` 125
PG 00_Sep cover_subscriber.indd 1
SEPT 2014
12
8/19/2014 11:24:29 PM
ISSUE 12 September 2014
Contents
094
Jaguar Xj 3.0 v Mercedes S350 CDI v Audi A8 L 3.0 TDI v BMW 730LD
“Each one of these cars are beautiful, opulent and performant in their own unique ways, and represent the pinnacle of what you can expect from their families of passenger cars� 8
evo India | July 2014
ISSUE 12 September 2014
Features 050 Audi A3 sedan comparo The only sedan in the segment takes on its hatchback rivals, the BMW 1 Series, Volvo’s V40 and the Mercedes A-Class and B-Class
064 Jaguar F-Type Coupe
Stiffer and more powerful than the convertible, we get the Jaguar F-type R Coupe to howl
Driven
064
024
Hyundai Elite i20
030
Mercedes-benz S 63 AMG
034
Renault duster AWD
038
Mahindra e2o
039
Bentley Flying Spur
040
Audi RS5 tdi concept
130
072
010
Mclaren p1 v Porsche 918 Spyder
News
JLR’s Special Operations detailed, fastest Bentley ever, the Continental GT3-R, an in-depth coverage of the 1600km Bloodhound, Maruti Suzuki’s bright future and more...
Place your bets for this hybrid hypercar rumble
086
048
Skoda Octavia v Toyota corolla
letters
Petrol executive sedans offer a choice worthy of Sophie - thrill of driving or rear seat comfort?
Fans of our photo chief wax eloquent, more WRC content is requested and our biggest fan bags letter of the month honour
094 XJ 3.0 v S 350 cdi v A8 L v 730ld
044 Columns
This is the flagship free-for-all with the crown within reach of each
Ridden
106
news
bare thrills
034
120
triumph thruxton
114
130
Gautam tells of Ferrari allure, Bijoy pens ode to the road to Leh, Bob rewinds to cars of a bygone era, while Gaurav dwells on benefits of motorsport
136
124
The Caterham Seven 160 and Morgan 3 Wheeler - performance motoring at its simplest
lake city
Regulars
MOTORSPORT
The Dakshin Dare 2014 in the spotlight, a round-up of the IRC, MRF National Championship, Etios Motor Racing and Honda one-make series
suzuki v-strom
158
A drive to Nainital in a Hyundai Santa Fe
106
Long-Term tests
We bid the Grand i10 adieu and welcome its booted sibling, the Xcent, go ga-ga over the Audi A8 L electronic and bonkers in the Evo
164 evo knowledge
Tips for buying a used Lamborghini Gallardo, Shiro helmets put to the test and the dope on the latest games and gaming peripherals
180
News stand cover
Special subscriber cover
Art of Speed
The beauty of Aston Martin One-77’s carbon fibre chassis
September 2014 |
evo India
9
Every new vehicle that matters, rated
This month Mercedes S 63 AMG
The flagship Merc gets a new name, sharper looks and a whopping 900Nm of torque
Renault duster awd
Finally gets AWD option, with suspension revisions now make it capable off-road
p30
p34
mahindra e2o p38
Improved version now gets an extended range thanks to new battery technology
Triumph THruxton 900 p124
Forget cutting-edge technologies and performance, the Thruxton stands for sheer simplicity and timeless feel
sUZUKI v-sTROM
Jap makes a splash in the adventure bike category, the domain of Europeans
p130
The test team The demise of the Mitsubishi Evolution X has our testers name the car they would love to see resurrected
SIRISH CHANDRAN
Editor “Lancia Delta Integrale. Never driven one but read so much about it and damn does it look good going sideways.”
ROHAN PAWAR
Publisher “De Tomaso Pantera. American muscle meets Italian flair and dynamics. What could be better?”
OUSEPH CHACKo
Assistant editor “The Ferrari F40. No carpets, no power steering, no driver aids, metal gate shift, big turbo lag. I’d kill to drive one.”
tushar burman
Managing Editor - Online “The Lancia Stratos. I don’t think there’s ever been a rally car more dramatic and pure of purpose.”
ABHAY VERMA
Asst managing editor “Toyota Supra MK4. One of the most dramatic, entertaining and capable Japanese sportscars of its time. ”
Byram Godrej
Technical editor “Unmatched at its time and still a force to reckon with the TME 6.5 Mitsubishi Evo. An all-terrain winner in Group N and A”
ANIRUDDHA RANGNEKAR
Consulting editor “Peugeot 205 T16. Brutally fast in its Group B spec and it set the standard for what performance was all about. ”
24
evo India | September 2014
Test location: Jodhpur, Rajasthan
Hyundai Elite i20 WO R D S b y O u s e p h C h ac ko | P h o t o g r a p h y b y g au r av s t h o m b r e
Hyundai has launched the updated i20 amdist a slew of launches by manufacturers in this segment. Is the new i20 as ‘Elite’ as its name suggests?
Hyundai Elite i20
W
When product engineers insist the new Elite i20 is far more dynamically sorted than the old i20, that special attention went into making this car at least as much fun to drive as its rivals, my ears perk up. The Hyundais I know, at least those from the Fluidic era, have always had strong diesel engines, sharp styling and a lot of equipment. Fun to drive they really weren’t. That’s set to change
now with this Elite i20 – at least that’s what Hyundai insists. A lot of this improvement comes from what underpins the car. The floorpan is now longer (the wheelbase is up 45mm to 2570mm), the car is wider by 24mm, the height remains the same and interestingly, overall length is 10mm less. The petrol and diesel engines have been carried over from the old i20 as is the basic front and rear suspension and electric power steering. But
the spring rates have been further tweaked for this car and the suspension struts are more vertical than before to better control wheel geometry and deal with bumps and cornering loads. The front suspension is the typical Indian hatch MacPherson struts, while the rear is a non-independent coupled torsion beam affair. Hyundai thinks it is different enough to be called a second generation car. It is definitely new generation in the way it September 2014 |
evo India
25
evo.editorial@goldensparrow.com
Inbox
@EvoIndiaMag
www.facebook.com/EvoIndiaMag
evo India, 814 Demech House, 4th Floor, Law College Road, Pune - 4
Gauging the enthusiasts’ pulse Full house
Letter of the Month
Received my evo India issue rather early this month and as usual you guys have done a splendid job. The CLA 45 AMG feature was very well written with Gaurav clicking some great pictures. Tushar’s Ambi write-up last month sure brought back pleasant memories, as most of us were brought up in those cars. Hope you can give us some more motorsport news, especially WRC!
Vibhor Sharma, New Delhi Dear Vibhor, Congratulations. You’ve made it to our star letter. And our hearts. As for your suggestion, watch out for our next issue!
The star letter wins a pair of Maui Jim sunglasses worth ` 15,000 48
evo India | September 2014
Tarun Jha, Czech Republic
Cloud nine
Vikram Narendra, Chikmagalur
First and foremost, let me convey my heartfelt thanks and joy for choosing mine as the Letter of the Month, last issue. It’s the first time any of my letter is being eligible for a gift/
Road outrage
prize, and it will remain very close to my heart. Frankly, I am even more thrilled that you found some of my suggestions worthwhile, and of value.
Come September… I am deeply embarrassed and angered really. Even though evo has been kind enough to publish my letters in the previous issues, I feel truly hurt for not selecting them as the ‘Letter of the Month’. I am the BIGGEST fan of evo India, and I absolutely love the publication for its fabulous, enlightening and informative take on the world of cars; but I feel, if you really cared about your reader who has worn his heart on his sleeve while writing letters to you, you would surely have made him the best letter. It’s not about the prize as you may think, but is more about rewarding someone who is giving your magazine a fair, unbiased review, from a reader’s point of view. There is not a magazine that I love, adore, cherish and worship more than evo, and like I said in my previous letter, “you have in me a loyal reader, for life”, so regardless of being the best letter or not, I will always show my love for the magazine by unquestionably buying evo every month. Further, even though evo is supremely PERFECT in every way and I wouldn’t dare ask its makers to change a thing about it, I would still like it if evo interviewed celebrities, national as also international, and reviewed, featured their cars and bikes. A little bit of glam doesn’t hurt, does it?
to the media in a few hours and he had no option but to turn himself in. Why do the rich have a misplaced sense of entitlement, in most newly rich economies? I hear similar tales of misbehaviour from Russia as well. Thanks again for your column. Bob.
Dear Bob, thanks for highlighting this common malaise. In fact, I almost had an accident on Linking Road, Mumbai a few years back, as a luxury car driver jumped a traffic light. I have been honked at and bullied often for stopping at traffic lights in the night in Mumbai, by impatient drivers who couldn’t care less for anyone’s safety. Just last week, a 24-year-old young man, under the influence of drugs, ran over a 21-year-old girl waiting at a tram stop at 4:30am, in Prague. It is now known as the ‘BMW hit and run case’, as the boy and his friends ran away from the scene and let the girl die on the streets. The efficient police in Prague released his pictures
Swaroop Kaimal, Kerala
More power
Got the August issue delivered home today (fantastic subscriber cover photo yet again) and saw that you have a new Assistant Editor in the team. The name of course very familiar to anyone following the Indian auto scene. Strong team, stronger content and keeping the promise you made in your first issue. The Thrill of driving indeed!
Ananth Kamath
` 125
AUG 2014
11
Aug cover_subscriber.indd 1
11
19/07/14 10:29 PM 19/07/14 10:29 PM
4102 GUA
Aug cover_subscriber.indd 1
` 125
SPECIAL COLLECTOR'S EDITION COVERS
Joy and thrill
Just found this Facebook page (@EvoIndiaMag). Very informative and nothing like the joy or thrill of driving! Thanks.
William Browne
Waiting for Toyota
I read your story on the Nismo GT-R with much interest. Although the car does look a bit like the mother of all GT-Rs, I’m yet to learn how to accept the palpability behind its purpose of being an out-and-out road car. What the world needs, is Toyota’s FT-1. Those curves and angles - they make it seem like wool-gathering you’d experience only when you’re fast asleep. Toyota has to fathom its significance as a production car, not just a concept. This thing has a market out there. And for once, Corolla owners will be proud. :)-
Rehan Conyers ` 125
Sagar Mittal @itssagar7 (CLA 45AMG) sure looks stunning. The CLA sedan will be an A3 competitor right? Can’t beat that!
Rahul Babu @loeb007
14 SEPT 20
12
Loved the article “Game of Drones” in August edition. It’s so practical... thank you.
19/08/14
iber.indd
r_subscr
Sep cove
PG 00_
8:04 PM
1
evo India subscribers get special collector's edition covers
not available on news stands
In your next issue, please cover more on the Golf GTI which is running as of today. Pg 170 of Issue 11 is a postcard. ;)
@Venus3112 (Elite i20) What about performance? 81bhp 1.2 ltr petrol not enough 4 the size.Segment benchmark is 88 bhp!
@AbhyuAdiga September 2014 |
evo India
49
Audi A3, BMW 1 Series, Merc A-Class, Merc B-Class, Volvo V40CC
What does luxury mean to you? it's a difficult question, I know, but think about it. Seriously, give it a thought. To me it’s mostly about space. A king-sized bed. Five rooms and a bathroom that you can play football in. Airline seats that fold into a flat bed. The more the space, the higher the luxury quotient, the more you can charge – that’s always been the way of the world. Then what the hell is compact luxury? Where’s the luxury if the back seats are fit only for children and settling scores? That’s like calling a studio apartment luxurious – which it might be if you are 20 and just closed a series A funding round – but not really for a 30-something dude preparing for a baby and an IPO. It’s like calling a bucket a compact bathtub.
W
50
evo India | September 2014
WO R D S by siris h c h a n dra n P h oto g rap h Y by g au rav S t h o m b r e
LESS IS MORE? Everybody can now afford a luxury car, or at least that’s the premise with this new breed of compact luxury cars. We ask the question: can compact really be luxurious?
September 2014 |
evo India
51
Sense and sensibility M e r c e d e s - B e n z B 1 8 0 CD I
O
Of all the cars here the B-Class is the only one that does a modicum of justice to the ‘luxury’ tag. It might not tug at your heart strings but if you are thinking straight the B-Class, what with its space, makes a lot of sense. So unlike the others you can fit five in comfort in the B. There’s ample head room. You don’t feel claustrophobic, like you’re stuck in an elevator with 20 strangers, one of whom is picking his nose. This is a sensible small car that still has a cabin befitting the three-pointed star on its nose. You really should buy it. Or maybe you won’t. Making it spacious and practical means the B-Class will not win any beauty contests. This is a mini-MPV and though it gets many of the A-Class’ visual details there’s no hiding its tall roofline and slab sides. That height ensures you don’t crawl into the car and there’s good visibility so it is easier to drive in traffic. But it also leads to a higher centre of gravity that results in the B not being the sharpest tool with which to carve a mountain road. And of course it gets the same engine as the A-Class which means just 107bhp. Which doesn’t make for a particularly scintillating turn of speed. All of which doesn't take away from the fact that the B-Class is the most sensible ‘compact luxury’ car you can buy. The only thing it lacks is some emotion.
60
evo India | September 2014
Specification Mercedes-Benz b180 CDI edition 1 Engine In-line 4-cyl, 2143cc Transmission 7-speed dual clutch automatic Power 107bhp @ 4400rpm Torque 250Nm @ 1400-2800rpm Weight 1565kg 0-100kmph 10.7 seconds Top speed 190kmph Price (ex-showroom, Delhi) `30.5 lakh
evo rating: ;;;42
MERCEDES-BENZ B180 CDI
September 2014 |
evo India
61
WO R D S b y o u s e p h c h ac ko PHOTO G R APHY b y g au r av s t h o m b r e
Loony tunes Stiffer and more powerful than the convertible, we get the Jaguar F-type R Coupe to howl
64
evo India | September 2014
Jaguar F-type R Coupe
September 2014 |
evo India
65
Hyper Sonic
72
evo India | September 2014
And so to the icing on the cake: McLaren’s P1 finally goes head to head with Porsche’s 918 Spyder. Which comes out on top in the battle of the hybrid hypercars? Place your bets
WORDS by Dav i d V i v i a n P H O T O G R A P H Y by de a n SMITH
McLaren P1 v Porsche 918 Spyder
September 2014 |
evo India
73
best OF botH wOrLdS WORDS by a b h ay v e r m a
P H O T O G R A P HY by v i k r a n t dat e
Petrol-engined executive cars are coming back. Backseat comfort or the thrill of driving, is the question
86
evo India | September 2014
Skoda Octavia 1.8 TSI v Toyota Corolla Altis
September 2014 |
evo India
87
L i v i n g 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 br e
94
evo India | September 2014
If you want to spoil yourself with a fullsize luxury sedan, you’re spoiled for choice. Speed, comfort, space; you can have it all, to varying degrees.
l a r g e
September 2014 |
evo India
95
CATERHAM seven 160 v MORGAN 3 wheeler
The Caterham Seven 160 and Morgan 3 Wheeler represent performance motoring at its simplest. We pit them against each other on the winding English lanes where they excel
Bare thrills WORDS by h e n ry c at c h p ol e PH O T O G R A PHY by m al c ol m gr i f f i t h s
R
R ipping a long in the ou tside lane of the M54, life feels good. It feels a little tenuous as well if I’m honest, but that’s part of the exhilaration. Some children in the back of an elderly green minibus all press their faces against the glass to look down on the small upturned silver bathtub as it goes hammering past. I imagine it’s quite an incongruous sight. Sleeves rolled up, the sun has been tanning my forearms for the last couple of hours and, despite crouching low behind the little semi-circle of Perspex, the Beaufort equivalent of a hurricane is still smashing into my forehead and then rushing through my unruly mop of hair. There’s a harsh white noise from the slipstream filling my ears but my brain seems to have long since tuned out of the frequency so that it’s become more of a background roar in my head. In front, the Caterham looks like an oasis of pampered luxury, what with its fancy third cylinder, fourth wheel and fabric doors… What we have in this pair really is back-to-basics motoring. The thrill of driving stripped bare. The Caterham Seven 160 is the company’s cheapest and least powerful model. The narrow track and slim tyres make it look incredibly dainty even next to the Morgan 3 Wheeler (or M3W to use the factory abbreviation. Very social media). Things aren’t any more muscular under the Seven’s bonnet, either. Take the louvered aluminium panel off and you find the space half-filled like a British Rail sandwich. Lurking in a corner, however, is a 660cc three-cylinder turbo Suzuki engine putting out a dinky 80bhp and 107Nm of torque. The Morgan, of course, dispenses entirely with such frivolities as bonnets, although the updated 2014 car has added a little metal cowl over the top of the engine to aid cooling. Its S&S Cycle V-twin is comparatively well endowed, however, with a swept volume of 2 litres and outputs of 82bhp and 140Nm, all of which is transferred through a belt drive to the single rear wheel. A fivespeed ’box and a fly-off handbrake complete the 525kg picture.
106
evo India | September 2014
September 2014 |
evo India
107
Triumph Thruxton 900
I
Swinging a leg over the ‘original’ British café racer WO R D S b y ab h ay v e r m a P H O T O G R A P HY by av i k d e y
124
evo India | September 2014
I’m tearing down an empty stretch of the NH8 outside Gurgaon, hoping to get to the heart of the national capital before the traffic turns nightmarish. The location I’m heading to is a really special one, the India Gate. It is a landmark that pays homage to the soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of the nation. The entire vicinity of India Gate is rather spectacular, steeped in history, and the imposing administrative buildings. It all brings to mind India’s resplendent past and the heroics and turmoil of the British Raj. In some distant echo, the motorcycle I am riding, the Triumph Thruxton 900, is a British product. And, this is a bike that emanates a rather special aura that is also spectacularly historical, one that makes it a very special motorcycle indeed in the annals of motorcycling. During the days of the British rule, army personnel used machinery from the original Triumph factory. And with its classic design and charm, the Thruxton harks back to the days
September 2014 |
evo India
125
130
evo India | September 2014
Suzuki VStrom 1000
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
Suzuki enters the burgeoning adventure bike category in the country with the V-Strom 1000. How adventurous is it?
September 2014 |
evo India
131
N I H S K [ DA ] E R DA
ng e most grueli th f o e n o w o m We foll e country, fro th in s t n e v e rally raid Go a . bangalore to
a by D i p a y Wor ds
a n du t t
September 2014 |
evo India
141
g n i d n a t s r e d Un
aid R y l Ral
142
evo India | September 2014
Camera: Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III. Focal length: 28mm. Exposure: 1/32sec at f/7.1 (ISO 500)
Art of speed
Aston Martin One-77 carbonfibre chassis WO R D S b y DAV I D V I V I A N
A
Aston Martin makes beautiful cars. The whole world knows that. If they all look much the same, Aston would argue that this is the way it has to be. That its distinctive, slowly evolving design is too precious and loved too much to throw away. And that, besides, it can be adapted to serve even the loftiest expectations and ideals of the emerging hypercar market. That last claim would have been hard to take seriously until the emergence of the One-77 in 2009. Fabulously expensive (`12.2cr, UK price), exquisitely detailed, obsessively bespoke, stunningly beautiful, it was still undeniably created from the same gene pool as the Vantage, DB9 and Vanquish. This rarest, fastest and most ambitious of Astons was the company’s extravagant nod to the passing of what it saw as the golden age of performance motoring – a mission to distil the company’s purest essence into one vehicle while simultaneously establishing a new high water mark for the nearly century-old brand. Chief engineer Chris Porritt admitted it was intentionally built before the environmental lobby could make it even harder to produce so ‘politically incorrect’ a vehicle: "We wanted to give our best shot at delivering the most exclusive, exciting and highest performance Aston Martin we could ever build."
Next month in
180
The result is a car that simply can’t be cherrypicked for one outstanding component. From skin to core, it is the complete and coherent expression of the art of speed. If it can be split at all, it’s only into two. Stripped of bodywork, the One-77’s naked rolling chassis is as perfect an engineering sculpture as you could ever hope to see. After standing back to admire the carbon marvel, one customer at the Geneva show famously asked to buy two of the 77 to be produced – a whole car to drive and an unskinned version to park in his living room. The carbonfibre monocoque chassis, worth roughly half the value of the car, weighed just 180kg, was incredibly stiff and involved a hugely demanding and delicate manufacturing process that took six workers three weeks to complete. Each step – cutting, laying, curing and autoclaving – had to be flawless. If it wasn’t, the build was aborted and the entire process started again. Producing the aluminium bodywork was a comparable labour of love. Each extraordinarily beautiful front wing, made from a single sheet of aluminium, took one man three weeks to shape and perfect. Think about that. Yet it seemed only right that Aston’s ultimate road car should honour the incredible artistry of the men who hammered and smoothed aluminium at Newport Pagnell for many an uncertain year. A carbonfibre body just wouldn’t have been the same. L
First anniversary special issue!
evo India | September 2014
Plus
N And the F40 in the Alps.
Promise!