Mercedes-Benz E 300 Uses One Tank From Africa to UK
A completely standard Mercedes-Benz E 300 BlueTEC Hybrid has made it from Tangier in Morocco to Goodwood in the UK on a single tank of diesel.
The trip completed by British journalist Andrew Frankel spanned 1 968 km, the length of both Spain and France and not just in prime freeway conditions. Often the trip entailed rush-hour traffic jams and then there was the weather which, at this time of the year ranges from intense heat to thunder showers.
Mercedes-Benz E 300 specifications
The Mercedes-Benz E 300 BlueTEC Hybrid was fitted with the optional 80-litre tank, but still did the job of averaging just 3.1 l/100km. The new E 300 BlueTEC Hybrid features a 150 kW and 500 Nm diesel engine together with the assistance of a 20kW electric motor. The fuel-sipping Merc will be on display at Goodwood as part of the First Glance paddock.
Interestingly, Mercedes-Benz claims its E 300 BlueTEC Hybrid will consume just 4.2 l/100km on the combined cycle. Admittedly, this trip was more open road driving than in the city, but for a combined cycle figure for a big car that’s very impressive.
Aston Martin DP-100 Designed for GT6
Aston Martin is unveiling a new addition to the PlayStation 3 racing game Gran Turismo 6 in the shape of the Aston Martin DP-100 Vision Gran Turismo.
Developed in-house by the Design team at Aston Martin, led by Design Director Marek Reichman, the Aston Martin DP-100 is a new, virtual-only GT racer that will be available for Gran Turismo 6 owners to download in July 2014, following the global launch at Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Aston Martin DP-100 specifications
Starting with nothing but the traditional blank sheet of paper the design team and design engineers worked for six months to create the new addition to the Vision Gran Turismo stable of race cars. Pushing the boundaries of what an Aston Martin could be, DP-100 was not only created to be beautiful but also boasts a high degree of engineering integrity.
The Aston Martin DP-100 is a twin-turbo V12 mid-engined racer offers up to 600 kW of theoretical power.
Design Director Marek Reichman said: Aston Martin DP-100 has been an exciting and intensive project for the team here at Gaydon. Features such as the cars revolutionary active aerodynamics are there not just as a way of enhancing form, but also to support the cars function in-game.
As with the CC100 Speedster Concept, many of the design cues visible in the Aston Martin DP-100, such as the light blade rear lamps, could also feed through into future sports cars that well launch in the offline world so the importance of this project should not be underestimated.
Creator of Gran Turismo
Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of Gran Turismo and President of Polyphony Digital Inc, enthused: When I first came face to face with this car at the Aston Martin Headquarters in Gaydon, UK, I was at a loss for words seeing the level of perfection in its design. I was surprised by the bold proposal of the car being the first midship layout model in Aston Martin history. And while it is clean and classy in design, it is also very emotional. Not only that, there was this future Aston Martin in front of me, that was so detailed it could be released on the market pretty much as is.
This Aston Martin DP-100 is just one of the many virtual race cars created specifically for Gran Turismo. Recently a few manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon and created their own. Check out the virtual racers from BMW, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz and Mitsubishi.
Facelifted Ford Focus ST Arrives
Details on the facelifted Ford Focus ST have emerged after Ford dished out a prequel image earlier this week. The big news for the ST range is the addition of a diesel motor into the lineup and some tweaks to make it handle better.
Facelifted Ford Focus ST engine choices
The new turbodiesel to make its acquaintance with Ford’s current top hatch is a 2-litre turbodiesel, complete with 135kW and 400Nm of torque. It’s nowhere near as rapid as the petrol but will get from 0-100 kph in 8.1 seconds and manage 217 kph before its 6th and final manual gear tops out.
For a sports model however, the claimed fuel consumption of 4.4l/100km is exceptional. The 2-litre turbo petrol remains the same from the pre facelift car so that’s 184 kW of immense fun. Both models feature stop/start technology for the first time in order to reduce fuel consumption whilst stopped at the lights.
New Front and Rear
For the facelifted Ford Focus ST, the visual team has added sportier and more aggressive styling than the previous generation, with a lower, wider stance; new sculpted bonnet; slimmer headlamps and rectangular foglamps. The sports bodykit also includes body?coloured side skirts and diffuser elements either side of the exhaust, and a rear roof spoiler optimised for aerodynamic performance. Black lamp bezels, ST badging and new 19-inch alloy wheels that are available as an option complete the look.
Handling Upgrade
The crew responsible for the Ford Focus RS were entrusted with improving the handling on the facelifted Ford Focus ST, so there’s little doubt that it’s going to be an excellent handler. The sports suspension features all-new front springs and sportier new shock absorber tuning front and rear.
These enhancements are said to deliver ‘an even sharper dynamic performance.’ The calibration of the electric steering and stability control systems have also been revised in order to extract faster more responsive steering and optimise traction when cornering.
Despite the Focus ST being on show at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed this weekend, it will only become available to the public in 2015. Earlier this morning, we had confirmation from Ford South Africa that the new facelifted Ford Focus ST will be arriving on our shores at some point next year. Pricing will be confirmed then.
Android Auto to Feature in 2015 Audi Models (Video)
Google revealed its new Android Auto system and Audi has confirmed its plans to feature the technology in its vehicles starting with upcoming 2015 models such as the TT (pictured).
The system is said to work with Android smartphones in a similar way to the current Apple CarPlay system. According to Audi, the Android Auto system will allow drivers to easily access their Android apps using the Audi MMI displays and controls designed for safe and intuitive operation on the road.
How the system will work is that once an Android smartphone is connected in a compatible Audi, drivers will see a prompt asking if they want their apps to function through the MMI touch display and controls. The graphics and audio streams, including microphone input and all control interfaces will then operate with Android Auto.
However, Audi mentioned that the addition of this system in upcoming models will not make its models incompatible with other smartphones.
Other automakers set include this technology to their vehicles include General Motors, Kia, Honda and Hyundai.
Android Auto video
Peugeot 208 GTi 30th Anniversary Announced
Last week Peugeot announced there would be some sort of special edition 208 GTi heading to the Goodwood festival of speed this weekend (27-29 June 2014). We have now been given the full details on the Peugeot 208 GTi 30th Anniversary.
Peugeot 208 gti 30th power increases
Complete with an increase in power and torque, the lightweight pocket rocket now has 153 kW and 300 Nm on tap. On the dynamic side theres a Torsen limited slip differential and specifically tuned suspension and steering settings to make the car handle and feel sportier.
Two Textures for Exterior
The exterior colour choice gives the Peugeot 208 GTi 30th its unique style, not only are there two colours on the car but two tones of finishing. The black is finished off in a matte texture whilst the red is lacquered. The colour contrast had been chosen along with the straight-cut line as it was used on the Peugeot Onyx Supercar Concept, 308 R and Exalt concepts. The 208 GTi 30th will also be available in top of the range Pearl White and Ruby Red, historical colours of GTi cars.
Sporty Interior
The interior has also been given the full extra sport treatment, the seats having been developed by Peugeot Sport and finished in Alcantara. The floor mats are also finished off in red to match the exterior along with loads of red stitching and black dotted mesh.
The Peugeot 208 GTi 30th will make its public debut at the 2014 Paris motor show with sales beginning soon after that during November 2014.
Three Best Crossovers in South Africa
Crossovers remain the strangest segment to me. Crossovers are essentially regular sedans or hatchbacks that expand upwards from the wheel-arches. The segment seems to have found a home in raising the floor of small affordable hatchbacks with models like the previous Sandero Stepway being the best seller in the whole Sandero range. VW’s Cross Polo is quite popular and we will see an Etios Cross from Toyota join the fray in July 2014.
It’s not all about cheap hatchbacks with kerb-hopping potential, Audi has been known to throw the Allroad badge onto A4, A6 and A8 models – even if some of those didn’t reach our shores. I think the 3-Series and 5-Series GT models from BMW might be crossovers but they could also be station wagons or sedans with more space.
Whilst the crossover segment is difficult to define, we’ve kept it at small cars as anything bigger tends to head towards the compact SUV segment and that unleashes a plethora of options and a list for another day.
The new Sandero was only launched in April 2014, with the Stepway variant arriving only a month later. The Stepway is raised off the ground a further 29mm from the standard Sandero to 193mm total ground clearance. The Stepway is powered by Renault’s fantastic little three-cylinder, 1.0-litre turbo petrol.
It’s super frugal in town driving and can hold its own on the freeway and if you need to take it down a dirt road the mid-range torquey pull of the engine is sufficient enough to get you by. Just don’t think you can do real off-road in this pint-size hatch. R159 900
The Peugeot 2008 is based on the 208 hatchback, a supremely lightweight little car that has a lot going for it. The bigger 2008 gets a slightly longer wheelbase – 200mm more and gains 25mm more ground clearance.
The 2008 is more roomy than the standard 208 thanks to the extra wheelbase but can only be specced with a 1.6 petrol engine that lacks the torque you want from a slightly larger vehicle. Thankfully the 2008 remains quite light so it’s not all that noticeable and it’s interesting looks should keep you entertained. You can get a Peugeot 2008 for R269 900.
The Volvo V40 seems to be coming across a lot of our lists, whether it’s because it’s super stylish or in the case of the D2, extremely frugal, the V40 makes a strong case for itself. In the Cross Country variant it gets a 40mm lift, some plastic bumpers and side skirts to make it appear a little more rugged and if you opt for the top of the range T5 petrol model, you’ll get all-wheel drive thrown into the mix. Our pick would be either the T4 petrol or the D3 turbodiesel. Pricing varies from R336 500 for a petrol T4 and R376 200 for the diesel D3.
Exploding Airbag Causes Millions of Recalls
Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Mazda are involved in a massive airbag recall that could see as many as 2.9-million vehicles worldwide recalled for exploding airbags.
The Japanese airbag supplier Takata makes airbags for many manufacturers that also includes BMW and General Motors. So far, the problem is only linked to airbags made in the early 2000s, where upon airbag deployment, shards of metal could be shot either up towards the windscreen or down towards the passenger footwell. Takata is still trying to assess why the fault seemingly occurs mostly in hot, humid climates as the six incidents that have been reported came from Florida in the US and Puerto Rico.
In one incident cited by US highway safety regulators, a one-inch piece of metal propelled from an exploding airbag hit the right eye of the driver of a 2005 Honda Civic, causing loss of sight and facial lacerations that required 100 stitches.
Local Manufacturers Affected
Local vehicles will be recalled including Honda, Nissan, Toyota and Mazda.
Certain 2001-2003 Honda CR-V, Accord, Civic and Jazz models. Honda will be in contact with affected owners as to the next course of action.
Nissan reports that none of its vehicles locally are not affected by the recall, but globally vehicles such as the Cube, X-Trail and some Infiniti models will be recalled.
Toyota will be recalling Corollas built from April 2002 to June 2003 to a tally of over 4 000 Corollas locally.
Mazdas affected vehicles are the Atenza and RX-8.
Defects from USA and Mexico
The root of the defective airbags has been traced to two plants worldwide, one in the USA and the other in Mexico. The problem was first exposed in April 2013 when Takata notified US safety regulators about the problem, which resulted in an initial three-million vehicle recall from Toyota, Honda and Nissan. The extent of the problem was not fully known then and now its believed vehicles from GM and BMW may also be affected.
Ford Ecoboost Wins Engine of the Year Again
The Ford Ecoboost is the award-winning three-cylinder 1.0-liter turbocharged engine and it has once again won the International Engine of the Year award. It’s the third time in a row that the pint-sized Ford Ecoboost engine has claimed victory – an astonishing achievement.
Ford Ecoboost accolades
According to Dean Slavnich, co-chairman of the annual competition, this achievement not only secures the Ford Ecoboosts place in the history books, but is proof that this is one of the finest examples of powertrain engineering.
Ford surpassed all the other major manufactures and was awarded 351 points by the jury, which is a lot more than Ferraris 4.5-litre V8 engine which received 281 points, followed by VWs 1.4 TSI with 254 points.
The engine, which powers both the Fiesta Ecoboost and EcoSport models, was also named Best Engine Under 1.0-litre, for an unprecedented third time in a row.
The award-winning engine was first launched in South Africa in 2013 with the Ford Fiesta, and will soon be available in the new Ford Focus launching in 2015.
Here is a list of all the other winners:
International Engine of the Year: Ford 999cc three-cylinder turbo
The model is said to be available in either Coupe or Spider body styles the Spider version being the first to make its global debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in the Supercar Paddock this weekend. It will also be seen in action taking part in the famous hill run.
Bespoke 650S details
Carrying through many of the styling features of the original concept, the bespoke MSO 650S comes equipped with a number of carbon fibre styling upgrades with satin finish. There are also extended MSO Side Blades, a three-piece rear bumper with a carbon fibre centre section positioned above an aggressive rear diffuser. As well as a set of Palladium 10-spoke super lightweight alloy wheels with a unique diamond cut effect to the inside edge of each spoke. The model will also be available in three paint finishes all featuring heavy metallic content.
Inside the cabin, the MSO 650S is finished with a carbon black leather and Alcantara with contrasting gloss air vents and handling and powertrain switchgear on the Active Dynamics Panel.
Deliveries of the MSO 650S Coupe and Spider are expected to start before the end of the year.
Jaguar F-Type R Coupe (2014) Driven
The road from Ixopo in the KZN Midlands back to the N3 is a great driving road. And luckily for us journos on this weeks Jaguar F-Type Coupe launch, it formed the final scenic part of the route on our run back to the King Shaka International Airport in mid-afternoon, before the traffic picked up.
A mix of fast sweeping corners, swooping downhill runs, tight twists through mountain cuttings that never decrease on radius after youve committed yourself to a reasonably sane entry speed this is the place for a blast in a car with a first-class chassis and an engine to curl your toes back.
One of the best cars on the planet right now
And believe me, the F-Type Coupe is possibly one of the best cars on the planet right now for such a run. There are three models launched, as with the convertible model which has proved to be the most popular-selling sports car in South Africa in the past 12 months.
You get the basic Coupe with the 250 kW version of the supercharged V6, the S which has a 280 kW version of the same engine, and then theres the Jaguar F-Type R Coupe, all 405 kW of it, with the most exuberant of supercharged V8s you are likely to encounter this side of a race track spectator fence.
And yes, I was lucky enough to score the V8-powered Jaguar F-Type R coupe for that run back to the boring old freeway, having nevertheless revelled in the sweet balance and soul-searing engine-audio of the V6 S earlier in the afternoon.
The trick with the Jaguar F-Type R Coupe was to hit the exhaust-loudness button on the console, then wind down the windows as we entered stretches of this road that cut through the mountains, and rejoice in that V8 noise as it bounced of the rock-face. Then back off and laugh as the four-tailpipes backfired and popped.
Ride and handling of the Jaguar F-Type R Coupe
You can feel the rigidity of the coupes aluminium roofed body structure the moment you drive it, as its is immediately less reactive over little potholes and speed bumps. And when we put the F-Type Coupe through its paces on the wonderfully nostalgic Roy Hesketh race track outside Pietermaritzburg, you could feel the added precision that the chassis rigidity has imparted to the car.
Turn in for the apex and it simply darts in, perfect as long as you are precise on the thick-rimmed leather steering wheel. The chassis remains biased towards oversteer, and with the stonking 405 kW on tap with the V8, you had better be careful in your throttle inputs, as the rear tyres can start losing grip even on half throttle as you power out of a bend.
Jaguar has added electronic controls to the limited slip diff, making it much more reactive to grip sensing on the rear wheels. And torque vectoring makes the car extremely reactive to steering inputs and throttle usage, detecting any sign of slippage on both the front and rear wheels and acting accordingly.
What made the car so delightful for me out on the road was this new precision in placing it exactly where I wanted to. But always, always with this car, respect is needed with that throttle. Did I mention that apart from 405 kW, there is some 680 Nm of torque on tap? You can turn off traction control if you must, but be warned, the car will become a handful…
Options and customisation choices
There are various options for the car, including a panoramic glass roof, which I feel is not at all necessary for South African sun-blessed dwellers. But the cool thing about Jaguars is that they come virtually fully equipped inclusive of the list price. Nevertheless, there are some 70 000 ordering combinations you can choose between, and Hastie reckons you should have your personally-specced F-Type in your garage some three months after placing your order, if you elect to not merely order one off the showroom floor.
One of the best things about the coupe is that it rectifies the luggage capacity issue which its convertible sibling suffered greatly from. Essentially, there was no boot space for anything larger than a laptop bag.
Pricing
Pricing for the Coupe starts at an ultra-competitive R843 404, with R982 404 buying you the excellent 280 kW V6-engined S, and R1 534 189 securing the monster Jaguar F-Type R Coupe, which has, it has to be said, not mere sports-car, but supercar levels of go. Look at a 0-100 km/h time of 4.2 seconds and a top speed of 300 kph for the top of the range. What a bargain!
Summary
It is heartening to realise that Jaguar as a brand has doubled its sales volumes in South Africa since 2011, and that since introducing the F-Type convertible, some 300 examples of this fine sports car have been sold.
The achievement of the new F-Type Coupe is that, even more so than convertible, this British-built sports car is able to be compared with the worlds benchmark in sportscar, Porsche. Considering that the F-Type is in effect the first uncompromised sports car that Jaguar has made since 1948 that is no mean achievement, as Porsche (which also launched its first sport car in 48), has been focussing on sports cars for the past six decades.
