CAR Middle East 2010

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1104BHP ZENVO Hitting the road in the ultra-extreme Danish supercar

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We trying to understand just what BMW was thinking

FEBRUARY 2010 AED15 Issue 2-6

THE DEFINITIVE VIEW

GRAN TURISMO

FEATURE DRIVE BMW GRAN TURISMO

WHAT IS BMW

THINKING? Shahzad Sheikh tries to work out just what is the point of the new BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo

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REATING A CAR FOR A new niche must the hardest project any manufacturer undertakes, not to mention the most risky. First, there’s the dreaming up of what might be a completely untapped segment of the market that everybody out there has just quietly been pining for. It should normally come as a forehead-slapping moment of obviousness.

Then there’s conceptualising and, most tricky of all, convincing set-in-their-ways, market-research dependent product managers to green light the whole idea. Finally of course there’s the small matter of spending money, lots of money, even when the project entails the raiding of the family parts bin.

You may use all the same bits as an existing model, but there’s still the huge cost of designing, building, engineering, testing, crashing, homologating, and so on and so forth.

But get it right and you become an automotive pioneer, blazing a trail that other band-wagon jumpers will inevitably follow. Witness the Renault Espace which fathered the modern-day MPV; Toyota’s RAV4, the first compact SUV unashamedly for city-dwellers only; the original Mini that set the template for the small car; the Audi Quattro which introduced four-wheel-drive to road cars; and even the contemporary MINI which proved it was okay to pay homage to old-skool styling.

But there are also those ill-conceived aberrations that failed – though that’s easier to say in retrospect – reference the Renault Avantime (massive coupe/ MPV/luxury car), Suzuki X-90 (two-door, two-seat convertible soft-roader) and the Chevrolet SSR (retro-style convertible pickup truck that wasn’t any good as either).

Some would argue that, in the same vein, one of the most obvious failures of more recent times is in fact the BMW X6 – a massive gas-guzzling SUV that tries to look like a coupe and drive like a sportscar. However in the context of our part of the world, a tall-riding vehicle with high-ground clearance, a bit of gravel and sand ability, combined with obvious flashiness, credible prestige and potent performance, actually seems an entirely logical solution to the Mid-East motoring dilemma.

Plus as the looks grow on you the chunky bulk takes a back seat to the evenly proportioned fourdoor coupe profile. You may disagree with that, but one area where there would be no contention is in its ability to power through bends at speed.

It’s indecently quick and agile and will win you over with its mechanical voodoo.

Time will tell if it really was a good idea, just as it will also pass judgement on this latest nichebusting offering from BMW, the Gran Turismo – though you’ll certainly have one verdict by the end of this piece. This is a car that tries to do Crossover in the extreme.

Photography Paul Barshon CAR MIDDLE EAST.COM

FEBRUARY 2010 37

FEATURE DRIVE BMW GRAN TURISMO

What we have here is a luxury saloon that might be an SUV but doesn’t have four-wheel drive and claims to have both a boot and a hatch.

At first glance you hope that it will pull off the same win-you-over-once-you-get-behind-the-wheel trick that the X6 does, because frankly it looks preposterous. But on closer scrutiny you realise that it is just plain ugly. Take its face; with the suidae snout and its complete lack of a lower jaw, levelling criticism at this car might be tricky because it can’t exactly take it on the chin, as it doesn’t have one.

Its huge girth (it’s as wide as a 7-Series) is disguised by the rising bodywork that reaches up high to SUV levels of elevation (its roofline is 1.5cm higher than that of the soon to arrive X1). Just to complete the final dimension it’s more than 15cm longer than a current-shape 5-Series Touring (estate). At the rear a bluff butt dominates, with lots of fussy detailing and lines to try and disguise its mass.

You’d think it wouldn’t matter from the driving seat, but it does. Look back and all you see is a thin slit of a window letting in some light. With the high bootlid and dense c-pillars the rear camera is not just a desirable option, but an essential requirement. Things get even worst at night and if it rains, the shallow angle of the rear glass just holds water and there are no rear wipers.

Despite the high seating position, things don’t get much better for the driver facing forwards. The bonnet just dips straight below the eye line and what little you may be able to make out of the fender lines are useless guides because the wheel arches and fat 245 section tyres just jut out too far.

The side facing front cameras aren’t really much help, but the optional wing-mirror mounted items could prove to be life-savers.

Generally speaking, to the driver the car feels as a Seven with as much headroom as an X5. The oddly proportioned and it’s very hard to place it seats can be moved forward, but you’ll never end and judge its extremities – this is an issue both for up with less legroom than a 5-Series.

After some fiddling the fixed partition behind inner city necking and keen corner carving.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. And finally the rear seats can be folded down with the backrests there’s some good news. Despite the odd SUV-like and that increases the luggage capacity.

And this brings us to that bizarre boot seating position in what your mind NO CONFIDENCE lid configuration. You can open the rear perceives to be a ‘regular car’, the cabin BMWs should major panel of the tailgate hinged at the top, styling is exquisite, thoughtfully on driver enjoyment, but the GT fails to but since this gives a useless post-box delivered and pleasing to the touch deliver. However, opening which means you can’t really and eye. Limit your senses to the one big plus point is the interior – it’s see the boot it’s not much use. In two appreciation of this and you’ll almost extremely well weeks with the car it was never brought justify ownership – until you step finished and there’s plenty of room into use, opening the full hatch being outside and a lowly passerby laughs the preferred option. Annoyingly the and accuses: ‘why’d you but this thing, boot-opening button on the key fob only opens man?’ – this did actually happen.

Not what you’d want having spent something the panel.

But now all concerns about this vehicle being like $79,000 on this 535i – which is what we’re compelled to call it, despite BMW Middle East worthy enough to bear the blue and white roundel insisting it’s not part of the 5-Series family. You’d should be blown away by the drive. And the specs feel even worst if you’d bought the 550i – that’s are promising. The 535i engine is actually a 3.0-litre $112k. And just to put that into context, the straight-six with TwinPower Turbo, High Precision equivalent X5s are about $5k and $20k cheaper Injection and Valvetronic – basically clever turbos, respectively – great value by comparison even injectors and valves – to aid it putting out 302bhp with 295lb ft of torque available from 1200rpm. accounting for the older engines.

But back to the interior of the GT (pretty much This gives it a respectable 0-100kph time of the same as a Seven) and the instrument panel is 6.3 seconds which translates to decently swift off lovely – a combination of ‘real’ analogue dials and the line, accompanied by a silky smooth thrum.

The eight-speed auto is imperceptibly efficient high-resolution colour display in ‘black panel’ technology reconfigures itself appropriately to give at going about its business, and switching the car you just the info you need. It work’s brilliantly. into one of the two sports modes will see the The optional head-up display is also pretty neat changes engaging harder and faster with more eager kickdown. Frankly though, it’s perfectly – particularly when using the sat-nav.

Whilst it’s easily possible to be comfortable, if adequate for this type of car in Normal or even a little awkward in the front, it’s certainly a very Comfort. There’s no paddleshifts and you don’t comfy and cosseting place in the back. In regular really want the steering and throttle response configuration it’s said to offer as much legroom livened up on a car more inclined to cruise.

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ON CLOSER SCRUTINY YOU REALISE THAT THE BMW GT IS JUST PLAIN UGLY

THE GT’S USP Is it a hatchback or is it a saloon? Well, depending on how you look at it, it’s neither or both – and not very good at fulfilling the role of either. This dual lid is a bit of a gimmick

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FEBRUARY 2010 39

FEATURE DRIVE BMW GRAN TURISMO Which it does very well. A long motorway run was dispatched serenely leaving the occupants entirely untroubled. It’s a shame the ride isn’t as bump and thump-free on the more unforgiving roads of the UK’s cities (were we tested this car).

The substantial contact surface of the run-flat tyres tends to pick up most road imperfections and transmit them to the cabin.

But ultimately that’s not the real let down – that comes from the dawning realisation that this is not an ‘ultimate driving machine’ – something that should be the core philosophy of every BMW. Thankfully for the sake of the forthcoming 5-Series which will share much of the underpinnings of this car, itself taken from the current generation Seven, you can tell there is clearly a great driver’s car within the Gran Turismo, it just lives about 10cm lower down.

The thread of thinking that led to the creation of the GT becomes obvious against the backdrop of Europe’s rage against ‘planet-raping’ SUVs, slowly marking them as socially unacceptable transport and rendering the owners outcasts.

This BMW was borne of a need to deliver the SUV character traits people like – birds-eye views and big metal cacoon to nourish your comfort zone demands etc., all without actually being an SUV. The problem is that every question it seeks to address has already been answered far more comprehensively and convincingly by a pre-existing model in the BMW range.

If you want a high-riding car – buy the X6, if you want a versatile family carryall, get an X5, if you need limo-like rear accommodation buy a Seven, and if you want a sports saloon wait for the new 5-Series due out shortly.

Those cars wear the BMW badge with pride, this oddity does not and serves only to prove you can go a niche too far. Hopefully with the arrival of the new Five just a couple of months away, the GT will quickly fade into Munich’s misty archives filed under ‘Lessons Learnt’.

BMW 535i GRAN TURISMO PRICE: $79,000 ON SALE: Now ENGINE: 2979cc 24v twin-turbo six-cylinder, 306bhp @ 5800rpm, 295lb ft @ 1200-5000rpm TRANSMISSION: Eight-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive PERFORMANCE: 6.3sec 0-100kph, 250kph, 8.9l/100km WEIGHT: 2015kg MADE FROM: Steel/aluminium RATING: ★★★★★

THERE IS A GREAT CAR WITHIN THE GRAN TURISMO, IT JUST LIVES ABOUT 10CM LOWER DOWN

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CAR CLASSICS

1985 BMW M635CSi Shahzad Sheikh enjoys the company of a classic two-door executive coupe with Motorsport heritage running deep within its stylish lines

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N MY MORE IMPRESSIONABLE Ferrari and Lamborghini and beat them at their years, I knew this car simply as own game – much as the Audi R8 does now.

When the M635CSi was unveiled at the 1983 ‘The Shark’. It featured a taught narrow body and long bonnet Frankfurt Motor Show there was little new to gawp with a switchback edge revealing at apart from what was under the bonnet – the a deep gaping mouth intersected M1’s engine. With 282bhp and 246lb ft it had a by the flared nostril kidney grille. top speed of 255kph and it was timed to 100kph With the front and rear tapering in 6.4 seconds. to a broad mid-section, its shape Time travel forward to present-day London, and attitude contrived to create that simile. and amidst a fresh blanket of snow, I’m handed It was mean and menacing. The Shark would the keys to BMW UK’s own cherished example. go out late at night stalking the streets of London, It’s immaculately presented and it’s stunning. preying on innocent Minis and unsuspecting The crisp, angular form in metallic grey Morris Marinas. contrasting like a granite block against the It’s a tribute to the unnamed designer that styled virgin white of the snowscape. I remember that the 1976 6-series that even today this two-door, this car hails from a time before widespread ABS four-seat, luxury sports coupe doesn’t look all that anti-lock brakes and traction control. dated, particularly compared with other cars of its Thankfully, the anxiety is short-lived. Having era – just think of the Austin Ambassador. Part of owned late-80s BMWs this Six feels instantly the Six’s agelessness is down to the sound build familiar. It also immediately rekindles memories quality which means that beyond the occasional of why Beemers used to be hailed as masters of sagging or pummelled bumpers most cars still ergonomics. The seating position is spot on, the look pretty straight today. controls are logical and pretty much where you This series was created to replace the BMW CS expect them to be and – time for a classic cliché and CSL coupes dating from the mid-60s. The – everything falls perfectly to hand. Even better, manufacturer almost went for the easy option of the thin pillars, generous glass area and clearly simply facelifting the existing cars, but the then defined extremities of the car mean that seeing Executive Vice President, Bob Lutz – yes that out of the six and being able to place it on the road ‘Maximum’ Bob, insisted on a new clean-sheet is a sublime joy. design. It somehow feels right that a proper ‘car And despite initially struggling to get some guy’ was behind the creation of 6-Series. traction on the fast-icing surfaces, the car’s responses The 630CS and 633CSi were brought to market are intuitive and reassuring. In its time, this was in the Spring of 1976 with bodies initially made virtually a lumbering GT car, but by today’s by coachbuilders, Karmann and the mechanicals standards it feels light and lithe. The steering is based closely on a lengthened version of the crude but feelsome, the gearshift precise and 5-Series chassis. satisfying and the performance keeps things exciting The model to go for was the 635CSi. Introduced without becoming overbearing.

It remains satisfying, thrilling and entertaining in July 1978 in Europe it featured a close-ratio five-speed gearbox with a black rear lip spoiler to drive, moreso than some of its present day successors. And it’s remarkably and was powered by a 3.5-litre straight affordable for a classic. Just over six with 215bhp and 224lb ft.

EXEC EXPRESS Four years later BMW tweaked the With a 282bhp straight 4000 examples were built between six engine lifted from the 1983 and 1988 and since the Six suspension and swapped the engine for M1, the M635CSi was a slightly lower capacity unit from the perfect for the thrusting was targeted specifically at the US, businessman in a hurry 7-Series, but keeping the same outputs. that’s where many are to be found.

For a really pristine example, It gained a couple of kph with a 225kph top speed, thanks to a wider ratio gearbox, and it expect to pay just over $20,000, but you can pick was available with an automatic transmission. up a reasonable M635CSi for less than $15k.

But there is another, even more desirable iteration As for a regular 635CSi models – some of which of the big Six – and that’s the M Version. Time for are lower powered but better specced, just over a quick snapshot of another historic BMW, the $10k will secure you an enviable edition. Factor M1. This was an Italian designed but German-built in the cost of shipping and that still amounts and engineered supercar. A mid-engined road to a great value classic that can be driven and warrior that set out to take the fight to rivals from enjoyed on a daily basis.

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IN ITS TIME, THIS WAS A LUMBERING GT CAR, BUT

BY TODAY’S STANDARDS IT FEELS LIGHT AND LITHE

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BIG CAT FIGHTS BACK: WE DRIVE THE ALL-NEW JAGUAR XJ EXECUTIVE SALOON MAY 2010 ISSUE 5 VOL 6

AUDI RS5

Does the 444bhp coupe have that M3 magic?

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NEW LOOK!

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FERRARI 599 GTO • 1200BHP HENNESSEY VENOM GT • HONDA CIVIC TYPE-R vs VW GOLF GTI

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36 TWIN TEST | CIVIC TYPE-R vs GOLF GTI

EVEN MONEY

The Civic Type-R is finally here, but is it good enough to see off the current monarch in residence, the Golf GTI, and claim the hot hatch crown?

Shahzad Sheikh takes it upon himself to find out

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM I MAY 2010

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TYPE-R IS FINALLY HERE! A full three years after Honda’s three-door hot hatch was introduced in Europe, Honda Middle East at last introduces the sizzling sports Civic to our region. Considering that most Japanese cars have a four-year life cycle, that’s really rather late in the day.

Still, with the Boxster-baiting S2000 now dead and the Accord V6 Coupe being about as sporty as Honda’s current line-up gets – which is to say, not very at all – the once motor racing-inspired manufacturer was desperately in need of an adrenaline-charged halo car.

Incidentally, the three-door Euro Type-R is not to be confused with the four-door Type-R saloon, which until recently was available in Japan but has been discontinued – the home market now gets this three-door.

By its own admission, pressure from the likes of yours truly and Honda fans in the region forced the manufacturer to give in and make the decision to bring in the Type-R about a year ago. But extra development work was required to homologate the car for the GCC which included tweaking the emissions, fitting Australian spec tyres, and replacing the gear lever knob so it wouldn’t burn an imprint of the change pattern onto your palm every time you punched in a ratio – something other big name manufacturers should take note of. The condenser height was also raised for better cooling and the headlight washers and rear foglight were removed.

Still, if there was any car that three-years on would hardly have aged, it was going to be the hatchback derivative of the Civic.

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38 TWIN TEST | CIVIC TYPE-R vs GOLF GTI The wedge-shaped pod-like style of the original concept cars filtered through almost unchanged into road-going reality – these are the most striking looking cars in the entire global Honda line-up.

Its arrowed-head face flows back into a bulbous tear-drop rear, punctuated only by that spoiler seemingly halfway up the rear window glass, although the lower part is actually plastic. The crisp lines give it the look of a blade slicing through the ether – and that’s just when it’s standing still. As soon as you set eyes on this thing you know it’s going to be quick.

The Type-R is a certified hot hatch masterclass. In its segment it’s automotive royalty, so understandably the Civic expects to instantly take the crown wherever it lands. Except that in our market a recently refreshed and equally competent and possibly even more iconic car, already rules as the default hot hatch choice. So the first thing that the ‘new’ Honda has to do is to take on and dispatch the Golf GTI. No easy task.

On paper, the cars are evenly matched. Both feature 2.0-litre four-cylinder engines, but the Golf employs turbocharging to produce 207bhp, whilst the naturally aspirated Civic’s engine whips up 198bhp. The GTI will reach 100kph in 6.9seconds and hit 237kph, the Honda’s figures are 6.6secs and 235kph respectively.

The Golf does have a higher torque figure of 206lb ft from 1700rpm all the way up to 5200rpm, compared to the Type-R’s apparently paltry 142lb ft at 5600rpm, but the Honda counters that deficit by being 126kg lighter overall at 1267kg versus 1393kg.

If you stopped reading now, concluding that these two are pretty much the same car with different badges, you’d be short-changing yourself. They are about as different as they are the same.

Take the looks: two compact hatchbacks both in white and yet startlingly different – despite the dimensions and colours. In contrast to the visitor-from-the-future style of the Honda, the Volkswagen is handsome and contemporary but relatively quotidian and dare I say, ordinary? Frankly, it’s only the badge, skirts and striking carrot-cutter wheels that stand this Golf apart from its more staid sisters.

Still, it almost matches the Civic for presence and outdoes it in terms of recognisable street cred. What it doesn’t do is become a mobile road block on Sheikh Zayed Road, where with the Type-R other drivers constantly shadow it to get a better look at what appears to be an earth-bound shuttlecraft escaped from Star Trek.

Inside, the divergent themes continue. The GTI is solid, efficient, wellordered and with lessons in tactile quality learnt from sister company Audi. It’s more upmarket in here, though the Honda is no less persuasive when it comes to build integrity, fit and finish.

Where the Type-R scores though is in the dramatic architecture of the two-tier instrument panel that curves around the driver. It’s all about the pilot and all the key controls are positioned nearly at fingertip reach.

Even the gear lever crawls up the dash to get closer – though sixth gear does see you getting a little intimate with your passenger.

At night, the lit colours are spectacular but key amongst all this are two areas on the upper tier. On the right it says i-VTEC and on the left is a rev line – not to be confused with the main rev counter. Most of the time these will appear blank which is the Type-R telling you that you’re not really trying hard enough.

The GTI delivers peak power from 5300-6200rpm, and obviously it has that long flat torque curve, which gives it a lusty power delivery accompanied by a deep raspy engine note that parps satisfyingly on gear changes, and which is thoughtfully channelled back into the cabin. However the fun is over just past 5400rpm.

Which is precisely when that i-VTEC light finally comes on in the Honda.

As this point the ECU switches the cam to high lift and long duration valve timing – which translates to an involuntary yelp from the driver as this car suddenly appears to get a second wind just as most others are petering out. The already shrill engine note adopts that signature banshee wail that’s indicative of a free-wheeling high revving power unit.

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM I MAY 2010

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Civic Type-R cabin features grippy bucket seats and flashes of red everywhere

The already shrill engine note adopts that signature banshee wail that’s indicative of a free-wheeling high revving power unit

MAY 2010 I CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

40 TWIN TEST | CIVIC TYPE-R vs GOLF GTI

GTI is popular in the region, but mainly because it’s the top-spec Golf, not because of its drive

HONDA CIVIC TYPE-R PRICE I $29,975 (including discount) ON SALE I Now ENGINE I 1998cc 16v four-cylinder, 198bhp @ 7800rpm, 142lb ft @ 5600rpm TRANSMISSION I Six-speed manual, front-wheel drive WEIGHT/MADE FROM I 1267kg/steel PERFORMANCE I 6.6sec 0-100kph, 235kph, 9.1l/100km RATING I ★★★★★

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF GTI PRICE I $30,520 ON SALE I Now ENGINE I 1984cc 16v turbocharged four-cylinder, 207bhp @ 5300-6200rpm, 206lb ft @ 1700-5200rpm TRANSMISSION I Six-speed dual-clutch auto, front-wheel drive WEIGHT/MADE FROM I 1393kg/steel PERFORMANCE I 6.9sec 0-100kph, 237kph, 7.4l/100km RATING I ★★★★★

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM I MAY 2010

Peak torque comes and goes at 5600rpm, but with unaided-breathing this motor produces its best at the maximum power delivery point around a staggering 7800rpm – and there’s no need to change up until you reach 8500rpm when that rev line eventually shows full house.

This unique characteristic of the Type-R is both its best bit and its worst feature. The fun really starts when other cars have given up, but most people will be too shy to stretch that high into the rev band, natural instinct and misplaced mechanical sympathy will see them changing up too soon – not to mention reaching speeds well above the legal limit. Weekend trashes out of town are mandatory with the Type-R. The performance, combined with the slick six-speed transmission which flicks delightfully and deftly between gears – despite snagging a bit between fourth and fifth if you’re not precise – the light easy clutch that makes it relatively painless in traffic and the pedals aligned close enough for heel-and-toeing, all make this a hot hatch joy.

But of course a hot hatch needs to handle, and boy does this thing grip and go. Turn-in is sharp and responsive with barely any hint of understeer – though it must be there because desirable throttle-adjustability mid-bend is definitely apparent. Its neutral demeanour, resistance to torque steer and sticky stance means you can point and squirt this thing with confidence whilst chuckability is supreme.

Complaints? Well the steering weights up nicely, but the feel is largely artificial and doesn’t transmit as much as the GTI, though it makes up for it in precision. Where there is sensation is in the seat of the pants, lots of it, because frankly speaking the ride on this incredibly stiffly-sprung pocket rocket verges on harsh. You’ll feel every rut, grove, bump and ripple on the road. If you drove over bird poo, you’d know it.

By contrast, the GTI handles itself with dignity and decorum, remaining unruffled whatever you throw at it. Yes it understeers by comparison, but once settled into a corner it hooks in its outside wheels and hurls you out the other side with aplomb.

Against the Civic it also rides like a comfy saloon. And whilst the Type-R’s racing buckets look the business, provide great support and are remarkably comfortable over long durations, the Golf ’s are better, as is the seating position for taller drivers with the steering just slightly too far away in the Honda. No moans from the passengers though, front or rear, there’s good space and comfort, and astonishingly good luggage capacity. All of this, however, could be said equally of the Golf.

Pricing too is close: with the GTI at $31,600, the Type R was launched at $31,350. But the local VW dealer has since dropped the GTI entry price to $30,520 – and sure enough the Honda dealer is currently offering a discount on the Type-R, which brings the purchase price to $29,975.

The Type-R is reasonably well equipped and comes with climate control and iPod/USB connectivity for the sound system (6 speakers – GTI has 8 and richer sound). It is only available as a manual – and there are no options apart from bodykits. The GTI offers a sunroof as standard, and can be specced with sat-nav. Plus of course, it has two extra doors.

In the final reckoning these two cars conform to a set of hot hatch stats, but provide entirely different hot hatch experiences, and yet, choosing between them is agonising. The Type-R is definitely the more hard core example and if you’re prepared to drive it hard, it rewards you more.

However, the GTI is more user-friendly and a better all-rounder.

Perhaps a manual gearbox might also bring it closer to the Type-R in terms of outright driver satisfaction – it is available, but you’d have to order and wait longer for it, and then watch it depreciate faster, so everyone goes for the admittedly excellent DSG dual-clutch paddle-shift auto.

There’s no clear winner here. The GTI is the more logical and mature choice and many, I suspect, might set off to buy a Type-R, and suddenly find themselves signing an order form at VW. There’s just one problem, ten minutes after I’d swapped places and jumped into the VW, I found myself pining for the Honda. It’s addictive, it’s energising, and whilst the head says GTI, the heart has already fallen for the Type-R.

MIDDLE EAST EXCLUSIVE DRIVES OF SLS AMG, R8 V10, VEYRON & LP670-4 SV JUNE 2010 ISSUE 6 VOL 6

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PLUS! FIRST DRIVE VERDICTS: NEW BMW X5 xDRIVE50i PORSCHE CAYENNE TURBO LOTUS ELISE & M3 COMP PACK H Y U N D A I T U C S O N A D V E N T U R E : 4 5 0 0 - K I L O M E T R E S O N S O U T H A F R I C A' S W O R L D C U P T R A I L AN ITP CONSUMER PUBLICATION

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46 COVER STORY | AUDI R8 V10

DID THE EARTH Technology meets geology as Shahzad Sheikh tames the Earth’s very crust PHOTOGRAPHY: EFRAIM EVIDOR

THIS IS A RARE treat. I find myself up at the top of the Northern Emirates, on a tentative, exploratory run of a brand new road that is both thrilling and intimidating in equal measure. Nescience should breed caution, but the fresh tarmac is goading me on. The confidence inspired by the car I’m piloting also means my familiarisation velocities are probably higher than they should be on virgin terrain.

The road appears to have been carved out of the ‘Stone Mountains’ themselves, as if some alien civilisation has laser-terraformed a new route across the underbelly of the Musandam. But while this is undoubtedly road-building on a gobsmacking scale, it’s unlikely the civil engineers intentionally plotted to link together such a sequence of neck-snapping corners, tightening around blind apexes with the run-offs consisting entirely of jagged, forbidding rock faces.

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM I JUNE 2010

Nor were magnificent cutting machines employed to blast the passage through this massif. This construct is a bit of cheat that makes the most of the wondrous workings of our blue planet itself. The 15km road is effectively a smoothing-out of an existing wadi bed to make it palatable for non-SUVs like the Audi R8 V10 we’ve brought with us today.

The giveaway is the glacier-sculptured appearance of the sides of the valley, though this was formed only partly by ice-age terra-moulding. In fact it’s the movement of the Earth’s very crust that we have to thank for the fun we’re having. As the Arabian tectonic plate moved against the Eurasian plate many millennia ago the Hajjar range was formed. Featuring the largest presence of ophiolite rocks, essentially oceanic crust, this area was raised from the sea itself with fingers of water tracing out the wadis criss-crossing it.

47

MOVE FOR YOU? in the Northern Emirates with a little help from the mighty Audi R8 V10

JUNE 2010 I CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

48 COVER STORY | AUDI R8 V10 It all proves that that Grand Architect of our planet is a car enthusiast who always intended these rocky sinews to one day form some of the most challenging and satisfying roads the region could serve up for keen drivers with worthy road-warriors.

The R8 is just such an automotive gladiator and is absolutely revelling in this environment. Frankly it’s one of the few supercars that is really up to the task. Many of its contemporaries would have been too temperamental, highly-strung or precious for the long slog up from the commercial capital, the crawl through the RAK roadworks, and the need to engage in a bit of off-roading across crumbling gravel pits and broken surfaces to get here – the road isn’t actually complete nor it is exactly open to the public yet.

All of which this $143,000, 518bhp, Lamborghini-derived V10-powered supercar managed without protest, petulance or problems. Admittedly guiding its low-slung mid-engined mass over churned-up stones was a slow process demanding caution and sympathetic intuition, but doable nonetheless.

It’s all part of what makes Audi’s flagship – the manufacturer’s showcase for the pinnacle of Vorsprung durch Technik and a stunning demonstration of accessible mind-blowing performance – an astonishingly practical package. You can drive your R8 to work everyday, pull-up in style at VIP events, and head out of town for a blast at the weekends.

Having said that, as you sit behind the wheel of the R8, glancing up at other road users and pedestrians to find that you’re virtually a constant centre of attention when out and about, it’s easy to lose perspective and wonder what all the fuss is about.

You open conventional doors to gain entry into this hallowed cabin but once you’ve dropped yourself in, it’s all very business-like and even though the quality and presentation is beyond reproach, it’s easy to be lulled into the belief you’re merely in a $55k A5 Coupe.

Although the space-fighter close-hugging optional $2400 Audi Exclusive Bucket seats do look better than the regular items on this car, you still get a lot of support particularly of the lateral variety – proving a boon through the bends – though there is a tendency to slide forward. You’re nowhere near as laid back as you might expect, nor is there much compromise in your seating position.

The pedals are a delight to behold, great metallic slabs of serious substance that, especially in the case of the loud pedal on the right, aptly convey the potency on hand. The similarly adorned footrest may not do as much, but serves as a useful brace. The chunky steering wheel is a good size and the paddle shifts are fixed to the back of the spokes and are relatively discreet though delightfully intuitive, even if the transmission lever itself does take acclimatisation, especially the anomaly of not having a ‘P’ position – you can actually leave it parked ‘in gear’.

Nice touches in here include the floating instrument panel hood, the logical and solid switchgear, as well as the clean, crisp and as-you-were Audi layout. The only discernible difference between this and the V8 interior is the V10 badge and a minute difference in the sculpture of the door handles.

But if the step up to the bigger engine isn’t as apparent as those trading in V8s might want, nor is it distinct enough from most other premium Audis. Thus it’s definitely worth speccing the leather trim ‘pack 2’, Alcantara roof lining, carbon inserts and R8 floormats of L86240 even though that little lot will cost you well over $10k extra.

It contributes to the feel-good factor. And reminds you that you’re in the sort of car that in 2D form adorns the bedroom walls of potential young petrolheads. Yet it has none of the tantrums of its poster-star ilk.

It idles quietly, manoeuvres at low speeds without fuss or judder, maintains temperatures when in traffic, feels relatively compact on our big barge and monster truck infested city streets. And whilst rear three-quarter visibility is tricky and a reversing camera is much appreciated, it’s not at all a chore to wield in congestion.

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM I JUNE 2010

The R8 is just such an automotive gladiator and is absolutely revelling in this environment

49

The R8 V10 might have the extra power on offer from the additional cylinders in the engine, but is hampered by the dim-witted R-tronic gearbox. 10-spoke alloys are one of the few visual differences over the V8 version

JUNE 2010 I CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

50

Just look at that rev counter – it run all the way to 10,000rpm. The R8 won’t allow you to string it out that far though, but nor should you. You’ll come close though as maximum power arrives at a heady 8000rpm

AUDI R8 V10 PRICE I $142,975 ON SALE I Now ENGINE I 5204cc 40v V10, 518bhp @ 8000rpm, 391lb ft @ 6500rpm TRANSMISSION I Six-speed automatic, four-wheel drive WEIGHT/MADE FROM I 1620kg/steel PERFORMANCE I 3.9sec 0-100kph, 317kph, 14.7l/100km RATING I ★★★★★

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM I JUNE 2010

AUDI R8 V10 | COVER STORY 51

Charging along here with the proximity of the cut-rock walls the echo is sensational – windowdown driving is a must

The one big let down is the R-tronic gearbox. The automated manual has clunky old-skool self-shift mode that does that whole mid-shift lurch and exaggerated swallowing of the new cogs that was endemic of sequential gearboxes from the last decade. It’s an unworthy and dated candidate to sit alongside the technical tour de force that constitutes the rest of the R8.

It’s a wonder that Audi engineers just don’t call up their colleagues at Porsche and ask to borrow the excellent PDK transmission from the 911 Turbo. Alternatively order the delicious clickety-clack open-gated manual and save yourself $9500 which should help pay for those expensive interior trim packs. R-tronic is better if you go down the route of self-shifting at all times and on the go you can learn to tame the errant attributes of the tranny with a subtle lift of the right foot on upshifts. Plus the violence of banging in the ratios does have its moments.

It also serves to denote the ferocious performance on hand – which is otherwise delivered in a mature and muted fashion that belies the rapidity of travel you so easily attain. The standstill to 100kph time is 3.9 seconds and it will keep accelerating way past 300kph with cruising speeds in the mid-200s indecently easy to maintain. Launch control is brutal; the revs dip momentarily and the world freezes whilst the four-wheel drive gathers a fistful of blacktop with each of its tyres before flinging the whole thing forward.

The linear delivery means there’s no drama as you warp the space-time ahead of the R8. It’s so much quicker than the V8 and torqued right up with nearly 300lb ft available from 1000 to the stratospheric redline of 8700rpm, including over 350lb ft between 3500 to 7500rpm. Peak torque is 391lb at 6500rpm, and you are never short of motive force.

Frustratingly, the sealed cabin damps the aural ecstasy of the V10, but charging along here with the proximity of the cut-rock walls the echo is sensational – window-down driving is a must. It is shrill and high pitched as it races up the revs as opposed to the grunty growl of the V8.

The power never overcomes the chassis and grip in an unseemly fashion – you don’t get wheelspin and losing traction requires a concerted effort verging on the bloody minded. With its balance and composed body – particularly with the suspension set in Sport, though most of the time you’d leave it in normal for a less abrupt, less fidgety ride – it corners flat and really doesn’t need traction control, that’s how well planted it is.

Push on though, encouraged by the decent steering feel and precision, and you can start to explore the limits; turn in under power and you get a hint of understeer, but hold the faith, resist the temptation to lift and it sorts itself out and tucks the nose in.

The brilliance of the R8’s on-limit road handling is that there is a level of attainability which it invites you to explore, yet keeps you relatively safe with its clever brain. The downside is that whilst it gets the adrenaline suitably pumping, there is a nagging feeling that the speed and skill is more the car than it is you – which it is actually. Still, this side of the superhuman Nissan GT-R, there is little that could give this a run for its money on this road, let alone actually get here.

But is the V10 worth $18k more than the V8? Well the ‘regular’ R8 is an astounding car in itself, and only anoraks will notice the subtle visual differentiators like the one less front and rear vent slashes, jutting out side blades and all-LED lights, so the answer would be, not really unless you were a complete speed junkie. Except that once you’ve specced your V8 up to the same level as the V10 in terms of equipment, the difference drops to around $10k which makes the two extra cylinders and 100bhp suddenly appear a bargain. And let’s not forget that the Gallardo starts at just over $200k. The only other 10-cylinder sports car you could consider is the BMW M6, but even that’s $6k more.

So the answer is yes because, whilst there might be cheaper cars that you’d be better able to connect with, and which would be easier to extract the best from, few, if any, could match the supercar performance, style, class, prestige, presence and driver thrills for the money. And for the first drive of this road, there couldn’t have been a better contender.

JUNE 2010 I CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

KEEPING IT VERY COOL: WE TAKE ON CANADA'S ICE ROAD IN A JEEP WRANGLER JULY 2010 ISSUE 7 VOL 6

CLIO RS

French hot hatch finally arrives in the region MIDDLE EAST

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CALIFORNIA DREAM

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SUPERSPORTS CONVERTIBLE BMW X6 HAMANN VOLVO S60 911 TURBO S

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CRUISING IN FERRARI'S HARD-TOP CONVERTIBLE YAS MARINA RACE SCHOOL • 1967 SHELBY MUSTANG • MERCEDES SLS AMG vs LEXUS LFA AN ITP CONSUMER PUBLICATION

LICENSED BY DUBAI MEDIA CITY

46 FEATURE DRIVE | 1967 SHELBY MUSTANG When this car was originally designed, Dubai had only just discovered its reserves of oil. Dubai’s changed – the car hasn’t

AN AUTOMOTIVE TIME MACHINE PHOTOGRAPHY: EFRAIM EVIDOR

Shahzad Sheikh drives a brand new Shelby Mustang GT500 from 1967.

Is he mad, in a coma, or back in time?

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | JULY 2010

47

THERE CAN’T BE any other explanation. There’s been a rip in the space-time continuum and I’ve fallen through it, tumbling out of a streaking star field vortex into the bucket seat of a 1967 Ford Shelby Mustang GT500.

It’s like something out of that British TV series Life on Mars, in which the main character has an accident in 2006 and wakes to find himself in 1973.

Surely a moment ago it was June 2010?

That question will have to wait. Right now I’m having a Dr Sam Beckett moment. Gripping the large thin-rimmed, wood-trimmed metal-spoked steering wheel, and already charging at the vanishing point up ahead, the words tumble out of their own accord: ‘Oh boy’.

But unlike Sam in Quantum Leap, whose jumps through time were always within the loop of his own life span, I’ve actually slipped out into a period before I even existed. Only just though. Gosh, now there’s a Marty McFly moment for you – he was almost his own dad in Back to the Future.

Freud would have a field day with the connotations and would love a look inside my skull.

He’ll have to wait though, because I’ve got my hands full manhandling a rear-drive muscle car with some serious horses upfront, no drivers’ aids and rather dodgy brakes. Frankly it doesn’t matter what year or date it is – losing it in any era is going to hurt equally as much.

The Shelby is a sight to behold though. Just look at this thing... listen to it, smell it, feel it! Retina-popping tangy red, bisected by brash and broad go-faster stripes that, I firmly believe, really do make it go faster.

Drink in its defiantly potent elongated bonnet thrusting at the horizon, challenging it with those hooded headlights, and eager gaping grilles. The Shelby-spec bonnet scoops suck up the future, combusts it, and burps it out into the past that we’re leaving behind at a fearsome rate. This is most definitely a time machine.

Risking a glance down into the cabin I take in the smothered-black semi-warped dash-moulding and metallic fascia trim, which in front of the passenger is emblazoned with Carroll Shelby’s signature. There are smaller dials dotting the panels, with bevel-ringed large dials for speed and revs.

It’s only by grabbing the white-hot gearknob atop the boomerang-shaped solid-metal shifter, and going for the next ratio that the time-slip sensation finally arrives. Fifth gear? Fifth? What happened to ‘four on the floor’?

Gawping at the lever whilst declutching into the high ratio confuses further upon noticing the distinctly modern CD player embedded in the console.

The reverie is broken, time to pull over and assess what’s really going on here. The timeline hasn’t been ruptured after all, it’s still the present and this car is 43 years old. And yet it is in inconceivably excellent shape.

JULY 2010 | CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

48 FEATURE DRIVE | 1967 SHELBY MUSTANG

‘All the go is delivered low down as you’d expect, lusty and linear, rather than snappy’

Shahzad discusses the finer points of the Shelby ‘Stang with Classic Recreations’ representative for the region, Jean-Loup De Reymaeker

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | JULY 2010

49

Who needs modern machinery when you’ve got a 545bhp V8 at your control?

Something’s not quite right. And the clue comes in the ‘CR’ lettering after the ‘GT500’ on the leading edge of the rocker panel stripes. CR stands for Classic Recreations. This small but fastidious Oklahoma firm has earned itself the right to build these ‘continuation’ models, using original chassis and parts where possible. Effectively new from the ground up, these cars are offered as ‘Authentic Shelbys’, are recorded in the Shelby Worldwide Registry, carry Shelby serial numbers over the Ford VINs and of course are signed by the great man himself. Talking of whom, I’m privileged to be sitting in the same place his bottom has been, as this is the first car off the line, and the very one Carroll Shelby himself personally tested and signed off before conferring his blessing on the Classic Recreations’ venture.

Of course it’s not quite that authentic as we’ve already discovered and straddles the gap between original and ‘restomod’, the term given to classics re-engineered with more modern mechanicals.

As well as the five-speed Tremec manual transmission, this has a 428 Cubic Inch (7.0-litre) crate V8 which has been tuned up to produce 545bhp and 510lb ft of torque – that compares to a 427 for the original GT500 with 335bhp. It’s also fuel injected, features rack and pinion steering, better cooling and, on this mid-range version, coilover suspension front and rear, performance-tuned and adjustable up front. Crucially, of course, there is also air conditioning. In fact only about 15% of the original car is retained – still enough for it be registered as a ’67.

There are three versions offered by CR, starting with the ‘Intro’ at $125,000 which has the same engine and transmission as our $157,000 ‘Performance’.

The only difference is the rear springs (worth it), Shelby Rally bucket seats, and slightly wider rear tyres (275/40/17 versus the front’s 245/45/17).

At the top end you get the rather frightening $209,900 Venom with a 770bhp Supercharged power unit, that’ll be good for 0-100kph in under five seconds and a top speed considerably north of 250kph. As it is in the Performance car you’re looking at around that as your terminal velocity with 100kph dialled up in around six seconds.

Those prices might seem a little excessive – although they do include shipping and delivery in the Middle East – in light of the fact that in 1967 a new GT500 was sold for $4195, or about twice the price of a base model Mustang. It certainly makes one yearn for a real life time machine! The fact that a brand new 2010 Ford Shelby GT500 with 540bhp is priced at $64,000 will also give you pause for thought.

On the other hand, despite that fact that nearly half a million Mustangs were made in 1967 alone, only 2048 Shelbys were produced that year – our car is 2049 – and these days they are rare and much sought-after. Good examples are generally priced around $170k, making the CR Performance suddenly look something of a bargain.

Once you adapt to the reasonably weighted clutch, moving off cleanly is simple and you don’t have to burn rubber on each departure – unless you want to, which you might. All the go is delivered low down as you’d expect, lusty and linear, rather than snappy. It is accompanied by the suitable drama of a classic Pony car legend, the evocative sound alone makes you well up with sentiment – now this is how V8s should sound.

It may have been built today, but it is not a modern car. It hails from an era before automotive engineers fussed and obsessed over reducing NVH. The experience is undiluted. It comes with all the rattles, the squeaks, the road roar, the thuds, the inexplicable noises and the good vibrations. The Pioneer is redundant, you can barely hear it. But the ambience is all part of the experience. In fact this car’s owner and Middle East importer for CR, Jean-Loup De Reymaeker, claims that some of the rattles have been deliberately reintroduced back into the car – I only partly believe him.

The ride is surprisingly comfortable and the contemporary springs ensure admirably damped floatiness. It’ll even do corners – though it would rather powerslide out of them – and the strengthened chassis means little twist and flex. Though it does delightfully shimmy just sitting at lights, the big motor exerting its influence even at idle, making the car feel very much a living, breathing thing.

JULY 2010 | CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

50 BIT OF HISTORY

JUST WHO IS THIS CARROLL SHELBY DUDE ANYWAY? CARROLL SHELBY IS a retired racing driver and car designer. Before he raced he flew in World War II and was a test pilot. On track he raced for AustinHealey, Maserati, Ferrari and Aston Martin with whom he won the 1959 Le Mans 24 hours. He even raced in Formula 1 in 1958 and ’59.

His fame in the automotive industry starts with the now legendary Cobra. Born as a quaint British roadster, Shelby took the AC Cobra and stuffed a big Ford motor into the front. The rest is history. Whilst working with Ford, he created the now iconic Shelby Mustang GT350 and GT500 – produced between 1965-1970, and reborn in 2006 as a Shelby-endorsed performance pack for the reinvigorated ‘Stang.

Steering is remarkably light, it’s very easy to place the clearly visible extremities, and you don’t mind the frankly useless tiny side mirrors because peripheral vision is good from the driver’s bucket. If there is a gripe it’s with the brakes. Feeless and lifeless unless you really stamp on them, it does make for a cautious driving style in town, thinking well ahead to ensure you’ve left yourself enough space.

However Jean-Loup assures me that they are adjustable at the owner’s request.

Whether out of town on pedal-to-the-metal runs, picking its way through traffic, or cruising Jumeirah Beach Walk, it never complains, overheats, throws a tantrum nor even displays a hint of a nasty temperament which you come to accept from old cars. The only time it’s unhappy is living in second gear at under 2000rpm. It clearly prefers to either streak past or stop and pose.

And boy, does it pose. You wouldn’t get any more attention if you drove a Ferrari in day-glow orange, with spinners and Gisele Bundchen in the passenger seat, naked.

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | JULY 2010

As you’d be carted off, along with your companion, by the local constabulary for crimes against decency and good taste, the guy in the Shelby would flash you a grin, his classic cool drawing an admiring crowd around the Shelby.

It’s real superstar stuff this ‘Stang, make no mistake.

Unlike precious originals, the fact that this is a new car backed up with factory support means you can drive this thing around daily perfectly feasibly.

Considering it is pure road theatre, it brings a depth and richness to our local carscape that is missing and to be fair, hard to realise with delicate collectible cars. I really hope owners drive this regularly, and not stash it in their garages.

Conspicuously charismatic on our clinical streets, this car brings us the flawed brilliance of a bygone era. It’s as if Steve McQueen aged around 38 – when he did those classic scenes in Bullitt – walked amongst us today and he’d still be cool. In that sense the Shelby GT500CR really is a time machine.

1967 SHELBY MUSTANG | FEATURE DRIVE 51

Proof you can turn corners in a muscle car

It’s a lot smaller than you might originally think

JULY 2010 | CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

WIN: A LUXURY WEEKEND WITH A JAGUAR XKR AND FAIRMONT BAB AL BAHR, ABU DHABI SEPTEMBER 2010 ISSUE 9 VOL 6

FIRST UAE DRIVE OF THE NEW XJ The most important modern Jag arrives in the region MIDDLE EAST

FIRST DRIVES

KINGS OF RWD

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BMW M3 GTS & PORSCHE 911 GT2 RS:

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MINI COOPER S COUNTRYMAN LANDCRUISER XTREME 370Z ROADSTER

P L U S : W E TA K E T H E R O L L S - R O Y C E G H O S T O N A N A D V E N T U R E D R I V E A L O N G T H E C A L I F O R N I A N C O A S T AN ITP CONSUMER PUBLICATION LICENSED BY DUBAI MEDIA CITY

28 FEATURE DRIVE | JAGUAR XJ PORTFOLIO

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | SEPTEMBER 2010

29

THE SERIES 1 XJ was launched two months before this writer came into the world. Its existence has therefore always remained on the periphery of my petrolhead radar, particularly in the formative years of car love. Jaguar’s flagship saloon even occasionally leapt into sharp focus, usually through car chases on television programmes like The Sweeney, The Professionals, The New Avengers and Minder.

It didn’t matter that it appeared to corner on its door-handles as it lurched out of side streets at frankly absurd angles of lean, often followed by a bit of lurid tyre-screeching, smoking, sideways action. This was usually mirrored on the other side of the cathode ray tube by prepubescent hands air-opposite-locking accompanied by

their own squealing soundtrack from a not-yetbroken voice.

Inevitably this would elicit anything from envy to lust each time one subsequently passed along the road just beyond the confines of the school playground – serenely gliding along, elegantly contoured lines flowing back from the round headlights, occasionally emitting a subdued V12 growl if the driver twitched his right ankle – especially if aware of an audience. Naturally this would drive our playground posse into a frenzy.

Nourishing our rampant schoolboy fantasies such an event was normally followed by much speculation as to who might be driving it: the good guys or the bad guys, it always had to be one or the other, of course.

SEPTEMBER 2010 | CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

30 FEATURE DRIVE | JAGUAR XJ PORTFOLIO And that was the thing about the Jag. Big Mercs were driven by rich kids’ dads, BMWs by the better off go-faster brigade and Audi’s were rally cars. On the other hand the Prime Minister had a Jag, so did The Saint (Ian Ogilvy era) and London’s gangsters wouldn’t be seen dead in anything else (and they frequently were). Jaguar has always been able to transcend socio-economic boundaries ferrying everyone from Fat Cats to heart-of-gold car salesmen with shady corner lots. But the XJ especially has always maintained one common trait; the statement it made about its driver – you have to ‘be somebody’ to drive a Jaguar XJ, a good guy or a bad guy.

The other consistent feature has always been its styling – the fluted bonnet, the delicate flanks, the taught fenders and the slim pillars, and of course those round headlights – although they were briefly ditched for some Mark II versions.

Compared to boxy and bulky rivals, its light and lithe features have slowly aged to a point where elegant style degraded into a sad pastiche of a bygone era; the leaping big cat not only firmly resting, but trading on its laurels.

So for the new car the styling cues were not only thrown out wholesale, but launched into outer space and then slingshot around the sun firmly into history. Having proven Jaguar can credibly do ‘modern’ with the increasingly

Though the exterior styling of the XJ has divided opinion, there have been no complaints about the cabin

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | SEPTEMBER 2010

handsome XF saloon, the new XJ sets out to build on that car’s brief and move luxury car design so far into the 21st century that rival designers are still furiously scribbling away on their CAD tablets trying to catch up.

It’s absolutely fresh and it’s defiantly new – but does it work? Bathed in the fluorescence of Dubai’s evening ambience, it’s certainly playing with the multiple light sources with a flourish that would be lost on a BMW 7-Series or Audi A8. The pouting lips and jutting jaw, flared hips and that plunging roofline that disappears into the black abyss of fake wrap-around rear window contrive pure presence. The whole rear is bolstered by an imposing butt that informs those left in its wake what’s just passed them by dint of its lone leaping cat emblem.

This is charismatic design that gleefully vaults outside the box and beckons only those highrollers that dare to be different. It may polarise some, it may need to grow on others, but it certainly makes no excuses and manages elegant yet imposing without being brutal.

But the design pièce de résistance is inside.

Sink into the encapsulating driver’s compartment – a Jag-trait – and you find yourself ensconced in plush leather-clad luxury and a phosphorus blue glow. The concave steering wheel, burlesque chrome on black round air vents protruding from

the fascia top, the wood veneer that sweeps across the dash to the front like a prow of a boat where sits a subtle plaque, is all charming and exquisite.

Often with executive cars the dashboard belies the sheer cost of the thing by being spartan and efficiently plastic. But with the XJ you could easily fool ill-informed passengers into thinking they’re in a Bentley.

The distinctive Jaguar knurled aluminium rotary control of the gear selector rising out of the centre console would be a giveaway though, as would the leaping cat logo on an otherwise blanked out 12-inch digital instrument panel that morphs into virtual dials detailed like the real things, but quick to shuffle about and do clever things like a ‘spotlight’ effect on important info and turning red in ‘Dynamic’ mode. The cabin is a real event that’s for sure.

Press the starter button and you wake a 5.0-litre V8 that on this car is one of two supercharged editions available in this region, as well as a normally aspirated version that puts out 380bhp – good enough for 0-100kph in under six seconds (5.7 to be precise). At the other end of the scale is the 503bhp SuperSport serving up 0-100kph in 4.9 seconds.

Our test car bridges the gap with 464bhp.

Like the SuperSport it’s limited to 250kph

31

‘You find yourself ensconced in plush leather-clad luxury and a phosphorus blue glow’

SEPTEMBER 2010 | CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

32 FEATURE DRIVE | JAGUAR XJ PORTFOLIO

‘Whereas most other big limos tend to hunker down and surge off the line, the XJ sprints. Yes, sprints. Like a sports car. ’

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | SEPTEMBER 2010

33 and loses only three-tenths of second to 100kph at 5.2 seconds. On paper that sounds quick, how does it feel in real life when you stab the right pedal? Like being shot out of a Ramadan canon.

It’s the power delivery that takes you by surprise.

Whereas most other big limos – and don’t forget this is the long-wheelbase XJ, which will be the prime seller here – tend to hunker down and surge off the line, the XJ sprints. Yes, sprints.

Like a sports car.

The reason for this is in the remarkably light weight of this gigantic Jag – it’s longer than an Audi A8, 7-Series, Maserati Quattroporte and almost on par with an S-Class. You can even slumber in the back where there’s so much room that the XJ comes with rear tables, vanity mirrors and an electric blind for the rear part of the that huge panoramic glass roof. The seats are comfy even though they must be relatively thin as there’s a 520-litre boot that’s deep and capacious – something the old XJ’s boot wasn’t.

And yet it’s at least 150kg lighter than rivals thanks to an all-aluminium chassis and body.

Jaguar has even employed clever magnesium and composite alloys to ensure a rigid architecture.

And there’s even good news for the ‘good guys’ driving around with an eco-conscience – the aluminium structure is 50 percent recycled materials and the way it’s made means a reduction in the carbon footprint too – in fact there’s a potential saving of three tonnes of CO2 per vehicle compared to using all-new aluminium. Plus its 85 percent recyclable at end-of-life.

Think about that as you find a long and empty stretch and watch the speedometer needle wind itself around to its stop with alarming ease confirming a suspicion that without the electronic limiter this cruiser would be capable of more galactic speeds. At higher velocities it swooshes along calm and composed.

You might suppose though that this featherweight would float and fidget through buffeting and undulations – not a bit of it.

The air suspension is electronic controlled to maintain ride height – this was most apparent when I plonked my behind on the open boot cavity whilst waiting around for the photographer to set up, moments later the car raised itself to compensate.

Some reviews have criticised the XJ’s ride and that comes from memories of Jags of old that had mastered ‘waftability,’ matching ride comfort with the likes of Rolls-Royces and Citroens. But then you had the roly-poly handling. On our streets, you might find the ride a little firm around town, though nothing so rude as to jolt you out of your reverie, whilst on motorways it remains smooth. And in relative terms it rides better than the BMW and is probably on par with the Mercedes. The suspension is also varied automatically between firm and soft depending on conditions and your pace.

SEPTEMBER 2010 | CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

34 FEATURE DRIVE | JAGUAR XJ PORTFOLIO But if it goes like a sports car, does it handle like one? Here’s where things get even more atypical in limo world. Hit the button marked with a chequered flag and you’re in Dynamic Mode – quicker changes, firmer steering and suspension and watered-down driver’s aids. Oh, and as mentioned, the dials glow red, plus the seatbelts are tugged tight. Neat.

Twirl the knob into sport and use the paddle shifts which are remarkably satisfying and easy to use – although if you were wondering how come the gearbox was doing a reasonable job of banging in the appropriate ratios even in normal mode, that’s the ‘adaptive shift’ which learns your driving style. As a six-speed it never betrays any handicap from being two short of the current de rigueur complement of eight in the sector. It’s a perfectly tuned transmission, imperceptible when cruising, yet thumping in gears when your ‘on it’. It even hits the limiter and if you’re over ambitious with your downshifts, it will behave like a preselect system, waiting for the revs to drop sufficiently before giving you the lower gear.

The steering is light but fluid, firmer in Dynamic Mode, but always with remarkable response and

With an extremely lightweight body, the XJ is an executive car with some serious pace CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | SEPTEMBER 2010

accuracy. There’s even some feedback, and this combined with the lightness, makes this feel like a smaller car. On the downward twists of the Kalba Road mountain section, the big cat stays remarkable level where most large saloons would be begging for mercy. The steering stays faithful, the expected understeer being a no-show. Okay the weight transfer down the long chassis becomes apparent if you start to yank it left and right too hard, but keep it steady and it’s remarkably adept.

A sports saloon? Yes, almost.

There’s also quite a bit of give in the traction and stability control systems once you’re in the ‘red zone’. With the computer-controlled differential managing torque to the rear wheels switched to naughty, you can kick the tail easily sideways before electronics abruptly scoop it back up. But I fully expect this to star in numerous forthcoming action movies, because turn everything off and it goes from naughty to hooligan. Suddenly you can burn rubber like a muscle car in this sumptuous saloon and the back will let go at the merest provocation – but thankfully not in an all-or-nothing banzai action, more of a linear drift.

And it was whilst acquainting myself with this

unique feature that I finally found the downside of owning the new XJ. These off-duty antics, which if there is any ounce of octane flowing through your veins you will inevitably indulge in, can get you into serious trouble. Not necessarily the sort that involves a big repair bill, but the kind that sees you on the wrong side of the law – as I discovered. Stood by the side of the road with two of the local constabulary’s finest to keep me company whilst they wrote me out a hefty ticket, I found myself smiling wryly – which probably didn’t go down too well – but it was a reflex action resulting from a realisation that this was a proper XJ after all, because it had turned me into a ‘somebody’. It turns out I’m the bad guy!

JAGUAR XJ PORTFOLIO

PRICE I $125,070 ON SALE IN ME I Now ENGINE I 5000cc 32v supercharged V8, 464bhp @ 6000-6500rpm, 424 lb ft @ 2500-5500rpm TRANSMISSION I Six-speed auto, rear-wheel drive WEIGHT/MADE FROM I 1915kg/aluminium PERFORMANCE I 5.2sec 0-100kph, 250kph, 12.1l/100km RATING I ★★★★★

SUPERLEGGERA! WE STORM THE UAE IN THE HARDEST GALLARDO YET NOVEMBER 2010 ISSUE 11 VOL 6

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52 ANNIVERSARY | FIVE YEARS OF CAR ME

CELEBRATING OUR FIFTH ANNIVERSARY!

Pushing the boundaries and setting the standards in Middle East car journalism, it’s been an incredible first half-decade for the region’s premier car magazine. We marvel at an amazing spread of covers, bask in the tributes over the page and Shahzad Sheikh remembers his top-five favourite features

YEAR

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YEAR TH

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Five YEARS OF

CAR ME

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM I NOVEMBER 2010

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53

YEAR FOUR

CELEBRATING OUR

Fifth Anniversary IN THE MIDDLE EAST

YEAR FIVE NOVEMBER 2010 I CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

54 ANNIVERSARY | FIVE YEARS OF CAR ME

FRASER MARTIN

NOEL EBDON

MOHAMMED BEN SULAYEM

I never thought, as an avid subscriber to CAR, that one day I would be contributing to what was probably the best motor magazine in the world.

As a spotty lad, who knew just enough about motors to drive the rest of the family to distraction, I would wait faithfully for the week that CAR was due. Reading the likes of L.J.K. Setright, Russell Bulgin and Phil Llewellin was something akin to an epiphany – when these guys wrote about cars, you were in the passenger seat with them!

My writing heroes have sadly passed away, and I feel humbled to be following in such great footsteps.

As a Contributing Editor to the Middle East Edition, I hope I bring some of their strength of opinion and feel for the cars driven – and views taken – to our honourable CAR ME readership.

With CAR Middle East, we pioneered the lifestyle elements of motor writing in the region: figures and specifications, detailed lists of numbers and all that geeky stuff was the realm of others. What we wanted to do was tell the readers what a car was like – if we liked it – and what was wrong with it, if we didn’t.

I well remember having a story published on a particular car only for a contrary view to be published the following month. That’s how it should be. Opinion is subjective and if there are two opposing opinions, that should encourage the readers to go out and jolly-well form their own! Each car is a different beast and has different relevance to different readers.

Highlights over the last five years for me have included some spectacular locations, some boyhooddream cars, and some incredible events. Lowlights have included some staggeringly boring activities, some desperate flight arrangements and one truly awful car – thankfully long superseded. It would be unfair to list them by manufacturer, especially as some are a bit sensitive when it comes to criticism, but then that’s what getting an opinion out is all about, and I’m not sure I’d want to change that.

I started contributing to CAR ME from the second issue, after the launch issue had gone down well with the public. I had grown up with CAR in the UK, so knew I needed to get it right.

I firmly believe that it is the best product in its sector in the region and I’m proud to have my name associated with the brand. I also think it upped the ante for motoring mags in the region, giving other well-known names some healthy competition.

Bizarrely, the best memory I have wasn’t in some far off land, involving exotic hotels and potent supercars. It was a truck launch at the Dubai Autodrome, where I fulfilled a lifelong ambition to drive a 60-tonne truck. You would not believe how disappointed people are when I tell them that this is the press event I remember the most.

The only low point I can recall is getting really bad sunburn and possible heat stroke when shooting a desert toy shoot out in the Dubai dunes. We had quads, bikes, 4x4s, a rally truck, a snowmobile converted to run in the sand and even a hovercraft.

I felt terrible the next day but the fact that Shahzad got to live out his own lifelong ambition by driving, or flying, as it is apparently termed, the hovercraft more than made up for it. Watching him grinning through the dust, whilst trying in vain to get it go in the right direction will live with me forever.

Congratulations on your fifth anniversary. I hope you go on to reach many more milestones, and continue to educate and entertain readers, especially on classic cars!

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTOR

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM I NOVEMBER 2010

EDITORIAL CONTRIBUTOR

FIA VICE PRESIDENT

GAURAV DHAR ROLLING ART EMPORIUM

CAR Middle East is the only publication I follow when it comes to coverage about affairs of the motoring kind. It constantly strives to bring content which is not only relevant to local petrolheads, but also takes into account the historical aspect of car culture which intrigues me the most. Each year, they have improved on their attention to classic cars and local car clubs, while continuing to adapt to the interests of car owners and dreamers alike. They are savvy, unique, original and informative. I look forward to seeing what they do next!

GHITA MEJDI PR AND PRESS MANAGER, FERRARI MIDDLE EAST

TAUSIF H AGHA

I want to tell you how much I appreciate having a serious and dedicated automotive publication to encourage and support. It’s interesting and keeps us informed about what’s happening in the region. Support CAR Middle East because of its support to us in our common mission to educate and inform. Thank you and KEEP IT UP!

Congrats on the 5th anniversary. There are many positives: first magazine from the region that you could actually read; photography that improved constantly and insightful, no-nonsense material – usually. Would love to see more about the Saudi scene – the biggest country in the region and bring back the prices and spec section.

55 Most recently I’ve been thrilled that they’ve taken the reviews ‘live action’ with some very high quality video content on their website – Shahzad displays a composed charisma that adds a lot of character to the new offering and I hope to see much more in the years to come!

MOHAMMED HUMAID

The first issue I got of CA R ME magazine

JAMES THOMAS

JORGE FERRARI

SENIOR ACCOUNT DIRECTOR, KETCHUM RAAD MIDDLE EAST

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER

(He is also a former car journalist at Autocar & Motor magazine in the UK working for ex-CAR editor Mel Nichols in the early 1990s) I suspect that a fair number of older British expats currently working in the Gulf like me, pretty much grew up reading CAR magazine in the UK. If you know anything about the ‘mother’ magazine’s editorial tone of voice you’ll know that it expresses a healthy disdain for any industry ‘BS’ and sluices out the core issues like a high pressure hose. Such a direct editorial voice was thanks in no small part to the succession of straight-talking Australian editors the magazine has enjoyed in the past.

So I’m delighted to see that Shahzad and his team remain faithful to CAR’s editorial stance, are always looking for the big cover story and when it comes to product reviews…. they call a spade a spade (often to the chagrin of the manufacturers). Oh… and the website is excellent too.

Congrats on reaching your 5th birthday and here’s to the next five years…

I like the photography the best, specially when you use my photos! (see his pics from p84) The main thing about the magazine is the freedom of the content. I like the way the writers seem not be influenced by manufacturers to say what they think. I don’t always agree myself with the content and I’m sure some manufacturers don’t either, but it is good to know that you will publish what you think.

ARAFAAT ALI KHAN

I’ve always found CAR ME to not only be the best bar none in its reviews and news, but it always seems to be pushing the boundaries of tests and content in general.

The entertainment value of any magazine is always important, and that is where writing style is crucial – CAR ME just never seems to have dropped the ball here.

was a bright yellow covered April 2006 issue.

It featured a concept of the next Audi TT on the cover. The cover looked brilliant and catchy and seemed to be on a higher level compared to other ME motoring publications. Flipping through the pages of the magazine confirmed my first impressions. I purchased it, and have been hooked ever since.

This motoring magazine wasn’t just about flashy lights and bright colors, but also the content was meaty. Honey mustard-dressed meat at that! Cars are analyzed in regards to their various aspects, whether it be performance, handling, styling, quality etc... and often in a humorous context. Best of all though, you can sense the passion in every article. The independence and honesty of its word is a key to many of us fans.

Speaking of honesty, there are two features that I absolutely loved which are now missing.

First was the ‘Used Car Intelligence’ section – a very helpful two-page section that would discuss the pros and cons of buying a certain second-hander, including expected prices, any reported issues or recalls, and things to watch out for. I personally referred to it when buying a second-hand car.

The other section is GBU – which had car prices and data. Yes, I know the website does a good job at providing this info, but the pleasure lies in flipping through the pages and scanning through the cars, rather than clicking with a mouse and waiting.

Zlatko Mulabegovic: Car has been my favourite automotive title since i was in my twenties. Keep the good work up!

BOB JARMSON This is one of my monthly pleasures as time with CAR ME is a great escape, a chance to dream of a supercar and get my huge petrolhead fix.

Still love the way you guys blend premium UK articles and great writers with our own here in the UAE... including Shahzad’s informative and entertaining bits! I always picture him and I just sitting over a cup of coffee/tea and getting lost in CARdom whenever I read his words.

I tell ya’ , for 15 Dirhams CAR ME is one of the best value and one of my most cost-effective thrills to date here in Dubai – a hell of a lot cheaper than Porsche 993 parts I can tell you!

Shamim Sesto Elemento Azad: sorry folks dont have words to express your awsomness just can say one thing you all live not just 5years but for decades and decades just make us belive one day even we can afford a lambo or a ferrari........tnx to Allah on feb 2007 i was getting bored and bought your magazine frm dat day i am readin your mag and wish read it until i am on this earth :D *BEST OF LUCK* Baqir Tirmizi: Reading CAR is next best thing to driving the cars yourself.

Karim Al-Azhari: Great work CAR-ME! Car reviews are well done, and thanks for the great coverage of the National Races!!!

Mohammed Ahmed: The Bugatti Veyron of the AUTOMOBILE MAGAZINES OF THE MIDDLE EAST, is CAR Middle East!!!! Wish ya the best of luck!! PLS, dont degrade like Toyota!!!

NOVEMBER 2010 I CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

56 ANNIVERSARY | FIVE YEARS OF CAR ME

Five YEARS OF

CAR ME

TRYING TO SELECT just five CAR ME features from five years was incredibly tough, so honourable mentions to: 7-car Softroader test (Dec 06); Boy Vs Game (Apr 07); Koenigsegg Vs SLR 722 (Apr 07), Bentley Blower Vs GTC Speed (Mar 08); Maserati border run (Jul 08); KTM X-Bow to Liwa (Mar 09); Vanishing Point (May 09); 8-car compact SUV test (Jun 09); Defender to haunted village (Aug 09); Rolls Royce to Salalah (Oct 09); and Challenger Vs Mustang as the first cars on Yas Circuit’s drag strip.

Shahzad Sheikh

It’s the ultimate for any die-hard petrolhead: driving a Formula 1 car.

As a non-racer, it’s something I never dreamt I’d achieve. I felt pretty good about myself too, until I got taken around in two-seater and shown how it’s really done! (Nov 07)

My then deputy, Jon Saxon and I swapped places as he became the boss, when we spent 48 hours with a Maybach. Where to sir? (Oct 06) Rally trucks, beach buggies, quads, bikes and a snowmobile! – Noel Ebdon shrugged off sunburn and dehydration to thrash them all. He was in heaven. And I got to ‘fly’ a hovercraft. (Aug 08)

A full day of walking through London’s West End, chasing Arab-registered cars.

(Sep 09) They said it couldn’t be done... Right then chaps, let’s get to it!

Our own MINI adventure as we attempted to drive three MINIs through all seven Emirates in Seven hours. (Nov 06) CARMIDDLEEAST.COM I NOVEMBER 2010

84 FEATURE DRIVE | LAMBORGHINI SUPERLEGGERA

The Superleggera is lighter, faster, laced with carbon fibre and adorned with absurd aerodynamics. It provides purity of purpose, clarity of control and elevates even the mediocre driver to a knife-edge master...

And yet it’s the wrong Gallardo admits Shahzad Sheikh P H O T O G R A P H Y :

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | NOVEMBER 2010

J O R G E

F E R R A R I

NOVEMBER 2010 | CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

86 FEATURE DRIVE | LAMBORGHINI SUPERLEGGERA LONG AFTER I HAD returned the Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera LP 570-4 (that’s its full mouthful of a name) to its home at Al Jaziri Motors in Dubai, I could still feel it. I felt it through the nagging pain in the lower back resulting from the pounding during launch control acceleration; the bruised ribs that had compressed against the hard lateral bolsters of the carbon fibre race seats; the aching shoulders from wrestling with steering that delivered unprecedented force-feedback, and through the crick in the neck from trying to resist outrageous g-forces.

You’d think I’d be sliding into a Radox bath and looking forward to a long snooze later on to allow my sore body to recover. But far from relaxing, I’ve put my brain into overdrive in order to come up with some viable excuse to ask for the Superleggera back, because frankly I don’t think I’ve quite driven it enough yet. Call me a masochist if you wish – do I look like I care?

If you think ‘regular’ Lamborghinis are a bit wild (and you’re right, they are), the Superleggera is the X-rated hardcore version that should rightly be banned everywhere. You shouldn’t even be able to see it. Instead there should just be a ‘blocked’ notification from Etisalat hovering in your POV every time you attempt to set eyes on the latest Gallardo. If the sight, sound, and dare I say, smell, of this thing doesn’t get your blood pumping to parts it shouldn’t really be going, you should not be reading this magazine. This road-hugging Euro-rocket is pure car porn.

Reventon-like deep trapezoidal frames around the front air intakes immediately stand this Gallardo out. The front fender side vents now bulge outwards and spit out a graphic that continues into the door and tapers to the rear vent with the signature ‘Superleggera’ script. The side sills are new, so are the tailpipes and the rear diffuser – and with all that overt aerodynamics being put to work, why opt for the demure standard spoiler when you can have the larger wing and even more downforce?

The car in these pictures, which I’ve dubbed ‘White Heat’, makes the most of its liberal carbon fibre accessorising with the high-contrast material punctuating the shimmering low-flying projectile in the desert’s midday sun. It appears to be doing Mach 1 standing still. At just 117cm tall – barely above my waist – it’s so low there’s a hydraulic lift system at the front to stop you beaching it on particularly obtuse speed bumps.

So apart from looks that are sharp enough to cut your eyeballs, how else does this differ from a ‘regular’ Gallardo? Well the clue is in the name.

‘Superlight’ confirms the success of its diet programme – it is 70kg lighter than an LP 560-4.

More than half of that comes from splashing out on carbon fibre. The distinctive weave of the exotic black stuff is in evidence throughout the interior – the centre console, the dash, the door panel, a little piece on the pull-straps (surely superfluous) and it’s seeped through to the exterior. The spoilers, sills, diffusers are all made of the costly composite.

‘If the sight, sound, and dare I say, smell of this thing doesn’t get your blood pumping, you should not be reading this magazine’

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | NOVEMBER 2010

Even the rear and side windows and engine cover are moulded from lighter polycarbonate.

Back inside weighty leather has been ditched for lighter Alcantara and it’s everywhere the black weave isn’t, including most of the steering wheel.

Which is unfortunate, because with a fair number of sweaty palms already having gripped it necessarily tightly, it is looking decidedly well-worn on this otherwise factory fresh car. Even the forged 19-inch alloy wheels save 13kg.

Being the lightest road-going Lamborghini in the current range was not enough. By fiddling with the ECU another 10bhp has been liberated from the mighty 5.2-litre Audi-derived V10 power unit – that’s actually 42bhp up on the old Superleggera. Interestingly, and probably deliberately, the resulting 562bhp is exactly the same as the Ferrari 458 Italia. Subtle, this Lamborghini is not. The peak power arrives at a gloriously stratospheric 8000rpm.

Informing you at this point that this car accelerates from standstill to 100kph in less than three and a half seconds is like saying Shakira is rather good at swinging her bottom around, which is true, but doesn’t accurately convey the mesmerising muse. Instead, find yourself a long empty stretch of Tarmac with clear visibility well ahead, and I mean enough space to land a convoy of Airbus 380s. With the E-gear transmission in Corsa mode (fast changes, responsive throttle, loud exhaust) and the ESP switched off, pull once on the right paddle to select first. Apply left foot

87

Reventon-inspired front air-intakes, delicate lightweight wheels and big wing stand this apart from regular Gallardos

NOVEMBER 2010 | CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

88 FEATURE DRIVE | LAMBORGHINI SUPERLEGGERA firmly on the brake and with the right squeeze the throttle to bring revs up to 5000rpm and hold.

Finally say a little prayer, brace yourself and side-step the anchors.

Despite its four-wheel drive status, 70 percent of the power is sent to the rear wheels so there’s a slight chirrup from the near track-spec Pirelli P Zero Corsas on the rear before the drivetrain sorts itself out. Then the four-wheel drive grips and snaps you forward with a brutality that will leave you breathless, slightly in shock and perhaps a little soiled. You go through a mental check to evaluate possible internal damage as your bodily sack of bones and organs tries to catch up with the car and spring back into shape. Meanwhile the engine note has gone into an F1-style banshee wail and the revs are closing in on the 8500rpm redline and its time to crack in the second ratio.

You’ve heard of torque steer? Well hang on to your tendons, because this is something else! The whole car momentarily twists to the left as the clutch slams in and nearly 400lb ft of torque attempts to rip the longitudinally-mounted engine clean off its mounts (they’ve been toughened thankfully). But stay your nerves, hold steady the steering and it will instantly regain its poise and continue its charge at the horizon. 100kph passes by in a blink, and alarmingly you’ve blasted across the 200kph mark in just 10.2 seconds. If you’re up for it, and if there’s enough room with no camels in sight, 325kph is the terminal velocity.

In the past the E-gear sequential shift has come in for much criticism on the Gallardos and rightly so. Everything about it, from the absurd placement of the reverse-engaging button on the dashboard near the door, to the clunky and clumsy rifle-bolt gear changes that left you lurching at normal speeds yet shattered fillings at full bore, felt archaic in the new world order of double-clutch synch-quick trannies that change as quick as the synapses firing in your head.

To be fair, the E-gear still isn’t the best solution, but it’s been honed and refined to the point where the changes are satisfyingly snappy at speed without causing consternation over self-destructing gearboxes. Plus it does a remarkable job of smothering low speed shifts in a close approximation of a decent auto. The only real criticism remaining is that the paddles are too small – you find your left fingers flicking at air in vain when you’re trying to downshift out of a fast corner.

If this test was just about speed, this car would be almost unsurpassable, but to truly attain its exalted status as one of the greatest driving cars ever, it has to be an extraordinary steer. So you must find some corners, grow a set of big ones and trust the clever four-wheel drive (leaving ESP on this time!).

As speed builds the helm goes from reasonably manageable to bicep-taxing. There’s an overload of information being transmitted through your fingertips, which is compounded by the reverbs CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | NOVEMBER 2010

‘The whole car twists to the left as nearly 400lb ft of torque attempts to rip the engine clean off its mounts’

LAMBORGHINI SUPERLEGGERA PRICE I $238,400 ON SALE I Now ENGINE I Mid-mounted 5204cc, 10cyl, 562bhp @ 8000, 398lb ft @ 6500 TRANSMISSION I E-gear 6-speed automated manual, four-wheel drive WEIGHT/MADE FROM I 1340kg/aluminium and carbon fibre PERFORMANCE I 3.4sec 0-100kph, 325kph, 13.5l/100km RATING I +++++

LAMBORGHINI SUPERLEGGERA | FEATURE DRIVE 89

There are few cars on this planet that are quicker, more dramatic and as forgiving as this

NOVEMBER 2010 | CARMIDDLEEAST.COM

90 FEATURE DRIVE | LAMBORGHINI SUPERLEGGERA

‘There is a hint of understeer on initial turn-in. What to do? Just push through it. Drive harder!’

through your buttocks as the race-car hard ride keeps everything flat, low and level, but makes even painted stripes feel like bone-jarring bumps (the suspension is unchanged but the dampers and spring rates are wound-up tight with settings similar to the Super Trofeo race cars). As I drive over camel droppings, I can not only tell you how many (11) but that the creature in question had been chewing on a Spinney’s bag the day before – tragic the litter people leave in the desert!

Steering response is so sharp that if you cough you could end up facing the other way. But whilst it’s eager and nimble there is a hint of understeer from the light nose on initial turn-in (only 43 percent of the weight is over the front wheels).

What to do? Just push through it. Drive harder!

It’s an astonishingly easy car to thrash for a novice. Far from being intimidating and threatening to make your children orphans at every corner,

CARMIDDLEEAST.COM | NOVEMBER 2010

you can push this thing with relatively modest skill. And as the neutral attitude and phenomenal grip is finally overtaken, it doesn’t go spinning into oblivion, booking you a priority appointment with Mr. G Reaper. Instead all four-wheels break away, gracefully floating across the surface laterally before the traction voodoo kicks in and sets you right. If you have the cojones of a Blue Whale and the reactions of a Cheetah, turn ESP off and you could be a Lamborghini drift legend.

Whilst the Gallardo is not exactly meek, the Superleggera is louder and somehow more flamboyant and outrageous still. Driving it is an intense experience. Adrenaline junkies will love this car because you find copious amounts of the chemical coursing through your veins each time you emerge from a fast run. Few cars are so exhilarating and compared to its lesser sibling this is staggeringly quicker and implausibly

planted. Despite the raging bull badge, you don’t fight this car, but it does goad you on and then rewards your efforts. It’s supremely satisfying to drive hard and incredibly rewarding. It is a race car that’s somehow escaped the confines of the track – where sadly, and ironically, so few of these cars will ever venture – and ended up terrorising innocent Yaris-infested neighbourhoods.

In the final reckoning that’s probably all a bit too much. The ‘normal’ Gallardo will deliver 90 percent of the experience, plus it’s $35,000 cheaper, and eminently easier to live with and drive every day. The ride is vastly better and it is only threetenths slower to 100kph from standstill. It also remains one of the most dramatic-looking cars on the road today – with or without the wing. But having tasted the forbidden fruit, it would be hard to resist going ‘Superlight’ even if it means having your chiropractor on speed dial