evo India August 2014 issue 11

Audi's new a3 #011 | August 2014 | ` 125

Should the A-Class and 1 Series be worried?

GT-R is india bound Driving the Ferrari-baiting Nismo

AMG's Evo!

AWD, turbo-four, mega pace & sensible money Is CLA 45 AMG the new icon?

Karun tests Formula E racer Mahindra Racing preps for radical new series

Plus

New X5 v RR Sport, q7 & Cayenne BMW M4 MotoGP safety car Polaris RZR S 800 v Custom dirt bike NINJA 300 v GT250R v INAZUMA READY FOR THE RAIN? DON'T MISS OUR FREE 24-PAGE MONSOON SPECIAL BOOKLET

ZX-14r v Fat boy American iron meets the Ninja's blade

tata zest

Sport mode makes it a sporty drive?

ISSUE 11 august 2014

Contents 048

2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA 45 AMG

“In the tightly packed engine bay sits the most powerful four-cylinder motor in the world�

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ISSUE 11 AUGUST 2014

Features

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048 Mercedes-Benz CLA 45 AMG Half the cylinders and half the turbos of the AMGs we’re used to.

Just how good is it?

058 Nissan GT-R

Nissan, Nismo and Nurburgring.

The legendary Godzilla thrills

066 BMW X5 v Audi Q7 v Porsche Cayenne v range Rover sport

Ridden

ferrarI california T

news

Honda Mobilio

Kawasaki ZX-14R v HarleyDavidson Fat Boy

Nissan’s GT-R coming to India, differentials explained, diesel deregulation analysed, Jaguar’s new XE details revealed and more

GT250R v Inazuma v Ninja 300

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016

114

022

Possibly the best way to deplete the Earth’s resources. Certainly the most comfortable

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News

130

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VW Polo 1.5 TDI

Audi A3 sedan

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Tata Zest

078 The first boot in the compact luxury segment - Audi’s doing it differently, as always

Regulars

Driven

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Mercedes-Benz CLS 350

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letters

Fans of the evo formula have their say, the Amby retrospective wins praise, and some errors are pointed out

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City v Vento v Fiesta v Linea v Verna

044 Columns

Just how much fun can mid-size diesels sedans be?

Gautam talks about his victory at the British GT Championship, Bijoy aches for an Alfa Romeo, Bob comments on expensive cars and their brutish drivers, while Gaurav talks safety in motorsport

096 dirt devils

Two wheels or four - which one is the better evil?

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MOTORSPORT

Nissan GT Academy, the Dakshin Dare rally, and a round-up of the IRC, MRF National Championship and JK Tyre Racing Championship

Himalayan Odyssey

66 bikes ricocheting through the Himalayas. What a sound!

149 Long-Term tests

monsoon Supplement with evo India issue 11 | August 2014

MOTORING

We bid adieu to the VW Polo GT TDI and revel in the Skoda Octavia and Superb, while Gaurav Gill talks about his C 63 AMG

POWERED BY

156 evo knowledge

Welcoming the rains in Kerala

How do you go about buying an Aston Martin Vantage V8 or the more powerful V12?

Preparing for the monsoons Off-roading in the muck Car care tips How to ride and drive in the wet Untitled-1 1

Exclusive collector's edition cover

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News stand cover

Untitled-1 1

20/07/14 12:15 am

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Free: 24-page monsoon special drive in the wet How to ride and Car care tips in the muck Off-roading

20/07/14 12:15 am

170 Art of Speed

The thin red line on the Volkswagen Golf GTi’s grille

the monsoons Preparing for rains in Kerala Welcoming the

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Test location: Montalcino, Italy GPS: 43.04898, 11.49026

Ferrari California T The first new turbocharged Prancing Horse road car for 27 years combines sleek looks, 552bhp and a retractable hard-top. Does it signal great things to come from Ferrari’s forced-induction future?

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T h e pr e v ious Ferrari California was, it could be argued, the most important new Ferrari of the last decade. If we consider the 458 Italia and Spider as distinct models, as the factory does, the California stands as Ferrari’s best-selling single model ever, with more than 10,000 units shifted during its fiveyear lifespan. It not only sold in big numbers, it also opened Ferrari up to a whole new

Every new vehicle that matters, rated

This month HONDA MOBILIO

They’ve stretched the Brio.

It can now seat seven rather comfortably

TATA ZEST

Just how much has Tata stretched its horizon?

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p26

VW POLO 1.5 TDI

The 1.2 TDI is dead.

Hail the new 1.5-litre TDI?

p32

Merc CLS 350

The mildest of updates for Merc’s four door coupe

p36

PUNTO evo

The Punto evolves into something else.

Well, almost

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The test team evo India’s testing team recounts their most memorable turbo experience.

SIRISH CHANDRAN

Editor “Four turbos in the 987bhp base version Veyron. The horizon was assaulted so hard there’s still a bug-shaped dent in it.”

ROHAN PAWAR

Publisher “Rally spec Impreza WRX with accelaration and grip brutal enough to dent the seats.”

OUSEPH CHACKo

Assistant editor “An 800bhp Toyota Supra with a Garrett T51 R turbo. Nothing till 6000rpm, moon rocket after that.”

tushar burman

Managing Editor - Online “My first 1.8 TSI. Small engine, zippy, big fun. Then I got stuck in a traffic jam inside a tunnel.”

ABHAY VERMA

Asst managing editor “A drag-spec Lancer Evo VI with a big Garret G35 turbo on a private air strip. All hell broke loose past 4000rpm.”

Byram Godrej market sector and attracted a great many new buyers to the brand: 70 per cent of California owners had never before owned a car with a Prancing Horse on its nose.

Despite its significance for the marque, the California never really registered on the radars of an evo demographic, for it was neither pretty to behold nor exceptional to drive. Parallels could be drawn with Porsche’s Cayenne: the California was, in relative terms, the mass-market model that deviated

from the decades-old core brand attributes, meeting with an indifferent reception among the die-hards as a result, but appealing to the lucrative wider market at the same time.

Its replacement, therefore, is an interesting car to approach. On the one hand the California T is not the Ferrari that you or I would be naturally drawn towards, but its importance to Ferrari as a business proposition makes it a car that we mustn’t overlook. This new model also has a deep technological significance: it’s

Technical editor “500+ bhp race-prepped Evo VI on an empty race track in Thailand. Enough to leave my hands trembling when I got off.”

ANIRUDDHA RANGNEKAR

Consulting editor “Our track spec Cedia-Evo. Past 3000rpm, it’s like a wrestling match with the steering wheel. ”

ABHIK DAS

Senior correspondent “Project Cedia with a blown Evo VII engine but no AWD. I pity the front tyres, there’s only so much they can take.”

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of a kind Words by o u s e p h c h ac ko P h o t o g r a p h y by g au r av s t h o m b r e

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evo India | August 2014

Mercedes-Benz CLA 45 AMG

From the house of big power, mega displacement engines, comes a little upstart. Just how good can the CLA 45 AMG be?

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J ust a s C a p ta i n A h a b roa m e d the high seas stalking Moby Dick, so I seem to have spent days tracking this Nismo GT-R across Europe. It began in Le Mans a few days ago. The rare white behemoth had been shipped in to the 24 Hours as part of Nissan’s promotional campaign ahead of its entry into the LMP1 class in 2015. It did duties on a stand, looking menacing, scaring small children. I hoped I might get my paws on its Alcantara-clad wheel once the 24 hours were up, but some American journalists had first dibs because of their flights.

Unperturbed, I followed. The next two days were spent (rather conveniently) in a standard MY14 GT-R, looking longingly at the large circular tail lights that seemed to glare unblinkingly from the angularly remodelled rear of the Nismo.

I tracked it east across France on the autoroute, lost sight of its four large-calibre exhausts briefly in the mayhem as they skirted south of Paris and then luckily picked them up again at a toll not long before they paused overnight in Reims. The next day my quarry (as I’d begun to think of it) headed on, past Luxembourg and into Belgium before plunging into the forested Ardennes. There was, of course, only one place they could end up now, and an hour or so later

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by henry c at c hp o le P H O T O G R A P H Y by D E A N S M I T H

Rock R’d What better car to drive to the Nßrburgring to kick off our celebration of models inspired by, or built to conquer the legendary circuit than the record-breaking GT-R Nismo August 2014 |

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make it large

Words by a b h ay v e r m a P h o t o g r a p h y by g au r av s t h o m b r e

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The new BMW X5 faces an even more uphill task than its predecessor in the luxury SUV segment with highly accomplished competition

BMW X5 v Audi Q7 v Porsche Cayenne v Range Rover Sport The world is going to hell.

There’s inequality, injustice and greed overwhelming nature and humanity everywhere. It’s enough to make one ponder, albeit briefly, what it’s all about while we continue fielding a relentless assault of luxury and performance vehicles every month.

This day, my armchair philosophy was being mulled in the original luxury SUV. The BMW X5, now back with a sweet drivetrain package and absolutely ridiculous dorifto low-pro wheels. It’s probably one of the nicest full-sized SUVs today with generous appointments, sufficient poke and a bit of presence too. But back to our mulling and pondering.

This year we’ve had a depressingly slow onset of the monsoon, no doubt due to the cumulative effects of the world’s relentless abuse of the land and its bounty. How long will any of this last? What happens to all these SUVs when the oil runs out? And when it does, will any of us ever be able to afford 97-octane juice? The skies were a shade of menace, but barely a few drops made landfall while we climbed the hills of Lavasa looking for some stomping grounds to let our SUVs loose. Accompanying my X5 were its natural rivals:

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Audi A3 sedan

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The next big idea

Words by t u s h a r b u r m a n P h o t o g r a p h y by g au r av s t h o m b r e

The Audi A3 is far more than the sum of its parts

J u n k e t s a c r o s s Rajasthan to drive new cars are nothing new for the evo crew, but this was the first time since we started the magazine last year, that I got the full effect of travelling with a celebrity. Our intrepid and well-travelled photographer Gaurav is a bit of a cross between Sunny Leone and Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Everybody appreciates his work and even if they don’t, they’ve certainly seen it. I’d be making acquaintances or – as is often the case – catching up with the usual suspects over drinks when the conversation would be hijacked by someone or other about the incredible cover shot in the previous issue. Or the one before that. Or our recent video work. I don’t know about our photog, but it was enough to make my head swell a wee bit.

We were in the lake city, Udaipur for what Audi has been vaunting as #thenextbigaudi. Clever, seeing that it’s the smallest one they will sell here. The Audi A3 has been well received across the world as a hatchback and was recently awarded ‘World car of the year 2014’. Clearly, it has some lofty expectations to meet. It’s a nascent segment, this: affordable luxury is something that Mercedes has been successful with, selling good numbers of their A- and B-Class hatches. Audi themselves have a top-seller on their hands with the Q3 S, a

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Does a diesel mid-size saloon have to be boring? We line up five of the best to find out Words by O U S E P H C H AC KO P h o t o g r aph y by G AU R AV S T H O M B R E & V i k r a n t dat e

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Diesel Sedan Shoot-out

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BMW M4 Safety Car

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BMW’s new M4 Coupe is responsible for keeping MotoGP riders safe at races all over the world. But a drive of it in safety car spec on track in Qatar confirms that ‘safe’ doesn’t mean ‘tame’…

WO R D S b y DAV I D V I V I A N

Safety dance M

M ay b e I wa s mesmerised by the novelty of perspiring for the first time in months as the morning Qatari sun burned through 30deg C. Maybe I nipped to the loo at the wrong moment. But I wasn’t the first journalist in the world to drive the new BMW M4. I’ll be the second. I would be third but my German media colleague seems happy to chat to BMW M boss Friedrich Nitschke under the shade of the pitlane garages. Meanwhile, I’m tussling with the straps of a stubbornly uncooperative four-point harness and settling myself in for six laps of Qatar’s Losail International Circuit in the car that, in 24 hours, will lead out Marc Márquez et al for the first MotoGP race of 2014.

It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme.

I won’t be able to write about my earlydoors M4 experience until the general M4

embargo lets me – by which time, well, scoops aren’t retrospective, are they?

What matters this March 28 (all that really matters for our hosts, to be frank) is that we three lucky souls don’t stack the one and only BMW M4 MotoGP Safety Car. Angry bikers after our blood will be the least of our problems if we do. The message is reinforced at the impromptu driver briefing in the pitlane: no drifting, please.

The plea is served up with a nervous halflaugh, signifying either genuine concern or a sly wink wrapped up in a contractual obligation. Keeping things neat round the bends doesn’t seem such a trial but, as I am about to discover, the M4 Safety Car has other ideas.

BMW and MotoGP have been a successful double act since 1999, the year Valentino Rossi won the 250cc (now Moto2) class title in what was then called the Motorcycle World Championship. Known since 2006 as August 2014 |

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Polaris RZR S 800 & 9T9 Racing Karizma

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Four wheels or two, these off-roaders unravel an extreme package of thrills

Two’s company Wo r d s by B E N J A M I N G R AC I A S | p h o t o g r a p h y by v i k r an t dat e

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NOTE FROM

THE EDITOR

st car and emier enthusia pr 's ld or w e th evo is e Thrill of Dedicated to th e. in at az ag m ke bi the driver’s se dia puts you in d an rs ca ce Driving, evo In an m greatest perfor of the world's otography ph , al ri ito ed bikes.The core the magazine n standards of lism. and productio motive journa k in Indian auto ar st fir hm e nc th be e ar w e have set a ne ght issues w ei in es it the iv be us , cl an ex our shores With four Indi t cars to reach es d fin An e . er th id on Sp s the 458 to get our hand e 911 Turbo or the g th in or iv er dr st of ad ld or Aventador Ro ght into the w gatti s you a real insi anet. From Bu pl e th evo India give on s ke bi d a an di rs In ca o ce to Dukes ev best performan d from 'Busas es, an s ur lo at fe Po el lly av Veyrons to Ra ive stories, tr dr e iv ns te ex l with logy insight. covers them al tests and techno ad ro ve si en eh compr to receive the - subscribe now t ng ou s is m 't on D e Thrill of Drivi dedicated to th only magazine . ht to your door delivered straig Sirish Chandr

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Formula E

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Formula E, if it catches on, will play a big role in the future of motorsport and could open the doors for other electric cars and championships Wo r d s by k a ru n c h a n d h o k

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The all-new FIA Formula E series is set to kick off in September and I feel very proud to be on the grid for this brave and historic new step into the world of electric car racing. There has been a great deal of curiosity and interest in the series from the public and media around the world. With just a few weeks to go for the first race, the teams and drivers have had their first few days of testing, to get a handle on the cars.

In this first season of Formula E, there will be ten teams on the grid and everyone is using the same base car. The chassis is made by Dallara, the batteries are from Williams, the motors and electronics from McLaren and the gearbox from Hewland, a group of well-respected companies with great reputations.

Once you get the base car, there’s a lot you can do in terms of set-up and more importantly power management to make sure you do the races in the most efficient way possible.

Beyond the first season, the teams will be allowed to develop certain aspects of the powertrain themselves.

Through this, Formula E will help to accelerate the

Alejandro Agag and the Formula E organisers are trying to promote an entirely new way of going motor racing

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The Idukki express The monsoons are here. We celebrate by taking two special cars to a very special road in Kerala Words by O useph C hacko P hotograph y by A bin B abs A braham

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