Innehållsförteckning för January 2018 från CAR

From the 1929 Alfa Romeo 6C GT that started the trend, to the cars packed into this issue, those letters have appeared in various combinations on some of the greatest performance vehicles ever made. As is our tradition, we kick off the year with the much-anticipated Performance Shootout and, in this issue, we not only take 10 of South Africa’s latest sportscars on a three-day road trip, plus two days of track testing, but this time we’ve gone the whole hog; every single new vehicle tested or driven in this magazine is a performance car. Along with the Shootout posse on the cover, we’ve also tested the mighty Mercedes-AMG GT R and put the Audi TT RS up against the new 2,0-litre Jaguar F-Type. Add to that a drive of…

As befitting a company that has mastered the art of designing cars destined to adorn the walls of young petrolheads, Lamborghini has teamed up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) boffins to develop a supercar that would “rewrite the rules on super sportscars” for the third millennium, aka the Terzo Millennio. For now, it’s a static concept that relies on undeveloped technology but, then again, the Sant’Agata firm does have a reputation for bringing its wild concepts to life. We’ve already requested it for Performance Shootout 2038. PROPULSION SYSTEM It’s a full EV with an integrated electric engine at each wheel. That means four-wheel drive along with the typical electric-motor characteristics of high torque and, with energy moved by wire rather than a mechanical driveshaft, instant acceleration. SUPER-CAPACITORS? This…

VOLVO POLESTAR 1 ETA: 2019 A few months back, Volvo Cars’ announced that its performance division, Polestar, would be focusing on EV production. And here is its maiden creation, the Polestar 1. The electric performance hybrid delivers 448 kW and 1 000 N.m of torque via a Volvo-built 2,0-litre, four-cylinder, turbocharged engine (powering the front wheels) and a twin-electric-motor system (one on each rear wheel); it boasts an electric range of 150 km. The car is a two-plus-two GT built on Volvo’s Scalable Product Architecture platform (although it is 650 mm shorter than a S90 sedan, which also sits on those underpinnings) and features adaptive suspension, as well as torque vectoring via a rear axle-mounted planetary gear setup. The Polestar 1 will enter production by the middle of 2019, with…

PORSCHE CAYENNE S TIPTRONIC PRICE: n/a ETA: June WE ARE HERE THAT the Porsche Cayenne has been an unmitigated sales success must surely grate the purists and cynics who initially felt that the sportscar manufacturer shouldn’t have ventured off the beaten path. However, since the model first appeared in 2002, an excess of 770 000 sales worldwide vindicates any thoughts that Porsche shouldn’t have produced an SUV. With the outgoing Cayenne almost eight years old, its replacement was launched on the Greek island of Crete. Initial glances would suggest that this is a comprehensive facelift rather than a completely new model, but get your measuring tape out and you’ll see that the new Cayenne has grown 63 mm longer and 23 mm wider, while the height has dropped by 9…

VOLKSWAGEN CARAVELLE 2,0 BITDI HIGHLINE 4MOTION DSG DO you remember the iconic television ads in which David Kramer sang about the famous Volksiebus? The Kombi is as synonymous with South African culture as shisa nyama and veldskoene. Therefore, nostalgia filled the air when an example of the sixth iteration, covered in two-tone heritage paint, was delivered to our offices for its year-long test. This is the top-of-the-range Caravelle, which is far removed from the basic, original versions and has all the bells and whistles associated with luxury transport. This includes electric side doors and hatchback, leather seats, thick-pile carpeting, a sunroof, cruise control and a plethora of storage spaces. Volkswagen claims the Caravelle is the ultimate family vehicle and it is easy to see why. The low floor, not found…

AIRBAGS FOR CAR SEATS In relation to its body, an infant’s head is large and heavy, requiring a baby seat to face rearward to protect the baby’s neck. Similar protection is not available on forward-facing seats that you would use when your child gets older, and this is where the AxissFix Air by Maxi-Cosi breaks new ground. The world’s first child seat with integrated airbags in the shoulder cushions, the Air uses a trigger system that is built into the Isofix attachment points and a CO2 cartridge that fills the airbags in 0,05 seconds. This provides a cushion for the child’s head before the bags deflate a second later. According to tests, this reduces the forces acting on the neck by 55%. The seat is available locally at a recommended…

ALFA ROMEO STELVIO Priced from R810 000 A GAPING hole in the Italian firm’s portfolio until now, Alfa Romeo finally has an SUV in the range with the debut of the Stelvio in South Africa. The initial line-up will comprise two variants: Super and First Edition. These models are powered by a 2,0-litre, four-cylinder, turbopetrol engine, good for 206 kW and 400 N.m of torque, and this unit is mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Driver-controlled shifts are available via column-mounted, aluminium paddle shifters. Torque is directed to all four corners, aiding a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 5,7 seconds, with a top speed of 230 km/h. The entry-level Stelvio Super offers leather seats available in three colours – black, brown or red – that are upgradeable to “luxury seats”…

Age 45 Budget R350 000 Status company manager Vehicle type sports sedan BMW M3 Sedan 0 to 100 km/h: 5,22 sec Top speed: 250 km/h Power: 309 kW Torque: 400 N.m CO2 : 347 g/km CAR fuel index: 14,88 L/100 km The first M3 hit our roads in 1986. A high-performance version of the E30, it produced 147 kW from a 2,3-litre in-line four. Thereafter, the more exciting straight-sixes in 3,0-and 3,2-litre capacities took over duty. Ever-increasing demand for more power in subsequent models saw the introduction of a screaming 4,0-litre, naturally aspirated V8 (as fitted to this E90 version) before returning to a straight-six, signalling the start of the turbocharged era. The V8 engine uses d-oh-c per 90-degree bank with variable valve timing. The power output is 309 kW, with…

MOUNT PANORAMA Australia Current length: 6,213 km First used: 1938 Outright lap record: 02:01,567 by Shane van Gisbergen in a McLaren 650S GT3 on 7 February 2016 during the 12 Hours of Bathurst Fatalities: 16, including 1967 F1 champion Denny Hulme, who died at the wheel of his BMW M3 Touring Car in 1992 WHAT was once a scenic drive carved into the hills above the small town of Bathurst became one of the most fearsome racing circuits in the world, playing host to the legendary Bathurst 1000 for modified saloons and the 12 Hours of Bathurst for sportscars. This spiritual home of Australian motorsport still makes use of public roads, with little or no run-off area, and is a wicked, technical track characterised by huge changes in elevation, hairpin…

01 HENNESSEY VENOM ETA: 2018 Named after a particularly destructive breed of tornado, the pride of John Hennessey is out to crack the 300 mph barrier (483 km/h). And apart from its monster twin-turbo V8, what will help it hit that speed is a carbon-fibre body that keeps overall weight down to 1 338 kg, as well as active aerodynamics that yield a drag coefficient of just 0,33. This car, says Hennessey, was “designed and built from the ground up with one goal in mind: to be the absolute fastest road car on Earth”. Engine: 7,4-litre, V8, twinturbo-petrol Trans: 7-spd AT Power/Torque: 1 193 kW/1 762 N.m 0-300 km/h: <10,0 sec Top speed: 480+ km/h 02 FERRARI FXX K EVO ETA: 2018 Like all XX-monikered Ferraris, this is a track…

DEON JOUBERT There's only one person we trust to give us consistent track times. Once again, we handed 10 key fobs to multiple South African racing champion, Deon Joubert, and manned the stopwatches The Battlefield Dezzi Raceway on the KwaZulu-Natal South Coast was the scene for this year’s track battle. You may recall that we were here four years ago but, in that time, owner Des Gutzeit has done some major upgrades to both the track and its facilities. Back then, it was basically a two-way run down the main straight (aka, a runway for his light airplane) with some tight, twisty bits on either end. Since then, Des has increased the total circuit length by 400 metres to 2,125 km and the track now plays host to a club-level…

IF you find yourself in the highly enviable position of possessing a pleasingly round R1 million to splash out on a new two-door sportscar (and the mid-engined, four-pot Porsche 718 Cayman S simply isn’t your cup of tea), you’re in luck. Two fresh contenders have just sauntered onto the local scene, each with its powerplant sited firmly over its front axle. The first is an RS-badged, five-cylinder variant positioned at the summit of Audi's third-generation TT line-up, while the second represents a new (downsized, four-cylinder) entry-point to the recently facelifted F-Type range, sinking the starting price below the seven-figure mark and rendering Jaguar’s desirable coupé a modicum more accessible. Why compare one line-up’s flagship with another’s base model, particularly when more natural rivals exist within each opposing range? One word:…

FORD KUGA 1,5 ECOBOOST TREND FWD 6AT A recent facelift represents a new beginning for the Ford Kuga, with this new model keen to change perceptions THE F-word. South Africans do not easily forget; a fact proven to me a few times in my first week of custodianship of the facelifted Kuga after various members of the public made humorous fi re-related quips when seeing me in the car. This is precisely the problem Ford faces with the compact SUV. How does it reinstate consumer confidence in an accomplished vehicle (a former CAR Top 12 Best Buys winner, no less) whose reputation was damaged by one model derivative? The Kuga needs to prove itself again and this 12-month test is a good start; I am looking forward to once again…

TENSION builds as the alarm sounds to indicate the start of the test. It’s quite literally lights, cameras, action. The impact is louder and more concussive than I could have imagined and an eerie silence fills the hall as the mangled car comes to rest. Glass and plastic are strewn across the floor and the dummies are crumpled up. The visual devastation is immediately obvious, but it doesn’t take long for the results to come back. The data is transmitted to the control office where computers crunch the inputs under the watchful eyes of engineers. In about 15 minutes, the initial report is already showing shapes representing the human occupants with a colour chart depicting injuries (green for no injuries; up to red for life-threatening ones). The image above speaks…

Automotive tech can be puzzling. To ease the confusion, each month technical editor, Nicol Louw, explains how a component in your vehicle works The anti-roll bar is part of an independent suspension system and it is fitted between the wheel pairs’ suspension on the front or rear axle. It is normally a U-shaped-spring, steel tube or bar that is kept in place by bushes on the vehicle body. The purpose of the bar is to reduce body lean in bends and it operates by producing reaction forces on each side of the vehicle’s suspension. When the outside suspension compresses during a cornering event (owing to weight transfer), torque is produced in the bar that acts on the inside suspension to compress the system, which results in a flatter cornering attitude.…

ROUTINE We all know that we need to check our car’s fluid levels regularly. This includes the obvious petrol top-up, plus oil, battery, brake and steering fluid, and radiator coolant. If you need to supplement any of these, you need to find out why it was necessary. In the case of your vehicle’s radiator, regular topping-up means there is a leak somewhere, which could be external or internal. EXTERNAL Look underneath the vehicle for signs of dripping coolant. If you spot nothing, inspect the radiator hoses, connections, water pump and thermostat, as well as the entire radiator. Some leaks are very small, so carefully inspect the edges of the radiator for signs of discolouration, oxidation and seeping that is the same colour as your coolant. INTERNAL This will be unsighted,…

YOU may not see many of them on our roads, but we’ve had (and tested) three generations of the Toyota MR2 in South Africa. The first to arrive was assessed in 1986, the second in 1991 and this last generation in 2001. The second was not officially imported here, so these are scarce. The third-generation model is the one that’s more readily available, although the numbers remain small. PACKAGING The third-generation MR2 offered impressive styling reminiscent of the Porsche Boxster of the time, and it also mirrored that vehicle’s mid-engined layout. That meant centralised mass distribution; with two people in the car, it was 50:50. A cloth top was standard, and a hard item was presented as an option. One of the few criticisms of this model is its luggage…

I bought my first copy of CAR sometime in 1960 and have not missed an issue since. I had an original 997 cm3 Mini Cooper that was considered pretty fast at the time. It did 0-60 mph in a staggering time of 16,5 seconds. A friend was so stunned by how much oomph it had that he insisted I sell it to him when I had finished with it. Today, of course, any car powered by an elastic band and a paper clip can beat it. I then bought an MGA twin-cam similar to the one that Bobby Olthoff raced. I could pull next to a flat-out Dart in third and change into fourth. It made me very proud and did 60 mph in just under 10 seconds. Of the…

OF the questions I’d ask Lamborghini test driver Marco Mapelli, aside from exactly what concoction of protein and espresso he had for breakfast on the morning of his last two manic Nürburgring Nordschleife lap-record runs, is whether he ever takes that moment for granted. That magical motoring moment when the rev counter needle in cars such as the Huracán LP640-4 Performante summit 8 000 r/min. Also, I wonder whether the muscles in Marco’s face involuntarily react the same way as mine did during this frantic moment. Conflicted on the one hand by the sheer, unadulterated thrill associated with this visceral occasion, and on the other by an uneasy feeling of mechanical sympathy for what the engine’s innards must be going through at that moment, mine’s a mug lined with…

Price: R2 705 746 0-100 km/h: 3,77 sec Power/Torque: 430 kW/700 N.m Top speed: 318 km/h CAR fuel index: 13,68 L/100 km CO2: 259 g/km OPTIMAL comparable lap times aside, the advantage of having an experienced racing driver such as Deon Joubert on our team is the ability to compare notes on the strengths and weaknesses of any given performance car – on public roads in our hands, and in his on the track. It’s the track stats that are trending these days, with “official” Nürburgring Nordschleife lap times front and centre on the press releases for vehicles with even the smallest semblance of competition woven into their makeup. However many racecar genes these vehicles may carry, they are still ultimately bound by real-world considerations, including marketable levels of comfort…

WAY back when the legendary Hell Drivers were racing at Cape Town’s Goodwood Showgrounds, I remember walking round the pit area between races and seeing drivers like Jack Holloway and Deon de Waal making quick repairs to their V8 Fords and Chevs alongside their mechanics. Due to the nature of the argy-bargy dicing, damage was aplenty and this often resulted in holed radiators. I was shocked to witness water gushing out of a number of holes in one car’s radiator, but a mechanic merely cracked open a tin (or two) of Indian Head radiator sealer, poured it into the radiator, added more water to replace the river flowing underneath, kept the engine running and, to my surprise, after a short while the leaks stopped. Good for another race. But, of…

“THE GRANDSTANDS WERE FULL AND THE SUPPORT FROM EVERYONE WAS AMAZING” AT the start of every race, up to six 450 kW, all-wheel-drive cars rocket off the start line and jostle for position into turn one. Incredibly, they all make it out the other side. In the process, there is copious shedding of bodywork, a flurry of wheel spin accompanied by tyre smoke, and lots of bumping and barging. The crowds, on their feet, cheer the mayhem as drivers jockey for position. Yet, despite a track strewn with bodywork and gravel from errant racing lines, there is no safety car or yellow flag; the drivers simply race to complete the lap, which takes just under a minute. This was the sight to which more than 27 000 local race fans…