The wraps have been taken off the sultry Porsche Boxster Spyder that melds Boxster, artistic canvas and a Porsche 911 flat-six engine into one salivating package
THE Porsche Boxster Spyder has been revealed at the New York motor show and it’s one stunning sports car. Following the launch of the Porsche Cayman GT4 that uses component – and an engine – from the Porsche 911 GT3 model, the Spyder is aimed at making it even harder to walk past a Porsche and into rivals such as the Jaguar F-Type Convertible or Audi TT Roadster.
Taking its front and rear-end treatments from the Cayman GT4, the Boxster Spyder sports smoked headlamps and larger air intakes, as well as more aggressive rear bumper. It follows the theme set by the previous Boxster GTS Spyder, with rear turrets behind the headrest that Porsche says are inspired by the 718. Like its predecessor, the ornate soft-top is manually operated, while inside there’s a 360mm steering wheel with the same three-spoke design as that 918 hypercar.
The new Spyder takes over from the Porsche Boxster GTS as the range flagship with the biggest engine ever fitted to the open-top model: the 3.8-litre flat-six from the iconic 911. With 276kW, it easily outpunches the 243kW Boxster GTS and lops off 0.4sec in the 0-1000km/sprint with an official 4.5sec claim – and the German maker is typically conservative with its acceleration figures.
The Porsche Boxster Spyder arrives in Australia in the third quarter of 2015 at a starting price of $169,000 before on-road costs, making it less than $2000 more than the GTS model.
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The Honda Civic small car is set to expand when an all new model arrives late in 2015 as the Japanese maker steps up its return to form.
IN unveiling the fluoro green Honda Civic Concept at the 2015 New York Motor Show Honda has confirmed there will be a wider range of body styles for its all-new tenth generation Civic, due in her 2016 to take on the Toyota Corolla and hot-selling Mazda 3.
“First will be sedan … and then a coupe,” said Guy Melville-Brown, lead exterior designer of the striking Civic Concept
“Then there’s a number of derivatives and models that we’re going to roll out into the future into this tenth generation Civic line-up … there’s a lot of stuff in the pipeline.”
The Civic Concept is close to the production version of the Civic Coupe, which will arrive in the US in 2016. It has a longer wheelbase than the current Civic as well as a longer bonnet to accentuate its sportier design theme.
The new Civic will also get a new generation 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo, mated to either a six-speed manual or CVT auto.
Melville-Brown wouldn’t elaborate on the other derivatives, although a five-door hatchback was confirmed by Honda, something essential given its popularity in Europe and Asian markets.
“There’s going to be a lot of strong derivatives … it’s coming back to this idea of the importance of the Civic and the idea that the Civic should be a car for everyone, so part of that is supplying a large number of derivatives and different models in order to fulfil all of those different needs.”
Honda will also give the next generation Civic the Type R treatment, with a turbocharged four-cylinder, lowered suspension and a body kit.
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THE polarising Lincoln Continental will remain off limits for Australians, with the brand again ruling out any medium-term plans to join Cadillac for a luxury assault Down Under.
The latest block for the boldly styled brand that is focused heavily on the North American market came as it unveiled the radical Continental Concept at the 2015 New York motor show.
“We’re focused on building our core [model] portfolio … and we’re growing our volumes and distribution network in China,” Lincoln president Kumar Galhotra said at the show.
“There are opportunities in other markets … [but] none of them are right-and drive.
“Never say never; it’s a question of where our priorities lie right now.”
Galhotra said the focus for Lincoln was expanding its presence in China, which he said would account for the majority of a planned tripling of sales from about 100,000 vehicles globally each year to 300,000 by 2020.
“China is going to be huge for Lincoln,” Galhotra said. “At this moment we don’t have any plans to enter Europe. We’re focussed on the North American markets and the Chinese market.”
The Continental Concept is dripping in chrome, plush carpet and leather trim. It’s powered by a 3.0-litre twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 and, while Lincoln wasn’t going into details about the drivetrain, it was understood to drive all four wheels.
Galhotra said the Concept was a “very strong” indication of how the production car will look when it goes on sale in 2016.
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Newly unveiled CT6 could be Cadillac’s flagship model in Australia, but company boss Johan de Nysschen warns it could take up to eight years for the brand to make it here
CADILLAC’S new luxury flagship, the CT6, has been engineered for right-hand-drive markets and could be sold in Australia as a rival to the BMW 5 Series, Mercedes-Benz E-Class and Audi A6, says Cadillac president Johan de Nysschen.
The aspirational American brand is also preparing new high-performance V-Series models, with Australia a key target market in the expansion of the Mercedes AMG rival.
Speaking at the 2015 New York motor show, de Nysschen confirmed the new Omega platform underpinning the CT6 was set for right-hand-drive markets, with Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom on the hit list for the vehicle – or its replacement – in years to come.
As reported previously by Wheels, Cadillac is all but confirmed for a return to Australia – but by 2019/2020 at the earliest.
It’s understood the next-generation CT6 would be the most likely to arrive in Australia, sharing much of the just-revealed vehicle’s underpinnings, but with a fresh design.
“All our cars that are in development right now are being conceived around the notion of global cars,” said de Nysschen.
“When you do architecture like this it represents a massive investment. It’s not the kind of investment you’d naturally expert to amortise over just one vehicle cycle. We had to conceive this car thinking 12, 15 years into the future.”
De Nysschen reaffirmed the desire to bring Cadillac to Australia but said it was a longer-term play.
“It’s definitely in the plan, but in terms of time horizon I would estimate probably seven or eight years.”
De Nysschen said the “primary focus” was to establish China as a “second volume hub for the brand”, alongside its home market of North America.
Beyond that, Europe is a focus for Cadillac.
“The consolidated European luxury car market is in fact larger than the US market, so it seems to me it’s not a market you could ignore … [and] you cannot play in Europe without being in the UK.”
He said the European attack would require a different approach from the big-engined, big-car ranges that work in the United States.
“It’s hard to imagine you that can go into Europe without the product range … to be relevant to that market … it means smaller cars, it means more compact powertrains, it means diesel engines,” de Nysschen said.
“That means you also need to look at right-hand drive. If you want to invest in generating right-hand-drive variants of your car, you will never finance out of the UK volume alone.”
He said Japan, Australia and South Africa were key to a global right-hand-drive assault, with each bringing critical volume that would make the program viable.
“Imagine a full line-up of cars that has a covering on the sedan space from the entry segment of the luxury market … right up through to even a pinnacle flagship model position. And then in the crossover space … there are many steps that we can do.”
De Nysschen said there was room for another three SUVs in the Cadillac range.
“Having one kind of SUV and one crossover for an American brand is almost outrageous,” he joked.
“There’s an obvious gap that exists in the range between where the SRX is today and the Escalade. Then in the segments below the SRX probably at least another two crossovers.”
But he cautioned that Australia was unlikely to get the entire soon-to-expand Cadillac range.
“We won’t necessarily do a right-hand-drive version of every car … you’d select the ones that are appropriate, where you feel there’s a market, and those would be the offerings you would also go to Australia with.”
De Nysschen said the V-Series performance brand – with its red V logo almost identical to that used on Commodore V-Series models – would be a focus for expanding the brand in future, with two models likely to join the ATS-V and CTS-V.
“There probably will be another one or two V models, but we will not apply this (the V sub-brand) across the range,” he said. “We will be very selective. V-Series for us has to become like a sub-brand for us, representing the very top of high-performance motoring.”
The CT6 is the first Cadillac to adopt a new naming strategy for the American brand, which will ultimately see the end of most of its current nameplates.
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Subaru will reveal its wild WRX STI-based 2015 Rallycross weapon at this week’s New York auto show.
Built by American race car specialists Vermont SportsCar with help from STI, the racer codenamed VT15x boasts a unique wide body covering fatter tracks front and rear compared to the ordinary STI road car.
It’s also more powerful despite using a smaller 2.0-litre turbo boxer four instead of the 2.5-litre unit found in the top-shelf STI weapon.
Peak power is a massive 432kW, deployed through all four wheels via a six-speed Sadev sequential gearbox.
The result is a faintly insane 0-96km/h (60mph) time of just 2.0 seconds. In Rallycross the speeds are generally quite low, so acceleration is everything.
Compared to last year’s VT14x racer, this new car features better optimized weight balance, centre of gravity, suspension geometry and aerodynamics.
The engine was also fiddled with to give more power and better response, allowing for that frightening acceleration figure.
Subaru is confident it has the driver and car package to win this year’s Rallycross championship, claiming its only goal is to win.
Bucky Lasek and Sverre Isachsen are joined by Travis Pastrana and David Higgins in team Subaru. They’ll compete with the likes of Ken Block in his race-tuned Ford Fiesta ST and Tanner Foust in a (fast) Volkswagen Beetle, among others.
Other cars in the championship include race versions of the Citroen DS3, VW Polo, Hyundai Veloster and the Chevrolet Sonic – known in Australia as the Holden Barina.
These rally weapons are designed to be quick across tarmac, gravel and mud while capable of flying over 70 foot jumps and withstanding pretty heavy contact with the other racers – not like F1, then.
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THE next Kia Optima has similar proportions to the car it replaces – although not as wild as the Optima-based Sportswagon concept unveiled at the Geneva show – and will arrive in Australia in late 2015.
It features a more sporty look to offset its wider stance, keeping the raked A-pillar and sweeping C-pillar that has defined the model.
According to Kia, improving the Optima’s ride and handling was a top priority for engineers.
It claims the chassis is lighter and stiffer, “resulting in improved steering response, high-speed stability and handling”.
The current Kia Optima, on sale here since 2010, is powered by a 2.4-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder, stepping up performance to 136kW and 241Nm.
Also joining the range will be the grunty 182kW/352m 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol four-cylinder engine that arrived with the latest Hyundai.
The US-market Optima will also feature a new 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.
The Korean carmaker previously used a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox on the Kia Ceed sold in Europe.
It is understood this engine and gearbox will not come to Australia. Instead, the Optima sold here will use a six-speed automatic.
Inside, the Optima features more driver focus, with a strong horizontal plane and a wider centre console.
Kia has targeted the number of buttons in the cabin, and grouped what is left together, giving the interior a much cleaner look.
The Optima will also become Kia’s technological showcase.
In the US, versions of the car will automatically send the owner a text message if it strays outside a defined area, brake automatically if it thinks the driver is about to rear-end the car in front, and features dual HID headlights with a cornering function.
The Optima is also the first Kia model to use carbonfibre-reinforced plastics – a feature normally found in more expensive luxury cars – to support the optional panoramic sunroof.
Kia says this helps to cut weight and lower the centre of gravity, improving the Optima’s cornering performance.
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GENERAL Motors has given the first glimpse of the first imported Commodore – under the skin at least.
The all-new Chevrolet Malibu revealed at the 2015 New York motor show is based on the new Epsilon II architecture that will also underpin the Opel Insignia – the car that will form the basis of the 2018 Commodore.
However, the Commodore will not simply be a rebadged version of the Malibu, instead picking up its styling predominantly from the European-market Insignia.
But senior GM sources have confirmed to Wheels the Malibu is the best indication so far of what will sit underneath the first Commodore to come from overseas, once local production ceases in 2017.
The reveal of the new Malibu in the US will also see the end of the Malibu nameplate – and GM’s mid-sized car – in Australia.
Wheels has learnt Holden will kill off the slow selling car in 2016 – just three years after it arrived as a much-hyped mid-sizer.
A Holden spokesman said: “We’re constantly evaluating all future model potential and won’t discuss specific models at this time.”
The move to drop the Malibu in Australia makes sense given the next-gen Malibu has grown significantly in size to the point where it offers similar interior space to the current Commodore.
The new Malibu has a wheelbase that has grown 91mm, bringing the space between the front and rear wheels to within 87mm of the current Commodore.
On overall length, the two are even closer; the new Malibu’s 4923mm nose-to-tail dimension is just 24mm less than the existing Commodore.
The new Malibu’s Epsilon II architecture is essentially a new platform, albeit one that uses some elements of the old front-drive platform in the Malibu.
“We took everything that was good off Epsilon 1 and try and improve it,” GM vice-president of global product development, former Holden boss Mark Reuss, told Wheels.
Reuss added that the platform was a global architecture that had been engineered for right-hand drive, indicating it would be used on other models, with the Insignia the most likely recipient.
“We took 300 pounds (136kg) out of it and re-architected the car … there are a lot of differences.”
Chevrolet confirmed the Malibu will be offered with at least three engines; a 1.5-litre turbo with 119kW, a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo with 186kW, and a 1.8-litre four-cylinder petrol-electric hybrid with 136kW that allows the car to be driven on electricity alone up to 88km/h.
While the Insignia will have a different drivetrain line-up – expect diesel engines and a twin-turbo V6 to offer V8 performance – it’s expected at least one of those drivetrains will make it to Australia, with the 2.0-litre turbo the most likely option.
Holden could also have the option to import other engines, including potentially a hybrid, depending on market demand and whether a sales case could be built.
A Holden spokesman refused to confirm that the Malibu gives a clue to the next Commodore.
“We’ve still got two and half years of the fantastic current-generation Commodore to go and we’re not going to comment on the future.”
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Subaru has teased with an STI branded and turbocharged version of its BRZ … but don’t hold you breath for it to hit showrooms any time soon.
It’s been long anticipated a force-induced BRZ – or, indeed, a turbo Toyota 86 twin – would be a case of if not when.
But while the new BRZ STI concept, which debuted at the New York show overnight, suggested a boosted ‘Toyobaru’ is close to a reality, spokespeople for Subaru at the show hosed down speculation the new concept will become production reality.
However, the message coming from Subaru’s New York stand is that a turbocharged BRZ will come. Eventually.
Resplendent in its wide-hipped bodywork, aggressive new front fascia treatment, extreme T-wing spoiler and twin central exhaust outlets, the BRZ STI certainly lifts the production car’s credentials into harder-core territory.
Inside, the cabin gets a racier makeover, with revision in the seating, trim work, steering wheel and centre console switchgear.
Crucially, though, is what’s lurking under the bonnet: a version of the 2.0-litre boxer four said to be identical in spec to the unit used for BRZ race cars in Japan’s Super GT series.
In GT300 trim, in accordance with sporting regulations, the engine outputs around 225kW and 450Nm, a significant lift over the 147kW and 205Nm production unit.
It has long been mooted that turbocharged version of BRZ/86 would likely become reality once buyers’ honeymoon period of interest in the N/A production cars waned.
Certainly many fans of the modern day cult car are hoping that either Subaru or Toyota go chasing higher outputs in showroom sooner rather than later.
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THE replacement for the Barina Spark will simply be known as the Spark.
It was shown simultaneously today by Chevrolet at the Seoul and New York motor shows, revealing a sleeker, more modern design.
The new Holden Spark will go on sale in Australia early in 2016 as the most affordable model in an expanding vehicle portfolio.
While pricing hasn’t been confirmed, the Spark is expected to be about the same as the current Barina Spark, which sells from $12,890 plus on-road costs.
“I believe this car will set a new benchmark in this highly competitive segment,” said Holden executive director of sales, Peter Keley.
“It’s easy to see why we are so confident the all-new Spark will stand out from the competition and continue to attract a younger set of buyers to the Holden brand.”
Holden said the Spark will get local tuning to optimise it for Australian conditions.
“The car will feature unique suspension and steering tunes following thousands of kilometres and months of extensive work at our Lang Lang proving ground and on public roads,” said Ian Butler, Holden director of vehicle performance.
“We made sure the car remains fun and agile but will now deliver even more sophistication.”
GM International’s vice-president of international design, Mike Simcoe, said the Spark design “has grown up”.
“With a lower roof height, thinner pillars and a more efficient package, where the wheels are pushed to the edges of the fenders, the car now has a more substantial, firmly planted presence,” he said.
“It retains its youthful flair, but reflects the maturation of the global micro-car market and customers’ desire for richly styled and highly contented choices.”
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BAD news today if you’re in the business of selling electric cars in Australia: the nation’s industry minister thinks you’re backing the wrong fossil fuel-sucking horse.
Speaking at the launch of the Hyundai ix35 fuel cell vehicle in Sydney today – it’s the first hydrogen-fuel passenger car to arrive in Australia – senior government minister Ian Macfarlane said electric vehicles were “an idea, not a solution” to the nation’s future personal transport needs.
“Now, some people say that the solution lies in electric cars; I don’t drive an electric car,” Mr Macfarlane said.
“Some people say that we will have enough fossil fuel to last us centuries; I don’t agree with that, either,” he said.
“The reality is that if you drive an electric car, the chances are it’s being fuelled by fossil fuel-generated electricity. Outside that, it’s an idea, not a solution.
“The ideal solution surely is a car that in the full cycle, something that starts with water and ends with water, and that to me is what this vehicle represents today – the next generation of environmentally friendly vehicles.”
Hyundai’s fuel cell ix35 uses hydrogen to spark a chemical reaction that creates electricity, which is then used to drive an electric motor connected to the front wheels, and emits only plain water.
The tank has to be filled at a special refuelling station – Hyundai’s solar-powered one installed at its Sydney headquarters is believed to have cost about $300,000 – and takes about five minutes, costing less than $60 for a 600-kilometre driving range.
Mr Macfarlane said the fuel cell technology was a better fit for Australia than electric and hybrid vehicles.
“The long-term future’s got to be in a fuel cell vehicle that is zero-emission,” he said.
“There’s no doubt that electric and hybrid technology is a transitioning technology, but in terms of where we’re going long-term, you need a vehicle that gives you the range. In terms of that, it’s only the hydrogen vehicle that satisfies those criteria.
“The electric vehicle will play a role; how much of a role we will see.
“Hydrogen certainly strikes me as a fuel of the future … There are some solutions that hydrogen presents that aren’t available to electric vehicles.”
Even so, Hyundai’s fuel cell has its own hurdles to clear.
For a start, the fuel cell ix35 is not currently available in right-hand drive, meaning that, until an all-new fuel cell-ready ix35 currently under development arrives in about 2016, drivers will have to sit on the wrong side of the car.
Hyundai has also flagged it will need help to make the fuel cell ix35 more cost-effective in Australia – it is expected to be priced about the same as Toyota’s circa-$70,000 Mirai fuel cell sedan that won’t be coming to Australia – and for that it needs government backing.
“We look forward to engaging in industry and partner discussions about ways to further motivate the adoption of hydrogen motoring in Australia and to offering some viable options to our federal, state and local policy makers,” Hyundai Australia chief executive Charlie Kim said.
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