Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2021 i Car India

THE 16TH EDITION OF THE SALON PRIVE Concours d’Elegance was held in September at the magnificent Blenheim Palace, known as “Britain’s greatest palace”, in Oxfordshire. It is also the birthplace and the final resting place of Sir Winston Churchill. Poonawalla, the Pune-based billionaire industrialist and renowned collector, had some stunners from his fleet. The trio of prize-winning automobiles from the famed Yohan Poonawalla Collection included two Maharaja cars, part of a larger and impressive ensemble of exotics and several other motor cars of historical significance. The big honour, the prestigious “Duke of Marlborough Award”, went to the crowd favourite, the 1949 Bentley Mark VI Light Touring Saloon by Hooper & Co. The car was delivered new to HH the Maharaja of Mysore (now in Karnataka) Sir Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, head of…

Volvo Cars UK have brought in updated Recharge plug-in hybrid models of the XC60 SUV, V90 estate, and S90 saloon that now bring a larger 18.8-kWh battery pack and allow an all-electric range of up to 90 kilometres. According to an industry estimate, an average premium car-owner travels no more than 50 km each day. With charging capability at home or at the office, this would mean they could do the entire distance on electric power alone. In addition, a more powerful 145-hp electric motor raises the combined peak output to 350 hp for the Recharge T6 and a whopping 455 hp for the Recharge T8 model. Volvo target a CO2 reduction of up to 50 per cent on the WLTP cycle. Volvo also announced that they would be moving…

JAGUAR HAVE OPENED BOOKINGS FOR THE NEW 2022 MODEL year I-Pace Black, a sportier looking and even better equipped edition of their premium electric luxury SUV. The I-Pace Black accentuates the all-electric performance SUV’s lines and curves with a list of additional equipment offered as standard. The enhanced Black Pack brings a gloss black finish for the grille, grille surround, wing-mirror covers, side-window surrounds, and the rear badges. It gets a full panoramic glass roof and 19-inch wheels with “Diamond Turned” finish. Inside, the spacious and luxurious interior gets ebony leather sports seats with the Gloss Black trim finishers complemented by an Ebony headliner. The I-Pace Black retains the potent powertrain comprising a 90-kWh battery and the 294-kW motor good for 400 hp and 696 Nm, enabling acceleration from zero…

WE ARE LIVING IN WHAT IS KNOWN as the digital age. Think about our daily life and this might well sound an understatement. Everything we do, see, hear or say is in some form or other related to digitization. The story remains the same across the board and automobiles do not skip the ease of connectivity. Leaps and bounds may have been made by a number of manufacturers in this respect, but one of them holds its head a lot higher than others: Maruti Suzuki. This may not sound too surprising, for the Indo-Japanese auto manufacturer has, for decades, ruled the roost in our South Asian country. However, so far as offering a range of products and services are concerned, Maruti Suzuki have indeed made an aggressive surge with digitization.…

MORRIS GARAGES HAVE ALWAYS BEEN particular about design. Their heritage speaks volumes of how their smooth styling has left paper to be transitioned beautifully into the real world. The MGB from the previous century is a great example. That sports car drove its way into the hearts of enthusiasts globally and even found a home at the British royal family’s garage and since then it has been a timeless classic. With the Astor, MG are looking to extend that design philosophy of “Emotional Dynamism”; styling that connects the human element with the car. Based on the popular ZS platform, the designers in London have made sure that the Astor has a soft and sophisticated styling that delivers elegance while highlighting the car’s sporty styling. The MG badge at the front…

Mercedes EQE The electric E-Class has been revealed. Like a scaled-down EQS, the EQE uses the new Mercedes EQ design cues and lines but gets a new business face, a 4,946-millimetre length, and a 3,120-mm wheelbase. The launch model, EQE 350, brings a mix of performance, comfort, and range with cutting-edge tech, including the MBUX interface. Packing a 90-kWh battery, the EQE 350’s 215-kW rear-axle motor kicks out 292 hp and 520 Nm. A 4MATIC dual-motor all-wheel-drive option will be introduced later. Mercedes-AMG EQS The AMG version of the EQS promises astonishing performance to rival its sole electric rival from the down the street. The AMG EQS 53 4MATIC+ brings a distinct and more aggressive Panamericana front grille. There’s a 107.8-kWh battery pack and two motors that deliver fully variable…

WITH THE CHANGING LANDSCAPE AND NEEDS, A HUGE number of mainstream buyers are even considering a 4x4 to be their primary vehicle. Not surprisingly, Force Motors are looking at cashing in on this opportunity with the friendlier new Gurkha. And for this the company is polishing the soft skills of the sales teams and will keep the community engaged through the owners’ club and events. Although we’ve got our hands on the three-door version now, a more conventional five-door one is on the cards as well. The boxy Mercedes-Benz G-wagen-inspired styling looks intimidating and looks funky in these bright new colours. I’m sure it’ll be featured in a rap video soon. This is no longer a utilitarian off-roader but is quite stylish. Every single panel is brand-new, the corners are…

MONZA, ITALY Jehan Daruvala won the second Formula 2 Race at the “Temple of Speed”, Monza, Italy. Jehan started second and completely dominated the field from the very first lap to win by a massive margin at the Italian Grand Prix weekend. The Red Bull Racing Junior started on the front row behind the German racing driver, David Beckman. Three laps before the finish, Jehan had opened a comfortable five-second margin. Beckman, under pressure, fell down to third while the Dutchman, Bent Viscaal, moved into second. Soon, the former F3 champion, Robert Shwartzman of Russia, also overtook the German. Jehan won the race by over six seconds ahead of Viscaal and Shwartzman. This was Jehan’s third podium of the season and second F2 victory after he became the first Indian…

WHAT A POWERFUL COMBINATION of words. It may have been one of the things that ran through Major Vivek Jacob’s mind when he decided to establish C.L.A.W (Conquer Land Air Water) Global. The major and his team of ex-special forces operators now constitute team C.L.A.W Global and they have been making the impossible possible for PWDs (people with disabilities). ‘True freedom is a collective experience. Either we all have it or none of us do’– C.L.A.W Global Now fast forward to an August evening in Leh and I found myself engaged in conversation with Major Jacob himself. At the end of that talk, I was fully convinced that many things that most of us perceive as inevitable are just illusions. Veils of responsibility, the quest for a secure future, and…

BEFORE THE FIRST DRIVE AT THE BUDDH International Circuit (BIC), the MG Astor generated a lot of interest on account of its good looks and long list of features; almost like a new celebrity in the car world. All this publicity gave rise to considerable curiosity among consumers about the Astor’s début and it has a lot to live up to because it is placed in the mid-size SUV segment — a space that is already well-contested and saturated by the likes of the Hyundai Creta, Kia Seltos, Škoda Kushaq, and Volkswagen Taigun. To make a lasting first impression, MG roped in the brightest talent from their London-based design team to work on the Astor and that explains its instant visual appeal. They claim that they have styled the car…

A LOT OF UNTHINKABLE THINGS have come to pass over the last few years. Like a global pandemic? I know! No one saw that one coming, right? Except Bill Gates. And, maybe, President Xi Jinping of China. But I am not talking about the pandemic, I am talking about climate change. A few years ago, could you have imagined us talking about a hybrid Bentley? Or an electric Harley-Davidson? And now we have this, the new plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV) Defender. Powered by a turbocharged 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder along with a 19.2-kWh battery and electric motor, the P400e might not seem remarkable at first, because the drivetrain has already appeared in Range Rovers and a Jaguar F-Pace, but contrast it with an old Series 3 in the 1980s or a…

NOTHING IS PARKED AT TODAY’S automotive crossroads quite like the Jaguar F-Pace SVR. A large and decadently potent SUV, it was refreshed and relaunched immediately after its maker revealed plans to go battery-electric by 2025. I enjoy the electric I-Pace and progress and all that but, well, it is a cold soul who cannot appreciate the SVR’s rumbling V8, its rush of supercharger whine when you really pin it, and the fluttering thunderclaps that pass for gear-changes. And we are hardly coal-rolling the hippies here: there is even a petrol particulate filter. Some high-performance cars need speed and thumb screws to spill their secrets, but the SVR talks if you so much as run a feather over its toes. It is the characterful bustle of that old-school 5-point-0 and the…

AMCLAREN ON POLE, A FERRARI P2, AND A Williams P3 felt like a throwback grid. Lewis Hamilton, chasing his 100th career win, was further back in the Mercedes-AMG. His title rival, Max Verstappen in the Red Bull Racing Honda, was starting dead last due to a penalty for his power-unit change. Valtteri Bottas in the other Mercedes also had his engine changed and would start in P16. The grid saw Norris on pole, Carlos Sainz second, and George Russell third. Right. Norris got off to a great start with Sainz charging behind him. Hamilton, meanwhile, had lost three places on the opening lap, navigating through a close field before settling in for an extended stint on the medium tyres. He eventually moved up to fourth. The first round of pit-stops…

THE ALL-NEW CITROëN C3 FOR INDIA IS A premium sub-four-metre hatchback with SUV attributes. It is based on the international model but features a refreshed design with elements from the C3 hatch and C3 Aircross crossover model. At 3.98 metres long, the C3 has been designed to offer generous space to comfortably accommodate five occupants. This interior space is possible thanks to its architecture and a 2.54-metre-long wheelbase. The C3 looks thoroughly modern with slim LED daytime light strips over the main headlights. The sides are muscular with protective bubble panels sculpted into the bodywork, akin to its erstwhile international elder sibling, the C4 Cactus Airflow, combined with flared fenders that create divisions using an interplay of light and shadow. A high ground clearance of 180 millimetres, 15-inch wheels with…

ELECTRIC POWER ISN’T NEW. HOWEVER, NEW STRIDES BEING MADE IN THIS DIRECTION have seen mass adoption and evolution of electric propulsion technology. With environmental concerns growing and the focus on renewable energy getting its due, the time is ripe for the makers of the best car in the world to take their next step too. Rolls-Royce initially announced that they would introduce their first electric super-luxury vehicle within this decade. The name “Silent Shadow” had been doing the rounds and it seemed apt, until the marque announced the actual name: Spectre. They also announced that the new model, teased as a two-door model in full camo, would be revealed in production guise based on their spaceframe architecture in the last quarter of 2023. Expect nothing short of a whopper of…

LEADING PREMIUM TYRE MANUFACTURERS, CONTINENTAL, HAVE INAUGURATED TWO NEW Conti Premium Drive (CPD) stores in Thane and Mumbai. The two new CPD stores, Liberty Tyres and Pal Tyres, feature the brand’s premium tyres with a new range of products for customers. With an extensive floor size of 1,000 square feet and 900 sq ft respectively for Liberty Tyres and Pal Tyres, the new stores will have a wide range of Continental products for passenger cars, SUVs, and 4x4s. The stores will feature the new Generation 6 range of passenger tyres — CC6, UC6, and AX6 — as well as the CSC5, CCUHP, and SC5 SUV. The CPD stores will also offer the latest equipment and technologies in tyre-related services for wheel balancing, wheel alignment, and nitrogen filling, among other services.…

Audi e-tron GT and RS e-tron GT The flagship EV from Audi has been launched in India in two guises, the e-tron GT quattro and the high-performance RS e-tron GT quattro, priced at Rs 1.80 crore and Rs 2.05 crore (ex-showroom) respectively. The new e-tron GT is a four-door coupé grand touring electric car that offers sport-luxury capability and with tremendous performance on tap. The decidedly visionary design is thanks to sculpted lines, the signature e-tron panel in place of a grille, Matrix LED headlights, LED strip tail-lights, and an arrowhead-shaped light signature. The EV duo have a 93.4-kWh battery pack. The standard model offers 476 hp and 630 Nm, with boost raising output to 530 hp and 640 Nm and the car can dismiss zero to 100 km/h in…

CITY LIFE. LOCKDOWNS. THE THREAT of a global pandemic. Anxiety. Worst of all, losing touch with reality while being stuck in a shell. There are many who have been affected by the news and the occurrences they hear about and, aptly, mental health has become a talking point. What helps, truly, is connecting with Mother Earth. And, with things slowly opening up and travel restrictions easing, it was just a happy coincidence that the all-new Volkswagen Taigun rolled out of Chakan, proudly made in India, and rolled straight into the Car India garage. I was all set to pack my — rather small — bag and head out into the countryside away from it all. I phoned a friend in the country pursuing his hobby of farming after an unceremonious…

IF YOU HAVE ARRIVED HERE FROM THE previous pages, you must already be aware of how we drove from Leh to the Siachen Base Camp as part of the Land World Record Expedition team. What you do not know about is the kind of terrain and weather we had to drive through and it was not always a piece of cake. Sitting behind the wheel of an adventure-ready Mahindra Scorpio, we were treated to a variety of landscapes and conditions. We drove through all of them without worry because a few litres of Mobil™ Super SUV Pro 5W-30 full synthetic engine oil was handling the duty of engine protection. Immediately after the oil change, there was a significant difference in the car’s driving experience. There was a noticeable drop in…

Driving the N Line on the road is good fun as the exhaust wants you to pull higher revs and, at the same time, when you shift down, the crackle is most enjoyable for any car enthusiast THE HYUNDAI i20 WAS LAUNCHED LAST YEAR; in fact, it was the first new car to be launched after the countrywide lockdown. This new car set quite a few benchmarks in the segment. No wonder then that the i20 won the Indian Car of the Year (ICOTY) as well as the Car India Automobile of the Year Award. Last month Hyundai organised a preview of the new sporty variant of the i20, the N Line, in Delhi and, a couple of weeks later, we are in the City of Lakes, Udaipur, for a…

FOR ALL THE HAND-WRINGING, DECLARING A winner is actually beautifully straightforward — it is the Jaguar F-Pace SVR. This car is more compact and lighter than these German rivals, but is similarly powerful, at least as usable, and massively cheaper. What a combination: your head is on-side before the test drive. Then you poke around and your heart flutters. It was always attractive and the recent gentle tweaks have enhanced its design, while the cabin, which needed work, has benefited from the necessary TLC, most notably with vastly improved infotainment. The F-Pace is engaging to drive regardless of speed, striking a deft balance among comfort, safety, and driver interaction, while its supercharged V8, admittedly on its last legs, makes a rousing accompaniment. The vast majority of in-market readers will gel…

KALLE ROVANPERä (TOYOTA GAZOO RACING) dominated the EKO Acropolis Rally Greece and won on Sunday. The young Finn led the rally from start to finish and won with a 42.1-second lead over his nearest rival, Ott Tänak (Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team). After a scare late in the rally, the championship leader, Sébastien Ogier (Toyota Gazoo Racing), made up lost ground and finished in third place. The rally returned to Greece this year after an absence of eight years and immediately drivers had multiple challenges in the form of tyre choices and unpredictable surfaces. So, when Rovanperä took the lead on Friday, there was no one around to challenge him. Consecutive wins on Saturday propelled him to a good 40-second lead and, from there, it was just a matter…