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Cover story Bugatti Veyron Super Sport | First Drives 2011 Nissan GT-R, Audi A8 L, VW Touareg | Road Tests Alpina B5 S v Mercedes E 63 AMG, Corvettes across UAE | Motorsport DAMC Karting

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Cover story ATall timber: Toyota launches XXL Sequoia Japanese maker’s largest ever SUV hits the GGC

54

THIS Month

08

mission impossible

The standard Bugatti Veyron already redefines all notions of time and space, but the 431km/h, $3 million Super Sport flagship elevates performance to an even more absurd dimension

38

civil unrest

Alpina’s twin-turbo B5 S throws down the gauntlet to the rapid and desirable Mercedes E63 AMG

jaguar’s electric supercar Four electric motors and range-extending gas turbines distinguish C-X75 from the norm

News

Jaguar C-X75 steals Paris motor show

8

Stunning concept shows leaping cat can innovate

20

12

Lamborghini’s lightweight future

14

One million dirham SUV ‘invades’ UAE

14

Estoque still on Lambo’s agenda

16

RS5-based concept harks back to 1980s ancestor

2011 Nissan gt-r

High-tech Sesto Elemento goes on a massive diet

Revised all-paw road rocket is faster and cleverer

“One particularly large sand hill required a dash of bravery to keep the foot buried”

Audi Quattro gets reborn

44

Outrageous Lexus-based SUV packs 600bhp punch

Corvette safari Our occasional Aussie scribe Bruce Newton leads a rapid trek across the UAE in a pair of Corvettes

Four-door supercar may still make it to showrooms

Drives/features

2011 Nissan GT-R first drive

20

Nissan Juke first drive

22

Mercedes CLS 500 first drive

24

Audi A8L first drive

26

Volkswagen Touareg first drive

32

Civil unrest Comparison

38

Corvettes across UAE drive

44

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport drive

54

Raft of technical upgrades make this the ‘real GT-R’ SUV-sportscar crossover is an offbeat prospect Crisp new styling and twin-turbo V8 boost appeal

Ingolstadt’s new stretch limo delivers in most areas

Damien Reid

page 32

Revamped SUV makes some worthwhile gains

Alpina B5S squares up against Mercedes E63 AMG A quick trip across the Emirates? Let’s do it…

Last-hurrah flagship is more stupefying than ever

Lotus: The next five years inside story 58 CEO Dany Bahar unveils bold product-led vision

Manfred Fitzgerald Interview

66

Peugeot EX1 up close

80

Hammer time feature

84

Lamborghini design boss talks weight-loss therapy

Electric Pug has just one mission: to break records

Bonhams auction of collectors’ cars an eye-opener

58

Sport lotus blossoms

British sportscar specialist Lotus has thus far been content to be a micro-niche player, but that’s all set to change as the company wheels out five bold new concepts at the Paris show

UAE National Championships

94

DAMC Karting Championships

96

2010-11 race season fires up at Dubai Autodrome Huge fields line up to wage battle at Kartdrome

4 WWW.AUTOCAR.ae NOVEMBER 2010

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EDITORIAL

Group Managing Editor – Sport and Automotive Damien Reid Managing Editor Gautam Sharma Senior Sub Editor Elizabeth McGlynn Sub Editor Salil Kumar

Studio

Up front

Creative Director Aziz Kamel Art Director Janett Kheil Designer Samer Hamadeh

Going once, twice...

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HOW DO YOU find true value in the automotive market? Or, to put it another

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way, how do you get the maximum bang for each of the hard-earned dollars/ dirhams/dinars/riyals that you plan to outlay on a wheeled contraption? It’s probably not a bad time to pose this question as the ongoing economic crisis has prompted importers and dealers to bowl up some pretty tasty discounts and incentives on new cars. Free extras, no-cost servicing packages, extended warranties... you name it, dealers are offering it.

As far as I’m concerned, though, the true answer to the vehicular value conundrum lies in the second-hand approach. In 25 years of car ownership

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I’ve never once contemplated buying a brand-new motor – and nor will I in a

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hurry. The logic is simple: cars depreciate over time... never more drastically

Published by MediaquestCorp FZ Dubai Media City Al Thuraya Tower 2, 24th Floor UAE Tel: +971 4 391 0760 Fax: +971 4 390 8737 Printed at Emirates Printing Press, Dubai No part of this magazine may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form except by permission. The publisher makes every effort to ensure contents are correct but cannot accept responsibility for errors or omissions. Unsolicited material is submitted to Autocar entirely at the owner’s risk; the publisher accepts no responsibility for loss or damage. With regret, competitions and promotional offers, unless otherwise stated, are not available to readers outside the Middle East. Reproduction in whole or part of any photograph, text or illustration without written permission from the publisher is prohibited. Due care is taken to ensure that the content of Autocar Middle East is fully accurate, but the publisher and printer cannot accept liability for errors and omissions. © Mediaquest Corp FZ 2010. ISSN 1990-827X

than in the instant they drive out of the showroom. So there’s good sense in buying an ex-demonstrator or low-mileage used car. You get a near-new vehicle, and pocket a handy saving in the process.

Another way to get value is to focus your search on ‘depreciation disasters’.

These are vehicles that tend to drop a bundle in a hurry, making them canny purchases in the second-hand market – the poor sucker who bought it in the first place takes the hit, while you reap the dividends. As an example, Alfa Romeos aren’t blessed with the best residual values on the planet, which is

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perhaps partly the reason why I’ve owned no less than five of them. I recently parted company with my trusty Alfa GTV6, which had served me faithfully for

Editor Chas Hallett Editor-in-chief Steve Cropley Managing editor Allan Muir Editor-at-large Steve Sutcliffe Associate editor Hilton Holloway Features editor Matt Saunders Chief road tester Matt Prior Senior road tester Jamie Corstorphine News editor John McIlroy News Reporter Mark Tisshaw Chief photographer Stan Papior Scoop photographer Bernd Rauh Grand prix editor Alan Henry Group publishing manager Darren Pitt Publishing manager Mathew Joynson

four years during which I drove it, shall we say, “enthusiastically”. It’s now in

management Publishing director Stuart Forrest Group director Patrick Fuller

page 84). A total of 16 cars – wildly diverging in price and character – went

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the hands of a delightful chap named Baqir, who is nurturing it with much love and care, while I’m pedalling a hugely entertaining (and mildly modded) Renaultsport Clio 182 that I also picked up for a song. If it proves anywhere near as agreeable a companion as the Alfa, I’ll have little cause to complain.

While on the subject of used cars, it would be remiss of me not to mention the Bonhams auction of collectors’ cars staged in Dubai last month (see story on under the hammer, with 10 of them finding new owners on the night. The true collectors’ cars may have attracted princely outlays, but there were a couple of savvy bidders who picked up good deals.

How does a well-kept 1996 Aston Martin DB7 Volante for $26k sound? Or a 1979 Rolls-Royce Camargue for $36k? To me, that’s real value...

Gautam Sharma Managing Editor

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NEWS

Jag’s electric su p n Four electric motors give 780bhp, 1600Nm n 0-300km/h in a Veyron-beating 15.7sec

J

aguar made waves at last month’s Paris motor show with a surprise ultra-low emissions supercar that could catapult it back into the rarefied market it left in 1994, when the 350km/h XJ220 ended production.

The C-X75 pictured here was unveiled to the world’s media at the Paris show’s press day and succeeded in upstaging every other concept. Jaguar officially describes it as “a commemoration of 75 years of Jaguar heritage, and a glimpse at the design cues and technology that will characterise our cars in the future.”

But internally, as Autocar can reveal, Jaguar considers the car almost wholly realistic for production and it has ambitions to bring it to the road, relaunching Jaguar as a powerful, forwardlooking force in the supercar world.

“With the current XK, XF and XJ, we’ve refreshed and enhanced the public’s perception of the Jaguar brand,” explained deputy design director Julian Thomson.

“The time’s right for us to push on again. To make people aware that we can make an even more exotic and special kind of car — a true supercar that’s sustainable and future-proof, and that also combines performance, luxury and beauty in a way that only a Jaguar can.”

What makes the C-X75 particularly remarkable is

its experimental powertrain.

Powering this 4.6m-long, 330km/h, two-seat berlinetta are four 195bhp electric motors, one at each wheel. They give a combined 780bhp and 1600Nm of torque, and provide for zeroemissions running, dynamicsenhancing torque vectoring, and pace that even an XJ220 couldn’t match: 0-100km/h in 3.4sec, 0-160km/h in 5.5sec and 0-300 in a Veyron-beating 15.7sec.

“The electric powertrain gave us total freedom to give the C-X75 absolutely perfect stance and proportion,” said Thomson. “In conventional supercars, you’re hampered by accommodating a large piston engine, but using four relatively small electric motors instead meant we could keep the car low to the ground and put the driver precisely in the middle of the wheelbase, right where you’d ideally like to be.”

Jaguar design chief Ian Callum is already on record with his view that this car is the most beautiful Jaguar that the company has ever produced — prettier, even, than the 1966 XJ13 prototype racer. He said: “The C-X75 is as close to a pure art form as a concept car can get.” Its grille and headlights, and pure fuselage-like body surfaces, are also a clue towards the looks of Jaguar’s next XK, and its oftenrumoured smaller sports car.

The C-X75 is no strict EV but a range-extended plug-in hybrid ◊

Turbines’ exhaust gases can be redirected to a large rear venturi to boost downforce

Pedals and wheel adjust; both se

official pictures

KEY QUESTION: Should Jag return to the supercar arena?

The C-X75 is the last thing we expected from Jaguar.

Back when Aston Martin was its sister brand, a supercar was considered far beyond Jaguar’s remit. In those days, its executive board was interested only in models that might sell in tens of thousands a year, not handfuls.

But under Tata Motors, Jaguar has a freedom it never enjoyed under Ford. Julian Thomson and his team believe the time is right for the C-X75. If they’re right, there could be no greater proof of the huge shift in perception of the Jaguar brand over the past decade.

It remains to be seen whether the Jaguar badge can compete with Porsche, Ferrari, McLaren et al at a six-figure price point; whether cars like the C and D-type are current enough to conjure buyers’ interest in a new Jaguar supercar. For me, though, the athleticism of its current production crop promises great things.

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Jaguar C-X75

u percar stunner

ec

n Turbines extend range to 900km n Styling hints at future Jags n Weighs just 1350kg

l adjust; both seats are fixed in the car’s centre

Gimbal-style speedo and power gauge are ringed by turbine graphics

Mid-mounted turbines can charge batteries or supply extra power

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NEWS ∆ of an unprecedented sort. It has an electric-only range of 110km, but backing this up is a pair of miniature gas turbines mounted behind the cabin that could be run on diesel, biofuel, compressed natural gas or LPG. The turbines produce 188bhp (140kW) of electrical power spinning at 80,000rpm. This can be used either to supplement the output of the car’s lithium-ion batteries or to recharge them on the run and extend the car’s cruising range to a theoretical 900km maximum.

The turbines, made by the UK’s Bladon Jets, are still experimental and have never been integrated into a production car. Capable of swallowing more than 1000 litres of air per second between them, and running very high exhaust temperatures, their suitability for this kind of application remains to be proven. However, their size and efficiency made them particularly attractive to Thomson’s team.

“The turbines are a designer’s dream,” he told us. “They’re compact, efficient and much lower maintenance than a piston engine. They also give us the opportunity to give the C-X75 active aerodynamics.” In Jaguar’s vision for the car, the turbines’ hot exhaust gas could, at the flick of a switch, be channelled under the C-X75 and past its large underbody venturi, increasing downforce on demand.

official pictures

Aircraft inspired details abound; note door releases on seats “The turbines are also magnificent to look at,” Thomson said. “They’ve provided an aeronautical inspiration for the styling of the C-X75, which is a perfect match for Jaguar.”

The experimental supercar has 21in and 22in alloy wheels

and air vents designed to mimic its turbines’ look. It also has a jet-fighter-like roof-mounted control panel, an aircraft throttlestyle gear selector, and interior door handles situated between the occupants’ legs, designed like ejection handles.

Underpinning the C-X75 is a bonded aluminium chassis similar to the one used in Jaguar’s current production range and it contributes to a low overall kerb weight of 1350kg.

Cabin highlights include gimbal-style LCD instruments,

fixed seats, an adjustable pedal box, steering column and instrument panel, and Bowers & Wilkins hi-fi nano speakers hidden behind perforated wave-formed door panels.

Matt Saunders

‘Motors give 780bhp and 1600Nm of torque and provide pace that even an XJ220 couldn’t match’ [[1L]] 10 WWW.AUTOCAR.ae WWW.AUTOCAR.co.uk NOVEMBER 18 NOVEMBER 2010 2009

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Jaguar C-X75

JAGUAR C-X75: the 21st century C-type in detail ELECTRIC POWERTRAIN

TURBINE GENERATORS

The C-X75 has one motor per wheel, supplying 780bhp and 1600Nm of torque available throughout most of the rev range. Battery pack is a 19.6kWh lithium-ion unit, good for 110km on battery power alone.

BODY STYLING

Described as “pure, clean and uncomplicated”. You won’t see any of the panel creases often used to disguise visual mass in other cars. Flared arches reference Malcolm Sayer’s ‘fuselage’ look.

They weigh 35kg apiece, spin at 80,000rpm, and produce a constant 70kW of power each, which can be used either to extend the C-X75’s range up to 900km or to supplement the batteries at peak demand.

DRIVING POSITION

Located precisely in the middle of the wheelbase; your head is just in front of the air intakes for those turbines.

Bucket seats are fixed; the pedals and steering column motor towards you for reach adjustment.

This may be the most beautiful Jaguar ever produced, says Callum

ACTIVE AERODYNAMICS

The C-X75 shuns the spoilers normally seen on 200mph cars, allowing for a drag coefficient of 0.32.

There’s a large rear venturi over which the turbine exhaust can be channelled to increase downforce.

Q&A Julian Thomson,deputy design director,Jaguar What were your primary goals for the C-X75?

We wanted to take the shackles off the design team, to allow them to create a really uncompromised car and a great celebration of Jaguar’s history. We also wanted to prove that building a low-emissions car doesn’t mean you can’t make it luxurious, beautiful or fast. We wanted to show that Jaguar can have a fantastic future.

Isn’t it a little far-fetched?

I hope not. This is an advanced concept car that’s meant to challenge and excite people, both internally at Jaguar and externally. But if you can’t imagine it on your driveway, we’ve done something wrong.

How soon could Jaguar make a road car with this kind of range-extended hybrid system?

The turbines are experimental, but all the other technology on the car is available to us now. If the decision was made tomorrow, I’d expect the company to be capable of productionising the car within four or five years.

Could this car’s exterior design be adapted to accommodate a more conventional powertrain?

The electric motors are very easy to package, and the turbines are small — they really allowed this car’s proportions to be so perfect.

It wouldn’t look so different with a small mid-mounted piston engine, but it wouldn’t have the same kind of performance.

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NEWS official pictures

Audi Quattro gets reborn Lightweight, RS5-based two-seater concept gets aluminium and carbonfibre bodywork Audi celebratED the 30th anniversary of its iconic Quattro with this Paris show star: the purposeful looking Quattro Concept.

Based on a shortened RS5 platform, the concept is actually closer in spirit to 1984’s Sport Quattro, a more compact version of the original coupé that was designed to improve the car’s agility on the world’s rallying stages.

The concept’s wheelbase is 150mm shorter than the RS5’s, its roofline is around 40mm lower and the 4.28m overall length is around the same as a Volkswagen Scirocco’s. Unlike the RS5, though, the concept is a strict two-seater.

Most of the bodywork is aluminium, but the bonnet and rear hatchback are carbonfibre. Audi says the car weighs approximately 1300kg, around the same as the Sport Quattro.

The Quattro Concept is powered by the fivecylinder twin-turbo engine from the TT-RS, mounted longitudinally in a shortened version of the underpinnings used on the RS5 coupe. With the twin-turbo engine pumping out 400bhp and traction delivered by the RS5’s sophisticated all-wheel-drive system, the Quattro Concept promises stunning performance. Audi claims a 3.9sec 0-100km/h time.

The front styling is dominated by a huge rectangular grille, while the side profile’s key feature is an extrathick C-pillar that also has Audi’s four-ring logo stamped into its metal. No images of the cabin have been released, but Audi says it features a slender, ‘floating’ dashboard and bucket seats that are 40 per cent lighter than regular items.

Audi officials gauged reaction to the car at the Paris show with interest but the official line for now is that

it’s just a concept as a production version could be in danger of treading on the toes of the R8.

Audi’s other showstopper at the Paris expo was a Spyder version of its e-tron plug-in hybrid sports car. The Spyder variant is a diesel hybrid, in contrast to the pure-electric e-tron, which was shown at the Detroit motor show earlier this year. It has a twinturbocharged TDI unit powering the rear axle and a pair of electric motors at the front.

The new concept’s dimensions are similar to those of the original e-tron, though. At 1.8m wide and 4.06m long, it’s 13cm longer and 3cm wider than the all-electric version. Audi says the styling “hints at the design language of future Audi sports cars”, although it admits that the switch to a roofless configuration is also meant to differentiate this car from the all-electric variant.

E-tron SPYDER Quattro Concept is based on shortened RS5 platform

Roofless e-tron is a diesel-electric hybrid

quick news

Toyota LandCruiser chalks up 60th birthday

Toyota has launched a 60th Anniversary Series LandCruiser with value-add goodies that include blue mica metallic paint, coloured roof rails, 60th anniversary motifs, LED daytime running lights, new side indicators and a rear-view camera.

KTM X-Bow hits even harder

KTM has unveiled the X-Bow R, a more powerful and more track-focused version of the lightweight track-day special. It uses a tuned version of the Audi S3’s engine to boost power to as much as 300bhp.

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NEWS Focus ST’s gaping mouth seems big enough to swallowSesto VW Golf GTIs Sinister Elemento showcases Lambo’s weight-saving initiatives

Lambo’s lightweight future Dramatic ‘forged carbon’ Sesto Elemento weighs just 999kg; hints at next Gallardo Lamborghini previewed “the future of the company” with its Paris show concept, dubbed the Sesto Elemento. The show car is named after the symbol for carbon in the periodic table — the sixth element — and has a powerto-weight ratio similar to that of a superbike. It was created with help from aircraft giant Boeing.

The Sesto Elemento is made largely from a brand new material referred to by Lamborghini as forged carbon. This machine is a clear indication of what the next Gallardo might look like when it appears in two years’ time, and what it will be made of.

At just 999kg, the car is extraordinarily light, considering that it’s also four-wheel drive and contains the potent running gear from the current Gallardo Superleggera. This gives it a power-to-weight ratio of 570bhp per tonne; by comparison, the rear-drive Ferrari 458 Italia has 370bhp per tonne.

As a result, the Sesto Elemento boasts the kind of performance that only superbike riders and Bugatti Veyron owners will be familiar with. Lamborghini quotes a 0-100km/h time of just 2.5sec, with a top speed the same as that of the harcdore Superleggera.

The standing quarter mile is rumoured to be below the magic 10-second barrier, putting the car clear of even the mighty Veyron. Yet because the Sesto Elemento is a third of a tonne lighter than the Superleggera, it’s also more economical and cleaner.

“Every future Lamborghini will be touched by the spirit of the Sesto Elemento,” said Lamborghini boss Stephan Winkelmann. This is a tacit admission that each new model from the supercar maker will make extensive use of forged carbon — although not, Autocar

understands, the next Murciélago replacement because this car’s development is already too far down the line to fully benefit from the new material.

Lamborghini has created forged carbon in conjunction with Boeing and the University of Washington. It costs roughly a third of the price of regular carbon fibre but is the same weight and is almost as stiff.

It’s manufactured in-house by Lamborghini at a new purposebuilt plant, and is made by first vacuum packing, then pressing a material similar to carbon beneath an 80-tonne load.

The Sesto’s tub is made from the new material, along with its doors, roof, bonnet, bumpers, major suspension components and virtually its entire interior, including the seats and dash.

“The structure of this car is at the centre of its function,” says engineering chief Maurizio Reggiani. “It represents a revolutionary way of building a car. This method is a true breakthrough and we are extremely excited about what it means for our future.”

Turn to P66 to read our exclusive interview with Lambo design chief Manfred Fitzgerald

One million dirham SUV ‘invades’ UAE In a classic case of too-muchis-never-enough, Nippon Motor Design Technologies used last month’s Middle East Motor Tuning Show to wheel out its outrageous AED1.16m ($315,000) Lexus LX570-based Invader L60, of which just 100 examples will be built and sold globally.

Befitting its boy-racer exterior makeover, the Invader’s supercharged 5.7-litre V8 boosts power from the donor vehicle’s 383bhp to a supercar-like 600bhp, enabling the gargantuan SUV to sprint from 0-100km/h in 5.5sec and reach a v-max of 260km/h.

Invader Technologies hopes the hand-built heavyweight will appeal to families looking for a car that combines pace with space.

The L60 comes with adjustable suspension, a performance

braking package, carbon fibre trim and leather seats. Those who really want to go the extra opulent mile can bling up the 22-inch wheels with 24K gold plating – but this will set you back an additional $20,000.

Such is the complexity of the car’s production, the Japanese company produces just four vehicles a month, with all assembly handled in Asia. While that presents challenges for eager buyers, the time lag could work in Invader’s favour as it boosts exclusivity value.

Three cars have so far been sold to UAE VIPs and the Gulf is one of four key global markets now targeted by Invader, along with Russia, Japan and the US. Next year, Invader Technologies plans to open a service station

Steroidal Invader L60 is arguably the fastest, priciest SUV on the ME market

and showroom in the UAE, and once the brand develops regionally it will also sell spare parts. Two more models are in the offing: a coupé, due for launch at the Geneva Motor Show next March, and another SUV.

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ADV 2 Autocar Bahrain special 220X295 mm

Ferrari Formula 1 driver, Fernando Alonso, wearing Ferrari Lifestyle SS 2010 collection

The passion of the Ferrari world

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NEWS

Estoque may yet be able to take the fight to the Porsche Panamera and Aston Martin Rapide

Four-door Lambo still on agenda Eye-catching Estoque sedan revealed two years ago could get the production green light Lamborghini’s stillborn Estoque fourdoor saloon concept previewed at the 2008 Paris motor show could be resurrected as part of a third model line, according to Lamborghini’s brand director, Manfred Fitzgerald.

Speaking exclusively to Autocar Middle East at this year’s Paris show, Fitzgerald said a third model line was definitely on the cards, but it had to be a totally different genre.

“For us, creating a smaller twoseat sports car wouldn’t make sense because we already have our brand in that area. A third line for us would have to offer a new direction to a completely different client.

“I have never ruled out the Estoque and you won’t find me ever rule it out. It’s not dead and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep it alive,”

he said. The family-sized Lambo, which was the star of the ’08 Paris show, was touted as a rival to the Aston Martin Rapide and Porsche Panamera.

The Estoque featured a frontmounted, 5.2-litre V10 engine from the Gallardo driving through all four wheels and would have retailed at roughly $230,000. At the time, Fitzgerald also suggested the Murcielago’s 6.0-litre V12 could be used as well as a V8 hybrid or even turbo-diesel options.

However, at the launch of the Gallardo 560-4 in Tenerife last April, just as the financial crisis deepened, company president Stephen Winklemann told Autocar Middle East that the Estoque had been put on hold indefinitely. But it now

seems the company is still focused on adding another model range and will be looking to launch as soon as market conditions improve.

“Any step (to add another model range) has to be well thought through.

We can’t afford to do it right now, but two years ago we showed the alternative as to where we think a third model line could fit in a credible way,” Fitzgerald said.

“Having just two models (Gallardo and Murcielago) is always volatile.

No matter how the economy swings, you’re subject to those swings, so a third line would balance that out and we’d be able to rebound faster and place the company in a safer financial situation. But right now it’s not the time to do so. Not yet.”

DAMIEN REID

Kartdrome unleashes Sodi RX250 The Dubai Kartdrome has bolstered its arrive-and-drive fleet with the launch of the state-of-the-art Sodi RX250 kart, pitched at experienced karters looking to take it to the next level.

The RX250 incorporates the latest brake and chassis tech and is powered by an ultra-modern 250cc, four-stroke injection engine that pumps out 22bhp.

The water-cooled engine has a progressive power delivery that makes the RX250 surprisingly easy to drive – even though it’s around six seconds a lap quicker around the Kartdrome than the basic 13.5bhp RX7 Sodikarts.

The karts offer ample adjustability, so drivers between 1.40 and 1.90m

can conjure up an agreeable driving position, and they also offer the possibility of compensating for different driver weights via a fastchange counterweight system.

The RX250 has an electrically selfcontained battery and can be started via a switch (rather than the pull cord found on the basic RX7 Sodikarts).

The RX250 is not for beginners and there are certain restrictions relating to how drivers can qualify to drive them on an arrive-and-drive basis or race in the SWS-based RX250 Master Cup. To qualify a driver needs to be 16 years or older and tick off at least one of the following conditions:

Sodi RX250s are an absolute hoot to drive

• Hold a valid UAE or International racing licence • Have entered and completed full RX250 Adult Tuition Course • Have on record at the Kartdrome that you have lapped the track in less than 75 seconds in the Sodi RX7 • Completed at least 10 sessions of arrive and drive at the Kartdrome without incident A 15-minute session in the RX250 costs AED160. The Kartdrome is also staging the RX250 Master Cup series, which counts towards the Sodi-W-Series and consists of a qualifying session and two sprint races, amounting to 45 to 50 minutes in the RX250 on race day.

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NEWS

Furtive-eGT sneaks in at Paris French race team Exagon Engineering has branched out into road cars and it provided proof of what’s in store by launching the Furtive-eGT at last month’s Paris show.

The new car has been developed with input from several top-line engineering firms, including Siemens Corporate Technology (engines), Saft (batteries) and Michelin (tyres).

The 4.5m-long Furtive-eGT has two electric motors, each producing the equivalent of 168bhp. Exagon claims the car can crack 0-100km/h in 3.5sec and reach a limited 250km/h. Its range is around 400km on electric power alone, but a small generator can extend this to just over 800km, using 25 litres of petrol.

Exagon does have prior experience with electric vehicles: it developed a one-off electric prototype, Andros Trophy ice-racer, during 2009. It aims to put the 2+2 Furtive-eGT on sale before the end of 2012.

Furtive-eGT is the first road car from race team Exagon Engineering

RANGE ROVER EVOQUE 5DR goes public This is the first image of the five-door version of the Range Rover Evoque. Land Rover boss Phil Popham has confirmed that the model will make its public debut at the Los Angeles motor show in mid-November.

Special Lambo Gallardo unveiled

Lamborghini has teamed up with Swiss watchmaker Blancpain to produce a special edition of its Gallardo supercar. The Blancpain edition gets race-inspired bodywork and the 562bhp V10 from the Superleggera.

SsangYong to build its way out of debt

SsangYong is to build two new models to compete in the B and D-segments as part of a three-year plan to drag itself out of debt. The company was estimated to be more than $320 million in arrears in March this year.

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FIRST DRIVES

quick facts Price $110,000+ (est) On sale 2011

Nissan GT-R With a raft of technical upgrades, this is the ‘real GT-R’ first verdict If you liked the old GT-R, you will like this one a little bit more. If you didn’t, you won’t

AAAAC When the Nissan GT-R was first shown late in 2007, its chief engineer, Kazutoshi Mizuno, made it clear it would take three further years to refine the concept to a point where the real GT-R would be revealed.

And this, apparently, is it.

Doesn’t look much different, does it? But it is. The significant styling changes may run to only some daytime running lights, a wider front grille and new carbon diffuser at the back, but mechanically the car has been comprehensively updated.

Tantalisingly enough, Mizuno is remaining coy about the numbers, but we know more boost and tweaked

valve timing have raised power from 478bhp to at least 523bhp. Moreover, there’s now a carbon strut brace across the engine compartment, modified dampers, tyres changed in compound, construction and pattern, bigger front brakes (up 10mm to 390mm), a 10 per cent increase in downforce and, would you believe it, even an improvement in economy and CO2 emissions.

What does this all add up to?

Nissan is not saying, at least for now. However, it’s fair to think that a 10th or two may have been felled from its claimed 3.6sec 0-100km/h time and its top speed will now be nearer 320km/h than 300km/h.

As for the Nürburgring lap time by which Nissan sets so much store, its team was going to have a crack the day I drove the car, but the weather precluded the attempt.

Instead, I slithered around the Nordschleife and discovered the extra outright punch to be less significant than the apparent broadening of the torque band. There are, of course, no figures available for this, but the GT-R always felt better one gear higher than first seems natural. But I’d say the bigger change affects the chassis, which seemed uncannily stable, albeit quite keen to push its nose wide of the apex in what were farcically slippery conditions on the track.

The big shock, however, seems to be how much Nissan is going to be charging. Just one version is likely to be sold in the ME, priced at over $110,000, but this will be confirmed closer to the launch. And while the GT-R is clearly and comprehensively improved, perhaps more could have been expected for that kind of premium.

GT-R gets de rigueur day time running lights

so good n even wider A performance envelope Sharper yet more stable handling Slightly cheaper to run

no good isual mods do little to V improve looks Likely to be very expensive Overly complex interior

Little has changed here; it’s still a techno-fest. Comprehensive mechanical tweaks mean GT-R’s limits are higher than ever

Nissan GT-R

Engine V6, 3799cc,

twin-turbo, petrol Power 523bhp at 6400rpm Torque 612Nm at 3200rpm Gearbox 6-spd dual-clutch auto Top speed 315km/h (est) 0-100km/h 3.5sec (est) Economy 23.5mpg (combined) 279g/km CO2 Kerb weight na Price $100,000+ (est)

Manufacturer’s claimed figures

Vitals

factfile

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FIRST DRIVES

first drive Price TBA On sale Late-2011

Nissan Juke 1.6 DiG-T An offbeat attempt at an SUV-sportscar crossover first verdict Dynamically flawed, but makes partial amends by being interesting

AAABC NISSAN’S JUKE launches in the Middle East in the second half of 2011, most likely in front-wheel-drive format with a normally aspirated 1.6-litre engine.

However, this was no reason for us not to sample the up-spec force-fed variant that’s a crossover between an SUV and – get this – a sports car. A 1.6 turbo with 188bhp provides what should be a hot-hatch level of shove.

At a touch over $27,000 (in the UK), the 4.1-metre-long Juke is of hot-hatch price and length, too, yet funkier looking than most. The styling cuts some width from the rear cabin and the boot, but I suspect not drastically

enough for it to be a deal breaker. The cabin’s cutely designed, too.

Do you feel, though, slightly unsettled about the idea of a cross between an SUV and a sports car?

Me too. From a marketing viewpoint, I can see the appeal. But from an engineering or driving perspective, you can imagine the compromises.

It’s certainly no full SUV. This test Juke is a front-wheel-drive model with road tyres, but at 1300kg and 1570mm it’s still heavier and taller than something sporting ought to be. So it seems to me that Nissan has done the obvious thing to get it to display some dynamism, and made it hard.

Too hard. I checked the tyre pressures after a drive, just in case they were massively overinflated.

They were fine. The ride, forever fidgety, is not so. On the road it reminded me a bit of an early Toyota

RAV4 or a tall current Honda Civic.

Sophisticated in feel it ain’t.

The firmness means body control is tight and there isn’t too much roll, but while the electrically assisted steering is respectable (albeit largely mute), traction is poor, especially in the wet, where the front washes out easily.

But the Juke is interesting and, in its way, fun. The drivetrain is sweet, providing brisk top-end urge with an idle so quiet that the revcounter sitting at 1000rpm is the only reassurance that it doesn’t stop-start.

In the end, though, for me the drivetrain, and the visual and conceptual appeal don’t quite do enough to overcome the Juke’s dynamic flaws – not in this model, at least. Perhaps other variants ride better. In the meantime, it seems to me that SUVs and sports cars mix better in theory than in practice.

Funky body style restric ts boot’s load area

so good xterior flair and interior E touches Good engine; tidy gearshift

no good ack of front-end bite L Has a particularly poor ride Renaultsport Clio is more fun

Appeal of Juke is its design, inside and out; 1.6 turbo car is quickest in range, but Nissan has made its ride far too hard

Nissan Juke 1.6 DiG-T Tekna

Engine 4 cyls in line, 1618cc,

turbo, petrol Power 188bhp at 5600rpm Torque 240Nm at 2000-5200rpm Gearbox 6-spd manual 0-100km/h 8.0sec Top speed 214km/h Economy 40.9mpg (combined) 159g/km CO2 Kerb weight 1289kg Price $27,000 (in UK)

Manufacturer’s claimed figures

PHOTOGRAPHY STAN PAPIOR

Vitals

factfile

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FIRST DRIVES

QUICK FACTS Price $110,000 (est) On sale Early 2011

Mercedes-Benz CLS500 Sharper new four-door coupé gets tougher looks and a twin-turbo V8 first verdict Definitive four-door coupé offers even more in return for its compromise on rear cabin space

AAAAC Of all the jobs on Mercedes design chief Gorden Wagener’s ‘to do’ list since 2008, he must have liked this one the least: come up with a betterlooking four-door than the CLS. His approach, according to Merc’s marketing men, was to dial an extra dose of visual muscle into the bodywork. “This is our James Bond car,” one company man explained.

“And if the last one was Pierce Brosnan, this new one’s Daniel Craig.”

Bring back Pierce, that’s what I say.

The new CLS’s body is lighter than the old car’s, with aluminium doors that save 24kg each, and it’s 10 per cent more aerodynamically efficient. It’s got an updated family of engines, a slightly roomier, richer and more contemporary cabin, a more sophisticated chassis and a load of new technology.

The new CLS is Mercedes’ first proper production model to get automatic engine stop-start, its first to get electromechanical power steering (see ‘New tech’) and the first road car in the world, Merc claims, with directional LED headlamps.

The 3.0-litre diesel version, which will account for most Euro sales, gets a new turbo and a lower compression

ratio for improved refinement. The petrol-sucking CLS500 relevant to our market uses a brand new twin-turbo 4.7-litre V8 that produces 20bhp more than the old naturally aspirated 5.5 and an extra 70Nm of torque while also being 25 per cent more economical. This 402bhp, near twotonne four-seater can hit 100km/h from rest in under 5.5sec yet should better 30mpg. In those respects, it’s a very modern sports saloon indeed.

TESTER’S NOTE

The design of the CLS’s body minimises wind noise. It’s whisper-quiet at speed. matt saunders

Mercedes is proud of this powertrain, and with every right.

The V8 is perfectly insulated under the long bonnet of the CLS. It has immediate throttle response and there’s no compromise on mechanical refinement for the addition of the turbos. The engine even sounds great.

It’s a pleasure to be back in a Mercedes sports saloon with forced induction. This car’s generous mid-range swell of torque makes rapid ground-covering effortless. The engine is very happy to be revved, but there’s no need to go after the redline now just to pull off that overtake safely. Credit to Mercedes, too, for the flawless software calibration of its seven-speed

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FIRST DRIVES

Audi A8 L

QUICK FACTS Price From $97,550 On sale Late-Nov

Ingolstadt’s latest stretch limo packs an eight-speed auto and a raft of techno mod-cons. A fully sprawled Gautam Sharma samples it It’s LITTLE MORE than a niche player in other markets – an elongated statement of wealth and social standing – but for Audi Middle East the new A8 L is nothing less than a mainstream model.

It’s one of the well-known anomalies that the premium ranges of Audi, BMW and Mercedes are their biggest sellers here, unlike most other markets where the A4, 3 Series and C-Class are the German trio’s bread-and-butter products.

A quick recap: the new thirdgeneration A8 made its debut in

Miami in November last year, but the international media launch of the long-wheelbase version didn’t take place until July this year. The drive route took us from Munich to Salzburg – mainly freeway stuff, with the odd sweeping country road thrown in.

The car goes on sale in the Middle East later this month, priced from $97,550 with the 4.2-litre V8 engine, initially the only powerplant on offer in our region. It’ll be supplemented next year by 3.0 V6 TFSI (turbo) and 6.3-litre W12 units.

First impressions? Although impressively finished and clearly reeking of quality, I find the latest A8 a little underwhelming to look at. Yes, the elaborately constructed LED headlights are a work of art, but the car as a whole is somewhat anonymous. It’s in distinct danger of being mistaken for a bloated A4.

For those who like getting about incognito, this is probably a good thing, but if you’re the type who likes to put on a bit of a show you’d be better of in an S-Class, 7 Series or Maserati Quattroporte.

The familiar Audi hallmarks are there in the latest A8: high waistline, clean, unfettered flanks and a good sense of overall proportion. It doesn’t look special, but it does have an air of restrained elegance that comes from its relatively unornamented minimalist styling.

Beneath the car’s aluminium skin lies an Audi Spaceframe Chassis (also fabricated from aluminium), a lightweight structure that brings obvious benefits in terms of fuel economy and CO2 emissions – a consideration that’s being brought

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Styling is arguably a backward step, but the CLS500’s ride and handling take a leap forwards; it’s a proper sports saloon

NEW TECH a turning point It’s amazing to think that Mercedes has stuck with hydraulic power steering for so long, when much of the rest of the car industry moved to electromechanical systems fully five years ago. “Until two years ago, our supplier simply couldn’t provide an electrical alternative powerful enough,” says programme manager Michael Kramer.

The CLS’s steering rack is all new too, from its pick-up points to its location. It’s much more direct than Mercedes’ steering tends to be, and has allowed Mercedes much more freedom to modify the CLS’s steering assistance in different situations. It’s also worth a five per cent saving on emissions and fuel consumption.

New steering aids agility and fuel economy

Cosseting four-seat cabin has a richer feel than that of previous model and slightly more space; noise levels are very low

400bhp with 31mpg Finely judged chassis tune Beautiful Mercedes cabin

no good Not quite as handsome as the last one Slightly confined, two-seat rear cabin

factfile MERCEDES-BENZ CLS500

Engine V8, 4663cc, turbo, petrol Installation Front, longitudinal, RWD Power 402bhp at 5000-5750rpm Torque 600Nm at 1600-4750rpm Transmission 7-spd auto 0-100km/h 5.5sec (est) Top speed 250km/h (limited) Economy 31.4mpg 210g/km CO2 Fuel tank 80 litres Boot 520 litres 8.5Jx18in, alloy Wheels Tyres 255/40 R18 Kerb weight 1890kg Price $110,000 (est)

MATT SAUNDERS

Manufacturer’s claimed figures

so good

got real poise and great agility in its locker.

Mercedes has pulled off something special. It has created a saloon with dynamism to spare, but which also has the refinement and compliance you expect from a Mercedes. Those back seats still feel a little confined for adults, but considering the extra responsiveness and driver entertainment the new CLS offers relative to ordinary mid-sized execs, and to an E-class in particular, you can’t fail to be impressed.

You may not think the new CLS is quite as pretty as the previous one, but in all other respects it is more appealing than ever.

Vitals

evement New twin-turbo V8 is quite an achi

automatic gearbox, which kicks down only when you need it to.

The V8 500 is the only version of the CLS available from launch with Airmatic air suspension as standard.

It gets 20mm wider tracks than the old CLS, as well as MacPherson strut/ multi-link chassis hardware borrowed from the E63 AMG saloon.

The CLS500’s chassis rates are lower than those of the AMG E-class, but still high enough for good body control during quicker driving on testing roads. That electromechanical steering is precise, responsive and direct. All of which means that, while so many ‘ordinary’ Mercedes models don’t feel composed enough when you up the pace, this one’s

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First Drive | Audi A8 L

∆ There’s an all-pervading sense of class and opulence and, in true Audi fashion, every switch, dial and trim element has an expensive feel to it.

If only the car’s exterior conveyed the same impression of luxury and exclusivity. Among the wow features are a touch-sensitive MMI (Multi Media Interface) screen that allows the driver to input navigation destination or a telephone number simply by writing on the pad with a finger. The satnav system uses Google Earth to display high-resolution 3D graphics, and it also provides guidance to the vehicle’s adaptive cruise control system, lane assist and optional night vision assistant.

Another world premiere is a night vision assistant with pedestrian recognition; the individual appears as a yellow silhouette normally, but this changes to red if the on-board software suggests he or she is about to become a bonnet ornament. The driver also receives an audible warning if this nasty scenario is imminent.

Audi’s drive select system and adaptive air suspension are standard kit, but if you have a wad of unwanted cash tucked in your mattress you can use this to specify the range-topping Bang & Olufsen Advanced Sound System – with more than 1,400 Watts and 19 speakers – and/or the full-LED headlight option. The standard beams are xenons, but they can be complemented by the optional adaptive light system with continuous headlight range control to prevent dazzling oncoming traffic.

Large single-frame grille an Audi trademark

Bang and Olufsen sound system has 19 speakers

Elegant, restrained A8 in danger of being mistaken for an enlarged A4

Rear end also doesn’t deviate from Audi styling manual

Ample scope for seat adjustability

Depending on how much ambient light you like in the cabin you can choose from the electric solar sunroof or an optional panoramic sunroof, which has a second, tilting rear section with a separate sunblind that can be operated from the front and rear of the car.

All in all, the A8 L is an impeccably presented and well-engineered limo. Not hugely characterful, but capable, comfortable and sumptuous nonetheless. L

Night vision with pedestrian recognition is a first

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FIRST DRIVES

Volkswagen Touareg 3.6 FSI

QUICK FACTS Price From $46,300 On sale Now

Volkswagen’s volume-selling Touareg scores a thorough revamp.

Damien Reid samples it on home soil THE soft sands surrounding Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates can easily trap the unwary and are usually only tackled with heavy duty off-roaders, yet this was the location for Volkswagen to unveil its 2011 Touareg to the regional press Its permanent four-wheel drive is a modified version of VW’s 4Motion all-wheel drive platform used on the Golf, Passat and Phaeton, but has been tweaked for greater offroadability. While it’s a permanent four-wheel drive with a Torsen limited-slip differential, a simple

rotary dial in the centre console slips the Touareg into its off-road programme so that it re-calibrates the anti-lock brakes and stability control for extreme conditions, as well as activates the hill descent control and adjusts the shift points of the eightspeed automatic transmission.

This latest Volkswagen is the first SUV to offer an eight-speed auto box, and while we kept it in second or third gear the whole time it was in the desert, on the highway, when it could stretch its legs, the shifts were luxury car smooth.

In the sand, the off-road programme did its job without fuss.

It’s not as sophisticated as Land Rover’s, which allows the driver to alter its setting for sand, snow, rock or muddy conditions. The Touareg’s unit is a single setting covering all low traction possibilities.

Crawling through the soft sand dunes, on the day it was faultless with no need to unpack the shovel or tow rope.

The 3.6-litre V6 produced torque at the right point and, combined with the altered shift patterns, our car

made an easy job of the challenges along the way just as long as you remembered that it doesn’t have huge V8 reserves of power of some of its competitors and kept the car rolling at all times.

One particularly large sand hill required a dash of bravery and commitment to keep the foot buried as we sailed over the crest with nothing but blue sky through the windscreen. Once the front wheels touched base again on the steep downward plunge, the hill descent assist kicked in and did its

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Highway cruising is a breeze thanks to super tall gearing from its eight-speed auto

by 17mm to 1709mm and it’s also 12mm wider. All up it gives the 2011 model a more purposeful appearance on the road, although being longer, lower and with reduced ground clearance compared to the previous model, there are bound to be limitations, which will test it off-road compared to the outgoing Touareg.

Initially the 2011 model is being offered with the V6 engine only and a V8 will follow sometime around the first quarter of next year. Its 3.6-litre V6 is claimed to be 20 per cent more fuel efficient, sipping 2.5 litres ◊

2011 Volkswagen Touareg 3.6 FSI

Engine 3.6-litre V6 276bhp at 6200rpm Power 360Nm from 3000rpm Torque Eight-speed automatic Transmission 2035kg Kerb weight Driven wheels Four-wheel drive 4795mm Length 1940mm Width 1709mm Height 2893mm Wheelbase Ground clearance 220mm Approach angle 22 degrees Departure angle 23 degrees From $46,300 Price

Manufacturer’s claimed figures

thing, guiding the car down nicely without any major drama or theatrics.

The Middle East is one of the first markets to get the new Touareg, which is marginally longer, lighter, sleeker with an improved drag co-efficient and roomier than the model it replaces. Weight is down by 208kg and its cargo space of 1642 litres remains unchanged.

At 4795mm in length, it’s 41mm longer than its predecessor, while the wheelbase has stretched by 38mm to 2893mm. Height has been reduced

Vitals

factfile

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First Drive | VW Touareg 3.6 FSI

Revisions to the rear styling are dominated by new taillights, bumper and stylised tail pipes

Power-operated park brake has moved to the centre console as a button. Interior is refined yet subtle

New Touareg swallows the same amount of cargo despite it having a more raked tail gate

∆ of fuel less than the old model for every 100km travelled. Yet it develops 280bhp and 360Nm of torque. Its improved economy is also partly due to the eight-speed box, which has dedicated its seventh and eighth gears as overdrive ratios.

When cruising in top gear, its engine speed drops by 34 per cent compared to sixth gear and it’s this tall gearing that contributes greatly to its fuel savings and reduced emissions.

Inside, the Touareg is all about understated elegance. In top spec mode it has a features list to rival the Porsche Cayenne on which it shares most of its DNA. Yet the extravagance of the fittings have been reserved only for the high performance brand.

With the Volkswagen you get the same luxuries but delivered in a far more subtle manner.

Outwardly, styling hasn’t changed much with the exception of the latest VW corporate-look grille and bi-xenon headlights with white LED surrounds. At the back, the taillights also get the VW corporate look first seen on the Mark 6 Golf ◊

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First Drive | VW Touareg 3.6 FSI

∆ as well as subtle changes to the tailpipes and rear bumper.

More detailed changes come inside and underneath such as the push-button parking brake, automatic stop-start engine shut-off system, an electronic oil level display that consigns the dipstick to the scrap yard, an enormous panoramic sunroof that virtually runs the full length of the car and a multi-camera operated safety system that gives you a bird’s eye view of all the external parameters of the car on one screen.

The last is particularly handy if you’re off the beaten track and negotiating narrow tracks, as it allows you to view obstacles right around the car that might otherwise damage the vehicle.

The bi-xenon lights include a feature called dynamic light assist, which uses a camera-based continuous main beam. This unit detects oncoming traffic and automatically adjusts its beam to reduce glare for the approaching motorist. Other safety features include lane and side assist, adaptive cruise control and front assist. L Keep the foot buried and the Touareg will get over most dunes

The torque of the V6 FSI was well matched for the job

Marginally lower ride height means treading more carefully through rutted tracks

Wider, lower and longer footprint aids stability

The Touareg shares much of its DNA with the new Porsche Cayenne

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civil unrest Jaguar XFR too civilised for you? Alpina and AMG both have thundersaloons that might suit.

Steve Sutcliffe holds on for dear life PHOTOGRAPHY stuart price

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Alpina B5 S v Merc E63 AMG | Comparison

B

etween them the new Alpina B5 S and Mercedes E63 AMG are not, let’s face it, the most ecologically sound means of carrying eight people and their chattels between points A and B. Collectively they blow 547 grams of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere for every kilometre they travel, quaff a gallon of high octane unleaded every 27-30km if driven how their makers intended, and produce a combined 1019bhp and 1330Nm. And yet for a particular type of customer (probably someone who didn’t vote Green at the last election, and who doesn’t do a huge number of miles each year but runs their car privately, not on the company) there is, for the time being at least, nothing else quite like them on the market right now. Even the breathtakingly brilliant Jaguar XFR isn’t quite in the same league when it comes to asphalt-munching, being a little too polished, and perhaps a touch too civilised to be mentioned in the same breath.

When it appears, the all-new BMW M5 will provide the perfect competition for this pair, what with its twin-turbo V8 engine and, you’d hope, a typically hardcore personality to go with it. Until then, though, if you want a true thundersaloon that can also deliver genuine refinement – albeit at the press of a button or two – the E63 and B5 S are pretty much the only cars worth considering.

And quite some pair they make, too.

The Alpina is based on the latest, some say greatest, F10 version of the inimitable 5-series, now in its sixth model cycle. Since its launch fewer than 12 months ago this car has again courted controversy, not this time because of the way it looks but because of the way it drives. There are those who feel that the all-new Five provides the clearest proof yet that BMW has lost its mojo, slightly, when it comes to creating the world’s ultimate driving machines.

The chief criticism is that there are now too many suspension options to choose

from, none of which provides the perfect balance between a silky ride and crisp handling. You can have one but not the other, it would appear, and one of the key reasons is that BMW continues to fit the car with runflat tyres as standard. Which is where the B5 S might just score a bullseye over its factory equivalent.

As ever, Alpina refits the car with an entirely different blend of rubber (Michelin Pilot SuperSports in this case) that is categorically not of the runflat variety. This alone should ensure that the B5 S outrides, and very possibly outhandles, anything that BMW produces right now. (Although the M5 won’t wear runflats either because M Division refuses to use them.)

Either way, what the B5 S would appear to represent is a marginally softer, but just as powerful and luxurious, version of a car that BMW itself hasn’t yet signed off. Power from the twin turbo, 4.4-litre V8 is a juicy 501bhp at 5500rpm, while torque is an even more impressive 700Nm at 3000rpm. ◊ NOVEMBER 2010 WWW.AUTOCAR.AE 39

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Comparison | Alpina B5 S v Merc E63 AMG

‘Despite Alpina’s tweaking, there isn’t a huge level of interaction available’ Alpina interior (far left) is standard 5-series apart from the steering wheel and its inset controls; E63 (left) has bespoke AMG instruments and sportier seats for a more focused feel

∆ The eight-speed automatic transmission, while related to that of the donor 5-series, has been further developed by Alpina and ZF. Although Alpina has tweaked the suspension, steering and ESP systems to deliver a more precise driving experience, the interior is entirely unchanged – apart from the steering wheel itself, which features an Alpina badge in its centre and has the company’s famously subtle gearchange buttons stitched into its spokes.

Other than this it’s standard 5-series inside, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Until, perhaps, you climb out of the Alpina and into the E63, and realise how much more committed the Mercedes looks and feels by comparison. The seats are of a far more serious shape, clamping you in position with more conviction behind the wheel courtesy of their deeper, more supportive side bolsters. The instruments are bespoke AMG items and lend the E63 a more focused atmosphere inside. Same goes

for the centre console and most of the dash; even the wheel is thicker and chunkier in the hands, providing the Mercedes with a more sporting feel.

The E63 doesn’t exactly get thumped to the canvas by the Alpina on paper, either.

From its thundering 6.2-litre engine (don’t ask why it’s called E63 when the engine capacity is 6208cc – not even AMG seems to know the answer) it summons 518bhp at 6800rpm and 630Nm at 5200rpm. What we are talking about is a mildly detuned version of the powertrain from the SLS, complete with that car’s seven-speed paddle shift semi-auto transmission. And in the case of our test car there was also AMG’s Performance Package option specified which, for about $4000, allows even more detailed fine tuning of the electronic dampers and provides a 40 per cent limited slip differential for extra amusement on wet roundabouts (or bone dry ones, too, come to mention it).

How do they compare on price? The Alpina costs about $120,000, the Mercedes $117,000, although both test cars contain options that take them either very near to or above the $140k barrier. In other words, big cars with lots of power and performance that also happen to cost lots of money. And which is the better of the two? As ever, that depends on what sort of driver you are.

On the road the Alpina initially feels softer and friendlier than the AMG. Its suspension – even in Sport mode – is more cosseting, its ride quieter and more relaxed. Its steering feels much like that of the regular 5-series; namely accurate, pleasantly grown-up in its damping but curiously devoid of anything you could describe as true feel.

Despite Alpina’s tweaking of the underpinnings and its undeniably excellent new tyres, there isn’t a huge level of interaction available via the B5’s major controls. It’s essentially a smooth and

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Comparison | Jag XKR v BMW M6

Alpina B5 S v Merc E63 AMG | Comparison

‘The E63 can’t compete with the Alpina when it comes to pure hot-rodding’ Twin turbos give the Alpina 4.4-litre V8 (far left) 501bhp and 700Nm; shorter gears and an extra ratio help it out-grunt the AMG (left), which musters 518bhp and 630Nm from its ‘atmo’ 6.2-litre V8

impressively refined car first and foremost, with less emphasis placed on razor-sharp responses than you might imagine. It feels like a heavy car beneath your backside, too, with a fair bit of inertia to keep in check should you choose to throw it around.

Which, incidentally, is something it doesn’t react to particularly well.

But my goodness it is also quick – not necessarily through corners but along anything you may choose to call a straight.

The combination of fairly short, very close gearing in the intermediate ratios and the small matter of having 700Nm under your right foot from 3000rpm

onwards makes the B5 S an absolute monster in a straight line. And it doesn’t seem to matter how many revs are showing, or what gear you are in at the time; when you ask the B5 S to go, it delivers, with one extraordinary hit of torque that fires you at the horizon and doesn’t let up until the gearing dictates at 307km/h.

Amazingly, the E63 can’t quite compete with the Alpina when it comes to pure hot-rodding. It might have more power at its disposal and weigh a little less than the B5, but when push comes to shove it is eclipsed by the Alpina, and it’s the AMG’s relative lack of torque that holds it back.

Plus the fact that it has one gear fewer and wider ratios where it counts.

Even so, the E63 is not a car you climb out of after a decent cross country blast and berate for its lack of performance. In isolation it is insanely rapid for such a big, heavy machine. Once you get the engine working in its best range – between 3500 and 6500rpm – it is monumentally fast, and the gearbox works with stupefying precision at the same time as well.

Where the E63 really comes into its own, though, is when there are corners and undulations involved. As a machine in which to bumble along a motorway it isn’t ◊ NOVEMBER 2010 WWW.AUTOCAR.AE 41

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Comparison | Alpina B5 S v Merc E63 AMG

$120,000 (ex-UK) 4.7sec 307km/h 26.2mpg (combined) 252g/km 1920kg

engine

Price 0-100km/h Top speed Economy CO2 emissions Kerb weight

Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG From $117,000 4.5sec 250km/h (limited) 22.4mpg (combined) 295g/km 1840kg V8, 6208cc, petrol

dimensions

the sort of person who wants to turn up in something different from everyone else, having travelled in fast, relaxed, refined comfort along the motorway, the Alpina takes an awful lot of beating. It is, in a way, the more grown-up car of the two in just about every respect, and you’d imagine that’s a deliberate tactic on Alpina’s behalf.

But the E63 is, by an equally clear margin, easily the more exciting of the two to drive, and yet it hardly lacks long-distance refinement in isolation. Pound for pound this is probably the best car AMG makes right now. It’s also the car that the M5 needs to beat when it goes on sale next year, so BMW will have to come up with something extraordinarily good. L

Alpina B5 S

Engine layout

Length Width Height Wheelbase Fuel tank Real-world range Boot

Front, longitudinal, rear-wheel drive 518bhp at 6800rpm 630Nm at 5200rpm 281bhp/tonne 83.4bhp/litre 11.3:1 Jag and its driver very soon become 7-spd automatic linked intuitively 4891mm 1872mm 1442mm 2874mm 80 litres 634km 540 litres

Front suspension MacPherson struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar Rear suspension Multi-link, coil springs, anti-roll bar Brakes Ventilated steel discs Wheels 20in alloy front/rear Tyres 255/35 ZR20 front; 285/30 ZR20 rear

Alpina boasts monstrous grunt in a straight line

∆ as chilled as the Alpina (although it’s better than many other AMGs in this respect). But the moment you come off the motorway and venture towards more interesting roads, the E63 walks all over the B5.

When you’re really going for it the AMG feels as if it weighs hundreds of kilograms less than the B5. From the way it turns in to corners to the way it stops, and the extra control its suspension displays when loaded up in a corner, the Mercedes is in a different league to the Alpina. It feels like a proper sports saloon – whereas the B5 is more an extremely fast limousine.

And that’s precisely why it depends what sort of driver you are, and what you want from a car, when deciding which wins. For

at each corner

Vitals

lairy limos

V8, 4395cc, petrol, twin turbo Installation Front, longitudinal, rear-wheel drive Power 501bhp at 5500rpm Torque 700Nm at 3000rpm Power to weight 261bhp/tonne Specific output 114bhp/litre Compression ratio 9.2:1 Gearbox 8-spd automatic 4899mm 1860mm 1469mm 2968mm 70 litres 650km 520 litres

Three-link, coil springs, anti-roll bar Multi-link, coil springs, anti-roll bar Ventilated composite discs 19in AMG alloy 255/35 ZR19 front, 285/30 ZR19 rear

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Drive | Corvettes across UAE

Vettes on patrol Antipodean roving reporter Bruce Newton leads an eye-opening expedition across the UAE in a pair of Corvettes PHOTOGRAPHY Justin deeley

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Corvettes across UAE | Drive Being a V8-loving Aussie, Newton was easily won over by muscle-bound Z06

‘The Z06 is a road-going version of the C6-R Le Mans racer, and it’s designed to go flat-out’ Beefy gunmetal alloys and body addenda boost Z06’s visual menace Our Aussie scribe was keen to leave his signature on the UAE blacktop

Long legs of 7.0-litre V8 make for effortless freeway loping

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Drive | Corvettes across UAE

‘The Z06’s small block loves to dig deeply, lustily and enthusiastically into its pushrod bowels...’ ∆ time to be grappling with the heavyweight Tremec T6060 six-speed manual gearbox and figuring out how it liaises with the meaty clutch and throttle.

We drive on the other side of the road in Australia, so getting the right arm and left-leg to co-operate, while driving on the ‘wrong’ side of a jammed road, is not the best way for a meet and greet. Still, we survive damage-free and to celebrate it’s windows down and full throttle in second gear through a succession of freeway underpasses. Oh, what a glorious thunder!

The Z06’s small block loves to dig deeply, lustily and enthusiastically into its pushrod bowels looking for urge. It’s not a long search. Response is – er – outstanding.

Just when you think it can’t get any better the engine spins through 3500rpm, an exhaust flap opens up and a malevolent, overwhelming thunder erupts that blasts eardrums and shakes loose concrete. Lap one at Daytona could be no better.

This is simply one of the great engines.

A single cam spinning deep within its aluminium block acts on titanium pushrods, springs and valves – the exhaust valves are also sodium-filled – and revs to 7000rpm. There are also titanium con-rods and forged aluminium pistons, all lovingly hand-assembled to preserve goodness. A dry sump and separate oil

coolers for the gearbox and limited-slip diff are sensible insurance.

If the engine isn’t making you shake, then it’s probably the old-school ride that comes straight out of the Viagra suspension school. The stiffer the better. Cats-eyes are to be avoided, the Middle Eastern penchant for speed humps to be cursed. Of course, the return for stiff leaf springs (yep, leaf springs, mounted transverse) and an aching behind is incredible stability. The Z06 cruises at 160km/h more convincingly and confidently than a Chevy Malibu would at 90 kays.

And it’s 160km/h the heads-up is displaying as we clear Abu Dhabi and head for Dubai. Mind you, either side of the invisible border there’s plenty of traffic pulling higher speeds than that. Low-slung AMG S-classes, a profusion of Lexii, V8 SUVs. Complicating things, there’s plenty of faded Japanese and Korean fodder chugging along in the slower lanes. It makes for an attention-grabbing progress.

But nothing as arresting as Dubai when it emerges from the desert haze. Towers march across the barren landscape like alien invaders. Then we’re in the heart of it, navigating through a canyon lined in concrete, gold-plate and silver glass.

We hook up with Mitchell outside the Burj Al Arab, where you can pay $28,000

a night to stay. Obligatory photo taken, we then follow Mitchell’s cutting and thrusting yellow C6 to the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest structure. It’s a ridiculous sight, a massive, thinning 828m spire that looks like a rocket ship loaded down with booster engines. Clouds struggle to hover halfway up.

Enough of this, time to find a road less travelled. As it turns out it takes just an hour. South-west of Dubai we’re standing on top of a sand dune in a scene straight out of Lawrence of Arabia. All the way to the horizon is a sea of red, wind-tipped sand.

Panting and sweating from the exertion of climbing just one dune, the hostility and loneliness of this desolation is frightening.

Turn back towards civilisation and a freshly minted blacktop freeway slashes across the emptiness. Our two Corvettes are parked just below. A black AMG E63 ambles up, surveys the two Chevs and then flatulently accelerates away. Surreal.

Our only other company is a herd of wandering camels.

Back in the Z06, having made sure there’s no camels around – or cops for that matter – I flatten it for the first time. The acceleration rate is astounding until I fumble the 2-3 changes. That negotiated, it’s throttle mashed once more. The head-up speedo pinwheels like a slot machine and 200km/h

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Corvettes across UAE | Drive

It might look somewhat tame next to Z06, but standard C6 is no slug

flashes by. The urge even at this speed is stupefying. Courtesy of launch control, Chev claims 0-100km/h in 3.9 secs, an 11.7 sec quarter as well as a verified 320km/h top speed. It’s all believable.

The afternoon is spent low flying our way north-west through the various emirates.

From Dubai into Sharjah, bypassing tiny Ajman, into and out of Ras al-Khaimah, passing east of Umm al Quwain and then heading for the Indian ocean coast and Fujairah.

Along the way the geography changes from flat red sand to sheer gritty rock.

There’s nothing gradual or subtle about it.

The ground just suddenly punches skyward to form the magnificent Hajjar mountains.

Jagged ridges are stacked one after the other, deep valleys plunging between them. Houses and villages cling to the mountain sides. The scenery is stunning in its brutality, and so is the ride of the Z06 on crude roads smashed into lumpen waves by constant 18-wheeler traffic.

It’s a relief to finally reach our luxurious digs as the sun dips below the mountains and long shadows form. Before we get settled it’s off to a car wash to make both ’Vettes shiny for dawn photography. Five blokes get to work on both cars inside and out. That’ll be 30 dirhams, thanks. Five minutes later we are back at our five-star

hotel, the contrast obvious. Fujairah is oilrich, but not everyone benefits.

Morning comes, the sun rises over the Gulf of Oman. The light is magnificent for photography and the deserted beach road is even better for burn-outs. So traction off.

Maximum throttle. Dump clutch. Modulate with some left-foot braking. Ten seconds later there’s a sudden, smelly seaside fog and the perfectly formed imprint of two 325/30ZR19s rear tyres snaking up the road.

It’s a good way to start another blue-sky day. We make our way past black sand beaches, through a series of jigsawed enclaves that emerged from various territorial disputes, refuel again for $25 and then drop into the Fujairah city Liberty Motors service centre to have the front splitter re-attached. It had become dislodged by yesterday’s endless speed humps.

We leave the coast at Khor Khalba.

Almost immediately the road climbs back into the Hajjar mountains. It’s a severe gradient but smooth and double-laned, hooking into closing radius left and rights, opening up into short straights. Concrete blocks are the only thing stopping an overshoot turning into freefall.

The Z06 is astonishingly assured. Up until now there’s been no real chance to interrogate the car’s dynamics, but it’s obviously got all the answers. It’s precise, responsive to steering inputs and endowed with masses of grip even though the miniscule sidewalls transmit every flex of the carcass. Brilliant brakes support the engine’s massive grunt. Revs sits between 3000 and 4000rpm in third and fourth gear as the Z06 sweeps through curves at 160km/h-plus. My admiration is turning to love.

At the top of the climb a windows-down blast through a tunnel turns love to lust.

Accelerating in second gear from 60km/h the noise is heroic and velocity astonishing.

I’m still in second as the tunnel exit looms and the speedo tops 150km/h. With some sadness we bid the mountains farewell and cross briefly into and out of Oman. There are soldiers, Toyota LandCruisers with roof-mounted machine guns and the only documentation checks of the trip. It’s a rare reminder of the turbulence that exists in the region.

At Madam we turn south for the run to Al Ain and Jebel Hafeet. Much of this leg is conducted on a freeway under serious reconstruction work. Time and again we have to brake and gear down into tight ◊

ABOVE and BELOW: Newton and Perera covered a range of terrain during their rapid cross-country safari

Towering Burj Khalifa provided stark contrast to low-slung ’Vettes

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Drive | Corvettes across UAE ∆ little chicanes, then accelerate out the far side. The road workers are oblivious to our speed. There’s no yellow vests, no ‘stop’ or ‘slow’ signs. Australian health and safety inspectors would be mortified.

Al Ain presents its own challenges as one after another a series of huge, multi-laned roundabout. The Z06’s limited rearward visibility hinders, its massive grunt helps.

Tired and hungry I’m prepared to have a sook and not be impressed by Jebel Hafeet, but it’s an impressive spectacle, punching out of the desert like a giant, balled fist.

The road’s not bad either. 11.7km long with 21 corners and two climbing lanes (one descending), it was built as a driveway to a sheikh’s palace near the top of the 1240-metre mountain.

In 2009 Nissan managed to get 7km of the road closed so former rally ace Mohammed Ben Sulayem could tear up in a Nissan GTR as a way to promote the car’s Middle East launch. It took him three minutes 39 sec. We’re not planning to emulate that but we’re going to have some fun.

Indeed, we’re laughing out loud as Mitch leads the way in the C6. He’s a brave lad, pushing the C6 hard into the corners, then lifting and swinging the tail around.

He’d be faster going slower in, but he’d be enjoying himself less…

The Z06 is following dutifully behind, stuck to the road, only slipping the rear-end wide on tight off-cambers when provoked.

Later, with nothing in front, there’s

Evil Z06 looked particularly sinister once the sun dropped below the horizon

another chance for a burst up part of the hill. It loves the smoothness, bites hard into the tightening uphill turns and punches out with fat tubs of torque on offer anywhere between 1800 and 5800rpm. Stunning.

But is the road as worthy of the same accolade? Well, yes, it’s fun, but it’s over so quickly. It flattens out into a giant carpark and a massive view. From here we can see where we’ve been through Al Ain and Oman and the freeway we will shortly rumble onto for the hour-long journey back to Abu Dhabi. Symbolically, our short-fast multicultural dash ends here.

Except for just one job… Another 60 litres in the tank, another $25 out of the wallet. A V8-loving bloke could get used to that. L

Camels can get you across the UAE. Z06’s 500 horses will do the job quicker

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Bugatti Veyron Super Sport | Drive

The 431km/h, $3m Veyron Super Sport is the world’s fastest production car. But for all its ballistic performance, it’s still a pussycat to drive, discovers Steve Sutcliffe

s ible PHOTOGRAPHY STAN PAPIOR

T

here are all sorts of crazed statistics about the new $3 million Bugatti Veyron Super Sport with which you can fray the outer edges of your imagination. Quite apart from the fact that it puts out 197bhp more than the regular 987bhp Veyron and can do 431km/h, when the crankshaft of this car’s 8.0-litre W16 engine is rotating at precisely 6400rpm in seventh gear, it will quaff its way through a 100-litre tank of fuel in just under eight minutes. Under the same circumstances, the Super Sport’s revised induction system will ingest four tonnes of air every hour, which, in case you were wondering, is enough to keep the average human alive for 40 days and 40 nights.

The quad-turbo W16 engine also develops its maximum torque figure the entire time between 3000 and 5000rpm, so there is no torque ‘peak’ as such. How much twisting power does it actually generate?

How does 1500Nm grab you? Or, to put it another way, nearly twice as much as a Noble M600 – one of the most potent cars anyone from this magazine has ever driven.

But the number to end all numbers concerning the Super Sport, the one that will stop you in your tracks and make you either laugh or cry, is this: in the same time that it takes a McLaren F1 to get from rest to 320km/h, the Veyron SS can go from zero to 320km/h and back again – and then do zero to 100km/h as well. Think about that for a moment – and then think about it for a little while longer.

And if it is still too complex a concept to get your head around, there’s always the sub-five-second 0-160km/h time to focus on, or the 14.6sec that it takes to go from zero to 300km/h. Faster than most superbikes, in other words.

What’s perhaps most amazing of all about this most amazing of cars, however, is that despite its heart-wrenching, lung-bursting performance, it is also quite incredibly civilised to drive. Such was Bugatti’s desire to provide the Super Sport with a refined personality that the overall impression you get after spending a day at the wheel is indeed one of supreme luxury.

When you put your foot down and feel all your internal organs squeezed to one side under the sheer g-force, there is also the unique, rather lovely sensation of sitting in your favourite armchair in your favourite lounge while doing so. And in the end it is the Super Sport’s pure breadth of ability that separates it so completely from the rest of the automotive world – the fact that the ultimate Veyron can throw you at the horizon with sufficient force to make you feel physically uncomfortable, while at the same time providing you with the sights, sounds and smells of the most luxuriant car money can buy. ◊ NOVEMBER 2010 WWW.AUTOCAR.ae 55

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ELISE

ELAN

ELITE

LOTUS

Five new models by the end of 2015 and three of them will top $160,000...

T

he news bombshell of a reborn Lotus Elite has turned out merely to be the beginning of an extraordinary Lotus product explosion that will, company bosses say, put five brand-new Lotus models into the market by 2016, establish a new design style for all future models and bring an end to the company’s 15 years of accumulated losses.

Last month, in Paris, Lotus unveiled four more full-sized models that, if successful, will move the company’s image and prices into Aston Martin, Ferrari and Porsche territory. “Our plan is to change Lotus from its present position as a niche sports car company to a builder of a range of premium sports cars”, says CEO Dany Bahar, architect of Lotus’s new five-year plan. All five Lotus concepts were on display at the Paris Expo, and a couple are intended for production even sooner than the front-engined V8 Elite hybrid revealed the week before and proposed for 2014.

The launch of the new cars is being accompanied by developments to Lotus’s factories, design facilities, test track and motorsport activities. There is also to be a new museum and heritage centre. The work, which has already started, will involve “fully funded” expenditure running to $1.2 billion over the next decade.

The whole project is being underwritten

by Malaysia-based Proton, Lotus’s parent, which decided 18 months after a radical change of management (and management policy) that it had only two stark options with Lotus’s future: to hold an immediate fire sale or develop the company to the extent of its potential. That was when the new Proton team began talking to Dany Bahar, then a sales and marketing chief at Ferrari in Maranello, and the plan took “maybe three months” to devise.

The Hethel development plan is the brainchild of Bahar, Lotus CEO for the past 12 months. Apart from building improvements, lots of architectural planning and the purchase of some extra land at Hethel, the most obvious sign ◊

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th

‘However fast you think it might feel when you put your foot down, double it, add 100 per cent and you still won’t be close’

As a driving experience, the 1184bhp Veyron SS is without equal

There will be just 30 Veyron Super Sports in total, each one hand-made at Bugatti’s small factory in Molsheim, in the Alsace region of eastern France. So far Bugatti has sold some 260 Veyrons since the original planned batch of 300 went on sale in 2005. Think of the Super Sport, therefore, as the last and final version – the best version, no less – of the world’s best car.

To help create it, Bugatti listened hard to its customers, for it is they who would ultimately be paying for it – and at various different price levels. The ‘entry point’ for Super Sport ownership starts at ¤1.65 million plus local taxes. But if you then go for the part-carbon finish as seen on our test car, the price rises to ¤1.75m. Go for

the full carbon finish and you’ll be relieved of ¤1.85m, and if you want your Super Sport in world speed record-breaking orange and black colours then the figure goes up to ¤1.95m. Or at least it would be had the five versions featuring this unique colour scheme not already sold out.

Of the other 25 Super Sports that Bugatti will make over the next two years, just six cars remain unsold. If you fancy one, in other words, best register your interest with the company as soon as possible to give yourself even a slight chance of ownership.

Although it seems somewhat ridiculous to describe the Super Sport as a normal Veyron plus 15 per cent, in essence that’s exactly what it is. And in the event,

persuading the quad-turbo W16 engine to produce another 15 per cent more grunt was actually one of the easier things to achieve.

By fitting bigger turbos and bigger intercoolers and improving the way it breathes, Bugatti was able to generate the extra power and torque required without trying too hard at all. What needed rather more time, effort and re-engineering skill was making sure the powertrain remained cool enough when on full reheat – as did the retuning of the chassis, suspension, braking and steering systems. And, most crucially of all, the aerodynamic package as well.

Because the Super Sport accelerates that much faster than the regular Veyron, the speed and angle at which it deploys its various wings had to be completely recalibrated – otherwise, says Bugatti, the car would have become “terminally unstable” before it got anywhere near its top speed. Hence the reason why the massive biplane wing now emerges from the redesigned rear bodywork at 180km/h and at a different speed and angle compared with the standard car, whose wing doesn’t appear until 220km/h.

You can genuinely feel the difference on the move, too. The Super Sport has more straight-line performance than before; however fast you think it might feel when you put your foot to the floor and hold it there for a few seconds, double it, add another 100 per cent and you still won’t be anywhere near.Yet despite its ability to go into hyperspace harder and faster than the standard car, the Super Sport’s extra high-speed stability and, surprisingly, its

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Bugatti Veyron Super Sport | Drive

Clash of the Veyrons

engine

W16, 7993cc, quad-turbo, petrol Installation Mid, longitudinal, 4WD Power 1184bhp at 6400rpm Torque 1500Nm at 3000-5000rpm Power to weight 644bhp per tonne Specific output 148bhp per litre Compression ratio 8.3:1 Gearbox 7-spd dual-clutch auto

W16, 7993cc, quad-turbo, petrol Mid, longitudinal, 4WD 987bhp at 6000rpm 1250Nm at 3000-5000rpm 522bhp per tonne 123bhp per litre 9.0:1 7-spd dual-clutch auto

dimensions

Bugatti Veyron ¤1m, plus local taxes 2.5sec (claimed) 407km/h 11.7mpg (combined) 574g/km 1888kg

Engine layout

Length Width Height Wheelbase Fuel tank Real-world range

4462mm 1998mm 1204mm 2710mm 100 litres 414km

Front suspension Double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar Rear suspension Double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar Brakes 400mm carbon-ceramic discs (f), 380mm carbonWheels ceramic discs (r) Tyres 20in, magnesium alloy 265/35 R20 (f), 365/30 R20 (r)

Hand-crafted cabin is one of pure luxury — which makes the SS’s performance all the more surreal

Dual-clutch gearbox is phenomenal, especially the speed and smoothness with which it shifts

Price 0-100km/h Top speed Economy CO2 emissions Kerb weight

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport ¤1.65m, plus local taxes 2.5sec (claimed) 431km/h 12.2mpg (combined) 539g/km 1838kg

at each corner

Vitals

4462mm 1998mm 1190mm 2710mm 100 litres 431km

Double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar Double wishbones, coil springs, anti-roll bar 400mm carbon-ceramic discs (f); 380mm carbonceramic discs (r) 20in, magnesium alloy 265/35 R20 (f), 365/30 R20 (r)

Bodywork and wings had to be revised to match SS’s higher top speed

superior ride comfort (afforded by a set of ultra-trick new Sachs dampers) are every bit as apparent as its extra go.

And that’s before you even mention its gearbox, which remains, in my humble opinion, the standout item in a car that hits quite a few peaks. The speed and smoothness with which the Super Sport shifts gear, up or down its seven ratios, is absolutely and completely extraordinary.

The fact that it has 1500Nm to deal with while doing so proves, more than any other aspect of this incredible car, just how big an achievement the Veyron – Super Sport or otherwise – actually is.

As to what happens next at Bugatti, once the 300 Veyrons have been built and the

70 or so workers at the Molsheim factory are looking for their next task, that’s less certain. Right now no one knows for sure.

There’s a new luxury saloon called the Galibier –currently undergoing a feasibility programme – but there are clearly political issues within Bugatti and parent company Volkswagen that need to be resolved before anything is confirmed. One thing’s for sure, though: it would be a tragedy were Bugatti to close – again – after having produced just one new model.

Then again, as swansongs go, the Veyron Super Sport will take some beating.

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ESPRIT

ETERNE

that’s the brave new world Lotus is chasing

LOTUS CARS MODEL ESPRIT PRICE $175,000 TYPE 2-SEAT MID-ENGINE ENGINE 5.0-LITRE V8 ON SALE 2013

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Inside story | Lotus LOTUS CARS MODEL ELISE PRICE $65,000 TYPE 2-SEAT MID-ENGINE ENGINE 2.0-LITRE 4 CYLS ON SALE 2015

Elise will be offered as a coupé and roadster with 300bhp to 350bhp

As now, it’s based on an extruded aluminium bonded chassis

∆ of progress so far has been the hiring of more than a dozen experts from bluechip companies such as Porsche, AMG and Ferrari in fields such as production, manufacturing quality, marketing and design. One of the highest-profile hirings is ex-Ferrari design chief Donato Coco, who has expanded Lotus’s crew of five full-time designers to around 15, supported with a department of about 40 people. They have worked round the clock to design the five cars – three mid-engined sports cars and two front-engined – which employ versions of a new corporate front-end design stronger than the traditional Lotus air intake.

“Even today’s economy cars have stronger frontal designs than the traditional Lotus mouth,” says Coco. “It was time to find something better suited to the modern era. We found a stronger, more dynamic look on the early Lotus Seven and the Lotus 18 single-seater, and have converted that into a look we think works better, even on models as dynamic as the next-generation Esprit supercar.”

The new Lotus models, which Bahar insists will employ the purist engineering principles of lightness and simplicity pioneered on the earliest Lotuses by the company’s founder, Colin Chapman, will take the company from annual production of around 2700 sub-$65,000 cars to between 6000 and 7000 cars costing between $125,000 and $190,000. Even the Elise replacement, by the time it reaches production in 2015, will have an entry price approaching $65,000.

The first new model will be the $175,000 Esprit supercar for 2013, chosen as the leader of the new wave for its familiar name and format, and because it will explain

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the company’s new intentions better than others. Powered by a Lotus-supercharged 5.0-litre Lexus V8 (revving to 8000rpm and producing 550bhp, or 620bhp in the R version), it will have a seven-speed paddleshift gearbox, a KERS system, a 0-100km/h time of between 3.2sec and 3.5sec and a CO2 output of just 250g/km – very low for the class and consistent with Lotus’s intention of offering the most efficient cars in their classes. The car’s kerb weight of 1495kg doesn’t make it quite the featherweight of past Lotuses, but engineers insist it’s lighter than other class contenders.

Next off the stocks is the 1295kg midengined Elan for 2013, a $120,000 twoseater (optional two-plus-two) powered by a 4.0-litre version of the Evora’s transverse V6. Insiders call this “the heart of the range”.

Expect it to fight the Porsche 911 and Audi R8 and allude to shapes in the rear section that evoke “one of the most iconic grand prix cars ever designed, the Lotus 79”. Power will be between 400bhp and 470bhp, and 0-100km/h will take 3.5sec to 3.9sec depending on whether you’re at the wheel of an R model or not. Either version will emit less than 200g/km of CO2, an impressive figure since the smaller-engined and admirably clean Evora emits 199g/km.

The Elite is the only Lotus launch planned for 2014, but it’s arguably one of the most important of the whole new genre seeing as it will be the first Lotus with a front-mounted engine since the previous Elite/Eclat/Excel line that began in the mid-1970s. Lotus plans both a retractable hardtop version and an R variant for this $185k model. Power will be 550bhp or 620bhp, like the Esprit, but this one will be a full hybrid, using the Lexus epicyclic ◊

Rear alludes to Lotus 79 F1 car. Power will be 400bhp to 470bhp

Race feel to the cabin.

Two seats as standard and 2+2 as an option

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Inside story | Lotus Elite: first front-engine Lotus since the 1970s.

Packs up to 620bhp

LOTUS CARS MODEL ELITE PRICE $185,000 TYPE 4-SEAT FRONT-ENGINE ENGINE 5.0 V8 HYBRID ON SALE 2014

∆ transmission and twin electric drive motors, and emitting just 215g/km. Lotus insists its 1680kg kerb weight is light for the class, and it will still achieve 3.5sec to 3.7sec for the 0-100km/h sprint.

In 2015 the Elise is replaced. It’s much like the car we know, with an extruded aluminium bonded chassis, albeit a little longer and with better access. It will be available as a coupé, roadster and R model.

Power will be via a supercharged 2.0-litre Toyota four, good for 300bhp to 350bhp, depending on spec. It’ll have a robotised manual gearbox (a twin-clutch unit is deemed too heavy for a 1095kg car) plus stop-start, but no KERS. The crowning glory will be a four-door called Eterne, also for 2015. It’s a $190k-plus saloon designed to rival the Aston Rapide using mechanicals identical to those of the Elite (5.0-litre supercharged V8 with 550bhp or 620bhp and a hybrid transmission) on a lengthened version of the same chassis.

Elite’s cabin aims to have the finish worthy of a £115,000 coupé

Bahar admits that giving away so much detail about future plans puts Lotus under considerable pressure. He agrees changes are likely: the market will be the true decider of how quickly new Lotus models appear.

But Bahar insists the reveal-all strategy is the right way forward. “You can’t compare

our situation with others who are more established in the premium market and can reveal their plans slowly,” he says. “Our aim is to show that the whole brand is going in a new direction now. Sure, there’s a risk. But we have plans and a brand we believe in, and we are only interested in success.” L

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Lotus | Inside story

How we’re going to do it, by lotus boss DAny BAHAR “I always had a weakness for this brand,” says Hethel’s rule-changing CEO of the past 12 months, Dany Bahar.

“Even while I was working at Ferrari, I knew Lotus was special. But to me, the products weren’t doing justice to the great name and heritage.”

Bahar, who sounds like a soft-voiced Michael Schumacher, comes across as a far more emollient character than the person portrayed on the rumour-mill for the 12 months he has so far spent in the main man’s seat at Lotus, avoiding interviews while he put his radical changes into action. He settles comfortably in an armchair as we talk, resting one leg comfortably on the other and displaying the sharpest trouser creases I’ve ever seen.

“We want our new cars to be as big as the brand itself,” he explains. “The previous management tried hard to do that with the Evora, but they had to leave everything else the same. Our new plan means we have the opportunity to change everything — to do things from a better position — and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Bahar readily acknowledges outsiders’ worries about his plan — raising the investment, finding the buyers, delivering the quality — and deals calmly with them, one by one.

“Our investment is confirmed,” he insists. “Our shareholders have lost a lot of money at Lotus over the past 14 years, and they wanted to stop that. There

‘ Our new plan means we have the opportunity to change everything’ were two options: sell the company or run it to its potential. They made the second choice.”

But just how dependable is the solvency of Lotus’s owner, Proton, given its well-known past losses and market difficulties? Bahar points to its strong links with the Petronas oil company and with the Malaysian government.

“They’re strong,” he says. “They have their own aggressive plan to lift production to a million cars over the next five to seven years, from around

350,000. Besides that, they’re fun to work with. They have 1000 engineers of their own, and Lotus is already making use of those as capacity allows to work on third-party engineering projects. It’s a great partnership.”

Bahar insists that although his name is on the recovery plan, it wasn’t simply something he dreamed up. “I asked people,” he says. “I’m not a car guy. We did lots of research and I consulted people I trust, some of whom liked the idea so much they now work in the

business. That part feels good; knowing there are people who believe we can do this thing just as passionately as I do.”

Downsides? Bahar is disappointed by the reaction of the UK’s coalition government to Lotus’s requests for loans to finance its plant development.

“We were asking for loans,” he says, “not grants. We could have 1200 new manufacturing jobs here under the new plans. They complimented us on our presentation, and the whole thing looked a no-brainer. But we learned it wasn’t a no-brainer…”

Now, Bahar says, they’ll make more use of outside suppliers. “We’ll do what we have to do here, but we’ll outsource things that aren’t our speciality — just like every other modern manufacturer does. That, and clever design, will help a lot with the quality thing. We won’t try to be experts at leather work. We’ll find people who can deliver it.

Bahar, a study in coolness, becomes almost excited when the talk turns to motorsport. “Lotus’s DNA is based on racing,” he says. “No other company has ever had such a wide spread of success: F1, other open-wheelers, Le Mans, sports cars, GTs. Why would we discard such treasure, when it’s where the brand’s authenticity comes from?

“Besides,” says Bahar, “racing has a big impact on the road cars. After they have been tested by the best drivers, you feel safe to take them to the maximum.”

STEVE CROPLEY

LOTUS CARS MODEL ETERNE PRICE $190,000-PLUS TYPE 4-SEAT FRONT-ENGINE ENGINE 5.0 V8 PLUS ELECTRIC ON SALE 2015

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Interview | Donato Coco

The Italian’s job

Donato Coco left a plum gig as design director at Ferrari to shape the new face of Lotus. Gautam Sharma quizzes the Latin crayon wielder on his objectives for the iconic British brand What was the incentive to leave Ferrari and join Lotus?

Dany Bahar (Lotus CEO who was also formerly at Ferrari)… and his plans for Lotus. I was interested in the challenge Dany would face. I could see how interesting his plan was, and how difficult.

It was a great opportunity to express something. He gave me a white page to do this, and I worked based on his vision.

What you see here represents this.

What were the qualities you were looking to instill in the concepts?

To give more dignity to the aesthetic and design cars that represent what they are really capable of. Our future cars have new engineering and layouts and will grow in performance, and we needed to find an aesthetic that matches this and expresses

the core values of Lotus… lightness of construction. In addition, the design needs to boost practicality and simplify getting in and out of the car. Sports cars must have good ergonomics. Quality needs to be improved as well… parts need to fit together well, adding value to the product.

Quality isn’t incompatible with sportiness.

Is there anything about these cars that’s uniquely British?

The badge on the car is English, and the cars are built in Hethel (UK), but it would be pretentious to say that the aesthetics of the cars translate their Englishness.

But when I look at the Elite I see a new expression of English exclusivity because I believe it is strong and light, and like no other front-engined 2+2. It’s an expression of extreme power and lightness. Solid yet

compact. The Elan maybe has to mature a bit more – it’s just two bones and a lot of muscle. It also has elements of Mario Andretti’s F1 car that won the 1978 championship.

How do you ensure the designs will remain current in five years?

This is something you cannot foresee.

Design being so strategic, it’s something you normally keep secret until as late as possible. However, in our case, to explain what is this new Lotus, we had to show something concrete so that people could visualise them. It’s not enough to show only one car… that’s too easy. We can change and refresh the design along the way, but this is the situation as it is today.

The concepts show what the size of each model is, what the architecture and layout

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Interview | Manfred Fitzgerald

WORTH THE weight Damien Reid spoke to Lamborghini’s director of brand and design, Manfred Fitzgerald, about the real message behind its Paris showstopper, the Sesto Elemento – the significance of which lies beneath the skin

I

n time, the humble golf club could prove to be the greatest thing to happen to the development of supercars since forced induction.

If it wasn’t for a chance meeting at the University of Washington with a couple of techos from Callaway Golf, the Sesto Elemento you see here might never have happened.

“It’s quite amazing really,” said Lamborghini’s director of brand and design, Manfred Fitzgerald, who spoke exclusively to Autocar Middle East hours after revealing the Sesto to the world’s media at last month’s Paris motorshow.

“This was a collaboration we started 18 months ago at the University of Washington where both Callaway and ourselves have our carbonfibre laboratory.

“Callaway has a similar approach to the use of carbon fibre as us, so we got together and the two development teams came up with this product called Forged Composite.

This is now trademarked and it could really change the way we look at carbon fibre,” he said.

Underneath its Batmobile bodywork, the Sesto Elemento is a straight Gallardo Superleggera 570-4. There’s no major mechanical breakthrough; instead it’s a

rolling laboratory exploring every facet of carbonfibre usage from cosmetic to major structural components in the quest for weight savings.

“We also have a collaboration with Boeing because its 787 Dreamliner is carbon fibre. So along with Callaway, this gives us the freedom to develop complex geometries as well as explore massive reductions in cycle times,” Fitzgerald said.

“For instance, the tub on the Sesto, which is made from forged composites needs only 500 seconds to make, so in eight minutes you get a complete, finished tub. If you compare that with the regular

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ht

The Sesto Elemento is a rolling test bed for carbon fibre development

‘The tub takes only 500 seconds, so in eight minutes you’ve got something that takes six hours in an Autoclave’

Lamborghini President Stephan Winklemann (far right) announces the tie-up with Callaway Golf

way of manufacturing carbonfibre components in an Autoclave, you’re looking at something like six hours.

“That means you have a totally different ballgame because you’re talking different volumes and different economical figures, which then all of a sudden becomes viable,” he said.

While some of the minor cosmetics – which in the case of the show car were the wheels only – were still done using an Autoclave in order to achieve its high gloss, Class A surface, the main structural and body components don’t need the bling look and can be fabricated much faster. ◊ NOVEMBER 2010 WWW.AUTOCAR.ae 67

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Interview | Manfred Fitzgerald ∆ “For us, we’re learning something every day and we want to learn more about this material and how it will be used in the future. The real challenge at the moment, from an aesthetic point of view is to get that Class A surface,” he said.

Another hurdle to overcome is the repairability side of using carbonfibre.

Unlike aluminium and steel, should you be unfortunate enough to crash a carbonfibre car, you don’t bend it so much as break it.

In race car applications, that’s okay as teams have budgets to replace tubs, but take a busted carbonfibre car to your local workshop and your panel beater won’t be able to simply bash out the dents and re-mould the panels.

“We have a repair strategy we developed with Boeing. You can imagine if a plane on a runway gets knocked by a service truck, they have to know exactly what kind of damage occurred. We have developed this with them and we have something practical in place,” Fitzgerald said.

“It’s an interesting field and a complex one that goes deep into diagnostics. There’s some cool stuff out there to find out the severity of damage. You have to know if it’s structural, which implies danger, or not and how to repair it. We have a team of doctors that travels with a briefcase and can examine any issues, but this whole area of development is more a medium- than a long-term process.”

Getting to the guts of why you would want cars made from 100 per cent carbonfibre, it is all about weight savings. The Sesto Elemento weighs 999kg. That’s 450kg less than a Mini Countryman, yet it packs 570bhp from its 5.2-litre V10 engine.

“With this technology we’ve pulled nearly 400kg out of the weight compared to the Superleggera, which has a dry weight of 1340kg and let’s not forget that model is ◊

Only the wheels were finished with a polished Class A surface

The Sesto Elemento is a sea of black honeycombe weave

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Interview | Manfred Fitzgerald

An example of the teaser shots released by Lamborghini prior to its launch

∆ a lightweight version of the regular Gallardo anyway.”

Manufacturing carbonfibre the conventional way using an Autoclave is an intensive process that takes many man hours, as the naked carbon fibre sheets have to be laid in a very accurate way before they are baked. And it’s costly.

“With this, you have these little mats that you put into the press, you compress them at a high pressure of around 60bar, then heat it up to about 120 degrees and out it comes. Brilliant.”

Of course, there’s more to it than that, as Fitzgerald explained. For automotive purposes the technology will remain within the VW Group, but his competitors will have to work a little harder than reading this article to find out.

There’s no question the Sesto Elemento is more than a design study or show-stopper –

it’s a real-world test bed to find the benefits of using carbon fibre.

“There are many long-term benefits away from the obvious, and by using the Forged Composite process we can speed up the procedure enormously,” Fitzgerald said.

“Obviously, Boeing had a major impact on our development and you can see a situation where a car can be 100 per cent composite, including all structural components, engine rails and engines casings etc.

“I think engine internals will always have a mix of material for areas such as the combustion chambers, but structural parts, including the suspension and chassis, are achievable if you get the equation right so that it also makes economical sense.”

Despite the tie-up with Callaway, it will be a long time before you can fit a set of golf clubs in the boot. Lv

r from the front seats The view looking over the engine cove

Exhaust stacks mirror those used in F1

The launch (left) literally was all a case of smoke and mirrors

Interior detailing is intricate

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monthly UPDATE

Vettel sets record with win in japan Suzuka victory extends German’s lead of the Castrol Rankings to a 29th week

Sebastian Vettel made Castrol Rankings history after winning the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka.

The Red Bull driver’s success kept him in the number one spot for a 29th consecutive week, breaking Jenson Button’s record.

Vettel’s Red Bull teammate Mark Webber remained second in the Castrol Rankings after his second place in Japan.

Fernando Alonso beat Lewis Hamilton to the final podium spot at Suzuka and moved ahead of the McLaren driver for fourth in the Castrol Rankings as a result, the only move in the top ten.

CURRENT STANDINGS 1

2

3

5 6 7 8 9 10

4

Sebastian Vettel Mark Webber Sébastien Loeb Fernando Alonso Lewis Hamilton Jimmie Johnson Will Power Jenson Button Dario Franchitti Kevin Harvick

F1 F1 WRC F1 F1 Sprint Cup, Grand Am IndyCar F1 IndyCar, Grand Am Sprint Cup, Nationwide, Trucks

24,243 23,139 21,292 18,505 18,390 17,803 17,656 17,056 15,474 14,541

DATA CORRECT AS OF 11 octoBER 2010

Expert performances F1 Kamui Kobayashi

Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi (right) had an eventful grand prix in his home country. He moved up nine places from 68 to 59 in the Castrol Rankings – the biggest gainer in the top 100.

V8 Supercars Mark Skaife Mark Skaife won the Bathurst 1000 for a sixth time – his second V8 Supercar win in two starts this year. He moved up 129 places to 984th in the Castrol Rankings.

Nations Rankings Australia

Germany and Australia led the way in Japan – likewise in the Nations Rankings, where Australia’s duo of Webber and Will Power (right) lead Germany’s Vettel and Nico Rosberg.

NASCAR Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson finished third in the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Fontana. But it wasn’t enough to overhaul Lewis Hamilton, and he remains sixth in the Castrol Rankings.

Performer of the Month Fernando Alonso was the Castrol EDGE Performer of the Month for September, but who will be the topranked driver in October? Visit the website to find out.

www.castroldriverrankings.com

The Castrol Rankings analyse 2,000+ drivers in 500+ races and rallies across five continents. Go online today to find out more

www.castroldriverrankings.com www.castroldriverrankings.com Castrol_Nov2_230x300.indd 1

11/10/2010 17:01

‘We are now witnessing the motor car being invented for the second time’ – Daimler CEO Dr. Dieter Zetsche

To mark its 125th birthday, Mercedes launched a brace of eco-friendly models

nickel-metal-hydride (NiMH) batteries.

They also offer 30 per cent more energy density than NiMH technology and 50 per cent more power density.

Other benefits include high-charging efficiency and a long service life.

The combined energy capacity of the two lithium-ion batteries is 36 kWh, which allows the A-Class to achieve its 200km range.

Mercedes will produce just 500 E-Cells, which will initially be leased to customers in Germany, France and the Netherlands.

Once an infrastructure is established for re-charging and servicing in other countries, and volume production brings down costs, the E-Cell is expected to be offered to most other markets, including the Middle East.

Its batteries can be topped up at public charging points or plugged into an ordinary household power socket. A range of other charging options are also available.

These include single-phase 230-volt sockets, three-phase sockets in a household wall-box and public recharging points.

With the single-phase 230-volt network, it takes around eight hours of charging ◊

Choice of single phase 230-volt and three phase sockets

A-Class follows on from B-Class released last year

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Feature | Mercedes green technology

The Class is

Greener

German giant Daimler used the Paris motor show to celebrate 125 years of production and usher in an electrified, green era. Damien Reid was there

“

W

e are now witnessing the motor car being invented for the second time” was how Daimler CEO Dr Dieter Zetsche explained the company’s product range that was about to be unveiled to the press at last month’s Paris motor show.

The underlying theme this year seemed to be about renewable energy, alternative fuels and basically anything to do with green technology. With Daimler next year

celebrating the 125th anniversary of its invention of the motor car, the company used the Paris show to highlight its interpretation of how the next 125 years will look, with a host of green models ready to hit the market now or in the near future.

“Currently we are making advances in efficiency that are unprecedented in automotive history,” Dr Zetsche said. “As the inventor of the motor car, we feel we have a special responsibility for its future.”

Headlining the reveals was the A-Class E-Cell, which is the second electric car built by Mercedes for series-production

following the B-Class fuel cell released late last year.

Developing a maximum of 95bhp and 290Nm of torque, it gives a range of 200km and is powered by two high-efficiency lithium-ion batteries.

Amazingly, the E-Cell is also right up there in the performance stakes with the regular A-Class Mercs, taking 5.5 seconds to reach 60km/h and topping out at an electronically governed 150km/h.

The advantages of lithium-ion batteries include their compact dimensions and higher efficiency in comparison with

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Feature | Mercedes green technology

0-60km/h in 5.5 seconds, top speed of 150km/h and zero emissions

∆ time to get you 100km down the road.

However, this drops to just three hours when it’s charged from a wall-box or public facility.

While the E-Cell was the show’s high-tech trailblazer, Mercedes had a range of other initiatives on display from new models ready for release now to upgrades on existing ones being rolled out soon, such as the stop/start function.

Stop/start is technology being quickly embraced by many manufacturers and it involves the engine automatically switching off when the car comes to a standstill, firing up again when the accelerator is pressed.

It’s designed with traffic lights and traffic jams in mind, and is being fitted to the CLS, CL, S-Class and even its popular Viano mini van.

At the other end of the scale, the company also announced what many considered to be the unthinkable, a four-cylinder S-Class.

The S 250 CDI Blue Efficiency is, according to the company, the world’s most fuel-efficient luxury saloon.

The S-Class has been the traditional flagship model for Mercedes for more than 60 years and has never dipped below six cylinders, with V8s and V12s being the most popular and twin-turbo V12’s for the range topping super saloons. ◊

The guts of the A-Class E-Cell make the most of the regular car’s sandwich floor to store the batteries

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Feature | Mercedes green technology Purists may cringe at the thought of a four-cylinder Mercedes S-Class

The S250 CDI sips just

5.7L per 100km,

making it the first in its class

to dip into 5-L territory and undercut 150g

Claimed to be the world’s most fuel-efficient luxury saloon

Diesel four is still good for 240km/h and 7.2sec to 100km/h despite weighing 1680kg

∆ However, the company claims this model, despite having a turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine pushing a body that weighs somewhere around 1680kg, is almost on a par with the legendary 6.9-litre V8 450SEL from the 1970s.

As a quick comparison, the 450SEL with its 6.9-litre V8 engine developed 286bhp and 549Nm of torque, which gave it a top speed of 225km/h and a 0-100km/h time of 7.2 seconds. This four-cylinder, dieselpowered S 250 CDI develops 204bhp and 500Nm of torque, which gets it to 240km/h and passes 100km/h in 8.2 seconds.

However, the Teutonic beast of the 1970s averaged around 19 litres of fuel per 100km, whereas the S 250 CDI achieves levels of just 5.7 litres per 100km, making it the first car in its class to dip into the five-litre mark.

At the same time is also the first in its class to undercut the 150-gram mark in terms of CO2 output. L

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Up close | Peugeot EX1

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Light, fast and slippery: Peugeot expects its Cd could be as low as 0.15

he noise that Peugeot’s EX1 makes is a total surprise, and for more than one reason. It comes completely out of the blue; no audible sign warns you that this low, dark, hostile-looking object is about to erupt off into the middle distance. There’s no starter motor, no engine revving. When it goes, you’d better be paying attention.

The EX1 begins by emitting a relatively low, hushed, multi-faceted whine, which steadily grows in both volume and frequency as the speed piles on. It’s quiet enough at first to allow you to hear all four of the car’s powered wheels; there’s no wheelspin, just torque and traction.

But as the EX1 accelerates, the gentle whine of the car’s twin motors and

transmissions turns into a not-so-gentle whistle. And, at more than 160km/h under full throttle, they issue forth a scream so loud and shrill that you can hear it from a quarter of a mile away.

This is how Peugeot’s latest prototype announces its presence. We won’t call the EX1 a concept car, because it’s intended for greater things than the motor show stand.

This is a genuine, uncompromised land speed record car, built to demonstrate just how fast, light and focused an electric car can be in 2010. And it has already made a bid for a place in history.

BIRTHDAY PRESENCE

The EX1’s story started nine months ago, at the very beginning of Peugeot’s 200th anniversary year. “We wanted a highlight for our birthday celebrations,” explains Peugeot design chief Gilles Vidal.

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? t t a w “Something dramatic and extreme and, at the same time, both forward looking and referencing Peugeot’s history.”

Vidal’s design department settled on a high-performance electric vehicle because it would tick all of those boxes. It could be outlandish and technically advanced, and would be sure to grab attention, but it would also pick up on a tradition that Peugeot has for setting speed records.

In 1965 Peugeot broke no fewer than 40 FIA speed and endurance records for a diesel-powered car with a specially prepared, lightweight 404 coupé. At the beginning of 2010 its aim was to repeat the trick by building one of the fastest electric cars on the planet.

That extraordinary brief resulted in this amazing one-off prototype. The EX1 will never be offered as a production car. Peugeot can’t even tell you how much it has cost to make. It has been designed without so much as a passing glance at the rules and regulations that govern ◊

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∆ conventional road cars. Its only reasons for being are speed and efficiency – and it achieves both without any exhaust emissions whatsoever.

Through the use of the very latest materials, Peugeot has kept this car’s ‘dry’ weight down to just 750kg. It’s slightly under a tonne with its batteries on board, accommodated just under the occupants’ legs and behind them in the space between the cabin and rear axle.

It’s powered by two 170bhp, 240Nm electric motors, one in the nose to drive the front wheels, the other in the tail driving the rears. And with 340bhp per tonne, 480Nm of torque from almost zero revs and all-wheel drive, it has greater performance potential off the line than a Porsche 911 GT3 RS. “We knew that we had to work hard to save weight with the EX1’s basic structure,” Vidal says. “What we have achieved is a 3.4-metre-long EV that weighs less than 500kg when you take out the batteries and motors.”

The EX1’s carbonfibre honeycomb monocoque body has carbonfibre double wishbones at the front and a swingarm-style chassis at the rear. As it rides bumps, the rear of the car bobs gently up and down, pivoting around a point just behind the driver’s head. The EX1 also has carbonfibre wheels and lightweight, motorbike-style ring brakes.

The EX1 is not just light, it’s also aerodynamic. It has no windscreen and no spoilers; it’s less than a metre tall and is teardrop-shaped in plan view, with a rear track that’s considerably narrower. Peugeot

Peugeot design boss Gilles Vidal (below) says EX1 is a one-off

hasn’t released a coefficient of drag for the car, but expects it could be as low as 0.15.

START AS YOU MEAN TO GO ON

Like any land speed record car, the real proof of the EX1’s greatness will be in its performance, and the first tentative indication of that came from a shakedown test carried out at the Linas-Montlhéry

autodrome just south of Paris last month – the very same circuit where Peugeot’s famous 404 diesel coupé drove its way into the record books.

Montlhéry has a banked oval circuit that’s just over a mile and a half round. It was built in 1924 and much of it feels as if it hasn’t been resurfaced since. What’s more, when it ran there last month, the EX1 was running not quite flat out, with its chassis EX1 has already done 0-100km/h in 3.55sec, with more to come

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Peugeot EX1 | Up close

world’s fastest evs

Extensive use of carbonfibre keeps ‘dry’ weight to 750kg

[ T m

Opel GT EV (1971) Top speed: 188km/h The car that held many of the FIA’s EV speed records until now: an Opel GT converted to run on batteries. Georg von Opel drove it to 188km/h at Hockenheim in 1971. A year later a dieselpowered GT set many more FIA speed records.

SSC Ultimate Aero EV (2010) Top speed: estimated at 335km/h US outfit Shelby Supercars is trying to turn its Ultimate Aero supercar into an EV. The company claims it’ll be twin-engined, have 1000bhp and 1085Nm, and be capable of 100km/h in 2.7sec and 335km/h — but the proof has yet to emerge.

Buckeye Bullet 2.5 (2010) Lightweight bucket seats pivot out with the door

and transmissions still to be optimised. Yet it hit 100km/h in 3.55sec, a standing quarter mile in 14.4sec and a standing kilometre in 28.16sec. That performance will already make it the world’s fastest EV over six measurements, if ratified by the FIA. In perfect conditions, Peugeot expects the EX1 to go much faster: well under three seconds to 100km/h, close to 10 for a quarter mile, and over 260km/h flat out.

Much faster than the Tesla Roadster Sport and Audi e-tron, in other words.

Will that make this the fastest EV in the world? Well, there are certainly those who

Swingarm at the rear, plus one of the car’s two motors

would challenge its claim (see right). One thing’s for sure: the EX1 is Peugeot’s most significant and remarkable one-off for a decade – maybe longer.

It’s a fascinating machine with a genuinely unprecedented sense of focus and purpose. And it deserves the attention of the world.

Ironically it wasn’t on show at France’s domestic motor show last month, but if you happen to be in France this month it’ll be at Peugeot Avenue, 136 Avenue des Champs-Elysees, Paris, until November 14.

Don’t miss it. L

‘In perfect conditions, Peugeot expects EX1 to go well under 3 sec to 100km/ h and over 260 flat out’

Top speed: 495km/h A proper, outright land speed record EV, the Bullet recorded a two-way average of 495km/h at Bonneville last month. Built by students at Ohio State University in collaboration with Venturi, it’s 11 metres long and has a 690bhp electric motor.

Current Eliminator V (2007) Standing quarter mile: less than 8.0sec This electric dragster is hailed by the American National Electric Drag Racing Association as the world’s fastest EV over a quarter mile. Built by Dennis ‘Kilowatt’ Berube, it completed two sub-8.0sec standing quarters in December 2007.

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Feature | Bonhams Classic Car Auction

Hammer time PHOTOGRAPHY damien reid, gautam sharma + Supplied

Dubai classic-car auction staged by venerable auction house Bonhams draws an enthusiastic response. Gautam Sharma joins the action… but ensures his hands stay in his pockets

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hat’s the average age of the vehicle fleet in Dubai?

Going on gut feel, I’d venture a figure around five or six years.

You just don’t see very many “mature” vehicles trundling down our roads, let alone anything approaching classic status.

Don’t be fooled, though. There’s a vibrant classic-car culture in the region, and many rare conveyances lie under cover in garages and storage facilities, getting periodic airings in the wee hours of the morning… or on special occasions.

Given that there’s a sizeable community of petrolheads who appreciate automotive

art in these parts, venerable UK auction house Bonhams – which has been dealing in fine art, collectibles and antiques since 1793 – decided the time was ripe to assemble a collection of autos in Dubai and put them under the hammer. A total of 16 cars was lined up – some local, some flown in – with estimated pricing ranging from $26,000 to $1.2m.

The selection was eclectic, to say the least. The headline acts? Undoubtedly the pair of one-off Ferraris – a 1980 Pinin Sports Saloon (the only four-door Fezza in existence) and a 1972 Daytona ‘Shooting Brake’, essentially a wagon-ised version of the classic front-engined V12 grand tourer. Pretty they most definitely weren’t, but there’s no doubting their rarity or collectible status.

In a similar vein was the 1988 Italdesign Aztec Barchetta, a crazy concoction clearly inspired by sci-fi movies of the era.

For me, the most tantalising prospects were the two cars sourced from the BMW Museum – a pristine 1975 3.0 CSL Batmobile (the 46th of 57 examples built), and an equally spotless 1979 M1 Coupe.

No less desirable in my book was the eye-catching red Ferrari Dino 246 GTS, which had obviously been subjected to a painstaking ground-up restoration.

The auction was a toe-in-the-water exercise, said Bonhams Motoring group head James Knight, adding that the company opted to lessen the risk by tying it in with watches and fine art. However, the car side of the equation was a more complex logistical exercise as, to quote Knight: “the

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Bentley S3 Continental drop-top formerly owned by Alfred Heineken

Oddball Italdesign Aztec Barchetta raised eyebrows... but didn’t sell

Delectable Ferrari Dino 246 GTS was immaculately presented...

... and its two-tone interior was no less pristine

Clean and original Porsche 356B Cabriolet was snapped up for $78k

Porsche’s cabin reflects its simplicity and purity of purpose

watch auction can simply be moved around in a briefcase”. Cars are obviously far more expensive and difficult to transport and store.

“We decided to have the car auction in conjunction with watches and art as there were obvious economies of scale in doing so, especially as this is something of a test,” Knight said. “There are also synergies as many people who’ve come for the watches or art have stopped to have a good look at the cars.”

In the hours leading up to the auction, Knight conceded there was a large element of the unknown in what lay ahead. “We’re flying through fog because we don’t know what’s going to sell. We’ll have a debrief after the auction to see what works and what doesn’t.” ◊

Rare and desirable M1 sourced from BMW Museum

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Feature | Bonhams Classic Car Auction

Bentley S3 Continental Convertible’s sumptuous interior

This was the first Bonhams classic-car auction staged in the UAE

Jaguar E-Type 3.8 Roadster remained unsold on the night RIGHT: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow represented good value, yet didn’t sell

∆ The cars up for grabs had piqued the interest of phone bidders from as far afield as the US and Australia, reflecting that this was an international auction in every sense. Knight explained how it works for overseas bidders: “We put a call through to the bidders two or three lots before the car comes under the hammer. When bidding slows for the car in question we check whether it’s in their budget. If it is then they can choose whether or not to go ahead.”

Anyone can turn up and bid at such auctions, but Bonhams requires proof of identification, and they may also request references and proof that the would-be bidder has necessary funds to cover any purchase. The Dubai auction, held at the One and Only Royal Mirage, attracted about 250 attendees, and there were 150 bidders.

It proved a worthwhile exercise for Bonhams as 10 out of the 16 cars ended up changing hands. “We don’t want it to be a one-hit wonder. Provided there’s enough supply and demand we’ll have more of these locally,” Knight said. L

One-off Ferrari Daytona ‘Shooting Brake’ is hardly beautiful, but no doubting its collectable status

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Feature | Bonhams Classic Car Auction

‘The big-ticket cars that failed to sell included the four-door Ferrari Pinin, deemed “too specialist” for our market ’

Gorgeous ex-museum BMW 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile’ fetched $218,400

Lincoln Model K Convertible Coupé a glorious throwback to the 1930s

Selection of cars spanned from the weird to the wonderful

What sold… and what didn’t It took some effort for me to stop drooling when I laid eyes on the BMW Museum cars at the Bonhams auction, and they clearly had the same effect on others. The BMW M1 was snapped by a local buyer for a world record price of $264,000, while the 3.0 CSL Batmobile was acquired by a bidder in Australia for $218,400.

Among the other high-profile sales were the ungainly Ferrari Daytona Shooting Brake, which changed hands for $300,000, and the sublime Ferrari Dino 246 GTS, which sold for $174,000.

The gargantuan yet elegant Bentley Continental S3 also attracted healthy bidding before going under the hammer for $138,000.

The big-ticket cars that failed to sell included the four-door Ferrari Pinin concept, which Knight felt was a bit too expensive

and specialist for this market, and the oddball ItalDesign Aztec, deemed “too wacky” for Middle East buyers’ tastes.

On the other hand, the classic 1962 Porsche 356 Cabriolet had no shortage of interest, eventually selling for $78,000, while the 1931 Lincoln Model K Convertible with rumble seat earned $82,800. The Rolls-Royce Camargue changed hands for $36,000, but the Silver Wraith – “beautiful, but too heavy for this market”, according to Knight – remained unsold, as did the Silver Shadow.

The superbly presented Jaguar E-Type 2+2 sold for $56,400, but Knight was still trying to drum up a deal for the E-Type Roadster as we went to press.

GAUTAM SHARMA

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mud and cuts

Rallying’s new cheaper rules have attracted Mini back to the sport — with a very different kind of Countryman, writes John McIlroy main PHOTOGRAPHY Carlos Martins

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Paris debut gives a clue to final look of the competition car

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Subaru’s exit and new Mini 4x4 all added up to WRC Countryman

rom this point on, nostalgia counts for nothing. When this car, the Countryman WRC, takes the Mini name back to the world rallying circus in 2011, ahead of a full campaign in 2012, it does so with a clean slate. Plucky Paddy Hopkirk being chucked out of the Monte Carlo Rally in 1966? Giant-killing from Timo Mäkinen?

Might as well never have happened.

It’s a bit of an odd project all round, the Countryman, because it wasn’t really Mini who started it. Instead, the credit (or blame, depending on results) lies with a select team of Prodrive engineers who were suddenly left with a lot of spare time on their hands when Subaru made a snap decision to pull the plug on its rallying involvement at the end of 2008.

Headed by David Lapworth (the man responsible for all of Prodrive’s Subarus since the first Legacy), this bunch of boffins elected to use their time to work out the ‘core performance’ factors that defined whether or not a car was quick; length, height, wheelbase and centre of gravity were among the parameters considered.

In essence, they were trying to get their heads around rallying’s new-for-2011 rules, which were still being defined at the time. They’ve since been finalised: 1.6-litre turbocharged engines with less power and torque than the outgoing 2.0-litre motors, four-wheel drive, simpler transmission systems and a slight reduction in weight.

Cheaper too, with ‘soft’ targets on costs and restrictions on expensive materials.

Having come up with a ‘blueprint’ for what would make a quick car under these regs, Lapworth’s crew took a selection of

vehicles (even employees’ own daily drives were hauled into the measuring bay) and tried to see which would fit the bill. And Mini was… precisely nowhere on the list.

The R59, the latest three-door, failed on a number of counts.

Prodrive started talking to other brands but then a source within BMW hinted that a larger, five-door Mini was on the way.

And the lobbying began. “I spoke with Ian Robertson [BMW board member] at Goodwood last summer and he really became a champion for the project,” says Prodrive chairman David Richards.

All the same, getting BMW to sign off a new motorsport programme within a year of it ending its F1 campaign wasn’t easy. Prodrive had access to early CAD of the Countryman, but the final contract negotiations weren’t concluded until July.

And so, having gone through this slightly bizarre route to existence, the Countryman WRC has now started testing. It’s even stolen a march on its two likely rivals because while Ford’s Fiesta WRC and the Citroën DS3 WRC were also revealed at Paris, their early miles have been conducted with detuned 2.0 motors. The Mini, by contrast, notched up its first week of testing in Portugal recently with Marcus Grönholm and Briton Kris Meeke at the wheel, using a 1.6 built, as all of its engines will be, by BMW Motorsport in Munich.

The about-face nature of the project doesn’t end here, though. Because unlike the Ford and the Citroën, the Mini campaign has been designed from the outset to include customer cars.

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New Mini is testing with its competition engine, unlike the Fiesta and DS3 WRCs

Huge dial is now carbonfibre, but main info display is found between seats

WRC Mini is being kept very simple, avoiding bespoke parts

‘ The WRC Countryman is the most exciting, well-prepared motorsport programme that Prodrive has ever been involved with’

Prodrive intends to build WRC Countrymans for privateers, too

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Mini Countryman WRC | Inside story

it’s a rocky road...

CitroËn Seems strange to say it, but the sport’s dominant manufacturer of the past decade entered after a false start. Citroën was meant to stay in the French series, leaving the WRC proper to Peugeot. But team boss Guy Frequelin refused to accept this and his operation developed a WRC Xsara — called T4 — on the fly. Eventually the management gave in to the pressure, and an era of Loeb dominance (first in the Xsara, and latterly in a C4) began. With the C3 WRC in the wings, who’d bet against it continuing?

Seat Spanish manufacturer had rallying pedigree when it entered the top flight in 1998; its Ibiza had already won the twowheel-drive Formula Two crown three years on the trot. But turning the Cordoba into a competitive rally car was like pushing water uphill for the boys from Barcelona; after less than three seasons of trying, they pulled the plug and went touring car racing instead.

∆ the presence of an engineer on events (it’ll start at around $560k plus VAT, in case you’re interested), and the car itself has been engineered to be, well, cheap to run. All of its suspension and much of its transmission is interchangeable, for example, avoiding the bespoke parts that cost tens of thousands of pounds on a World Rally Car. Richards insists it couldn’t happen any other way, “The days of going to a manufacturer and saying: ‘We’d like to do the WRC with one of your cars. Can we have a cheque please?’ have long gone.”

Indeed, private entries are so far up the list of priorities that Richards admits the competitive debut of the car (in “late April, maybe May”) could even come in the hands of an individual, not the factory team. He expects his firm to build 100 Mini WRCs over the next four years.

The car shown at Paris last month was a mock-up with a standard engine and some wings and spoilers that won’t make it on to the final version. But a poke around the real chassis 001 in Prodrive’s workshops exposes a car that’s refreshingly simple. Lapworth’s team has stayed away from expensive complexity and focused on the basics – which can come for free if taken into account early on. For example, the team has certainly done its bit to get the crew into the centre of the

wheelbase; their heads will be somewhere behind the Countryman’s B-pillar.

The Mini’s huge circular speedometer remains – now in carbonfibre – even though the essential displays are either directly in front of the driver or on the floor beside the navigator. Prodrive admit that the circular display could be used to show information – revs, gear, speed – in a large enough format to be picked up by forwardfacing in-car cameras.

The project has certainly pepped up Richards, whose characteristic Cheshire Cat grin is once again in full evidence. “This is the most exciting, well prepared motorsport programme that we’ve ever been involved with,” he says.

It might well be. But there is a chance that the integration of a customer programme in the plan, and the focus on building the car to a cost, could compromise the Mini more than, say, Citroën’s DS3, used examples of which won’t filter out of the factory team until the end of next season.

On the other hand, as Richards points out, “a rule change like this can be the perfect time for a new manufacturer to come in and be successful. Look at it this way: we have to be competitive from the outset.” Big talk, but at least it’s looking ahead. Anything else would be folly. L

Hyundai Funded by Korea, but run out of Motor Sport Developments in Milton Keynes, the Hyundai Accent WRC had some cutting-edge tech (longitudinal gearbox with a transverse engine, anyone?) and it attracted big names such as Juha Kankkunen, Armin Schwarz and Alister McRae. It didn’t win, though, and that didn’t please the Koreans one little bit. The programme ended in acrimony, with MSD and Hyundai accusing each other of complacency on various counts.

Suzuki Another successful exponent of front-drive machinery to fail with a World Rally Car, Suzuki employed smart people like Michel Nandan, the man behind many a successful rally Peugeot.

And then got rid of them. The resulting car, the SX4 WRC, was never near the pace, often being eclipsed by privateers in Fords and Subarus.

In the end, after just one season, Suzuki decided that the global economic climate was a good reason to get out. In truth, it barely arrived in the first place.

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Sport | DAMC Karting

Knopjes and Al Rawahi share the spoils Big fields line up as the battles resume in round 2 of the DAMC Karting Championships

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ound 2 of DAMC Karting Championship – combined with the AARKC UAE Rotax Max Challenge – attracted huge fields even though in the Max Seniors first-round pacesetter Edward Jones was absent competing in the Monaco Karting GP. All attention was on the battle between Maurits Knopjes and Sanad Al Rawahi, with the former winning the first heat but Al Rawahi extracting revenge in the pre-final. The final was incident-packed but Knopjes kept his head to take the win.

Al Rawahi crossed the line a mere 0.261sec later. Ali Al Najjar did well to come back from a DNF in the pre-final to take third place on the day.

In the Max Masters class there were some new faces on the podium as the “usual suspects” suffered problems during the course of the day. Winning a final for the first time was Luc Bauwmans, ahead of Perry Spruit (second) and Gary Vincent (third).

Mohammed Al Dhaheri starred in the DD2 Class with three wins on the day after Arnaud Bouf had claimed pole in qualifying. Points leader Bouf subsequently encountered problems and his challenge did not materialise. Instead Ali Hamad gave a spirited display, making Al Dhaheri sweat for the trophy, on his way to a trio of second places. Sheikh Khalid Al Nehayan recovered well from a DNF in the pre-final to take third place in the final.

The Max Juniors Class was fought out by ABOVE RIGHT: Rami DAMC reigning champion Piers PakenhamAzzam and Maurits Walsh, Abdullah Al Rawahi and Ameer Knopjes with the other Hassan. Pakenham-Walsh dominated the podium finishers heat and the pre-final, but he came off the worse in the final after contact dropped him way behind the leaders. He gave chase, but there simply were not enough laps and Oman-based Al Rawahi took the winner’s trophy, with Ameer Hassan in second and Pakenham-Walsh in third place.

Tom Bale has been the top act in the Cadet Class, but he qualified no better than fourth on the grid, with Patrick Hannah securing pole position. Thereafter, Bale reasserted his authority with three emphatic wins. Hannah was second in the final, with Pascal Pook finishing third after a race long battle with Zak Munawer. In the Minio Max class Kate Vincent was the only runner.

Double win for Rami Azzam in RX250 Master Cup The much awaited debut of the SWS RX250 Master Cup attracted a strong field with Sheikh Hasher Al Maktoum showing his intent by taking pole position ahead of Rami Azzam, Saeed Al Mehairi and Atef Al Barwani.

In Race 1 it was Al Maktoum who set the pace at the front with Azzam tailing him, before pouncing in the second half of the race to take an impressive win. Al Maktoum settled for second ahead of Al Mehairi, Al Barwani and Al Blooshi.

Race 2 was arguably the highlight of the day with Azzam, Al Maktoum, Al Mehairi and Al Barwani battling it out in close contention for most of the race. Azzam again pounced late in the race to take the chequered flag. Behind him Al Mehairi managed to edge away and take second place, while Al Barwani and Al Maktoum, in what must go down as the battle of the day, fought it out for the final podium spot. In the end Al Barwani took third.

Al Mutawaa untouchable in the SWS Star Cup There was a big field for the SWS Star Cup sprint races and Mohammed Al Mutawaa immediately got down to business by taking pole position, the only driver in the Star Cup field to dip below the 72-second mark around the Kartdrome.

In both races he simply powered into the distance, winning race 1 by almost 5sec and taking top spot in race 2 by 8sec. Second and third in both races were Nathan Stevens and Sam Zian. The battle for fourth place in the first race between Paul Chatenay, Azzan Ali, Luca Cima and Jiby Kuriakose was one of the highlights, with Kuriakose eventually taking fourth followed by Chatenay, Ali and Cima.

In the second race it was the same group battling for fourth with Phill Tromans joining the fray. This time Chatenay finished fourth ahead of Kuriakose, Tromans and Cima.

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10/27/10 11:38 AM

Direct-injection 4.2-litre V8 ticks all the requisite boxes; it’s smooth, potent and superbly flexible

Satnav can display 3D imagery via Google Earth

Display screen sinks out of sight when not in use

into ever-sharper focus by tightening enviro legislation in Europe. Audi claims the alloy architecture’s tremendous rigidity also contributes to precise handling, low interior noise and vibration levels as well as high occupant safety in crashes. We can vouch for the car’s refinement and generally tidy on-road dynamics, but we’ll have to take their word for it on the last count.

The 4.2-litre FSI engine is essentially a carryover unit, but a new addition is the eight-speed tiptronic automatic, which relays torque to Audi’s trademark quattro all-wheel-

drive setup. The V8 pumps out 367bhp and 445Nm, enabling the big sedan to sprint from 0-100km/h in a very respectable 5.8sec.

This is, of course, well and good, but the fact remains that most A8s will spend their time progressing in a rather more sedate fashion, with their owners more than likely sprawled out in the spacious rear quarters. This is obviously a car to be driven in, rather than to drive oneself.

Stretching a mammoth 5267mm from bumper to bumper (even though its styling disguises its bulk), the A8 L is 130mm longer than the regular ◊

factfile Audi A8 L

Engine Power Torque Transmission Kerb weight Length Width Height Wheelbase 0-100km/h Price

4.2-litre V8 367bhp at 6000rpm 440Nm at 3500rm Eight-speed auto 2004kg 5267mm 1949mm 1462mm

Manufacturer’s claimed figures

Several wheel designs on the menu

Classic wood veneer well integrated with mod-cons

Vitals

able Lighting package is formid

Analogue clock befits the A8’s upmarket leanings

3122mm

5.8sec From $97,550

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First Drive | Audi A8 L

Clean, inoffensive styling makes A8 L the perfect device for getting around unnoticed

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Cabin quality doesn’t get much better than this; A8 L arguably sets the benchmark in its segment

∆ model, and the extra length has all been added to the wheelbase. The payoff is acres of stretching room for rear-seat occupants; Audi makes a point of noting that the A8 L is both longer and wider than its Merc and BMW counterparts.

The rear seats aren’t just spacious, they’re also hugely comfortable, especially if you’ve ticked the box for the optional reclining seat behind the front passenger seat. It’s arguably the nearest thing you’ll find in a car to a first-class seat in an aircraft. The pews are ventilated and can be manoeuvred in a number of ways… and there’s also a massage function to take the aches out of long journeys.

Other optional goodies to make for relaxed travel or a hospitable mobile office include a folding table, a refrigerator, and a rear-seat entertainment system with access to its own DVD drive, hard-drive jukebox, SD memory card readers, as well as a separate Audi music interface. Facing rear-seat dwellers are a pair of 10.2-inch screens that are claimed to be the largest on offer in this segment. ◊

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Drive | Corvettes across UAE

H

eard the one about the American, the Arabian and the Australian?

That’s the American Chev Corvette Z06, the Arabian Peninsula and the Australian journo. The latter’s me, lucky enough to combine the first two.

Call it a freelancer’s keenly-honed sense of opportunity, or just plain dumb luck, but when the stars aligned recently, delivering the chance to drive a 505hp 7.0-litre V8 legend in a part of the world drenched in cheap oil, I didn’t have to be asked twice.

So without further ado, hand over the proximity key, point me in approximately the right direction, load in photographer and fellow Aussie Justin Deeley and let’s go. Well, there was a little more planning than that. With the help of local Chev (and all things GM) addict Mitchell Perera of

Liberty Motorsports and the fine folk at the Rotana hotel chain, a drive was devised that started and finished in Abu Dhabi and over-nighted in Fujairah, overlooking the Indian Ocean.

It added up to around 800km of driving on everything from empty freeways carved through a sea of sand dunes to steepling switchback climbs up mountains too rugged and bare for even a goat to call home. The trip was to culminate with a visit to legendary Jebel Hafeet, an enormous sandstone rock on the outskirts of Al Ain, with one of the great drivers’ roads carved up its side.

Sitting idly in the forecourt of our hotel, the Z06 promised a special driving experience no matter where we went. The standard C6 Corvette is a stunning looker, but the wider Z06 ramps the evil and intent up to 11. There are splitters, ducts, massive

gunmetal alloys, red brake callipers (six piston up-front) mounted on huge vented and drilled discs and Goodyear Eagle F1 rubber with such shallow sidewalls they could be painted on. At the rear 2.5-inch stainless steel exhausts protrude from the bodywork like torpedo launch tubes.

Underneath all this lies an uprated, lighter version of the standard C6 structure.

Hydroformed aluminium, a magnesium cradle for the engine and front suspension, carbonfibre and even balsa wood.

Effectively, the Z06 is a road-going version of the C6-R Le Mans racer, and it’s designed to go flat-out.

But before charging to the horizon we have to trickle through Abu Dhabi’s peak hour. Overlooked by skyscrapers and cranes, surrounded by beat-up Camry taxis and sitting eyeline to axle line with a bevy of blinged Escalades, this is not the best ◊

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10/31/10 2:55 PM

New Elise retains current model’s upward-swept front wings

New designs meant to reflect all-new architecture

ity” hly for its “matur Coco rates Elite hig

Elan is “two bones and a lot of muscle”

(the cars are based on two platforms – front-engine and mid-engine) are, and what the possible styling is.

How difficult was it to design five or six cars all at once?

The important thing was to not think too much or you come to a standstill. The normal time to take a design sketch to a full-scale model is one year, and here we have done prototypes in less than one year… and not one, but six. But this is also a big motivation.

Which of the five cars here is your favourite?

I have a special feeling for the Elite, because today it appears more mature than the others. Maybe I like it because there’s less work to do in it than the others (laughs).

Are they working prototypes?

They all have engines, but they’re not working. They have electric motors so we can move them around at shows to enable people to appreciate their proportions.

These are blueprints… they are not the definitive cars. Each car will evolve and develop based on necessity.

What provided the design inspiration?

It wasn’t flowers or butterflies or aircraft, like people in design often say. Your inspiration usually starts with what you’ve done before, your experiences. With the Elan the idea was to make it as simple as possible. The Elise is a very technical car.

We’ve taken the front wings up to connect it to the current Elise. You don’t start from zero… you take the brand’s heritage and build on that.

‘Design is something you normally keep secret, but we needed to show people what is the new Lotus’ Are sportscars in general starting to look much the same as each other?

We’ve come to a point where if you start with a few metres square, put a wheel on each corner and put all the lines where all the designers have drawn since the advent of the car, you would have a black page.

Everybody has been everywhere.

How to do something different? Each brand has to cultivate an identity that’s current, yet not in someone else’s territory.

But there’s now a bit of confusion. You don’t know today what’s a French or German car. There’s a great risk that brands that were formerly unique are losing their personality. You need to be aware every morning what are the moves you make. It’s becoming more and more difficult to generate genuinely new designs. L

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Sport | UAE National Championships

Jassim Al Shamsi leads the pack in the UAE Sportscars clash. Grogor won both races

racing rivalries resume as UAE championships fire up The opening round of the 2010-11 UAE National Championships produced a taster of what lies ahead this seasoN

T

otal UAE Touring Cars Class 1: Fairytale victory for rookie racer It was a fairytale win for Dubai-based US citizen Andre Ramdhanny, who powered to victory in race two of the opening round of the Total UAE Touring Car Championship at Dubai Autodrome on October 8. It was a remarkable feat as Ramdhanny was competing in his first ever race day for Team MSW Seat.

In the first race he was runner-up to the experienced Khalid Bin Hadher, who took victory in the Performance Racing Seat. In race two Bin Hadher had to start from the back of the grid after a fuse delayed his exit from the pitlane, which gave Ramdhanny the break he needed to power to victory.

Bin Hadher proved he is the man to beat with the first race win and gritty comeback in race two, where he still managed to finish second despite starting from the back of the grid and also being given a drive-through penalty for an infringement.

Total UAE Touring Cars Class 2: Vanderpal and Channake take a win apiece The Total UAE Touring Cars Class 2 battle is going to be one of the fiercest of all if the opening day’s action is anything to go by.

Spencer Vanderpal (A2B Garage Honda) snatched a great victory in race one, while newcomer to Class 2, Rupesh Channake, (Lap57 Honda) was another “rookie” to impress by taking Class 1 victory in race two after finishing third in the first.

It was not plain sailing for the winners; they had to work hard for their trophies, with reigning champion Umair Khan, strong in his new “work in progress” Lap57 Honda, finishing second in both races and sending out the message that he intends to hang on to his title. Jason O’Keefe (A2B Garage Honda) bounced back from a gearbox problem in the first race to take third in race two.

UAE Sportsbikes 1000 Class: Al Kooheji and Binladin share the spoils Pre-season hype pointed to a season of rivalry between the region’s top riders, namely Bahrain’s Hussein Al Kooheji and Abdulaziz Binladin from Saudi Arabia.

The two, campaigning in the 1000 Class,

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lived up to the hype by taking a win each on the opening day of the UAE Sportbike Championship at Dubai Autodrome.

There was some drama early on in the day when Binladin’s BMW S1000RR was found not to conform to UAE Sportbike regulations and big mods would have been required to make it comply. Binladin thus took over Ahmed Lanjawi’s Suzuki GSXR. In the first race Al Kooheji took top honours in the 1000 Class, with Binladin second on a machine he had never ridden.

In race two it was a role reversal with Binladin taking the win and second place going to Al Kooheji, who struggled with grip and was cramping up.

Al Kooheji said: “The first race was great and we had no problems, but in race two the grip was gone and I also started to feel cramps on my body. So I decided to take it easy and finish. I am happy with the day and look forward to the next one.”

Binladin said: “I rode Ahmed Lanjawi’s Suzuki GSXR for the first time in race one and it was on very old tyres, no setup and very strange to ride. But in race two we made some tweaks, put on better tyres and I was able to win.”

UAE Sportbikes 600 Class: Grosjean in sizzling form takes double win The battle for top honours in the UAE Sportbikes 600 Class is set to be a fierce contest between Yamaha-mounted Pascal Grosjean and Jason Burnside on the Team Mapei Honda.

Reigning champion Grosjean was in great form, mixing it with the 1000 Class riders and posting two wins on the day. Burnside was second on both occasions, but had the Swiss rider well in his sights throughout the day.

The most impressive performance of the day was that of Emirati rider Abdulrahman Al Shamsi, who finished third in both races after dueling all day with the likes of Mamoud Tannir (Yas Triumph), Andrea Cappocia (Yamaha) and Alan Boyter (Yas Triumph).

UAE Sportscars: Grogor two good on the day Reigning UAE champion Jordan Grogor started the season in fine form, notching up two wins and setting the fastest lap on the inaugural race day for UAE Sportscars.

The AUH Motorsports Radical driver had an almost flawless day on his way to two chequered flags. A hiccup in the first race saw him drop down the field, but he recovered to snatch victory from Team Abu Dhabi rookie Jassim Al Shamsi, who was runner-up in both races on the day.

Grogor said: “It was a tough day, very hot and humid, but my team AUH Motorsport delivered a good car for me to do the job. It was a shame that the Juno team had problems as we all want a good battle in this class. All in all it was a good day and good result.”

Roger Bromley was third in both races, driving the AUH Motorsport Radical, with David Field fourth in the Aviva Radical. Much was expected of former champion Bassam Kronfli, who defected to the NFS Racing Juno team for this season but had a disappointing debut. He said of his troubles: “We struggled with an electrical problem all day long and could not get to the root of it. Also, for us it is a new car running in tough conditions. We will sort things out and be back to challenge.

We don’t give up.”

The second round of the UAE Sportscar Championship will take place at the Dubai Motorsport Festival at Dubai Autodrome on November 4 and 5. L

Khalid Bin Hadher leads Andre Ramdhanny in the Touring Cars Class 1 battle

ry Hussein Al Kooheji on his way to victo

in the Sportbikes 1000 Class

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game changers Extra

Richard Bremner The cars that saved or SHAMED the company

Maserati 3200 GT Maserati was drowning when Fiat threw it this Giugiaro-designed lifebelt

B

ora, Merak, Ghibli, Khamsin, Biturbo… the last of these may not be an exotic wind, but its name carries the same resonant glamour. Yet the 1981 Biturbo was an odd choice for a Maserati. This compact three-box saloon, powered by the world’s first twin-turbo engine (a 2.0-litre V6), was about as distant from a supercar as a suburban semi is from a mansion.

It was born into troubled times in Italy, when wealthy industrialists were frequently kidnapped, and bold flauntings of wealth were a surefire method of increasing your chances of abduction. And Italy’s tax system hit cars of more than 2.0 litres heavily.

Seen in this light, the modest, rapid and plush Biturbo made sense.

But it was a lot harder to justify your choice from the hard shoulder of an autostrada, where you could check your Maserati for the early onset of rust while wondering whether seized turbochargers, snapped cambelts or a random electrical fault had marooned you. The Biturbo may have made theoretical sense, but it was about as dependable as Saharan rain.

It trashed not only travel plans but also Maserati’s reputation, and the company had virtually collapsed in 1993 when it was bought out by Fiat.

It was Fiat that triggered the birth of the car that saved Maserati. The 1998, Giugiaro-designed 3200 GT was striking for being a hell of a lot more shapely than the Biturbo.

Powered by a V8, also a twin-turbo, the car featured boomerang-shaped

rear lamp clusters that rapidly became its visual signature.

A rather odder aesthetic curiosity was the apparent disappearance of the 3200’s fastback as you circumnavigated its rear end, when it momentarily became a slightly less handsome notchback.

Still, the 3200 GT was about the only coupé of this class capable of housing four adults in comfort. The experience was made all the more special by the cabin’s opulence. Just about every surface was upholstered with deep-pile carpet or leather, and even lined the ceiling of some cars.

But any marvelling at these amenities would shortly be displaced by other sensations when the 370bhp V8 fired up, especially if the firer in question was keen with the right foot. The GT was never less than brisk at low revs, but once the turbos pressurised it would take off with

a rampant pulse of where-will-itall-end acceleration; its capacity for triggering fear was topped only by what you felt through the wheel.

Which was chillingly little in some cars; the 3200’s steering suggesting a spearing passage over sheet ice with minimal control.

Some cars? Well, they varied. Some served a modest slice of reassuring resistance through the rim, while others mustered only slender evidence of any connection to the front wheels at all. If nothing else, that made this Maserati exciting, and a car that took time to master.

The 3200 GT was far from perfect, but it succeeded in rehabilitating Maserati. It even won the marque a place beneath the wing of Ferrari.

Consider that only 13 years ago Maserati was close to death, then see where it is today, and it’s clear why the 3200 GT was such a crucial car.

Rear lights left a visual mark, the force of its V8 on full boost a visceral one

‘Any marvelling at these amenities would shortly be displaced by other sensations when the V8 fired up’

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November 2010

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Cover story Bugatti Veyron Super Sport | First Drives 2011 Nissan GT-R, Audi A8 L, VW Touareg | Road Tests Alpina B5 S v Mercedes E 63 AMG, Corvettes across UAE | Motorsport DAMC Karting

29/10/10 10:46 AM

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