The New South Wales Police Force has taken delivery of a brand new Audi RS4 Avant but it won’t be helping out the Highway Patrol boys.
Lake Illawara’s Local Area Command has enlisted the wunder wagon for its community programs, with a particular focus on youth engagement.
Audi has given police use of the $151,400 vehicle for 12 months. And besides the red and blue lights peering through its front windscreen, no other police equipment has been fitted to the RS4, meaning you won’t ever see it looming large in your rear view. It’s not a duty vehicle.
“The Audi RS 4 provides an exciting and visible platform for our community and youth engagement activities.”
Its exterior, however, has been given the full treatment, wearing a livery design selected by the force’s social media followers.
The partnership also reminds us of our top 10 police vehicle list, that includes Italy’s ‘Polizia’ Lamborghini Huracan and the Pommy’s rozzer Ford RS200, which you can check out here.
While its a shame the 331kW 4.2-litre V8 won’t be given a chance to prove itself against crime, a highway pursuit RS4 Avant is perhaps something we’re happy not to see on the roads in future.
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When it comes to waftability, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class has been leading the pack for over 30 years, but it turns out that it’s hiding a wicked side.
It’s unclear why someone thought putting what sound like straight pipes on a W220 S600, but the result is stunning.
With the 5.5-litre twin-turbo V12 breathing deep, it emits a baleful howl that wouldn’t have been out of place on an early-1990s F1 grid.
Remember, this isn’t AMG’s 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 that powers the ’65’ AMG models, just Merc’s own V12, designed to offer silky smooth refinement rather than window-shattering engine noise.
If you know of any other cars that sound inappropriately awesome, let us know in the comments below.
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YOUR FIRST CAR
Teenage years are full of firsts: First kiss, first taste of alcohol, first love and, of course, your first car. Sometimes the last two can even be one in the same. Your first car should mirror this carefree stage of life: Untroubled, petite, safe and inexpensive.
WhichCar pick:
- Mazda3
- Toyota Yaris
- Hyundai Veloster
Ahh your 20s. You’re now seen as an adult – you’ve crossed into the world of making your own decisions, while still being young enough to be forgiven for terrible life choices. You’re leaving your awkward youth behind for a more stylish and free life, funded by your own hole-burning pockets. So, obviously, your car needs to give you a sense of sovereignty and panache… on a tight budget.
WhichCar pick:
- Mazda CX-3
- VW Golf
- Renault Clio
Suddenly you find yourself spending weekends celebrating marriages or births, and roping nieces and nephews into seeing the latest Disney film. You mightn’t recover from a big night out like you once did, but at least you can show up in more style. It’s time to pull out the big guns and do whatever you can to turn those younger-versions-of-what-you-once-were green with envy. It’s time to spend up. Plus, you’re saving a bucket load of money now that you can’t drink as much vodka. It may as well go toward something fun, right?
WhichCar pick:
- Jeep Cherokee
- Holden Commodore SS
- Mazda MX-5
It’s time for a life change. All your time, money and energy are now going to a new little person. As if life hasn’t changed enough, you’ve got to get a car to fit the growing family. Bye bye sporty, hello practicality. But buying a car for the parenting stage of life doesn’t have to be so grim. Safe, practical and noise-deafening prerequisites have become the priorities, but luckily, SUVs are in. So don’t despair, family cars are the new black.
WhichCar pick:
- Volvo XC60
- Audi Q5
- Subaru Outback
We get it. The kids have upped and left, your hair is changing colour by forces beyond your control, and you’ve got more money in your bank account than you’ve had for quite some time. You’ve got empty nester’s syndrome, and you just want to spread your wings again and fly. You did it once, a few decades ago, you sure as hell can do it again now! We’ll give you a tip, though – leave the toupee in the wig-store, forget the leather pants, and don’t risk the spray tan. Instead, spoil yourself with some luxury.
WhichCar pick:
- Alfa Romeo Mito
- Mercedes-Benz E250
- Tesla Model S
Are you a retiree who has always dreamed of owning a classic, beautiful and expensive car? Or are you more the type who just wants a budget car to get you from A to B? Retirement is all about you. It’s the time in your life where you hang up the boots and reward yourself for the years of hard work. So go on, we say spoil yourself with something you’ve always dreamed of – you only live once after all. But if that’s not where your heart is, we’ve thrown in some practical choice.
WhichCar pick:
- Mazda CX-5
- Toyota Prius
- BMW X5
MERCEDES has given us our first taste of the fastback two-door that will take on rivals such as the Audi RS5 and BMW M4, releasing images of the C-Class Coupe in its most powerful form.
Due in Australia mid-next year and priced from about $160,000, this Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe will become the quickest model to wear the C63 badge. Its 3.9sec 0-100km/h sprint beats the four-door version by 0.1sec, thanks to wider rear tyres and shorter rear-axle ratios.
The fastback coupe uses the same twin-turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 as its sedan-based sibling, paired with a seven-speed automatic transmission. However, the coupe sits wider than the sedan, with the wheel arches plumped an extra 64mm at the front and 66mm at the rear to accommodate a wider track.
In front, the aluminium bonnet sitting behind the twin-blade grille is 60mm longer and features a pair of “powerdomes” to make the coupe look more muscular.
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class will be one of the highlights of September’s Frankfurt Motor Show.
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Boom! Just like that the Mercedes-AMG C63 coupe is no longer just a C-Class with two less doors.
That’s also the sound of a super-sized gauntlet being thrown toward at a certain BMW M4 rival.
The Affalterbach performance division aims to move from strength to strength and right previous wrongs. If the old C63 coupe was a bit blocky and lacking stance, then AMG has done a fine job of making the new one both swoopier and fatter.
But the slightly smaller two-door monsters 100km/h in a claimed 3.9 seconds, a tenth faster than the four-door. There are a few reasons why, and plenty of nerdy devil in the detail comparing C63 S sedan to C63 S coupe.
Compared with regular versions of the new C-Class coupe, mighty wheel arch flares push width of the C63 S out by 66 millimetres at the rear and 64mm at the front. This compares to only 14mm wider front wings on the C63 S sedan compared with C-Class sedan.
Benz says it isn’t just the weight reduction that gets the performance gains over the four-door, but also wider tyres and shorter-legged rear-axle ratios.
Rear rubber width moves up by 20mm to 285mm and front width is up 10mm to a 255mm, each on a 19-inch alloy rim propped by wheel bearings pushed 25mm further out than the sedan, along with stiffer elastokinematic tuning and higher negative camber.
Other than that there aren’t many differences unless you love frameless doors, no middle rear seat and enjoy the subtle black lip spoiler atop a fatter, more horizontally focused rear end.
AMG clearly believes it is even better to drive than the sedan, though – it tags the C63 S coupe as the sportiest C-Class ever. We doubt they’re forgetting the wicked $250K-plus C63 Black Series either.
Expect a circa $165K starting price from mid next year, or about $10K more than the sedan.
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PLUS
- It wields the big daddy twin-turbo engine of the BMW 2-series cabrio range, which means its fast; Toupee-threatening fast with the top down.
- Its engine is a sonorous beaut, and the convertible roof allows better access for hearing it.
- Should you enjoy sunny days on winding roads, lots of grip and its rear-wheel drive layout ensures corners are a hoot.
- Typical BMW interior is all class and high quality, leather steering wheel is top notch too.
- Adjustable suspension smooths out city roads for a comfortable ride and comes as standard.
- Seat heaters mean you can drop the roof in colder climates.
- Stylish two-door body suits the convertible look well.
- For a performance range topper, you wish BMW styled it a little more aggressively.
- Compared to rivals, like Audi’s TT roadster, the roof’s a bit of a slow coach to fold away.
- While it’s nifty you can set separate temperatures with the climate control for the driver and passenger, you can’t adjust both at the same time. They are permanently separate.
- The body makes a bit of noise with the roof up when driving fast over bumps.
- You need to be careful applying throttle out of corners, the engine easily overpowers the non-LSD rear axle.
AHEAD OF its launch at the Frankfurt Show next month, more detail has leaked about the updated Porsche 911.
Pre-production drives of test cars in South Africa have been followed by a slew of spy photographs snapped in Germany, showing undisguised ‘991.2’ models.
The headliner has long been that the Porsche 911 Carrera models will gain forced induction, a feature long reserved for the flagship 911 Turbo. Since 1975, the evocative Turbo script has signalled something special, a vehicle a few grades up the performance ladder from the normally aspirated Carrera.
While the hierarchy will remain as before, from 2016 turbocharging will spread across the 911 range. The Carrera and Carrera S will lose their 257kW 3.4-litre and 294kW 3.8-litre flat sixes respectively, gaining evolved and downsized turbocharged six-cylinder units now predicted to be of 3.0-litre capacity.
Step up to the facelifted 911 Carrera S and the blown motor is expected to produce about 309kW, with 500Nm of torque at just 1700rpm. That’s an improvement of 15kW and 60Nm on the naturally aspirated 3.8-litre of its predecessor, which produces 294kW and 440Nm.
An optional power kit will also be offered to lift peak power to 335kW.
The Carrera S also gets a four-wheel steer system similar to that already seen on the GT3 and Turbo, the rear wheels counter-steering up to 50km/h and then nudging in to three-degrees of parallel steer at higher speeds.
Porsche engineers stress the improvement in low-end tractability and flexibility across the rev range, which peaks at 7500rpm.
Performance will be suitably ballistic. Initial reports suggest a 4.3 second sprint to 110km/h in the Carrera and 4.0 seconds in the Carrera S. The manual gearbox will tack around 0.2 seconds on to those numbers.
Top speeds are said to remain unchanged for the two models, at 180mph and 189mph respectively.
At the top of the range, the 911 Turbo’s 3.8-litre twin-turbo heart is likely to gain about 20kW over the existing 383kW and 412kW (Turbo S) versions.
Photos show Coupe, Cabriolet, Targa, and Turbo body styles. On the outside at least, the mid-cycle makeover seems to be a gentle but typically thorough update of the rear-engined sports car icon.
With new high-performance rivals looming – including the reborn Acura/Honda NSX, the Mercedes C63 AMG Coupe and even the McLaren 570S – Stuttgart’s product planners are aiming to make the 2016 911 the sharpest yet.
All show off the same basic changes from the current model, unveiled four years ago. Essentially they have different headlights, slimmer LED driving lights, reprofiled wing mirrors, reshaped bumpers brandishing revised air intakes and diffusers, and altered rear reflectors. There are also subtly repositioned (and uniformly scripted) badges, new engine covers, and restyled alloy wheels.
The Turbo S pictured gets a more aggressive front spoiler, a revised engine deck and GT3-style centrelock wheel nuts.
Also due for the 991.2 is a systematic upgrade of the cabin, ushering in the latest multimedia system with maybe even a cleaner console display, as touchscreen functionality steps up a notch in the latest Porsches.
And the damage? Currently the MY15 911s start from $208,600 for the Carrera manual, reaching beyond $466K for the Turbo S Cabriolet PDK. Downsizing might be all the rage right now, but with a tumbling Aussie currency, bet on an upsize when it comes to 2016 911 pricing.
Have spy pics of your own? We’d love to see them. Just email them to [email protected]
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Damn, it’s hard being a driver in Australia. What, with no Nürburgring, no autobahns and no common sense when it comes to speed limits. Or their enforcement.
At least the spirit of German motoring is accessible in our country, though, through the Teutonic trio of luxury car brands that offer drive-as-fast-as-you-dare track-day packages. MOTOR, naturally, has always been a staunch advocate of such driver training days, which is why we recently teamed up with BMW to set up a competition for readers to win a spot on a specially tailored program.
More than 1500 readers were in it to win it. Nineteen of these readers qualified by best answering – via motormag.com.au – what the BMW M badge meant to them. (Saying “motorsport” would earn them a slow-clap from us, but no ticket to SMSP!)
The prize was spending a day with more Ms than, err, an M&M confectionary party. How good does this line-up sound? BMW’s M235i, M3, M4 and – just for our readers – the M5, the recently-refreshed M6, and the new second-gen X6 M.
That wouldn’t be a bad return for the Intensive Driving Experience’s usual $1395 cost, let alone when it’s free.
Intensive is essentially an entry-level course (of three offered by BMW), aimed at drivers with varying levels of skill. So, before chalking up any laps, it’s first to the ‘blackboard’ for an hour of illustrated theory lessons with BMW’s chief instructor Derek Walls.
This isn’t about teaching grannies to suck eggs, but more to get everyone focused on the technique and application that will – quite literally – help speed up their progress. Topics include tyre physics, stopping distances and cornering behaviour.
No big egos are allowed here, though, and Walls tells us that’s virtually always the case with these events. “I think the participants realise we give them a pretty good lead,” he says. “And it’s up to them whether they pull it tight on themselves or not.”
Nervous anticipation is the prevailing mood, and that’s ratcheted up a couple of notches with Walls’ revelation that there will be a timed motorkhana during the day. “This puts the pressure on,” he tells the group. “It brings out the competitive edge you may not have thought you had at the start of the day.”
First up, we put in a few laps behind a pace car driven by one of the instructors. The instructors set an initial pace and monitor their group of four vehicles immediately behind (with two other groups spaced out on the track at the same time), offering advice via radios on braking points, apexes and racing lines as we circulate.
Once the instructors are comfortable that the pace can be maintained within the boundaries of abilities, the tempo is gradually increased. If one group turns out to be faster and catches one of the other convoys, either an overtake manoeuvre is orchestrated, or the faster group takes one of SMSP’s shortcuts to find an empty section of track.
For the first couple of sessions, we’re behind the wheels of an M3 and an X6 M. The M3 is in its element on a racetrack, and the X6 M is surprisingly not out of its depth at high speed.
Its two-tonne mass means there’s initial lag to be found from the twin-turbo V8 – more so than the M5 or M6 – before it lets rip with thunderous results. Its two storey height (relatively speaking) also means it leans more noticeably than any of the other M vehicles assembled. The X6 M’s turn-in and cornering poise are still highly credible, though.
Back in pit lane provides a chance to see how our lucky readers are travelling. It’s already clear there are plenty of decent steerers (which will hardly come as a surprise to fellow MOTOR-heads).
Brian Moller is among them. His surname not only sounds German, but he’s clearly something of a BMW aficionado. He’s owned a 125i and a 135i, and he currently owns an E92 M3 and an M235i. And he has an M2 on order – a revelation that causes the BMW communications person within earshot to grin broadly, as the model, a worst-kept secret, is still to be officially confirmed.
“Coming to these things you always learn about skills: how to drive better, how to brake better… the whole gamut of driving, particularly these types of performance cars,” Moller says, now onto his sixth driver day.
“The day is full of exciting, different challenges. It doesn’t matter how many times you do these, you never get bored.”
David McCallister currently drives an HSV GTS, but won our comp with an entry based on his experience of driving an E90 M3 around this very track a few years ago.
“I’ve been around here a number of times, so I know the track like the back of my hand – but it’s still a fantastic experience,” McCallister says. “All the worries in the world are gone when you’re driving around.”
McCallister says he misses the high-revving nature of old M cars – particularly the screaming V8 of that E90 M3 – though he definitely notices the extra turbo grunt. And, although he has been considering a new C63 wagon, the M5 is “back in the picture” after driving it during one of the sessions.
The sodden skidpan is the only event where stability control can be disengaged throughout the entire day. Greater speeds and sterner tests lie in wait at BMW’s higher-level courses (see breakout), though the company’s philosophy is the same throughout: allow people to experience performance cars in the way they have been engineered to be driven.
“[People] don’t often get to drive M cars to the peak of their performance with expert tuition, and I think people really engage with that,” says BMW’s Nick Keen. “They enjoy driving these cars to their limits – or at least their limit – to test their skills.”
Keen says while the programs help sell cars, there are still benefits of preaching to the converted – notably helping to validate a buyer’s decision to spend more to get an M car (a purchase that is accompanied by a free Driving Experience voucher).
“Performance isn’t what surprises people, it’s more the control you can have in an M car – say a 435i compared with an M4 – and the difference in the quality of the engineering.”
In case the punters don’t quite get to fully appreciate the abilities of the M cars during their drives, the hot laps with instructors at day’s end soon remedy that. Customers quickly find the experts are more interested in burning rear rubber going sideways than setting the stopwatch on fire.
M3s and M4s are used, though the M235i seems to be a widely held favourite among the group. It’s our pick, too. While it may not be the quickest car here, the grunt is still respectable, and it makes an agreeable racket in the process. But in terms of driver involvement, it feels the most alive beneath you.
As the instructors file into pit lane, darkness descends on Sydney Motorsport Park. A throng of newly-made Ricciardo clones stagger out of the M cars with split-watermelon grins. Perhaps it’s not so bad being a driver in Australia – you just need a racetrack, an M4, and somebody else paying for the tyres.
WANNA GO?
THE BMW Driving Experience roadshow has been running since ’98 and now takes to the track about 90 days of the year. By the end of 2015 it’s predicted to have instructed about 3000 punters. It’s a sizeable logistics operation that has more to do with marketing than profit.
The mid-level course above Intensive is M Dynamic, which costs $1895. ‘Graduate’ from that and you can look to hone your skills in much smaller groups – either at Phillip Island with the $3500 Fascination course (booked out until 2016) or tailored high-level courses with an M3 or M4 that can be arranged via participating BMW dealers.
For something completely different, you could head to Kiwi snow for the Alpine xDrive Experience. For more details, head to BMW Driving Experience Australia.
There are times a Mercedes-Benz S-Class may be described as handling like a yacht – now the XXL limousine will be as breezy as one.
Benz has released this sketch of what it officially calls the S-Class Cabriolet ahead of the real thing’s public debut at the Frankfurt motor show in September.
The sketch doesn’t appear to in any way attempt to disguise the size of the S-Class Cabriolet. There appears to be plenty of distance left on the top surface of the S-Class Coupe-shared tail-gate to indicate a big boot and lots of rear legroom.
The Cab also takes Coupe cues at the rear including slimline, horizontal tail-lights that sit beneath a chrome strip stretching along the rear tail-gate.
Expect the same 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8 range-opener as the hard-top too, leading to a 5.5-litre TT V8 and possibly even the 6.0-litre TT V12 (Benz has said it before: some buyers just demand a V12).
In the S-Class Coupe they respectively take 4.6 seconds, 4.2sec and 4.1sec to dispatch with 100km/h.
Expect the S-Class Cabriolet to be only marginally slower. It will use a power retractable steel roof rather than the canvas variety, which will add even more heft to the 1.95-2.1 tonne kerb weights of the Coupe.
But torque talks – specifically 700Nm for the entry car, 900Nm for the middle tier and 1000Nm for the V12 – so it’s unlikely a buyer will be anything but (wind) swept away with the performance.
It’s clearly target Bentley Continental GTC for the S-Class Cabriolet. Prices of $350,000 to $500K-plus may just place it out of reach of BMW 6 Series Convertible buyers, but it doesn’t fill the alfresco-with-acreage brief quite as well as this S likely will.
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Like Ferrari and red, blue has been an icon of sorts for Subaru. And now for Australia, it’s poised to go hyper.
Subaru Australia has announced it will paint 300 cars in limited edition Hyper Blue paint before they arrive down under.
The paint, which is decidedly brighter than the firm’s well known World Rally hue, will be thrown on 200 WRX Premium, 50 WRX STI Premium and 50 BRZ models.
As photos show, US-spec Hyper Blue special editions match their paint to black finish alloys. They also score model unique blue stitching on seats, steering wheel, floor mats, and shifter boot.
Whether local models will receive the same treatment, and at what price, is not yet known. Subaru saying it will reveal local specification and pricing when the vehicles are launched on October 1.
