Tabla de contenidos para October 2016 en topCar

01 Who needs a Veyron? ‘We’ve just set a quarter-mile time at Santa Pod of 9.86sec at a 195kph average, the fastest yet recorded for an EV. The car is a 1974 Enfield 8000, originally used as a pool car for the Brighton electric board. Original top speed was 64kph. I fully expect people to laugh at it but we’re in the 9sec bracket, which is as quick as a 918 Spyder!’ 02 Road legality remains ‘It runs in a drag racing class called the Street Eliminator series, for road-legal cars. There’s a 40km mandatory cruise on the road before racing, and slick tyres aren’t allowed. This is the first EV in the series. Most of the other cars have twin-turbo V8s, some with 1500kW. The Enfield originally had 6kW.…

1 Harley Earl (1927-’58) KEY CARS: 1938 BUICK Y-JOB, 1953 CHEVROLET CORVETTE As the first design boss for a major carmaker with his own styling department, Earl’s legend is secure. He also designed the world’s first ever concept car (the 1938 Buick Y-Job), introduced clay as a medium with which to create car model surfaces (still the industry standard today) and brought the world the automotive tail fin, beloved of US cars throughout the ’50s. 2 Bill Mitchell (1958-’77) KEY CARS: 1963 BUICK RIVIERA, 1963 CORVETTE STINGRAY Mitchell’s time working for Earl from the late ’30s and as top dog from 1958-’77 was a golden period for GM design. But, as industry veteran Bob Lutz points out, ‘at times it showed wasteful flamboyance’. An engineering backlash followed. 3 Irv Rybicki…

NOW I KNOW the reason I’m in the far reaches of northern Europe to drive Porsche’s new mid-engined sports car. After all, positioned in south-western Scania county and famed for the magnificent Øresund bridge connecting Denmark to Sweden, Malmö receives upwards of 18 hours sunlight a day this time of year. It’s these warm Scandinavian rays that are bathing a row of Seven-Eighteens parked outside our hotel. Pupils dilate, the white dazzle settles to reveal a beautifully honed shape, much of its design purloined from the Boxster, all part of a 718 pincer plan that has the two models sharing the same basic mechanics for cost effectiveness. The result is inescapable though. Caymans of old looked like they were going both ways at once, but the 718 is crisp, forward…

IF YOU’RE GOING to do this, do it properly. Forget mucking about in ecoweenie no man’s land with the Hyundai Ioniq Hybrid, and go straight for the Hyundai Ioniq Electric instead. It’s not that the Hybrid is without merit. As per its Kia Niro platform mate, the 104kW petrol-electric Ioniq ditches the continuously variable transmission most hybrids are lumbered with in favour of a far more positive six-speed dual-clutch experience. This comes with a weight and efficiency penalty – so the Prius keeps its CO2 crown, even if it loses the overall beauty contest – but means the noises coming from under the Ioniq’s bonnet are at least vaguely in keeping with the amount of forward momentum your right foot is after. It is still quite noisy, though. And a…

HOW MANY TIMES have you heard this tagline about a car? The ‘go anywhere, compact SUV aimed at young, urban professionals with an active lifestyle.’ Not as often as us motoring journalists I can assure you. With the exception of, ‘bold stance’ and ‘coupe-like roof line,’ that piece of motoring bumf, or some variation of it, must be the most overworked in the trade. Firstly, which carmaker wouldn’t want to market its cars to people with an active lifestyle? Even Honda, purveyor of cars for the elderly (er... see page 94 – Ed), has seen fit to produce the HR-V. Secondly, car companies profess to know how much disposable income the youth have to splurge on their choice of motorcar, but a top-spec Ford EcoSport costs around R300k. More affordable…

What started as a niche has become the establishment it was so keen to upset THE CROSSOVER HAS reached the other side. What started as a niche of mainstream hatch alternatives combining a touch of SUV style with car-like manners has become the establishment it was so keen to upset. This year more high-rise hatches will be sold than ever before, and we’ll likely spend more time writing about them as a result. So in this, the last issue before we change the name of our magazine to What Crossover & 420kW Supercar Driver, we’re looking at a quiet giant of the almost-SUV game. Born in 2007 when an atomic accident at Wolfsburg’s R&D centre resulted in a Mk5 Golf being fitted with the body of a Renault 4 and…

The golden age? Before F1 technology shot for the stars with carbon tubs, pneumatic valves and paddleshift ’boxes FORMULA ONE IS changing again. For 2017 wider cars will run on broader tyres and with bigger wings and diffusers to slash lap times and, Ecclestone hopes, silence critics who say the cars simply aren’t fast or ferocious enough, and that the hybrid V6 era isn’t quite the spectacle the pinnacle of world motorsport should be, or has been. The new-look 2017 cars will enjoy a hybrid aesthetic, with the advanced aero shapes of the current cars stretched across the broader proportions of the kind of machines raced by Mansell, Senna and, before the sport went narrow-track and grooved tyre in ’98. Not for the first time F1 is chasing its tail,…

‘THERE ARE A few golden rules in car manufacturing,’ Dr. Gernot Döllner, the head of Panamera model range development tells assembled journalists. ‘And the new Panamera breaks all of them... You never produce a new car, with new engines, in a new factory.’ That’s not like zee Germans to break all the rules – but the G2 Panamera does the lot. It’s indicative of Porsche’s comprehensive rethink of its four-seater saloon. Not one item is a carryover. New Panamera is built on an all-new modular platform, designated MSB and flexible to the tune of three different wheelbases, in a new facility at Porsche’s Leipzig plant. This means a chance of further model spin-offs: an extended wheelbase version, a hybrid and a Sport Turismo estate are dead certs, while a large…

Thule WingBar Edge racks It all starts with a set of Thule roof racks. The Mazda comes with four mounting points on its roof which serve as bolt anchors for the racks. The fitment was pretty straight forward and completed in just ten minutes. One of the benefits of installing these racks is the variety of Thule products available – from cargo carriers and bike racks to kayak and surfboard holders. They’re also lockable meaning you won’t have to worry about them being pinched when you’re at the mall, beach or mountain bike trail. ProRide 598 bike holder system I decided on the ProRide 598 holder – an intuitive system which mounts the bike in an upright position safely and securely (see main image below). Like the racks it can…

AFTER TWO MONTHS of domestic vehicle sales showing an increase over the previous month, July’s figures stopped the trend, albeit only just. A mere 62 units was the shortfall over June 2016’s total. Similarly, export sales were down by 2160 units. Compared with July 2015, domestic sales were down 17.0% but exports were 2.4% higher. The July 2016 statistics, issued jointly by NAAMSA and Lightstone Auto showed that local manufacturers and distributors sold over categories, with a further 29 042 being exported. By comparison, last month the respective figures were 44 945/31 202. For July 2015, the totals were 54 105/28 358. The 2016 year-to-date totals are 356 742 local sales and 197 303 exports. Mercedes-Benz (2 734), Associated Motor Holdings (Hyundai, Kia, Daihatsu) together with Amalgamated Automobile Distributors (4…

Aesthetically the AMG is reminiscent of an LMP1 racer Carnival of carbonfibre To stand a chance of achieving its power-to-weight target the R50 will use a carbon monocoque. AMG’s marketeers will delight in making the link to the tub Lewis and Nico call home Wing commander AMG’s F1 car is an aero miracle, delivering crushing downforce for little drag. R50 road car will boast active front flaps and a multi-role rear wing capable of optimising the aero balance and stalling in a low-drag DRS position Where’s my F1- derived V6? Since lobbing the F1 engine in a road car just won’t work, AMG is planning a 745kW 2.0-litre turbo four boosted by up to three electric motors for Bugatti Chironesque output MERCEDES-AMG IS looking to bring some of its track…

1 Uh-oh – it’s that arrowhead again! Yes, three years on from the Tokyo show car of 2013 Nissan’s back with its weird pointy three-seater, this time punted as ‘an exciting real-life study into the potential of advanced EV performance – an EV for car lovers.’ 2 So it’s electric, then? Power comes from a 220kW battery feeding two 130kW electric motors, each powering one of the rear wheels. Williams Engineering supplied the drivetrain, and it’s pretty fruity, with 0-100 in 5.0sec and a 190kph max. 3 Fun to drive? They say so. The narrow front track/wider rear is said to offer superb stability. It packs adjustable torque vectoring, with three modes including ‘agile’ and ‘drift’. So Nissan’s making the right noises, even if the car doesn’t. 4 Looks theatrical!…

REMEMBER THOSE multi-hued cars of Formula 1’s tobacco era? Black and gold Loti, red/ white adorning McLarens and Ferraris before the former went all silver with yet another brand, the yellow/ blue Williams that swept all before them before switching to the red/yellow of some strange Australian brand? Remember, then, how suddenly F1 went back to boring liveries during the midnoughties; how team budgets were suddenly slashed to less than half their former extravagance? The reason was two-fold: influx of motor manufacturers – who, in the main, did not wish to be associated with the dreaded weed, although some, such as Renault, had no such qualms – and severe bans on tobacco branding on global television feeds. Despite increasing numbers of countries instituting tobacco advertising bans, F1 evaded their laws…

FANS OF MERCEDES-BENZ’S rebellious little four-door coupe are likely to be a little disappointed by its latest facelift. When the CLA-Class first came onto the scene in 2013 it not only had a completely unique aesthetic for what was essentially a booted A-Class – and a handsome one at that, assuming you specified the 18-inch wheels – but it was engineered on the firm’s compact architecture so it shared four-cylinder drivetrains with the A- and B-Class. This kept it affordable to those who couldn’t stretch to a C-Class sedan and tempted first-time buyers who might not have considered the three-pointed star before. The gamble paid off. Today the CLA sports an 80 percent conquest rate from other manufacturers and Mercedes-Benz says the average CLA buyer is 13-years younger than owners…

CIVIC HAS PLAYED a very important role in Honda’s history. It is the company’s longest-running model, the first generation appearing in 1973 since when it has evolved through nine generations. ‘Civic is very special,’ said Honda Motor Southern Africa’s new president Toshaki Konaka at the launch of the tenth-generation model. ‘Civic made Honda a global car manufacturer.’ During the past 43 years more than 23 million units have been sold in 170 countries from nine production plants and its popularity is increasing. So the expectations for the new model are high. Will it succeed? Naturally, the new car is the most advanced and dynamic version yet and is based on a new lightweight, low-inertia, high-rigidity frame that weighs 22kg less than the previous model, yet boasts 25 per cent greater…

AUDI’S RUSSIAN doll product strategy demands at all times either a forensic interest in the increasingly daunting range or else a simple cheaty soundbite. With the latter in mind, here’s the deal with the S4: it’s like an A4, but with a few telltale signs making you ask ‘you been working out?’ It is also, until next year’s RS4, as high as you can climb up the A4 pole. Subtle muscularity includes a gapier front bumper, edgier sills and a mock rear diffuser housing a quartet of exhaust outlets. There’s a smattering of sporty cabin cues, too. Despite the unremarkability of its visuals, it’s quick. Not RS4 quick, but Merc-AMG C43, BMW 340i and Jaguar XE S quick – hitting 100kph in 4.7 seconds and topping out at a limited…

SOUTH AFRICA’S history with the Polo goes back to 1996 when the rebadged Seat Ibiza was introduced as the Playa. It’s been mostly a happy relationship since then, Saffers taking to Golf Lite like Brazilians to samba. And the dance goes on; in 2010 the Mk IV Polo shed weight and features, morphing into the Vivo, the heir apparent to the prehistoric CitiGolf. Thanks to its price and heritage, it’s been a consistent top five seller ever since. What it wasn’t – isn’t – is exciting; Vivo traded what few thrills and whoopee Polo IV offered for sense and solidity. Back in 2011 Volkswagen read this as a gap and filled it with the two-door Vivo GT, sure that its student market could do with a pinch more pizazz. Here…

R150000 buys a lot of second-hand car. The top selling pre-owned cars last year, according to the National Automobile Dealer’s Association (NADA) were the VW Polo Vivo 1.4 Trendline, followed by the Toyota Corolla 1.3 Esteem, Toyota Corolla Quest 1.6, Toyota Yaris, Renault Sandero and previous generations Hyundai i20 and Ford Figo. Buying a one-year-old car, often with a higher specification level than the new equivalent, saves an average of 22 per cent. Examples of more specific savings are: a low-spec 2015 Mazda 3 1.6 with 15 000km sells at R160 000, not bad when the new car is now R252 000 (it comes with a 3-year unlimited service and warranty) and a VW Vivo 1.4 Trendline that retails new for R178 900 averages R159 900 with a year and…

IF YOU DIDN’T know better you’d think a skirmish had broken out in Cape Town’s CBD what with all the explosions, percussive pops and hisses bouncing off the skyscrapers that bookend Adderley Street near the foreshore. We apologise to fellow commuters and employees of the city for disturbing the peace – really, we do, but we just can’t help ourselves. Especially me. I’m usually the guilty party in this regard revving and kicking the throttle pedal in an attempt to compose some sort of mechanical masterpiece. See I’m in the all-new Audi R8 V10 Plus which is an appreciably loud machine thanks to its naturally aspirated 5.2-litre engine. The unfiltered V10 is free-revving and crisp but I can’t access the full wrath of its 8250rpm rev range just yet as…

TESLA ADMITS that its ambitions alone would snaffle the world’s entire lithium ion battery production. To ease the bottleneck, and to help deliver affordable mass-market EVs with an acceptable range (Tesla says the plant will drive down the kilowatt hour costs of its batteries by 30 per cent) it is building the Gigafactory in Nevada. The vast (3200 acres, $5bn) plant, which has been under construction since summer 2014, was officially opened in July. That’s not to say it’s finished – actual completion is reckoned to come in 2020, but a modular approach means 14 per cent of the place is now operational, making batteries together with partner Panasonic, which has also invested in the Gigafactory. Incidentally, the official address is Electric Avenue… ‘There are a couple of reasons for…

AFTER THE CRAZY hype of the Hilux launch early this year it might have been expected that big brother Fortuner would’ve slipped in the back door, no high drama, a national icon maybe but perhaps not the shouter its bakkie brethren is. Not a chance – if anything Fortuner has been the hero, smashing sales records and leaving a boardroom full of Toyota suits feeling very proud of themselves. Understandably so; Fortuner looks set to sell upwards of 5000 before year-end, a remarkable achievement given the current climate of downscaling, belt-tightening and general hand-wringing. OFF THE BEATEN TRACK Our first testing ground was the far Northern Cape Karoo, a challenge that involved 900km in just one day, fast blacktop up the newly finished N7, the switchback Vanrhyns Pass and then…

HOW CAN AUTONOMOUS capabilities improve your off-road prowess and protect 4x4s and their occupants? Those are the questions Land Rover is exploring with four fledgling technologies – some of them world firsts – fitted to prototypes undergoing testing in the UK. Engineers are striving for advances in the realm of connected cars, ‘seeing’ technologies and highly automated driving – with all of them designed to enhance a Land Rover’s broad abilities in its natural habitat: off-road. ‘In future, we will offer autonomous driving in the widest range of terrain, and in all types of weather conditions,’ says Jaguar Land Rover product strategy director James Towle. While the overhead sensing system looks the most feasible right now, don’t expect to add the others to your off-road armoury for some years yet.…

AN XK FOR GOLF MONEY ADULT’S JAGUAR XK120 MINI ROADSTER Most of us can’t afford a 1948 Jaguar XK, but if size isn’t an issue then this 1:2 scale might be of interest. You can even drive it thanks to a 110cc, 4-stroke, air-cooled engine capable of 60kph. Stops too thanks to Brembo brakes. (R312000) www.hammacher.com USEFUL COUTURE THE TOOL BELT Secret tools hidden in everyday wear make men happy – remember the Leatherman craze? Anyway, this leather Tool Belt features three spanners, two screwdrivers and a bottle opener. Just make sure nobody’s looking before you unbuckle. (+/-R470) www.thisiswhyimbroke.com SMELLS LIKE MEN 2 STROKE SMOKE CANDLE Say goodbye to those dreadful lavender and honey-scented candles forever. Mark your territory with an uber manly candle made from actual 2-stroke…

‘OPEN-TOP’ LAFERRARI 350kph+ You’d think all they’d need at Maranello was a tin opener from the canteen – after all, the carbonfibre structure of the LaFerrari is part of a package that represents the pinnacle of Prancing Horse engineering. But it turns out lopping the roof off comes with the same consequences here as it does with any other car, and Ferrari says ‘significant and extensive modifications’ were required to bring the roadster’s chassis up to the coupe’s levels of ‘torsional rigidity and beam stiffness’. Maranello isn’t saying much about the open-top LaFerrari at this stage, except to confirm that it will have the same powertrain and performance figures as the fixed-roof variant, while featuring a carbonfibre hard top or removable soft top. Look really closely and you might spot…

Lighter EMP2 platform is 70kg lighter than its predecessor. Compatible for cars and crossovers; five wheelbases with a variation of 220mm in 55mm steps by inserting strips between the ‘B’ posts and heel board. Four rear units for saloons, estates and 5- or 7-seaters. Further Next-gen heat pump operates to -30°C for air-con and 6kW heating system; doesn’t drain electric power, gives extra 50km range. Uses thermodynamic exchange between air-flow and refrigerant fluid. Braking Contactless braking: 90% of the time uses electric motor’s resistance to slow the car. Brake pads are only employed in an emergency, thereby regenerating electricity for the battery. Faster All-new eight-speed auto ’box with integrated 80kW/270Nm electric motor. Allows engine-off coasting with a clutch disconnecting the engine from the transmission; re-start within 200ms. Capable of 225kph…

With its iconic orange/black paintwork, the car has a colour scheme and livery synonymous in the minds of many motor sport fans with the triumphs of the 1970s THE CAR WAS originally revealed at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este in May and is one of several BMW tribute-paying Concepts. Others include the dramatic 3.0 CSL Hommage and the supercharged R 5 Hommage motorcycle. BMW originally revealed the 2002 Hommage Concept to – somewhat confusingly – celebrate the 50th anniversary of the introduction of the two-door 1602. That car evolved into the 2002, and fabled 2002 Turbo, which this concept primarily evokes. Karim Habib, head of design at BMW, said: ‘The BMW 2002 Hommage celebrates the extraordinary feats of engineering on which BMW turbo technology is based and re-interprets them in…

TWO MONTHS AFTER sampling six of the best cars in BMW’s 100-year history (TopCar, August), it is a pleasure to report on a new machine that will likely be revered when our digital publishing successor (Top Autonomous Electric Car incorporating Robot Driver?) commemorates BMW in another 100 years. The M2 does what the latest M3, M4 and M5 do not. It has delicious steering response, agile handling, and an uplifting zing and zestfulness. It proves that BMW’s product proliferation isn’t all bad news for driving enthusiasts. This mushrooming of models – from i3 to X3, from Active Tourer to X6 – has diluted the firm’s once renowned dynamic excellence: a multiplication of offerings invariably means a lowering of standards. Yet the M2 proves that the enthusiasts at BMW haven’t been…

BEING SERIOUSLY upstaged by your younger, much buffer and even cooler brother must be tough to swallow. Why, just the other day the V40 and its higher-riding Cross Country cousin were the headline-grabbing torchbearers for Scandinavian style. Then along came Volvo’s brilliant new XC90. With vanguard design and clever engineering it blasted the luxury SUV world like a hammer-wielding superhero, capturing all the limelight in the process. With the S90 sedan following in its footsteps, and a slew of exciting compact architecture (CMA platform) cars waiting in the wings, it’s no wonder the V40’s feeling left out. Volvo’s tonic for the littlest Swede is a mid-cycle refresher comprising new grille treatments, the latest ‘iron mark’ badge, optional full-LED headlights, and new wheel designs, exterior paint colours and interior upholstery options.…

WHEN RENAULT’S mid-size Kadjar crossover hit the local market back in April it was offered with 1.2-litre petrol and 1.6-litre diesel engines in a range topped by an all-wheel-drive diesel derivative. But South Africans are a choosy bunch so the French maker has now added two new gearboxes and one new engine option to the Kadjar’s mechanical mix. The 96kW, 1.2-litre turbocharged petrol – previously only in manual guise – is now available with a 7-speed EDC dual-clutch automatic transmission priced from R399900. The ‘new’ engine option is the familiar 1.5-litre diesel already in service right across the Renault-Nissan alliance. This 81kW/260Nm, 1.5dCi engine is offered in either 6-speed manual or 6-speed EDC, with torque capped at 250Nm for the auto. Prices are R394900 for the manual and R414900 for…

AS PRICES FOR everything skyrocket it can sometimes feel like a new car will never be part of everyday life. And while you’re on your own balancing the general household budget, TopCar’s team suggests the best cars on the market for around R150 000, or R2 000 a month, as well as pointers from an industry insider to help get the finance. In our search we took various things into account; cost, availability, fun, reliability, specification level, extras, warranties, service plans and service reputation. We worked on a calculated foundation of a R15 000 deposit, a R40 000 trade in, and assumed a ten per cent interest rate. 1 Suzuki Swift 1.2 GA Swift’s trump card is its unusual size, half way between a supermini and a city car, possessing…

‘We were so off with our Model 3 pre-order predictions you’d laugh if I told you the numbers’ Jon McNeill A desirable sports saloon – sound familiar? Like BMW’s omnipresent compact saloon the Model 3, set for first deliveries next year, is a $35000 (equivalent to R500000) premium saloon measuring 4676mm long (a 3 Series measures 4624mm) and able to seat five. And like the expansive 3 Series range the full Model 3 line-up will run from entry-level to high performance. In established Tesla style more affordable Model 3s will employ a single e-motor powering the rear wheels. Faster variants will use twin motors for greater performance and all-wheel-drive traction. Official range will be 345km, facilitated at this price point by as yet undisclosed next-gen battery tech and a low-drag…

AT A TIME when Honda was entrenched in Formula One with its supply of engines and engineering integrity to first Williams and then McLaren, the company began looking for a car that would bridge the gap between its mass-production front-wheel drive cars and its championship-winning status in the pinnacle of world motorsport. The company needed a car that would become the new face of Honda, while satisfying a similar request from the company’s fledgling American division, Acura. The answer came in the form of a supercar called NSX, the acronym for New Sportscar eXperimental, and the benchmark – later to become the target – for the project was the Ferrari 328GTB. The NSX’s development began in 1984 with the 2.0-litre V6 HP-X (Honda Pininfarina eXperimental), a concept car aimed at…

I’M IN THE driver’s seat of an XF, the meat in the sandwich of a three-car autonomous convoy doing at least 80kph. And this actual demonstration has just started with two firm instructions: 1) do not under any circumstances brake, but 2) if you do brake, brake very hard. Our XF is using cruise control and tailgating an F-Pace being driven around the Gaydon oval by a Jaguar test driver with a liking for emergency stops. The theory is that the F-Pace and XF are linked by Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), with the SUV broadcasting critical information such as brake pedal angle, GPS location and vehicle speed back down the convoy every tenth of a millisecond. Supposedly, if the F-Pace slams on the anchors, the XF should automatically respond…

INITIALLY THIS WAS meant to be a tale of two suburbs, and how I moved homes between them. With that came saying goodbye to my ‘Toyota doublegarage’ – I refer to the quasi man-cave the Hilux shared with my 1983 Toyota Supra which I was forced to abandon in favour of a single-garage at the new abode. But also I meant to regale how the double-cab ute was a boon in the process of transporting my belongings to my new home some 30km away, because it was. Then it was meant to be a story about how great it was at swallowing mountain bikes whole, the two-wheeled device I used to recover from that traumatic experience of moving in the first place, an ordeal trumped only by death and divorce…