FERRARI does fast, but it won’t do “stupid”, says CEO Amedeo Felisa, so the company’s embrace of turbo power for the V8 California T and new 488 GTB won’t extend to the company’s trademark V12.
“To move a 12-cylinder to a turbo is something we can do, but that means we are more than 1000 horsepower on the cars… that means stupid.”
As Felisa points out, turbocharging Ferrari’s existing 6.3-litre V12, which already produces 544kW (730 horsepower) in the fabulous F12 Berlinetta, would create a Bugatti-basher of an engine.
But “it does not make sense”, Felisa says.
Better instead to improve the technical efficiency of the V12, “which is what we are trying to do”.
Felisa believes that, despite tougher emission rules coming at the end of the decade for low-volume manufacturers like Ferrari, his engineers will be able to find ways to keep the V12 in production until at least that time.
“Twelve cylinders for me is one of the best Ferrari engines,” he says. “We have to defend that.
“2020 means six years. We have time to find new solutions.”
It turns out you can’t keep a good engine down.
Just when we thought that the arrival of AMG’s new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 had spelled the end for the legendary 6.2-litre M159 atmo V8, it’s confirmed the engine will live on in the Mercedes-AMG GT GT3.
It was expected that the GT3 version of AMG’s new GT supercar would share the road-going model’s boosted 4.0-litre engine, but AMG has decided to stick with the tried-and-tested naturally-aspirated unit, saying it’s cheap to run, reliable and easy to maintain – by race car standards at least.
Smaller and lighter than the SLS it succeeds, the GT GT3 also pays homage to Mercedes’ racing past, its heavily slatted grille a copy of that fitted to the 300SL racer from 1952.
The GT GT3 will make its race debut in 2016, with the SLS GT3’s long and successful race career, which includes wins at the Bathurst 12-Hour, Dubai 24-Hour and Nurburgring 24-Hour, drawing to a close this year.
In the meantime, the GT GT3 is currently undergoing an extensive development program, with five-time DTM champion and Mercedes GT factory driver Bernd Schneider handling much of the early running.
Speaking to MOTOR at the launch of the new Mercedes-AMG C63, Schneider said that reducing the GT GT3’s weight was the highest priority, with the target being 1260kg to both improve performance and increase tyre longevity for the GT championship’s flagship endurance races.
The GT GT3 will face stiff competition, with existing entrants Bentley, Nissan, McLaren and Ferrari being joined later this year by Audi’s new R8 LMS and Lamborghini’s first ever factory racecar, the Huracan GT3.
Now, AMG, get to work on the road-car version.
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Aston Martin has joined the SUV craze with its new DBX crossover concept.
Not that it’s calling it such; in the words of Aston, the DBX is a “high luxury GT.” It certainly looks the part, highly influenced by the One-77 supercar front and rear, with only the raised ride height robbing the concept of traditional sports GT proportions.
Come to think of it, drop the ride height, lose the odd ‘hat’ that covers the roof and you could be looking at the next Vantage – maybe.
Perhaps the DBX’s biggest shock (no pun intended) is delivered by its all-electric drivetrain specification. Is the world ready for a silent Aston?
The DBX does give Aston Martin the unique distinction of having both the quietest and the loudest car in Geneva on its stand, though, sharing space with the 600kW track-only Vulcan hypercar.
New Aston CEO and former Nissan senior executive Andy Palmer says there currently is no intention to produce the DBX, though confirmed a car will be launched in this segment in due course.
Can a brand as dependent on emotion as Aston Martin really succeed with electric cars? We’d love to hear your thoughts.
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Beyond head-spinning output and performance claims, the Regera could well revolutionise hybrid ‘hyperformance’.
First, the numbers: its 5.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 offers 820kW at 7800rpm and 1280Nm at 4100rpm, while a trio of electric motors add a further 500kW and 900Nm combined.
Total system outputs, according to the Swedish maker, are “over 1500hp” or beyond 1100kW and “over 2000Nm”.
While no 0-100km/h time has been revealed, its claimed the Regera takes just 3.2sec to reach 250km/h from 150km/h and will hit 400km/h – just six shy of its v-max – from a standstill in under 20 seconds.
The revolutionary aspect is the powertrain application itself: instead of using internal combustion to do the heavy lifting topped with electrified boost – ala Le Ferrari, P1, 918 – the Regera design works quite the opposite.
Koenigsegg’s Direct Drive Transmission (KDD) removes a conventional gearbox, and its associated parasitic drivetrain losses, from the equation. Via a (2.85:1 ratio) differential, most of the V8’s 820kW makes it directly to the road at 8250rpm at Regera’s 406km/h peak velocity.
It is down to the trio of electrified motors to provide the majority of low-to-high-speed motivation: one 160kW/300Nm attached at the V8’s crankshaft for ‘normal’ driving duties and a pair of independent 180kW/260Nm units on the rear axle either side of the mechanical differential.
Essentially, then, the Regera functions as an EV with petrol-enhanced high-speed boost, and at 500kW and 900Nm fully electrified – “triple its closet hybrid rival” says its maker – has all-electric talent to make the quickest Tesla blush with envy.
The Regera is no stripped out electro-racecar, though: the spec list is fully laden and so is its hefty 1628kg kerb weight, suggesting that the Regera is gunning to position itself as a sort of new-world hybrid Veyron.
High-end luxury credentials are demonstrated via its so-called ‘fully robotised’ design where all body closures, from its doors at active roof wing, are completely automated, even remotely via smartphone.
Inside, the Regera boasts eight-way electric seats, high-end infotainment and audio, three-camera monitoring, ambient lightening, Wi-Fi connectivity and other premium bells and whistles.
The Regera’s front and rear aerodynamics addenda, chassis control and lift system are all active and use a system of lightweight hydraulic actuators.
Despite the luxo-supercar format, Koenigsegg claims that “the only hyper-megacar that could be faster around a circuit is another Koenigsegg.”
That’s like a red rag to a Prancing Horse, we reckon…
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As regular readers will know, here at MOTOR we performance test more or less every car we review.
Usually it’s just in the form of single-car runs to record data, but every now and then curiosity gets the better of us and we can’t help but line up for a good old drag race.
In the red corner, there’s Holden’s VF Calais, packed with 260kW/517Nm worth of 6.0-litre V8; representing the blues is Ford’s new FG X G6E Turbo, its 4.0-litre turbocharged six narrowly one-ups the Holden with 270kW and 533Nm of torque.
They’re close on paper, but which one takes glory on the strip? Watch and find out.
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Flagship Skoda grows on the model it replaces, and throws in a user-friendly tech fest for good measure
AN all-new Skoda Superb at the Geneva motor show, revealing a more technology-laden version of the hatch and wagon that make it even more family friendly.
Built on the Volkswagen Group’s versatile front-engine, front-drive MQB platform that’s underneath the VW Golf and Skoda Octavia, the Superb is longer and wider, and also sits on a stretched wheelbase to open up even more interior space.
While the larger dimensions allow an extra 30 litres of luggage space, the Superb has trimmed down 75kg in the jump across to the new platform.
The more advanced platform also allows the introduction of smarter technology, including an electric tailgate on the wagon that opens with a waved foot under the bumper, a leap to Apple’s smartphone-based CarPlay infotainment system and Android’s Google Auto, and a traffic-jam assistant that helps the driver in stop-start traffic.
It also gains autonomous emergency braking, which can help avoid a rear-end shunt.
The Czech branch of German carmaker Volkswagen said the jump to the new platform would also give it access to a range of idle-stop engines that are set up to also scab energy normally lost during coasting and braking.
Australian versions of the Superb currently sell with a turbocharged 118kW 1.8-litre petrol four-pot paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch auto, or a 125kW 2.0-litre diesel paired with a six-speed dual-clutch.
In the new Superb, the 1.8 jumps to 132kW, and the diesel to 162kW.
More halo cars are coming from Lexus, but another LFA supercar could be decades away
LEXUS is working on expanding its range of high-performance hero cars, but another LFA supercar could be decades away.
Lexus International executive vice-president Mark Templin said exciting models with higher performance would make up a greater proportion of the model mix as the Japanese brand continued its model expansion.
“We’re going to have lots of halo cars in future,” Templin said.
“[Toyota chief] Akio Toyoda has said he believes every generation of people – a generation being 30 years – deserves a special car like the LFA.
“Someday there’s a good chance that we’ll have another supercar in the realm of the LFA.”
At the top of the brand’s line-up, the LS saloon is likely to remain the most expensive and luxurious Lexus.
“There may be derivatives of the LS, or different models of the LS, but LS is really the core halo car.”
He reiterated there were no plans to follow the German lead by creating myriad body styles for expansive model ranges, something that increases complexity, production costs and marketing.
“We don’t want to have a line-up of 100 different models – it’s not an efficient business process. I’d rather have a much tighter line-up of vehicles than some of our competitors have but be able to compete in the biggest segments.”
Wheels talks to Lamborghini boss about why the Italian maker’s machines will continue to be naturally aspirated, at least for the foreseeable future
LAMBORGHINI won’t be switching to turbo power any time soon, according to company president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann.
One problem is the supercar maker’s less than super budgets, the Lambo boss joking that he has “one euro to spend on a car in its life”.
Lamborghini, apparently, simply can’t afford to develop new turbocharged engines. Unlike near neighbour Ferrari, who showed the turbocharged 488 GTB at this year’s Geneva show.
Equally serious is the fact that turbocharged engines won’t fit in the engine bays of Lamborghini’s current cars. Both Aventador and Huracan were designed for a tight fit around naturally aspirated engines.
For these reasons, the opportunity for Lamborghini to consider a switch to turbo power in its mid-engined models will only come when it’s time to replace them, Winkelmann suggested.
The Huracan is less than a year into its life and the Aventador is only four years old.
With model life cycles at Lamborghini typically running around 10 years, the company’s 5.2-litre V10 and 6.5-litre V12 atmo engines have a lot more work to do before they reach retirement.
In the meantime, its fastest road-going Lamborghini ever produced, the 552kW Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SV, was revealed at Geneva.
The Toyota Corolla takes a swipe back at last month’s leader, the Mazda 3 as every showroom sale counts in the quest to be Australia’s Number-One selling car
THE sales pendulum has swung back in the direction of the Toyota Corolla as it takes victory in Round 2, February 2015, from January’s leader, the Mazda 3.
The Mazda 3 still holds on to a narrow lead year-to-date over its strong-selling Toyota rival as the new car market bounces into record territory in February.
After a flat start to the year, February’s record sales tally of 90,424 is a 4.2 percent jump over the same month last year, and has helped push the market into positive territory after months of stagnating results.
In the race to dominate the Australian sales charts, the Mazda 3 small car range (3598 sales) holds a narrow 90 sales lead over the Corolla (3939) as fleet and rental buyers restock after the Christmas break.
Toyota’s Hilux trade ute featured strongly on the charts, grabbing the number four spot (2861) behind top 10 stalwart, the Holden Commodore (2517), and Hyundai’s i30 small car (2126) making up the top five.
A surprise placing in the top 10 is Mitsubishi’s Triton trade ute, pushing ahead of the traditionally strong-selling Ford Ranger to take seventh spot in the charts. The Triton is in run-out mode ahead of the introduction of an all-new model later this year.
Surprisingly, all passenger vehicle segments apart from the light-car class – the playground of the Mazda 2, Toyota Yaris and Hyundai i20 – fell in February as the national obsession with high-riding SUVs fuelled every part of that segment except for the big, heavy, bowser-addicted models.
Hardest hit in the passenger segment were the superminis – think Fiat 500 and Mitsubishi Mirage – which melted like chocolate in the midday sun, falling 54.4 percent for the month.
The impending demise of Australian manufacturing has made itself felt in the showrooms of Ford, Holden and Toyota, with the market share of Aussie-fettled metal declining a further 10 percent in February compared to the same month last year.
Aussies only bought 7598 cars wearing a “Made in Australia” stamp compared with 82,826 imports.
Holden’s Commodore and Cruze had mixed fortunes, the locally made large car falling 16.3 percent, in line with the general decline for large cars, but Cruze copped an almighty 32.1 percent showroom wallop compared with the same month last year.
The Ford Falcon had a relatively positive month after a run of plumbing fresh lows, selling 501 units – still 12.7 percent down on the same month last year, but at least higher than January.
Ford’s local manufacturing arm continues to show the strength of the Territory SUV, which still managed 783 sales – down just 3.3 percent – despite having to soldier on with only a minor facelift that will carry it through to next year’s curtain call.
The Altona-made Camry and Camry Hybrid, meanwhile, are still attracting buyers ahead of a significant mid-life makeover due in a few months. Camry sold 1767 units, 6.6 percent fewer than February last year, but it was enough to put the ledger slightly into positive territory year-to-date.
In the battle for luxury car buyers’ wallets, everyone – including minnow Infiniti with 57 sales – was a winner.
Mercedes-Benz led the way with 2744 sales (up 1.5 percent on February 2014) while BMW gained 14.8 percent to 1812 sales and Audi was up 9.4 percent to 1699.
And who were February’s big losers?
Malaysian marque Proton was down 73 percent on the same month last year with only 28 sales – one a day – while Chinese brand Chery, which is believed to be withdrawing from the Australian market after attempting to bottom-feed on price, was down almost 60 percent.
Spare a thought for Chinese ute and SUV maker Great Wall, though, down 92.9 percent with just 21 sales for the month. To put it in perspective, Freightliner sold more trucks than that.Click here to read the full range review of the 2014-15 Toyota Corolla
TOP 10 VEHICLES FEBRUARY 2015 1. Toyota Corolla (3939 sales) +18.2%* 2. Mazda 3 (3598) -9.3% 3. Toyota Hilux (2861) -14.5% 4. Holden Commodore (2517) -9.4% 5. Hyundai i30 (2126) -10.4% 6. Mazda CX-5 (2085) +19.0% 7. Mitsubishi Triton (1988) +62.0% 8. Ford Ranger (1953) +2.7% 9. Hyundai ix35 (1856) +24.5% 10. Toyota Camry (1767) -6.6% *Loss/gain compared with February 2014
TOP 10 BRANDS FEBRUARY 2015 1. Toyota (16,243 sales) 18.0%* 2. Mazda (9057) 10.0% 3. Hyundai (8003) 8.9% 4. Holden (7809) 8.6% 5. Mitsubishi (6242) 6.9% 6. Nissan (5984) 6.6% 7. Ford (5022) 5.6% 8. Volkswagen (4889) 5.4% 9. Subaru (3223) 3.6% 10. Honda (2901) 3.2% *Market share
The next version of the Nissan Leaf electric car will be capable of travelling 400km-plus on a single charge – twice as far as the current model
A SENIOR Nissan executive has revealed that the company’s second-generation Leaf electric car will be capable of travelling more than 400 kilometres on a charge.
Speaking at the 2015 Geneva motor show, Nissan senior vice-president and chief creative officer Shiro Nakamura told journalists the new Leaf, expected in 2016, would more than double the driving range of the current version.
“Our target is double – more than 400km,” said Nakamura, who confirmed the Leaf was being readied for production and was “not too far” away.
He said work had been done on the batteries to extend the range, as well as the all-new body, which is expected to look more conventional than the current car’s distinctive lines.
Nissan Australia general manager of corporate communications Peter Fadeyev said he was unaware of details of a next-generation Leaf but reiterated the importance of the electric car to Nissan’s Australian model range.
Nakamura also revealed that the Nismo high-performance range would expand globally, giving Australia more models to choose from as it establishes the sub-brand here.
“We have plans – we are expanding [with Nismo],” said Nakamura. “Most of the products [in the Nissan range] we are expecting to have [a] Nismo [model].
Nissan Australia is yet to announce when (or if) Nismo models will be sold here, but there is a strong desire and work is in progress at the company’s Melbourne-based headquarters.
“The project to introduce Nismo Australia has advanced significantly in the last couple of years, but we aren’t in a position to confirm it at this time,” Fadeyev said.
Nissan used the Geneva show to reveal the Sway concept car, which has been confirmed for production and will sit at the lower end of the brand’s price range.
Many have speculated it will be the replacement for Nissan’s Micra city hatch, but Nakamura did not rule out selling two baby hatchbacks.
“We don’t say this is a Micra replacement,” he said. “When it comes to the market, you will see.”
There is a chance the production Sway could be positioned above Micra, with more attention to detail and more adventurous styling, catering to markets that are prepared to pay a premium for a city hatchback.
Micra could be more basic with a focus on lower prices.
