SATURDAY, 11 APRIL, 2015
Newlook RAV4 gets all edgy
Boost for Project M
ALWYN VILJOEN
ALWYN VILJOEN
AFTER letting the shortlived allelec tric RAV4 die an unmourned death, Toyota this week showed the first hybrid RAV4 at the New York Interna tional Auto Show. It has the same drivetrain as the Lexus NX300h, with a 2,5litre fourcyl inder petrol engine and an electric motor for each axle, all linked to a con tinuously variable transmission. As is the norm with Toyota, there is not and will never be a plugin point to charge the batteries, which is recharged by the petrol engine that combusts on the Atkinson cycle for better economy. It is the seventh hybrid in the Toyota stable, following 14 years after the launch of the Prius, and shows Toyota is not just developing a hydrogen future for cars — for now. For the RAV4, Toyota’s engineers opted for allwheel drive only, while the NX300h can shift between front and allwheel drive. In the U.S., the RAV4 will sell from $23 680 (R284 000), but low sales of hybrids in SA means we won’t get to see this version on our dirt roads. While the hybrid will not join the lo cal lineup, a select number of upgrades will be incorporated into the South Af rican range within the next year. RAV4’s new frontal design generates a stronger road presence and includes full LED headlights for the first time. To the side, there is a new rocker panel that creates a more flowing look, and at the rear the combination lamps and bumper have been reworked, adding yet more emphasis to the car’s road stance. The sensory quality of the cabin has been raised significantly with the adop tion of new combination meters, a full colour TFT screen and softtouch ma terials throughout. New technology features include To yota’s 360° Panoramic View Monitor, which gives the driver sight of obstacles that would remain hidden in blind spots when using conventional front and rear cameras, making for safer and easier manoeuvring. RAV4’s safety specification is signifi cantly improved with the addition of the new Toyota Safety Sense suite of features. In addition to the PreColli sion System, Lane Departure Alert, Automatic High Beam and Road Sign Assist features that will also be included in the package for new Avensis and Auris, RAV4 will further benefit from Adaptive Cruise Control and two sig nificant enhancements to the basic Pre Collision System functions. Firstly, for potential collisions with vehicles, PreCollision System operates at an expanded relative speed range of between 10 km/h and the vehicle’s top speed, and can reduce speed by approx imately 40 km/h. Secondly, the system is also able to detect potential collisions with pedestrians, in the event of which automated braking operates at relative speeds of between 10 to 80 km/h, and can reduce vehicle speed by approxi mately 30 km/h. South African specifications and fur ther details will be announced closer to the onsale date.
THE dream of Durbanborn Gordon Murray to build a city car for the world this week received another boost with the news that Shell and engine specialist Osamu Goto is now on board. Murray, best known for the McLaren F1, in 2009 announced his dream to have cars that fit into reallife traffic, rather than exceed people’s wildest dreams. Yamaha has since been the first to see economic sense in this vision, and now Shell’s Lubricant’s Technology Team, The Gordon Murray Design Group and engine specialist Geo Technology will collaborate on furthering a city car called Project M. The three parties last collaborated in 1988 on Ayrton Senna’s and Alain Prost’s Hon da™powered, Shellfuelled race cars that won all but one Grands Prix that season, a record that still stands. Shell and Professor Gordon Murray go even further back; Shell sponsored the first car and engine Murray ever built, in South Africa, when he was just 19. Their latest coengineering relationship means that the devel opment of the lubricants, engine and vehicle will be completely in tegrated, delivering results neither group could achieve by working apart. Shell vice president of Lubricants Technology Selda Gunsel said the global city car uses the most innovative aspects of lightweight engineering, stream lining and driveline efficiency to move people around the world’s
Durbanborn car design guru’s world city car dream speeds ahead
The city car dream of Durban’s finest car designer, Professor Gordon Murray, is a step closer to reality. PHOTO: NEWSPRESS.COM evermore congested cities where, by 2050, up to three quarters of the world’s estimated nine billion people could be living. If people buy the city car, it may force changes in the current manufacturing process of cars, which makes as much profit from tax rebates as from “channel
stuffing” the dealer lots with too many new models, which dealers then have to move at greatly discounted prices. The Shell car is scheduled to be unveiled in November 2015 and you can follow the development of the car through the website www.shell.com/Projectm.
X5 looks to China’s rising hybrid sales
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ALWYN VILJOEN BMW has announced that the Auto Shanghai show in China will see the launch of the hybrid X5. While China currently ranks third behind the U.S. and Japan in terms of electric and hybrid vehicle sales, total sales of these cars and buses shot up 320% from 2013 to 2014, with the hybrid seg ment rocketing up 880% from 2013. New laws to limit pollution in cities may soon see Chinese driv ers buy more electric and hybrid cars than any other market, which explains BMW’s decision to give the hybrid X5 its world premiere in Shanghai. A 2,0litre TwinPower Turbo fourcylinder petrol engine linked to an electric motor gives the BMW X5 xDrive40e a total system output of 230 kW, but BMW claims a combined fuel consump tion of only 3,3 litres per 100 kilometres. If owners can match these
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With Chinese laws to limit smog boosting the sales of hybrid cars, BMW plans to launch its X5 hybrid at the Auto Shanghai show on April 20. PHOTO: SUPPLIED claimed figures, it will put the big Beemer’s fuel consumption in the same league as a 125 cc scooter, which typically gets three litres per 100 km. An eightspeed Steptronic transmission transfers the power to both axles as needed. The high voltage lithiumion battery is housed underneath the luggage compartment floor but there is still space for 500 litres with the seats up and more than treble this
with the rear seats down. The 250 Nm electric motor pro vides all the torque from zero revs, but can also boost the petrol en gine’s power to ensure a 0 to 100 km/h sprint in 6,8 seconds. In city traffic this X5 can run for 31 kilometres using only the bat tery power. No plans have been announced yet for South Africa, but the X5 hy brid also goes on sale in the U.S. in the last quarter.
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