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Land Rover

Freelander 2 takes on

Audi Q5

TESTED

Merc E350 CDI CHEVY CRUZE vs SKODA LAURA

IN CONVERSATION

EXCLUSIVE! NISSAN MICRA TESTED bmw z4 sdrive35i

RENAULT BOSS CARLOS GHOSN Comparo Indigo manza takes on

Fiesta, Dzire & Linea

Comparo Q5 3.0 TDI vs Freelander 2 2.2D

Heavy weather The 45-lakh rupee SUV brawl breaks out

Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

L

and Rover’s very first Freelander, back in 1997, was a landmark.

It was small, compact and not as great off-road as its bigger stablemates either. And its sales were properly off the charts.

The highest selling SUV in Europe for five years, the partisan Brits kept that streak going at home for two more years. More importantly, it created the soft-roader.

Not everyone needed to wade into chest-deep mud and there was justification for SUVs that weren’t terrain chewing monsters, or indeed,

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DECEMBER 2009 www.OVERDRIVE.in

the size of small buildings.

The second generation of the Freelander, creatively named the Freelander 2, came out at the 2006 British International Motor Show.

It shared little but the name with its predecessor. But before I go into the details of the Freelander 2, you should also know that the SUV world has changed. First it was the gigantic American SUVs that drew fire from the green brigade leading to their hybridification. And now we’re told that the green meanies are targeting the full-size SUV - the likes of the Q5,

X5 et al - as the next on the hit list.

As social acceptance of large SUVs wanes, the focus will shift to the kind of vehicles in this test - the smaller premium SUV. The Q5Freelander-X3 will become the premium SUV and already manufacturers are scurrying around creating the sub-layer to that with SUVs like the BMW X1. If the trend continues, in a few years time, you’d be driving a smarter looking Wagon R 4x4, powered mostly by electricity and you’ll receive a mild shock if try to park on the soft shoulder. Just kidding.

The Freelander 2, then. It’s bigger than the original in every dimension - a substantial 10.9cm wider, a bit taller and longer and careful internal packaging has released a significantly larger boot, more space inside and conscious use of high-strength but thin pillars has created a very good greenhouse as well. It’s also lost its boxy-compact design ethos and bought heavily into the family’s coat of arms. The Freelander now looks like a proper Land Rover - the grille is unmistakably from the marque - bold and

pugilistic, and the windshield slopes back just enough to give you the impression of speed. The headlight is a collection of circular shapes set in a obstinately rectangular frame. Out of the three engines on offer abroad, India is only getting the turbocharged 2.2litre diesel straight six with the six-speed automatic. There’s no low-ratio option, but there is the Terrain Response System that’s brought Land Rover much praise.

The full time four-wheel drive system has four modes - tarmac, grass/gravel/snow, mud-ruts and

sand - all of which can alter the power settings front to rear, diff settings as well as engine maps to ensure that the Freelander remains easy to drive in the most gruesome of conditions. For example, the sand mode gives you electric throttle response enabling fine throttle modulation - critical to preserving momentum. And it helps expert drivers steer with the throttle - which I’m told is the key to fast progress in sand. Safety?

This is the first vehicle of its kind to take five stars at EuroNCAP and that exact spec is here.

Impressive? Yes. But this Freelander was first revealed three years ago. Audi, on the other hand, worked themselves into a right lather and launched the Q5 on the very day they turned a hundred years old. That’s this very year. If nothing else, they had three years to scope out the competition before launching the Q5.

Which surprised absolutely no one by turning out to be quite good. In India, though, the time lines are reversed and the Freelander 2 follows the Q5 into the market. And having driven the Audi extensively

in Indian conditions, we know that the Q5 does its job rather well. It is large enough to look impressive, compact enough to be easy to handle in traffic, well equipped and despite the government’s insistence on that eye-watering 115 per cent duty on CBU imports, it’s priced quite well too. Sales are good and this is aided further by the fact that the sole competition (so far) is the BMW X3 - a good car on it’s own, but far too old to outperform the brand new Audi.

Question is, can the Freelander break the Q5’s hegemony?

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Comparo Chevrolet Cruze LTZ vs Skoda Laura 1.9 Ambiente

D-day

The new Chevrolet Cruze takes on the segment favourite, the Skoda Laura Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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T

he first time I drove the Optra Magnum with that honking turbocharged 2.0-litre diesel motor, I was stoked. It was years ago and my recollection is of a normal looking car that absolutely rocketed around as long you could keep the turbo spinning. I remember an unusual amount of screeching from the tyres and that I missed that car when it went back to GM. So you can imagine my excitement when they told me that they’d improved that turbo and that the new Cruze would arrive sporting that same engine I remember so fondly. To prepare for it, I decided to look up the Chevy Cruze.

To cruise through Cruze history, the name first appeared in 2001 on a fairly ugly hatchback that GM and Suzuki jointly devel-

oped. It was known as the Cruze in GM-speak and you will recognise the car as the Suzuki Ignis which did quite well on the rally circuit.

There was also a Subaru-badged version called the G3X Justy, which is kind of a strange coincidence when you realise that the Justy was originally our Esteem.

Complex! In 2008, GM bestowed the name on a completely new car, which had nothing to do with the older Cruze at all. And this, the J300, is the car we’re talking about today. It was meant to replace the Chevrolet Cobalt and the Daewoo Lacetti, both unrelated to each other, though you will know the Lacetti as the Chevrolet Optra in India. The Cruze is one of the few GM cars that has not worn too many names in various markets - it is supposed to go into produc-

tion as the Daewoo Lacetti Premier in Korea and the Holden Cruze in Australia in 2010.

The Cruze is based on the GM Delta III platform and stands at the end of a US$ 4 billion program that saw prototypes being tested in Australia, Canada, China, South Korea, Sweden, UK and the USA. Global intentions then?

There are three engines and two gearboxes in the Cruze family.

The two petrols are the 1.6- and 1.8-litre petrol fours that belong to the same family and the sole diesel - the one we get - is the 2.0litre turbodiesel with commonrail injection, the engine that is already doing duty in India in the Captiva SUV. The engine, officially the RA 420, is sourced from VM Motori and abroad you can get a six-speed automatic apart from

the five-speed manual that we get.

The international Cruze engine line is supposed to be expanded with the 1.4 turbo-petrol with petrol direct injection at the end of 2009 - though there is no news on that so far. And now that we’re done with history, let’s do some geography.

To figure out where the Cruze is placed in the segment, we decided to pitch it against the Skoda Laura, our favourite car in the segment at the moment. Now were the Cruze to be priced at Rs 14 lakh, which GM hinted at during our preview drive, this would have been a fairly straightforward comparison test. But when General Motors India finally unveiled the price at the launch, they set the Cruze up for success at a very good price point indeed. The base version of

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Test BMW 320i

A Beemer for all?

Gauging the virtues of the wallet-friendly Baby Beemer Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre

I

s there something like a cheap BMW? Well may be in your dreams. But in real life, for mere mortals wanting to own a BMW, there can be an entry level model we can line up our long-term sights (and investments) on. The BMW 320i happens to be just such a car in BMW’s Indian line-up. Is it worth the price tag or must one be ready to splurge more on the car one up on the BMW rung?

Visually the 320i is similar to the updated 3 Series we tested a few months ago. So rather dwell on its athletic looks and stiff ride, I’ll focus on the heart of the matter, its engine.

The 320i sports an inline four that displaces 1995cc. It is a compact unit and maximum power output is 156.3PS at 6400rpm, while 200Nm of torque is available at 3600rpm. The numbers don’t spell earth shattering performance. To put it into perspective, the Skoda Laura 1.8 TSI makes slightly more

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power. The 320i took 13.3 seconds to hit 100kmph from standstill, in wet conditions however. Over dry tarmac it would have shaved off a second.

The 320i does not feel very impressive on performance, espe-

yen for driving, will take the road out of town, on to the highway, floor the throttle and wait for the tail to drift out at an accommodating corner. And alas, the baby Beemer is a letdown in this regard.

The engine feels stressed and noisy when pushed hard, and more crucially fails to exude the expected rush. The sports on the gearbox is is not much help and in spite of it striving to hold revs near the redline, it fails to ooze much juice up there.

The two-litre engine feels adequate It is also where the for the city but isn’t meant for spirited driving fuel efficiency takes a beating. One expects cially after its more powerful sib- this engine to be a dainty guzzler, lings. Of course, amidst city traffic, which it is with a light throttle foot. the engine feels responsive, has In the city, the Beemer returned good mid-range and feels adequate 11.9kmpl, and the highway cruise for the daily grind. The gearbox is at a constant 80kmpl resulted in twin-clutch rivalling quick and 15.9kmpl. Step on it though and efficient to ensure you’re always the bottom drops out of things, in the powerband. But one does with fuel efficiency dipping to not invest in a BMW to just potter a measly 7-8kmpl. around town, no? Anyone with a Talking hard cash, the 320i

at Rs 26.9 lakh, ex-showroom, Mumbai, is the wallet-friendliest BMW you can buy in India, and the new batch of cars come with iDrive as standard. Decent fuel efficiency translates to lower running costs too. The 320i (like any Beemer) is clearly not a car for backseat joy nor is it as fun to drive as the 325i or the 320d. It is for those with a yen for the blue propeller insignia.

Me, I’d rather wait and save up for the 325i.

Specification Type

1995cc Inline 4 cylinder, 4-valves/cyl

Max power

156.3PS@ 6400rpm

Max torque 200Nm@

3600rpm LxWxH

4531x2013x1421

0-100kmph 13.3sec Top speed

218kmph (claimed)

Price

Rs 26,90,000 (ex-showroom Mumbai)

+ Handling true to Beemers - Lacks performance, ride quality

Feature RE Tour of Rajasthan

Sea of sand A different view of Rajasthan, from the saddle of a Royal Enfield Bullet Words & photography Vijayendra Vikram

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Test Mercedes-Benz E350 CDI

Dieselhead The diesel E-Class is here at last

Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre

W

e all know what petrolheads are about but dieselhead seems like a new coining of phrase? Last month we had the E-Class squaring off against the 5 Series and A6 but despite having six-cylinder petrols to trash Shumi couldn’t help but rave about the six-cylinder diesel in the BMW 530d. Well, diesels have come a long way and have gotten more accomplished on the performance front as the Beemer has clearly established. With cars like these, Team OVERDRIVE is soon turning into serious dieselheads, I must say.

It was quite a surprise when Mercedes-Benz decided to spearhead its new E-Class range with a powerful petrol engine and with no diesel in sight. But a month after that, here is the oil-burner.

No, it isn’t the de rigueur E280 but a full blown E350 CDI that aims

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straight for the BMW 530d.

Visually, the car remains the same. Rich, opulent interiors in Avantgarde trim are classy and I like the dark ambience created by black piano wood and dark brown leather. The car is similarly specced as the Petrol E350 except for a tiny ‘Blue Efficiency’ badging on the side fender that caught my fancy.

Blue Efficiency This interesting concept debuts on 2010 Mercs and is aimed at maximising efficiency and performance through various means, very similar to the ‘Efficient Dynamics’ we’ve seen earlier on BMWs. With this simple objective in mind, the Mercedes development engineers started by reducing weight, drag and rolling resistance. The new E-Class also happens to be the most aerodynamic car in its category with a drag coefficient of just

0.25. One of the reasons for this is the electro-pneumatically controlled fan shutter (available currently only on four-cylinder petrols and E350 CGI) that allows the engine’s cooling air to be limited in line with requirements. This saves fuel as the air flowing through the radiator and the engine compartment accounts for up to ten per cent of a car body’s total aerodynamic drag.

When the engine is running under part load and requires relatively little cooling, the radiator grille is closed by a circular system of louvres located behind the radiator.

The use of a turbocharger in place of the previous mechanical supercharger saves the power needed to operate the supercharger while use of direct injection in petrol engines improves thermal efficiency. The transmission too has been reworked to conserve energy.

To further enhance engine

efficiency, a wide range of components including fuel pump, alternator, power steering and tyres (to name a few) were optimised. The power steering pump, for instance, doesn’t work at full power all the time and varies according to the demands of the driving conditions. Efficient alternator management recuperates braking energy to charge the battery. The Blue Efficiency package also incorporates driver assist displays in some models that show the current fuel efficiency and also when to shift gears. The savings, in total, cut fuel consumption by almost 23 per cent. For the E350 CDI in India, Mercedes is claiming an efficiency increase of 13 per cent.

Blue Efficiency is not just about increasing fuel efficiency but also cuts down emissions. The BlueTEC models get a urea based catalyser called AdBlue that converts NOX emissions to ammonia, which is

There is no doubt that the strong acceleration pins you back on the seat every time you floor the throttle

LxWxH

4868x2017x1471

0-100kmph 7.41sec Top speed

250kmph (limited)

Price

Rs 48.09 lakh (ex-showroom New Delhi)

+ Performance, luxury - Expensive

ACCELERATION kmph

0

sec

40

60

0s

2s

11.9 NA

75 % 25 %

city

Highway OVERALL

Tank capacity Range

80

4s

ECONOMY (kmpl)

NA

0-400m: 15.43s/146.98kmph

80 litres NA

100

6s

8s

IN-GEAR ROLL ON (Kick-down) 40-100kmph 5.75s

130

140

10s

12s

14s

True speed

160

16s

18s

20s

NA

100-0 kmph

250kmph (limited)

tested in the wet

150

BRAKING (with ABS) 80-0 kmph

TOP Speed Indicated speed

Standing 1km: 28.62s/187.35kmph 120

836

19.03

Max torque 540Nm@

1600-2400rpm

Road Test

PERFORMANCE

16.34

230PS@ 3800rpm

With such an impressive output, the E350 CDI better be quick and

13.82

Max power

Performance and Efficiency

11.88

2987cc, V6 diesel

Verdict

10.22

Type

to the rear wheels.

With the Blue Efficiency lending a big helping hand, the E350 CDI returned 11.9kmpl on the highway, a kilometre and half more than the petrol.

In last month’s comparo, the new E-Class established that it has outgrown the previous generation model’s best-enjoyed-from-thebackseat mould and has taken a turn towards being more driver oriented. The best part is it doesn’t compromise on the comfort aspect and still manages one of the best rides money can buy. What it lacked was outright perThis V6 packs in some formance, which the dieserious torque, 540Nm to be precise sel now provides. The car is priced at Rs 48.08 lakh, isn’t quite the car that will blow ex-showroom, New Delhi, a slight you away. premium over the petrol, worth There is no doubt that the every penny since it overshadows strong acceleration pins you back it completely on both performance on the seat every time you floor and fuel efficiency fronts. But like the throttle. But the gearbox isn’t quintessential Merc, it is quick and particularly quick to shift and feels fast but not frantically so. So even relaxed in a way Mercedes-Benz the haughty CEO won’t be ruffled cars are intended to be. While on by a quick spin. This is ‘the’ E-Class the roll, kickdowns feel slow and we have been waiting for, until of there is actually a noticeable lag course the E280CDI comes along as if the gearbox ponders the move and sets the cash registers ringing before unleashing all that torque non-stop.

7.41

Specification

it certainly is. The diesel E takes just 7.41 seconds for a 0-100kmph sprint while a quarter mile comes in just a little over 15 seconds from standstill, quite astonishing for a car that weighs close to two tonnes with two passengers and all fluids topped up. The E350 CDI clearly leaves behind its larger engined, more powerful petrol sibling by a second to 100kmph and is also quicker to the quarter mile, thanks to its sheer torque. But this

5.33

The E350 CDI is powered by Mercedes’ OM642 V6 diesel engine displacing 2987cc. This engine replaced the earlier family

3.45

Engine & Transmission:

2.19

further reduced to nitrogen and water. This sounds like a far cry for India but the revolution has already begun.

of inline 5- and 6-cylinder units in 2005 and we have already seen it under the S320 CDI hood in India.

It incorporates a third generation common-rail direct injection unit that utilises tiny piezo crystals for precise fuel metering, operating at a rail pressure of 1600 bar.

The vibration inherent to the V6 engines is taken care of by a balancer shaft between the cylinder banks. The engine is aspirated by a Variable Nozzle Turbine (VNT) turbocharger, which is Merc’s interpretation of a VGT. Max power is 230PS at 3800rpm while there is a titanic 540Nm of torque available between 1600rpm and 2400rpm.

T he t ra nsm ission duties are handled by a 7-speed automatic gearbox. It features a standstill decoupling function that switches the transmission to neutral when the car is stationary at traffic lights or in a traffic jam to reduce the engine load. Though Mercs are better chauffeur driven, I strongly feel the car should come with optional paddle shifters given its performance intent.

10m

42.43m/3.15s 20m

30m

40m

50m

Control Excellent Feel Excellent Overall Excellent

www.OVERDRIVE.in december 2009

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Test BMW Z4

Get the drift!

The Z4 enters the Indian market, sideways!

Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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Model Yogini Inamke Make-up Tejashree Dharane Hair Dhanashree

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In Conversation Carlos Ghosn

‘Logan is a good car’ Carlos Ghosn on Renault-Nissan’s India plans

Words Senthil Chengalvarayan & Indrajit Gupta, Forbes India OD The downturn has focused a lot of attention on the fact that car companies used too much capital.

Is the downturn really going to hasten the creation of the decapitalised auto company?

CG I think the downturn showed many things that car makers are going to have to change. We are going to have to change the fact that we take up every single opportunity offered to us. One of them is that we spend too much in investments. It means car companies will share the cost of development by coming together to create the same thing. That’s point one. And the second is inventory. We all cut inventory to reduce the need for cash and we are discovering new ways to supply the market at lower inventory levels. And that’s going to stay, I think.

OD So what are the capabilities that you focus on? What do you leave for others?

CG There are a lot of things that we can do but we will not do very well and I can give the example of the ultra low-cost car. I mean if we were capable of doing the ultra low-cost car as efficiently as other car makers then we would do it by ourselves. But in this case, we recognise this fact that we need an Indian partner who will naturally be able to come to a better solution and to put together a solution in a much more efficient way. Now, this Indian partner needs some of our support; some technology, some knowledge... so we have to recognise when somebody does a better job than us in some particular field you know to do it with them.

OD Renault-Nissan seem to be lurching from one bad headline to another. Of course, you could blame part of that to a sensationalist

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media but what is your assessment of your experience in India?

CG I don’t think we had bad headlines; we had interrogation; we had skeptics. You know the media is always teasing you to say that this is not as good as you think etc.

And this is a normal game. I think the Logan is a good car and has good sales, not at the level of our expectation. In fact, the biggest satisfaction is that the people who own Logan are very happy with the car. I don’t want to paint the Logan as a failed car. It is a good car but obviously our expectation was much higher than this.

OD What’s the learning? The Indian market wants a better looking car, a more modern car?

CG Frankly, I don’t think so. I think the learning is the fact that this is a low-cost car in many other countries but in India is is not. It is in the middle or upper middle range.

In many other countries where we introduced it, it is at best in the mid-range if not in the lower range. We have to accept this.

we didn’t have bad headlines. we had interrogation; we had sceptics...

OD Is it because of purchasing power parity or because of taxes?

CG I think the line-up in India is very specific and doesn’t look like the line-up in any other (market).

The Chinese offer is different, the Russian offer is different, the Japanese offer is different. So we also need to learn our way coming to India and to develop the product that the Indian people need.

For example, the agreement that we [reached] with Rajiv Bajaj for the ultra low-cost car is unique.

We are observing that to become a large contributor to the Indian car market, you need a price point that is very competitive. We don’t have it so we are going to have to develop it with an Indian maker.

who is going to be supporting for what. I want to have this product in the showroom of Renault and the showroom of Nissan as soon as possible. If we don’t, then we are going to be a very niche car manufacturer, we are going to appear as just an expensive car and we don’t want to have this starting in India

OD How does the relationship move forward with Bajaj and why has it taken a fair bit of time to get the alignment right either with Mahindra or with Bajaj?

CG In Mahindra’s case, the relationship isn’t the problem. It’s the fact that the product we brought to India didn’t deliver to our expectations. The discussion is about our reactions to boost the sale of a product we selected for India.

With Bajaj, we have a very innovative definition of an ultra low-cost car. Bajaj is coming with two- and three-wheeler experience, and we are coming with a four-wheeler background. So before we align ourselves to the product and agree, it has to take some time. You know what? We prefer to do it right, if slowly, rather than hurry and then make changes mid course.

OD The electric car is your big bet.

Clearly, the pieces are falling in place. It is an evolution, but where are you on that journey? And why electric when the rest of the world is working on hybrids?

CG We have hybrid technology, but we don’t consider it a breakthrough. We think it’s an evolution of the normal combustion engine. It is a good, beneficial technology but it is also complex and expensive - which is why after ten years of being on sale, hybrids make up less than two per cent of the global car market. We are part of the pack of global car makers in hybrids, not leaders. On zero emissions, we are leaders and we want to be seen as leaders in mass market zero emissions and that’s why we are the only group that has invested massively in battery capacity and into electric car assembly capacity.

OD You said that the ultra low-cost car will be ready by 2012. Have you set any interim milestones?

CG Sure. We have a complete agreement on the definition of the product; we have a complete agreement on the role of each company.

You know Bajaj is going to take the design, manufacturing, engineering, sourcing of the product with our support and we are going to take leadership in marketing, selling this product in India and outside India with their support.

So we have a very clear picture of who is responsible for what and

OD So you have got to set up an entirely new infrastructure, now how long will that take?

CG Let me kill this idea - people thinking that infrastructure is going to be huge and government will put in billions. The system we want to put electricity in your car is a simple system. You have a system at home that is not very expensive. I have been told that the cost of adapting your home or apartment to what is necessary to fill your car is less than the cost of installing a telephone line.

OD Will that car be for the developed markets or do you see it catching on in emerging markets?

CG It is going to start in developed markets. Many countries like the US, France, UK and Japan want to cut their CO2 emissions and to reduce their dependence on oil.

They are putting every kind of incentive for the consumer and manufacturer to make this happen. Now we are adapting our products to this. But I think this is going to come to China, to India.

But for it to be successful we are going to have to lower the cost of the battery, to make sure electric cars fit with affordable cars - and I think that’s going to take time.

OD Coming back to India, what form is the corporate structure of Nissan-Renault taking? You have got many JVs, with Hindujas, with Mahindra, with Bajaj...

CG You’re going to have Renault of India and Nissan of India. Each has specific, but not full-fledged partnerships. I don’t think there is any confusion. People understand that we have three partners that do three different things. By the way, each company has two, not three partners because Nissan is working with Ashok Leyland for Large Commercial Vehicles and with Bajaj for entry level products.

Renault is also working with Bajaj for the same reason, but also with Mahindra for the commercial venture of the Logan.

OD Finally for F1 fans, how important is F1 still for Renault?

CG F1 is one of the most seen spectacles in the world. It is facing some challenges on how fair it is and regarding environmental concerns. Can you bring zero emission through technology? So there are lots of questions about F1…

www.OVERDRIVE.in december 2009

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Feature Fiat Diesel Drive

The Multijet set Fiat undertakes an India yatra to celebrate the joys of its Multijet engined cars Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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This is the start, on the outskirts of Chennai

F

iat’s Multijet isn’t just another diesel engine. It’s the cornerstone for Fiat’s achievements, though it’s not common knowledge that the Italian marque has actually developed the commonrail technology. The Multijet is the recipient of many ‘engine of the year’ honours, bringing Fiat much acclaim. Ironically, the engine made its India debut in the Maruti Swift diesel, not a Fiat car. When Fiat launched its Indian revival, this engine automatically came along, currently powering nine cars available in India in various incarnations and brands. With this engine driving a majority of the small and midsized diesel cars in India, Fiat has a surefire reason to celebrate and recently flagged off a diesel drive where its Multijet powered models will be driven by Indian auto journos along the Golden Quadrilateral. The drive will end on December 10, 2009.

The cars on this diesel drive comprise the complete Fiat range in India, namely the Palio, Grande Punto, Linea and the 500. The drive was flagged off from Fiat’s Ranjangaon facility near Pune. In Chennai, Team OVERDRIVE took the wheels of the cars for the leg to Vishakhapatnam. I had never driven on this route and I was expecting to drive non-stop like truckies on well-paved roads. But it was not easy. The Phyan cyclone had hit the east coast and we had to drive in pelting rain. However, our ordeal was nothing compared to the loss of life and property.

Fiat Multijet

A holy man flags us off

Fiat’s Multijet engine is a common-rail diesel engine that utilises multiple injections per cycle depending on operating conditions. The 1.3-litre SDE (Small Diesel Engine) available in the domestic market is capable of up to five injections per cycle while the newer Multijet II series engine is capable of up to 8 injections per cycle. The SDE is capable of producing 75PS of power that can be hiked to 90PS with the addition of a variable geometry turbocharger (as on the Linea) while the torque ranges from 190Nm to 210Nm. Its compact dimensions allow it to be used in small cars such as the 500.

Eco-friendly? Certainly

This vintage van needs a Multijet...

...and so does this overloaded rickshaw

Day 1: Chennai to Vijayawada – 459km I was pretty tempted to drive the Fiat 500, and so was everybody else. Because it’s the cutest of cars. However, I’d rather drive it around the malls around city than on the highway. The

Only Team OVERDRIVE can get their cars into bike parking lots

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Ride Harley-Davidson XR1200

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Euro romancer The Harley-Davidson XR1200 targets sportsbike-loving Europeans Words Harriet Ridley Photography Jason Critchell

Yes, this is a Harley that can go around a race track

Y

ou just wouldn’t associate Harley-Davidson with history’s most successful race bike. Yet the Milwaukee manufacturer’s XR750 has won more US flat-track races than any other motorcycle in any other championship. Flat tracking is like speedway, but much faster and, being American, on bigger ovals. Anyone who’s seen Steve McQueen’s On Any Sunday can’t fail to be in awe of this sport where real men battle it out on the coolest looking motorcycles with the craziest sideways style imaginable.

The alloy framed version of the XR750 that came out in 1972 still dominates most of the grid at US dirt track events.

It’s this machine that HarleyDavidson has based its new XR1200 on. But much to the fury of American enthusiasts, the bike is destined for Europe only, at

least for now. Harley has built the stylish and altogether different XR1200 to lure sportsbike-loving Europeans. It expects demand in Europe to be strong enough to use up all of its Milwaukee factory’s production capacity.

To prove the point, Harley Davidson has launched a one-make XR1200 Trophy race series here in the UK, to run alongside the prestigious British superbike championship. It was supposed to kick off in 2009, but Harley-Davidson pushed it back to 2010 claiming shortage of bike parts. But it was common knowledge it didn’t have enough registered riders for the championship…

It’s not the first time HarleyDavidson has a race series. My photographer Ian Cobby, whose name you often see alongside my tests for OVERDRIVE, is a former world class racer who has won

many national and international championships. In the early 90s he raced in the UK’s Harley-Davidson Sportster 883 championship series, and won it. So I decided to let him ride the Harley-Davidson XR1200 I had on loan to see what he made of it compared to his old HarleyDavidson race bike.

This was back in the early 90s, 1993 if I remember rightly. It was Harley-Davidson’s last one-make series. I went to Daytona because I’d won the British 883 series. The prize was a trip to Florida to take on the Yanks on their own bikes, riding their own turf. We went as a team of British riders – Chris Dabbs, Francis Williamson, Robin Kendle, Graham Smith and me.

Believe it or not, we actually had to ship the Harleys back to the US. Back in those days the Americans would come to the UK for the Transatlantic Challenge over the Easter weekend. The races were Freddie Spencer’s first experience of racing outside America; in the early 80s he came as a 19-yearold and beat our established racers on tracks he’d never seen before – Oulton Park, Brands Hatch and Mallory Park.

And so our collective sponsors

Ian Cobby and the Harley-Davidson I’m standing behind four-time world champion Eddie Lawson in the scrutineering queue, or tech inspection as the Americans call it. You’d think I were a worldclass GP rider going through the motions just before a Grand Prix.

But no. I’m at Daytona for the Harley-Davidson 883 World Final, and Eddie’s having a one-off ride in the Daytona 200 for the Vance & Hines Yamaha team at the end of his GP career.

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Drive Honda FCX Clarity

Green utopia

Is Honda’s FCX Clarity series production fuel cell car the holy grail, addressing pollution, conservation and global warming?

Words Ray Hutton

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his may be the car for tomorrow but no-one knows when tomorrow will come.

The Honda FCX Clarity is the world’s first series production fuel cell car. In this case, ‘series’ doesn’t mean very many: just 20 so far with 200 to be built within three years.

Honda cannot put a date on the start of volume production. It does not know when it can be made affordable for the average motorist, nor when the infrastructure will be ready for its refuelling.

The fuel cell vehicle is the holy grail: a car that addresses air pollution, conservation of energy resources and global warming all at the same time. It is the ultimate electric vehicle. It never needs to be plugged into the mains because it generates its own electricity by combining hydrogen gas with oxygen from the air. Its emissions are zero; the only thing that comes out of the exhaust pipe is water.

It sounds like a perfect scenario but there are difficulties.

The first and most obvious is that hydrogen fuel is not readily available. Hydrogen is the most plentiful natural element but gen-

erating, storing and distributing it is not easy.

The hydrogen that is used for industrial processes is mostly derived from natural gas – a process which requires energy and refutes the aim of conserving the earth’s resources. Furthermore, to achieve a reasonable vehicle range from a tank that is small enough to fit into a car, hydrogen must be stored at high pressure (an alternative is to liquefy it but that means storage at ultra-low temperature in a kind of giant vacuum flask).

At present, hydrogen filling stations are very few and far between. There are some in Japan and California and a memorandum of understanding has been drawn up by energy companies, car manufacturers and the government to develop a ‘hydrogen highway’ in Germany.

But even with a ready supply of hydrogen, the fuel cell vehicle still has a cost problem. Fuel cells are aerospace technology, which means no expense spared. The proton exchange membranes that separate the electrodes incorporate precious metals. Honda won’t say how much each FCX Clarity costs to make – $1 million is a fair

estimate - but admits that the drivetrain is 10 times more expensive than a combustion engine. Its aim is to be able to sell the car for $7080,000 ‘within 10 years’.

Honda reasons that putting cars out into the market will stimulate the development of the infrastructure and thus create customer demand. Producing in volume will in itself reduce costs. So, for now, it bears the loss and leases the FCX Clarity to ‘selected’ customers (including film star Jamie Lee Curtis) at the same price as a regular sedan – $600 a month.

The 20 cars operating today are in California and Tokyo. I had the opportunity to drive the FCX Clarity on the streets of the Japanese capital on a quiet holiday weekend.

I have driven a number of prototype fuel cell vehicles over the years. The most impressive was the Honda FCX Concept, the prototype for the Clarity, which I sampled on a race track in Sweden and compared favourably with a 2-litre sports sedan. The production car is very similar in appearance and has the same drive-line, rated at 100kW but is made in steel with some aluminium panels rather

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Comparo Tata Indigo Manza vs Dzire, Linea & Fiesta

Slingshot The new Tata Manza encounters the Linea, the Dzire and the Fiesta

Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre

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eing a Tata Motors product you’d expect me to berate the Manza, criticise it, rip it to pieces and trash the car. A lot of our readers like to believe that we at OVERDRIVE are fed on a daily dose of supercars, exotics, roadsters and luxury barges. And with benchmarks so high, how

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could something like the Manza ever hope to get a positive rating from us? How could any car if not exotic get positive overtones?

Most of those readers unfortunately are right; our standards are high, very high, but when we use superlatives to describe a German or an Italian car they are generally well founded. And India has

a massive German, Italian and Japanese migrant population.

Our daily lives are inundated by their engineering of every sort, be it at work, school, play or at home.

Apart from the services industry we simply lack the engineering and manufacturing skills of a certain quality to be self reliant. So in the automotive space, just what

chance would a homegrown product like the Manza have against giants from Italy, Japan and the United States.

Well, if you’d read Sirish’s road test last issue, you’d know that he came away impressed, deeply.

So when he suggested a comparison between the Fiat Linea, the Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire and

the Ford Fiesta, I scoffed, citing a David vs Goliath argument. But he was persistent and in retort using the same David-who-vanquished-Goliath-with-a-slingshot argument got me kickstarted on this comparison. And like me if you thought this was going to be a waste of time, move along; you’re just as biased as I was and

you presume too much. Because the Manza - how could they ever come up with a name like that - is nothing like that.

STYLING I’m not going to beat around the bush here, but where looking good is concerned no one comes close to the Italians. Preened to perfec-

tion, the Linea is too gorgeous to not earn top marks in this quartet. It is a stunning testimony of just how fastidious the Italians are when it comes to dressing up. Did I ever tell you about the how most Italians spend nearly a third of their income on personal grooming. The Linea has the right proportions, stance, lines and sil-

houette to make it look far classier than the Fiesta, Dzire or the Manza. That good looking blend of elegance and sportiness is also why despite the public’s lack of faith in Fiat, the Linea is literally flying off shelves.

Ford recently gave the Fiesta a makeover but personally I think the Fiesta sport was the best var

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Feature Career: Automotive design

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Sketchy details How to become an automotive designer Words Shubhabrata Marmar

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his is the Renault Design Centre in Mumbai, a peaceful place full of high-end computers, a murmer of French, an aura of quiet creativity, quite at odds with the world outside. Designers, Indian and French, work rapidly, sketching artfully onto huge touchscreens on their desks. Welcome to the world of automotive design.

India’s role in automotive design is expanding and the Renault Design Centre is but one example. When you flip to the next page, you will see the Citroen Eco-Luxury Concept. No, it wasn’t shown off at any motor show, but Ankit Prashar’s final design submission as part of his automotive design program at Coventry in the UK created quite a buzz at a slew of car news and auto-design websites around the world, apart from getting a commendation at Prashar’s alma mater, of course. We continue to receive a fat packet of car design related career enquiries here at

OVERDRIVE. So we thought we’d settle the subject and give you the lowdown on automotive design as a career path.On the subject of the profession itself, Prashar says that it is an exciting field, but this isn’t an easy course to complete it’s almost as hard as getting into IIT for engineering. He believes that most prospective designers, looking in from the outside, tend to think drawing up cars on paper is easy. Not only is that in itself much harder than it looks, the study programs for it need a full three to four years and if you’re planning to follow up your engineering degree with a masters program, you’re running uphill. With some experience abroad, Prashar also finds that studios abroad have a high ‘level’ and you need to be exceptionally talented and hard working to get employed.

So, how do you become an automotive designer? We spoke to a group of automotive design professionals who teach in the premier Indian design schools as

well as those in the Indian design industry, one from an international manufacturer’s Indian design house and another from a design facility which is part of the research wing of a major Indian manufacturer as well as designers who were students until recently and are now hunting for jobs.

3D. Prashar adds that you need to be good at sketching freehand - that’s how you communicate your ideas. Aaron Cardozo, who has just returned from the US after finishing design studies, says basic art skills are required and there are, in the course of the studies, opportunities to hone them further. In terms of hardcore qualifications, Cardozo says students come from wideranging backgrounds, but some schools do have pre-requisites.

Munshi emphasises the need for good computer graphics skills, but Prashar suggests that computer proficiency must come after physical drawing skills have been honed. They should add to the package, not support it.

Professor Munshi also stresses the need for creativity - the designer must be able to spot problems and then solve them.

This is a point that is brought up by each and every one of our experts. Cars and motorcycles are complicated things to design and a

Is it for you?

The central message in the answer to this question from all of our experts is the same. You need to be passionate about design and about cars to choose this as you career.

Aditya Dhavale, industrial designer at the Engineering Research Centre of Tata Technologies, says designers are like musicians. They should be into design just as much as musicians are into music.

Professor Kishor Munshi of the Industrial Design Centre, IIT Mumbai, says that in terms of skills, automotive designers need to be sensitive to forms, to be excited about creating new ones and to be able to visualise their ideas in

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Tokyo Motor Show

Tokyo calling The economic slowdown served to dull the sheen of the Tokyo Motor Show Words Bertrand D’souza

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or nearly a year the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show has been plagued by the economic slowdown.

First several manufacturers both international and (Japanese) domestic saw little advantage in participating when the chips were down. Then a few committed and several more got into the act.

Eventually though many backed out, but at the insistence of a few domestic manufacturers, the 2009 edition of the Tokyo Motor Show was finally held with a large focus on low carbon emissions.

Two years ago this biennial event was one of the stars of the motor show circuit. It took more than a day to cover each and every

hall in detail, network, interview, photograph, film and attend press conferences. This year however with just a handful of Japanese manufacturers and no European or American presence the entire proceedings and coverage was done within half a day. In India, to be very honest, we barely felt the effects of the slowdown, but

Japan is an altogether grim reality of what happens to an entire industry which gets hit adversely.

There was none of the pomp and splendour, no celebrities posed alongside cars, no outrageous designs and futuristic figments of far fetched imagination fought for lens space. Even media attendance must have been at an all-time

Toyota

FT-86 concept could be the next Celica

The LF-A marks Toyota’s entry into the supercar domain

LEXUS LF-A

I can’t seem to remember the last time the Toyota Motor Company invested time, effort and money into making a stupendous car leave alone a supercar. All that changed in 2005 when they unveiled the LF-A concept and which finally came to life at the Tokyo Motor Show 2009. Decisively the show stopper at Tokyo the Lexus LF-A, the second F model after the IS-F, is a stunning supercar with the credentials to ace that other Japanese supercar, the GT-R. The LFA is a bit more superior on paper, not only does

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it have a higher power-to-weight ratio but it’s also priced much higher.

Under the hood you will find a 4.8-litre 72degree V10 that makes 560 horses at 8700rpm.

It’s a zingy engine revving all the way up to a 9000rpm redline, with a hefty 489Nm of max torque. Toyota also claims that the LF-A will do the 0-100kmph in 3.2 seconds and should achieve a top whack in excess of 320kmph.

With a 65 per cent carbon fibre body, a Torsen limited slip differential delivering power and a six-speed sequential gearbox, the LF-

Prius Plug-in Hybrid reduces dependency on running charge

A spells a lot of trouble for several European manufacturers.

Also in limelight was the FT-86, primed to be the next Celica. It is being developed with Subaru and will sport the latter’s four cylinder, direct-injection boxer engine. Expect it to be fiesty and extremely good looking yet with a price tag aimed at the real world.

Also seen was the next generation plug-in hybrid Prius which unlike before where charge was generated only when on the move, you can now also charge this car at home.

low, since not too many European manufacturers participated, not many European journalists flew down for the event as well.

Nevertheless the 2009 edition of the Tokyo Motor Show was a study of contrasts. There were essentially two stalwarts at the show, Nissan and Toyota. The former was completely focused on electric cars and shaping an electric future, primarily within the American, European and Japanese markets. Nissan unveiled the Leaf which will go on sale early next year in select countries and also showcased the Landglider, an electric twoseater concept that behaves like a motorcycle. Nissan also revealed

to a select audience the new shape of the Micra, which will be manufactured at 5 plants around the world, one of them being India, as you must have read in our news section.

Toyota on the other hand was all power and glory starkly contradicting the global issue of fuel sustenance with the launch of the V10 powered LF-A supercar and the FT-86 concept. Just 500 of these will be manufactured globally. The LF-A might grace the Toyota pavilion at the Auto Expo but an Indian launch isn’t on the cards yet. Toyota however did reveal its latest plug-in electric concept, the FT-EV II, which essentially is the next iteration of

the iQ based FT-EV. Honda on the other hand launched the near production ready CR-Z coupe without revealing too many details on the car though we know this hybrid will be assisted with a 6-speed manual transmission. Honda also displayed their take on the personal mobility device, the U3-X is an electrically powered unicycle but which does a balancing act similar to the Segway.

Suzuki displayed the Kizashi sedan which will be launched in India pretty soon and will be showcased at the Auto Expo in January 2010. But apart from that they also displayed a plug-in hybrid version of the Swift, along-

side the SX4-FCV which comes powered by a fuel cell stack provided by GM. Suzuki also showed a fuel cell powered mobility device called the MIO and which looks something akin to a lawnmower. Suzuki also displayed the electric powered Burgman scooter with the world’s first 700bar hydrogen storage tank.

So while there was a modest blend of the fast and the ecologically conscious, the usual funkiness that Tokyo dished out generously in the past was absent.

Hopefully with the economy climbing back to normalcy, in the following years the automotive industry will have a better stage to showcase the future.

Nissan

Land glider

Nissan’s faith in the electric cars of the future was amply showcased with the Leaf, a production vehicle that will go on sale middle of next year in America followed by Israel, several countries in Europe and a prefecture in Japan. The Leaf based on the Tiida platform however wasn’t the star attraction, that honour went to the Land Glider, which Carlos Ghosn himself drove on to the stage at the press briefing. The Land Glider represents Nissan’s funkier and futuristic vision, seldom seen at motor

shows but which this time around provided a slightly upbeat mood at Tokyo.

The Land Glider is a blend between a car and a motorcycle, its tandem architecture seats two inside a cocoon like structure. The whole cocoon can lean into corners, up to 17 degrees which gives it a motorcycle like effect.

This enables it to turn sharply at any speed, speed sensors, steering angle sensors and yaw rate sensors determine instantly the angle at which lean is required to negotiate the corner.

This not only ensures safety, but has resulted in

minimising vehicle width and tyre tread width to achieve a sleek futuristic look.

Propulsion is provided by two electric motors located at the rear, powered by lithiumion batteries mounted beneath the floor. The car also features a non-contact charging system that enables a wireless charge at locations where the infrastructure already exists.

The Land Glider also has a unique crash avoidance guidance system. Body mounted sensors detect other vehicles directing it away.

The ‘Glider leans like a bike too.

The Land Glider represents Nissan’s funkier and futuristic vision, seldom seen at motor shows

The Land Glider is a feasible solution to urban congestion

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Milan Motorcycle Show

italian splendour Ducati dazzles at Milan

Words Harriet Ridley Photography Ian Cobby

Ducati Multistrada 1200

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he world’s gone mad.

Small-fr y manufacturer from Bologna Ducati stole the Milan show with technology so advanced it blitzed the Japanese. And BMW produced a gorgeous motorcycle.

Whatever next?

Ducati has created four bikes in one with its Multistrada 1200, giving real meaning to the name Multistrada (Italian for Manyroads). The bike’s electronic trickery makes Honda’s VFR1200 look ordinary. Not that we got to see Big H’s creation as Honda, like Yamaha, didn’t even bother turning up at motorcycling’s most hotly anticipated show.

The Multistrada comes in a standard version with optional

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ABS, or in a higher specification S model. The S is also split in two editions: Sport, with carbon fibre frontal air intakes, cambelt covers, rear hugger and lateral air extractors; and Touring, with a centre stand, panniers and heated grips.

The Multistrada is powered by the state-of-the-art liquid-cooled 1199cc engine from the 1198 superbike, but with a new cylinder head that reduces valve overlap from 41° to 11° to soften power delivery and reduce fuel consumption and emissions. Called Testastretta 11°, this engine makes 150PS, a good 40PS more than the Multistrada’s deadly rival – BMW’s R1200GS, the best-selling motorcycle in Italy among other countries.

Like several other bikes in pro-

duction, the Multistrada S has a handlebar switch with four different modes. But here’s the clever thing. Instead of just power output, it also controls ABS, Ducati Traction Control (DTC), and new to Ducati and derived straight from its MotoGP effort, the Ducati Electronic Suspension (DES).

Suzuki first came up with the power mode buttons, while BMW introduced electronic suspension.

But never before has a manufacturer brought out a system that can be operated on the move that electronically changes the settings of these four aspects of the bike’s set-up, creating different bikes to suit different occasions.

Sport mode unleashes the full 150PS of the engine with an

aggressive throttle response, taut suspension set-up and adequate traction control. Touring mode still provides the full 150PS, but with a more progressive throttle response and softer delivery, as well as a softer suspension set-up, and maximum ABS and traction control. The urban riding mode brings power down to 100PS and optimum suspension, DTC and ABS for city streets.

While the Enduro riding mode keeps power at 100PS so it’s easier to find grip in the dirt, while raising the suspension via the preload and with DTC and ABS set at the lowest level.

Owners can tweak each set-up to better suit their weight and riding, overriding the factory settings

with their own optimum set-up.

For all the club racing and track day fans out there, you can see how this technology will be put to use on future sportsbikes. You’ll be able to store the correct set-up for each track you visit and implement it with a mere touch of a button.

The Multistrada’s electronic spec continues with a state-ofthe-art instrument panel that displays information including tyres pressures, and a key-less ignition operated remotely from as far as 200metres via a fob. If you lose this you can unlock the steering and start the engine by tapping a pin number into the dash. And as Ducati says, if you still remain stranded despite all these rider aids, then you deserve to walk!

Pirelli has developed a tyre specially for the Multistrada with a hard compound in the middle for motorway miles, and softer edges for corner grip. Although they’re billed ‘dual-purpose’ tyres, they’re obviously far more road than offroad biased, as is the entire bike. A quick glance reveals far too many expensive parts including the handlebar switchgear and panels to damage in an inevitable off-road

spill. As for design, the Multistrada looks sharper and sleeker than the old Terblanche-designed model, and altogether more pleasing.

It also weighs under 220kg wet with a full tank – substantially less than the GS. Ducati has given the Multistrada’s tank a 20-litre capacity, which combined with a claimed 56mpg, should translate into an excellent 402km range.

Ducati also unveiled a special edition of the 186PS 1198 R, the bike that replaces last year’s 180PS 1098 R. The 1198 R Corse Special Edition gets a beautifully polished aluminium tank and new-style Termignoni exhaust system.

The Hypermotard 796 launched to the press a month before the show was present, with its new 81bhp air-cooled V-twin 803cc engine and lighter, lower chassis. But Ducati also unveiled two more versions of the Hypermotard 1100: the Evo, and the Evo SP. The Evo is an impressive 7kg lighter at 172kg. Ducati says it shaved 1.8kg from the chassis thanks to carbon fibre panels and a lighter wiring loom, and 5.2kg from the Desmodue Evoluzione engine thanks to changes including light-

Ducati 1198R adds 30mm to the bike’s height – it’s the Highermotard! And it gets Marchesini wheels and Brembo monobloc calipers straight off the 1198 superbike. Ducati says the 20mm higher bar risers also encourage a more leg-out supermoto riding style.

Finally, Ducati introduced the Monster 696 ABS and Monster 1100 ABS with, you guessed it, the added safety feature of ABS. Moving on to the Bavarians, and I’ve already mentioned BMW unveiling a gorgeous new motorcycle. Thing is, I wasn’t talking about the 180PS four-cylinder S1000RR superbike that BMW’s been campaigning in the World Superbike championship. I meant its 1600cc six-cylinder concept naked bike with its sexy futuristic looks. The concept bike’s engine is based on the inline four-cylinder motor currently used in the K1300 series, but with two more cylinders. BMW says it will no doubt use this engine in future touring models.

Meanwhile, the S1000RR is similar to the Aprilia V4 in its size and shape, except it’s let down by those dubious asymmetrical headlights, and what seems like a careless finish. The bike’s littered in industrial-looking bolts, and

weight magnesium covers and lighter crankcases. The pistons have been redesigned with a new crown shape, and the heads reworked with new cams among other things.

The Evo SP is an even sportier – and thus more expensive – version of the Evo. Taller suspension

BMW Concept6

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Drive Nissan Leaf

Crude remedy

Nissan bets big on an electric future to replace the need for oil Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Nissan

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he pr incipal concern of Nissan’s ‘Zero Emissions’ program is to seek solutions to environmental issues the planet currently faces as well as premeditate future issues. It intends to do this with a slew of environmentally friendly vehicles, investments in communities or through corporate social responsibilities. That is where the Nissan Leaf comes in. It is part of Nissan’s commitment to launching a ‘Zero Emissions’ vehicle by the year 2010. To achieve zero emissions Nissan has adopted a 4R business model (reuse, recycle, refabricate and resell) which in its initial phases sees the manufacturer focus on building electric mobility and the infrastructure to support those products. The next phase will be a concentrated effort to convince governments and policy makers to contribute to infrastructure development.

The focus on electric vehicles stems from a firm belief Nissan has that not only are the earth’s mineral resources depleting in the long term but in the short term the investment in harnessing natural resources for energy generation is only going to get more expensive. As Carlos Ghosn, CEO and President of Nissan and Renault mentioned in a ground breaking speech at the Tokyo Motor Show, “Cheap oil is ending, with the American market coming back to

form, with the Russian markets joining in and with several other nations growing, dependency on a single resource is increasing, and therefore oil is only going to become more expensive.” In the effort to reduce dependency on oil yet procure further energy for mobility, Nissan has focused on building electric cars from scrap.

Nissan has also increased focus on the development of batteries, as a core business by reusing, reselling, refabricating and recycling lithium-ion batteries previously used in electric cars as the ‘last piece in the jigsaw’ in the move towards affordable Zero Emission Vehicles. Nissan entered into a joint venture with NEC Corporation to form a company called the Automotive Energy Supply Corporation. The JV will develop and manufacture highperformance lithium-ion batteries for use in future electric cars as well as in the Leaf. These batteries, even after the end of normal vehicle life would retain 70-80 per cent of residual capacity and thus can be reused and resold as energy

storage solutions.

Nissan’s plans however do not end at just development of batteries and electric vehicles. They stretch further and strings in infrastructure development to support electric vehicles. So not only will Nissan develop charging stations and sell them but also work on providing solutions for easy and quick charging, be it at home, work or along the destination. Charging stations will dispense either a full 30-minute charge or a quick 15-second 50 per cent charge. Currently Nissan is working on electric city planning in UK, North America, Israel, Japan, Australia China, Singapore and some parts of Europe with an immediate deployment of the technology, resources and infrastructure in America and Japan.

From 1947 Nissan has been building electric cars, starting with the Tama electric vehicle which ran on an electric motor powered by lead acid batteries.

Over the years Nissan has continuously aimed to manufacture electric vehicles and hybrids both in conceptual and production form.

The Leaf which was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show 2009 had passed beyond concept and prototype stages and is the first vehicle of its kind in the world to offer a 160-kilometre range on a full charge. It however started life as the EV-11, a prototype

harnessing natural resources for energy generation is only going to get more expensive

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Feature Raid de Himalaya

Marshal law Marshalling the gruelling Raid de Himalaya is no bed of roses Words & photography Bertrand D’souza

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“Bert, wake up! Wake up, shut your alarm and get ready to scoot,” Hari boomed from the bathroom.

I crawled out from under three blankets and turned to my cell phone which was blaring a merry tune. Bleary-eyed and hung-over, I ventured out and into the real, cold world. It seemed like I had caught bare minutes of sleep. With unfocused eyes I checked the time on my Tissot. WTF! It was 1am, the witches must be up and about and I was about to join them. What an unearthly hour and place... Is this where I belong? What have I let myself in for? Questions, questions... But I am here and there is no turning back. This is the Raid de Himalaya and I am a time control marshal, assisting 5-time national rally champion, motorsport hero and DCOC (deputy clerk of course) Hari Singh.

Marshalling an INRC or a local rally or race may well be described as a walk in the park.

But the Himalayas in a season of snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures is in another dimension altogether. The Raid de Himalaya is likely to stretch a marshal’s physical resources to the outer limit, I was sure. However, having participated in the Raid, I had experienced first hand the rigours along with fellow raiders that included some women as well. I could say I knew just what I was in for this time around, as a marshal.

My fears were not unfounded.

The challenges of executing a marshal’s duties started at Manali itself after beginning our adventure from Shimla the previous day.

I expected the transit from Shimla

to Manali to be duller than watching the bark peel off the conifers.

On the contrary, it was the first taste of what lay in store for me as a marshal. And if you thought being stern, stoic and monosyllabic was what it meant in playing marshal, well, think again.

Instead of cool formality, there is a comfortable camaraderie between the participants and the marshals sprinkled with casual banter, and shared food and drink. This time control was the end of the special stage. Then we crossed the Jalori pass into Manali. Much against my wishes, we head to Casa Bella Vista and a diet of vegetarian pizza instead of gourmet trout at the legendary Johnson Café, where I’d partaken of the fare with OD colleagues a couple of months ago. However, the pizza tastes outrageously yummy.

Tip: When in Manali, dine on the blue cheese pizza at Casa Bella Vista. The sun sets early, the air is crisp and cool.

We set off from Manali at 2am, in what seemed like an eerie convoy. We aimed to tackle Rohtang, the one obstacle of a pass on the Manali–Leh road and head to Batal. Mercifully we were spared the misery of interminable traffic jams and experienced a blanket of fresh snow glistening in the early morning sunlight instead.

The TC for the day was at Batal, which is the start of the rough ascent up to the Kunzum pass.

Stony, dusty and grey, Batal is drab and dull, a one-tea-stall place that tourist throngs pass through but where few stop to sample the brew.

The entire region, from Gramphoo

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F1 Jenson Button

Numero uno Button can now ease off and bask in the glow of being World Champion

Words Dan Knutson Photography sutton-images.com

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enson Button can’t stop grinning. It started on the cool down lap after he clinched the World Championship in Brazil. He was still smiling when he arrived in Abu Dhabi for the season finale. And when he left that country for a well deserved holiday he was still flashing his pearly whites.

Just eight months earlier Button wasn’t even sure if he’d be racing this year, never mind driving a car capable of winning grands prix and world titles. It was only on March 5 of this year that Honda officially confirmed it would sell its F1 operation to Ross Brawn. That brought an end to months of tension for team members and drivers Button and Rubens Barrichello who had been in gut-wrenching limbo ever since Honda’s shocking announcement the previous December that it was withdrawing from F1.

OVERDRIVE asks Button to reflect on how different this December will be for him compared to last December.

“It is going to be a great feeling,” he replies. “Hopefully I will be a lot more relaxed this winter, and there is obviously a lot to think about, and stuff still to sort out for next year, but I am in a nice position. I am very relaxed and it will be great preparation for next year, for sure.”

But ton cert a i n ly w a s n’t relaxed in recent races. As has been well documented,

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after winning six of the first seven races, Button really struggled to even pick up points as the Brawn Mercedes suddenly decided not to handle well when track temperatures were cool. Button was a bundle of nerves when he qualified 14th for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

“I think he will sleep better now, because he’s been incredibly nervous, there’s no question about that,” Mark Webber remarked about Button in Brazil at the time. “He’s been absolutely bricking himself the last few weeks, so he can sleep better now.”

Looking back on that Brazilian weekend, Button admits he was a mental mess.

“I am a positive person,” he recalls, “but it was a very stressful qualifying session for me, and I was very down in the doldrums.

I did find it difficult to buck myself up initially, but I sat down with my engineer and our strategy guy, and after going through the data I felt more positive. I felt we could do something special from back in 14th.

“I did it back in 2006 in Brazil.

I started 14th and finished third. I knew it was a circuit you can overtake on and have a good race on, so I soon got over our problems of Saturday.”

Button carved his way through the field to finish fifth and secure the championship.

Brazil was his best

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