CAR Middle East 2009

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500BHP+ XF-R A Jaguar you can drift to work in

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THE DARK KNIGHT

The Maserati Granturismo S keeps the neighbours awake into the early hours ■

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COVER STORY MASERATI GRANTURISMO S

Bright lights...

Big city Photography Stuart Collins

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FEBRUARY 2009 35

COVER STORY MASERATI GRANTURISMO S

W

WE’RE WAKING THE NEIGHBOURHOOD, THE MASERATI and I. Thing is, I figure blasting around the eerily quiet roads behind the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) isn’t too anti-social. The majority of people here will be either dreaming of better days – whilst sleeping off the day’s financial slaughter in their fast-depreciating palm island residences, or drowning their sorrows in some strong distilled fermented grape juice on the flight back home – having left their own yellow sportscars in the airport car park with the keys still in the ignition.

Artificial brightness still expensively floods the city streets, illuminating only the metaphoric tumbleweed of ghostly dollars that our money gurus keep telling us are vanishing at an alarmingly unanticipated rate. But I’m not here to ponder the ramifications of a boom town staring at the gauntlet of recession.

And while I’m ripping around in an outrageously loud – both aurally and physically – Italian stallion, showing little regard for devaluation, fuel prices or the cost of a new set of tyres, the intention isn’t to rub anyone’s nose in it. Though I kind of am, really.

Still it’s no skin off my conscience, as this $177,100 Maserati Granturismo S is obviously not mine, and this illicit dalliance is but a short-lived foray into how the other half used to live.

Right now, though, I’m more concerned about my poor brethren in the next Emirate, the slightly less salubrious Sharjah. After having spent half the day in the stop-go misery of their daily commutes, they will only just have collapsed into their charpais.

Despite being over 20km away, I do rather suspect that the first time I had hit the unassuming ‘Sport’ button and exercised the right ankle, the ensuing riotous orchestra of mechanical music would’ve caused them to have fallen out of bed in bewilderment.

In most cars, pressing said button will do subtle things to various elements of the car such as the steering, suspension or transmission that engineers insist will make the car more ‘sportive’. The thing is you usually have to be an engineer to notice these differences.

But there’s no need to take a geek’s word for it when it comes to the Granturismo S. A small exertion of the index finger in

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COVER STORY MASERATI GRANTURISMO S

this car literally unleashes the beast within. And this mad, bad, farting, belching monster boasts the self-restraint of a force 12 hurricane and a roar that would wake the completely comatose.

For the more technically minded amongst you, this equates to opening up the pneumatic valves in the exhaust system, which builds more back pressure and allows the engine to rev harder and faster. It also has the effect of pumping up the amps on the engine’s volume, and giving the V8 its glorious race-car clamour, complete with crackly overrun – and that’s just at idle!

The sensible thing would be to limit use of this device to when one is either out of town, or on a rare track outing – but are you really going to risk that sensuous body getting bent out of shape during uninsured circuit driving?

Quite frankly the regular owner might find Sport mode all a bit tiresome after a few days. But having experienced the blasphemous behaviour of its politically incorrect full-bore bravado, and learning that sometimes it is good to not give a damn, I hold out for all of five minutes before switching ‘Sport’ back on again. It can’t be helped, I’m afraid. Sorry Sharjah…

But I’ve got way ahead of myself and I really should have introduced you first – reader, meet the Granturismo S. It’s almost exactly like a regular Granturismo except that it’s not. For starters it’s swallowed the Alfa 8C’s engine, and pinched the Ferrari Scuderia’s F1 Superfast robotised manual gearbox. Then it went slightly psycho. Actually make that, very psycho!

It also had a subtle cosmetic makeover involving new sideskirts, a slim boot lip spoiler, black grille, bespoke 20-inch wheels in dark grey with a design mirroring the Maserati Trident, red prongs on the actual logo and a touch of mascara on the black-backed headlight clusters.

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Mean and moody, it still looks as strikingly gorgeous as the regular car, and yet is somehow more masculine even in the shockingly bright Giallo Granturismo Yellow of this test car, a special order that actually works brilliantly on the S. If by some chance you didn’t hear it coming, you certainly wouldn’t miss it when it finally flew past. And at night it just seems to soak up the ambient fluorescence and literally bask in its own glow. Let’s be honest, this particular Maserati is pretty pleased with itself.

So it should be, considering the avalanche of blessings bestowed on it by Italy’s finest motor engineers and appassionati di auto – you just know they’re proper car nuts. Along with the night-piercing exhaust system it gets revised suspension, with 10 percent more damping and a more rigid rear torsion bar. Upgraded Brembo brakes feature race-developed discs controlled by six-pot calipers, and thankfully, are well up to the task at hand.

The headline grabbers though, are of course the engine and gearbox. After all, this is the fastest and most powerful production Maserati ever built, leaving aside the hyper-exotic limited production MC12 (a race car dressed down for the road). A top speed of 295kph comes from the transplant of the aforementioned Alfa unit, itself actually built by Ferrari. The 4.7-litre V8 has been fettled for slightly more torque delivering 361lb ft at just below 5000rpm, along with 440bhp at a banshee 7000rpm.

This in itself is not the most astonishing aspect of this sensational S – that honour goes to the clutchless six-speed manual transmission. On paper the S offers only marginal performance gains over the regular Granturismo – but it’s the way it delivers that fractional extra that makes the difference, and much of the credit lies with the paddleshifts.

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You can drive this as a full auto, and you’ll be pleased to hear it will do a passable impression of a slushbox, with a little less of the jerkiness you might expect. It’s not best pleased in traffic and having to select individual buttons for first or reverse can make you appear embarrassingly pedestrian whilst conducting parking manoeuvres – pretend you’re the unhurried sort. In manual mode, it really is a manual, which means you can bounce off the MASERATI rev limiter and it won’t change up. The oversized paddles are fixed GRANTURISMO S to the column, and are an inherently better solution than any other interpretation of this 21st century method of changing gear.

But the best is still to come, when in sports mode, race up to over 5500rpm with 80 percent throttle before reaching for the paddles, and MC-Shift engages, punching in the upshifts in just 100ms, making that 0-100kph time of 4.9 seconds perfectly believable. Cost: $177,100 Remarkably it achieves this little trick by overlapping the three Engine: 4691cc 32v V8, 433bhp @ 7000rpm, steps of changing gear (disengagement, selection and reengagement). 361lb ft @ 4750rpm The startlingly instantaneous changes feel and sound entirely Transmission: Rear-wheel drive, mechanical, and that is to say they are addictively satisfying. six-speed automated manual Around town the ride is obviously less comfort-orientated with Performance: 4.9sec 0-100kph, all its quadriceps having been tightened up, so despite the late 295kph, 16.2L/100 hour it’s an early start the next day for a proper trash up into the Weight: 1880kg Hatta mountains, with all the windows down of course to relish Made from: Steel the V8 song. Out here it feels more like the fluid standard car, On sale: Now but there’s a substantial added level of dexterity and body control to the package revealed once you start throwing it about.

Get into the real twisties and its composure, turn in and response are exhilarating, as is being able to get the most out of the torque through a gearbox that will let you have your own way. So when you want to slam in second into a fast corner in preparation

NEED TO KNOW

THIS MAD, BAD MONSTER BOASTS THE SELFRESTRAINT OF A FORCE 12 HURRICANE, AND A ROAR THAT WOULD WAKE THE COMPLETELY COMATOSE

SAME BUT DIFFERENT From behind the wheel you might surmise you’re in a regular Granturismo, but under the bonnet is the 4.7 V8 borrowed from the Alfa 8C and built by Ferrari.

It sounds awesome

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COVER STORY MASERATI GRANTURISMO S

for that neck-snapping exit, the regular Granturismo simply won’t oblige.

But the S is nuts enough to go along with what might be a poor judgement call on the part of the driver. Fortunately there are supernatural levels of grip – who needs stability control? There are downsides – the lack of wheelspin, and a reluctance to do any slidey stuff. Provoke a breakaway and you’ll find there’s not enough feedback to let you toy with the unhinged rear.

I learn two things. Firstly it is a serious speed merchant with little interest in showboating (surprising!), and secondly, the only omission in its claim to be a true sportscar. There’s not quite enough communication to give you that hint of extrasensory perception you get from the best sportsters. Maserati’s attempt to turn a grand TRYING TOO HARD tourer into a road racer is betrayed.

The Granturismo S is so And as I’ve finally brought myself to expound right in so many ways, some criticism of my latest automotive love, yet so wrong as a Maserati. It’s for those I must add that the ergonomics have hardly desperatly looking for a improved, the beautifully finished leather and personality boost and added charisma. So alcantara seat isn’t the most comfortable. Nor Shahzad really, truly is the seating position entirely natural and desires this car! ultimately it’s a bit weighty at 1.9 tonnes.

But the fact remains that this is a truly great car, and as with most Italian classics, the more time you spend with it, the more you start to overlook and dismiss its... shall we say, idiosyncratic foibles? It is not, however, the greatest ever Maserati, or even the best Granturismo – actually that accolade remains with the regular car.

The thing is that Maseratis are essentially for stand-outfrom-the-crowd mavericks that don’t have to try too hard, they’re naturally endowed with sex appeal, charisma and sheer coolness, and whilst they relish an exquisite example of Italian automotive magic, they don’t need it. These guys would be a hit even if they went everywhere in a Lexus.

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Otherwise they’d be driving a loud, brash Ferrari. And the Granturismo S is a loud, brash Maserati, which is somewhat contradictory.

I’d have the S because I lack all of the above attributes, and need all the help I can get from my ride. Case in point: I pull up outside the Fairmont Hotel to a head-turning reception, envious glances, a rush of parking valets, and an approving ‘nice car sir’ from the door man. Later, sans-car, I hand over my parking stub to an attendant that looks me up and down and tells me the car is parked around the back and it’s a bit busy out front, so could I just make my way to the rear exit. And I do. See what I mean?

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APRIL 2009 ISSUE 4 VOLUME 5

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MAD LAMBO Murcielago becomes seriously unhinged

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INSIGHT GT-R AT JEBEL HAFEET

Photography Alan Desiderio & Jorge Ferrari

JEBEL HAFEET TIME ATTACK IN THE GT-R Who needs the Nurburgring when you’ve got Jebel Hafeet?

Shahzad Sheikh joins Nissan on its record setting attempt 46 APRIL 2009

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S

TARING QUIETLY AT THE SENSATIONAL sequence of S-shapes formed by the climbing black tarmac cut into the mountainscape beneath us, we’re all leaning against the fence, straining our ears for the boom of a twin-turbo V6 on full bore.

There’s a real sense of anticipation as we gather in the car park attached to the small café just before the luxury hotel near the top of Jebel Hafeet mountain in Al Ain. It’s the perfect viewpoint to witness an attempt to create motoring folklore.

I wonder if this is how it felt when Nissan’s iconic sportscar, the GT-R, infamously set a ‘production car’ record around Germany’s fabled Nordschleife Nurburgring back in 1996, starting a trend that burgeoned into ’Ring lap times becoming a de rigueur tool of marketing.

Back then, Dirk Schoysman in a Skyline GT-R R33 V-Spec, set a landmark time of seven minutes and 59 seconds. Twelve years later, the extraordinary 21st Century GT-R, this time driven by Toshio Suezaki, clocked 7:29. But those are far off places with faceless drivers piloting cars unfamiliar to us.

Today, CAR Middle East is the only independent magazine present at the first officially sanctioned timed run of a Nissan GT-R up Jebel Hafeet – something that’s never been done before.

We know this twisting, squirming, wriggling piece of asphalt very well indeed having frequently tested cars here. Rising 1200m above sea level, the full length runs for nearly 12km and throws no less than 60 changes of direction at the driver from flat-out sweepers to hairpins. It’s an exciting but tortuous drive. And it can be dangerous. Testaments to this are the scars blackening some parts of the barriers where drivers ran out of talent.

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FIA STANDARDS The run was timed according to FIA rules – hence the note paper.

By the way, that last number is meant to be an ‘8’. Nissan ME’s Hideki Horie checks the entirely standard GT-R. Road tyres were the only thing holding back driver Mohammed Ben Sulayem who pushed the Nissan to the limits.

‘YOU HAVE TO RESPECT THAT THIS IS A COMPLETELY STANDARD CAR ON NORMAL TYRES’

LAUNCH CONTROL See the surprise on Ben Sulayem’s face when Horie tells him he can go to full launch mode and not worry about invalidating the warranty?!

Surprisingly for a rally champion, Ben Sulayem decided to leave the other electronic driver aids on, but employ manual changes for his final run.

His only real handicap was the weight of his former rally co-driver John Spiller, who read pace notes. Last run was smooth and clean, but one second faster.

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INSIGHT GT-R AT JEBEL HAFEET No chance of that with today’s driver.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem needs no introduction to regular readers – 14-times Middle East Rally Champion, FIA Vice President, President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the UAE, passionate car collector and a motorsports superstar. We know this car too – it’s the exact GT-R that graced last month’s cover and proved to be the one of the most frighteningly quick point-to-point cars we’ve ever driven.

Abu Dhabi has sanctioned this run, so the road has been closed by the police and safety marshals are on standby. Starting at the base, the timed run will only be over the first 7km, to avoid disruption at the Mercure Grand hotel that sits 915m up – but that’s still over 40 corners.

Finally a black Altima streaks into view. It’s the sweeper car and it’s being cornered on its door handles, the driver very aware that he’ll shortly be pursued by a surface-based silver missile with a Nissan badge on its nose. Sure enough, Ben Sulayem isn’t cruising. At the end of the long straight below us, there is a distinct wobble as he scrubs off speed for the corner.

After the run, Ben Sulayem’s first words are: ‘that’s interesting – understeer’.

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‘You have to respect that this is a completely standard car on normal tyres.

So it’s not quite what you’d expect from a racing car in terms of braking and steering,’ he explains. He’d had the driver aids off and was using the paddles.

‘This road, it’s intense. The corners are all different: positive camber, negative camber, some tighten, there are blind corners and crests. I think I can get some more speed through some corners, I’ll adjust my braking to make the entry smoother and try some different lines.’

‘The GT-R philosophy is to offer drivers a multi-performance supercar for anyone, anywhere, anytime,’ says Hirotaka Mima, Senior Manager in Marketing at Nissan Middle East. By setting a benchmark time here, are Nissan expecting other sports car manufacturers to take up the challenge?

‘Maybe someone will try. But I don’t think they will beat us,’ he smiles.

Back to the action, and Ben Sulayem is clearly taking much more apex this time, the car even looks hungrier – as if it’s sensed that the there’s a mission at hand. As he peels into the car park and emerges from the car you can see he’s fizzing, the old racer revived. And he was clearly working hard, despite the fact he did that run with all the driver aids on and in full auto.

‘I’m using pace notes, but I’m memorising some of the corners now. I’m pushing it harder, but I’m slightly cautious because of the fear of brake fade – and I’m a heavy left-foot braker. With the traction off, it’s good but you slide quite a bit and lose time,’ he confesses. Leaving the aids on, he finds subdues the waywardness, but doesn’t dampen the momentum.

Which means, much to our surprise, for the final run, he leaves the traction aids on, but will use manual shifts. Jumping back in the car with his co-driver John Spiller, he floors it out of the carpark. The drive looks quick and clean.

Even the helicopter filming the run appears to be struggling to keep up.

He jumps out of the car, charged with adrenalin, eyes wide: ‘I pushed hardest on this run. I could go faster with slicks, it’s not the car holding me back, it’s the tyres. I think I was one second quicker.’

An aid runs up and hands Ben Sulayem an FIA-headed piece of paper ripped from a notepad. On it is the time. He was spot on: a second quicker and the fastest run of the day – 3:39:008. Job done – bring it on Porsche...

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MAY 2009 ISSUE 5 VOLUME 5

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Is it as good as the Mk5?

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Dodge reinvents a musclecar icon

COVER STORY DODGE CHALLENGER

Va n i s h i n g Point The Dodge Challenger is finally here, Shahzad Sheikh gets up to speed in a car that resurrects a bygone era

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Photography Khaled Termanini

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CHRYSLER’S SYSTEMATIC RAIDING OF THE ARCHIVES HAS LED TO THE CHALLENGER’S RESURRECTION. IT’S A PROUD MOMENT

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COVER STORY DODGE CHALLENGER I’m fast falling in love with the Challenger though HE MOST IMPORTANT thing you need to know about and it started with the ‘at first sight’ routine. The the Challenger SRT8 is that bright red paintwork with twin black stripes is if you press and hold the bolder, more overt than my usual disposition traction control button, it would allow me to aspire too, but on this Dodge, it works. After all, why have a car the size of the will turn off completely.

It is of course, the first thing Titanic and with the power of a Boeing and then I do, and it means that there present it in a discreet shade of boredom?

This car is about being loud and lairy, shouty are now two black lines outside my apartment block where a layer of rubber has been left fused and showy. It boasts a badge that’s made a with the tarmac. A quick blast around some familiar spectacular comeback after a 35 year absense. city roads sees the back step out on every junction Chrysler’s systematic raiding of the archives has and roundabout to confirm that the respite from led to its resurrection. It’s a proud moment.

New Challenger faithfully reprieves the electronic drivers’ aids is not just for burnouts.

The car is a sideways sensation. Just keep the silhouette of the original with the long-bonnet, five-speed auto knocked into sequential mode short rear deck, coke-bottle shoulder line and going no higher than second: there’s too much the bonnet bulge and air intakes. Michael of a power gap between second and third. There Castiglone’s evocative concept is virtually intact. are no paddleshifts and a six-speed manual with The proportions are tauter and there’s an even a pistol grip shifter (how cool is that?) isn’t available more veracious rendition of the recessed grille, with the twin round headlamps carried over. until next year – that would be my choice.

It differentiates from Carl Cameron’s 1970 With first or second engaged and traction disabled, you can call upon the magnum force of orginal in the higher shoulder, and it loses the 425bhp and 420lb ft of torque resident within the side crease, finishing with straighter skirts for a more slab-sided profile, giving it a loudly beating heart of the 6.1-litre HEMI CARBON COPY squat, planted stance and ensuring V8. Channel that lot down south and Production version those 20-inch alloys don’t dominate. you can yee-haa all the way to the tyre of the Challenger is faithful to original, When it was introduced in 1970, shop for a new pair of rear boots. right down to the the Challenger was Dodge’s answer Most Chrysler group products no bonnet vents and recessed grille. New to the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet longer allow you to fully switch off the car is more slabCamaro which, not so coincidentally, drivers aids. Fine for a 1.6 commuter, sided though with it is again in the 21st Century. but why endow an engine bay with some massive wheels The replay of the pony car wars will serious potency and then castrate it?

The Dodge Challenger’s Charger SRT8 and begin in earnest this year as the latest generation Chrysler 300C cousins, both of which share much Mustang and the all-new Camaro arrive in the region. That’s one contest we can’t wait for. of its underpinnings, are guilty as charged.

T

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Meanwhile, as I gun the engine just for the heck of it and head out of town accompanied by a NASCAR soundtrack, I start to appreciate what this car is about. Freedom. The freedom to be what it is – a musclecar.

The uninhibited top speed of an indicated 273kph is testament to this, as is the aforementioned derestricted power deployment and the claimed 0-100kph acceleration time of under five seconds.

I see consistent 5.6s, and once an unrepeatable 5.1, on the built-in trip computer display that will also give you g-forces, braking distances and a quarter mile time. Neat.

As the cityscape dwindles to low-rise industrial units, finally we emerged into the empty desert, untainted but for a strip of black asphalt that stretches off into the featureless ‘vanishing point’ of the horizon, and I can’t help but recall that classic 1971 road movie, one of the greatest ever made, that bore those two words as its title.

DODGE CHALLENGER SRT8 PRICE: $54,500 ON SALE: Now ENGINE: 6059cc V8, 425bhp @ 6200rpm, 420lb ft @ 4800rpm TRANSMISSION: Five-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive PERFORMANCE: 4.8sec 0-100kph, 270kph, 17l/100km WEIGHT: 1878kg MADE FROM: Steel RATING: +++++

COVER STORY DODGE CHALLENGER It stars Barry Newman as Kowalski, a man with only a surname and a literally chequered past, on a mission no nobler than wanting to get from Denver to San Francisco in the shortest possible time. As an auto delivery driver he grabs the white 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T and embarks, with barely a break, on his sleep-deprived, substance-enhanced journey.

On the face of it, he’s doing it for a bet. But it’s an impossible bet, one that he probably knows he’s destined to lose. Despite the fact that he is tanked up on speed, in both its definitions, Kowalski is a decent man, a man of honour, respect, ethics and despite his dependence on drugs, of will power – would you turn down a proposition from a comely naked woman on motorbike?

Our antihero’s unstoppable drive becomes symbolic; some think it’s a demonstration of defiance and rebellion against ‘The Man’.

I squeeze the pedal and the five-speed tranny drops down a gear as the digital kph numerals start to rise. The classic analogue dials are a great feature in the otherwise dour and businessas-usual Chrysler parts-bin interior, but are calibrated in mph on this US-spec edition owned

by Chrsyler Middle East. GCC-spec cars will also get a touch-screen interface for the in-car entertainment system which this doesn’t have.

It does have the 13-speaker stereo that will be standard with a 200 watt sub woofer in the boot that thuds constantly to any rhythm going.

I flick it off and let the engine continue its own rhythmic beat in tribute to the dieing breed of gas-guzzling goliaths that ruled the long-distance expressways when Vanishing Point was made.

In an age when alternative fuel cars are all the rage, when automotive largess is obscene, when efficiency and practicality is prime, and when penny-pinching is becoming paramount as value-for-money rationalisation is rising to rule above passion, bravado and sentimentality – three areas the Challenger excels in – just how relevant is the new Dodge?

I look over my shoulder at the rear seats.

With its portly dimensions it’s credited as being a full five-seater. In fact it could probably seat four average-height people, but anyone climbing into the bench behind my six-foot frame would have to remove their legs below the kneecaps.

The rear seats do split-fold though, and the boot is Charger-sized, which is to say you could carry a lot of luggage in this thing. Good at moving stuff, not people then. Kids maybe.

It’s heavy too, about 300kg more even than the new Ford Mustang, so it’s not exactly lithe. Or agile – at speed, anyway. Get into proper sports car territory when the curves start to get fast-paced, and it’s the polar opposite of a contemporary speed merchant coupe like the Nissan GT-R. That car will egg you on, attack direction changes with a barely contained zeal, at velocities and angles you’d never imagine possible.

The Challenger gamely tackles the twisties with decent grip from its massive rubber, but the lurches, squeals and hard working but (thankfully) brilliant Brembo brakes along with the inherent understeer, all urge a return to cruise mode.

And unless you have the talent of Kowalski – flashbacks reveal him to be both a bike and stock car racer in his past life – it’s slow in, fast out, keeping it straight and level all the way.

It’s thirsty of course (we saw 18L/100) and the price isn’t as blue-collar as you’d hope. In fact this money would buy you a Porsche Cayman S – a pukka road racer. But then you’d be bereft of the drama of rolling up in a Challenger.

Like Kowalski the new car is non-conformist, choosing its own path and remaining true to the ethos of a bygone, but clearly much-missed era of simple muscular straightline specialists.

But does it also share the inevitability of the early RIP of the original car? In 1970 Challenger was a hit, selling over 76,000, however the success was short-lived; the pony car segment was already in decline. Production stopped rather prematurely, and only 165,600 had been sold.

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By contrast, a million Mustangs had been delivered in its first 18 months. Stricter pollution laws, oil embargos and the energy crisis of ’73 didn’t help.

As I pull over for yet another fuel stop, I’m overwhelmed with a sad foreboding that history could not only repeat itself, but could even hand the cruellest possible groin-kick to what is fundamentally a great car, just at the worst possible moment for Chrysler. The clock is definitely ticking for the once-great US automotive giant and the future is extremely uncertain.

Is the Challenger too little too late; a car out of time and out of place, a lot like Kowalski himself?

One of the marginal men of society, he’d failed to fit in and find solace in anything he did.

Today the Challenger demands haughty independence from the shackles of a society that smacks of Orwellian totalitarianism. If you think the propagandist world bent on controlling the masses depicted in the book 1984 didn’t

THE CHALLENGER DEMANDS HAUGHTY INDEPENDENCE FROM THE SHACKLES OF SOCIETY

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COVER STORY DODGE CHALLENGER

AS IT SITS RUMBLING, I RECALL THE THUNDERING POWER, TAIL-SLIDING ANTICS AND GRIN FACTOR happen, you’re deluded. We’re living in it. It’s just way better packaged then even the creative genius of George Orwell could have conceived.

‘Nanny-State’ philosophy dismisses denizens as too stupid to look after themselves and strips us of our self-determination. One day not only will cars like the Challenger cease to exist, but even the operation of an automobile will be taken out of our hands by the eye in the sky, and I don’t mean the celestial kind.

Faced with incarceration – not stopping for the police being his only ‘crime’ – when Kowalski finds himself cornered and finally accepts the futility of his pointless pursuit, he still doesn’t give in. Instead he aims for the vanishing point and floors it, even as his path is blocked by unyielding earth movers. The explosive finale is sudden, brutal, full of pith and pathos.

As the Challenger and I head back we encounter a digger parked in the road. We stop and stare at it for an eternity. Time is surely up for muscle cars. Right here, right now, we could make another spectacular statement of defiance. Or we could just end up another statistic.

I blip the throttle and the car quivers. My eyes fall on the discreet Challenger badge on the dashboard and I stroke the Alcantara door trim in this remarkably well-built American motor.

Stepping outside, it’s one last time to drink in the glory of the testosterone styling, cool charisma and automotive two-fingered salute to the twin doom merchants of environment and economy.

As it sits there rumbling expectantly, I recall the thundering power, tail-sliding antics, nice ride and the grin factor you get from driving it around.

I slip back in, manoeuvre around the digger, and take the long route back CAN YOU DIG IT? Our drive in the to my rendezvous with the nice man Challenger turned who lent me the precious Dodge. out to be a journey following the It may be too little, too late to save metaphorical Chrysler, or the US car industry for footsteps of the existential hero of that matter, but what a great swansong the 1971 road movie this would be? It’s a riposte to the Vanishing Point politically correct, one that revels in its fossil fuel-depleting waywardness and wallows in the past, reborn as a better-built, better-engineered, but thoroughly true example of an iconic nameplate. It deserves to exist.

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FIRST FIRSTDRIVES DRIVES

We’ve been waiting for this Speed treatment means an extra 48bhp and 320kph flat out.

And it’s the Continental to have, says Shahzad Sheikh

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T WASN’T UNTIL I FIRST SAW THE GTC at its launch nearly three years ago that Bentley’s Continental range made sense. In fact, the convertible was the third car to join the Continental line-up in 2006, preceded by the Flying Spur four-door in 2005 and the GT in 2003.

But only when the GTC arrived did I actually desire one of these cars. Despite not really being a drop-top fan, the GTC just instantly looked right, as if the Continental was always meant to be an open air tourer.

Put the hood up, and despite being a fabric roof, it seals in the cabin like a pukka hard top.

With its proper roof trimming it is easy to believe you are in the coupe – excluding the distant pitter-patter of rain drops should you find yourself in a freak shower. And if you want a four-door Bentley, buy an Arnage. So the GTC, I concluded, was the only Conti to have.

And yet here I am in the Speed version and starting to revise my opinion again. In his opininated rant of the Flying Spur Speed on page 46, Tom Bird rightly makes the point that the miniscule increment in performance, handling and dynamism that the Speed package offers is entirely unnecessary in a car already well judged in these areas.

Travelling at high velocity now feels even With the GTC it’s fair to question whether an extra $15k is an over-exuberant investment for the more natural, with the car firm and planted.

And whilst barrelling into a fast corner dubious merits of shaving three tenths off the acceleration time and increasing Usual high-end with a 2500kg mass is not for the top speed by 10kph (it reaches 320kph opulence inside, faint-hearted, on slower corners the grip as you would is good and understeer well contained.

– 314kph with the roof down). expect from a But of course there’s more to it than top-shelf Bentley It feels more planted and stable.

So for those that intend to drive it a just embarrassing Boxsters off the lights.

The ride height has been lowered by 10mm at the lot and have the urge to cover vast distances in front and 15mm at the rear, there are 20-inch rims very short spells, the GTC Speed is now the only Conti to have. and the suspension has been stiffened up.

NEED TO KNOW Price: $260,000 Engine: 5998cc 48v V12, 600bhp @ 6000rpm, 553lb ft @ 1750-5600rpm Transmission: Six-speed automatic, four-wheel drive Performance: 4.8sec 0-100kph, 320kph, 16.6L/100 Weight: 2485kg On sale: Now Rating: ★★★★★

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FIRST FIRSTDRIVES DRIVES

Mercedes finds the plot again Don’t let the challenging styling put you off, the new E-class is much better to drive than it is to look at, says Shahzad Sheikh

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HIS CAN’T BE RIGHT. I’M ON ONE of the twistiest, tightest and trickiest roads to be found in the UAE. I often bring cars here to test, but only the very best handlers. However Mercedes Middle East has included it as part of the media drive test route for the local launch of the new E350.

Surely a mistake?

The big burly Benz is back with a new squarejawed look that works far better in the metal than in the photos. It’s a stout, handsome and dependable fellow, but one that seems at once both thickset and elegant.

You just know it will be a supreme long-distance kilometre-cruncher, and it is. High speeds are swiftly reached, although the performance can hardly be described as punchy, understandable with 258lb ft trying to shift over 1700kg of automobile. One that, incidentally, feels like it’s been carved from stone. A welcome return of Mercedes’ famed solidity.

Nonetheless, it’s still quicker to 100kph than many sports coupes and will eventually wind its way to an indicated 260kph. But it’s all about how calm, composed and confident it feels at speed, even on bumpy single carriageways. The ride benefits from Direct Control dampers which means it can be firm one minute and float the next.

The grip is excellent and the brakes robust. I do The drive up to now was typical of terrain where large Mercs thrive. From here on, however, the section twice just to be sure.

It hasn’t suddenly become a sports car, but no we’re getting into BMW territory. I expect it E – even the really hot AMG ones – has all to go amuck fairly quickly, with ever been this agile before. And yet it wanton wallowing, boiling brakes and Mercedes has a hapless helm crying for mercy. Thus turned the corner retains all that was good about the with the dynamic previous car – space, comfort, practicality it’s with some trepidation that I venture abilities of the new E-class – and loads up on safety kit that’s too up the mountain road. much to list here.

Instead it all tightens up, the responses It dates the BMW 5-series, snatches back the are accurate and eager, and direction changes are near neutral with an impressive lack of quality mantle from Audi’s A6 but can’t match the charm and affability of a Jaguar XF. understeer or impending tail-happiness.

NEED TO KNOW Price: $57,800 Engine: 3498cc 24v V6, 268bhp @ 6400rpm, 258lb ft @ 2400-5000rpm Transmission: Seven-speed auto, rear-wheel drive Performance: 6.5sec 0-100kph, 250kph, 8.5L/100 Weight: 1735kg On sale: Now Rating: ★★★★

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JUNE 2009 ISSUE 6 VOLUME 5

JUNE 2009 ISSUE 6 VOL 5

$2MILLION ZR1 Italy works its magic

M I D D L E

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LAMBO! THE DEFINITIVE VIEW

We hit the road in the ultra-extreme Murcielago SV

BMW Z4 Is there life after flame surfacing?

The best in the region tested on and off road ■

COMPACT SUV MEGA TEST

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MONSTER SUVS

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BMW X6-M AND X5-M DANCE ON ICE

JUNE 2009 AED15 Issue 6-5

SUV SPECIAL

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Retro muscle is here BHD 1.5 KWD 1.5 OMR 1.5 SAR 15 QAR 15

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CAMARO SS

FIRST DRIVES

Disappointing performance Shahzad Sheikh was expecting the Australian-developed Chevrolet Camaro SS to blow him away. Unfortunately, it didn’t

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The handbrake is a reach but otherwise it’s easy OU KNOW THE NAME, even though it’s been off new to get comfortable inside, though taller drivers car pricelists for eight years – should avoid Camaros fitted with the sunroof there’s still plenty of late 80s which robs headroom. Besides, without it you get and 1990s examples burbling the more pleasing ‘double-bubble’ roof shape. around our roads. And though If you must get air in your hair – wait for the this car bears no resemblance convertible arriving in 2011.

Trim quality and build is acceptable with controls to the fourth generation Chevrolet Camaro that preceded it, the familiar lines are inspired by the being intuitive and straightforward. The manual air-con makes it hard to maintain the right 1969 first-of-breed.

But unlike its musclecar rivals, the Ford Mustang temperature and the rear seats are only for and Dodge Challenger, GM’s reinvention of its occasional use or kids, though it is just about ‘pony’ car eschews the copycat philosophy. possible to seat four adults inside.

At the car’s regional launch I made a beeline for The Camaro opts instead for reinterpretation.

It pays homage to the forefather rather than the manual V8-engined SS, even though autos will be more popular. But self-shift and you are blatantly imitate it.

What you may not know, at least until the car rewarded with an extra 21bhp over the 435bhp officially goes on sale in the region in mid-July, is auto. The six-speed stickshift also gets launch that the new Camaro looks awesome in the metal. control – activated when the traction control is It’s not as big as you might think – it’s actually switched into dynamic competition mode.

In town, the Camaro is the epitome of cool smaller than the Chevy CSV CR8 with which it cruising, its manageable mass is easy to pilot. shares a lot of its engineering and chassis.

Broad sides, brawny shoulders, potent bonnet, The only problems are that the waistline is too chiselled jaw, wheelarch-filling wheels and narrow high for the elbow on the window-sill routine, glass areas contrive to give it a planted stance. The and the rear three-quarters create blind spots.

On the motorways wind noise only starts to inset grille and headlamps, along with the quad square tail lamps evoke memories. The detailing, become an issue at over 180kph and it rides slim mirrors and sleek profile manage to dress the smoothly, though at lower speeds things get harsher over speedbumps and potholes. There’s 1970s machismo in up-to-date finesse.

It’s brilliantly resolved and boasts road presence some play in the steering around the straight ahead, its immediate predecessors lacked. Camaro fans but it offers decent response, accuracy and feel.

The six-speed is an improvement will fawn over it whilst passer-bys over those found in other GM products will want to know where to sign up.

NEED TO – less clunky and easier to use with a Standout hues work best – so no silvers KNOW nicely weighted clutch. Sixth-gear is and greys please – with the bonnet Price: $40,000 (est) really just an overdrive for longstripes almost a must. It’s a sensation Engine: distance runs. Big Brembos provide in black – choose the 21-inch optional 6162cc V8, effective and fade-free braking. black wheels for a stealth look.

456bhp @ 6400rpm, You have to work the engine hard to The interior styling is more retro. You 448lb ft @ 4800rpm Transmission: access the performance. The power and can see this in the hooded speedometer six-speed manual, torque peaks at 6400rpm and 4800rpm and rev-counter dials and deeply dished rear-wheel drive respectively. It’s undoubtedly quick, steering wheel – making it a tad difficult Performance: 4.7sec 0-100kph, but doesn’t feel as punchy as Detroit to actually use the spoke-mounted 260kph, 13L/100km iron usually does. Plus the engine note buttons. Plus of course the exquisitely Weight: 1746kg is too refined and subdued, lacking the pointless positioning of the stack of On sale: July thrum and angry rasp I expected. dials on the edge of the centre console.

Rating: ★★★

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An optional performance air intake and exhaust pack could resolve this, but of more concern is the handling. At lower speeds it’s grippy and agile, but press on and there are issues. Throw it in hard and the front feels light. When it does bite the rear will follow through faithfully without lurid slides – unless you want them.

But on particularly challenging roads it all gets a bit wobbly. The body control isn’t what I’d hoped and the rear floats and bobs alarmingly even on smooth fast sweepers. Fortunately the good roadholding compensates.

I put this to this to Andrew Holmes, Programme Engineering Manager, who oversaw the Camaro’s development and previously worked on the CR8.

To my astonishment he agrees. ‘I haven’t seen undulations like we saw today, and I was disappointed actually’. He explains that the suspension units on the production cars (all made

IN TOWN, IT’S THE EPITOME OF COOL CRUISING, ITS MANAGEABLE MASS IS EASY TO PILOT in Canada) aren’t quite meeting the specifications of his development cars.

‘On top of that, I think a further enhancement is required. I don’t think we’re uncompetitive but we need to fix it.’ He’s also concerned that the cars on the launch are early production cars not fitted with the latest spec components.

I was fully expecting to fall in love with the Camaro SS – heck it’s even got my initials on it – but whilst it’s a very competent pseudo sports coupe, it majors on style and image rather than substance. Thing is, having driven cars like the CSV CR8 and the mighty Cadillac CTS-V, I know GM can do a lot better.

At the time of going to press we’re still waiting to hear back from the GM press office whether the test cars have been refettled. Visit www.carmiddleeast.com for an update. We’ll also try to bring you drives of the V6 and auto V8.

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AUGUST 2009 ISSUE 8 VOL 5

FERRARI F458 Sensational new rival

AUGUST 2009 ISSUE 8 VOLUME 5

for Lambo’s Gallardo

M I D D L E

E A S T

E D I T I O N

BLAST OFF

BMW X6M We drive the SUV with a serious attitude problem

Cracking 400kph without the roof in the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport

THE DEFINITIVE VIEW

JAG XJ Big executive gets a radical restyle

W W W. C A R M I D D L E E A S T . C O M

AUGUST 2009 AED15 Issue 8-5 BHD 1.5 KWD 1.5 OMR 1.5 SAR 15 QAR 15

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SCUDERIA SPIDER

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FORD MUSTANG

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AUDI TT RS

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FERRARI vs BENTLEY 9 771817 142009 An ITP Consumer Publication

Encounter with destiny Land Rover’s Defender is still the ultimate explorer vehicle.

Shahzad Sheikh takes the soft top to a deserted ghost town RANKLY IT MISSES THE POINT. RANKLY, POINT A 360kph Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport can’t conceivably be considered a logical purchase. At that speed your eardrums would be pummelled by an onslaught of sound, your follicles will try to rip from your scalp and your body will tense up like a coiled clockwork mechanism as you battle the buffeting.

Meanwhile, your vision is blurred and your eyeballs are itchy because your tears have been blasted away.

For a similar adrenaline rush from exposed, tumultuous momentum jump on a rollercoaster.

It’s a lot cheaper and arguably safer.

There are only two reasons to opt for open-tops and they depend on the type of individual you aspire to be.

The first is the incredibly vain kind, those who deem their own visage of such brilliance that they graciously allow others to behold it – or they just want to make sure everyone knows it’s them in the hot car.

The others are amiable extroverts who are curious to see, smell, sense and feel very aspect of the journey of life as they make passage through it. An enclosed cabin for them acts less as a guarantor of comfort, security and serenity, but more an enforcer of isolation and detachment from the world ‘out there’.

To follow their example and benefit from the potential fulfilment of going topless you need to do two things. To start with, slow down so as to immerse yourself in the aura of whence you pass through.

Secondly, go somewhere soaked in ambience and atmosphere – the kind of place that will sink into your soul and leave your hairs standing on end.

The first didn’t take long to address. Filed under the title of ‘world’s slowest convertible’ is the Defender

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ADVENTURE LAND ROVER DEFENDER

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ADVENTURE LAND ROVER DEFENDER

90 Soft Top, as seen on these pages and available A new six-speed manual gearbox was slotted in from your local Land Rover dealer. with a lower first for rock-crawling (naturally, It’s essentially derived from the original Series I you also get low ratios and differential lock) and of 1948 having undergone many evolutions. In a higher sixth for a less fussy and thriftier cruise. its last regenerative incubation the venerable External changes are noticeable only to anoraks, Defender received a comprehensive overhaul but inside there was a new full width fascia aimed at securing its lifespan through with instrumentation from the LR3, REFRESHED to a time that legislation makes it some carried-over switchgear and The ‘07 model year obsolete – that would be 2010. borrowed panels from a Ford Transit. saw a completely new fascia with bits The air-con’s improved, but that’s Land Rover’s own diesel was ditched borrowed from the in favour of a Ford 2.4-litre unit something of a moot point when LR3 and the Ford Transit Van. It’s still which was reworked to cope with wet driving this particular Defender, as it crude and cramped and dusty conditions and maintain was fully roofless and didn’t come with though. Functional lubrication whatever the incline its bimini canvas. And this in July! is the word off-road driving could present it with.

All of this extensive refurbishment The power peak was reduced so that the maximum makes the cabin a more palatable place for the available 121bhp is delivered at a low 3500rpm, modern motorist with controls, stalks and whilst torque is pumped to a beefy 265lb ft buttons that are easily recognised and intuitively and spread across just 1500-2000rpm. operated. Ergonomics are just about acceptable

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and the seat itself is comfy. Seating position on the other hand is relative to you – those with long-legs, like me, will find it cramped.

It remains crude and basic, though certainly a big step up. Functional and workmanlike would be apt words to employ at this point.

The gearbox is definitely an improvement, less clunky – you don’t select the dog-leg reverse quite as often when intending to make a pitch for first. A rattle greets you on start up but it’s a contemporary clatter and the performance benefits from turbocharging. The official 0-100kph figure is 15.8secs, but I could only manage a best of 18.1. By comparison the Veyron will reach 240kph from standstill in less than half that.

Straining every last millimetre of give from the accelerator only achieves a barely sustainable 133kph. A cruising speed of around 90kph is more acceptable due to the self-acquired stance of elbow on the window sill – typical of Landy lovers, but practical due to the intimacy of the door panel.

On-road handling is grippy and... not worth talking about really. Come on, this thing rides on squishy coil suspension optimised for painfullooking axle articulation so beloved of hard-core off-roady types. Plus it can transport over half a ton of cargo. Can the Bugatti do that?

Nonetheless the ride is actually quite good, though somewhat lolloping. It’s probably the saving grace in the unusually time consuming journey east from Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah.

Which brings us back to the second requirement of fruitful open-air motoring – atmosphere.

We’ve come to a ghost town. The derelict settlement of Jazirat Al Hamra used to be on an island until dredging and receding waters affixed it to the ever-changing UAE coastline. Once occupied by the Zaabi tribe who were mostly fishermen and pearl divers, allegedly they also partook in a spot of pirating. Legend has it the

inhabitants fell out with the Sheikh of RAK decades ago but found sanctuary with the ruler of Abu Dhabi. Others claim they simply chose to give up a harsh life on what is the eldest town on the Gulf for contempory living in the UAE capital.

The village is a mixture of late twentieth century structures and coral stone houses dating back over a 100 years. Eerily quiet even in the GO ANYWHERE middle of the day, despite surrounding The conical minaret with this mosque is construction and industrial enterprises, a rare find. This driving through the deserted pathways derelict former is creepy yet fascinating. fishing village is the eldest found on the Whilst the photographer snapped static Persian Gulf. The shots of the Defender, a nearby door Defender took it all in its stride creaks and swings on its own despite the stillness. I take a peak inside the barren structure, but resist the temptation to enter. Some of the graffiti claims that djinn live here But Land Rovers made their reputation in exploration and this tough, dependable workhorse of the wild proves a perfect vehicle for picking our way through the narrow alleyways, passing the crumbling buildings and through the overgrowth.

There’s nowhere it won’t go – at one point, we even drive into the courtyard of a house.

Traditional wind towers intersperse with rectangular holes where air-con units once lived, and smashed tiles and tubelight brackets lay littered not far from a rare conical minaret at one of the mosques. These remnants of a mixed heritage paints a picture of an ancient culture adopting and ultimately being consumed by modernity.

The Defender felt at home here in more ways than one, partly because it takes this stuff in its stride, but mainly because its own destiny is reflected in the fate of this village.

The automotive stalwart is inevitably doomed – it already feels outdated, despite the freshening.

But it remains the most hard-core soft top you can buy and still the ultimate explorer.

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FIRST DRIVES

Star power Shahzad Sheikh thinks driving a Ford Mustang is like being in a Michael Bay movie: lots of action but little substance

ICHOLAS CAGE, BRAD Pitt, Vin Diesel – all of these movie stars are in their forties. So is the Ford Mustang, which itself is probably one of the biggest car stars in auto history. Countless big and little screen appearances range from being the hero of the ultimate movie car chase in Bullitt, to playing KITT in the new Knight Rider TV series.

Cage is getting a little craggy now, but the character lines give him a weather-beaten look – somebody who’s been down a few times but has managed to bounce back on each occasion despite the odds, yet retaining his charm and easy-going nature. If he was car, he’d be the 1967 Mustang Shelby GT500 he drove in Gone in 60 Seconds.

Internet rumours link Brad Pitt to either the role of Steve McQueen in a biopic, or Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, originally played by McQueen, in a remake of Bullitt – which would mean restaging the legendary Mustang sequence.

But Pitt is too worldly and too versatile to be a modern Mustang.

PHOTOGRAPHY ALAN DESIDERIO

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Diesel on the other hand could definitely be the 2010 Mustang. He’s got the tough, street-wise looks and persona cracked and is the stereotypical all-American action star, albeit without any of the depth, wit and weariness of Bruce Willis. He’s big, strong, simple, somewhat lumbering, limited in range but is fine if he sticks to what he’s good at, and that’s all the blue-collar hero is required or expected to do.

Can he beat up bad guys and look cool doing it?

Yes. Done.

And despite its 45 years, the Mustang has eschewed maturity and sophistication for a similarly simplistic script.

Five years ago the heavily retro ’Stang singlehandedly revived the muscle car genre. Old

adversaries Dodge and Chevrolet finally responded this year with their own distinctive takes: the Challenger and Camaro respectively.

So it stands to reason that Ford, the only one of the US big three still left standing relatively unscathed as I write, should want to give the Mustang a makeover to keep it ahead of the game.

And from the moment you encounter the 2010 edition, you know the stylists have done a sterling job.

The retro style of the 2004 car was brilliant, it perfectly encapsulated the spirit of the 1964 legend in a remarkably modern body. I always maintained, and still do, it’s a car that looks a million dollars but doesn’t cost it. It was hard to imagine how they could improve on it.

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PONY UPPED A nip here, a new crease there – the latest Mustang is an evolution of the breed

But they have. Despite the similar silhouette, the front is now narrower, sleeker and more purposeful. It manages to make the previous car suddenly appear a little startled and upright. And now it’s got hips. Sexy ones at that – a subtle curve added over the rear wheel arches adds allure.

Inside things are even better. The old car had a stylised top part to the fascia, but the designers appeared to have either run out of funds or interest to do anything with the rest of it, and that went for the plastics too. Now it’s a soft-touch sensation with aluminium finish panels and chrome-ringed gauges. Even the gimmicky but compelling MyColor feature that allows you to select the light colour for the instrumentation, its surrounds and the cabin ambience is cool.

It’s generally a comfortable place to be, there’s decent room (at the front at least), all the controls are logical and well laid out. Plus the mighty Shaker 500 sound system has a Microsoft synching system that lets it interface with your MP4s and iPods.

So far, current Mustang fans will be finding themselves completely wowed by the new version.

But from here on, things become a bit too familiar.

Start it up and the engine has a canned muscle car audio track. It’s almost too authentic to be true.

Trouble is, it’s not just the engine noise that This is amplified by the fact that when you press the loud pedal – and there is no other more assaults your ears. Even when you are driving on a pristine piece of tarmac, it sounds like appropriate term – you get a huge NEED TO you are roughing it on a gravel track amount of galloping V8 thrum KNOW because of all the road debris sprinkling within a lot of gasping breathlessness the car. So much for the ‘new sound before things get more grunty at Price: $38,000 deadeners’ – the car ends up sounding higher revs. But whilst the cacophony Engine: tinny and hollow. rises, the speed doesn’t seem to 4606cc 24v V8, As for the rest of the dynamics, they correspond in proportion.

315bhp @ 6000rpm, 325lb ft @ 4250rpm are pretty much as you’d expect, with a Don’t get me wrong, this is a quick Transmission: slight improvement in grip and old beast even in GT V8 guise, the Five-speed auto, roadholding. The squatting and diving, only model we’ll get (GT500 is special rear-wheel drive pitching and rolling don’t, a sports car, order). It hits a hundred in 5.3secs Performance: 5.3sec 0-100kph, make. But switch off the electronics and which sees off most competition.

230kph, 12.4L/100 you can do burnouts and powerslides to Whilst the engine is bellowing it takes Weight: 1628kg your heart’s content. a while for the torque to wind itself On sale: Now Rating: ★★★★ The Mustang remains a charismatic up. Once it’s ready it will catapult you old-skool loud-mouthed action hero. forward on a wave of thunder.

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FIRST DRIVES

Off with its head!

Can lopping off the roof turn the Lexus IS into a car to be desired?

Shahzad Sheikh decides

SKED TO SUM UP the Lexus IS300 I would immediately proffer the word ‘underrated’. The smallest and best looking four-door from Toyota’s luxury brand does most things right. The quality is exquisite, the engineering impeccable, the handling better sorted than you’d expect and the reliability nothing short of unimpeachable.

But I’d also follow up with: ‘fails to fulfil its potential.’ It’s a great cabin to live in, unless you’re endowed with a lofty physicality requiring an undesirable intimacy between your dome and the roof lining. Aside from that it really needs more potency than the 228bhp that lives under the bonnet can conjure up, and the paddleshit gearchange desperately requires lessons in the art of intuitive response.

PHOTOGRAPHY ALAN DESIDERIO

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The arrival of a folding hardtop version of the littlest Lexus partly addresses the first of these issues – put the roof down and you can sit as tall as you like. On the other hand, it perhaps doesn’t need to work so hard on this issue after all. Most of the drivers I see behind the wheel of these cars seem to prefer a very reclined driving position.

The local dealer isn’t expecting big numbers when it comes to sales for what they perceive to be a niche product, but they may be in for a surprise if our experience is anything to go by as our shoot was interuppted by many young local nationals.

These guys may well be chopping in their cars for the IS300C over the summer holidays and visiting their hairdressers for coiffure makeovers in time for the start of term.

And if you think the C is a result of energetic hacking away at the saloon, think again. Externally only the bonnet, headlights, door handles and door mirrors remain the same – everything else is new, mostly reprofiled in order to improve windflow around the car when the top is down.

Which is also when it looks best – the coupe profile appears a tad gawky. And the black lines

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SUNSEEKER The IS300C looks much better with the roof down, so slip, slop, slap and enjoy it

demarcating the three-panel roof stand out on a bright colour. It folds into the huge boot in just 20 seconds leaving, well not such a huge space although Lexus claims you can still get a golf bag in there – sounds optimistic to us.

Still, most owners will simply throw their school bags and gym kits onto the back seats anyway.

The rears are nice full-sized seats and occupants get cupholders, height adjustment and one-touch controls for moving the front seats forward.

But they’ll need the person in front to be short or extremely cooperative in order not to endure uncomfortable passage.

True to the Lexus attention to detail, the instrument gauges have been revised to improve legibility when the sunlight streams in, and the climate control and stereo have also been adapted to cope with open-air motoring.

So does the weight of the tin-top sitting in the boot ruin the handling? Not exactly, though you do feel the front is a little lighter and less decisive when turning in.

Fundamentally however, the IS dynamics 300bhp+ 3.5-litre unit from the IS350 as found maintains status quo: grippy, agile and responsive. in the States, remains. The IS300C does not Ditto the performance. The engine may sound a address the desires of petrolheads who seek power little meatier with your hearing completely exposed and performance.

But then those are the kind of kids who should to the elements, this is merely a figment of your have already pointed out that for around $2500 imagination – the smooth six is the same. more than the entry level C, you can Admittedly things aren’t as dulled NEED TO have a 425bhp Dodge Challenger with as you might have imagined KNOW the aural and visual presence to win any considering the extra strengthening drag race challenges standing still and and mass of the roof mechanism, Price: $51,800 compelling college girls to leave their the difference is fractional.

Engine: numbers under the wipers.

Having said that, it still remains a 2995cc 24v V6, Lexus would prefer to cite cars like missed opportunity to answer the 228bhp @ 6200rpm, 221lb ft @ 3500rpm the BMW 330i, Mercedes CLK 280 and final two of my three criticisms of Transmission: Saab 9-3 2.8 as rivals, compared to which the IS. The gearbox retains that odd Six-speed auto, the Lexus looks a bargain. Students pre-select formula that allows you to rear-wheel drive might like to note that the Alfa Spider flip down gears but only limit the Performance: 8.0sec 0-100kph, 3.0 and Audi TT 3.2 Cabrio are around highest ratio choice – selecting fourth, 237kph, 16.3L/100 the same price and that Ford is doing just means that the tranny can choose Weight: 1752kg deals on the old shape cabriolet Mustang between the lower four gears.

On sale: Now Rating: ★★★★ V8s for a special offer price of $31,500.

And my lament that we should be Best book those test drives! blessed with the newer direct-injection

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SEPTEMBER 2009 ISSUE 9 VOLUME 5

SEPTEMBER 2009 ISSUE 9 VOL 5

HOLIDAY AUTOS

Arabian supercars take over London

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EXCLUSIVE

Will the Dubai Metro solve our traffic nightmares?

THE DEFINITIVE VIEW

GALLARDO LP560-4 SPYDER The best ever Lamborghini

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INSIGHT HOLIDAY AUTOS

CAUGHT IN THE WILD Shahzad Sheikh decamps to London to observe a very special migration of supercars from the Middle East

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Photography Jamie Lipman

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ANY BIRD POPULATIONS WILL migrate north in the spring to breed in temperate conditions and return in the autumn to the much warmer regions of the south.

Likewise, between mid-June and September a spectacular annual migration of wildlife between the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania and Maasai Mara National Park in Kenya, takes place. It witnesses the movement of almost two million wildebeest, zebras and many other species of animal.

There is also another migration that occurs during the summer season. It is equally spectacular although not in terms of mass-scale movement, indeed sightings can be rare as the herds are quite localised. But if you manage to track down the frequented feeding grounds at the right time, the rewards can be great as the species you’ll find can be uncommon, valuable and in some cases demonstrate unique plumage and markings.

It is this third group that is the focus of our investigations with the aim of bringing you the best spots to catch this unusual form of wildlife in its natural habitat, undisturbed and at play. I meet up with photographer Jamie Lipman near London’s Marble Arch underground tube station. It’s late afternoon on a balmy mid-August day as we embark on what will become a six-hour hike. We’ll be grateful for Jamie’s GPS-equipped phone and despite my poor tracking skills and jet-lagged disorientation, the familiar terrain is set to present us with alien spectacles to shock, awe and inspire.

Our interest had been piqued by online rumours of some truly exotic cars having been sighted picking their way through the congested streets of the UK’s capital.

The identity tags identified most as foreign participants in the great migration from the GCC. They head west, and most, it turns out, end up in London.

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FIA STANDARDS KEEPING IT LEGAL The run the wasUK-style timed Despite according to FIA numberplate, thisrules is – hence the note paper. actually from a QatariBy the way, that last registered BMW number is meant 7-series.

The UK to be an ‘8’. Nissan ME’s authorities ask for the Hideki Horie checks numberplates to be the entirely standard GT-R. changed so parking and Road tyrestickets were the speeding are only thing holding back easier to issue! driver Mohammed Ben Sulayem who pushed WHAT IT SEEMS? the Nissan to thethis limits.

From this angle, Dodge Challenger – resplendent in orange – looks like it might have been modified to be a convertible.

However, on closer inspection it turns out that the Qatar owner has covered the metal roof in felt instead TALK OF TOWN You don’t paint your light weight Lambo Gallardo Superleggera bright pink without accepting that you’re going to get a fair bit of attention. Driving for hours around a 5km block will also help

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THERE HAD BEEN REPORTS OF A PINK SUPERLEGGERA AND A MAROON AND RED VEYRON

CAR MIDDLE EAST.COM

INSIGHT HOLIDAY AUTOS There had been reports of a pink Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera, silver Porsche Carrera GT, maroon and red Dubai-plated Bugatti Veyron, hideous orange and black Maybach, and a shocking 700bhp black and white Hamann SLR Volcano amongst others.

It actually doesn’t take long to tick off the first of these on our list. Ducking into the back streets off Park Lane, we stumble on that Maybach, possibly a Mansory (I’ve seen similar paint jobs on Mansory Bentleys), nesting in a parking bay.

At first glance it would appear that it isn’t part of the migration, thanks to its UK plates. But it’s hard to imagine a London resident driving a Maybach, much less one emblazoned with day-glow orange against matt black.

The mating-call Maybach is on diplomatic plates and its long-term nomadic status is quickly confirmed by an online search revealing it to be registered to the UAE mission! Jamie starts snapping.

A little further down the street we find a set of Abu Dhabi plates but curiously they adorn a car that appears perfectly at home in the W1 postcode – it’s a John Cooper Works MINI Cooper S. It’s a bit too sensible for here and despite its sporting flagship status, not all that exotic in the company it undoubtedly keeps.

We leave the maverick MINI and move on.

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Arriving at the Grosvenor House Hotel we’re able to confirm another car on our list – that pink Lambo. Again it appears to be on native numbers, but they’re imitations. Visitors to the UK can drive a vehicle displaying foreign plates for up to six months within a 12 month period, but for the purposes of traffic fines and identifying the cars if involved in any kind of incident, the numbers should be readable in English – hence these unique ‘QTR’ tags – or cars with just plain numbers on them.

But the Superleggera with the dodgy paint is completely upstage by an outrageous Hummer H2 in a lurid mix of chrome and... well a frankly indefinable hue that changes shade depending on how long you force yourself to stare at it which, after the initial jaw-drop moment, won’t be long or you’ll have to dig out the Advil.

The game is afoot though, and we do even better at the nearby Dorchester.

There’s a Phantom Drophead with KSA plate numbered just ‘3’, and a Qatarplated matt black Murcielago with a vibrant fuchsia pass-the-vomit-bag interior being enthusiastically snapped by boys with camera phones.

A white Dubai-plate G55 is being collected to be shipped to its next destination, and security specialist, Russell Drake Thomas from Grenada is keeping a watchful eye on a tasty Brabus Merc, whilst waiting for his Royal Middle Eastern clients sojourning within. He won’t say who, but the fact he’s wearing a T-shirt promoting Qatar sort of gives it away.

Still he’s remarkably laid-back and chatty, so I ask him – why ship, when you can buy? ‘These guys are usually here for a period of a month, six weeks, maybe three. There’s no benefit buying a car here unless you have property.

But they like staying in nice hotels and driving nice cars, many are collectors with highly individualised cars. In some cases the cars they want to drive they couldn’t easily get here.

‘Shipping takes about 15-20 days, some want their cars earlier so they might fly them out and then ship them back. It costs a few thousand pounds, but renting an exotic car would cost about £3-4000 [$5-6,500] a week.

‘It’s also the fun factor – people go “wow!”. Some cost more than a house.

The cars get a lot of attention, but it’s not malicious, people love them, they are fascinated and curious. They want to take pictures – like you guys!’

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ROLLING IT OUT Two of the many Phantom Drophead Coupes on Arabian plates snapped on London’s busy streets.

It’s the car to be seen in this season EVERY EXTREME We spotted numerous Maybachs, SLRs, Veyrons, Murcielagos, Phantoms, Californias, G55 AMGs, plus one solitary MINI JCW

Later on, we find ourselves behind the Royal Albert Hall and sneak up on a Drophead wearing Sharjah 1 – we’re starting to get a bit blasé about Rollers, they seem to be everywhere today, especially in white. After getting the Royal brush off from the Sheikh, we encounter two more near the Albert Memorial. The driver tells us they belong to two Saudi brothers.

‘From here the cars are going on to Geneva and then another destination in Europe,’ he reveals. Cool! So the brothers are on a touring holiday then?

He looks at me as if I’ve lost the plot. ‘No, they’ll be transported there, and there are other drivers waiting.’ Of course there are.

Trekking along Brompton Road towards Sloane Square we encounter a beautiful black Maserati Granturismo S. We catch up with it at a nearby petrol station, a couple of minders are filling it up and they’re not keen to talk. I ask if the Arabic-only numerals create problems, one of them fixes me with a stare and wry smile, ‘not for them’.

Off Sloane Street is the Jumeirah Carlton Towers on Cadogan Place.

Here, and behind it at the Jumeirah Lowndes Hotel, we hit the mother lode (that Veyron finally flashes past) and we’re getting to the point of Ferrari-fatigue (the second California we’ve seen today is here on Dubai plates), we’ve also already had our fill of Lambos (pinky’s back) and SLRs especially after the liveried 722 outside Dolce & Gabbana.

They’re gathering here because Emirati boxer, Eisa Al Dah is preparing to fight Matt Seawright inside. One of the Emirate guys outside admits he brought over a MINI once but it proved quite expensive. Again that’s quite a cool choice, so why do people bring over Murcielagos and the like to drive only within a 5km radius in central London? ‘They’re showoffs,’ chorus the chaps almost simultaneously.

It’s getting dark now but we continue on as there are a few more spots we need to check, and they all produce results. Sheraton Park Tower on Knightsbridge next to Harvey Nics is a good one as are the Middle Eastern cafes besides it – that’s where we spot a Qatari Dodge Challenger with a felt-trimmed roof (you read that right).

Then there’s Basil Street and particularly the junction with Hans Crescent behind Harrods – more Veyrons, Rollers and SLRs. And it appears a lot of high flyers decamp to the Patisserie Valerie there of an evening.

Here we bump into Russell again, but whilst chatting amicably he suddenly snaps to attention and blocks Jamie’s lens when he points it at the café.

There’s a twinkle in his eye, but we become very aware that he’s a 6’ 5” tall martial arts specialist who’s built like a nuclear bunker. The golden rule to successfully observing rare species in the wild, is to not provoke them.

So we say our cheery farewells and call it a night.

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OCTOBER 2009 ISSUE 10 VOLUME 5

OCTOBER 2009 ISSUE 10 VOL 5

ROLLS-ROYCE Driving above the clouds in Oman

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EXCLUSIVE

THE DEFINITIVE VIEW

THE RETURN OF McLAREN

Flat out in the 320kph supercar from Japan

MIDDLE EAST MOTORSPORT It’s much more than just Formula One

This is the all-new MP4-12C

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McLAREN: THE WAIT IS OVER

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IN DETAIL McLAREN MP4-12C

It’s been 17 years since the F1 rewrote the supercar rulebook. Now meet it’s successor.

Shahzad Sheikh takes a trip to the UK and meets the men behind the new McLaren MP4-12C.

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WE HAVE A CLASSICAL INTERPRETATION OF A MID-ENGINED SPORTSCAR REDRAWN IN CONTEMPORARY LINES

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IN DETAIL McLAREN MP4-12C N ‘MP4-12C’ IS NOT A portable music player. In fact it is a car, and as you can see, a really rather exceptional one at that. This is McLaren’s first fully-fledged home-grown production road car.

You will certainly know McLaren as the famed multiple-championship winning F1 racing team.

You will also know that it builds, and jointly developed, the Mercedes McLaren SLR – now in run-out phase with the Stirling Moss edition. And some of you revere and remember the iconic F1 road rocket of 1992 that arguably paved the way for hyper cars like the Ferrari Enzo, Koenigsegg CCX and Bugatti Veyron.

But if you think McLaren are presenting us once again with a rare and extortionately priced piece of automotive royalty, think again. When it goes into production in 2011, McLaren Automotive, the newly formed wing of the group now dedicated to producing road cars, expects to produce 1000 12Cs (it’s easier) in the first year. And this will be the first in a four-strong line-up of technology-led cars to be introduced by 2015 which will, says McLaren, rewrite the sportscar rulebook.

On paper it is a formidable and phenomenal new entrant to the segment it’s targeting, one that is currently home to the Gallardo LP560-4 and next year’s gorgeous Ferrari 458 Italia. As such it will be priced on par between $200-250k.

A 3.8-litre V8 – contrary to speculation not a borrowed unit, but one that’s bespoke to McLaren – employs twin turbos to whip up an extraordinary 600bhp and 443lb ft of torque, 80 percent of it from just 2000rpm.

Performance and spec stats haven’t been confirmed yet, but McLaren engineers have obsessed with keeping the weight down so the car will tip the scales at under 1400kg. That will result in a power to weight ratio of 430bhp/tonne – that’s 150 more than a 911 Turbo. Thus we can safely extrapolate a 0-100kph time of well under four seconds and a top speed of over 320kph.

The trouble is that it just doesn’t actually look that fast. It doesn’t have the sensationally alluring curves of a 458 Italia, the brazen decadence of a self-indulgent Gallardo, nor even the futuristic form of an Audi R8.

Instead we have a classical interpretation of a small mid-engined sportscar, redrawn in elegant contemporary lines. It is reminiscent of the race-car looks of the old F1, but ticks all the boxes when it comes to the typical character traits of a low-slung mid-engined road racer. McLaren says it’s a shape that’s set to grow on you and not date as quickly as perhaps the more attention-seeking 458.

I have to confess it’s certainly grown on me since that first twinge of disappointment at its dour simplicity. Meeting designer Frank Stephenson at McLaren’s HQ in Woking, England, where this car has been developed and will be built, you get a sense of an effusive talent somewhat stifled in the intensity of ensuring ‘everything for a reason’.

This is a key catchphrase that gets used a lot at Woking and seems to pervade all they do.

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Stephenson told CAR Middle East: ‘I joined cool. The paddleshift for the standard 7-speed around the middle of last year and the car had dual clutch transmission which, along with the been left untouched for about a year. The shape suspension, will have various driver-enabled was as we see it now, but there were some details modes, are pivoted in the centre, mimicking the rocker style operation F1 drivers use. Additionally, that were not up-to-date especially at the front.

‘It looked like it could be on the road then, but past F1 champions’ grips were modelled and it will be on the road in just over a year and has scanned and the most effective feel and thickness of their wheels was replicated. to stay fresh for another 3-5. For me it HIDDEN LIGHT Walking around the McLaren was just a case of modernising it.’

The LED rear lights hide behind the Technology Centre, the attention to Run your gaze along the car and it louvered panel – detail, clinical clarity in its layout and becomes apparent that it’s all about McLaren boss Ron presentation, and a downright fanatical aerodynamics and cooling. Unusually Dennis hates unnecessary clutter desire for perfection and the optimum the twin radiators have been placed solution, is self-evident. The huge inline on either side of the engine, so the distinctive ‘McLaren tick’ design of the side glass panes, for example, should have had pillars scoops actually serves to force air directly into to hold them up according to the architects, so F1 the rads. The striking fins at the front are echoed engineers were set to the task of coming up with at the back – the car’s most fascinating angle – a neater solution sans pillars, which they did.

The lifts within their transparent tubes have and integrate cleverly hidden taillights.

Inside too, the minimalism and efficiency of no unsightly cables or pulleys on display. The purpose has been delivered with a distinctive flair waterfall on one side of the building that looks and there are a couple of subtle reminders of its quite pretty, actually acts as a radiator to cool the F1 lineage – they’re not overplayed, but still very built in wind-tunnel. Everything for a reason.

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IN DETAIL McLAREN MP4-12C

NOT SINCE THE GT-R HAVE WE ANTICIPATED A CAR SO HEAVILY LADEN WITH CUTTING-EDGE INTELLIGENCE All of this leaves you in some awe of the skill So, our appetites whetted, when can it’s allegedly and determination McLaren applies to everything physics-defying prowess on the road be sampled? it does. Then you look again upon the car and The show car, set to debut at the end of the year, past its relatively humble looks, and begin to will embark on a world tour with a regional stopover comprehend the significant impact of that same early next year and is set to go on sale in 2011. philosophy on the engineering that lies within.

Signalling the importance of our region the first An obvious example is that the most exotic regional director to be appointed was for the Middle and expensive solution has been applied – a East. Former Bentley regional boss, Ian Gorsuch has told us that they expect to announce their KSA first for this segment – in its construction. and UAE dealers by the end of the year with other At the core is a carbon fibre tub – a Carbon GCC partners confirmed in the first quarter of MonoCell – the sort usually found in F1 cars.

It makes the C12 extremely stiff, strong and safe, as well as allowing for a narrower more compact body, plus it will never be subject to metal fatigues, so 20 years down the line it should still feel as solid as new.

Mark Vinnels, programme director, told us: ‘the key design parameters of the car were to minimise mass and to maximise the dynamic performance. We are obsessive about that.’

Not since the modern Nissan GT-R have we anticipated a car so heavily laden with cutting-edge intelligence. The transmission has a pre-cog system that guesses what ratio you’ll select next by the pressure you initially apply on the paddles – think of the half-press of the shutter button to focus on an SLR camera.

OPEN HER UP Then there’s the rear spoiler that Somehow it just acts as an air brake to slow under wouldn’t be the same with ordinary doors. hard braking, Brake Steer neutralises We’ll be able to get understeer, plus there’s Proactive behind the wheel in early 2011 Chassis Control. ‘The unique damping technology will give class-leading ride comfort, it will be as good as German saloon cars,’ explained Vinnels, ‘yet will also pull extremely high levels of lateral g’.

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2010. That’s when they’ll start taking orders.

Those will come from the mavericks that will eschew the herds mindlessly making there way to their local Ferrari dealer. The 458 is irresistibly desirable, but it will be bought by those more concerned with arriving in style. The McLaren appears to be the intelligent choice for aficionados more enraptured by what is beneath the skin than the style alone. I have a feeling they won’t be disappointed. To find out more about the McLaren MP4-12C log on to www.carmiddleeast.com

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NOVEMBER 2009 ISSUE 11 VOLUME 5

ADVENTURE Driving a MINI across the Australian outback the HARD way

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ULTIMATE BENTLEY Does the Supersports live up to the promise of its 621bhp W12?

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* FOUR CARS THAT REWARD THE REAL DRIVER – RANGE ROVER V12 VANTAGE CATERHAM 7 GOLF GTI STARTS ON P29

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GETTING

BACK TO BASICS Shahzad Sheikh has got his work cut out as he takes to the wheel of the iconic Caterham 7 in the worst of Dubai’s traffic.

But, he’s absolutely loving it.

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HINK OF YOUR CAR, CLOSE YOUR EYES AND DO the following. Remove the roof, now the doors, and get rid of the boot lid whilst you’re at it. Take off the bumpers and the front wings. Strip off all unnecessary lighting, accessories and styling flourishes – anything that adds weight and isn’t strictly required. Move inside and chuck out the seats – you can replace the front two with lightweight buckets, but that’s it. All the trim needs to go, plus the electronics which includes anything relating to comfort, and yes the air conditioning goes too.

And we’re still not done. Are there any driver’s aids? Traction control, stability control, ABS, EBD, ABC and XYZ? Scoop that lot out and chuck it. Inevitably you’ll have an auto box, that needs to be swapped with a manual that comes with a real bitch of a clutch. Out goes the power steering and the brake servos, along with any airbags and even seatbelt pretensioners.

Finally take an axe, grinder, hammer, screwdriver or wrench to anything still left on the car that doesn’t really, genuinely contribute to the act of controlling and propelling the vehicle.

The purpose of this exercise was twofold; the obvious aim was to get your car into a state somewhere loosely approximating the back-to-basics, stripped-raw road racer that is the abstemious Caterham 7. To put that notion into context, your typical car these days will weigh around 1500kg – the Caterham brushes the scales at just 550kg.

The other point was to bring into startling focus all the contemporary technology and engineering that mollycoddles the modern driver, providing for his comfort, ease and essentially isolation, not only from the environment outside – welcomed in most cities admittedly – but from the actual act of controlling a motor vehicle. Or, as we like to call it: ‘the art of driving’.

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ART OF DRIVING CATERHAM SEVEN

CALL YOURSELF A DRIVER? YOU’RE MERELY PASSING DOWN INSTRUCTIONS Bluntly speaking, you’ve been spoilt rotten. Call yourself a driver? You’re merely passing down instructions. With all the drive-by-wire systems now proliferating, you are as far removed from the actual oily bits that make mechanical magic as the captain of an ocean liner is from the engine.

Not so with the 7.

Step into one of these – no literally, step into it and then, having removed the steering wheel, slide your legs down into the long narrow footwell muttering thanks that your shins aren’t claustrophobic (and this is actually the SV ‘widebody’ version) – and you’re stepping back to a time when cars were cars and men had handlebar moustaches, stiff upper everythings, and wore goggles and a scarf that fluttered in their wake.

Okay so the Caterham isn’t quite that old. In fact this one is brand new. And you can have one too – just hand over a wad of cash to the sum of as little as $41,500 to the fine folk at GulfSport Racing in Dubai who are the Middle East sales and service providers for the cottage-industry British sports car maker. You don’t even have to build it yourself – although you can, if you so wish.

Some people find that incredibly satisfying in an earthy sort of way, ‘I built me own car, with me own hands I did’. Well good for you...

But why is the Caterham 7 this way? Well there used to be a chap called Colin Chapman who obsessively believed in his own edict of ‘simplify, then add lightness’. He was the founder of Lotus cars and his baby, the Lotus 7, was born in 1957.

At the time he had effectively created a racing car that was legal to drive on the road. When it ended production in 1972, Caterham bought the rights and, but for a few upgrades, engine changes and improved materials and production methods over the years, have pretty much continued to churn out the same car to this day.

It’s an anachronism of course, virtually an alien being on our roadscape, and yet the question that we really should be asking is not why it exists, but how has it endured? It’s the appeal of going back to scratch, or doing it all yourself… perhaps those self-build guys are onto something after all. There is another, far more compelling factor, one that will make itself obvious in a few moments.

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Now at this point most people will chalk up their In the meantime back to square one. And you really will be. Forget everything you think you Caterham drive as an ‘experience’ and call the know about driving, and recall if you can, your flatbed to have it taken away. The keen motorist first driving lesson. Press the mental reset button within me on the other hand, is furious. With and relearn it all. My first journey in this 7 involves renewed determination, next morning I unbutton the tonneau cover I fixed over the cabin the night taking it home across Dubai during rush-hour.

I lose count of the number of times I stall – before, clipping back in place the vinyl cover, and seriously I haven’t stalled a car in years. I keep then reinsert the headrests. All this effort and I leaving the indicators going (it’s just a toggle haven’t even started yet.

Something curious has happened overnight switch that doesn’t self-cancel) and I constantly though. My legs have somehow curse my left stump – it might as well YOUNG HEART reprogrammed themselves, and though be – for having all the sensitivity of It might be a fiftyit could just be to do with clearer traffic an administrative bureaucrat. year old design, but as the adage goes, giving more room to adapt, the snappy, The car bangs and crashes over every if it ain’t broke... grabby clutch pedal isn’t being the little ridge or bruise on the tarmac, Here, the 7 has a modest engine, bastard it was yesterday. And this is the body jolts and jars, the cacophony lunatics can spec a the thing, you have to focus your mind, of sound emanating from this wholly 263bhp lump for 0-100kph in 2.8secs your senses and even your physical visceral sporster is unrelenting. Drive being to interact with this car. a 7 and you feel, hear, sense, smell and This morning I can manage the clutch, I’ve learnt taste everything, all the time.

And let’s not even talk about the ever-present how to trickle it in for the slower more dignified fear of simply being driven over by a multitude of starts instead of the jerky mess I was making of it completely unaware SUVs, the wheels of which before. Suddenly I’m revelling in it, practicing well-timed short-throw changes, controlling and are taller than my rollover hoop.

Finally at home I collapse, exhausted, embarrassed, celebrating the wheelspin whilst laughing out loud. hot, sweaty and harbouring a left appendage that Managing the traction with my own two feet to has become little more than jellied flesh. This is exploit that catapultic thrust that sees me dispatch a crude car that forces you to get so involved with 0-100kph in just five seconds.

That’s properly quick, but the naked sensations the actual driving that it’s like immersing yourself into a tank of liquid tar and oil with bits of metal of a Caterham multiply it tenfold in your head – you resembling gear linkages and suspension arms might as well be sitting atop a missile. And all this floating around. Deeply unpleasant unless and from a humble 1.6-litre Ford engine developing just 150bhp and a mere 120lb ft of torque. until you develop a somewhat kinky taste for it.

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It’s not just about the performance. All those clichés about being able to place the front wheels accurately are entirely accurate here – you can see the front wheels moving. The 7 offers limpet-like tenacity when you need it, or smoky tailslides when you don’t. The impossibly supersharp steering will keep it all pointing the right way and it responds and reacts like it really is attached to your arse.

From initially detesting the car, you find yourself never wanting to get out, partly because it’s such a palaver strapping up the four-point harness each time, but mostly because it’s addictive adrenaline-fuelled fun the likes of which can never be replicated even in the fastest Ferrari. And though it’s bereft of contemporary safety, note that you’re not going as fast as you might think.

But you don’t care, because you’re too busy concentrating on getting it all right and then deriving pleasure from knowing, that in your own little world, you are a wheel master unparalleled.

The reason the 7 endures is because it reminds us what the real art of driving really is.

CATERHAM 7 PRICE: $41,500 ON SALE: Now ENGINE: 1598cc 16v four-cylinder, 150bhp @ 6100rpm, 120lb ft @ 5600rpm TRANSMISSION: Five-speed manual, rear-wheel drive PERFORMANCE: 5.0sec 0-100kph, 196kph, N/Al/100km WEIGHT: 555kg MADE FROM: Steel/glassfibre/aluminium RATING: ★★★★★

FIRST DRIVES

Another ultimate 911 There aren’t many slow Porsche 911s, but there are plenty of fast ones. Is the Turbo the quickest of the lot? Shahzad Sheikh decides

HE FIRST 911 TURBO was launched in 1974 during an oil crisis. It had 260bhp, raced to 100kph in 5.4 seconds and maxed out at 250kph. The Turbo became regarded as the best iteration of the enduring 911 breed.

Porsche sold 80,000, and now 35 years later, the Turbo has become the flagship GT of the range.

Today, within the 911 range, the Carrera is the ideal daily-driver companion and the GT3 is the hardcore rock ‘n roller. The Turbo is the poseur’s Porsche – you buy a Turbo so know you’ve got the fastest, quickest and most expensive 911 of the lot – for now at least.

And of course the seventh generation, which is being launched during a global economic crisis, is again the most everything of the lot.

Compared to the outgoing Turbo the engine capacity rises from 3.6 to 3.8-litres; it develops

T

20bhp and 22lb ft more – with a frighteningly flattish torque curve from 1950rpm up to 5000rpm.

Plus, get your car equipped with the Sports Chrono pack, and that torque will jump to 516lb ft for short bursts of up to 10 seconds at a time.

It finally gets the super-slick, super-quick and super-intuitive PDK double-clutch self-shifter and thankfully goes one step further with the awful rocker switches on the steering column dumped in favour of much more logical paddleshifts – be sure to specify the optional three-spoke sports steering wheel for this.

Despite the new transmission the car is 25kg lighter than the old Tiptronic Auto. Activate launch control – hold it on the brake, rev to over 5000rpm, sidestep the anchor and feel every one of your internal organs being left behind as you slingshot with barely-subdued violence at the horizon – and you arrive at 100kph in a claimed 3.4 seconds – though I witnessed a 3.29.

Most importantly for some, the car is a full 10 seconds quicker around the Nurburgring than the previous Turbo and despite all of this it actually uses 16 percent less fuel. Not something

ALL THE EFFORT IN THIS LATEST STEP EVOLUTION OF THE 911 TURBO LINEAGE HAS GONE UNDER THE SKIN 66 NOVEMBER 2009

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TURBO TIME Apart from the big Turbo badge on the boot, only geeks will spot the differences

NEED TO KNOW Price: $133,000 Engine: 3800cc 24v flat-six, 493bhp @ 6000rpm, 479lb ft @ 1950-5000rpm Transmission: Seven-speed dualclutch, all-wheel drive Performance: 3.4sec 0-100kph, 312kph, 11.4L/100 Weight: 1595kg On sale: Now Rating: ★★★★

that may concern Turbo buyers, but it’s a significant achievement, and very apt given the pennypinching times we live in.

Ah, but it isn’t a cheap car to buy. Some of you will heave a sigh of relief at that. It remains a hefty statement of your financial superiority over other 911 owners with a price tag of $133,000.

It’s only a couple of kph faster at the very top probably because the aerodynamics haven’t changed much, and that’s because the styling hasn’t changed much. That’s a downside for those forking out to upgrade, which they inevitably will, because I can tell you right now this is massively better than the car it replaces – more on that later though.

Trouble is, only discerning aficionados will notice the differences. Otherwise known as ‘geeks’ they are not people you’ll want to associate with anyway. There’s a fractionally wider front air intake, LED indicators, daytime running lights and tail lamps, new wing mirrors, and larger tailpipes.

All the effort in this latest step evolution of the Turbo lineage has gone under the skin.

That includes direct fuel injection for the brand new engine, which has a lower centre of gravity.

Intriguingly it also comes with dynamic engine mounts that can vary the stiffness according to the type of driving you’re engaged in. There’s also a limited slip differential (not previously available on an auto). The traction system has been improved to collude better with the all-wheel drive, and ‘Porsche Torque Vectoring’ now counteracts understeer by braking an inside wheel in a bend to pull the nose tighter.

I’ve already given away the conclusion – the new Turbo is brilliant and a giant leap forward.

The turbo-lag still prevalent in the last version has been muted to mere milliseconds of interruption before the torque streams through.

The sensational PDK box contributes to, rather than hinders progress, swift and smooth normally, sharp and snappy in Sports Plus.

Body-control and ride comfort is extraordinary – we’re not talking executive saloon here, but it proved remarkably civilised during everything we through at it during the launch in Portugal.

Whether it was lapping the Estoril GP circuit or tackling some really rough broken ex-rally stages, the 911 Turbo performed exceedingly well.

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NOVEMBER 2009 67

And on tight, twisty back roads – annoyingly few and far between here – it is blisteringly quick, reassuringly planted, sufficiently agile, and comfortingly endowed with strong brakes.

On the track it displays more of its dynamic skills with understeer quickly banished by a more neutral attitude as the various intelligent programmes work together to defy the laws of physics. It can be made to powerslide through corners as demonstrated by the Porsche demo drivers, but its natural inclination is to four-wheel drift through an apex if urged on.

But, and there is a ‘but’, here’s the problem with the Turbo, as a driver’s car, it’s all too much. For an averagely proficient wheelman like yours truly, frankly the flood of torque on tap is intimidating and you end up being tentative with the throttle.

It’s also heavy at 1595kg, the mass evident when squirming under some desperate braking.

On back roads it feels too long-legged to be tugged and pulled hither and dither so sharply, and on the track it’s rather uncouth to hurl something so beautifully finished over rumble strips. You’ll be more fearless in a Carrera on the road and derive more satisfaction from a GT3 on track. Despite its incredible achievements, the Turbo remains a tourer for the board member that likes to make a statement on arrival.