Electricity and water aren’t generally a good mix and with a Tesla Model S P90D in Ludicrous mode, we’re not just talking about batteries and short circuits.

To demonstrate its supercar acceleration, one US dad challenged his children to drink big cups of water in his Model S while he accelerated at supercar speeds.

With the P90D capable of firing from 0-100km/h in a claimed 2.7 seconds you know this wasn’t going to end neatly.

Luckily the kids seemed to enjoy the challenge though it remains to be seen how they’ll feel about the slow motion footage of water spilling over their faces going viral. That said it’s all done in good fun.

If you’ve never been in a Tesla, the video on the DragTimes YouTube channel is interesting beyond the poor kids wearing their drink.

The lack of noise when he puts the foot down is very noticeable as is the way the front seats lurch back. Sure, they’d probably spill those drinks in any car with the right pedal pushed to the floor, but the Tesla’s speed off the blocks is really noticeable despite the lack of usual audio cues.

Even the dad, who has done this plenty of times before, momentarily succumbs to the lateral acceleration force, which at that speed would be around 1G.

Fun experiments aside, having passengers in a car capable of being so quick requires extra responsibility. Sure, it’s fun, but if you did that at every set of traffic lights you’ll probably end up with something else spilled over the seats.

1. The Steed dual-cab ute is the only vehicle Great Wall is selling in Australia for now.
2. It will only tow 1700kg. That compares with more than 3000kg for more expensive rivals from more mainstream brands.
3. The name “Steed” is the same one Great Wall uses for the ute in the British market (the brand’s former Australian distributor called it the V240)
4. The name “Steed” reflects the Anglicised name for the ute in China, where it is called the “Wingle”, which allegedly also means “horse”.
5. The steering wheel is made from real leather. The front seats are made from fake leather.
6. There’s only the single four-door model of the Steed. Great Wall is thinking about bringing in two-door versions, but it won’t be until next year.
7. If you can’t drive a manual, don’t buy a Great Wall Steed. It’s manual transmission-only for now, although an auto is high on the Australian arm’s wish list.
8. The Steed is likely to gain a more premium rival from sister brand Haval. However, the Haval-based ute won’t be big enough to offer a dual-cab version.

TELL ME ABOUT THIS CAR

After a short break to sort out a few problems, Great Wall is back in Australia and keen to reinvent itself. It’s doing so via a heavily facelifted version of the V240 twin-cab ute that was on sale previously. This time, though, it’s called the Steed, and the way it’s priced (higher) and packaged (much better), Great Wall appears to want to shake off the cheap Chinese legacy.

STRENGTHS

• Simplicity. There’s only one model on sale. If you don’t want the 2.4-litre petrol engine, pay $2000 more for a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel version. If you want to take it off-road, a Borg-Warner transfer case pushing drive to all four wheels is an extra $3000.
• Price. The Great Wall Steed is priced from $25,990 (compare that with the $24,990 drive-away deal in place until the end of the year).
• Interior. If you’re expecting a hose-out interior and low comfort, think again. The Steed’s interior is comfortable, modern and – dare we say it – even smacks of a bit of luxury car feel.
• It carries a tonne in the tray. The load rating means that you can carry what the advertising says.
• You sit on artificial leather, but you’d almost think it was the real stuff. For the record, real cowhide does cover the steering wheel and gearshift lever if you need a comparison benchmark.
• Safety is a real step forward for a Chinese ute. The Great Wall Steed now comes with six airbags and electronic stability control that can help correct a skid – important for a car that skips around in the rear over rougher surfaces when there’s no load weighing it down. The centre rear seat even gets a three-point seatbelt, not a lap-only one. The last version of the ute had only a two-star crash rating, which made it one of the worst-performing cars on the market in terms of crashworthiness. It even has rear disc brakes in an age where old-style drums prevail.

1

WEAKNESSES

• There’s no automatic gearbox available. Talking to Great Wall’s Australian staffers, it appears there won’t be an auto option available until next year.
• It’s packaged like a car, with big colour screen on the centre console, heated faux leather front seats, daytime running lights, fog lights, LED tail-lights, tyre pressure monitor, dusk-sensing headlights and rain-sensing wipers, Bluetooth and USB connection and auto-down windows.
• The tray comes with a heavy-duty plastic tub liner.
• The petrol-engined car only gets a five-speed manual gearbox, while the diesel gets a six-speed manual.
• The Great Wall Steed is not much of a fan of rougher roads. Our test cars had about 60kg of weight in the tray (Great Wall’s media drive program included a delivery of support packages to Victorian farmers doing it tough) and the rear still bounced around a fair it on lumpier surfaces.
• The nose job and reshaped rear bumper introduced as part of the facelift do little more than add about 30cm of length to the Great Wall Steed, so the reversing camera is a welcome addition.
• This may sound silly, but the interior looks so nice that you’ll probably opt to not wear your muddy gumboots and overalls inside it.
• The petrol engine is rather asthmatic. That makes the diesel the choice of the two powertrains.
• Great Wall’s own marketing brings it undone a bit, calling the Steed the “tool of choice for Australian farmers and tradepeople”. What do you do if you’re neither of these?

As a cheap ute, you’d be hard-pressed to do better. The India-sourced Mahindra Pik-up is agricultural by comparison, and the Chinese-built Foton Tunland is exactly where Great Wall doesn’t want to be. The Steed also comes with a three-year, 100,000 kilometre warranty, so you’d probably be smart to stack this up against a high-kilometre second-hand mainstream brand ute.

First published in the August 1991 issue of Wheels magazine, Australia’s best car mag since 1953.

The EB marks the make or break of Ford Australia. It’s hardly hot-blooded in body or form, but ANGUS MacKENZIE and MIKE McCARTHY dig under the skin, and find a very different beast.

A repositioned badge here, a new taillight graphic there, or even the discreet burble of a 5.0 litre V8 isn’t going to convince anyone that Ford’s EB Falcon is really all that new.

More importantly, it isn’t going to convince anyone’s next-door neighbour. There’s not much driveway cred in new side repeater lamps …

Truth is, the EB probably represents the best $46 million Ford could have spent on the Falcon. It might look the same as the old model, but a host of detail engineering changes under the skin have transformed the way Ford’s family six rides and handles. Forget the woolly steering, the lazy turn-in response, the ponderous feel – Ford has taught the elephant to tap dance. In simple terms, EB spells RTS.

Yes, it’s every bit as good as Holden’s marshmallow-tomacho transformation in 1977. Of less obvious importance is the way Ford has quietly shuffled the equipment and options lists, mostly to the buyer’s benefit. The Fairmont, for example, now carries the same specification level as the old Ghia.

Which is exactly what Ford plans for 100,000 existing EA owners, via an extensive direct mail campaign to “Drive the Difference”. it’s hardly an inspiring slogan, but one Ford is taking very seriously, to the point where the dealer launch for the EB actually included a proper drive program before the drinks and the dancing girls – the first in maybe 20 years, according to one seasoned Ford marketing man.

The return of the V8, and the introduction of hotshoe models like the XR8, will grab most of the headlines of the EB launch story. But in a very real sense, the fuel injected 5.0 litre is simply high performance window dressing. Ford expects the V8 to account for no more than 15 per cent of total EB sales; the Falcon’s bread and butter will remain the six cylinder GL. For a basic, no frills motorcar, the Falcon GL is now a pretty well rounded package.

The standard throttle body version of the 3.9 litre straight six develops less power than the Commodore’s 3.8 litre V6, but has eight per cent more torque and is much more refined to boot, while BTR’s dual mode electronic four speed auto is a smoother, sweeter transmission than the General’s TH700.

Inside the GL, the tilt and reach adjustable steering wheel carries over from the Ford Falcon EA, combined with a new left footrest, seat height adjuster and lumbar support. The GL now gets central locking, as part of the ‘new high security Tibbe door locks introduced last year with the 30th anniversay upgrade. With two different engines,

two suspension settings and four different wheel/tyre combinations, there’s quite a variation in ride, handling and road-holding across the Falcon range. In all cases the improvement is palpable, but some combinations work better than others.

The bare bones EB GL is a quantum leap over the EA version. Turn-in response is crisp, almost a little too crisp at first, especially if tyre pressures are high – and steering feel much improved. The stiffer spring rates, uprated gas dampers and beefier bushes have cut excessive roll and weight transfer without unduly compromising ride quality, while larger 195 section tyres on wider six inch rims have increased the Falcon’s grip on the road. Some familiar Falcon traits remain – there’s still too much road noise, for instance, excessive wind roar from the exterior mirrors is still a problem, and rough corners leave you in no doubt there’s still a live rear axle doing the driving.

With an extra 24 kg over the front wheels, the V8 powered cars feel marginally more nose heavy than the sixes, particularly with the standard suspension settings. Balanced against this, however, is the ability to change the car’s attitude simply by squeezing your right foot. Be warned: without a limited-slip diff (standard fitment only on the XR8, Fairmont Ghia and LTD) you’ll mostly get a lot of noise and blue smoke from the inside rear tyre. If you order a V8 make sure you tick the box marked ‘LSD’.

Ford hasn’t spent $25 million on V8 related engineering, development, facilities and tooling just for show. The sales gap which has emerged between the Falcon and Commodore over the past two years -about 12,400 cars in all –has been entirely made up of Holden V8s. The EB V8’s job is to bridge that gap.

This is a smooth, sweet engine that with a manual gearbox behind it, spins freely well past the 5000 rpm redline. It’s not that thirsty, either – Ford claims consumption of 14.0 litres/100 km city and 9.0 litres/100 km highway for a GL V8 automatic. Holden’s official figures for its V8 Exec auto are 15.0 litres/100km city and 9.5 L/100 km on the highway cycle.

Although enthusiasts will opt for the T5 manual, in many ways the V8 delivers its best hooked up to the slick shifting BTR four speed auto, where the impressive torque- which peaks a full 600 rpm lower down the rev band than in Holden’s V8 – ensures instant response to throttle commands.

The V8 engine will be offered as an option across the Falcon range, from GL to Fairmont Ghia, sedan to wagon.

Final prices have yet to be decided, but expect to pay an extra $2500 for the V8 option.

The Statesman/Caprice has conservatively cost Ford dealers more than $130 million in retail sales, with Fairlane numbers falling 31 per cent, and LTD volume crashing 48 per cent. Ford admits Fairlane/LTD sales aren’t huge in terms of outright numbers, but the profit per car can be twice that of the Falcon.

The V8 is now standard equipment in the top of the range LTD. Apart from the EB-spec suspension mods and some minor cosmetic tweaking, very little else has been changed. The Fairlane line has been split into two models, a cheaper base spec version and the upmarket Fairlane Ghia. The base car is available only with the 3.9 litre six-cylinder and steel wheels and will be priced very close to Holden’s short wheelbase Calais. The Fairlane Ghia comes complete with BBS alloy wheels, LTD-style cloth trimmed front seats and is available with optional V8 power.

The top of the range Falcon is still the Fairmont Ghia. The EB version is quite different in character to its predecessor, however, as Ford has elected to fit the stiffer S-spec sports suspension, leather and velour-clad versions of the new Falcon XR8 sports seat, and BBS alloy wheels shod with Michelin tyres as standard equipment. It’s a much more sporty luxury sedan than the Calais.

The EB Fairmont has been extensively upgraded and refined. Standard equipment now includes the multi-point version of the 3.9 litre six, wider 15-inch EA Fairmont Ghia style alloy wheels, automatic climate control air-con, cruise control, trip computer, digital dash, and lashings of velour trim. Compared with the EA version, it’s virtually Fairmont Ghia spec, and should be one of the hottest sellers in the range.

The sporty Falcon S XR8 is covered in detail elsewhere in this issue. The six cylinder S version differs from its big engined cousin in having silver painted alloy wheels instead of machine finished items, and misses out on the rear bootlid spoiler. It doesn’t get the trick seats, either, making do with modified Capri backrests for improved side bolster support.

The sports suspension, which comprises stiffer spring and damper rates, plus a marginally lower ride height, seems to work best on the XR8. It’s firm, but not choppy, and the 205/65 Pirelli P600s cope well with small lumps and bumps.

Ford Australia has a lot riding on the EB Falcon. This car has to be a winner if Ford is to fight off the Commodore, slow Toyota’s relentless slog towards market domination, and return to profitability. In the longer term, the success or failure of the EB will determine how much influence Ford Australia has in deciding the direction of the next generation Falcon.

Ford calls it the most important launch since the original 1960 Falcon. For once the PR hype might just be right…

Broadmeadows, Victoria, February 1983: meet the Falcon’s new fuel injected six cylinder engine. During the launch, lan Vaughan, Ford Australia’s Product Planning chief, refers to the November ’82 axing of the V8 engines and announces: “The world trend is towards smaller capacity engines. Five or six litre engines are a thing of the past; obviously we had to get out of there.”

Coolum, Queensland, June 1991: meet the new EB series Falcon … with a fuel-injected V8 engine. lan Vaughan, Ford Australia’s vice president of External Affairs, tells us the 1982 decision seemed like a good idea at the time. But with every passing year it became more obvious Ford had to get back in there, with a V8. it’s an engine they simply had to have.

For Ford, the importance of the V8 far outweighs the expected sales numbers. The company says that in a year’s projected 55,000 Falcon sales, only about 8250 will be V8s.

The new 5.0 litre’s role is not only as a powerful carrot for those who want a big engine, but also as an image-maker whose shine will rub off on the lesser models and help increase showroom traffic. Getting bums into seats is what it’s all about, and if the V8 stirs interest in people who wind up buying a Falcon, Fairmont or Fairlane six, well that’s alright.

Ford also figures the V8 will win sales in its own right, of course; some of them stepping up from the six cylinder models, some of them fresh conquests and some returning to Ford’s fold after trying other makes since ’82. After all, there’s a lot of tradition and sentiment in a Ford V8, especially one that’s familiar, if different in detail.

Even the engine’s family name has a ring to it – it’s a Windsor, albeit built in Ford’s Cleveland, USA plant. Today’s version pumps out 165 kW at 4500 rpm, and torques up a storm with 388 Nm at 3000 rpm.

Its tacho is redlined at 5000 rpm but, with the manual gearbox behind it, the engine easily sees six something in the intermediate ratios before the fuel cut-out activates.

The original 302 Windsor was imported for the Falcon from 1967 to 1973 when Ford switched to a locally produced 302 edition of the Cleveland version which, by the early ’80s, was claiming 140 kW and 344 Nm.

Internally, there’s a forged steel camshaft, roller followers and pressed steel rocker arms. Valve stems are chrome plated for long life, and rotators act on the exhaust valves to reduce seat deposits and lengthen seat life. Heads and block are thin-wall castings.

The 5.0 litre breathes through a new aluminium manifold, with sequential port injection, meaning the cylinders get their squirts in turn, like their electronically controlled sparks.

Instead of the six cylinder injection’s speed density air metering system, the EB V8 gets a hotwire mass flow air sensor.

Besides managing the VS’s ignition and injection, Ford’s EEC IV electronic system controls an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) system to assure precise flow rates as needed to meet the tough nitrogen oxides standards. In all, the VS’s emissions control measures are almost identical to the US 49-States specification, and the Falcon in fact meets the much more stringent federal US exhaust levels.

Electronic engine control optimises not only the VS’s performance and exhaust emissions but also its fuel consumption.

On Ford’s official figures, the Ford VS is measurably more economical than comparable Holden models. The Falcon GL V8 automatic, for instance, is credited with 11.8 L/100 km for the combined city and highway cycles where the Holden Commodore Executive V8 auto manages 12.5 L/100 km. As manuals, the Falcon S and Executive V8s score 11.5 and 12.0 L/1 00 km respectively. The margins are a little wider again between the Ford Fairlane/LTD and Holden Statesman/Caprice.

The fabricated tubular headers not only do their bit for performance and fuel economy but also weigh less than cast exhaust manifolds. Weight’s further reduced with a permanent magnet, geared drive starter motor, aluminium intake manifold and an alloy clutch housing.

Those and other detail savings mean the new engine weighs some 90 kg less than the old 302C and isn’t much heftier than the 3.9 litre six.

Quite a few changes were necessary to adapt the engine from its USA spec to suit the Falcon. Known as the MN12, the 5.0 litre V8 is the heart of the Ford Mustang, Ford Thunderbird and the Mercury Cougar.

The Windsor needed new exhaust manifolds, intake manifold, air cleaner and clutch housing to suit the Falcon’s dimensions and right-hand drive steering. it also got a new sump, oil pump pick-up and dip stick, to suit the Falcon’s behind-axle steering mechanism.

The engines are built and hot run in the Cleveland plant, then railed to Florida minus the front end accessory drive (FEAD), for shipment to Australia.

The FEAD fitted here before the engine goes into the Falcon isn’t from the current Mustang, but is the latest version with a single serpentine belt driving the power steering pump, alternator, air-con compressor and automatic belt tensioner which attach to the engine via aluminium brackets.

The drivetrain changes don’t stop at the engine. The V8 gets essentially the same electronically controlled dual-mode four speed automatic transmission as the six cylinder models. To suit the extra power there are some internal upgrades for reliability and durability, and most of those improvements benefit the six cylinder version too. All share the same transmission ratios but the final drive ratios range from 3.08 to 3.23 to 3.27 for the standard six, the multipoint efi six and the V8 respectively.

The manual gearbox, too, is an upgraded version of the T5 unit used in the Falcon sixes, with better gear material and higher quality bearings. The V8 also gets its own ratios, nominally a bit taller than the six’s, but runs the 3.27 diff versus 2.92 in the six cylinder models. The overall effect, then, is that the V8 is slightly lower geared in all except first.

All the major mechanical components in the EB suspensions carry over from the EA series, but many detail changes are included in the springs, dampers and geometry for the sake of improved handling with better ride and roll control. The camber setting, for instance, goes from 0.5 degrees positive (EA) to 0.5 degrees negative (EB), while castor is increased by one degree to 3.5 degrees.

The cars’ rear suspension gets firmer bushings for improved axle control. All sedans bar the Falcon S and Fairmont Ghia have standard front springs; rear spring rate is 20 per cent firmer than before. Nitrogen charged gas shocks replace the EA’s plain hydraulic dampers on the front of all models, and on the rear of all but the Fairlane and LTD which have self-levelling dampers.

To improve the steering’s feel at straight ahead and sharpen its response to driver inputs, the variable system’s on-centre ratio has been quickened from 21.3:1 to 18.5: 1, and the previous rubber insulators have been discarded so the steering rack attaches direct to the chassis. One thing not discarded is the height/reach adjustable steering column included in all models apart from the GL sedan and wagon with standard 3.9 engine, column-shift automatic transmission and Centafold bench front seat.

Six cylinder models benefit from new normal-duty brake pads which suppress the squeal that often afflicted EA brakes in wet or dusty usage. In keeping with its higher performance potential, the V8 brings semi-metallic pads to the front brakes, revised front/rear pressure proportioning, and a dual diaphragm booster instead of the single unit used in the sixes.

None of these myriad detail changes are evident from the outside, of course. After three-and-a-half years, the EA bodyshell hasn’t changed a whit.

Good as it is, it was due for a trip to the beautician. That Ford spent $46 million on gym membership instead, placing new muscle and agility ahead of style can only be applauded.

But in an era of short design life and rapid change, substance alone may not be enough…

Apple’s plans to create its own car may have already hit the skids.

TECHNOPHILES awaiting the long-rumoured Apple self-driving car might want to pop their Airpods into their ears.

In the same week the tech giant launched its new iPhone 7, momentum is gathering in the US rumour mill that Apple will develop self-driving technology rather than build an actual autonomous electric vehicle.

The New York Times has reported that Apple has cut dozens of staff from its so-called Project Titan. The newspaper cites three sources all briefed on the move, and the story follows a Bloomberg article in July that suggested the company was changing strategy.

Sources had told the news agency that Apple had been struggling internally to answer questions about what it could bring to a self-driving vehicle that other car makers couldn’t.

Apple’s legendary secrecy means there has actually been no official confirmation the company was building a car.

In the past two years, however, Apple has fuelled speculation it was planning to roll out its own car by 2020 after busily recruiting experts from the automotive and battery technology industries.

Hires also included two Ford engineers with significant experience in building aluminium-bodied vehicles, including the latest Ford F-150 ute.

Earlier this year, the original head of the secret project, Steven Zadesky, left Apple for personal reasons. He was reportedly replaced by Apple veteran Bob Mansfield, who was a key executive behind signature products such as the iMac, iPad and MacBook Air.

Apple’s quest for diversified products would be particularly understandable currently, considering sales of its key product, the iPhone, have slowed in 2016.

MotoGP: Shock as Pedrosa fixes up The Doctor in Rossi’s backyard

From nowhere all season, Honda’s Pedrosa shakes off the lethargy to return to top step at Misano

Valentino Rossi seemed right on target to take a wonderful MotoGP win in front of 100,000 adoring fans at Misano on Sunday when little Dani Pedrosa, the forgotten rider of MotoGP, startled the superstar of motorcycling with a brilliant late surge to victory – his first since October last year.

In an impressive sign of the glorious unpredictability and competitiveness of the MotoGP championship this year, Pedros was the eighth different rider to stand on the top step of the podium so far in 2016.

“It was a great race, and it has been a long time since I’ve had these feelings,” said Honda’s Pedrosa afterwards.

“Even I was surprised by the performance I put in today because I hadn’t expected to go so fast; we were fantastic. The key was the pace; I was able to fight my way through, especially in the final part, and being consistent allowed me to catch the riders at the front.”

Saturday’s qualifying gave no clear indication that Pedrosa might shake off his lack-lustre form. He qualified eighth while all the attention was once again on the Big Three.

An ecstatic Lorenzo was drawn to remark that his pole lap was probably the best ever by him.

But the race was a different story.

While Lorenzo made the best of starts closely shadowed by Rossi, Suzuki’s Maverick Vinales, and Marquez, the defending champ didn’t stay there long.

The masses of yellow #46 flags waved energetically with great anticipation.

But the party was about to be gate crashed. With seven laps remaining, Pedrosa – the lightest rider in the field and using the softest option front tyre to telling advantage – closed down on Rossi and motored to the front. Rossi tried to fight back but didn’t have much to fight with. Pedrosa was unstoppable and uncatchable in his race rhythm.

Rossi took a strong second ahead of Lorenzo and Marquez, who still holds a useful 46 points advantage in the standings.

Missing from the grid due to injury were Jack Miller, Andrea Ianonne and Loris Baz.

There was a thriller too in Moto2, as Lorenzo Baldassarri took a stunning maiden win after a game of cat-and-mouse with courageous title contender Alex Rins, riding with a collarbone broken recently.

Aussie Remy Gardner made a rocket start from 29th to 19th in two laps but a one-off bike issue intervened, costing him any chance of a points scoring result. Next season and a confirmed ride with the well regarded Tech3 team can’t come quick enough.

In Moto3, championship leader Brad Binder won a stunning two-man tactical duel with local hope Enea Bastianini, with Joan Mir completing the podium after a storming ride for the rookie from 16th on the grid. Bastianini led into the last lap, but Binder ruthlessly forced his way past to stretch his lead to an almost unsurmountable 106 points.

Reeves supreme in Rally SA

Earlier rain, crashes and a wayward ‘roo make for unpredictable results

After event organisers were forced to re-route the rally – round four of five making up the 2016 Kumho Tyre Australian Rally Championship – due to heavy rain in the days leading up to the start, Reeves drove with nous on Saturday to win Heat One with a margin of over two minutes.

Driving his older model Subaru WRX, Reeves also dominated Sunday’s Heat two, winning five of the day’s six stages to finish 32secs ahead of Simon Evans/Ben Searcy (Subaru WRX).

Subaru do Motorsport’s Taylor/Hayes took fourth on Sunday, which gave them second overall across the two days of competition.

Reeves and Gelsomino have now won both of the championship rounds they have contested this year, but are not registered or eligible for ARC points.

Whilst the rain cleared for the weekend, several crews came unstuck in the slippy conditions.

Consistency over Saturday’s seven stages elevated Taylor and Hayes to outright second in their Group N Production Class Subaru WRX STI NR4. They fought back from an early electrical problem which left them back in eighth after the first stage,

Taylor/Hayes edged out Brad Markovic/Glenn Macneall by just 2secs in a Heat One podium clean sweep for Sube WRXs.

With one round remaining – Rally Australia in Coffs Harbour in November – Simon Evans holds a slender championship lead over Harry Bates and Taylor, equal on points in second.

Power cleared for title decider

Aussie passes mandatory concussion test for Sonoma finale

The Australian was forced to undertake the elaborate mandatory concussion test after he slammed hard into a barrier after a hit from behind by Charlie Kimball at the Watkins Glen race.

Power goes into the Sonoma decider 43 points adrift of the Frenchman but with a maximum of 104 points on offer in the double-points finale.

Power won the IndyCar Series title in 2014 and was runner-up three times before he finally cracked it.

On-fire Doyle takes speedway GP in Germany

Aussie moves closer to Hancock in fight for 2016 world championship

The 30-year-old Australian was outstanding in the German Speedway Grand Prix at Teterow on Saturday night, quickly making up for a poor start and storming past Polish youngster Bartosz Zmarzlik to triumph in the final.

With three rounds of 11 remaining, including the final in Melbourne, Doyle is now clearly a serious challenger for the title.

Of his epic ride to the front in the final, Doyle said: “I had some speed going around turns one and two on the second lap. I don’t really remember; it was just head down, backside up and try to do something special!

Okay, so last month we discovered the 300 SRT’s no ballerina in the bends.

Hardly news when you’re driving a five-metre-long living room. But as we found earlier this year when we lined up one against HSV’s Clubbie R8 LSA, the SRT’s talents lie elsewhere.

As it happened, the Chrysler 300 SRT pipped the Aussie over the quarter mile, despite its 350kW/671Nm 6.4-litre Hemi down 50kW/34Nm. Now, HSV could hype its outputs or Chrysler sandbag them, but the SRT made clear it’s made for dragstrips like Miranda Kerr is for runways.

Keeping this in mind I suspected a romp at Melbourne’s Calder Park drags would not only help campaign our loveable oaf’s virtues, but maybe claim a few scalps in the process – for research, of course.

My track helmet was pinched the night before and that sent me after a replacement next morning. By the time I actually arrived, a Nissan 180SX spilt its guts down the track and made the wait for a run longer than an elephant pregnancy.

Once cleaned, the afternoon left time for only two cracks, one with launch control and one without. Not much time to extract its best. The upside, though, was I had brought along our Driftbox, which made things interesting for two reasons.

First we’d be able to reveal the difference between our Driftbox and a purpose built drag strip’s timing beams. Plus, we could shed light on why some people on social media are always running the ‘good’ cars.

‘Track’ mode disarmed traction control and sharpened the Chrysler-fettled ZF eight-speed. I stomped (rather than fed) the throttle once the timing tree lit green. Traction was surprisingly good, with one or two degrees of rotation before exploding off in a hellish chorus of noise.

So, the time? Our satellite tracking Driftbox said we completed the run in 13.59sec while travelling at 177.98km/h. Meanwhile, our printed timing slip from the officials claimed more like 13.09sec at 178.36km/h.

Dragstrips allow a little rollout, usually 12 inches, before timing begins. But when I first learned there was half-a-second gap between two cars at a 178km/h trap, I couldn’t believe it. You could squeeze almost two blue whales into that distance.

Without clutch engagement, its torque converter instead stalls the engine at 3500rpm (or whatever you choose between 2500-4500rpm by 250 increments), against the front brakes, waiting until you lift them. t c When we did the SRT tore through its 6100rpm upshifts to clock 13.39sec on the Driftbox, and 12.99sec on a time slip. The difference between the two was four tenths, as opposed to five tenths the previous run, which is inline with the Driftbox’s tolerances. Although, interestingly, the car’s own SRT timing system reckons it went even faster at 12.9sec.

So in reality, when MOTOR publishes performance times, they could improve by four- to five-tenths simply with dragstrip timing. Solid proof our apples are slightly different to the public’s, and that comparing your brother’s dog’s previous owner’s best time doesn’t hold much chop.

Our 12.99 didn’t win any trophies.

But with a stock Falcon XR8 Sprint running 12.96 the same day, we’re still convinced our oaf’s a talented weapon on the straightway. Even with a leg-up from the dragstrip.

MONTH THREE

LIKED: Sinking the right clog without fear of the rozzers. DISLIKED: The rotary gear knob. FAVOURITE MOMENT: ‘Warming’ the tyres before staging its run.

Fuel This Month: 15.2L/100km Average: 14.5L/100km Distance This Month: 1131km Total: 12,062km

Want to see more of our Chrysler 300 SRT long-termer?

TESLA Motors has announced sweeping changes overnight to the way its cars see objects in front of them – and slam on the brakes in an emergency.

Rather than using a camera to detect an object in front of the car before slamming on the brakes in an emergency, the carmaker will now rely solely on the radar system once used as a back-up.

However, Tesla has warned that drivers of the Tesla Model S liftback and Tesla Model X people mover are likely to experience more false alarms behind the wheel as a result.

It’s the first major revision to Tesla’s automatic emergency braking system since a Tesla Model S driver was killed after his car slammed into the side of a white semi-trailer crossing the road in front of him after the system’s camera allegedly failed to pick it up in bright sunlight.

The change in focus is part of the rollout of the eighth version of its experimental autonomous driving software – the carmaker goes to great pains these days to warn drivers that they can’t rely fully on the technology to take over control, and must keep a watchful eye on things at all times.

“…The most significant upgrade to Autopilot will be the use of more advanced signal processing to create a picture of the world using the onboard radar,” Tesla said in a statement announcing the change.

“The radar was added to all Tesla vehicles in October 2014 as part of the Autopilot hardware suite, but was only meant to be a supplementary sensor to the primary camera and image processing system.

Tesla then goes on to explain how difficult it is for the car to “see” the world around it using radar.

“Photons of that wavelength travel easily through fog, dust, rain and snow, but anything metallic looks like a mirror,” it said.

“The radar can see people, but they appear partially translucent. Something made of wood or painted plastic, though opaque to a person, is almost as transparent as glass to radar.

“On the other hand, any metal surface with a dish shape is not only reflective, but also amplifies the reflected signal to many times its actual size.

“A discarded soda can on the road, with its concave bottom facing towards you can appear to be a large and dangerous obstacle, but you would definitely not want to slam on the brakes to avoid it.

“Therefore, the big problem in using radar to stop the car is avoiding false alarms.”

According to Tesla, slamming on the brakes at every false reading “would at best be very annoying and at worst cause injury”.

Tesla said it would also use its cars to build a database of false alarms, so that if its cars constantly jump on the brakes at a dip in the road, the software learns that it doesn’t need to be so overly sensitive the next time it passes through that section of road.

It said the technology was also now at the stage where it could bounce the radar off the road and under vehicles in front, allowing it to “see” up to two cars ahead and react accordingly if it needed to jump on the brakes in an emergency.

Tesla owners can have their car’s software updated automatically via the mobile phone network. The carmaker says upgrades are timed so that they happen while the car is parked.

Owners also need to agree to have the software installed on the car, via a menu that pops up on the car’s large central screen.

The changes to the automatic emergency braking system are among around 200 changes rolled out in the new software package.

While Tesla is a member of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, which represents the interests of car manufacturers in Australia and reports their monthly new-car sales, Tesla does not report its sales in Australia.

If the previous Porsche 781 Boxster shared genes with the 911 GT3, the 718 now feels like it has a common ancestor with the 911 Turbo.

The 718 is a far less highly strung car, one you surf a wave of tacho-wide torque rather than neck-wring to the very last howling rpm like before.

Having driven the new car in Australia for the first time, we are getting our heads around the new Boxster’s major engine – and personality – transplant.

Efficiency has improved, as you would at least hope, the PDK base Boxster needing 6.9 litres to cover 100km and the PDK S 7.3 litres, savings of one litre and 0.9 litres respectively.

The styling has been tweaked in traditional Porsche fashion. We quite like the new prismatic, dark tail-light set-up, although many would struggle to tell the new car from old.

Porsche has also swapped Cayman and Boxster around, the droptop now positioned as the more senior model. A base manual Boxster has jumped from $104,500 to $113,100, the manual S also up from $130,100 to $143,400. (A base manual 718 Cayman is now $110,000, the manual S $140,300.)

Despite the downsizing, your money still buys something truly special to drive. Whereas the old Boxster was undoubtedly quick, to go properly fast you had to think about maintaining momentum and keeping the revs up for maximum progress.

In the move to 718, the Boxster has become a much more serious weapon. In S-guise, in particular, it’s so fast you need time to adjust.

The new low-down torque makes it easier to hustle and is even more welcome with Porsche’s new Sport ESP, permitting out of slower, tighter corners a quicker rotation of the car with the loud pedal – which you couldn’t really do with the old one.

Of course, the handling is sublime, the Porsche 718 Boxster – like its predecessor – a real sweetheart on a twisty road, the chassis seeming to get better and give you more the faster you go. It makes an F-Type – itself not a bad jigger – feel like an old Ford Explorer.

But though comparatively wobblier, some customers will be lost to cars like the Jaguar just for the noise. A boxer-four, even tuned by Porsche’s acoustic team, cannot beat an on-song six. Something special has been lost in the move to four cylinders.

Anyone who didn’t know the old Boxster will be blown away by the 718. In this one model update, the Boxster has become a much more potent device, now with the grunt to match a traditionally talented chassis, yet still seriously satisfying to drive fast.

4.5 OUT OF 5 STARS

LIKE: Seriously fast and talented DISLIKE: Something special definitely lost with the two cylinders

SPECS Engine: 1988cc flat-four, DOHC, 16v, turbo Power: 220kW @ 6500rpm Torque: 380Nm @ 1950rpm Weight: 1355kg 0-100km/h: 5.1sec Price: $113,100

Porsche has released details of the next-generation hybrid version of its Panamera sportscar ahead of its official unveiling at the Paris Motor Show later this month.

With a starting price of $242,600 (plus on-road costs), the Panamera 4 E-Hybrid is already available to order, with deliveries expected to Australian customers by the middle of next year.

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The plug-in hybrid employs both a 2.6L twin-turbo V6 petrol engine and an electric motor, boasting a combined total output of 340kW and 700Nm – delivered to all four wheels. In real terms, this means the E-Hybrid Panamera can reach 100km/h from a standstill in 4.6 seconds before running on to a claimed top speed of 278km/h.

Like the firm’s blisteringly quick 918 Spyder, in the latest generation the boost from the electric engine is activated immediately under acceleration; in the old model the accelerator had to be pressed 80 percent of the way down before the added oomph would kick in.

The Panamera 4 E-Hybrid is tuned to start in full electric (E-Power) mode for its available 50km range or until the speed reaches 140km/h. This goes a long way to achieving the updated car’s impressive combined fuel efficiency claim of just 2.5L/100km. Compare that to its diesel sibling’s claimed 6.7L/100km.

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Features include E-Hold mode to conserve the electric motor’s current charge and E-Charge mode that produces extra power to charge the batteries, while the new Hybrid-Auto mode lets the car call the shots on when’s the most efficient time to activate one or both power sources.

Power gets to all four corners via a new eight-speed dual-clutch transmission that replaces the eight-speed torque-converter auto from the outgoing model and, like other Panamera models equipped with the firm’s go-fast Sport Chrono Package, the hybrid version boasts both Sport and Sport Plus modes.

The lithium-ion battery takes 5.8 hours to fully charge, or 3.6 hours with the optional charger, and its state of charge is displayed on either of two seven-inch screens flanking the analogue tachometer. There’s also a 12.3-inch touchscreen mounted in the dash displaying where other information and systems can be accessed.