-speed auto, rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive Performance: 3.8sec 0-100kph, 320kph (est) Suspension: Double wishbone front, multi-link rear Weight/made from: 1750kg/aluminium and steel Length/width/height: 4700m/1920/1300mm BY MID-AFTERNOON the last of this morning’s great bruises of cloud have cleared and there is blue sky above the imposing, monolithic form of Berlin’s Tempelhof airport. Half an hour later the vast apron has dried and the Bentley boys are ready to roll out EXP 10 Speed 6, the spoonful of show-stopping concept coupe sugar that’s already made the Bentayga’s SUV medicine a good deal easier to swallow. ‘EXP 10 is our vision of a powerful yet luxurious two-seater sports car,’ says Bentley…

GECKOEYE CAM WATCH YOUR CAR WHEN THEY THINK YOU CAN’T No matter what car security you have, if someone wants in, they’ll get in. The GeckoEye cam will help identify the baddies though. It has a motion sensor that connects to the base by Wi-Fi and once activated to record, also transmits video to secure cloud storage. You can watch live or review footage later. Busted! $340 (+/- R3810) www.indiegogo.com CINESQUID IF YOU LOVE YOUR CAR, YOU’LL TAKE PICS OF IT The CineSquid is for automotive selfies, because cars love pics, too. It’s a suction cup tripod system that can securely attach a 2.2kg camera to contoured, multilevel surfaces. The triple-grip, rock-solid connection enables you to secure your camera to nearly any smooth, nonporous surface. Become competition to Chris Harris.…