Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2016 i topCar

LITTLE MORE THAN six months after Ford’s new Mustang went on sale in South Africa, a specialist conversion operation was launched here that brought together one of the most iconic performance car partnerships that has ever existed during the last 50 years. Conceived by two of this country’s most respected custom car builders and with the full support of the American-based operation, Shelby SA made its local debut in July and got off to a blistering start. It was back in 1965 that Texas-born automotive designer, constructor, racing driver and all-round entrepreneur Carroll Shelby followed on from his successful AC Cobra venture with a version of the Ford Mustang that was unveiled in April 1964. The G.T.350 was powered by a 289ci (4 736cc) V8 and was an instant success.…

FROM FRIEND OF the earth to fiend of the earth, from golden halo to grey hell… Pity the poor diesel driver! Not long ago they were urged to ‘go green’ and buy diesel, and become saints of the road. Environmental activists, ecominded politicians, the mainstream media, certain scientists and a host of ‘green car’ websites all said so. Now, if you believe the same people, diesels are the transport equivalents of Beelzebub, Blofeld and a Beijing-smog, all rolled into one. Drive a diesel and you’ll choke children, poison old people, cause cancer and exacerbate asthma. Take my friend Laura who lives in America. She bought a Jetta diesel with eco-minded intentions. It was that or a Prius. Now she has a car that is unsaleable and which her (SUVowning) friends…

AUDI HAS PLACED much focus on making the all-new A5 its most refined and fashionable coupe saloon to date, something which is not surprising given how well the previous edition was received by style-conscious enthusiasts the world over. While it may not look a whole lot different to its predecessor a keen eye will notice the introduction of new lines, chiselled contours and other muscular references, particularly around the haunches. Of course it shares a large amount of its design rhetoric with its A4 sibling – the MLB Evo platform architecture included – but it’s in the details where it truly distinguishes itself from other models in the Audi stable. For starters it employs a shallower and wider single-frame grille which together with the faceted bonnet (or ‘power dome’ as…

ASHTON KUTCHER ONCE said, ‘I’m from Iowa, we don’t know what cool is’. There was a time when Stuttgart could have said the same. No longer, apparently, as Mercedes’ product planners chase everything attached to cool: fashion, design, SUV coupes, you name it. It’s as if their life depended on it, and that may not be too far from the truth. Cue this latest incarnation of the Essence of Cool; an SUV less useful than the donor GLC, but streets ahead in the all-important cred barometer. So what is it? Mercedes doesn’t seem entirely sure, throwing in any number of suggestions at launch. SUV possibly, crossover mostly, premium hatch likely, essential lifestyle accessory, definitely. For a better definition look to the rest of the line-up. GLC Coupe is to GLC…

AHEAD OF ME a two-car convoy of Audi’s halo supercar pulls hard towards a blind horizon, V10 engines howling at maximum attack, paddle-operated double-clutch transmissions ringing off rapid-fire gearshifts, Pirelli P Zeroes clinging hard to the tarmac. Led by Audi instructor Jochi Kleint, who counts rallying with Walter Röhrl on his CV, we’re in perfect unison when the middle car goes in too hot, falling off the pace. I’m right up his fixed rear wing as we climb out of Kyalami’s infamous Esses. With only a handful of hot laps of new Kyalami available to me I force myself to focus. No hardship in this exquisitely balanced R8. Behind the firewall of its lighter, stiffer carbonfibre reinforced aluminium spaceframe there’s the immersive, turbo-free 5.2-litre V10. Some’ll call it old school,…

IF YOU’VE EVER ridden a mechanical bull you’ll know exactly what it feels like to drive this M5. At first it lulls you into a false sense of security as it serenely spins you around [town]. Even as it gathers pace [on the freeway] you still feel like you’re the one calling the shots. But then [alone on fast open roads] as if provoked by a branding iron to the hindquarters it launches into an all-out assault to unseat you, unleashing 441kW of fury through the rear axles. Both thrilling and unnervingly quick, only those with supreme skills will ride it to end of its extraordinary abilities. Mimetic polyalloy What is this paint finish? So luscious, so smooth and so metal-ly. The Pure Metal edition is the M5 in its…

I MAY HAVE been the first journalist to drive the old NSX; I was certainly the first European writer, at Tochigi in 1989. What astonished was the car’s amazing speed and composure, mixed with fuss-free usability. This was new territory for mid-engine high-speed sports cars. The accepted logic then was that supercars – most Ferraris, all Lamborghinis, the 911 Turbo – needed great concentration, physical strength and Senna-esque skills to drive fast. The satisfaction came from taming the beast. There was sweaty-palmed excitement to be had, for sure. But also compromises galore – not least heavy controls, poor visibility and cantankerous city manners. Honda proved you could get most of the pleasure without the pain. The new NSX subscribes to the same philosophy. Its technical solutions are very different, the…

THIS, THEN, IS it: the end of the line. Increase power, refuse to let weight or bulk take hold and pay for the exercise with a list price so extreme that both exclusivity and absolute technical freedom are guaranteed and you find yourself not in Modena, Munich or Molsheim but here, in Ängelholm, Sweden, in the curious realm of Koenigsegg. Here, Christian von Koenigsegg’s team creates machines of unholy performance, and it does so with an almost masochistic aversion to doing anything the easy way. The path of least resistance is nowhere to be seen in the Regera, its fiendishly complex hypercar (three electric motors, no gearbox, twin-turbo V8, F1-spec battery). ‘It’s more than 500kg lighter than a Tesla Model S but with a V8 roar and another 746kW’ beams…

MAZDA’S G-VECTORING CONTROL (GVC) is a cunning new technological trick to boost grip and sharpen dynamics, and it’s coming to the range this year. While other manufacturers rely on braking systems or differentials to assist torque vectoring between the driven wheels, Mazda has come up with a unique – and patented – means of achieving the same effect by electronically reducing the amount of torque fed to the wheels. Every five milliseconds engine management software takes into account steering wheel angle and vehicle speed before imperceptibly reducing torque to the front wheels. These reductions can be as little as 10Nm, resulting in a G-force of just 0.01 on the front wheels, equivalent to an additional 5kg in weight. This results in a slight increase in the tyres’ contact patch with…

WE ALL LOVE new car day. As a motoring journalist this is the equivalent of buying a brand-new car and it’s an occasion that’s always met with great excitement and anticipation. A year with a car may not seem like a very long time to you, the reader, but we drive so many cars, (around a hundred a year, many of which come and go within the space of a week) that a 12-month stint honestly feels like an eternity. So when the Ed told me I was getting an SUV I was pretty excited as I’ve reached a point in my life where practicality trumps performance – it just so happens my Mazda CX-5 possesses a rather powerful 2.2-litre turbodiesel too, so I guess it pretty much ticks both…

JLR WILL UNLEASH seven new or replacement models by 2020, in a bid to more than double its output to 1.1m units. Four of the pumped-up vehicles will be Land Rover 4x4s, while Jaguar will launch an Evoquebased small SUV and a stunning pure electric crossover, one of two Jag EVs on the way. New drivetrain developments don’t end there: JLR’s four-cylinder Ingenium engine will spawn a straight six, and TopCar can reveal the Brits are in talks with BMW to share Munich’s next-gen V8. The first all-new car is Land Rover’s Discovery Mk5. Codenamed X462, the breakthrough is the switch to the aluminium D7u architecture, shared with the big Range Rovers. This will slash the kerb weight of the seven-seater, which looks barely any different to the 2015 concept…

1 Honey, I shrunk the Cactus – no hiding the all-new C3’s geneology. Citroën’s new supermini takes after the C4 Cactus with colourful exterior customisation options, SUV-alike cladding and the obvious airbumps on the doors. 2 Urban hot rod – you can’t have a V8 but compared with the previous version the roof’s been chopped 4cm. Despite this, the interior is roomier, and Citroën is placing a particular emphasis on comfort, with squishy seats and better ergonomics. 3 Selfie aware car – top of the tech pile is ‘ConnectedCAM Citroën’, a built-in HD camera with GPS that not only automatically records accident data but allows the driver to take pictures and 20sec video clips at the press of a button. It also serves as a location beacon in unfamiliar car…

THE FIA HOSTED its global member clubs to the fourth of its annual Sport Conferences immediately after the Le Mans / Baku race weekends, with the latest edition held under the banner of ‘Passion and Innovation: The Past, Present and Future of Motorsport’. For the first time the media was represented, with a select group of journalists being selected. The three-day seminar, attended by over 500 delegates representing almost 150 countries, was held in the Centro Congressi situated in what had previously been the Fiat Group’s Lingotto factory, and was hosted jointly with the Italian Automobile Club. The historic factory, which features a rooftop test track, was an architectural masterpiece when opened in 1922, and now also houses a shopping centre and choice of hotels. The thrust of the conferences…

Starting right now, South Africa is set to see a number of new doublecabs hit the market. It mirrors an international trend towards luxury utility that speaks to a need for independence in an increasingly autonomous world. In simple English – the rest of the world is realising it’s cool to be able to move stuff and have a decent vehicle all at the same time. Manufacturers with no history or tradition of pick-ups are getting into bed with each other in a bid to offer the best. The go-to manufacturer is Nissan, long regarded as having the strongest crossover utility tradition in the business. Its latest Navara (codenamed D23 and first shown mid-2014) is the model that forms the platform for a number of collaborative efforts, partnering with both…

FALLING FOR A turbocharged engine isn’t very fashionable lately. If there’s no alternative, begrudging acceptance is permitted. If there is a turbo-free option, one must rave about its purity of response and top-end rush before condemning the turbo. Awkward then that the blown 1.4 Fiat has dropped into the MX-5 feels like the motor the car’s been waiting for. Turin isn’t divulging any details on its chassis setup versus Mazda’s but the fundamentals are the same: low weight, 50:50 distribution and rear-wheel drive. Turin’s engineers insist they paid the MX-5 no mind and cracked straight on with building a car that drove like a Fiat, whatever that means. Posher materials aside the interior goes largely unchanged (as does the brilliant folding soft-top roof) but the sheetmetal is unique to the…

SHOULD YOU ASSOCIATE yourself with terms like ‘petrolhead’ and ‘enthusiast’ you’ll no doubt hold two-door coupes in special regard – tarmac hugging, hard-charging custodians of speed that pin their ears back at the slightest sniff of the next open horizon. However, in changing times where everyone and their dog is moving to bigger SUVs or more cost-effective compact crossovers, the cupboard for dyed-in-the-wool, purpose-built driving machines is worryingly bare. Lexus still offers an aspirational vehicle though, the RC, which offers up a sporting two-door shape and the promise of sporting satisfaction. Although it wears less visual addenda than the F Sport, and smaller 18-inch wheels, it’s still up there on the styling front. Based on the longer GS platform, it does what a coupe should, it has great road presence…

FIAT HAS BEEN making commercial vehicles since 1903 but is better remembered for its affordable family cars. These days under the title of Fiat Professional, the company, which has been through numerous trying times in its 117-year history, is steadily working its way back into the light commercial vehicle market with its Fiorino, Doblo and Ducato model ranges. Now along comes another member to the team, the Fullback, a one-ton pick-up that is essentially a Mitsubishi Triton wearing a different kit. The connection is the result of a cooperative agreement between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Mitsubishi Motors that was finalised last year, the vehicles being manufactured in the Japanese company’s facility in Thailand. Mechanically, the Fullback is the next-generation Triton (also known as L200 and coming to SA soon) and…

 THE ROADS ARE narrow here, curvaceous as though rendered by Picasso on a bender, dropped from the heavens onto the sort of topography that would make a Tour de France cyclist weep, with stratospheric elevation changes and more hairpins than the contents of a hairdresser’s imitation Gucci hand bag. This is Brunico, a town at the top of Italy – so far north it thinks it’s in Germany. Or is that Austria? In truth it’s practically on the border, where the local beers are German and the greater surrounds are named Kronplatz, a part of the Dolomite mountain range in South Tyrol. The turns on these passes drop you blindly into an asphalt carousel then twist you back again against gorgeous Alpine backdrops. It’s hot at 30 degrees, but the…

EXTERIOR Honda NSX: There is no big rear wing, which certainly helps the style. Small lip spoiler is fixed – there’s no active aero. Project manager Ted Klaus reckons massive downforce spoils driving fun. McLaren 570GT : You can see the 12C and 650S lineage, but the 570GT’s style works better, at least to our eyes. Unlike its big brothers, it does without active aero.GT a touch longer and wider than the NSX, though much lighter. INTERIOR Honda NSX: A shame so many switches and graphics look like Civic carryovers. The McLaren’s trim and switchgear are a cut above. Oddments space is curiously lacking: no door pockets, central cubby, or even cupholders. McLaren 570GT : Simpler, more driver focused. You sit more centrally and front and side visibility are fantastic.…

AT A TIME when petrol engines were king and diesels were smelly, smoky and belonged to trucks, Felix Wankel brought to market a revolutionary new concept for passenger vehicles – the rotary motor. German company NSU was the first to take up the concept, producing the single rotor Spider in 1964 and twin-rotor Ro80 in 1967. But developing the Wankel for production was costly and the innovative Ro80’s reliability was poor, factors that proved to be the death knell for the forward-thinking NSU. In 1969 the company was taken over by Volkswagen, which merged the brand with Auto Union, the owners of the Audi brand that VW had acquired five years earlier. The new company was called Audi NSU Auto Union AG and represented the effective end of the NSU…

ASSUME THE POSITION Wireless charging relies on alignment of the charging pad on the ground and a pad on the car. A cockpit display will help guide you into position – the greater your accuracy, the more quickly the battery will charge HOW IT WORKS Charging is achieved through ‘resonant magnetic induction’ – a focused magnetic field between base pad and the car. They communicate via WiFi, and charging begins automatically. Next step? Charging pads at red lights MAINTAINING STANDARDS Merc and BMW have signed agreements on standardisation, to avoid the chaos that plagues EV cables. Qualcomm reckons ‘Double-D’ and ‘Bipolar’ pads maximise efficiency, while also offering backward compatibility SAFETY FIRST Merc’s forthcoming S-Class relies on a gap of just 160mm between pads. Sensors detect errant metallic objects (that could…

IN GRAHAMSTOWN FOR THE National Arts Festival, the Touareg played to an appreciative audience, ferrying party-goers hither and yon, swallowing props and pampering tired thespians. It’s good at that, pampering. There is no more magnificent thing in the entire world than a seat warmer in an Eastern Cape winter. Big Blue galloped across the Little Karoo to get there, released from duty as editor Fisher’s family sleepwa, showing its manifest strengths; as a tourer it eats distance for breakfast, it’s restful to pilot, and proved to be authoritative in overtaking, thanks to the meaty diesel motor. The R62 is as long as that sentence, so filling up needed to happen – and it is terrifying coughing up R1200 for the privilege. Still, on long trips 1100km on a tank is…

Nissan Safety Shield Ours is a mid-spec SE model priced at R423900 but with the optional Techno Pack fitted we benefit from the excellent Nissan Safety Shield system which adds driver aids such as lane departure warning and blind-spot monitoring. These have proven useful on the daily commute so far. Lane departure sounds a not-at-all-intrusive electronic beep if you creep over a line – not difficult in a car as big as this – and blind-spot monitoring fires an orange light from the A-pillar if it detects a car in its side-mounted cameras. V-Motion grille I know aesthetics are subjective and style is in the eye of the beholder, but I think the V-motion grille of our big, family SUV is rather fetching. Originating from the front badge, pronounced lines…

1 Nürburgring nuke 7:38 – not a long-forgotten Boeing prototype, but the second-generation Panamera Turbo’s Nordschleife laptime. That overhauls Alfa’s hot Giulia by a second, making it the ’Ring’s fastest saloon. Launching Porsche’s new MSB architecture, the biturbo V8 sits behind the front axle to improve handling. With 404kW and 770Nm a Sport Chrono-pack Turbo gobbles up 100kph in 3.6secs, but cylinder shutdown allows it to operate as a four pot. But not at the ’Ring. Driver Lars Kern gave this nonchalant appraisal of his record lap to TopCar: ‘There are always scary moments in the run up to a record. But my fastest lap was calm: the Panamera understeers in the fast corners which gives confidence, in slower corners it rotates [eagerly] helped by rear-axle steering.’ 2 World’s fastest…

GUGULETHU ‘GUGS’ ZULU has passed away. He leaves his young wife Letshego and their daughter Lelethu – who just a couple of weeks ago, turned one. The racing champion and ‘fastest brother in Africa’ passed away at around 5am on 18 July near the footsteps of Africa’s tallest and most treacherous mountain, Mount Kilimanjaro. He was part of an expedition that was climbing on behalf of the charity Trek4Mandela, in honour of Dr Nelson Mandela and to raise funds for underprivileged girls. What we know is that he had struggled with the high altitude at Kili from around 9pm that night, having complained about a mild bout of flu over the weekend. Letshego was with him but was doing much better. He had always said she was far fitter than…

WITH ALCOHOL advertising facing bans across the world, liquor companies are increasingly embracing F1’s ability to provide global marketing platforms in the name of ‘sponsorship’. Already six (of 11) teams sport some sort of alcohol tie-up – in some instances two or three brands – which leaves Todt, whose mission at the FIA (and the UN) is spreading global road safety messages – with a major headache not of his own making: Clearly drink driving is a major contributor to road deaths, and seeing alcohol labels widely displayed alongside FIA flag during grands prix does the governing body no favours. However, Todt is powerless to intervene due to the EU decree handed down during Max Mosley’s term that the FIA would desist from involving itself with commercial issues as prerequisite…

IF YOU’RE BRAVE enough to delve deep into Volvo’s brand values rule book, and I have, you’ll discover that one pillar of its ethos is: Warm Inside, Cool Outside. And that makes a great deal of sense when you’re in frosty Scandinavialand, so it’s somewhat ironic that they’ve launched the Volvo S90 here in Opposites World, also known as the Costa Del Sol in balmy Spain. Ironic because we’ve just crested 35 degrees Celsius outside but I’ve got 16 degrees of Nordic ice blasting through the climate control of this, Volvo’s most svelte slab of saloon. The S90 or Cluster 90, as was its provocative chassis nomenclature, is simply gorgeous. Elegant and chic, yet macho somehow – perhaps thanks to a very square jawline, and sure, hammers for admittedly ornate…

WHEN WILLIAM LYONS co-founded the Swallow Sidecar Company back in 1922, he probably would never have envisaged that his automotive dream would one day compete with the best manufacturers in the world. When his business partner left, Lyons established SS Cars Ltd in 1934 that, after the war, became Jaguar Cars in 1945. Lyons led the company from the front, and the cars established an enviable reputation for Grace, Space and Pace, an advertising slogan used to great effect for many years to promote Jaguar’s saloons and sports cars, markets the company has traditionally concentrated on over the years. But now, how does a Jaguar SUV sound to you? A badge-engineered version of a stablemate Land Rover, perhaps? Far from it. For starters, the F-Pace looks every millimetre a Jaguar…

IT’S BEEN roughly five years since I last drove a Volkswagen Scirocco and boy have I missed it. Right now I’m scrolling through the gears of the DSG ’box like an enraged morse-code operator in appreciation of the belching profanities reverberating off the concrete barriers of the R300. It’s a noise that never gets old but perhaps I’d be of a different opinion if my house also bordered this busy stretch of road like the residents of Blackheath and Kuilsriver. It’s just exceptionally difficult to resist the urge of pummeling the throttle pedal. It’s 6:45am and as is the norm with Cape Town winters, it’s still pitch black outside as I make my way to the somewhat talismanic Engen 1-Stop on the N2 just outside Somerset West. It’s become a…

WE’VE BEEN HERE before, of course. Honda wants to reinvent the high-speed sports car. Just over 25 years ago, emboldened by Formula 1 success, fortified by a tearaway Japanese economy, and overseen by a CEO with motorsport and fast cars in his blood – was not Nobuhiko Kawamoto an ex-Brabham and F1 Honda engineering chief? – it all seemed so natural. Destiny, almost. Honda was on a roll. Quiet mode is almost executive-car refined. Sport is perfect for most road use So, for that matter, was the Japanese car industry. This was the year – 1989 – that also saw the birth of the first Mazda MX-5 and the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R. The three greatest Japanese sports cars of all time, all launched at the same time. A year…

AS A MOTORING journalist, I’ve learnt to play it cool. I take even the most impressive things right in my stride, outwardly doing little more than cocking an eyebrow, never mind what’s going on around me at the time. As such I can comfortably slide behind the wheel of, let’s say, a Nissan GT-R on Suzuka, and make it look like nothing more exciting than sitting down for Sunday lunch in my own home. I could probably ride the space shuttle into outer space, with nothing more than a beatific smile on my face – not because I don’t feel anything inside. But because us motoring journalists would like the world to believe that we’ve seen it all, driven it all and done it all. We are apex motorists, after…

1 HARD CELL EVA’s bespoke aluminium-intensive spaceframe chassis stashes the batteries in the floorpan, and can be flexed in every dimension to suit different needs – whether that be smaller size or a greater range 2 IN-HOUSE POWER EVA can be either single-motor/rear-wheel drive or dual-motor/four-wheel drive, with power output ranging from 160kW to 440kW (for the AMG version). As with the batteries, Daimler will produce the electric motors in-house 3 SCI-FI AERO Mercedes is hinting that its EVA models will have an extreme emphasis on aerodynamic drag reduction, for improved efficiency. To achieve this, they may even deploy bodywork-extending active aerodynamics, like this 2015 IAA concept ‘IF ONE THING about the future is clear it’s that e-mobility will prevail on a grand scale’ – as director of e-drive system…

START SUCKING BLACK & DECKER CAR VACUUM CLEANER Dirty car interiors are horrible, comparable to Chinese bamboo torture. If crumbs between seats drive you nuts this Black & Decker handheld vacuum not only looks like a Robotechprop, it will suck up the nasties in an instant $49.91 (+/-R720) www.amazon.com SHOOT FROM YOUR CAR BUSHNELL WINDOW MOUNT Taking pics is easy; taking pics from the passenger seat is not. This window mount allows you to securely mount a camera and get the perfect shot every time. Obviously for slow cruises through the Kruger, not highway motion shots. R385 – www.technopro.co.za SHOW OFF YOUR CASH GOLD LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR Some people have more money than sense, especially in Dubai. A real Aventador will set you back around R7300000. This…

SO JUST what are potential buyers of Renault’s only automatic Clio in store for? We’ve been running one for the past eight months, covering 10000km in the process. Here’s what we learnt along the way… Replacing a 0.9-litre three-pot turbo Clio GT-Line, our 1.2 EDC was delivered with just over 100km on its odo. Parking it for the first time revealed its weakest attribute: an inability to inch forward or back with any finesse. Blame it on the first-gen dual-clutch transmission and the electronics governing it. But hey, as long as you’re not a parking perfectionist freak, you’ll get along just fine with Renault’s six-speed EDC gearbox. Changes on the go are quick and mostly seamless, and it’s no hunter, provided you’re not erratic with your throttle inputs. After the…

FOR THE SECOND month in row, domestic vehicle sales showed an increase over the previous month, although export sales were less than the figure reported for May 2016. The June 2016 statistics, issued jointly by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) and Lightstone Auto, the independent provider of the South African new vehicle sales information to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the automotive industry, showed that local manufacturers and distributors sold 44939 vehicles over the six market categories, with a further 30 965 being exported. By comparison, last month the respective figures were 42 907/33 676. For June 2015, the totals were 50 250/31 419. The 2016 year-to-date totals are 302 553/168 945. Mercedes-Benz (2734), Associated Motor Holdings (Hyundai, Kia, Daihatsu) together with…