Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2015 i topCar

1 Major chassis upgrade When it comes to B-roads, the Prius has always been firmly Z-list. To change that, the new one will be first Prius to be built on the Toyota New Global Architecture Platform. It delivers a lower centre of gravity and 60% increase in rigidity thanks to the use of high-strength steels. The claim is tight handling without having to suffer brutally stiff suspension. 2 Double wishbones! Building on the TNGA chassis, Prius 4 ditches its boring old torsion-beam rear end for sporty-sounding double wishbones that produce ‘one-third the level of shock when driving on uneven roads compared to the current Prius’. Also promised: reduced body roll in corners and better straight-line stability between them. Not promised: Caterham-catching ability. 3 Next gen hybrid power Toyota hasn’t released…

F1 AND INDY – what’s the difference? They’re both open-wheeled and powered by turbocharged V6 engines, but F1 and Indy are quite different. While F1 manufacturers design and build their own cars, Indy teams race machines featuring the same Dallara chassis and a Honda or Chevrolet engine. Not all Indy racing is on ovals. Some takes place on conventional racing circuits, some on street circuits. Which is more dangerous? Eight drivers have died in the US series in the last 20 years, including 37-year-old Brit Justin Wilson, who last month succumbed to injuries sustained when a piece of debris from a crash ahead hit his helmet during a race at Pocono, Pennsylvania. In contrast, Marussia driver Jules Bianchi, who collided with a recovery vehicle at the 2014 Japanese GP, was…

01 ‘Next season will be better’ My new deal doesn’t change much. I’ve known about me staying with Ferrari for some time and the aim is to do well in the second half of 2015 and even better next year. I’m pretty sure we’re going to make a good car for next season and the aim will be to win races. 02 ‘I know I can still win F1 races’ I still have the speed; the reason I haven’t had great results this year is because I haven’t put it all together, for various reasons. If I were way off then it would be time to go. But that’s not the case. I’m learning from the bad races and I’m going to make things better. 03 ‘Seb and I want…

IMITATION IS THE sincerest form of flattery, as the saying goes. Even starchy collared AMG management must’ve felt quite chuffed when both Audi and Ford dropped pumped-up, AWD hot hatches to challenge the three-year reign of their A45 uber-hatch Kommandant. AMG’s riposte is both a strategic and pragmatic one. On aesthetics alone it barely touches sides with the MAYA (Most Advanced Yet Acceptable) principle, and, eye-catching tail-lights aside, sussing out the styling tweaks to the allegedly ‘more arrow-shaped’ front bumper is real Inspector Clouseau magnifying glass stuff. Thankfully much advancement has indeed taken place underneath the skin. The engine is the same hand-built, two-time International Engine of the Year-winning four-pot found in Merc-AMG’s compact line-up but now warmed to 280kW and 475Nm thanks to an ECU tweak. This ensures retention…

I’M ON THE plane to Italy thinking how the last 18 months has been a celebration of the compact executive sedan. First came the new C-Class, followed by the Jaguar XE and rejigged 3 Series – excellent cars, all. Now it is Audi’s turn and two things amuse me. You take seven years to develop a new car that looks so similar to the old one, and then you launch it in Venice where the speed limit is 7kph and the ‘roads’ are more suited to Bond’s Esprit. Okay, so Venice is merely the metaphorical backdrop for the launch, the driving is to take place in the hills around Susegana, a short drive from Venice’s Marco Polo airport. As for the same-again looks, my perceptions of the ninth generation A4’s…

X-TYPE IS NOT a car Jaguar wants you to remember – the Ford Mondeo-based, Liverpudlian alley cat, though no dog, was hardly Jag’s finest hour, as good an example of badge engineering as you’ll find in automotive history. Still, it sets the bar for the successor, albeit fairly low. Hardly surprising then that the new cat is heaps better, a pedigree puss, mixing easily with the larger, more affluent Jaguar family. Ian Callum’s family resemblance is immediately obvious in the XE, from the hang-dog inverted J-Blade running lights at the front, the hollow grille, to the vaguely coupe-like profile and the E-Type inspired rear lights. But it’s not going to stop traffic this design – it’s too important to be anything but largely conventional – and conservative Lexus/Audi/Merc/BMW three-box-sedan owners…

THERE’S A LOT going on here – new models, new body styles, new engines and grades. I’m talking about crew cabs, extended cabs and of course the obligatory double. On top-spec derivatives there’s a fancy minimalist key fob – a sign of keyless entry, and a segment first. The range topper also boasts a 6.5-inch, 1080p, Android-powered GPS and multimedia interface. And, if yours is an LS model you can even spec some 18-inch alloys. It seems Isuzu is feeling the pressure for a more car-like experience. New KB also enjoys updated lamp clusters fore and aft, but the biggest inclusion across the entire range must be electronic stability control, a boon on the dirt, accomplished on the road. We spent the launch at Sandwani Game Lodge crawling over the…

I LIKE TO kick off a feature with some penetration don’t you? In this case we’re bursting through the gaping hole beneath the Ou Engelse Fort left behind by the winding R62 provincial road just 4km shy of Montagu. I’m charging hard and fast in BMW’s electric wunderkind, the i8. It’s the odd one out on our epic journey, a forward-thinking representation of what a modern manufacturer is capable of when allowed to let their imaginations run rampant. I’ll give you the claimed figures right away; 266kW, 0-100kph in 4.4 seconds and a combined fuel consumption of 2.1l/100km. Yes, real world testing will reveal a different story but takes nothing away from what is an impressive payload from a hybridised 1.5-litre three-cylinder engine and its inherent eDRIVE four-wheel drivetrain. This…

THE ROAD AHEAD IS black. The road behind me is also black. Ditto to the sides – the wide almost-endless expanse flanking me, save for several kilometres away where majestic obsidian mountains grow so tall they puncture the blanket of grey clouds that have haunted us since touching down in Reykjavik some 24 hours earlier. Also, when I say road I guess I really mean off-road trail. See it’s dirt, black because the surface is essentially composed of ash from the prolific volcanoes in this area. This is Iceland. To be more specific this is South Iceland, and I’m piloting a 2016 Toyota Hilux in crimson sheet metal along the F337 dirt road between Hloóufell and Laugarvatn – essentially a lava field. Yet this will not necessarily be the most…

I CAN’T TALK. I don’t mean in the metaphoric sense; I mean, I really can’t talk. My mouth opens but only a pathetic croak emerges, interspersed at random moments with a crack that sends my suffering vocal chords soaring an octave higher. This could be a problem: in just a few hours I will be calling pace notes from the very seat where Nicky Grist once guided Colin McRae to victory in the 1998 Rally of Portugal. The ceremonial start of the 2015 Eifel Rallye Festival, a gathering every year of flame-spewing old rally cars and star drivers, is just an hour or so away. A surreal few days begins in a small hotel in the provincial town of Daun, Germany. I am sitting down to breakfast when in…

‘WE BELIEVE THAT CARS are becoming overcomplicated and overdesigned. The Cactus M is all about the spirit of simplicity. All the best old Citroëns have a romantic feeling to them: the 2CV, the Méhari, the DS. That’s what we’re trying to recapture here. > Cars are becoming more complicated yes, but don’t assume everyone wants more gadgets. My young designers in their 20s are buying ‘young-timers’ in their spare time – ’80s and ’90s cars like Porsche 944s. They appreciate simple pleasures. If we do add technology like safety features to our range, they should operate seamlessly in the background. > We’ve designed the Cactus M around the surfer lifestyle: we spoke to real surfers and they loved icons like the VW Combi and our old Méhari beach buggy. But…

DARKNESS – BE GONE! BIG ASS GARAGE LIGHT 122 Watts pumping 13000 Lumens will make your garage visible from the moon (not really). The Big Ass Light looks great and also provides great pub talk subject matter. The LEDs last up to 150000 hours, which is a long, longtime. Neighbours will think you’ve captured a star. $399 (+/-R4700) www.bigasslight.com BECOME YOUR OWN TRACKING COMPANY DELPHI CONNECT Okay, it’s only available overseas on cell contracts, but we need it here. Track and monitor your car from anywhere on your mobile device. Log speeds, driving habits and track the car live. Sends out distress signals in an emergency, too, and can open your car if you ever lock the keys inside. $100 (+/-R1200) www.delphiconnect.com WHEN BOREDOM KICKS IN POWER UP…

THE MISSION E is a 448kW all-electric 800-volt four-door sports car – a bit like a squashed Panamera, but with a stealthy swagger that turns heads. Especially in its matte-white paint job with white and black carbon alloys and neat detailing such as a full-width LED lighting bar for rear lights. And those rear doors are suicide hatches, revealing a 2+2 cabin. But don’t go mistaking this for a 911 (despite that echo in the rear window line)... this is an entirely new kind of Porsche, one to challenge Tesla and other EV upstarts. This is no econo-box: it’ll lap the Nurburgring in less than eight minutes. Porsche claims the Mission E will pass 100kph in ‘less than 3.5 seconds’, dashing past 200kph in just a dozen seconds. Top speed…

JUAN MANUEL FANGIO is definitely dead. This indisputable fact was confirmed last month when the poor old five-time world champion was dug up and wheeled out of the family crypt in his hometown of Balcarce, Argentina. The legend lives on, perhaps, but the authorities have confirmed that Fangio himself is still very much deceased, and lying in the box he was placed in back in 1995. Fangio was dug up because two men in their 70s say that he was their father, and after a long-running paternity battle an Argentinian judge finally ordered the world champion’s body be taken out of the cemetery and sent down the morgue for a DNA sample to be taken. The results will be known in a month or so. Fangio never married, but he…

UP AGAINST BETTER THAN Mercedes-Benz S-Class If you enjoy driving WORSE THAN Rolls-Royce Ghost But then the Roller’s several times the price WE’D BUY BMW 730d And be very happy indeed… FOR WHAT IS, in principle if not execution, one of the most traditional and conservative of cars, the new 7 Series is pretty adept at prompting bouts of child-like wonder. Not merely from the effortless, polished powertrain, the library-at-midnight near-silence of the cabin or the impressively nuanced chassis – they’re almost givens on BMW’s flagship – but for the arsenal of impressively resolved technology packaged into its vast steel, aluminium, magnesium and now carbonfibre structure. An example. You’re firing down a stretch of gently undulating dual-carriageway, your surroundings of lacquered wood, baby-soft leather and cool aluminium made more inviting…

THE PREVIOUS-GENERATION 1 Series wasn’t much loved around the world. Some thought of it as a swine with Bell’s palsy which subsequently earned it the unofficial title of ugliest BMW in the range. The harsh criticisms levelled at its aesthetics stung the BMW design team who consequently carried out a complete visual refresh to make amends. Now that its facade won’t scare away any would-be buyers can it finally get the credit it deserves as a hot hatch contender? It is after all the only rear-drive hatchback in the segment with pure, uncorrupted steering and impressive handling manners to boot. What’s not to like? Common ground Well, let’s start with the interior. The cockpit has been left pretty much unchanged and while that’s not necessarily a bad thing, it is…

NOT YOUR AVERAGE STOP-OVER We’re used to crappy B&Bs and a pie when we overnight for a story, so the Karoo Art Hotel in Barrydale came as something of a surprise. Once a fairly standard creaky-floorboards-and-dodgy-bar auberge, new owners have taken the historic building, scattered magic fairy dust and created a destination in itself. So every room is an artistic tour de force, unique and of itself. Of the 15 suites, all en suite, the pick has to be the Garden Suite, which features a Zen pond, private courtyard with an outside shower and a good old fashioned Karoo afdak, excellent for private sundowners and a bit of r&r. As with the other suites, it’s the funky accents that make the difference; witness the Amini Causa-inspired hand sofa, the Mexican…

1973-1981 The early years First World Championship comprises classic events from the rally calendar. The ’70s is the era of flamboyant heroes such as Munari, Clark and Mikkola. Regs permit a broad variety of cars, from mid-engined Lancias to heavyweight 450SLC Merc coupes. 1987-1996 Group A Production-based cars mark the new era, which matures into a thrilling battle of various factory teams from Europe and Japan: think Integrale, Celica GT4, Escort Cosworth, Impreza and Mitsubishi Evo, all with memorable road versions. 2011-present Smaller is better? WRC attempts to regroup, with smaller, more dramatic cars powered by 1.6-litre engines. VW and Hyundai factory teams do battle, with the former’s big budget making them the new force. 1982-1986 Group B Low production numbers (200) combine with turbo power, 4wd and composite bodywork…

HELLO MONTH 1 VW TOUAREG LUXURY 3.0 V6 TDI 4MOTION R-LINE GUESS IT’S A South African thang, calling the Mk2 VW Golf a ‘Jumbo Golf’. You know the term hey? And you can see why – the Mk2 was indeed reminiscent of its Giugiaro forebear, albeit a bit swollen like an errant grain of rice left out on a damp kitchen counter. My newly arrived longterm Volkswagen Touareg however is not like a soggy bit of grain, not one bit. It’s tight. Taut. But it is jumbo. The Golf similarities don’t end there; even those massive 20 inch Talladega alloy wheels mimic those from the previous Golf R performance hatch – another proponent of 4Motion. There’s something about a contemporary Volkswagen that exudes class, excels in it in contrast to…

MONTH 2 RENAULT CLIO GT-LINE It’s all dynamique in here It’s all regular Dynamique spec inside the GT-Line, which means classy piano black centre console edged by chintzy plastic chrome. The only internal difference is visible when you open the doors to reveal RenaultSport plates on the sills. Why? We’re not sure. Renault’s ‘Bass Reflex’ sound system adds a little more boom to the tin. Cable tied Lots of kit in the Clio, much of it quite useful. Renault’s Media Nav multimedia system does without a bank of buttons or control dial; all it’s functions are accessed via a 7-inch touchscreen. The intuitive nav has a 3D display option and there’s Bluetooth for safer mobile conversations and audio streaming. As reported last month, playback is somewhat sketchy, which necessitates use…

THERE ARE hardly ever any outright surprise debuts at a motor show these days, but the all-new Volkswagen Tiguan came pretty close. The first images appeared online just hours before the newcomer was driven onto the stage at the VW Group’s multi-brand extravaganza on the eve of the show. Sandwiched between the batty Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo concept and Porsche’s spectacular Mission E, the second-generation Tiguan was a welcome dose of reality clothed in perfectly reworked proportions and sophisticated style. Clock that shorter bonnet, fuller surfaces and planted stance. On looks alone it stands every chance of at least matching the success of the original, of which 2.64 million units were built. New Tiggy is the first SUV to ride on the group’s MQB platform as enjoyed by Golf 7.…

A Jaguar to drive ‘You’ll recognise the XF in the way the F-Pace drives – you won’t need a DNA test to know it’s a Jaguar,’ says design director Ian Callum. ‘It’s great to drive and the ride quality is good even on the 22-inch forged wheels, helped by the relatively generous sidewalls of the 265/40 R22 tyres.’ ‘The F-Pace’s wheelbase [2874mm] and track dimensions are unique, and that’s down to the difference between a platform and an architecture. Ours is a chassis architecture, conceived with F-Pace in mind, so there’s no compromise,’ explains Kevin Stride. ‘Front suspension is double wishbone and the rear is integral multi-link, a development of XF’s Power or parsimony The F-Pace range will be offered in four trims; Prestige, R-Sport, Portfolio and range-topping S. The…

YOU’LL HAVE NO doubt noticed the shift in Mercedes-Benz’s SUV-naming convention this year. By the end of 2015 the GL will be replaced by the GLS, M-Class has already become GLE, the same car with parts of its rear end lopped off is a GLE Coupe, the more compact GLK is now a GLC, and the ‘my first Merc SUV’ is of course the GLA. That’s more letter rearranging than a weekend scrabble marathon at your grandma’s house but there is one exception to all this: the G-Class. And it’s an exception in more ways than just its badge. Thirty-six years in production at the Magna Steyr facility in Austria, each of the 68 cars produced every day is still hand-built with the help of 6400 manual welds to its…

UP AGAINST BETTER THAN Lamborghini Aventador SV Sorry Lambo, but LT trumps SV WORSE THAN McLaren P1 But It’s closer than you might think WE’D BUY McLaren 675LT Except they’re all sold SLOWER BURNING THAN one of those unfeasibly slothful fuses on a TV-movie stick of dynamite, McLaren’s Super Series range has finally exploded into true greatness with the introduction of the 675LT. Somehow managing to blend the raw dynamism of a full-on track machine with most of the civility of the 650S, it packs the best power-to-weight ratio in its class and a kick like a railway gun when the turbos get going. If big brother P1 had a collar, he’d be nervously tugging it away from his neck right now. The LT stands for Longtail, and the car…

CONTAGION BEING what it is, some folk may knee-jerk and avoid every Volkswagen Group diesel for the next few years. That would be a mistake for all sorts of reasons, chief among them the chance to commandeer this Ingolstadt masterclass. As detailed in our July 2015 issue, new Q7 promises much and delivers most of that. Launched locally there will be only two models – initially – the 3.0TDI driven here and in February, the 2.0T FSI petrol variant. Both cars are well-specced for the local market, with the much-hyped tech all there, from adaptive air suspension to integrated connectivity and every driver aid imaginable, including that nifty trailer reversing aid. Tech aside, driving the Q7 is an exercise in entertainment and on the road the megalodon jumps the proverbial…

WELCOME TO THE reinvention. Despite a really strong second-gen follow-up to the somewhat troubled original Freelander, Land Rover has ditched the nameplate in favour of this; the Discovery Sport. Not just a new badge but an etch-a-sketch do-over, we test the sleeker, more desirable newcomer in diesel-engined SE specification. Visionary good looks As a harbinger of all things future Discovery, Land Rover’s Discovery Vision Concept, shown in 2014, provides much of the new Sport’s external design cues. These include ultra-clean surfacing, tapered overhangs, cut-off reverse rake C-pillars, distinctly geometric headlights-into-grille graphic and side crease lines that dissect the handles and finish in cool but faux front fender vents. Every line on the bodywork is obsessively minimalist and purposeful, resulting in a shape that borders on the iconic. It’s one of…

THIS IS THE biggest moment in the 911’s evolution since the water-cooled engine replaced air-cooling back in 1997. That change was mostly about noise levels, yet it sent shockwaves coursing through the 911-sphere after 34 years of air power. But the 911 survived, despite a challenging new look that made the 996 the first 911 to appear more revolution than evolution. Now, as the current 991 model gets a mid-life overhaul for 2016, the change is all about efficiency – more torque from a downsized twin-turbocharged engine, less thirst, lower emissions. It’s the zeitgeist. All Porsches (bar the GT3) will be turbocharged from now on, so we have no choice but to get used to it. But the 911’s unique handling characteristics, its power delivery, its soundtrack, are delicate things.…

1 The process starts with a CAD model of the component. The model can be rendered and viewed on-screen but that’s no good for a design review… 2 The CAD model’s data is transmitted directly to the 3D printer, which gradually builds up the part in layers as fine as a human hair. A laser scans across the material, fusing it together and building the component 3 Because 3D printing is an additive process, only applying material where it’s needed, waste is considerably reduced compared to traditional modelling methods 4 The part, in this case a wing mirror, is finished in hours, versus days or even weeks by other means. It’s ready to be fitted to a clay model for a styling review BLOWING James Bond’s DB5 to smithereens in…

TYRES ARE JUST tyres to the majority of road users, an irritation and a major expense; if there’s a corner to be cut, it’s usually the rubber. Increasingly tyres are crucial to performance and economy, specific tyres designed for specific cars and anything less reduces the effectiveness. Witness the VW Polo’s new BlueMotion 1.0TSI – its low rolling resistance Bridgestone Ecopia’s use nanotechnology to create tighter molecular bonds between the different natural and synthetic rubber blends, so reducing heat build-up and the consequent drag on the road. And silica in the rubber compound helps make the tyre soft without the need to heat it up. Less heat, less friction, less drag. At the other end of the scale General Tire went to extreme lengths to prove the durability and toughness…

MONTH 3 MAZDA6 YOU THINK YOU know a place, and then you realise you don’t know a place – too late. My mother’s favourite cliché was my father, she could always count on him doing what she knew he always would. Or wouldn’t. Chief among his various crimes was that most male thing of all, refusing to ask for directions. Many a holiday was spent cruising the coastal belt, demonstrably lost, except not, not according to my father. This was of course before the days of satnav, cellphones or multi-racial beaches, so getting lost was potentially a political incident. But no, ask he would not, the R532 was always just around the corner. Fast forward 30 something years and I’m channelling daddy, lost in my own backyard, baffled but quietly…

MONTH 5 BMW 335i GT WE’RE SPOILT FOR choice at TopCar, especially when it comes to test cars. Whenever exotic sheet metal arrives at our office for testing, our long-termers are usually shunned in favour of the newer models. While it’s all part of the job, it’s pretty sad seeing them parked in the corner for days on end. I swear I can see the abandonment in Hunchy’s eyes every time this happens. But cars are inanimate objects and they don’t have feelings right? I disagree. I think they do have emotions – and I’ve been feeling rather guilty for leaving my trusty GT parked all by itself. Perhaps I’m a glutton for stupidly fast, performance cars but that’s the main reason behind Hunchy’s abandonment. If you browse this issue…