Automan 180

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now, the region’s Best Automotive resource octoBer 2016 Issue no 180

NEW WHEELS

6-9 INFINITI MIDDLE EAST HOSTS A MEDIA DRIVE OF THE Q50 S RED 400 SEDAN AT THE DUBAI AUTODROME

OMAN AND REGIONAL NEWS

10-13 KIA CADENZA LAUNCHED IN OMAN, RENAULT TALISMAN LAUNCHED IN OMAN, NEW VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN LAUNCHED IN OMAN. NISSAN HOLDS MILEAGE CHALLENGE FOR SENTRA CUSTOMERS, AUDI DRIVING EXPERIENCE IN DUBAI, NEW JAGUAR ENGINES, INFINITI GETS NEW REGIONAL HEAD, GOLF CLUBSPORT WITH MANUAL GEARS, INFINITI OMAN ON INSTAGRAM

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BRANDWATCH

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14-19 BMW M TO INCLUDE ELECTRIC VEHICLE OPTIONS, LEXUS IN INDIA, MAGNA BUSINESS GROWS, APPLE MOVING INTO CAR BUSINESS? HYUNDAI I30 TO GET NEW BODY STYLES, BENTAYGA GOES DIESEL, JEEP COMPASS LAUNCHED, BUICK LAUNCHES AVENIR SUB-BRAND, THIRD GENESIS MODEL COMING. ANNIVERSARY OF THE C70 AND CAMARO, PEUGEOT TO ENTER INDIA, ASTON MARTIN SUPERCAR TO GO ELECTRIC, BUGATTI CHIRON ELECTRIFICATION AND IS BUGATTI REVIVING THE GALIBIER CONCEPT?

FACE TO FACE

20-21 WE INTERVIEW COOPER TIRE MANAGING DIRECTOR JEFF SCHUMAKER

COVER STORY

22-29 WE ATTEND THE REGIONAL LAUNCH OF THE GENESIS BRAND AND DRIVE THE G90, ALSO INTERVIEW THE BRAND’S NEW HEAD

FIRST DRIVE

30-37 WE DRIVE THE NEW GMC ACADIA ACROSS ARIZONA AND NEVADA

ROAD TESTS

38-43 2016 EMGRAND GT V6 3.5

FIRST DRIVE

44-49 2017 INFINITI Q60 COUPÉ 50-55 2017 DODGE NEON

SPECIAL FEATURE

56-61 PEBBLE BEACH CONCOURS

PREVIEWS

62-65 MERCEDES-MAYBACH 6 66-67 KODE 57 68-69 ASTON MARTIN ZAGATO VOLANTE 70-73 CADILLAC ESCALA CONCEPT

MOTORSPORTS

74-79 FORMULA ONE AND MOTOGP

CHICANE

80 NEW TECHNOLOGY EXTENDING THE REIGN OF THE IC ENGINE

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Mohammad Al Taie

AL ROYA PRESS & PUBLISHING PO Box: 343, Postal Code 118 Al Harthy Complex, Sultanate of Oman

Website: www.automan.me Facebook: AutomanMag Twitter: automanmag Instagram: automanmag

PUBLISHER Hatim Al Taie

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FINANCE & ADMIN Sumy Mol

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www.carbrandz.com MANAGING EDITOR Raj Warrior raj@automan.me CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Chandan Basu Mallik chandan@automan.me Anne Kurian DESIGN CONSULTANT Antony Karlo PHOTOGRAPHY Elvis John Ferrao For Advertising & Marketing enquiries: advertising@automan.me DISTRIBUTION UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Dar Al Hikma LLC alhikma@emirates.net.ae Tel: +971-4-2665394 | Fax: +971-4-2669827 PRINTER Al Anan Printing Press LLC Tel: +968 24446163 | Fax: +968 24446287 alananprinting.com | alananprinting@gmail.com © 2016 All editorial content of Automan in the magazine and its website is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the management of Automan.

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Business as usual has come to mean a completely different thing to how it was a year ago.

Ask yourself, do you feel as if your commercial interaction with the people around you has changed? You really cannot see much of a change when you do your weekly supermarket run. The crowds are as thick as usual and people do seem to find the most inconvenient time to congregate at the cash counters. However, the smaller shops that used to depend on your business are facing a double whammy where increased costs, lower patronage and the move to the super and hypermarket discounted buying pulls apart their business model.

But that is the risk a business takes on itself, having to stay competitive in the open market, irrespective of how trends and technology shape the environment. But is it fair?

Is there a case for greater protection for small and medium businesses to allow them to weather stormy markets? Or for a loosening up of procedures that allows greater interest in and investment in untapped areas of the economy. The Oman government has begun an interesting exercise in finding such avenues to incubate new businesses, draw in investment and create jobs with relatively low capital commitment. It is a timely move that should see positive outcomes that will help the economy detach itself from the huge dependence on the petroleum industry.

That is the need of the economy at this time – a positive outlook, an ability to fund and finance medium and long-term projects that can both benefit from the needs of a cash constrained market as well as drive further downstream spends. And we can see some large business houses doing just that, wisely investing for the future while addressing the significant dip in current year cash flows. We will see new car showrooms, new hotels and new shopping malls come online, accompanied by new schools, colleges and hospitals.

Financing is going to take on a much more significant role. That, and risk management.

The environment has become far more unpredictable and that is causing all sorts of bottlenecks in the process of raising funds as pay off periods remain vague. And the cost of this finance is linked to a professional valuation of the risk. As businesses work their way through this, moving from own-funded to outside funded operations, we should see some of the retail business come back online, even though the prospects for 2017 don’t seem to be very different than this year otherwise.

And it should help that the Government is still investing in new infrastructure projects that will serve to keep Oman equipped to face business in the upturn. That is a positive sign that the trickle down business we are used to will continue. And perhaps grow in the coming few months.

Automan is now in its 16th year of publication. Expect a great deal from us through the year in terms of all your favourite automotive content

NEWWHEELS Infiniti Q50 S Red 400

The Red S means 400hp

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Infiniti introduces a host of engineering led innovations in the top end of the Q50 line-up. Automan was invited to check out the improvised variants in UAE during its Middle East debut Infiniti introduced the Q50 as a replacement of the G37 sedan in 2014 as a credible alternative to the premium German sedan trio of BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and Audi A4. Although, the Q50 set out with an ambitious agenda, it has met with its fair share of successes and criticisms. While appreciated for its good looks, luxury features and pleasant road manners, the top end Q50S which was endowed with the company’s groundbreaking, world-first technology feature: Direct Adaptive Steering [steerby-wire system]. Unfortunately, it was criticized for its lacklustre feel and overall the S variant for its not so exciting chassissuspension performance.

Armed with inputs from users and own testers, Infiniti has quickly put a team on the job to root out these niggles. As a result, there’s a new wave that defines the 2017 Q50 top end portfolio.

In terms of reference for the Q50S, it may be recalled that Infiniti did get a decent reception its Eau Rouge concept which was outfitted with an engine from the GT-R. And the closest this Infiniti gets to the concept indirectly is explained below. To begin with, in our region the line-up of three engine output variants will get forced fed set-ups. The smallest is the 2.0-litre four-cylinder offering 208hp and then comes a newly developed downsized VR family [3.8-litre VR engines are used in the Nissan GT-R] 3.0-litre V6 with two states of tune and delivering 300hp and 400hp/350Nm respectively. This means the 3.7-litre V6 has been dropped permanently. Other technological

upgrades include improvements to the suspension and steering departments. Interestingly, the entry level Q50 continues to soldier on with a hydraulic steering set-up.

There’s not much that visually distinguishes the variants except for the badging. The Red Sport 400 can be identified by its exhaust tips, large 19in alloys wheels on rear-wheel drive models and the red “S” logos.

The Red Sport 400 also is available with four-wheel drive, and that model gets 245/40 all-season Dunlop rubber. On the rear while version, the car gets asymmetric wheel/rubber combination of 245/40R in front and 265/35R at the rear on 19in rims.

On the safety front, key technological enhancements include; Blind-Spot Warning with Intervention, Lane Departure Warning, Lane Departure Prevention with Active Lane Control, Back-up Collision Intervention with Cross Traffic Alert, Predictive Forward Collision Warning and Around View Monitor with Moving Object Detection.

Driving impressions At the Dubai Autodrome Infiniti set-up performance and handling exercises using two dedicated circuits. The idea was to offer ‘real-time’ demonstration of the newly packaged 400hp Q50S Sport variant. From our earlier encounters with this specific variant, we do recall that the Q50S is about an inch longer than the standard Q50 and six inches longer than the BMW 3 Series, SEP 2016

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five inches longer than the Lexus IS. So the question we had in mind while getting into the driver’s seat was how much better is this car? Well, if I remember correctly, power from the outgoing 3.7-litre V6 was readily available but throttle response a bit erratic and sometimes hesitant. After a few laps on track, we are happy to note that this niggle has been well catered to.

On the second circuit we were exposed to the handling performance of the car through an autocross/slalom exercise.

I remembered the older Q50S, where we could choose from three drive modes: Eco, Normal and Sport. In the 2017 variant, the electronic chassis is slightly different settings. The welcome feature is that the new adjustable set up allows drivers to tailor the ride to their tastes, from a comfort-oriented normal setting to the sharper Sport+ mode.

As expected, the car handles much better in Sport or Sport+ mode and in either setting, powertrain and suspension settings remain unchanged, but there’s excessive interference from the ESP which actually spoilt our tenure out here as it becomes a bit unpredictable as far as driver control goes. This is in contrast to the outgoing model where it was possible to totally disconnect ESP and extract more fun.

Body roll is well suppressed in both settings, but due to the high amount of torque that is generated, it seems to overwhelm the chassis at times with a good dose of understeer being observed with the tail swinging out. This characteristic was noted in during the autocross and slaloms. However, we do note that the earlier tendency of slipping tyres and excessive body roll seems to be contained to quite a reasonable extent.

On the fast paced ‘Club’ track, the 400hp and 350Nm was well utilised and besides clocking 0-100km/h sprint times in 5sec, on straights some of us even managed to touch 200km/h with

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ease. The performance from the 7-speed automatic transmission with Tiptronic was spot on with gears holding and shifting appropriately. On turn 1, which is a hard braking fast corner, we did note mild oversteer tendencies. At both track and autocross exercises, we could empathise with the car’s Direct Adaptive steering and note that while the latest revisions have added some life in terms of feedback. The car appears stable even over rough patches and a bit stiff over speed bumps, the feedback now does find its way to the driver like a normal car. This means that the isolated character has been successfully removed and this aspect will give any new driver exposed to this drive-bywire steering system for the very first time to drive the car with confidence. The new engineering packaging has made the Q50 a more entertaining car delivering the performance and handling as expected. Brakes are excellent in terms of power and feel.

While most of the day with the car was spent on track, nevertheless, usual road going comfort and convenience features do not go unnoticed. The NVH levels in the car speak of luxury class and so does the feature pack.

Verdict The 2016-17 Q50’s improvements help make it one of the more compelling entries in the compact luxury sedan class. The Q50 Red Sport appears cut for a better freeway cruiser role but can also perform as a track-day star if needed.In our region, the topof-the-line Q50 Red Sport 3.0t 400 will be sold from AED 210,000.

This pricing is attractive when you consider the entry level Q50 2.0t which is available from AED 136,500. These retail prices are for UAE and will differ marginally according to markets and taxation.

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Stylish Cadenza launched in Oman The all-new Kia Cadenza was formally launched in Oman at a specially organised event. The occasion was specially attended by Hokeun Song, manager, Kia Motors Corporation, Saud Mohamed Bahwan and many highranking press officials.

The all-new Kia Cadenza has been hailed in many circles as the “Masterpiece of Our

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Times”, says a press release.

In a keynote address, Hokeun Song, manager, Kia Motors Corporation, underscored Kia’s equity around the world, “The brand value of Kia Motors has grown significantly and we have cemented our position in Interbrand’s 100 Best Global Brands. The most wellknown factor behind our recent success has been the complete

transformation of the design of our vehicles. Led by German chief design officer Peter Schreyer, we have been the auto industry’s biggest winner of influential design awards since 2009.”

Cadenza is positioned as Kia’s high-end model prepared to provide a pleasurable drive and distinguishable safety and comfort features. He explained further that the people of Oman have been prudent in asking for features in automobiles that can economize their car ownership and reduce running and maintenance costs. Kia, always known for fuel-effi- cient cars has brought the new Cadenza with 8 speed transmission with 3.3 GDI engine.

Highlighting the leadership of the chairman, he said, “I would also like to thank our partners in Oman, Reliable International Automotive, which under the

able guidance of its chairman Sheikh Mohammed Saud Bahwan is doing an incredible job of taking brand Kia to greater recognition.”

During the press meet, a representative of Reliable International Automotive (RIA) gave the finer details on new Cadenza.

The Lambda 3.3L GDI engine produces 284PS@6400rpm with peak torque of 34.3 kgm @ 5200rpm.

The other 3.3L MPI engine version in lower trim produces 270 ps @ 6400rpm and peak torque of 32.4 Kgm@5300rpm.

Kia’s newly developed FWDbased eight-speed automatic transmission is highly efficient, providing quick and crisp shifts for a more enjoyable driving experience that will set it apart from competitors. Additional gears offer more power on tap and better efficiency covering more speed ranges.

NEWS

Oman & region

Renault launches all-new TALISMAN

Renault Oman announced the launch of the all-new Talisman in the Sultanate.

The key features of the car include the provision of Multisense technology that senses the driver’s mood. The car

features electronic damper control and a powerful 190hp turbocharged direct injection engine with fuel consumption supposed to be pegged at 17 km/litre. The car also delivers luxury features like heated

and ventilated front seats and R-LINK 2 that connects the driver’s phone to the car’s environment and pairs it with the 8.7” display, heads-up display and a BOSE surround sound system.

For the first time in the Middle East Region, Renault has launched the Renault Talisman Virtual Showroom, which is a live sales demonstration and objection handling portal.

Volkswagen Tiguan launched in Oman The sporty and powerful new Tiguan is now available in

Volkswagen showrooms across Oman.

Andrew Squires, General Manager of Wattayah Motors, said, “The new Tiguan is perfectly thought-out – from its sharp new design to the state-of-the-art technology.

The new model is spacious, flexible and appealing to drivers and their families as an ideal companion for their everyday business and personal lives.”

The new model is the first Volkswagen SUV built on the state-of-the-art MQB platform and features new technology, completely unique in the compact class; including Active

Info Display, Adaptive Cruise Control and Head-Up Display.

Available from a starting price of OMR 9,760 – the new Tiguan is offered in five model configurations - S 1.4L, SE 1.4L, SE 2.0L, SEL 2.0L and Sport 2.0L with 220 HP. Moreover, the new Tiguan offers a wide range of safety features – active bonnet and six airbags as standard, and an additional knee airbag on the driver’s side as an option, and forward collision warning and autonomous emergency braking system for adaptive cruise control.

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JAGUAR LAND ROVER EXPANDS INGENIUM FAMILY

‘Sentra Mileage Challenge’ for customers Nissan Oman, from the house of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles (SBA), recently organised a ‘Sentra Mileage Challenge’ to create awareness about Sentra’s high fuel efficiency. The winner of this challenge delivered a mileage of 35.09 km per litre of petrol.

The fun-filled mileage challenge was organised at Nissan showrooms in Qurum and Sohar as a part of CSR initiative of SBA. A senior official of SBA said, “As responsible global

citizens, we at SBA, feel it is our duty to engage with customers and help them in understanding and appreciating fuelefficient driving habits.

Apart from conservation of precious resources fuel-efficient driving helps in economizing costs also.

Nissan’s passenger cars are proven to deliver high fuel efficiency. And we decided to engage with our customers so that they appreciate this better.”

The event saw participation from

enthusiastic Sentra customers who were flagged off from showrooms in the morning. They had to drive the cars on a predesigned route covering nearly 150 km and the car that got maximum mileage was declared the winner. The winning car delivered 35.09 km per litre of fuel.

There were several other Nissan Sentras which delivered much more than GSO certified mileage norms of 18.1km per litre of fuel.

Jaguar Land Rover has expanded its powertrain family, unveiling new technologies for both current and future vehicles.

At the heart of its low-emissions strategy, the new four-cylinder Ingenium petrol engine is now in production at Jaguar Land Rover’s £1 billion Engine Manufacturing Centre. Designed, engineered and manufactured in the UK, these are the most advanced engines the company has ever developed. They will deliver up to 25 per cent more power than the engines they replace and offer fuel consumption reductions of up to 15 per cent.

Jaguar Land Rover has developed an advanced automatic transmission. The £30 million advanced research project, TRANSCEND, uses an innovative ultra-wide ratio spread (20:1) that integrates lowrange gear box, dual-clutch and hybrid technologies.

Audi driving Experience offered at Dubai Autodrome Get behind the wheel of the all-new Audi R8 V10 at the Dubai Autodrome. The most powerful car in the Audi range is on offer together with the iconic Audi TT for thrilling Audi driving experiences.

Since early 2007 the race track has been home to the Audi driving experience in Dubai with a wide variety of different programs to choose from.

The Audi driving experience was established in 2007 to offer driving courses for everyone’s driving ability – 12

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from beginners to experts.

Today, the courses available are also tailored for ambitious drivers to dynamically experience the Audi brand during driver and safety training courses.

For booking and more information please call the Audi driving experience at +971 4 367 8745.

All dates for the Audi driving experience can be found at http://www.audi-me.com (Experience, Audi driving experience)

Krueger.Picello joined Nissan Europe in 2012 as Managing Director of Nissan Iberia.

A year later, he was appointed to his current position.

Roland Krueger said “Raoul Picello joins INFINITI at a pivotal moment as we are in the middle of a major product offensive.

Our Q30 and QX30 compact vehicles have been well received in Europe and beyond.

With the all-new Q60 sports coupe, the new 3.0 twin-turbo V6 and other highly

innovative technologies, INFINITI carries further momentum. Raoul’s experience of more than 25 years in sales and marketing in the automobile industry will further support our growth ambitions. Also, I would like to take the opportunity to thank François Goupil de Bouille for his long years of service with Nissan and INFINITI. He has successfully launched the all new Q30 and QX30 in Europe and the team wishes him well for his next steps.

Limited edition Golf GTI Clubsport now available in manual The Middle East’s purists can now experience the Clubsport with a six-speed manual transmission.

With acceleration from 0 to 100km/h in just 6.3 seconds and a boost function allowing up to 290hp for a short time, the limited

edition Golf GTI Clubsport with manual transmission is currently available for pre-booking in showrooms across the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Oman from mid-September.

Pricing will start from AED 138,000.

“The manual edition of the Golf GTI Clubsport is a driver’s car. Our customers have the opportunity to relive the original GTI manual experience,” commented Andrew Savvas, Brand Director, Volkswagen Middle East.

Infiniti Oman is now on Instagram Infiniti Oman has announced its launch on Instagram.

“As our brand is known for its exquisiteness, Instagram platform is a great fit and provides a unique opportunity to not only highlight our brands and exclusive offers, but further engage consumers as well,” said a spokesperson from Infiniti Oman.

“This launch follows our already popular Facebook page and we look forward to introducing some exciting content on Instagram in the near future. As a brand, we look to have a presence

wherever consumers are talking about our cars,” he added.

Consumers can visit Infiniti Oman on Instagram at www. instagram.com/infiniti.oman . The brand plans to launch innovative marketing campaigns focusing on USP and class-leading products for Instagram followers soon.

Instagram now boasts of more than 500 million users in a sign of the photo-sharing app’s rapidly growing global reach. The company owned by Facebook Inc had 400 million users last September.

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NEWS

Raoul Picello (53) has been appointed Vice President, Europe, Middle East and Africa for INFINITI Motor Company, effective Oct. 1, 2016.

Picello, currently Vice President of Sales for Nissan in Europe, succeeds François Goupil de Bouille, who is leaving the company to pursue other interests. Picello will be based in INFINITI’s European headquarters in Rolle, Switzerland, and report to INFINITI President Roland

Oman & region

INFINITI APPOINTS RAOUL PICELLO VICE PRESIDENT, EUROPE, MIDDLE EAST AND AFRICA

BMW M division may include EV and autonomous technology in business plans For 44 years, BMW’s ‘M’ sub brand has been gracing some of the most performanceoriented road-going BMW models around.

And as the automotive business looks at new technology applications like electric, hybrid powertrains and autonomous driving capabilities, no successful brand operation can ignore the opportunities or challenges.

BMW AG member of the board of management Ian Robertson has indicated that the company could bring electric

and autonomous performance to its M range, subject to engineers being able to include signature performance using these technologies. “BMW M is enjoying its most successful period in history,” said Robertson. “It has the broadest range of cars, they are sold out around the world and ultimately I see [electrification] technology that can move in both directions here.”

Irrespective of what the company decides to do in future, Robertson assures that the

Lexus in India by 2017 The list of luxury premium brands eyeing India for business is increasing. Last month, Toyota has confirmed that it will be launching Lexus brand as early as 2017.

Toyota had been talking about introducing the premium brand a couple of years back but it did not materialise due to unforeseen circumstances. This time around, the plans seem to be moving forward. Lexus will open its India chapter with two dealerships in Mumbai and New Delhi.

On the product front, Lexus had planned to bring in only the hybrid range to the Indian market, but 14

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since the Indian government doesn’t offer subsidies for hybrid cars (apart from the FAME scheme), Toyota dropped that plan and decided to introduce both hybrid as well as non-hybrid cars.

The SUV range will include petrol and diesel variants of LX and compact RX. The RX 450h might be available in both standard as well as the F-Sport variant. Along with the two SUV models, Lexus will also launch the ES 300h sedan with a 2.4-litre 4-cylinder engine combined with a hybrid powertrain producing 200hp.

BMW brand DNA will remain intact.

Automan’s take

The possibility for an electric or hybrid M car isn’t all that farfetched. Some of the technologies are already being used in the current i8 hybrid car. Should the project be greenlighted, we can expect to see the next-generation of electric BMW i-range vehicles sometime near 2021 and an M-branded EV or hybrid soon after.

Automan’s take

One big advantage that Magna Steyr has

that it gets access early in the vehicle development process to new technologies which are being developed by Magna’s other divisions. Future and first time entrants to the automotive business like

Apple Inc. and the Google division of Alphabet Inc could also be looking for set-ups like Magna to develop and sub contract production.

Is Apple planning to move into car business?

Interestingly, after publication of the FT report, McLaren issued a statement saying “McLaren is not in discussion with Apple about any potential investment” but did not say whether it had been approached.

Apple has also declined to say anything.

Apple’s car strategy is not clear as in July this year Bloomberg reported that Apple had fired numerous staff from Project Titan in order to focus on developing technology for autonomous cars rather than developing an autonomous car of its own.

Automan’s take

Last month, global business media was ripe with a breaking story related to Apple’s future automotive production aspirations. The news being circulated seemed appropriate as it follows years of speculation that Apple may be developing a car under the code name Project Titan.

The tech giant reportedly recruited talented engineers from the auto industry and even approached officials from California’s GoMentum Station last year about gaining access to the facility.

GoMentum is a former naval base located near San Francisco that’s been converted

into the world’s largest secure facility for autonomous and connected car development.

This missing link was who was to build the car for Apple if all went well? Questions that speculated time to time included would Apple buy out a loss making yet technology rich set-up or use an experienced sub contractor?

According to Financial Times, sources claimed Apple was interested in cutting a deal with Britain’s McLaren Technology Group and tap its technology, engineering expertise and numerous patents.

McLaren Technology Group is a consortium of high-tech businesses that includes McLaren Formula One racing team and a stake in the McLaren Automotive road car business. It’s a private company whose majority stakeholders are Ron Dennis, Mansour Ojjeh and the Bahrain government’s Mumtalakat. Mumtalakat only owns half of the automotive group, and not any portion of the valuable Applied Technologies Group or the Formula One team.

The loss making automotive group is likely to be valued at between £1bn and £1.5bn and a healthy cash injection is needed soon. If the deal were to be true, Apple could definitely benefit from Mclaren’s automotive engineering expertise and on-board computer systems to chassis materials such as carbon fibre and aluminium.

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NEWS

Graz Austria-based Magna International will need to build a new assembly plant as it wins more contracts to manufacture vehicles. Magna has recently inked a contract to assemble a new version of BMW’s 5 Series sedan beginning next year. Magna began assembling vehicles for BMW in 2003, when it launched the X3 crossover. Production of the new 5 Series will replace the current production of the Mini models. Magna also has deals with Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar Land Rover.

The production volume in the Magna plant is expected to reach 200,000 units a year.

Brandwatch

Business is booming for Magna

New Hyundai i30 platform to serve as base for new range of variants four-door coupe-style variant. The South Korean car maker has also confirmed in its press release that the next-gen model “is more than just one model”. In the release Hyundai says the i30 will become “a family of unique products united by a timeless and balanced design coherent for every body type”.

The product effort is supported by Hyundai Motor Group president and chief design officer Peter Schreyer. In Frankfurt, Schreyer has revealed the outlines of three distinct body styles – hatchback, wagon and fastback-coupe style model with a high-set sloping liftback tail end.

Interestingly, the new i30 will be the first Hyundai model to carry the ‘N’ performance badge.

Automan’s take Hyundai has released the first details of the Gen II 2017 i30 hatchback and somewhere in the reveal presentation it seems that more is in store. At least, three distinct

body styles have been teased during incoming i30 product presentation.

The future “family of cars” based on the new i30 hatchback includes a swoopy

If the production model ends up being a four-door coupe-style variant it would be a unique proposition in the mainstream small car segment, with hatchbacks the body style favoured by most car-makers.

Bentley Bentagya goes diesel This may surprise many in the premium or ultra luxury performance segment, but for diesel aficionados it could be the coup d’état of the year. Britain-based Bentley Motor Cars first SUV, the Bentayga gets a diesel power plant in addition to the existing petrol. In a record of sorts, it’s first diesel in its almost 100-year history of the brand. The engine is a turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 that features two conventional exhaust-driven compressors (turbochargers) as well as an electricallydriven one. The said engine is also used in the Audi SQ7 TDI which was launched earlier this year. For the Bentagya, it produces 429hp and 664 pound-feet of torque, which is enough to propel the SUV from 0-90km/h in just 4.6secs. The top speed of the diesel Bentagya is 270km/h.

While these numbers are close to the 600hp Bentayga W12 petrol, but the diesel scores in the environment-friendly department with the lowest carbon emissions figures of any Bentley at 210gm/ km. It also has an impressive driving range of approximately 993kms on a single tank.

A number of features have been 16

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incorporated to improve overall refinements including the exhaust system which has been acoustically engineered to minimize diesel rattle. The Bentayga

Diesel exhaust tips also feature a unique shape and the model also sports “V8 Diesel” badges. A blacked-out grille is specific to this variant.

NEWS

One of Jeep brand’s first compact crossover SUVs was the Compass [MK49] which was introduced in 2007. The Compass and related Patriot were slotted below the Wrangler as entry-level models.

During the course of the business careers of these two crossover models, FCA realised that in the interest of the future of the models, it was better to can them in favour of a single new model.

It seems that Jeep is moving forward with this strategy and has released the first details of a completely new and unrelated product to the current Compass and Patriot that are on sale now. As the new C-segment SUV in Jeep’s lineup, the incoming Compass will not only replace both of those models, but will be conveniently slotted in between the Renegade and Cherokee.

The new Compass is based on a stretched version of the Renegade small wide 4x4 platform. According to FCA, globally there will be 17 powertrain options. Engine options will include 2.0-litre turbo inlinefour or a naturally-aspirated 2.4-litre inline-

Brandwatch

New Jeep Compass details revealed

fours mated to a nine-speed automatic transmission. On the styling front, the car looks like a scaled down Grand Cherokee and the interior is more like the Cherokee’s

than the Renegade’s. There will be a North American debut with more information coming at the LA Auto Show in November.

Buick sub brand created

Third Genesis model being prepared More and more automakers are looking at sub branding to help effectively target and market their merchandise. The trend continues to serve its purpose and now new players are emerging from North America. GMC has Denali, Cadillac has the V Series, and now Buick has Avenir. GM’s near-premium brand has announced plans to launch its own luxury sub-brand that is the “highest expression of the luxury experiences according to Duncan Aldred, Vice

President of Buick Global Sales, Service, and Marketing.

After the announcement, industry watchers were quick to point out comparisons with Denali. Since Buick’s execution is going to be similar, questions were raised about which Buicks would get the Avenir treatment. Buick has indicated that it will introduce three different Avenir models globally over the next 18 months with new rangetopping trim levels.

It seems the Hyundai is firing on all cylinders with its Genesis luxury brand. A new prototype has been spotted recently in the US and the small sport sedan that will be called the G70 is expected to join the larger G80 and G90 siblings around mid-2017.

The G70 was previewed in March by the Genesis New York concept, but observers say the production version bears little resemblance to the stunning show car. The glasshouse silhouette is similar to that of the Lexus IS while the rear

resembles the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. The long bonnet and expansive dash-to-axle ratio of the concept remain unaltered.

The G70 will enter a crowded segment dominated by the BMW 3-Series, C-Class, Audi A4 and then you also have Acura TLX, Alfa Romeo Giulia, Audi A4, Cadillac ATS, Infiniti Q50, Jaguar XE, Lexus IS, Lincoln MKZ and Volvo S60 among others to contend with. Spotters have seen the prototype being tested alongside some of these key rivals.

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Anniversary specials

Volvo C70

It was 20 years ago that Volvo launched the C70, its first proper coupe and cabriolet since the P1800 bowed out in 1972. The C70 went from drawing board to production in a remarkably short period of 30 months. It was built on an all-new, frontwheel-drive platform also shared with the 850 sedan. Volvo engaged British engineering firm Tom Walkinshaw Racing [TWR], which has running Volvo’s British Touring Car Championship

campaign at the time for designing of the car. TWR’s then design director Ian Callum penned the C70’s styling, which went virtually unchanged in the transition to production. Callum introduced the curves that Volvo soon adopted across its range and still maintains. Production of the C70 was also handled by TWR at Volvo’s refurbished Uddevalla factory. On September 30, 1996, the C70 was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show.

Anniversary specials

Chevrolet

Peugeot confirms India entry plans

On September 29, 1966 Chevrolet launched the Camaro, its pony car rival to the all-conquering Ford Mustang. To mark the occasion, Chevrolet has launched a 50th Anniversary Edition pack. The 50th Anniversary edition will be available on 2LT and 2SS models and packaging includes Nightfall Gray body colour with a black and orange central stripe, unique 18

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20in wheels and grille with satin chrome detailing, orange brake calipers, black leather and suede interior with orange stitching, and lots of 50th Anniversary detailing.

The package is available on the 2.0-litre turbo charged 2LT and 6.2-liter V8-powered 2SSmodels, in both coupe and convertible forms.

Carlos Tavares, chairman, Groupe PSA is pushing his company’s aggressive ‘Push to Pass’ growth plan for the period 2016-2021 and India is among top of the investment destinations for production, marketing and possible exports. It may be recalled that in 2011, Peugeot had announced India launch plans, but due to the company’s financial issues at the time the idea didn’t move forward.

The Tavares includes a partnership deal in India by 2018 and a product launch before the end of 2021. The ground work has also begun and almost a year ago it was reported that Peugeot had approached cash-rich Tata Motors with a partnership proposal. As of now, the French automotive group is

looking at investing a production plant in Indian state of Gujarat.

Incidentally, Tata Motors has a state-of-the-art production facility in Sanand where it produces the $2,500 Nano and has spare capacity to offer due to slow sales of Nano in India.

Automan’s take

The possibility for an electric or hybrid M car isn’t all that farfetched. Some of the technologies are already being used in the current i8 hybrid car. Should the project be greenlighted, we can expect to see the next-generation of electric BMW i-range vehicles sometime near 2021 and an M-branded EV or hybrid soon after.

be around 900-1,000hp. Adrian Newey’s goal of making the AM-RB 001 lap a track quicker than a Formula One car would need a highly sophisticated suspension

set up and active aerodynamic elements.

Deliveries don’t begin until 2019 which means Red Bull still has time to build the development team.

Electrification could bump Bugatti Chiron output Hyper and supercar makers are able to extract maximum potential from their powertrains these days, thanks to the combination of mechanical ingenuity and advanced electronics. But the story doesn’t end there as there’s always the quest for more. Bugatti describes its newly launched Chiron as the ultimate, quintessential super sports car with mindblowing 1,500hp on tap coming from its quad-turbo W16 8.0-litre engine. Former head of R&D at Audi and currently Bugatti’s president

Wolfgang Dürheimer has hinted that more is on the way for the Chiron which means a hybrid component could be incorporated sometime in the future. One of the jobs that the hybrid component may be entrusted is to improve the 1,995kg car’s fuel economy besides offering some power boost on demand. Even if green-lighted for production, the hybridized mid-engined Chiron will have to overcome packaging restrictions in order to incorporate the electric motor module.

Bugatti to consider producing Galibier?

Almost seven years ago Bugatti took the wraps off the rather stunning 16 C 4-door frontengined Galibier concept and as expected set the curious rumour mill running. Well, it might happen as Bugatti president Wolfgang Dürheimer has indicate that the model is seriously being considered, along with three other ‘strategic ideas.’

The Galibier is a feasible project as it can use a modified version of Porsche’s MSB platform which is also share with some Bentleys. If this platform is utilised then the Galibier will remain faithful to

the front-engined layout of the concept.

It may be recalled that the Galibier was approved for production back in 2011, with the Moslheimbased marque deciding to make as much as 3,000 units over eight years. However, when Dürheimer went to Audi in 2013, development was suddenly halted when his replacement, Wolfgang Schreiber, channeled the company’s efforts on the Veyron replacement.

Dürheimer returned to the brand in 2015 and is keen to put the fourdoor Galibier back on the drawing board.

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NEWS

It’s no secret that job listings on recruitment sites give an indication of the hirers’ intentions. In this case we are referring to Red Bull Racing’s website which ran and advertisement for openings “AM-RB 001 Engineers.” As part of the staffing requirements there are vacancies for mechanical design engineers specialising in “automotive drivetrain integration including hybridization, controls engineer with experience with semi-active suspension and electronics engineer with hybrid expertise.

What we know is that Aston Martin plans to build 99 examples of the AMRB 001 and price them well above $1.3 million and it will feature a new naturally aspirated 5.2-litre V12 capable of revving up to 11,000 rpm. Output is expected to

Brandwatch

Strong signals that Aston’s AM-RB 001 could be hybridised

FACETOFACE Jeff Schumaker

Could you give us an overview of Cooper Tire in the region, in terms of positioning, branding and product mix?

Cooper Tire currently markets its range of products via regional dealers across five Middle East countries. Working together with our regional partners, we are planning to expand our reach over the coming months and years as we demonstrate our reinforced commitment to the region.

We produce a full range of car and 4x4 tyres, which have been designed and developed to match the demands of today’s vehicles. The brand’s relevance in the Middle East continues to grow as Cooper manufactures one of the largest 4x4 tyre ranges in the world. Cooper products are selected for countless applications, including the Dakar Rally, showcasing the brand’s ability to provide products that perform to the highest standards across some of the world’s most diverse terrain and climatic conditions.

You admit that the brand needs more focus to become a topof-mind choice for consumers. What are you doing to make this happen?

We want to increase awareness of the Cooper brand across the region. We are taking a number of steps to achieve this goal, one of which was the decision to become the official tyre sponsor of the biggest Motor Show in the region, the Dubai International Motor Show in 2015. This provided us with a strong platform to get our name out to consumers and introduce them to our new products.

We also recently introduced an Arabic-language website and marketing materials, both logical next steps to ensure our Middle East consumers have easy access to our products and dealer information. Over the coming years we will continue to build on these steps and bring Cooper Tire to the forefront of customers’ minds.

Do you see opportunities in the challenged economic market for car buyers? Will we see buyers keep their current cars for longer and hence grow the replacement market?

Cooper’s focus is very much in the replacement tyre business, so while new car sales may be slowing, consumers who keep their cars for longer will be replacing their tyres. our brand is positioned towards the premium end of the market.

How do you compete with other brands that also enjoy volume sales?

At Cooper, our focus is on delivering a top quality product at a competitive price and we adhere to this value proposition.

We produce tyres that can compete with the biggest names in the industry, and therefore represent excellent value for the investment. Cooper will continue to follow this formula, which has proven so successful all over the world.

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What are the technology initiatives that Cooper Tire brings to the buyer?

A good example is the recently introduced Cooper Discoverer A/T3 Sport which is our ultimate all-terrain tyre. The A/T3 Sport retains the A/T3 benefits of reliable tread wear and superior allseason traction due to the zig-zag siping technology. In addition, lateral groove protectors reduce the chance of stone retention and dual draft angles on the tread element walls assist in cut and chip resistance. The tyre’s tread elements have been innovatively designed in pairs by Cooper engineers to deliver excellent stability and confident handling, whatever the weather.

How do you see the overall passenger and commercial tyre market in the region?

The most important market in volume is the passenger car tyre market. However, the SUV and 4x4 segment is growing. The sports car segment is smaller in terms of volume, but represents an interesting opportunity for manufacturers who offer products in this area, including Cooper Tire.

Are you facing problems with an ever-tightening consumer protection regime in the region?

Consumer protection is a good thing from all points of view.

Information on product performance, origin, and so forth helps the end user to make an educated choice on the best tyres for them and their vehicle. In the past 18 months, three new separate processes have been implemented in the GCC, varying by country. With the support of our partners in the region, and given the importance of the GCC markets, Cooper has responded, demonstrating our commitment to the region and to consumer needs.

With particular focus on Oman, how do you see the break-up of the passenger car tyre market by year end?

We cannot comment on the market statistics, but the passenger car tyre market is the most competitive one, not only in Oman, but in the GCC. We are working with our local partner, the Zubair group, to create a long term sales and marketing platform for our products in Oman.

Are there any focus product lines that will help Cooper Tire in the region?

Our product lines are very diverse and designed to appeal to the region’s consumers. We recently introduced three new products to our line-up. Firstly, the Cooper Zeon 4XS Sport, which has been developed with a new asymmetric tread pattern specifically designed to cope with the weight of large SUVs. Secondly, the Cooper Zeon CS8 is a high performance passenger car tyre, which offers exceptional grip, fuel efficiency

Jeff Schumaker, Cooper Tires managing director for the Middle East and Europe answers Automan’s queries about their tyre business in the region Interviewer: Raj Warrior

and handling. Finally, we introduced the Discoverer STT Pro, which is the next generation of the popular offroad Discoverer tyre line. The Discoverer STT Pro has been designed for those who love outdoor adventure, delivering serious traction, toughness and treadwear to meet the demanding off-road conditions of the Middle East.

Do you have any plans to communicate lifestyle and/ or motorsports heritage from the American market to improve your brand recall?

We will continue to develop materials that are appropriate to the region and its consumers. This will involve aspects of our brand heritage from around the world as well as assets that are more specific to the Middle East region.

What are the top three USPs of Cooper Tire for a tyre buyer in Oman?

We are known for our 4x4 tyres, and that’s a well-earned reputation, but we make great passenger tyres too. We offer a wide range of tyres that suit all terrains and conditions at a competitive price point.

In addition, we design and manufacture tyres that perform to the highest levels anywhere in the world. And because we have been doing business in the Middle East for so long, we understand the demands of this market and know that our tyres will perform just as well here as in the U.S., Mexico, China, or anywhere else. We have a global standard of tyre performance and we insist that our tyres can perform in any market in the world which ensures that our Omani customers can have total confidence in their Cooper tyres.

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Genesis G90

Author: Raj Warrior | Photography: Supplied

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The launch of the Genesis brand in the region brings to maturity Hyundai’s plan of becoming a true premium class specialist. Automan attends the launch and gets a first drive in the new flagship G90

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AT A GLANCE 2017 Genesis G90 ON SALE: Third quarter 2016 in region ENGINES: 3.3-litre twin-rurbo V6 with 370PS / 3.8-litre V6 with 308 PS / 5.0-litre V8 with 413PS TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic LAYOUT: 4-door, 4-passenger, front-engine, RWD with available AWD system SUSPENSION: Multi-link with Adaptive suspension control 24

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he big change that Hyundai has been aiming at over the past few years has happened and the Genesis brand has launched in the region. As part of a wider rollout, the Genesis brand is set to take the company into a territory of premium vehicles. This move is seen as the logical next move to the brand’s birth and connection with various top end Hyundais. It marks the complete abandonment of the Equus badge for the moment and subsumes the Centennial as well.

The launch in the region was centered around the opulent ambience of Dubai’s Armani hotel and involved a day trip out to the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. So what does the brand and the single launch car – the G90 bring to the market?

The brand has made some very astute moves. Over the past months it has brought onboard a management team that is familiar with the world of the high end car. The event was fronted by the brand’s new head, Manfred Fitzgerald, who has had previous experience with Audi and Lamborghini. Besides this, named designers are coming onboard.

The game plan seems solid and the investment matches the ideals – efforts are already in place to rollout the brand corporate identity across the region, with Hyundai showrooms currently being modified to offer exclusive areas for the new brand. As the lineup grows, the brand will sit apart in dedicated showrooms. The plan is for the smaller G80 to join the G90 by the year end. Future developments include at least two SUV-type offerings as well as the expected sports coupé.

The Genesis G90 In a world where product quality and refinement typify the luxury experience, the G90 fights a rather impressive battle. It is the replacement for the old Centennial but uses a whole lot of styling tweaks to differentiate itself from the wafty premium sedan. From the newly evolved hexagonal shaped grille, to the feeling of an odd familiarity about certain elements (like the almost Lagonda feel of the C-pillar or the Bentley like taillight treatment), you have to admit that while there is a lot of inspiration, the G90 on a whole looks the class.

At launch the G90 will be available with three engine variants although what’s on offer may depend on the individual market. The two older engines are the 3.8-litre V6 Di engine as well as the larger 5.0-litre V8, both Centennial stalwarts.

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The author interviewed Manfred Fitzgerald about the brand’s plans, his hopes for the Genesis G90 and use of technology to differentiate itself.

RW: What are your hopes for the Genesis brand?

MF: We are a new entrant in the luxury segment. We are a brand that is positioned and trying to bring across a value proposition and that is deeply rooted in our defined DNA. As I started out at the beginning of this year in January, taking over the new position, it was all about who are we as a brand? And what do we want to achieve? So we focussed on being an incredible brand and that means being yourself. So we have defined our DNA which is rooted in being audacious, which I think is an incredible character trait, being progressive and last but not least also being distinctly Korean.

That’s where we are from and that’s what we also want to instill in this brand.

RW: The Genesis brand is seen as an upstart entrant in the luxury sphere.

MF: I think that’s a fair statement. We’re just now not even a year old – the brand was launched on November 4th last year and we are going to have our first birthday in a short while.

RW: Within this year you’ve launched the G90 globally and you’ve entered the region here. You mentioned in your presentation that the G80 would be joining it later on in the year. How do you see the roadmap ahead in the current circumstances, are you sticking to your set strategy or will you have to rejig your positioning?

MF: I don’t think so. I think we have a well thought out plan, which we are adhering to. We started obviously with our domestic market and we are having a huge success with the G90 now. So we have gained in the first six months over 70% of marketshare over there. We feel very confident about what we are doing and how we are doing it. We have just launched the brand in the US and the first cars are hitting the showroom right now. That’s the G90 and the G80. And as you mentioned we will come here with the G80 in November. Despite all that is happening in the market and trends back and forth, we are very very confident of what we have laid out as a plan and our follow through.

RW: I’ll take you back before you joined the brand. The Genesis name has evolved over a long period. Are you playing too much of a long game?

MF: That’s what we are doing. We have positioned ourselves as an independent brand, so there will not be any connections in that way with the big mother company. We are very very conscious about what it means, we are very considerate of our

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positioning in the segment, so what you alluded to – yes it was a strategy of the corporation to invest in a luxury brand and to your point, this won’t happen overnight. i think the best way to do that is by producing an incredibly emotional product which the customers can relate to.

RW: Again, typically you are going to be looking at a completely different set of customers to the traditional Hyundai customers.

What new skill sets are you bringing in to address this shift?

Especially in connection with dealerships and other point of sales?

MF: You will see a lot of new ideas which we are realising step by step. The first one is what will happen at the end of this week where we will open our first Genesis dedicated showroom in a mall in South Korea. Along the way you will definitely have new ideas being realised and as you say we will also be bringing in outside talent to supplement our very very strong team.

RW: In terms of technology you mentioned that the brand new drivetrains and propulsion would help you stay distinct in terms of products. How does the G90 benefit from that?

MF: It is a completely new car. I think it would be wrong to state that it is a revolution in this segment. But it is definitely competitive in the segment and we feel very very comfortable of competing head to head with all the incumbent players. Looking forward however to propulsion systems, that’s something every OEM is addressing. We are not an exception. We would like to embark on this to craft our future on our own, so we see that there is a tremendous opportunity there to distinguish ourselves from the other competitors.

RW: Will we see piloted drive, electric drivetrains or hybrids on your first generation of products?

MF: Good question! Stay tuned and we will surprise you.

For the full interview look us up on our Youtube channel or scan the QR Code provided here:

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Bold lines highlight some very familiar luxury design motifs, like the sweeping taillights, almost tonneau like rear section and the chrome skirting. The swept wings of the Genesis logo are a good counterpoint to the high deck.

These are joined by a new generation 3.3-litre Lambda V6 twinturbo unit that can offer a rather healthy 370PS of power alongwith lots of torque through the turbo-boosted midrange. All the three engines are offered along with the 8-speed automatic gearbox.

The platform also has the ability to offer an all-wheel drive system that improves handling.

The interiors of the car offer the greatest improvement. The new cabin feels inviting and sports a whole host of luxury touches including nicely offset wood and chrome trim, plush leather and carpeting and seat functions for both the front and rear occupants.

The G90 truly offers a limousine like feel with the generous legroom and seat ambience of the rear. In fact Genesis are quick to point out the connection with independent certification that it has for good seat posture.

Occupants also get access to the electronics suite offering rear entertainment. You can pair your phone, charge it wirelessly and even look up navigation points.

However, a good chunk of the money you spend for the cabin actually goes towards the high grade sound environment. With an excellent NVH base and some handy algorithms, the Clari-Fi audio system builds on the Lexicon 17-speaker system allowing for individual surround-sound zones in the four corners of the car.

The driver zone not only enjoys a large 12.3” high resolution central display, it also boasts of a twin dial IP with digital panels and the largest colour heads-up display unit that we’ve seen till date.

In addition the car gets a host of safety related features including adaptive cruise control with braking, lane watch and lane keeping and a blind spot monitoring feature to match with its other electronic gadgetry. The G90 also gets the by now standard around view monitor that uses four cameras to offer an adapted view of your surroundings.

Driving Impressions The G90 is big and it is fast with either the 5.0-litre V8 which we drove on the outward leg to Abu Dhabi, or the 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6. The torque readily compensates for any lack of top end power and the handy eight speed gearbox still packs away the top three gears as overdrive stops. Genesis has made a car that competes well with the larger German luxury models for ride quality and cabin conveniences. You can see the liberal use of technology, which places the car somewhere close to today’s S-class levels. It has even got that feel of waftability about it to match the German flagship, although we know that it doesn’t quite match up under the hood.

The G90 is rather well-mannered, very predictable in turns and you do get this feel of it somehow being close to th ecurrent Cadillac CT6 in general manners.

Verdict To put it very simply, the car is almost flawless for what it is trying to achieve. However, there may be a mismatch in where exactly the Genesis badge fits on the spend scale, that being the only reason for us to have told the Genesis bigwigs that we see it drawing in premium customers for evaluation, but only such customers who are looking for a larger car than they can currently look at. The typical D and E-segment premium buyer may still look askance at the G90, but then the brand did have to start somewhere. The G90 is the car we always wanted the Centennial to be, The question that Genesis face is whether the G90 can stay modern, top-of-line and eventually compete head-on with the S-classes and 7-series of the world. While residing in the Hyundai showroom, the G90 needs to be that little bit out of the regular Hyundai buyer’s ability to purchase.

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2017 GMC Acadia

Author: Raj Warrior | Photography: Supplied

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A new smaller platform allows GMC to offer a significantly lighter, more dynamic Acadia. Does it still remain competitive in the segment?

Automan joins the media drive across Arizona nd Nevada to find out SEP 2016

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The all-new GMC Acadia builds on the strengths of the new common architecture, lighter, a tighter body and new electronics as well. But it has to now compete with its traditional rivals in a smaller package, which changes some of its market dynamics

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W

hen you think of an American SUV, the car that normally comes to mind is the big Yukon, Tahoe or their bigger brother Suburban. Part of the broader offerings of General Motors, these full-size SUVs compete with the Ford Expedition. So when the previous GMC Acadia debuted it wasn’t surprising at all to be confronted by Ford’s salespeople asking me how I rated that against the Explorer? In the interim, the Acadia went through a full product lifecycle, the Explorer overlapped and the competition continues.

But then that’s the older GMC Acadia. It had something going for it in that its Chevrolet iteration, Traverse, was distinct in identity. But as we were told by the folk from the factrory who met us in Phoenix, Arizona for the walkaround and orientation, the car was seen as being too close to the Yukon in size and too far from the smaller Terrain.

So this time around, the second-generation Acadia loses almost seven inches in length and 3.5 inches in width to the smaller common platform with the Cadillac XT5. What this does is bring the Acadia into the sweet zone the engineer’s craved and serves to distinguish it further from the next gen Traverse which will continue to be on a larger platform. The magic figure being quoted here is 700 pounds of weight that the new Acadia loses.

If seen realistically, this equates to a typical load of passengers and cargo, so this will serve to dramatically increase the performance.

Other benefits of the new platform are a stiffer body with less flex, better critical ratios and the ability to accommodate the latest electronics package. Despite it becoming smaller, the Acadia is still offered with a choice of seat configurations (5, 6 or 7) and in two major trim lines (All Terrain or Denali). The base Acadia will not be brought to the region (there is also no appetite for a 2.5-litre 4-cylinder version that is sold in the US market).

“The new Acadia captures a greater feeling of refinement, in everything from the responsive feeling behind the wheel to the way passengers interact with its intuitive features,” said Rick Spina, executive chief engineer for compact and crossover SUVs at General Motors. “It’s a vehicle that offers the functionality Acadia is known for, while delivering big advantages and balance to customers’ everyday lives.”

At first glance the Acadia looks like a completely new vehicle,

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Seen above: Details of the All Terrain version of the Acadia 34

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which it is. For all practical purposes, the model could have had a new name and worked comfortably, although there is no doubt some benefit with going with an accepted badge.

As you would expect from a new vehicle, there is almost nothing in common between the first and second generations in terms of styling. The GMC badge has grown while the grille and headlights have evolved towards the newer, sharper look of the badge. The presence of two distinct trim lines results in a brushed chrome on black surrounds look for the All Terrain, while the Denali has chosen the path of bling. And the body styling of the variants is tweaked, while the Denali sides cascade down to the road the All Terrain tries to tuck in the skirts to aid in staying clear of obstructions. This differentiation extends to badging, upholstery choices and wheels, although the actual off-road capabilities are broadly the same for both versions with the AWD. The HID lamps are only for the Denali.

The interiors have also evolved rather nicely with the provision of a panoramic roof, larger displays, a more digital instrument panel and electronics that serve to connect up with and extend your mobile experience.

You can connect to Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and additionally use features like automatic braking, adaptive cruise control with distance warning, lane keep and lane assist and a surround vision camera system.

That is going to be the biggest differentiator between the old and new cars. This is why people would spend the extra money you are asking for a smaller platform.

The Acadia also gets an all-new 3.6-litre engine and six-speed gearbox combination.

The engine is rated at 310hp with 367Nm of torque from an all aluminium block and head with direct injection. this is mated with a hydramatic 6T70 six-speed automatic transmission that is offered in either a base front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive arrangement.

The opportunity to drive the Acadia took us from Phoenix all the way to Las Vegas, with a good run through scenic areas like Sedona and over parts of the historic Route 66 taking us to Williams, where we stayed overnight at the Station hotel after driving to the Grand Canyon park and having dinner on the south face of the Canyon.

The next day took us further over the Route 66 route through kingman and down to Laughlin, the first point of entry on that route between Arizona and Nevada. That served as the lunch stop – at the Bubba’s shrimp factory. As you can see, the connection with deepset Americana was being dialled in to enable us to understand the car and it’s relevance to most of mainstream America. Part of the route was on sandy trails through a National Park, where we maintained speeds of 70 mph and above without having to let off the accelerator.

Driving Impressions We like how the Acadia feels. The vehicle is now a mid-size SUV and you can feel the new, lighter platform and the alacrity with which the V6 engine responds to inputs.

The NVH level is good, dial in a song and you can almost have no other sound around.

The Denali is definitely at its best on the highway. settle in at 70 mph and you just coast along with almost no input on the accelerator.

While the Acadia coasts along the system’s tendency to act as a co-driver is very pronounced. It senses the road markers even on rather poorly marked highways and tends to begin a correction phase that seeks to bring the car back on track. It’s easier when the highway is straight and you are just drifting. The problem comes when you drift on a curve – the system does not have enough confidence to chart its course through the curve.

Even better is the SUV’s manners in traffic.

The vehicle has pedestrian sensors, so it tends to brake to avoid impacting them as well as handles itself rather well in slow moving traffic.

Seen above: Details of the Denali version of the Acadia SEP 2016

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The Acadia has a new 3.6-litre V6 engine with 310hp output and a healthy midrange torque of 367Nm.

The smaller two-lane roads of the old Route 66 did require a bit of working the pedals, but the fact is that only a maverick would try to take chances with the patrols along America’s roads, especially near smaller towns.

As for the single off-road patch that we had to drive on, we put the vehicle in full-time 4WD mode and just careened through it.

The sands weren’t quite the sort you would find in the Middle East region, being more packed, but the suspension proved supple and responsive, with good travel.

Verdict The move towards the smaller platform has been largely beneficial for GMC. The new GMC Acadia is much more of an everyday vehicle, offering better size and proportions. At the same time the car feels a lot more European in the way it drives and weaves.

The best part is that despite the size and weight going down, the engine remains a 3.6-litre unit, albeit with more power than before. The fuel efficiency is supposed to be close to that of a typical four-cylinder engine with the active cylinder deactivation, but when you kick down on the accelerator, the Acadia takes off.

However, most buyers will like the cabin and feature package of the Acadia as this sets the vehicle apart from most of the competition. You can even choose a certain look of the car in between the All Terrain and the Denali. If you feel that your forté is skewed toward the outdoors you may opt for the former and you will also get a specific All terrain mode instead of the generic off road mode that the Denali features.

Beyond that the main options you have are in terms of drive layout and seating layouts. The six-seater option really ends up being the most opulent of the lot and not surprisingly it will be the mainstay of the Denali version. There is adequate space to pop through the gap between the two seats of the second row to the third row. Although the third row is not as large as you would expect, the seats are handy and do accommodate adults as we experienced on our drive back from the dinner at the Grand Canyon.

While the drive ended at the porch of the Aria in Las Vegas, the bling of the car managed to still look as if it is part of the environment there. Especially that of the large chrome grille of the Denali. It was almost anti-climatic to hand over the keys and draw the trip of a lifetime, with atleast a couple of bucket list items on it, to a close.

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The trail chosen for the media drive followed parts of the historic Route 66, taking the new breed of American SUV through towns like Kingman, as well as to the rim of the Grand Canyon and over the Hoover Dam

AT A GLANCE 2017 GMC Acadia ON SALE: Third quarter 2016 in region ENGINES: 3.6-litre V6 direct engine with 310hp and 367Nm of torque with cylinder deactivation TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic Hydramatic 6T70 LAYOUT: 5-door, 5,6 or 7-passenger, front-engine, Front-biased with AWD system SUSPENSION: MacPherson strut and 5-link with continuous damping control SEP 2016

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2016 Emgrand GT 3.5

Geely bills its Emgrand lineup as the quality choice among Chinese brands. And the GT definitely looks the part. Automan tests the car, now available with a V6 engine.

Author: Raj Warrior | Photography: Elvis John Ferrao

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Chinese brands are becoming far more adventurous in the way they are rolling out products for global consumption.

While they have become almost par players with established brands in the electronics sphere, Automotive has always been a field where the products coming from the factories behind the bamboo curtain were suspect. Of course, they did the job, but often that was at the cost of providing a cheaper product, tangibly inferior and often with a dodgy reliability record. It also didn’t help that many of these products were sold on an almost no warranty basis, showing a lack of belief in quality and reliability by the manufacturer itself.

That’s why we have been pleasantly surprised by the efforts of a couple of Chinese brands to shed that image and hit the mainstream. Emgrand has been one of them – the brand itself is a recognition by parent Geely that the rub-off effect of the older cheaper models wouldn’t be an easy task to overcome. Emgrand has thus invested in building a separate brand identity and product positioning, with some really good looking designs hitting the showroom.

The Emgrand GT was one of these models.

It brings a rather quirky though in-yourface grille with rather modern headlights

to the fascia. The grille is built of a series of concentric trapezoids, all chrome and serving as a statement of intent.

You cannot ignore this car, even if your reaction is “it’s that new chinese car”.

The Emgrand GT is the flagship sedan from the brand.Also being badged under the EC9 moniker, the sedan is meant to bring an executive sedan level feel to the segment.

The design is very well thought out. If you look at the car without prejudice, you would actually have admired the bold grille and the cleverly crafted LED piping through the headlights. The car’s projector lamps sit out at the wings, the lower airdam gets an offset treatement to the grille. The tail of the car is similarly built up to interest. The C-pillar slopes down in a rather fastback design that ends on raised haunches. The tag GT is cleverly used – there really isn’t much of a grand tourer about the car, although it does help pull the appeal a couple of notches higher.

In the balance, the profile seems like it has been inspired by the BMW 5-series GT, so perhaps that is the reason. Ideally the front axle should have been thrust slightly forward to give the car some clout – here the front-wheel bias of the sedan is visible, with the location of the front wheels so close to the front firewall.

Finally, you will buy the car to take the place of a regular C or D-segment car purchase. It helps that it feels so rich and that the power on offer is so much more than you could otherwise afford

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AT A GLANCE 2016 Emgrand GT V6 3.5-litre ON SALE: Currently available in the showroom ENGINES: 3.5-litre V6 with 275hp and 326Nm of torque. Regular 2.4-litre i4 engine also offered TRANSMISSION: 6-speed automatic LAYOUT: 4-door, 5-passenger, front-engine, FWD SUSPENSION: Multi-link

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The interiors are definitely worth a visit to the showroom or a test drive. Rather classy faux leather matches with a wood and soft touch plastic habitat. Chrome is ised generously to bring out the blackness of the almost ebony panels.

The electronics package is good by any measure – with heads-up display, eightspeaker sound system and features like blind spot monitoring and even parallel park assist. Touch and feel points are kept reasonably high class and the car even gets small touches like the seat adjustment button on the passenger seat inner side. Ver well thought out!

However the single best feature that the GT brings to the table is the design and detailing of the dashboard and centre console.

It begins with the detailing of the steering wheel, with full control available for the cruise control, audio and menu items as well as bluetooth phone controls.

The phone controls are also mirrored on the centre console as an extension of the audio system.

The gearshift knob seems to be contrived rather than a natural fit, but it is made to resemble the gearshift arrangement on the new generation of BMWs. The menu selector knob and quick switch between

modes sits in a zone just behind the gearshift lever.

Driving Impressions You can feel the presence of the V6 engine in this D-segment body as you step on the accelerator. The car is relatively light-footed and uses the extra torque and top end power of the 275hp V6 unit to its benefit. As for packaging, you can see the level of plastic shielding on top of the engine, which does seem a little tacky when not spanking clean.

The car rides a lot quieter than we expected – the NVH levels are spot on, although the amount of road noise from the tyres could be better insulated.

The V6 engine works through the 6-speed gearbox like a charm. You are at overdrive ratios in almost no time although you can opt for the Sport mode that allows you to hold gears longer and helps spool up the engine sound level a bit. You are working on 326 Nm of torque and that gives the car an added urgency.

The engine has enough of a torque output to cause torque steer as well as carries so much of the front-wheel drive character into its turns that you would be surprised if it didn’t understeer. Of course the car isn’t a performance sedan.

Verdict The moot point in buying a car like this is affordability and what you buy as a feature package. The car is not really a stranger on the roads, although it does have a loud presence. It is under 5 metres long and at close quarters really seems like it is should be placed alongside any of the regular family sedans. But it does try to look more impressive than the breed.

So, the package is loaded but the car is a Chinese sedan. It feels a lot more classy than you would expect and even the build quality is good. Panel gaps are reasonably even and the plastics are latest generation.

You can buy the fully kitted car south of 10,000 Rials and that is an achievement in itself – which other 3.5-litre unit can you get in the range?

Our recommendation is that you first take a test drive and note the points we have mentioned here. Then consider exactly how much importance you attach to each element and value it against the competition.

Finally, you will buy the car to take the place of a regular C or D-segment car purchase. It helps that it feels so rich and that the power on offer is so much more than you could otherwise afford.

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FIRSTDRIVE 2017 Infiniti Q60 Coupe

Automan heads to the hills of Southern California to put the much-anticipated Infiniti Q60 to the test Author: James McCarthy | Photography: Julian Mackie

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High up in the verdant hills outside San Diego at the picturesque Vineyard Grant James, the vistas are stunning. There’s enough natural beauty here to make Ansell Adams weep. The thing that’s drawing the most attention, however, is not hewn from the fair hand of Mother Nature, but Japanese automaker, Infiniti.

Nestled amongst the vine leaves is the

gorgeous 2017 Infiniti Q60 Red Sport 400, a reboot of the company’s popular G37 Coupé. Out here, in wine country, where the modern tends to takes a back seat to the traditional, the Q60 – which is packed to the rafters with new and improved tech – stands out like a Sharpie in Michelangelo’s brush box.

Its Dynamic Sunstone Red paint job bisects

the sand-colored escarpments and azure blue sky like a livid metallic slash, while the sharp mid-morning sunshine of the Golden State accentuates the Q60’s all-new, athletic musculature.

Lower and slightly wider than its predecessors, it sits with a youthful, purposeful stance that hints at the car’s performance, while the new-look front SEP 2016

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“Its driver-focused cabin is bright and spacious, while the cosseting, fully adjustable leather seats are capable of carrying you across continents without making you feel as though your legs have been amputated at the buttocks”

AT A GLANCE 2017 Infiniti Q6 Red Sport 400 ON SALE: Third Quarter 2016 (US) PRICE: $51,300 ENGINE: 3.0L Twin-Turbo CVVT 24-valve V6 / 400 hp @ 6,400 rpm, 475Nm @ 1,600 – 5,200 rpm TRANSMISSION: 7-speed automatic LAYOUT: 2-door, 4-passenger, front-engine, RWD WEIGHT: 1,752kg 0-62 MPH: 5.0 sec TOP SPEED: 155 mph 46

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end, with the larger, sportier grille and forward slanting headlight arrangement, exudes a more menacing expression than that of the G37. It’s more shark than happy guppy.

The interior, too, feels sporty and luxurious, with a tactility that belies the Q60’s price tag. Its driver-focused cabin is bright and spacious, while the cosseting, fully adjustable leather seats are capable of carrying you across continents without making you feel as though your legs have been amputated at the buttocks. After punishing his undercarriage defending the frozen north of Westeros on horseback, I’m pretty sure that’s why Kit Harrington looks so happy in the TV commercials.

He’s probably wondering if Infiniti’s “spinal support” cushioning can be retrofitted to the Iron Throne.

A literal highlight, though, is the trim.

Unlike so many cars in its class that clad the dash with dark carbon-fibre or piano-black wood, Infiniti has chosen to weave shimmering optic-fibre into every hard surface of the Q60. It’s an aesthetic masterstroke that gives the cabin a clean and elegant finish.

The car has five main drive modes: Eco, Snow, Standard, Sport and Sport+.

Additionally there is a Personal mode, which allows the driver to adjust the minutiae of the Q60’s myriad features, from steering to suspension, with hundreds of possible customisation permutations.

While the split touchscreen menu seemed pretty intuitive, it was a rabbit hole I wasn’t prepared to enter with the promise of dinner on a gorgeous Californian beach in the offing. Time was of the essence.

With a press of the start/stop button the brand new 3-liter V6 twin-turbo power

plant coughed to life. For a car with such visual presence, disappointingly, there was little fuss; there were no histrionics from the exhaust. It was all very muted.

In Standard mode, I pulled out onto the Old Julian Highway and started the hour-and-a-half long route skirting the Palomar Mountain. Serving up some lovely twisty roads, gentle inclines and drops, and some wide, empty straights, it was a perfect test of the Q60’s sporty credentials.

With my first real stab of the throttle, it was obvious that the Q60 is happy to play with pick up from the twin-turbo showing no sign of lag and an immediate delivery of power. There was a subtle growl of approval from the engine, but nothing that got the blood pumping.

I found little difference between the Standard and Sport modes, but there is a marked shift in the car’s performance between Sport and Sport+. With the latter activated, the Q60 as a whole seemed to spring to life. The attitude of the car was much tighter, the steering much sharper and the response from the accelerator was considerably more bellicose – planting my foot into the carpet at 60mph, delivered an immediate and rowdy burst of acceleration, accompanied by a satisfying bark from the engine. In a matter of 200 feet, I was already into triple figures on the speedo, proving that the Q60 certainly has the hooligan chops to back up its athletic physique.

The Q60 is equipped with the second generation of the company’s softwarecontrolled direct adaptive steering and “steer-by-wire” systems that first appeared on the 2015 Q50 four-door, as well as an all-new dynamic digital suspension set-up. I’ll openly admit that SEP 2016

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I’m immediately suspicious of softwarecontrolled steering, but if I didn’t know it was there, I would have been none the wiser. The steering had a decent heft, giving me the impression of feedback from the wheels but, thanks to the electronic disconnect, not the vibrations from the road.

So, with 400 horsepower, oodles of low-end torque – 475Nm from just 1,600rpm – and that impressive throttle response at my behest, I felt confident swinging the Q60 into corners and attacking the bumpy straightaways with speedy abandon. The car responded superbly, with enough body roll to keep the adrenaline levels up, but with no hint of mischief from the rear-wheel drive – the car stayed firmly planted to every line I pointed it at. Under the duress of some spirited driving, the Q60 remained adroit and unflappable.

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Adaptive Shift Control, which uses a lateral acceleration sensor to detect hills or corners and enhance gear-select patterns accordingly. Under hard driving in Sport+, I could feel the car holding onto the gears longer, enabling me to tap into as much of the engine’s power that the speed limits would allow.

There were times, however, where I felt the ever-present driving aids became a little intrusive. While I appreciate that they are there to work in favor of the driver, I found myself being constantly admonished for my slightly vigorous driving style.

For instance, when attacking tight bends in an aggressive manner, I was consistently scolded by a multitude of pings, beeps and vibrations as the car fought to take over. There were lane departure warnings as I inevitably scuffed the yellow divider, while the steering wheel would shake in my hands, as if trying to adjust my line and the car would start applying the brakes

as I was trying to apply speed on the exit. It was like being read the riot act by your mother, but in the middle of Tiesto concert.

However, in defense of what, on the entertaining Route 79, seemed like unnecessary nannying, all of this electronic wizardry really came to the fore when negotiating the busy lanes of Highway 15.

For me, the Blind-Spot Intervention was a revelation. A small light embedded into the A-pillars illuminates when a vehicle is traveling in your blind-spot and flashes with increasing urgency should you, or said vehicle, start moving closer together. It made negotiating the crowded freeways of Southern California a far less stressful experience.

Even short stretches on the highway were far less mentally exhausting thanks to the latest generation of Infiniti’s Intelligent Cruise Control, which maintained speed and kept the car in lane with a series of minute

“In Sport+, the Q60 as a whole seemed to spring to life.

The attitude of the car was much tighter, the steering much sharper and the response from the accelerator was considerably more bellicose”

steering adjustments. There’s Predictive Forward Collision, too, which can see at least two cars in front and will actively brake and accelerate as it sees the road ahead. That put itself to good use once or twice as cars, as they are wont to do here, just swept in front of me without indicating and immediately stamped on their anchors.

The Q60’s electronic instincts beat my reactions to the punch almost every time.

Fortunately, the level of the car’s omniscience can be easily toggled on or off via a button on the steering wheel, which is

perfect for when you pull off the highway and are faced with miles of un-policed twisty country roads.

When I finally arrived at the Pacific Coast Grill, situated on the sand of the beautiful Cardiff Beach in Encinitas, it was with a sense of immense satisfaction that I alighted from the Q60. If I was in the market for a sporty two-door to help me commute mindlessly to and from work, while offering a little something extra for weekend road-trips, then the Infiniti makes a compelling argument against, say, an

equivalent 4-series BMW. With a sticker price of $51,300, there’s certainly a lot more bang for your buck than if the same luxury options, such as leather interior, premium trim, 19-inch wheels and the plethora of matching technological upgrades, were applied to the Bimmer.

Also, with the money I’d save, I would have something to put towards the inevitable speeding fines I’d accrue testing my driving skills against the car’s CPU on those jaunty country drives.

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FIRSTDRIVE 2017 Dodge Neon

Author: Chandan B Mallik | Photography: Supplied

American automotive brand Dodge returns to the highly competitive entrylevel C-segment in the region after a 5-year gap with the all-new 2017 Neon sedan. Automan was invited for the car’s Middle East launch and first drive in UAE 50

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n the fast paced global automotive business, five years is a lot of time to sort things out. Fiat Chrysler Automobile Group under CEO Sergio Marchionne is moving forward with an open mind policy and some aggressive forward thinking ideas. It’s a trait that Marchionne is well-known for in the industry and the fall out for an over century old heritage brand is that it now looks to return in an abandoned for few years volume non-premium entry level C-segment with an all-new sedan offering.

And this is not the first time for Dodge to represent itself in this segment. The first generation Neon was introduced in January 1994 and manufactured for model years 1995 to 1999. Sales of the second generation model started with model year 2000 and production ended with the 2005 model year. When DaimlerChrysler discontinued the Plymouth brand, the former Dodge and Plymouth Neon were briefly sold under the Chrysler name in some markets including Middle East from 2000 to 2002.

Under the current business agenda, the Neon nameplate has been resurrected in 2016 and to achieve its business objectives, it has looked across its brands and their respective portfolios and found that a C-segment automotive product from a Fiat portfolio works best for the idea.

As a rebadged variant of Fiat Tipo family, this means that technically the incoming Gen III Neon gets a fairly modern platform which is also used on the Fiat 500L and also underpins the Jeep Renegade crossover SUV. The new Dodge Neon is the sedan version of Fiat’s Project Ægea, adapted for the Mexican market. The Tipo is produced in Turkey and is sold as hatchback and station wagon bodystyles only. The incoming Neon will also come from this production facility.

So it’s fair to say the FCA have cleverly used the available assemblies and made it work in the Gen III Neon. The Fiat Aegea on which the Neon is based was designed in Italy first and foremost as a sedan and hence doesn’t appear as a forced cut and paste job despite having different bodystyles. Dimensionally, it is 4,540mm long on a 2,600 mm wheelbase and those who are aware of Fiat models will be able to spot direct design and feature influences in this vehicle. Designers have been able to bring in some of the key Dodge design elements like the aggressive grille, striking crease lines and typical lamp clusters. For a car that has been developed on a shared European platform for mass market consumption, the Neon, at first glance appears modern, quite attractive and urbanoriented with its decent proportions and overhangs. Much the same can SEP 2016

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be said for the elegant tail end, with its sloping rear glass, and sculptured roofline.

More than the exterior bling elements, the main focus has been in the interiors and more specifically the packaging based on the three trim levels. Even the basic specific is generously packaged. The cockpit is focused on the driver, with the controls thoughtfully located on both sides of the steering wheel where the driver can easily reach them. In general, the borrowed layout is simple and uncluttered. Ergonomics is impressive and overall level of fit, finish and tolerances are good with the exception of some of the plastics which fall a bit short of segment benchmark. The instrumentation looks high tech, again not like your basic compact offering.

A fully functioning command centre featuring FCA’s U-Connect infotainment system with Bluetooth streaming is offered and it comes with easy-to-navigate icons for the radio, climate, media and additional USB ports. Sat Nav will be offered later.

The Neon’s generous D-segment sized 520-litre boot features a low sill to make loading and unloading easy. There’s also tons of storage space in the glove compartment, centre console, door pockets and on the back of the front seats plus can holders at the front and back, and even a holder for knick-knacks.

The contoured front seats are comfortable and the top version driver seat also gets lower lumber support adjustments. None of the trims offer power adjustments for the driver seat. Despite a large boot with 530-litre capacity, front and rear leg room and head room is good and the visibility ahead is impressive.

During introduction of the Neon in the region, only one powertrain set-up is being offered which is a normally-aspirated SOHC 1.6-litre e.torQ four-cylinder petrol engine mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. In this set up it offers 110hp at 5,500 rpm and 152Nm of torque at 4,500 rpm. Interestingly, this engine was developed through a 1997 joint venture ‘Tritec Motors’ where Chrysler and BMW (originally Rover) created 1.4-and 1.6-litre four-cylinder engines for various applications, including the revived MINI and then Neons. Subsequently, the engine set-up was purchased by Fiat in March 2008, including the factory and the engine design. Fiat used the engines to replace GM-based four-cylinders; a modernized version, now dubbed e.torQ, was launched in 2011. Dodge says the engine is highly fuel-efficient and produces very low emissions in accordance with European and other strict standards.

The C-segment these days also sees sophisticated features in the suspension packaging like independent rear set-ups, but the Neon gets an old-school tried-and-true torsion-beam rear suspension set-up. Dodge says, the bushings are designed in a way to keep down the noise, vibration, and harshness.

On the safety front, previous iterations of the Neon fared not so well, but the new car is expected to get at least 4-stars. In its construction it uses approximately 80 per cent high-strength steel while optimising weight efficiency. Ultra high-strength steel front crash cross members are used to help in exceptional crash-worthiness and low weight performance.

Besides the above, the car has been kitted with a host of active and passive safety features including 6 air bags, ABS, Electronic Stability Control, Emergency Brake Assist, Electronic Brake force Distribution, Electronic Rollover Mitigation, Hill-start Assist, Traction Control and Tyre Pressure Monitoring system.

Driving impressions Considering the packaging for the Neon, it is clear on paper that it is not designed to be a performance driving machine.

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The Neon is designed around the brief ‘Skills not Frills’ and claiming to provide classtopping roominess, boot capacity and value for money

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The first drive route began from Arabian ranches in Dubai and took us through the highways and looped back after 140kms.

Most of the roads encountered were flat and hence the full dynamic capabilities were relatively untouched. However, as an urban-centric car, it feels good on road with a stiff chassis and complementary suspension performance. The torsion beam suspension set-up seems to work flawlessly for this car and produces an admirable ride and solid handling for a compact car. However, there are some limitations because it’s not independent but the flip side is that weight shifting is hardly noted and the car feels confident and poised on road even in sharp cornering. However, the cabin’s serenity can be disturbed when one goes over rough surfaces or bumps as some of the feedback can be felt in the cabin.

The electric power steering feel is slightly on the heavier side [it can be lightened through a flick of a button] and feedback is well calibrated and turn-in is pretty decent. Despite having a proper gearbox and not the slow reacting and usually boring CVTs [as most cars are migrating

to this system in the name of efficiency], the weak spot seems to be in the power delivery.

While, the 1.6-litre engine delivers a good initial thrust, but lacks the same response at higher speeds and hence the car feels underpowered, even if you push it to its red line, which is around 6,000rpm. Even in mid-range [3,000-4,500rpm] the engine is a bit noisy, gears shifts are slow and the ratios between gears seem wide. Even in Tiptronic mode, the shifting pattern seems unaffected and as a result the car can feel sluggish at low speeds, but acceleration and response improves when you get going. When you take off casually, you probably won’t notice and obviously this is not your quick getaway mode of transport. Gear shifting is smooth and has a nice touch and feel and this, a welcome feature which comes in contrast to the lifeless performance from CVTs. The plus side is that the engine management system and associated electronics are designed for fuel efficiency, something which consumers are paying attention these days and are happy to compromise with some features.

The NVH parameters are up to the mark as expected in the class, however, some road/tyre noise does filter in. Braking performance from the disc and drum combo is good and the radial tyres offer decent grip.

Verdict With the Gen III Neon sedan, Dodge aims to infiltrate a volume segment in the Middle East that is currently dominated by models like Toyota Corolla, Kia Cerato, Hyundai Elantra, Ford Focus, Peugeot 301, Nissan Sentra among others. It is obvious that Dodge has not set out to build a driver’s car and instead the idea here is based around rationality, roominess, content, running costs and attractive transaction price in the three variants, the brand is looking at both retail and fleet opportunities. It also hopes to attract first time buyers to the American brand with its value proposition – a marketing ploy that has worked very well over the years for the Korean brands. We think there’s a fair chance of success with smart marketing and top class after-sales support.

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SPECIALSTORY 2016 Pebble Beach

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Continuing over a half a century old tradition the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is where the world’s top car collector meet and even compete with machines from different eras Author: Chandan B Mallik

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his year’s edition of Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance 2016 was held on August 21st in Pebble Beach, California. As always, the beautifully manicured lawn and the spectacular view over Carmel Bay into the Pacific Ocean formed the impeccable backdrop for arguably the most glamorous car show on the planet.

Competition is tough and 200 of the world’s most beautiful, rarest and meticulously-restored classic cars are rewarded with prestigious trophies. Here the vintage, classic, modern and future of motoring mingle together. The event also serves as the pinnacle of Monterey Classic Car Week. This year, the event attracted 228 cars from 16 countries and 30 states to the Pebble Beach Golf Links. Among the iconic marques and models featured were Delahaye; Chapron Coachwork; 100 Years of BMW; Bizzarrini; Lamborghini Miura; Two-Man Indianapolis Race Cars

1930–1937 and BMW Motorcycles. The 50th Anniversary of the Ford GT40 Victory at Le Mans gathering occupied a place of honour this year, with a headline display of seventeen GT40s situated against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean.

On a putting range in front of The Lodge, the Supercar Lawn was full with all the latest supercars and a host of concept cars. Some even create new prototypes to be specifically revealed at Pebble Beach, such as the Mercedes-Maybach Vision 6, BMW’s latest Hommage car and Cadillac’s ultra-luxurious top-of-the-line Escala sedan concept.

The jewel in the crown for aficionados is the historic vehicle restoration and conservation section. The vehicles are judged based on technical value, style and elegance, with the aim of encouraging the preservation of our mechanical heritage.

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innovation pays homage to the great eras of motoring history.

The judging process at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance is two-fold: Class Judges focus primarily on originality and authenticity, while Honorary Judges direct their attention to design, styling and elegance. To be eligible to win Best of Show — the event’s top award — a car must first win its class.

Best of Show was awarded to the 1936 Lancia Asturia Pinin Farina Cabriolet, one of six similar cars built for a Lancia dealer in Biella, Italy. This winning car once belonged to guitarist Eric Clapton, had undergone two complete restorations, the most recent one taking five years. Other nominees for Best of Show included a 1938 Delahaye 165 Figoni et Falaschi Cabriolet owned by the Robert M. Lee Automobile Collection and shown by Anne Brockinton Lee of Sparks, Nevada and a 1931 Stutz DV-32 LeBaron Convertible Victoria owned

by Joseph and Margie Cassini III of West Orange, New Jersey.

Here’s a round -up of some of the modern machines:

Aston Martin

The Muncher seen previously at Goodwood Built by Robin Hamilton Aston Martin, the one-off Aston Martin V8 RHAM/1 has been raced at Le Mans and Silverstone several times. Known as the ‘Muncher’, it comes fitted with a twin-turbo engine. The current owner decided to convert the car back to its original 1977 specifications with Le Mans Classic race in mind.

Acura Honda’s premium sub brand in the US presented a bold new design direction with its Precision Crafted Performance values concept. The supercar is low and wide with a long dash-to-axle ratio. The concept introduced a premium digital human-machine interface (HMI) that acts as the driver’s personal assistant, using artificial intelligence including facial recognition to provide a more intuitive, customized experience.

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BMW’s celebrated its centennial in style and flair with an assortment of notable machines. Interestingly, all five 3.0 CSL IMSAs were united for the first time in many years. Based on the ETCC winning CSLs, these altogether more extreme version of the CSL featured 24-valve, 3.5-litre engines and very wide wheel arches. They were raced very successfully by a works effort, resulting in numerous wins, including the Sebring 12 Hours and Daytona 24 Hours outright. Meanwhile, making its public debut after two years in restoration was musician Elvis Presley’s BMW 507.

Bugatti

Porsche A familiar visitor to the ‘Reunion’ spotted was a rare one of the 53 built Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.0. Raced extensively in period, past owners of the model include James Hunt.

Ferrari There was a time when the Modena-based

The Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo which began life as a virtual project for the PlayStation video game franchise has now been transformed into a show car. As a successor to the Veyron, the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo marked a new chapter in the luxury brand’s history that culminated in the unveiling of the company’s latest supercar, the Bugatti Chiron, earlier this year. The design of the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo pays homage to Bugatti’s great racing tradition of the 1920s and ‘30s, in particular its victories in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race, and is based on cutting-edge motor sport technology. The Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo can be raced in the PlayStation video game Gran Turismo Sport, which will be available in November 2016.

The Mercedes-Maybach 6 Concept being unveiled

supercar maker also built some fabulous six-cylinder powered cars. One of the very best example is the 206 P Dino built in 1965. It was one of a pair of prototypes for a small batch of mid-engined sports racers produced from 1966. The featured example was raced in sports car races like the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Nurburgring 1000 km before it was converted for use in hill climbs. Another striking Ferrari in action was this 312 P Spyder.

Concourse regular Jay Leno

Tour d’Elegance One of the much awaited events of the Monterey motoring week is the annual Tour d’Elegance, which is staged on the Thursday before the Concours d’Elegance. Participants of Sunday’s event are invited to demonstrate their cars on public roads. Successfully completing the Tour usually gives them an edge in case of a tie during judging on Sunday. This year’s route was shortened because of a massive wildfire that raged just south of Monterey. The revised route covered all of the scenic 17 mile drive and also a run up the hill towards the Tehema estate.

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Best of Show

This year, an elegant 1938 Delahaye 165 cabriolet, replete with wheel spats and chrome spears running down its flanks, a stunning Pininfarina-designed 1936 Lancia Astura and a gargantuan, ganster-style 1931 Stutz DB32 Le Baron Convertible were this year’s top three. And it was the Lancia that came out on top, scoring the first ever overall victory for the famed Italian brand.

French Flair

Delahaye 135 Chapron Coupe-des-Alpes

Delahaye 135-MS Chapron Cabriolet

Delahaye 235 Chapron Coupe

Delahaye Type OA Rear-Entry Tonneau

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Among the featured marques with separate classes this year were French coach-builder Chapron and manufacturer Delahaye. Taking this class’ top honours was the freshly restored Type 135 Coupe des Alpes fitted with one of seven roadster bodies of this style built by Chapron. The Prewar Delahaye class featured an impressive selection of Figoni & Falaschi bespoke examples.

Among them were the stars of the 1936 and 1937 Paris Auto Salons in Coupe and Convertible form. This V12 engined and Figoni & Falaschi bodied Type 165 of the Robert M. Lee Automobile Collection was among the three cars nominated for the coveted ‘Best of Show’ award.

Italian thoroughbreds

Notable auctions This year, 140 vehicles went under the hammer. The auctions were carried out by the big players in the auction business including Bonhams, Gooding & Company, Mecum Auctions, Russo and Steele and RM Sotheby’s.

Bonhams Headlining the sale is this fabulous Bugatti Type 51, which was delivered new to the Earl Howe, who was a very gifted gentleman racer. During his ownership, the said car bearing chassis # 51121 was also raced by the great Tazio Nuvolari.

Equally remarkable was a Stutz Series K Bearcat sold by Wayne Carini of ‘Chasing Classic Car’ fame.

RM Auctions The RM Sotheby’s sales catalogue included a restored Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Touring Spider. The ‘Two-Nine’ was considered as the 250 GTO of its era. Also on offer was a Ferrari 750 Monza which was raced in period by Carroll Shelby and Phil Hill. Another Shelby creation was the Shelby Mustang GT350 R that was raced in period by Pedro Rodriguez. British machines included a 1955 Jaguar D-Type which had won the 1965 LeMans 24 Hours endurance race.

Gooding & Company A 1959 Ferrari 250 GT California LWB Alloy Spider fetched a whopping $18.15 million at the auction. One of the 50 made, this particular model won the Emeritus Cup at the 2016 Cavallino Classic.

This year there was more variety with special classes for Bizzarrini, the Lamborghini Miura and special bodied Fiats. Competition cars were headlined by a 330 P4 driven onto the stage by Jackie Stewart to receive the first in class award. A modified Fiat 500, two of the AMC AMX/3s and also all three of the open 5300 GTs were also present. A rare P538, which was the one originally powered by the Bizzarrini designed Lamborghini V12.

The Miura class celebrated the 50th anniversary of the mid-engined supercar with five different examples.

Ford’s Le Mans win Anniversary The fiftieth anniversary celebration of Ford’s breakthrough Le Mans victory was held

out here with sixteen examples of the iconic GT40. Among them were the three Mk2s that finished first, second and third in that historic 1966 edition of the endurance racing classic. The winning car was recently completely and was named best in class. In addition to these, the winning Mk IV of 1967 and the Gulf GT40 that took victory in 1968 and 1969 were also present. The displays also featured the oldest surviving of the prototypes and the very first of the MkIII road cars.

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PREVIEW Mercedes-Maybach 6

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If one wonders how Daimler plans to keep Mercedes-Benz and Maybach separate in future, the recently displayed Maybach 6 concept should give a better idea of what is in store for both brands as they evolve further Author: Chandan B Mallik

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t the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Mercedes-Benz stunned visitors and aficionados after revealing the Vision MercedesMaybach 6, a large, sleek coupe with an extreme design language. The show car is designed both to pay homage to Art Deco supercoupes of the 1930s, and point towards the future of the Maybach brand, which was been rehashed as a Mercedes sub-brand rather than as a standalone luxury entity. The concept also revisits the idea of a Maybach coupe which was last seen with the 2004 Exelero.

To give an idea of its dimensions, the two-door 2+2 seat concept is 250mm longer than the stock S600 four-door sedan and measures 5,700mm long, 2,100mm wide and 1,328mm high.

From the design perspective, an attempt has been made to continue with the brand’s core design philosophy which focuses on sensual purity and also incorporates detailing that helps its

aerodynamic efficiency. A strong feature line runs along each side of the concept from the top of the grille to the rear, while chrome contrasts with the red paintwork on the wheel arches, bonnet and boot lid. The massive vertical strut grille is said to be inspired by a pinstriped business suit and the large 24-inch wheels were a development of the hoops on the futuristic Concept IAA from last year. Most of the body surfaces have been kept relatively simple and highlights include a thin chrome strip that runs from the leading edge of the bonnet along its shut line and down to the car’s rear. The “boattail” rear-end styling is reminiscent of a luxury yacht, while the slender tail-lights helps emphasise the sheer width of the enormous concept. A pair of tiny rear windows, a diffuser with an aluminium frame and air outlets behind the wheel arches also feature at the stern.

The “inside-out” design of the cabin includes a dashboard that tracks from

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The concept is the latest move from Mercedes to re-establish the Maybach brand following the introduction of the S-Class-based S500 and S600 sedan, S600 Guard and S600 Pullman limousine in global markets

the lower part of the doors across the front, front seats flow into the doors and underneath the dash. Even in concept form, high-quality materials are used throughout such as elm in the floor area, reference to the yachting theme, as well as wood trim in the doors, Chesterfieldlook seats, while colours such as rose gold are also used. Lifestyle accessories include a pair of suitcases crafted exclusively for the concept, housed in the front luggage area where there is also room for picnic accessories or other personal items.

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in a continuous glass strip displaying map and other key information. Seats have also been loaded with technology. The buttons that appear on the fabric are actually body sensors responsible for monitoring the user’s vital functions which can then activate functions seat climate or massage. Sensors in the upholstery can also detect colours and light and adapt the lighting inside accordingly. A floating transparent centre tunnel allows the occupant to see the drive system’s electrical energy flow.

Under the unusual long bonnet is a 550kW electric powertrain that is matched with an 80kWh battery pack. The car, according

to Mercedes is capable of a 500km electric driving range which is comparable with contemporary electric cars like the Tesla Model S P90 for instance. In terms of performance, Mercedes claims the concept can to the zero to 100km/h sprint in under four seconds and has a governed top speed of 250km/h.

Several user-friendly features have been incorporated such as the quick charge function allows the car to be topped up with 100km of range in just five minutes.

It can be plugged in at a public charging station, conventional domestic outlet or wirelessly, through an electromagnetic field.

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PREVIEW Ken Okuyama KODE57

Creative car designer Ken Okuyama unveiled his latest creation, Kode57 in Monterey, California during ‘The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering’ event Author: Chandan B Mallik

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en Okuyama is a respected and familiar name in high end automotive design business.

The former Pininfarina designer’s enviable portfolio includes projects like the Ferrari Enzo, Ferrari 599, Mitsubishi Colt CZC, Maserati Birdcage 75th and Ferrari P4/5. After leaving Pininfarina, Okuyama set up his own design firm, Newton Design Lab in 2006 and two years later he presented his first concept car under his own name - the K.O. 7 Spider, a carbon fibre 66

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and raw aluminium bodied two-seater.

Okuyama has been in the news again with his latest creation – the production ready Kode57.

It was presented as a limited edition hand built supercar and the design masterpiece borrows from the past in looking toward the future.

Ferrari spotters will be able to find influences from both the

Enzo and lessor known Rosso in this neatly partitioned twoseat car’s interior. The long and elegantly chiselled bonnet complements the carved-out front mudguards and side fins.

Like hotrods, there’s even an engine cut out in the bonnet.

The rear end is where the design splits most from the Rossa where large taillight rings sit inside triangular cut outs complementing the car’s massive diffuser. Two large-diameter exhaust tips sit inside smaller diameter ones to create a quartet of centrally mounted tips. Getting inside or out is through suicide-byscissor doors.

The track-inspired interior is simple and functional with centrally mounted instruments, sport seats with harnesses, and a bit of luxury comes in the form of leather and suede upholstery.

A few of Okuyama’s concepts have had Ferrari underpinnings and hence it is widely believed that the latest creation also has a similar mechanical connection. The biggest clue in that respect is its aluminium chassis, believed to be from a donor rear wheel drive Ferrari 599 GTB with a V12 engine.

The “57” in the name pays homage to the year 1957,

which Okuyama describes as an iconic year in which many legendary cars were born and motorsport started to become popular in many parts of the globe.

The front of the Kode57 is clearly influenced by the Enzo but the car it mostly resembles is the Ferrari Rosso

by Pininfarina concept unveiled in 2000. This Ferrari GT-based concept was designed to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Pininfarina.

In its structure, Kode57 gets modern materials treatment.

The body panels are made from carbon fibre composites and aerodynamic profiling has been done in detail. An interesting element is the “see through” front fender design which provides the driver with a view of the front wheels, just like in an open-wheel racer.

The active suspension was developed with Ferrari tuner Novitec Rosso and it allows the front ride height to be adjusted by up to 45mm. Meanwhile, the wheels are 21in shod with Pirelli P Zero tyres.

Okuyama has hinted that in order to keep exclusivity, only five will be produced and will command a hefty price tag of $2.5 million.

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PREVIEW Aston Martin Zagato Volante

Aston Martin and design house Zagato have decided to give occupants of Aston’s Vanquish Zagato unlimited open top pleasure in the Volante edition. The exclusive drop-top was presented at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance Author: Chandan B Mallik

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ritish luxury sportscar maker Aston Martin and Italian coachbuilder Zagato have joined hands to produce a limited-run Vanquish Zagato Volante, which is essentially a drop-top version of the combo’s most recent market offering.

The stock Vanquish is built by Aston Martin in its Gaydon, England factory. Zagato is involved in design tweaks and to help distinguish the open top variant, the Vanquish Zagato Volante features a new rear deck lid with twin cowls to 68

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house the folding roof which “blend into the leading edge of the luggage compartment”, giving a seamless transition from interior to bodywork.

Aside from the removable roof, the Vanquish Zagato Volante also features the same Vulcaninspired “bladed” tail lights, carbon-fibre rear diffuser, front splitter and side skirts, quad exhaust outlets and sculpted rear end of the coupe. The retractable spoiler had to be removed permanently to allow the folding roof to be accommodated.

For the interior, as expected there’s evidence a of unique detailing like herringbone carbon-fibre trims, anodised bronze detailing and Bridge of Weir leather, as well as embossed seat headrests with Zagato’s trademark ‘Z’. The same pattern is also quilted onto the seats and door pads.

Like its Vanquish Zagato coupe counterpart the Volante will be limited to just 99 units production. The car is powered by the same 441kW 6.0-litre naturally aspirated V12, which enables a projected zero to 100 kilometre acceleration time of 3.7secs.

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PREVIEW Cadillac Escala Concept

In a bold move, Cadillac has presented the Escala flagship sedan concept. The exercise gives an indication on the future design and technology direction that the luxury brand is planning to move forward with Author: Chandan B Mallik

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Cadillac has developed as a sister model to its top-of-the-line CT6 sedan, the Escala concept. Escala - Spanish for “scale”- is a concept theme for a larger, more elite and expressive sibling to the recently launched 2016 Cadillac CT6. The Escala was also unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. The concept has two business objectives – one as a preview of the upcoming design language in future production models and secondly, technology packaging.

For the looks and detailing, this four-door coupé layout is in clear contention for production as well. For its foundation, the Escala shares its mixed-material rear-wheel-drive Omega platform with the CT6. Compared to the CT6, the Escala is 6.5in longer.

A raked rear roofline tapers down to a liftback-style tailgate and a front face which shows an evolution of the typical Cadillac design DNA themes. Meanwhile, a reference to past heritage is also noted in the Hofmeister kink on car’s C-pillar which is an extremely rare design feature for a Cadillac. This element possibly pays homage to the fastback Cadillac coupés of the late 1940s and gives the car a bit of European flavour in its design execution.

The signature vertical headlights have been redesign and are now slimmer and come with recessed OLED strips above the very deep scoop of the 3D-patterned grille. Character lines break up the long, deep bonnet as well as sweeping down the front mudguards. Notably due to a reduction in chrome trimmings the car appears refined and restrained and at the rear the signature is a set of Y-shaped LEDs. Intricate 22in double spoked wheels sign off the overall theme. The metal roof is replaced by a panoramic glass roof, which along with the absence of B-pillars gives the car a more “airy” feel. Interestingly, the famous Cadillac flying

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goddess which was designed by William Schnell in 1930 and last appeared in the 1950s, returns after a long hiatus in the form an etching on the car’s glass infotainment controller. The aging CUE system has been replaced in this car.

The car’s interior uses white leather upholstery contrasting with dark brown trim. Wood has been used generously and

can be found in the top and lower portions of the instrument panel, base of centre and across the door panels. The cockpit is high tech and uses three curved OLED screens layered in front of the driver. A central control module responds to voice and gesture controls and helps in the elimination of complicated clusters and mission-control banks of buttons and

switches.

The Escala is powered by a Cadillacexclusive 4.2-litre twin-turbocharged dual overhead camshaft V8 engine generating 500hp. The modern engine uses General Motors’ new Active Fuel Management cylinder deactivation system, allowing the engine to run on four cylinders for better fuel efficiency.

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Formula One

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The eventful race started virtually with a big bang: Nico Hulkenberg was seen hitting the wall after a hit from Carlos Sainz on the main straight.

Witnesses say Max Verstappen’s slow start caused a bottleneck that led the fateful shunt.

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ico Rosberg looked untroubled throughout most of the race, only for Daniel Ricciardo, Lewis Hamilton, and Kimi Raikkonen to all switch to a three-pit strategy just 15 laps from the end. It gave Ricciardo an opportunity to make good, but the Australian ultimately falling 0.4s short.

It was the same story when the Safety Car peeled in and the race restarted on Lap 3. Hamilton latched onto the back of Ricciardo on the run to Turn 1, but couldn’t get passed. And that was as close as he got, the top three running in that order, Rosberg pulling away from Ricciardo, and Ricciardo slowing pulling away from Hamilton, throughout the first stint. Hamilton’s strategy helped salvage a podium.

Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel recovered from his back-of-the grid start to finish in fifth, winning the Driver of the Day vote in the process. Due to a slow start, Max Verstappen could only finish in sixth ahead of Fernando Alonso in the McLaren. Hulkenberg’s race was over on the spot, while Rosberg’s dream started was made even better by Hamilton not finding

a way past Ricciardo on the run to Turn 1.

The Mercedes drivers also had to deal with ongoing pleas from the pitwall to manage brakes – a trend that would go on to continue throughout the entire race.

Nothing much changed during the first round of stops. Ricciardo and Hamilton both stopped on Lap 15, the Red Bull for super softs, Hamilton for softs. A lap later Rosberg made his own switch to softs.

Rosberg continued to build his lead throughout the second stint, while Ricciardo, on the softer tyre, pulled away from Hamilton. Not that Hamilton was left lonely; by the time the laps ticked into the mid20s he had Raikkonen, who stopped for super softs two laps later then Hamilton, on his gearbox.

On Lap 32 the second round of stops kicked into life when Ricciardo, having just lost a bunch of time on the lap before, fired into the lane to make a second, and seemingly final, stop for softs.

Rosberg responded a lap later for new softs, followed in by Kimi Raikkonen, who a couple of corners earlier had barged past Hamilton for P3.

Hamilton then made his final stop a lap later, an ordinary in-lap costing him dearly as he dropped 19s behind Rosberg, and the best part of seven seconds behind Raikkonen in third.

Nothing much changed until Lap 39, when Hamilton was told to ‘switch to Plan B’. His pace improved straight away, and he quickly closed the gap to Raikkonen.

On Lap 45 ‘Plan B’ came into effect, Hamilton diving into

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the pits for a set of used super softs. Ferrari called the bluff, bringing Raikkonen in a lap later for ultra softs. It gave the Briton track position, Hamilton charging back into third as Raikkonen exited the lane.

Ricciardo made the same move a lap later, switching to a three-stopper with another set of super softs.

It put him 30-odd seconds behind the leader, but with plenty of pace. The strategy

paid off and Ricciardo closed to within four-tenths of the leading Mercedes in what was a grandstand finish nobody would have predicted at half distance.

Behind the top two, Raikkonen somehow was not able to recover from being caught out by Hamilton on the quick switch to a threestopper, Hamilton coming home third, Raikkonen fourth a couple of seconds behind.

The result still cost him the points lead, though, Hamilton now eight points behind his teammate. Remarkably, Vettel came all the way from the back of the grid to finish fifth, starting on softs to run all the way to Lap 25, before

grabbing ultras on Lap 42.

The long first stint did well for track position, popping out on the softer rubber in fifth and running untroubled to the end.

Verstappen recovered from his poor start to sixth, having spent a couple of lengthy stints in the race locked in battle with the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat. He finally made a move stick on the man he replaced at Red Bull on Lap 49, before rounding up Alonso’s McLaren-Honda five laps later. Perez got past Kvyat in the closing stages too, the Russian dropping back to ninth while Kevin Magnussen took the final point on offer with 10th.

Although Lewis Hamilton set a blistering lap time in qualifying in Saturday to start from pole, on race day he had a poor start and dropped down all the way down to sixth place. Nico Rosberg took advantage of the situation from the very first corner and led all the way. In fact, it was Rosberg’s first ever win at Monza.

Rosberg was leading the race with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen after Hamilton dropped down behind Bottas and Ricciardo. With 12 laps completed, Hamilton found his way to fourth place. From thereon, Rosberg easily pulled away from the pack leaving the main battle for the final two podium spots between the two Ferraris and Hamilton.

The race came down to the different tyre strategies

adopted by the two teams.

Ferrari decided on a two stop, while Mercedes banked on just the one. Raikkonen and Vettel pitted on lap 16 and 17 respectively. While Vettel’s stop was slightly slow, he managed to come just ahead of his team-mate. Both cars came out on the super soft tyres.

On lap 25, Rosberg dived into the pits for his sole stop and was onto the medium tyres all the way to the chequered flag.

He came out well ahead of the Ferraris, as Hamilton after his stop for the medium tyre was behind them.

Vettel and Raikkonen both stopped around lap 34 and 35 on the yellow marked soft tyres. Both drivers moved up to the order as the Redbull’s stopped with similar strategies. Vettel moved up to third and Raikkonen fourth. While all three drivers – Hamilton, Vettel and Raikkonen tried to push as

hard as they could to close the gap to Rosberg, But it was Rosberg’s flawless drive to the flag that gave him the win with a 15-second lead on Hamilton, who was followed by Vettel five seconds further behind.

Raikkonen finished fourth with Ricciardo, Bottas, Verstappen, Perez, Massa and Hulkenberg completing the top ten respectively.

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If one looks back, 2016 for MotoGP would be best described as a year of surprises, upsets, new faces on podium and new records. Last month at Silverstone, flawless track performance by Spanish rider Maverick Vinales ensured him the top spot on podium. Fending off all the rivals by a quite a big margin, this is also the first time in nine years that a Suzuki rider has finished on the top step of the rostrum. Vinales was joined

by Cal Crutchlow of LCR Honda (2nd) and Movistar Yamaha’s Valentino Rossi (3rd) on the podium.

The race was eventful from lap one and had to be red flagged as there was an incident involving Loris Baz and Pol Espargaro. After the restart, Crutchlow was quick to get off the line from pole but Vinales put the hammer down early on, thereby, ending Crutchlow’s hopes of winning his home gran prix. Vinales took lead in the early laps and then pulled away from other riders like no one’s business! Lap after lap Vinales maintained the pace with precision and consistency and was able to record fastest lap times of the race. For the entyre race distance of 19 laps, nobody managed to catch a close sight of Vinales’s Suzuki, let alone challenge him.

Without taking anything away from Vinales though, it was the battle behind that was the highlight of the British GP this year.

That’s because Crutchlow, Rossi, Marc Marquez,

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Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Iannone fought tooth and nail with each other to make it to the podium alongside Vinales. It was a proper edge-of-the-seat and nail-biting affair watching these riders tangle with each other to come out on top. Marquez, who’s been riding ‘sensibly’ for the past few races, came back to his own self as he pushed Rossi and Crutchlow with some hard moves. Towards the end of the race, Marquez managed to make it up to second position, but an over-enthusiastic inside pass on Crutchlow saw him clip the LCR Honda rider, which eventually resulted in Marquez running wide while also losing 2nd and 3rd position to Crutchlow and Rossi in the process.

Pedrosa managed to finish in 5th position behind his teammate. Iannone looked strong in the middle part of the race as he was charging ahead of the aforementioned pack in 2nd position, although he crashed out. His teammate Andrea Dovizioso finished in 6th position with Aleix Espargaro of Suzuki Ecstar taking the 7th spot.

Despite being a dry race, reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo struggled yet again for grip and crossed the line eighth. Danilo Petrucci of Octo Pramac Ducati and Alvaro Bautista of Aprilia Racing Team Gresini completed the top ten.

Marquez is now leading the championship by 50 points over Valentino Rossi. Next race is at the Misano World Circuit in Italy.

2017 Formula1 calendar announced The FIA’s World Motor Sport Council has indicated that the F1 2017 season will kick off in Australia on March 26.

The opening race of the season will be followed by the Chinese Grand Prix two weeks later, the Shanghai event twinned with Bahrain as a back-to-back.

The plan was to have Australia and China as back-to-backs which was later abandoned due to logistical reasons.

Malaysia and Singapore exchange slots in the calendar with the Sepang race now taking place ahead of the Marina Bay event on September 17. The rest of the races remain the same and in the same order as in 2016, with Abu Dhabi closing the season on November 26. Three races - Canada, Germany and Brazil - remain subject to confirmation, according to the calendar. The schedule also confirmed the clash between the European Grand Prix at Baku and the Le Mans 24 Hours.

26 March – Australia (Melbourne) 9 April – China (Shanghai) 16 April – Bahrain (Bahrain) 30 April – Russia (Sochi) 14 May – Spain (Barcelona) 28 May – Monaco (Monte Carlo) 11 June – Canada (Montreal)* 18 June – Azerbaijan (Baku) 2 July – Austria (Spielberg) 9 July – United Kingdom (Silverstone) 23 July – Hungary (Budapest) 30 July – Germany (Hockenheim)* 27 August – Belgium (SpaFrancorchamps) 3 September – Italy (Monza) 17 September – Malaysia (Sepang) 1 October - Singapore (Singapore) 8 October – Japan (Suzuka) 22 October – USA (Austin) 5 November – Mexico (Mexico City) 12 November – Brazil (Sao Paulo)* 26 November – United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi)

Hyundai ready for WRC Hyundai’s new WRC weapon is based on the three-door i20 and will have its competition debut in January at the legendary Monte Carlo Rally. Hyundai Motorsport has been testing prototypes of the 2017-spec i20 WRC since April across several locations in Europe and in a variety of conditions to make sure its rally car will be up to the challenge. Since it has to meet next year’s regulations, the turbocharged 1.6-litre engine is now rated at 380hp while an electronic active central differential has been implemented as well. The car is engineered to fully comply with FIA’s 2017 World Rally Championship regulations.

*Subject to confirmation

Audi Sport unveils RS3 LMS race car BMW planning Le Mans return

Moments after RS3 sedan debuted at the Paris Motor Show, Audi Sport managing director Stephan Winkelmann took of the wraps of its new RS3 LMS race car.

The RS3 LMS has been built to compete in TCR series around the world. Highlights include the gigantic mudguard flares which cover a significantly wider track and fill the car out to TCR’s maximum permitted width of 195cm. Aerodynamic upgrades include a huge front splitter and rear wing. The car uses a 330hp 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo charged

Automan’s take

engine. Factor in its low weight of 1,285kg and it sprints from 0 to 100km/h in just 4.5 seconds and runs on to a top speed of 240km/h. A total of 10 TCR series, including the headline International Series, currently race in 18 countries and more are expected to start in the near future. The cars are also eligible for many more series and individual races, the Nurburgring 24 Hours among them. Audi Sport plans to start deliveries of the RS3 LMS towards the end of this year, in time for the 2017 season.

Honda, SEAT, Volkswagen, Opel, and Peugeot currently compete in this series. Audi joins a growing number of manufacturers jumping on the TCR bandwagon.

BMW is returning to the FIA World Championship with a factory GTE program in 2018. BMW pulled out of the FIA WEC in 2011 where its team competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the M3 GT2. This means BMW will join Aston Martin, Ferrari, Porsche, and Ford in the global racing series with a competitor in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. BMW hasn’t announced what vehicle or class it will compete. Currently, the BMW M6 GTLM is the machine with what BMW competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

BMW has a significant history of competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, with the automaker first running the endurance race in the 1930s. In the late ‘70s, BMW competed with the 3.0 CSL and 3.5 CSL racecars, before entering the race with the M1 Procar. The automaker also supplied its 6.1-litre V12 engines for the McLaren F1 GTR, which went on to victory in 1995. The automaker’s first taste of victory as a constructor came in 1999 with the BMW V12 LMR that was made in conjunction with the Williams Grand Prix team.

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NOT QUITE THE LAST GASP OF INTERNAL COMBUSTION Would you say that the days of the internal combustion engine are numbered? After all, more manufacturers have either a hybrid engine option or offer an electric only drive on various models. Or, if you are the irreprissible Elon Musk and the company is Tesla motors, then you link your entire future to the fact that electric drive is as much a part of our present as it will be our future. If you were willing to think around the usual cause and effect relationship – somehow this phase of cheaper petroleum could very well be seen again in the future, when our demand for fossil fuels falls away because we are getting all the energy we need from renewable sources like the Sun, wind, tides and bio-mass.

However, that day isn’t today and we are still linked with the internal combustion engine, even when we want to be ‘green’. After all, the hybrid engine is part internal combustion.

For the degree of integration that the IC engine has in our economy, you would think that it held this status from the beginning of time. But that’s not the case – the automobile was invented to run on steam, electricity and even burning fatty oils, but it was the discovery of the then cheap and wonderful supplies of petroleum in tar pits and marshes that began to change the source of fuel. Having effectively dealt the death blow to the world’s whale oil industry, petroleum latched on to the sutomobile and then branched out as the preferred source of motive energy along with coal (which was largely confined to ships due to its ‘bulky’ nature).

Today, more than a hundred years later, we are still fixated on the internal combustion engine, with both the pterol and diesel variants having their followers, although dieselgate has done much to switch public opinion further over to the side of petrol, especially for light vehicle use. Technology has allowed us to finehone the engineering so as to make the engine offer a better than 70% thermal efficiency, with diesel actually topping that.

The battery and electric motor is still stuck way down in terms of efficiency although they are still seen as better than solar cells as a power source. But the problem we have with electric drive is in getting the cleanest electricity from the power station.

Raj Warrior is now managing editor of Automan and has been in the thick of the Automotive journalism field from the past 18 years.

How about a cleaner, more efficient, more powerful version of the venerable internal combustion engine?

Want to comment or have your say?

Infiniti has just announced their variable compression engine, that in effect changes the length of the piston stroke to change compression ratios, allowing the engine to switch from power to efficiency. Is it pathbreaking? Yes, it is. But it is only one of the suite of technologies out there, from cylinder on demand (that changes volume), variable turbocharging (that changes the boost pressure), variable cam adjustment, variable valve lift and timing and even variable injection that can switch between throttle body and cylinder in a flash. What engineers agree on is that the more options you have, the finer the control you have on the whole power and consumption equation and the better your engine.

Email at raj@automan.me Identify yourself or your message will be trashed and your id blocked

As the computing power onboard a car leaps ahead of the curve, the car is not just able to plot its way through the world’s roads, compute the probability of accidents and calculate the best way to avoid or embrace a crash, it can also finetune the increased number of variables that a modern engine present, balancing the need of lower engine pressure with better efficiency.

The big if is finally just how reliable the latest variable compression technology is – in an engine environment the stresses are almost uncontrollable when you have mechanical linkages that need to flex and adjust. Other manufacturers have tried to address this before and failed. You definitely don’t want a link, bearing or joint breaking in the engine, it will most likely destroy the block. So does Infiniti have a magic answer that will prove more dependable than older technology? Only time will tell. In the meantime the engine may undergo other changes, like the ability to switch fuels mid-operation or be able to mix varying displacement cylinders on the same crankshaft. All of these are considered almost impossible – but why wouldn’t you try?

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