Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2018 i Car India

INSPIRED BY THEIR SUCCESSFUL endurance programme that gave us the Vantage AMR Pro, among other fine examples, the DB11 AMR replaces the V12-engined DB11 as the new flagship in the range. It also marks the opening of the AMR Performance Centre at the Nürburgring. Visually, the exterior is all about monochrome treatment and carbon-fibre, with a dark front grille and tailpipes. The dark-theme interior continues with monotone leather and lime-green detailing. There will also be three designer specifications and an exclusive AMR Signature Edition. The Signature Edition will be limited to 100 units worldwide and will be styled extensively with carbon-fibre on the exterior and Dark Knight leather inside. The leather will carry the striking Sterling Green and Lime detailing. On the engine front, the DB11 AMR is powered by…

Ford EcoSport S and Signature Edition FORD HAVE INTRODUCED TWO TOP-TRIM EDITIONS TO THEIR EcoSport line-up, the EcoSport S and the Signature Edition. Both come with a choice of diesel or petrol engines. The Signature Edition comes with the familiar pair of 1.5-litre petrol and turbo-diesel engines. Among the changes made are a handsome new grille, a sunroof, roof-rails, 17-inch alloy wheels, and a rear spoiler. Inside are a new centre console and subtle design features on the seats. The Signature Edition models are priced at Rs 10.40 lakh and Rs 10.99 lakh (ex-showroom) for the petrol and diesel variants respectively. The Ford EcoSport S comes with similar range of interior and exterior changes as with the Signature Edition, including orange accents and tyre pressure monitoring, apart from more features.…

FINDING THE BALANCE. RATHER DIFFICULT IN THE REAL world, though most of its inhabitants have several words of advice. When it comes to performing multiple roles, one as well as the other, there is a fine line separating the tolerable from the ghastly. Many have compromised appearance, while some have managed to play their aesthetics card just right, along with capabilities and equipment, and it turns out to be the winning hand. One such hand has got to be the Mercedes GLC-Class. Erstwhile GLK, the right-hand-drive model finally appeared and opened avenues for Mercedes-Benz. It is one of their most popular models today, and in several markets; in Europe alone over 110,000 were sold last year and over 30,000 in the first three months of 2018. The thing is, SUVs,…

IN LAST MONTH’S ISSUE, WE HAD FEATURED the captivating Ghanerao Royal Castle of Rajasthan to give you a glimpse of its architectural splendour. This month, for the second edition of the Architectural Gems of India, we travel eastwards to Kolkata, a city where I was born and where grew up. Even though I have lived in various cities across the country, owing to professional commitment, the City of Joy remains closest to my heart. Over the years, Kolkata has deeply influenced us all with its art and rich culture. A city that echoes stories of its colonial past yet stands tall with modern high-rise buildings. A city that boasts of intricate minarets of the Moghul era and spectacular temples and ghats of the Ganga all woven beautifully to stand the…

CAMP JEEP LETS OWNERS AND PROSPECTIVE customers get a chance to experience Jeep’s prowess in rather extreme off-roading conditions. After being conducted in various parts of India, Jeep set up camp in Pune for a weekend; the first time in the city. When the American SUV manufacturer extended an invitation to get dirty on a Saturday, we heartily accepted. This edition of Camp Jeep had one variant of each model from Jeep India’s line-up. All cars shared the same course with special sections dedicated to each of them where they could showcase their specific strengths. The organizers had marked out the four-kilometre-long course within a natural off-road trail that became progressively tougher as you drove further in. Additionally, Jeep had also set up steel structures within an enclosure to showcase…

TWENTY ONE YEARS AGO THE RADICAL FIRST A-CLASS SET out to conquer the bottom end of the premium segment, and failed. Through the generations it’s become more conventional and more successful. The new Mk4 continues this trend, arriving with no hybrid powertrain and no quirky packaging — but it’s more proudly premium than ever, with some aspects of the interior worthy of the S-Class. Forget about the Golf — this is built, and priced, to compete against the Audi A3 and BMW 1- and 2-series. There are plenty more variations in the pipeline, but for now there are three engines, all front-wheel drive, and one body style. The weight is down by 20 kg — impressive given that it’s wider, taller and 120 millimetres longer. That growth allows a cargo…

IT SEEMS WE’RE LIVING IN A YEAR OF comebacks. Ryan Reynolds and Co have brought Deadpool back to the big screen, Greta Van Fleet is bringing back that classic Led-Zep sound, Netflix is bringing back all those epic shows you loved as a kid (Fuller House anyone?) and my Instafeed is pretty much full to bursting with #ThrowBackThursday posts — sometimes even on other days of the week! Looks like Ford India are getting in on the act, too, because they’ve decided to launch a new variant of their EcoSport compact SUV and, as part of the package, they’ve brought back that little 999-cc EcoBoost engine that nabbed so many awards when it was first introduced in the car’s previous iteration. In fact, enthusiasts up and down the country had…

THE PORTUGUESE rally was anything but boring as there was high drama involving two front-runners, namely, Sébastien Ogier of M-Sport Ford and Ott Tänak of Toyota Gazoo Racing. The rally started without any drama with Haydon Paddon of Hyundai taking an early lead. However, on Friday, the battle intensified between Paddon, Kris Meeke of Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT, and Dani Sordo of Hyundai. Meanwhile, behind the aforementioned front-runners, Ott Tänak ran into trouble when he hit a stop and damaged the cooling system of the car. This forced the Estonian, who had won the previous round, to park his car by the side of the road, which eventually ended his hope of finishing Rally Portugal. Another casualty of the tough gravel challenge was championship leader Sébastien Ogier who clipped…

THE LEGENDARY AUSTRALIAN NAME returns to automotive realm and the new BT62 is an absolute stunner. It’s been 70 years for Brabham. In 1948, Australian Jack Brabham took to a track for the first time. After clinching several Australian racing championships, he delved further into road racing. In 1955, he took part in his first Formula 1 race ― the British Grand Prix. He took the world title three times. He was the first, and remains the only, man to have won a world championship in a car bearing his own name when, in 1966, he clinched the driver’s world championship. Earlier attempts at production saw sports cars bearing the “BT” name ― derived from Brabham and his partner, Ron Tauranac. Starting in 1961, over 500 cars were built. Now,…

KIA MOTORS ARE EXPECTED TO introduce their all-new 48-volt diesel-electric hybrid as early as the latter half of 2018. The new EcoDynamics+ diesel mild-hybrid powertrain supplements power delivery using a 48V electric motor. The technology is compact, affordable and, more importantly, can be integrated into existing architecture. The system makes for the provision of electric power to reduce engine load under acceleration. It also recuperates energy during in-gear deceleration and braking. There is also a new “moving Stop & Start” functionality. Overall, the technology aims to reduce CO2 emission by up to seven per cent, when combined with a manual transmission. The first model to sport the new diesel mild-hybrid powertrain will be the Kia Sportage. More models as well as a new petrol mild-hybrid will follow.…

The story goes back to AD 1760, when Mir Zaffar Ali Khan, the British-nominated Nawab Nazim of Murshidabad, took refuge in this area and gave it his name. That’s why this posh locality is known as Alipore. It is said that the location where this grand mansion stands was originally the residence of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb’s grandson, Prince Azimus-Shah. Though the exact origin of the Belvedere House is not recorded, legend has it that the Prince sold three villages to the East India Company which laid the foundation of Calcutta the city. A few years later, an Englishman named John Surman visited India as the Ambassador of England and made Belvedere Estate and its surrounding area his local residence. With time the mansion changed a few hands, but, in the…

SUNDAY OF THE 76TH GOODWOOD Members’ Meeting and Chris Goodwin is pondering the suspension set-up of his Lotus 23B. In a few hours’ time he’ll race in the Gurney Cup, but for now the flimsy rear bodywork is propped open to reveal the 1,600-cc Lotus Cortina twin-cam engine. He’s taking me round the rear suspension with its tiny dampers and springs and slender anti-roll bar. ‘That’s all there is,’ he laughs. ‘All I can do is play around with those three things and try to go faster.’ The wind’s so cold that my fingers are mottled pink and white and grapple torpidly with pen and paper, the track’s damp after snow the night before, and gut feeling says Goodwin should soften off the suspension, to give it more compliance so…

THE FIRST TIME I LAID MY EYES ON THE all-new Audi A6 was at the Geneva Motor Show global launch. This time I was in the land of Port wine — Porto, Portugal, for the world media drive. The A6 carries forward Audi’s new design language of the A8 and A7. With taut surfaces, sharply defined edges, and striking lines, the business-class sedan unmistakably conveys its character. It stands for sporty elegance, high tech, and sophistication. The exterior stands out with balanced proportions and short overhangs. The dimensions of the eighth-generation Audi A6 have grown by a few millimetres as compared to its previous model line — by seven millimetres to 4.94 metres long, by 12 millimetres to 1.89 metres wide, and by two millimetres to 1.46 metres high. The…

HUNDREDS OF CARS ARE LAUNCHED EVERY year across the world but only a few of them make a mark and fewer still go on to become icons in their own right. Most of them are high-end sports cars or supercars. The Ford T model, Volkswagen Beetle, and the MINI are among the few mass-market cars that have become icons. Today one of the most popular small car designs globally is the hatchback and the MINI was the first hatchback car in the world. It was such a hit that it changed the way people looked at small cars. It was used in rallying and other motor sport events successfully and it went on to become a global icon. The British manufacturers have given the MINI not just a facelift but…

THE SWEDES HAVE A WAY OF MAKING things last. No, this isn’t about Ikea or Amon Amarth’s “The Pursuit of Vikings” that has been my phone ringtone for the past decade. Volvo are properly Swedish at heart and it shows in everything from their understated and elegant design to the thoughtful layouts that form their interior. The first XC90, in fact, was around for more than a decade. It was hugely practical and had several innovative features. Yet, it aged, and with just a few touch-ups and some revised engines, it was calling for an overhaul. The next one arrived in 2015 and that was all that Volvo needed. Sales graphs soared, and a new design language, not to mention product architecture, laid the groundwork for future success. Then came…

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP Lewis Hamilton 95 Sebastian Vettel 78 Valtteri Bottas 58 CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP Mercedes-AMG 153 Ferrari 126 Red Bull Racing 80 AS THE LIGHTS WENT OUT, Sebastian Vettel stormed ahead from his third consecutive pole position, achieved only by being a few tenths clear of reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton. Behind him, the first few tight corners saw multiple contacts with Kimi Raikkonen running into Esteban Ocon, before carrying on, while Sergey Sirotkin, Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso all suffered bits of bodywork losses. Pit-stops beckoned for many. It was Ocon out; his career-second DNF. Safety Car. Advantage Valtteri Bottas who had pitted just as the flags came out. Safety Car period done with, it was four Renault-engined cars — two of them Red Bulls — battling for position and…

NEW THIS MONTH FORD FREESTYLE Ford's 'Compact Utility Vehicle' comes as a more versatile choice in a popular price range. Available from Rs 5.09 lakh (ex-showroom) TOYOTA YARIS Refined, comfortable, and well-equipped, the new Yaris sedan is quite the exciting offering. Yours from Rs 8.75 lakh (ex-showroom) 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…

WHEN IT COMES TO SUPER-luxury, one name has stood out and has stood the test of time. Rolls-Royce have already expanded from what was essentially a single model-line in the mid-2000s to several, let’s say, smaller and more accessible offerings in the past decade and a half. Now, though, they have revealed their very first SUV. Initially, the company refused to call it one, instead referring to it as their “high-bodied vehicle”. However, at the reveal, CEO Torsten Müller-Ötvös referred to it as the “Rolls-Royce of SUVs”. And rightfully so. The Cullinan is huge, to say the very least, and, for the first time ever, is a Rolls-Royce with four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering. In tune with its heritage, the famous “Magic Carpet Ride” is carried forward. Adaptive air suspension…

MERCEDES-BENz HAVE CONFIRMED A NEW DIESEL-electric plug-in hybrid is in the pipeline. The powertrain is based on the OM654 diesel engine and an externally chargeable hybrid system. The new hybrid technology is based on the third-generation plug-in hybrids first seen in the S 560 e shown last year in Frankfurt. It will see the four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine paired with 90 kW (122 PS) and 440 Nm of electric output. With a larger 13.5-kWh lithium-ion battery pack, it has an intended pure electric range of about 50 km. The new onboard charger increases charging capacity to 7.2 kW, twice as much as earlier, which means a full charge from the wallbox in about two hours; with a domestic socket taking seven hours. Power delivery is taken care of by the latest…

BOSCH CLAIM TO HAVE FOUND THE SOLUTION TO SECURE THE future of diesel with their latest diesel technology. The biggest problem for diesel vehicles is emission of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) ― one of the harmful gases resulting from the use of a combustion engine. With tighter emission norms coming in shortly and with more to follow in 2020, all new vehicles and, in the future, existing vehicles will have to comply with these more stringent norms. This is where Bosch come in. Bosch’s new diesel technology claims to have real-world NOx emissions as much as 10 times lower than the limits set for 2020. The company says the internal combustion engines equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) have almost zero impact on air quality. The focus is efficient emission management.…

TOYOTA HAVE BEEN MULLING OVER IT FOR YEARS AND HAVE finally decided to take the plunge and enter the mid-sized sedan segment. With this they are aiming to compete head on with the car that kick-started the segment — and still draws immense popularity — the Honda City. And this is exactly why we got both the cars for a comparo, along with the other hot-sellers, the Volkswagen Vento and the Hyundai Verna. All of them are petrol automatic variants, as ATs have become a necessity in our congested urban environment. Since design is subjective, I asked my colleagues to put in their votes. The results were not too far off from my personal choice. What works for the Toyota Yaris is the fact that it is the newest design…

Klaus Fröhlich (KF): We already have 11 million connected BMW Group cars out there today. We are aiming for 100 million by 2025. Peter Schwarzenbauer (PS): I don’t believe we are ready to jump straight to Level 5 autonomous driving. This will not happen overnight. We will do it step by step, to get people used to it — and win their trust. Even if the technology is there, it will take people time to adapt. We know that. KF: Car ownership is changing fast and we want BMW to be there whether people want to own their car outright or rent from a membership club. Some people won’t mind sharing their car; others will. PS: Security and privacy will be our first priority with connected cars, business will be…

CHECK YOUR WIPERS Poor visibility in pouring rains is far from ideal, so checking your wiper blades should be your first step. The blades’ rubber hardens due to continuous exposure to the elements, and come monsoon, this isn’t the most effective in clearing away the rain drops collecting on your windscreen. So make sure you examine your blades and replace them if necessary, and why not top up the wiper fluid too while you’re at it? BRAKES AND TYRES Grip and stopping ability are both affected when the roads are slick, so you need to take a closer look at both your car’s tyres and brakes. For tyres, ensure that there’s enough tread on them to allow your car to maintain a high level of traction. A two-millimetre tread depth…

THE BMW i8 WAS THE FIRST PRODUCTION car to get LED laser headlights. It did not look like a production car; rather it looked like a one-off prototype when it was launched as a sports coupé. Over the years, we have seen sports cars like the E-Type Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz 300 SL with the gull-wing doors, but in both the cases the Roadsters were the better looking cars and it was a no-brainer that BMW would launch an i8 Roadster. The car handles like a dream and it was a joy to throw it round corners in the Majorcan countryside with gay abandon There are no visible exhausts, BMW’s trademark kidney grille is blanked off, the sills get shrink-wrapped behind the rear wheels as if there is no engine back…

SHOWING OFF IS NOT A TRAIT USUALLY associated with the Germans; however, when they do make a statement, it usually tends to be quite a resounding one. Recently, we went to the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) to hear what the Germans, Mercedes-Benz India in particular, had to say about a powerful family sedan. They launched their most powerful E-Class ever, the Mercedes-AMG E 63 S 4MATIC+, and we were among the first to put it through its paces at the country’s premier racetrack. Here is what we feel about Merc’s latest statement. At first glance, the new E 63 S looks menacing in the matte black shade; the other metallic shades are more subtle-looking, giving a don’t-mess-around-with-me impression. The dynamic front end with gaping air-intakes and front splitter give it…