Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i Car India

New Hyundai Santa Fe Hyundai have revealed the bold new fourth-generation Santa Fe full-size luxury SUV. It will be offered as a five- or seven-seater, with the latter getting an ‘XL’ suffix. An eight-seater with a different name is also in the pipeline. The design certainly seems inspired: a cascading front grille and sleek new headlamps outside, and more practical changes inside, such as tilting of the centre screen to reduce glare, and repositioned door-panel switches. Toyota Exceed Electrified Target Toyota have sold a record 1.52 million vehicles with electrified powertrains in 2017, achieving their target for 2020 three years earlier than expected. In a span of 20 years, Toyota have seen sales of such vehicles rise from 500 to more than 1.5 million in a year. Škoda Kodiaq L&K…

ONE SECOND IS ALL IT TAKES TO CONTEMPLATE what repercussions your actions will have. If people stopped to think, for just one second, the results of their choice of actions, especially in the greater scheme of things, the world would be a very different place. There would be no traffic jams, no accidents, and, safe to say, less anger and disappointment overall. But, sadly, some people just don’t care, and their apathy has to be compensated for by others with thoughtfulness. That’s where the people at Volvo come in. And that’s why the safety technology, active and passive features they’re famous for, and smart, modern design come in. That’s why there are Volvo cars like this V90 Cross Country. Just a few years ago, if you wanted a top-of-the-line Volvo…

PURPOSE. IT’S AN EASY ENOUGH WORD TO UNDERSTAND thanks to nature’s creations. Yet, when it comes to man-made creation, somehow it gets blurred in what seems like a hysteric mass of unwanted additions that are justified simply by excuses related to sporty character and ‘performance to match its looks’. Ever wondered about the result? You guessed it. The price jumps. Now, India has had a tiny 1.1-litre convertible in the past; one with a six-figure price-tag. Today, it isn’t around. In fact, one of the most affordable cabriolet models is an Audi A3. But what if you wanted style and panache in a car that had sweeping lines and streaks of chrome? What if you wanted all of that without a thirsty petrol engine? Audi have the answer yet again.…

THE GODS USED TO TEST THEMSELVES IN these unforgiving hills. Some of the world’s toughest, most skilled drivers have tried and failed to tame the roads above Nice, home of the Monte Carlo rally. This has been the scene of some heroic and messy failures. But also of great success — such as when, 50 years ago, Porsche won the Monte for the first time, in a 911 T driven by Vic Elford. Today I’m in another Porsche called 911 T — clearly very different from Elford’s, but it’s not fanciful for Porsche to make the connection between that lithe rally car and this pared-back Carrera. And whereas Elford was dicing with an Alpine, I’m swapping between two Porsches. The other is another relatively low-key, radar-ducking 911: the new GT3…

1.17 pm, Wednesday Automobili Lamborghini, Sant’Agata Bolognese What’s normal about a car comprising little more than a 640-PS V10 and the mechanical means to have it propel you across the face of the earth? SIMONE LOOKS AT MY BAGS. I LOOK AT Simone. For a little too long neither of us says anything. Then, without a word, he ducks out of the bright, heavy heat of the August afternoon and into the cool, dark cockpit of the delivery-mileage Huracán Performante. He prods a button and up pops the luggage hatch in the shockingly orange nose. We move around to the front of the car and stand gazing solemnly upon the strikingly small space, like builders inspecting a water main they’ve just broken. ‘These are not the definition of slim bags,’…

HYUNDAI HAVE TAKEN THEIR FIRST VICTORY OF the season and it came in a rather dramatic way. In the opening stages, Hyundai Motorsport’s Neuville was right behind the top three drivers; however, after having a not so perfect start on Friday, Neuville quickly managed to quicken his pace, which saw him zoom straight to the front of the pack. Behind him was Toyota Gazoo’s Ott Tänak. From there Neuville never looked back. He continued to put on a good show until stage 11, when the Belgian suffered from gearing issues and also a spin-off. However, he recovered quickly and led all the way to the end of the second round of the season. Neuville’s great pace in the i20 WRC car saw him finish the Swedish round leading the championship.…

Mahindra Bring the Showroom Home Mahindra have launched ‘Bring the Showroom Home’ - a unique concept for the evolving customer that uses the power of digitisation, putting it at the centre of this initiative. It provides a 360° virtual showroom experience, and is a part of a series of initiatives under Mahindra’s Digital Transformation Strategy. Narain Karthikeyan Acquires 911 GT3 India’s first Formula 1 racing driver, Narain Karthikeyan, recently took delivery of his Porsche 911 GT3. As is inevitable with a Porsche, the former F1 racer chose to customise his GT3 with a Guards Red paint finish, alcantara and black leatherette interior, Clubsport package, sports bucket seats, front-axle lift system, 20-inch GT3 wheels, and, yes, the seven-speed Porsche Doppelkupplung automatic box. The 991.II 911 GT3 starts from Rs 2.31 crore…

I’m writing to you today about safety and safety technology. I’ve read that abroad cars use radar technology to detect movement of animals and pedestrians to help make the streets safer. So, why is this technology not used here in India? We probably have the worst set of jaywalkers who feel sticking out a hand halfway after crossing the road is sufficient warning to cross, and cows and buffaloes who amble about based on their own whims and fancies as well. Wouldn’t this radar technology be so much more useful in India? Is it too expensive? Why are manufacturers not offering it here? Murtaza Batliwala, Ahmedabad Dear Murtaza, All frequency bands are monitored by the Ministry of Communications and IT here in India. The 76 GHz spectrum, which was earlier…

WHAT IS IT ABOUT AN EXPENSIVE car painted white that somehow gets people to move out of the way? I usually keep a couple of car-lengths’ distance when I sight one of two things on the road: either a certain white large SUV or a two-wheeler rider with no mirrors on the handlebars. Other elements of traffic seem to flow in a sort of predictive chaos, but not them. Anyway. Most large cars in India are usually white. I still don’t get it. Some cite reasons of purity, or resale. The latter I can understand. But I digress. The 330i is the third ‘30i’ that’s being sold in India and the third I’ve gotten my hands on as well; in white. It’s a good thing, because I now have a…

IT IS 5.30 AM. WE’RE IN THE Q7, FLYING DOWN THE PUNE-MUMBAI Expressway, making our way towards Gujarat. The car’s powerful Matrix LED headlamps automatically dip on one side as they detect oncoming traffic. “Nifty that, I wish all cars could do this,” I think to myself as the discourteous and technologically disadvantaged cars in the oncoming lane continue to imprint bright, shimmering spots on my irises. The Q7, equipped as it is with a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine and slick eight-speed automatic gearbox, made mincemeat of the highway and soon enough we were bypassing Mumbai and heading towards the Maharashtra–Gujarat border. We took our first break nearly 200 km in, in order to stretch our limbs and dispel the last vestiges of drowsiness by the riverside at Ghodbunder. Then it’s…

THE VOLKSWAGEN AMEO CUP IS A professionally run racing programme that gives budding young racers the opportunity to compete on a national level and opens the doors to a career in motor sport. Volkswagen Motorsport India have been running one-make championships for tin-top race cars since the introduction of the Polo Cup in 2010. The series evolved into the Vento Cup in 2015, and, subsequently, the Ameo Cup in 2017. The race-ready Ameo Cup car is powered by the Volkswagen Group’s 1.8-litre, turbocharged, four-cylinder petrol engine that makes 205 PS and 320 Nm of torque. The engine is mated to a paddle-shift-operated sequential gearbox from French transmission manufacturer, 3MO performance, that uses an electromagnetic actuator to execute lightning-fast shifts, and all the electrical signals from sensors throughout the car are…

THE CONCLUDING ROUND OF THE 2017-18 MRF Challenge saw a grid full of open-wheel Formula 2000 race cars do battle at Chennai’s 3.76-kilometre circuit to wrap up the fifth running of this winter racing series that kicked off in Bahrain in November. The series comprises 16 races spread across four action-packed rounds of high-octane action that moves from Bahrain to the UAE for two rounds in December at Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit, before wrapping up the last four races in India. We were at the track over the first weekend in February as teams and drivers from all over the world went head-to-head to crown the season’s champion. All eyes were on the young Brazilian driver, Felipe Drugovich, who, with eight wins from the 12 races so far…

THE FOURTH-GENERATION Mercedes-Benz A-Class was revealed to the world in Amsterdam on February 2. The Concept model had showcased the new headlamps cluster with an angry angular slant for the LED strips and the design first appeared on the third-generation CLS-Class revealed only a couple of months ago. It brings new styling and larger proportions as well as a plethora of new equipment, including new powertrains and an all-new 3D high-resolution user experience interface called MBUX. A somewhat stern, yet focussed visage is the result of the sharp new LED set of eyes, with what appear to be raised eyebrows, and a long-ish grille. The new A has grown 127 millimetres in length, from just under 4.3 metres to over 4.4 metres, with increases of 30 mm in wheelbase and…

BMW 6 Series Gran Turismo THE ALL-NEW 6 SERIES GT ARRIVES TO REPLACE THE OLD 5 SERIES GT globally. More luxury, more technology and a more sizeable car are what you get for your Rs 58.90 lakh (ex-showroom). It’s the first 6 Series to be locally manuactured at the BMW plant in Chennai. A sloping roof creation somewhere between a shooting brake, an estate, and a four-door coupé, the 6 GT promises to offer outstanding luxury grand touring with performance to match. A choice of Dakota leather, smart interior trim, and powerful petrol engine mean the 630i GT is ready for business. The 2.0-litre in-line four turbo-petrol makes a credible 258 PS and 400 Nm, with a smooth eight-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. It will hit 0-100 km/h…

IN ONE SWIFT MANOEUVRE, IT’S OUT OF THE NARROW GATE. “HOW did it make that turn in one go?” I was flabbergasted. Again, at the U-turn. This thing shrinks around you. It looks like a barge but behaves like a small sedan. Usually, I prefer to begin on a philosophical note, perhaps with a dash of metaphor, but the LS 500h is anything like I expected it to be. To redefine luxury was probably the aim for Lexus with their new flagship saloon. The LS 500h is comfortable, ergonomic, well-equipped and tech-laden — but in a way no one really saw coming. There are certain aspects that simply exceed all expectations with an approach so radically different, they beggar belief. The design, for starters, is a mix of sharp and…

MERCEDES HAVE A LONG history of making big coupés and convertibles, but it was only in 2014 that the giant formerly known as the CL was absorbed into the S-Class range. Made sense on many levels: the S brand is pure blue-chip and the cars shared much of their technology and hardware. In line with Merc’s ever-shifting nomenclature, it positions these maxi-luxe cars rather neatly. And here we are, four years down the line, at midlife facelift time. Much of what you see here reflects the latest changes wrought to the S-Class four-door — with a sprinkling of new engines, gadgetry, and very minor cosmetic surgery to give the range-topping two-doors a fresh lease of life to take on the box-fresh Bentley Continental GT range. Two-door S-Classes are a rare…

‘WARNING!’ SCREAMS THE SIGN AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD south of Cape Town. ‘Baboons are dangerous and attracted by food.’ Not half as dangerous as some of the bizarre and troubling diesel emission testing procedures we’ve been hearing about, funded by German car manufacturers, and involving members of the simian fraternity. It’s a weird day to be driving a diesel-engined German car and hearing the news on the radio talking about diesel-engined German cars, and not for the first time in the last couple of years. But if you can disregard all that ghastliness and just concentrate on the new second-generation Audi A7, there’s a lot of much happier things to talk about. And an awful lot of tech to get your head around. That’s because this time the…

IT FELT GREAT TO BE BACK AT THE RACETRACK for the first time this year as round one of the 2018 Indian National Racing Championship (INRC) got under way over the first weekend in February. Having gone through a bit of a renovation, the Madras Motor Race Track (MMRT) facility boasted of new garages, an updated paddock complex and plush hospitality suites. The place looked refreshed and ready to host its first event as the drivers and teams arrived for practice sessions on Thursday. In attendance were over 30 racers, spread across four separate classes, and intent on doing battle to collect as many points as possible early in the season. The quickest and most popular cars in the competition were, as always, the Indian Touring Cars (ITC Class), while…

NEW THIS MONTH BMW 6 SERIES GRAN TURISMO The first-ever 6 Series GT comes in an attractive price-tag of Rs 58.90 lakh (ex). It's also the first 6 Series to be assembled here in India ROLLS-ROYCE PHANTOM The eighth-generation of the iconic Phantom has arrived, and in a choice of wheelbases, starting from Rs 9.5 crore (ex) LEGENDS PRICES Ex-showroom, Pune (subject to change) BO: Available only by order NA: Price not available FEATURES F: Front only D: Driver airbag only O: Optional equipment ASTON MARTIN BENTLEY BENTLEY FERRARI FERRARI HONDA HONDA HYUNDAI ISUZU LAND ROVER LAND ROVER MAHINDRA MARUTI SUZUKI MASERATI MERCEDES-BENZ MINI NISSAN RENAULT ROLLS-ROYCE TATA TATA VOLKSWAGEN VOLKSWAGEN VOLVO…