Overdrive November 2011 issue preview

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Mahindra

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November 2011 Volume 14 Issue 3 ` 125

xuv500

Good enough to worry Aria, Endeavour, Yeti & Innova?

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Value for money champs

TESTED Hyundai Eon Watch out Alto!

first ride Hero impulse India’s only dirt bike is a surprise!

Nissan Sunny vs Toyota Etios vs Hyundai Verna 1.4

All-new BMW 3 Series  BMW X3 vs Volvo XC60 vs LR Freelander 2  Jetta vs Laura vs Corolla vs Fluence

FREE 86-page Grand Prix supplement: Preview to India’s inaugural F1 race including all-access tour of the Buddh Circuit

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November 2011 Volume 14 Issue 3 ` 125

COLLECTOR’S SPECIAL EDITION

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86-page Grand Prix supplement Preview to India’s inaugural F1 race

F e at u r e

XUv 500 vs r i vals

It’s a wild world The XUV takes on its arch rivals from Tata, Skoda, Toyota and Ford Words Ashok George & Halley Prabhakar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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t seems Mahindra’s new XUV 5 ‘double-oh’ was inspired by a pouncing cheetah. If so, the Yeti is small, agile but comes with allwheel-drive and is kind of adorable to look at – a Tasmanian devil. The Endeavour is massive and is getting a bit ancient - a woolly mammoth. The Aria is large and has enough space to

make Job a happy man - a whale perhaps. And the Innova is the benchmark against which every newcomer is tested. If this were the ancient Roman Empire, we would have made the newcomer face each of the established faces. OVERDRIVE isn’t too different, because there’s nothing we enjoy more than a bloody combat of the automotive kind.

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Global Citizen

Mahindra’s global SUV is here and promises to stir the pot Words Sirish Chandran Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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ROAD TEST

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OD Rating Price ` 11.88lakh ex-showroom Mumbai

+ Styling & features + Performance & efficiency + Comfort shift quality - Gear - Inconsistent quality

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efore we start let’s get the name right. XUV is as you’d say it but 500 is not the logical five hundred or even five-zero-zero; it’s five-double-oh.

Say it - XUV five-double-oh.

So here’s the logic. Building brands costs a heck of a lot of money and when the brand goes kaput or is retired all that investment is gone. Typical example: the Zen used to be a revered nameplate, look at what it is today.

Rather than spend money on building a new brand then, particularly since this new SUV is not going to replace the Scorpio, the marketing folk opted to strengthen the mother brand - Mahindra. Plus they’re now confident that the Mahindra name is strong enough to pull off alpha-numeric nameplates, in the same vein as Mercedes (with their C-, E-, S- and other Classes) and BMW (3, 5, 7 and more Series’).

Thus you have the XUV500 (five-doubleoh, keep saying it otherwise you’ll regress to five hundred) and in time there will be a smaller SUV called XUV300 and the larger one will be called XUV700. That much makes sense. What’s harder to digest is XUV standing for X-factor, X-ceptional, X-traordinary and ‘double-oh’ standing for oomph factor while of course keeping in step with Mahindra’s naming strategy (superstition?) of all models ending with an ‘oh’.

Enough with the lecture, there’s a lot to talk about the XUV500 so let’s not waste any more time.

DESIGN After slapping onto the Xylo a face that only its mother could love, Mahindra’s styling department have rediscovered their mojo with the XUV. This draws attention, no two ways about it. The nose is dominated by the latest iteration of the Mahindra family grille that has expanded from the chromed sabre-tooth to a jaw full of canines. Google Jeep Grand Cherokee and you will see the inspiration for the grille but the execution is all Mahindra’s and it will work for the Indian audience. The bumpers have deep slashes below the headlamps which cut down on visual mass while also adding to aggression. These aren’t air vents though, they’re blanked off with the vents being behind the honeycombs on the grille and airdam. The numberplate holder is neatly integrated into the bottom of the bumper and I expect it to stay there; if you recall the Scorpio’s number plate had to be shifted as it was obstructing the flow of cooling air. Four years in the making, 2.3million

testing kilometers, 250 prototypes and a ` 650 crore investment will ensure these issues won’t crop up.

The projector headlamps are similarly highly detailed and this would have been the first Indian SUV with day-time running LED lamps if not for the Force One. While on the subject the headlamp beam spread and illumination is excellent (they’re not xenons) and it also gets cornering lamps which basically means the fog lamps (which is angled outwards) comes on when the steering wheel is twirled. It’s an elegant and simple solution also found on high end cars though here both the fog lamps come on together.

The profile is dominated by the muscular haunches that cover 17 inch alloys shod with 235/65 Bridgestone Dueler road tyres (of note, there aren’t any ungainly wheel arch gaps). The rear haunch is particularly interesting, a distinctive character line that eats into the shoulder and window line and is supposedly inspired by the haunches of the cheetah ready to pounce on its prey in the Savannah. In fact a lot of the communication of the XUV revolves around the Cheetah (which is not found in India by the way) whose paws were also the inspiration for the vertical door handles. That’s not it for African themes; the taillamps (that sport a pronounced extension from the rear fender) have this strange tribal motif and the colors too were chosen after parking XUVs in the Masai Mara and observing how it looked under the sun and in the wild.

The Cheetah/Africa bit is stretching the point but fact is there is no bad angle to the XUV, unlike the Scorpio where the designers forgot about the rear. In profile the stance is not too dissimilar to the Grand Vitara - compact (though it is slightly longer and wider than a Scorpio), not too high (190mm lower than Scorpio) but with decent ground clearance - and in white it almost looks like a floating roof what with the black roof rails and blacked out pillars.

INTERIORS The proportions are so compact that you’d be surprised to find three rows of seats. With the third row up boot space is an all but nonexistent 93litres but the seats fold flat into the floor (easily done by a small lever) to liberate a 702-litre boot and the middle row too folds flat to increase boot space to 1512litres.

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Bring ‘em on!

It’s the diesel battle in the D-segment. The new Jetta is pitted against the Fluence, the Corolla Altis and the Laura. Who blinks first? Last actually...

Words Joseph Koraith Photography by Gaurav S Tombare

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t’s an out and out gang war except here, unlike the Mumbai underworld, the characters have turned up in double-breasted suits, including the handkerchiefs sticking out of their pockets. Some of them have their hats on too. It is after all a battle to grab the eyeballs of the elite. The entry level D-segment caters to the luxury seeker who, might never admit it but, also has one eye on the mileage. Now that that’s out of the way let’s get meet the contenders. It’s a mix of familiar versus the face-lifted. The ever-dependable Toyota Corolla Altis has proved its lineage even in its diesel avatar. The Skoda Laura is known as the beast that doesn’t mind getting into a scrap. The Renault Fluence would just use its suave nature to talk you into submission. And pitted against all of them is the new Volkswagen Jetta, launched this year, the newest baby of the lot, but one that hopes to do what the earlier car failed to - sell in respectable numbers. The earlier version of the Jetta was a good car and was doing its job. But it was just doing its job. But with the 2011 version Volkswagen’s hoping it has made an ‘offer you can’t refuse’, a la Corleone. Let’s look into the fine print.

If looks could kill The car that screams out to you in this department is the Fluence. The swept back headlamps, the proud logo nestled all by itself without the interference of the grille which itself is a thin strip between the head-

lamps, the large air dam, Renault have definitely managed to make it a unique car. Its long wheelbase, the longest amongst this lot, combined with its wide and low stance gives this sedan a truly premium feel. On the flip side, apart from the nose, it doesn’t really have a lot to talk about. The Corolla Altis has an old school feel to it. But it’s a good oldschool. The Toyota logo cresting the wide grille has been their trademark look and it hasn’t gone wrong yet. This is the face-lifted Corolla which has a fair bit more flair than the earlier avatars. The more swoopy headlights give it a sense of finesse. It appeals to those who don’t like to stand out and yet have a car that oozes quality.

The Laura on the other hand tries hard to hide that tattoo peeking from under the shirt cuffs. You can’t quite see it but you know it exists.

The chrome strip that guards the grille and the logo gives character to the nose. And this car doesn’t like to bow down and the nose which doesn’t slope down as much as the others wants to indicate that. The distinct shoulder line running from the headlamps to the taillamps continue the reigned in muscular feeling that this car exudes.

VW have decided to K.I.S.S. and tell. Keep it simple silly, screams the Jetta. From the front it now subscribes to the VW family. The big VW logo resting on the two chrome slats, the double projector headlamps – smallest in terms of size in this lot, the trapezoidal air dam, all of this makes it look like its other siblings. Don’t know if you would want your Jetta to look like the Vento but then again the Passat too has

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Hyun dai Eon

Firecracker Hyundai has never ever gone this low, so will it work?

Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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ROAD TEST

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OD Rating Price Rs 3.71 lakh ex-showroom Delhi

+ Space + Features + Ride quality feels heavy - EPS High speed noise - Not - as efficient as expected

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t’s not easy to upset Maruti. India’s largest automotive manufacturer however now has cause for a headache and it’s coming from as far south as it gets. In the city of Chennai, Hyundai is busy plotting to inject a big migraine with their new Eon. It’s aimed squarely at the Alto, India’s largest selling car which has been in production for a decade.

The Alto monopolised the segment that had only one competitor - the M800 - and despite its global evolution to the A-Star, Maruti decided to retain the Alto brand in India knowing just how successful the car is in their scheme of things. So the Eon will target both the Alto and the A-Star, not to mention its very own stablemate, the Santro. The ground rules to play in this segment to date were just price and efficiency. Maruti literally wrote all the rules simply because there wasn’t anyone to play against. They were the only kid in a sandbox. So elements like contemporary design, comfort, packaging, performance, dynamics and features were all left to their own devices, no one gave those aspects a second thought. And it’s those areas that Hyundai is tapping into.

Time to turn on the Eon

DESIGN & STYLE The Eon is the next embodiment of Hyundai’s new design language and what we now know as fluidic design. It’s funky and eye catching, and it’s closely related, cosmetically, to the new Verna and the i10. You see the same profusion of lines and shapes especially at the front with those well defined cheekbones highlighting this car. The sunken grille with the chrome strip and the Hyundai logo embedded in the centre is another distinguishing character. Yet its most interesting feature are its wraparound headlamps and the beefy wheel arches. Viewed from a three quarter angle those clear lens headlamps with elaborately designed reflectors looked like giant Chinese soup spoons to me. But they are attractive and along with the rest of the elements adorning the Eon’s face garner a lot of attention. The rear hatch area is also very attractively turned out complemented by the crescent moon shaped tail lamps. The hatch looks a bit small though access to the boot is easy and unrestricted. Overall the Eon appears to be a very busy pallet yet it has a smooth cohesive sense about it which makes it attractive.

The Eon also has a very nice stance, contrary to Hyundai’s tall boy designs in the past the Eon looks short and wide, hunkering

down with a quiet confidence. It’s less than 3.5 metres long and just a little over 1.5 metres wide with a 1.38-metre wide track and 170mm of ground clearance. It’s compact and yet looks much larger than the Alto, in fact it almost looks as large as its sibling the i10.

Ideally seeing just how large the Eon is for an entry level compact car should prepare you for the shock of its interior. This is by far the most spacious cabin in any entry level compact car. I could easily seat four of me and have space for one more mini-me. Do not expect it to be a full 5-seater, that isn’t going to happen at least not easily and not without three people in the rear bench getting too intimate. What does happen is generous knee room for rear seat passengers with ample shoulder space. At the front it’s a bit of a squeeze sideways, and the driver will always bang elbows with the passenger when trying to shift gears. Design wise this is an ergonomically sound cabin. It has the same sense of flair as we have come to see in the most contemporary Hyundais. The gentle crests and troughs keep it interesting and I like the small cap the upper layer of the dashboard forms over the centre stack. Even on bright sunny days the shadow it throws over the stereo panel will ensure clear readability.

The controls for the air-con and the stereo are simple to use though I did think that the profusion of buttons on the stereo panel could have been trimmed down a bit. Nevertheless that center stack is nicely designed with the entire dashboard cascading into that single area.

The instrument console features a simple three pod layout, with a large speedometer placed in the centre and flanked by the temperature and fuel gauge on either side. The dials are clear and easy to read. A small window inside the speedo pod relays basic trip and odo readings and also indicates the correct gear to drive in. The interiors are also nicely styled with a two tone shade and bursts of faux aluminum inserts across the dashboard and the door pads making the interior feel rich. The one piece seats with headrests incorporated into the seat back could have been upholstered in a brighter shade. Though I suppose the black tones will prevent stains from being visible and isn’t that what the wife ordered?

The cabin is also quite practical and apart from the generous amounts of space you also get several storage bins and bottle holders.

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Caaar Waaar Sunny takes on Etios and entry level Verna Words Halley Prabhakar Photography by Gaurav S Thombre

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remember when I drove the Nissan Sunny for the first time and came back to office.

Apart from everyone going ‘sunny side-up’ ten thousand times, the joookes on the ad were wearing thin. So the banter shifted to guessing the price. Everyone put the car in the seven lakh plus category, considering the features it had. But when Nissan announced the price a week later, it was a shocking Rs 5.58 lakh for the base variant.

This suddenly made the Sunny a very bright choice (pun intended) for those looking to move up the ladder. But was just the pricing good enough or did the Sunny need to be more? So we called over a few competitors - the Hyundai Verna 1.4 and the Toyota Etios to see if a caaaar made more sense than just a car.

STYLING Beginning with the Sunny it doesn’t have the lines to blow your mind, in fact from certain angles it does look a bit odd. At the front it feels like Nissan has tried to give the Sunny a Teana-like look with its sharp headlamps and huge boxy grille but this doesn’t gel well with the rest of the car. There is a well-defined shoulder line that grows strong and prominent at the front and rear fenders, and then neatly merges into the bumpers. The forward half of the car is also Micra-ish but after the B-pillar, the roofline slopes down all the way to the boot giving the car a rather disproportionate look. From the rear however, the Nissan family design is evident giving it a baby-Teana look. What clearly identifies this car is its size, particularly its length. If placed in a parking lot besides the competition the Sunny will stick out by over a foot, like a Parsi stands out by virtue of their loooong noses.

Shifting to the Etios then. By now Toyota are probably rueing the missed opportunity - the opportunity to give the Etios a smattering of style considering it was designed from the ground up for the Indian audience. What we have is reminiscent of the boxy Logan from NOV 2011 overdrive

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Big softies The new X3 is very good, but is it the best?

Words Rishaad Mody Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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riving large cars can turn even the meekest of men into road raging loonies. Which perhaps explains the reality that a surprisingly large percentage of SUV owners were significantly bullied at some point in their lives.

And now they’re out for payback, running over lesser mortals in their ‘normal’ cars.

Jokes aside, why buy a big imposing SUV when you’re never properly going to use it? Simply put, SUVs make you the king of the road and there’s nothing quite as fun as driving a vehicle that screams, ‘get out of my way.’

The smart folk in big auto companies naturally caught on and hence was born the soft roader. A vehicle with the desirable on-road presence of an SUV but without too many unnecessary go-anywhere trappings. Soft roaders have great on road dynamics where they’d spend most of their time and can go surprisingly far off the beaten path when the odd off-roading bug bites you.

And here are three of the finest you can buy today.

Styling and design All three subscribe to very different schools of design thought. The first thing that hits you about the BMW is its size which is nearly identical to the first gen X5. The X3 is now 83mm longer and 22mm wider than before. The 22mm increase in wheelbase equates to a pleasingly spacious cabin as well. Typical of new age BMWs the design is restrained and Germanic with none of the earlier outlandish Bangle elements. As usual the pronounced kidney grille and corona ring headlamps are the highlights up front. But the headlamps are surprisingly simple rectangular units which allow the considerable bumper and metal finish bash plate to give the x3 a hint of brawn.

The side is dominated by the rising shoulder line that runs from the front wheel arch and merges into the tail light. The chrome surrounded window line that tapers upwards to the rear also draws the eye. The rear in my opinion is the best angle on the bimmer with its smart arrow shaped tail lights to the muscular lines on the tail gate and bumper.

They say if you’ve seen one BMW interior you’ve seen ‘em all.

‘They’ have obviously seen the interiors on the new X3 because there’s nothing very different here. Things are simple and straightforward in here. There are ten buttons but they are programmable quick access menu buttons which do make sense when you live with the car daily.

The interiors are a big step up from the old X3 while the controls feel great to use and are rather convenient and user friendly.

The seats are wrapped in great looking tan leather and are comfort-

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Dr i v e

Maserat i G ra nCa br i o S p ort

Gourmet delight!

A Michelin 5-starred traditional Italian serving dished out smoking hot!

Words Bertrand D’souza

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he Italians know food, pretty damn well. It’s as fine an art as the art of dressing up, pursuing women, playing football or manufacturing cars. So the pasta dished out with a lamb ragout at Europa 92 is easily the best I have ever had the pleasure of digging into.

It tastes and smells divine, every ribbon of pasta is deliciously smeared with the finest olive oil, the juices of a lamb that’s grazed ravenously in the Italian alps and let me not forget Modena’s speciality, balsamic vinegar! All of these come together to lend a series of unique flavours and tastes which I am not going to forget for a long time to come. Its almost ruined every other meal for me, that is how high its raised the bar where food is concerned.

That meal was a fitting finale after driving the exquisite Italian supercar, the Maserati GranCabrio Sport. Both the meal and the car had kept the mood ebullient throughout, the car through the day and the meal at night. My brief pit stops into Italy have seldom been unrewarding and this weekend then was no less.

Onto the car then, the Maserati GranCabrio Sport is no ordinary spin off of Maserati’s first 4-seater convertible. It’s gorgeous undoubtedly, probably more stunning than the GranCabrio and easily the most good looking convertible I have ever laid my eyes on and a definite shoe-in to the title equivalent of the Miss Universe.

The GranCabrio Sport is stunning on several levels, not just with its Pininfarina inspired lines and curves and the minute details that help differentiate the Sport from the standard Cabrio.

You may in fact not even notice the detailing, which is not a good thing because you might want your neighbour to realise you’ve got the Sport variant rather than him thinking it’s just the GranCabrio. So minute stuff like the red prongs on the trident logo reserved only for the most powerful Maseratis, the black lined headlamp cluster and the black grille, the small winglets along the edges of the front bumper and the specially made 20-inch alloys are subtle touches that add to its beauty.

The GranCabrio Sport is also beautiful to drive and it’s not a word I’d loosely use to describe this convertible. Where sports cars are concerned and convertibles to boot, there are cars that have more spring in their step than the GranCabrio Sport such as the R8 V10 Spyder. There are cars with a lot more flash and aggro tones such as the Gallardo Spyder, some such as the Aston Martin Vantage are as lithe as a pair of track and field shoes, none though possess the startlingly good looks of the GranSport Cabrio. This is an elegant car, driven in an unhurried fashion it feels graceful and were it not for the glorious sunny weather around Modena, driv-

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F e at u r e

n ostalg i a JAGUA R xk 1 20

Gentlemen’s club Nostalgia’s Jaguar XK120 is your ticket inside very exclusive lounges...

Words & Photography Bertrand D’souza

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he idea for the Jaguar XK120 was probably born on a roof in Coventry, England. This was the time of WWII and British factories were being used to support the war effort. During this time top management who could not enlist sat on the roof tops and worked as air raid marshals or fire marshals. During these watches the men played cards and dreamt up newer engines and cars. William Lyons along with his top designers and engineers could often be found up there drawing designs for the future. So somewhere on the top of a factory in Browns Lane near Coventry is where the most famous of all Jaguar engines, the XK series was hatched.

These would go on to serve for over 40 years powering some of the most iconic and beautiful Jaguars of all time.

The XK120 was built soon after SS Cars Ltd or what was known as the Swallow Sidecar Company became SS Jaguar in

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1935. Once the war had come to an end William Lyons decided that the SS in the name was similar to the initials of the paramilitary organization operating directly under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party and which was responsible for a majority of the crimes against humanity. That is how Jaguar Cars Ltd was formed and the first post-war car to come out of the new company was the XK120.

It was first showcased at the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show and was an instant hit thanks to its unique sports car styling, two seats and its 3.4-litre in-line 6-cylinder engine. The XK in the name was an obvious reference to its engine but the 120 came from the top speed it was able to achieve in that age. In fact the XK was faster than its company claimed 120mph (193.12kmph) when it was tested at a press conference in Belgium where it clocked 126.448mph (203.498kmph). It was at the time the fastest production car in the world.

It was also one of the most good looking cars in the world. The long flowing hood with the pontoon fenders that looked like they extended all the way to the boot, the inverted and polished till it sparkled steel teardrop grille framed by the projected headlamps, the rear view mirrors on top of the fenders, the leaping cat, the slightly raked double paned windshield housed inside a steel frame, all of it cut a sporty look. The open top cabin was elegantly appointed with all the luxury trappings for its time such as leather upholstery, foldable roof, map pockets on the door and wood paneling. The wooden steering wheel and not the way the steering feels, with its four spokes is quite large for a cabin this small and yet it does not feel out of place.

Interestingly the initial open top XK120 did not have external door handles you see on the XK120 coupe, though later versions of the open top also had door handles.

The XK120 however had to prove itself to

be one of the best cars in the world, and in the day almost all sports cars manufactured were used for some motorsport event or the other. It raced in several events in Europe such as the Targa Florio, the Mille Miglia and in 1950 it attempted the Le Mans 24 hours where it failed to do well but convinced William Lyons that it was worth investing time and money on the race. But the most sensational motorsport story about the XK120 comes from the 1950 Alpine Rally.

Ian Appleyard participated in NUB120, the most famous of all the XK120’s which now stands in the Jaguar Heritage museum in Browns Lane and along with his wife Pat as navigator won the event. Pat was William Lyons’ daughter and the Appleyards went on to win the following year’s rally as well and though they participated in 1952 they did not win but did not incur a single penalty point winning the special Alpine Rally Gold Cup. At the same time the XK120 was also racing and winning events across the pond in the USA. The XK120 was truly an iconic car and Nostalgia cars helps bring back that sense of elegance, grace and speed with their replica. Built in the same exacting manner as the C-Type, the Classic 120 has been modified for more contemporary requirements. The suspension for instance is fully adjustable, the brakes are reconditioned and overhauled,

the steering rack is new with more precision and feel, the wiring is contemporary and therefore safer though the donor engines are rebuilt and tuned as per customer specifications. Engine choices in fact range from the standard 3.2-litre twin-cam carbureted in-line 6-cylinder petrol to the powerful 4.2-litre. You can also specify whether you want the XK range of engines or the AJ6 fuel injected engines.

I did manage to squeeze in a few minutes of driving the car in between filming and photographing and driving the Deronda and the C-Type and I was in awe of the way it felt and drove. There is no mistaking that the XK120 is special, from the way you have to increase the strength in your shoulders when turning the steering wheel or bend your back slightly to reach the gearshift and change gears with your arms spread wide when holding the ‘wheel. It’s a car that makes you recollect every nuance of driving that we take for granted today. It is an experience to enjoy and relish and no amount of modern day aluminum or carbon fibre can replicate the essence of the classics. Whatever the choices Nostalgia urges you to be an integral part of the build process and I’m sure it’s a very involving challenge. The XK120 will be available in India though ESTD and will cost around ` 1.5 crore, ex-showroom.

Expensive yes, but worth every rupee.

Above: Classic lines and Jaguar racing green lend an aura of regality and class to the XK120 replica. Detailing is exquisite and exacting.

Interiors are bright and rich and carefully finished in rich leather. Cabin is dominated by the massive non-assisted steering wheel which is quite taxing on the arms

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aud i r 8 v10

Classroom

The fastest classroom in the world is the Audi Driving Experience centre at Gross Dolln near Berlin Words Sirish Chandran

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itting shotgun with somebody who knows a thing or two about wheelsmanship is always a joy. When said driver happens to have three victories at the Le Mans 24 hour endurance classic under his belt, the car in question is the Nurburgring 24 hour winning R8 LMS GT3 race car, and the track in question scribbles around Europe’s largest runway, the experience is devastating. Marco Werner won the 24 hours of Le Mans three times in a row, from 2005 to

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2007 with Audi, in 2008 he won the American Le Mans Series LMP1 drivers title in the Audi R10 and in 2010 stuck this car on pole for the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Plainly he knows a thing or two about driving a fast car very fast and proceeds to show me with a shockingly light tap on the brakes for corners, a commitment to the blind double apex right of even more shock value and carrying impossibly high speeds through corners.

Then again this is what racing drivers do in racing cars. Only difference here is Werner

has been teaching us all day how to do exactly what he’s now demonstrating.

Welcome to the Audi Driving Experience.

Based at race tracks all over the world and catering to skill levels going all the way up to serious racers, the experience is unforgettable and we are doing the serious course at the Gross Dolln airbase, an old Soviet era airfield which is the second longest in the world cut into the forests outside Berlin. Our cars for the day – a brace of Audi R8 V10s, one of the most accomplished sports cars on the planet.

Sessions begin with a safety briefing inside the old disused hangars and then we are let loose in a brace of Audi R8 V10s

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R i de

He ro Impuls e

Emperor Hero-yeto Hero embarks on their solo journey with the Impulse, India’s first off-road motorcycle in a long, long time Words & Photography Shubhabrata Marmar

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t felt good and it felt right. Rocks passed under the wheels without causing anything more than a tremor in the handlebar, grass and soil were churned up by the block-tread of the OE Ceat tyres and the Impulse was swiftly humming along. And then later, on the good to middling Hero factory tarmac, the Impulse continued to feel the same - in a comfortable environment, up for the job and happily for me, like it was enjoying the ride as much as I was.

Let’s be honest, the odds were stacked against the motorcycle. First, the history of the Indian off-road ready motorcycle is short and tragic. The Bajaj SX Enduro was a threespeed, two-stroke cracker. And no one seems to have noticed it. The BMW Funduro, a Hero Group adventure, also fizzled out quickly when the prices proved to be stratospheric though, once more, the motorcycle was actually brilliant compared to what else was on the sale at the time. And the third dirt bike... there wasn’t one.

Until now. Then again, look at Hero’s history. Their decades of being Hero Honda is a

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legacy the size of the Titanic squared. They proved super-great at creating distribution, getting to far flung customers, retaining them and their marketing has been awesome. But they haven’t created a product by themselves in their whole history, even the Impulse isn’t technically a Hero R&D product - the company is removing the Honda brand but has access to Honda developed products till 2014. The first of these is the Impulse. Shock. A dirt bike.

So is this the beginning of the end?

Not hardly! The Impulse proves to easily be the funnest Hero (and I am including all Hero Hondas in this list) I have ridden in my eleven years of motorcycle testing. How cool is that? Before you bring up the Honda NXR150 Bros, let me clarify the technicals.

The Impulse is based very, very closed on the Bros but uses a different carburettor, Indian OE rubber and a few other minor changes.

Think began there, but fine-tuned for here. It does sport a 150cc engine, and now you’re going to say, hmpf, it’s a CBZ X-Treme or a Hunk. You’d be wrong. The engine is shared between the trio, of course, but the Impulse

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Naked aggression We ride the promising new Ducati Streetfighter 848 in Italy Words Abhay Verma Photography Milagro

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nee-sliders have a very short life span. Especially when the combination is a lethal one, consisting of a brand new race track laced with virgin asphalt and a powerful, beautifully engineered motorcycle. I’d be stupid if I said I didn’t know that. But while I have experienced the latter on several occasions, a combination of the two was just a dream. And the dream couldn’t have turned into reality in grander fashion than to experience a spanking new race track in Italy astride a spanking new Ducati. The occasion?

The launch of the new Ducati Streetfighter 848. I have ridden several Ducatis, but the Streetfighter eluded me until now. And arguably it is the Ducati I have wanted to ride having heard about its aggressiveness and maniacal power delivery. Launched about two years ago, the Streetfighter was a stripped version of the 1098 Superbike, with a minimal yet aggressive styling package, and even won several awards for its styling. But contrary to popular belief, sport nakeds are not just superbikes stripped of their body work. Several changes are incorporated to bring about the much needed change in its character. Sport nakeds boast of strong initial and mid range punch, which is their core strength. As a result, the Streetfighter turned out to be one of the most aggressive nakeds from Ducati, and given its raw pulling power was a beast only experienced riders could tame. The 1098 was also famous for being a bit too hair trigger, extremely highly strung and in that sense unforgiving. The bike was thrilling to no end given the chassis, the 1098 derived engine and had loads of torque everywhere, but was too hot to handle given its uncompromising nature, and had non-extreme riders ask for more usability.

Enter the ‘new’ Streetfighter 848. The 848 is the first model from Ducati’s 2012 line-up, and resembles its larger sibling in form, but has been tweaked to improve on its functionality and make it more practical. The styling package remains identical to ensure the smaller Streetfighter retains its identity and does not lose the visual aggressiveness. As a result I found myself facing the same compact front NOV 2011 overdrive

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ove or hate the abundance of electronica featured on modernday bikes and the ferocious pace of development, you’ve got to admit that aids like traction control (TC) have livened things up. Technology drip-fed directly from racing has never been so prominent. Some will say TC has dulled the spectacle and banished sliding, but the

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truth is tyre technology and bike refinement would have done that anyway to an extent.

Other cynics, like our old-schoolist BJ, reckon traction control diminishes the riding sensation and prevents the new crop of youngsters from learning throttle control.

And can you really trust a microchip the size of your finger nail to save your botty? OK, so turn it off then.

Safety aids like ABS are understandably treated with caution as a ‘performance’ feature, often malfunctioning when you’re on the absolute limit. But there’s nowt wrong with traction control if it slashes lap times and saves your ass on diesel-infested roads.

Plus, 1000cc sportsbike motors are relentlessly churning out mind-warping horsepower, challenging throttle control, tyre

TC or not TC...

…that is the question. Does traction control really make you faster and safer?

Or is it just an excuse for extra buttons that dull down the fun?

And does it really save your rear rubber?

Words Alastair ‘A-Force’ Fagan &

Benjamin ‘BJ’ Kubas Cronin Photography Flow images Courtesy Fast Bikes

technology and rear wheel connectivity.

There’s only so much one piece of rubber can handle and, ultimately, that one piece of rubber is the final say.

The launch of BMW’s S 1000 RR not only shook the motorcycle world with its unbelievable raw talent, but also the aptitude of the Bavarian’s traction control. Up until the Beemer’s introduction, we, the punter, had to make do with the Ducati DTC system and far

less capable (and cheaper) traction aids like the Bazzaz units and agricultural systems on some sports tourers. Now, just 12 months on, BMW’s TC feels a bit basic, largely because of the introduction of Aprilia’s new track assassin; the RSV-4 Factory APRC - complete with its groundbreaking arsenal of electronics.

There are many variables in traction control. Testing TC on the roads will only end in blood-stained tears, so we went to Mireval,

Dunlop’s test facility in the south of France, to do the job properly. We spent a day thrashing the BMW’s twat-proof system back-toback with the more refined and sporty Aprilia system, analysing tyre wear and cutting the bullshit with timed laps using GPS. Whether you’re unlikely to ever benefit from the traction control, or believe the technology is a necessity on a trackday to beat the stopwatch, your best bet is to read on…

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ROAD TEST

Royal E nf ie l d D es e rt Stor m

Enter sandman

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OD Rating Price ` 1.58 lakh

on-road, Mumbai

+ Styling and paint job + Retro feel still uncomfortable - Seat - No performance tweaks

Royal Enfield now has two variants based on the Classic 500, but there’s more to them than meets the eye.

Words & Photography Shubhabrata Marmar

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n theory, you could make an X-Files episode on many motorcycles. They are for the most part, mysterious. And of the lot, the Royal Enfield single would either be the season opener, or the finale. Allow me to explain.

If you were to make a list of the best handling, best ride quality, best quality, best performance or greatest value for money motorcycles in India, the chances of Royal Enfields topping any of these lists is slimmer than Kate Moss on a starvation diet. But look at what is going on. The Classic is sold out. Waiting periods are nearing ten to twelve months and we get emails, facebook messages and tweets every day almost from people saying they would have bought one if the waiting period was more reasonable.

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And in this sense of mystery, the Royal Enfield has always been exceptional. After I rode a Thunderbird and an LB500 from Delhi to Leh and back, I understood what the aura was about and also grasped that it didn’t really float my boat. Sort of how a sports bike fan would understand why Harleys are so revered by cruiser lovers, without going over to the dark side, as it were.

But in ten years, meetings with the top company officials have always been slightly underwhelming, apart from my first nearly forty-five minute freewheeling chat with Siddartha Lal at the launch of the Thunderbird.

It’s always been the same. How about overhead camshafts? Not our heritage. Seriously?

No budgets either. How about an all-new bike? The current platforms are fine. Serious-

ly? No budgets. Why didn’t you alter the frame for the T’bird for a proper cruiser look? Why mess with what’s not broken... And so forth.

But things are changing. In the past few years, RE has sharpened their image, quality levels have steadily improved, and their products have become more devoted to the brand’s image rather than the mess of weird stickering and stuff that we saw for a short while until RL Ravichandran, the then CEO, put a stop to that. Progress has been more ponderous than dazzling, but it’s all moving forward. What I’m still cut up about is that RE seems to go and launch all the coolest bikes, offer the newest upgrades to their customers abroad first.

That’s not cool. Especially given that for all the hype exports are a measly single digit percentage contributor to their revenue.

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Stronger brew?

Yamaha refreshes its flagship YZF-R15 with more visual changes than mechanical. We ride it.

Words Bertrand Dsouza Photography Suresh Narayanan, Auto Bild India

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he one and only grouse most enthusiasts had with the Yamaha R15 was the slim rear tyre. For a bike singularly dedicated to performance many wondered just how could the rear tyre look so undernourished. Not many understood the fact that for performance a fat tyre was detrimental. That’s because the more rubber you let stick to the ground the more effort the engine has to exert to pick it up and run.

Effectively you increase friction and performance takes a hit. That scientific fact the lay man has no idea of, but yes the demand

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for a stout rear tyre did not wane. Eventually Yamaha India decided that changing the profile of the tyre was one way of firing up interest in their flagship product. The R15 in recent months has been taking a hit from bikes such as the Honda CBR250R and the Kawasaki Ninja 250R both of which look more substantial. So changes have been incorporated and those changes have affected some more changes to keep intact the basic premise of this bike, which is to retain its performance edge. This is how it does it.

So the R15 now called the version 2.0 gets thicker front and rear radial tyres, at the

front the upsize is now 90/80 and the rear gets a 130/70. The upshot of this is better stability and grip, the downside is the immediate drop in performance. On the track at Chennai the R15 did feel confident, I could easily put her down into corners and overall the confidence levels were high. These were definitely the advantages of the bigger rubber except that from the last time I rode the R15, I did not feel like much has changed with the handling and stability bit. She is just as flickable as before, just as eager to change direction even mid-corner, she’s just as stable and confident as ever and if any-

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Stripped easy We test the naked version of the Hyosung GT650R, the GT650N Words Abhay Verma Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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s much as we would have wanted the GT650R to do well in the Indian market for being the first middle weight sportsbike in the country, the bike has been selling just about decently.

The only spanner in the works for this Korean motorcycle apart from its own shortcomings was perhaps the launch of the critically acclaimed Kawasaki Ninja 650R at a more affordable price. To boost sales further and make the Hyosung brand popular, Garware Motors has now launched the GT650N, a naked version of the GT650R. For the GT650N Hyosung have done away with the bulky looking fairing of the GT650R, and replaced it with a trapezoid-shaped headlamp unit, which looks inspired from the MV

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Agusta Brutale. The headlight itself looks nice, but the rounded shroud surrounding it tends to spoil its looks. Hyosung have also given the naked a taller, single-piece handlebar, which looks nice, and makes for a comfortable riding posture. That apart the rider’s footpegs have been moved slightly forward and the overall height of the motorcycle lowered by 35mm to make it more comfortable. Apart from the headlight change, the naked is visually identical to its faired sibling, but it looks a lot better than the fully-faired GT650R. The exposed tubular twin-spar frame, blacked-out engine, fat forks and tyres give the GT650N a brawny feel. However, when launching a naked motorcycle, manufacturers generally tend to tweak the engine so as to make the bike more rideable, apart from the mandatory

cosmetic changes. But Hyosung in this case did not deem it necessary to make any changes to the GT650R’s engine, or any of the cycle parts, and the bike is mechanically the same.

The GT650N uses the same 647cc V-twin mill, which itself is based on the old Suzuki SV650’s V-twin. As a result, power and torque figures remain unchanged at 73.7PS at 9000rpm and 60.9Nm at 7500rpm. By shedding its fairing the GT has lost seven kilos, which sounds like a lot, but the same does not really affect the naked’s performance as compared to the fully faired version. Given the fact that the engine is mechanically the same, there is no change in terms of feel or power delivery.

The engine feels fine till about 6000rpm, but cross the 6k mark and it starts feeling and sounding harsh, which is surely a deterrent

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D e l h i Sup e rcar s h ow

Delhi Belles

The Indian capital saw some mesmerising beauties lined up for Nat Geo’s new show. The women weren’t bad too...

Words Bertrand D’souza

Main pic: Rajeev Khandelwal and Keertan Adyanthaya, MD, National Geographic Network & Fox International Channels India, flagging off the super car rally in New Delhi at the Claridges hotel. Below: Who’s hotter Prakul’s Porsche Cayman or the pit girl. Right: Gaurav Bhartiya and his very muscular Porsche Cayenne.

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