Swedish horsepower junkie Koenigsegg is promising to deliver a pair of head-kickers at March’s Geneva Show.
Little in way of details have surfaced about the new Regera model short of speculation it could be a new range-topper, given that its name translates to ‘reign’ from Swedish.
Teasers officially referring to Regera as a ‘megacar’ suggest that the debut model will match, or possibly supplant, the company’s mighty One:1 on outright power or even power-to-weight.
The current One:1, the brand’s first ‘megacar’, is thus named because the 1340kg hypercar, launched last year, creates 1340PS from its twin-turbo 5.0-litre V8, or around 1000kW.
Koenigsegg thus defines ‘megacar’ as a model producing a megawatt of power.
The Regera may well overshadow the Swede’s other anticipated debut, the Agera RS.
The RS will supplant the current R variant as the top dog of the Agera range, with speculation that outputs will be pushed beyond the Agera R’s astonishing 850kW and 1200Nm figures.
The new RS is also likely to eclipse the R’s heroic acceleration claim of hitting 300km/h from a standstill in just 14.53 seconds.
With rivals Ferrari and McLaren squeezing unheard-of outputs from their own production special editions, the horsepower war among the hypercars is well and truly on.
Details of both the Regera and Agera RS will lob around the time of the Geneva show in March.
THE small local team that develops Kia ride and handling for Australian conditions has received international recognition, with the Korean company’s European division adopting its suspension and steering tune for the facelifted Proceed GT it will launch later this year.
At this stage the only debate is whether the Europeans will take the current Aussie tune, or adopt an update that is incorporated into the turbo three-door’s facelift due for launch here in the fourth quarter.
“We are very happy,” Kia Motors Australia marketing boss Steve Watt told Wheels. “It’s a bit like a journo getting a story picked up and run in a global publication.
“The Euro market tested our steering and suspension in quarter three last year and they did back-to-backs with the car they launched with their own Euro tune. They have now requested to KMC head office that they adopt that tune for Europe.
“If there was a car in the line-up you’d want a tick against your name, that’s the one … it’s a car that as a package drives really well and has a lot of potential to be an enthusiast car.”
Watt wasn’t just spruiking the win as the company’s marketing boss. When he arrived at Kia from Toyota Australia in 2008 he played a key role instigating the local chassis tuning program that has since reached out and touched every model offered in Australia, and is gaining increasing international awareness.
The move has been emulated by local rival (and global parent) Hyundai, although it isn’t claiming any international scalps yet.
The product department at KMAu does the local tuning work in consultation with contracted consultant Graeme Gambold, who worked with Watt at Toyota.
Developing a local tune takes about six months from the time a prototype is first sampled at the Namyang test ground in Korea to being signed off after an intensive local development session on typically rough Australian roads.
Wheels went inside the tuning process for the recently updated Kia Rio. You can read about our verdict on the car here.
Watt explained the Australian tune, which fundamentally delivers a long-legged ride and tighter body control, got the thumbs up in Europe because of the similarity between Australian and UK road conditions.
“The trick is both us and the UK have the phenomena of C and below roads. They are largely winding, patched and covered over again. We are both dealing with the phenomena of relatively high speeds on relatively rough roads. The current UK crew does look to us as another source for the initial setting.
While the Proceed GT tune was a significant win for the Aussies, Watt explained the seven-year old program had achieved more subtle successes that were important beyond Australia.
“Because our demands have always been for harder and stronger parts we are getting more and more tuning parts that are available in the upper end and I think the whole (Kia) world is benefitting from having those parts in the system,” he said.
The local chassis tuning program was started when German Peter Schreyer was leading a design overhaul of the Kia range. Watt and Gambold – who worked together on Toyota’s rally program – wanted to back up the looks with driving substance.
“There needs to be some other elements to your offering you become renowned for (apart from styling),” Watt said. “So the end goal we are looking for is a car that is renowned as good to drive. That doesn’t mean it will always be sporty and pointy. It means whatever job they are designed to do they are a pleasure to drive.”
BMW has revealed an all-new mobile creche on wheels, dubbing it the 2 Series Gran Tourer and aiming to snare a new class of buyers with multiple kids and short-ish pockets.
Boasting what BMW says is “generous space, versatility and groundbreaking flexibility”, the front-wheel-drive, seven-seat minibus, which will also get all-wheel-drive capability in some markets, will stretch just 4556mm – or about as long as a Volkswagen Golf wagon.
Like the closely related 2 Series Active Tourer, the Gran Tourer will have five three- or four-cylinder turbocharged petrol and diesel engines to choose from.
Reflecting its sprog-friendly form, German versions of the Gran Tourer will launch with a ‘myKIDIO’ app that feeds age-appropriate feature films, TV series, audio books and audio plays to tablet devices in the rear seats.
Parents will be able to snoop on what their children are watching; in return, ankle-biters will never again have to ask “are we there yet?”, with the Gran Tourer streaming information such as arrival time, outside temperature and even the minibus’s speed to the back seats, via connected tablets.
The standard model available in Europe will feature dual-zone air-conditioning, rear parking sensors, cruise control with an automated braking function, and a multifunction steering wheel.
At the top of the range is an M Sport model, showing that just because you have a bunch kids doesn’t mean you have to drive the equivalent of a white good. It includes an aero package, sports seats and steering wheel, and other “features”.
The 2 Series Gran Tourer is the second model in BMW’s portfolio to feature front-wheel drive, a drivetrain arrangement it once derided as railing against its “sheer driving pleasure” mantra.
At this stage, BMW Australia says the 2 Series Gran Tourer is not on its radar.
However, with the cheapest BMW X5 seven-seater priced above $80K, and the 2 Series Active Tourer priced from about $45K, there’s a lot of potential for the creche. Ah, we mean showroom.
This is what you get when you fly the $1.25 million 652kW/1281Nm Porsche 918 Spyder to a frozen lake in Sweden and stick a Porsche test driver behind the wheel: six minutes of sideways awesomeness. Enjoy.
THE HONDA Civic Type R may not be in Australia’s dealers until as late as 2017. That’s according to Honda Australia director Stephen Collins.
“We are yet to confirm [the Civic Type R] but I’m very confident that we’ll get it,” Collins told journalists at the launch of the Honda HR-V, a compact SUV that will fight for sales in the same sandpit as the recently launched Renault Captur.
In addition to ruling out a 2015 launch here for the high-performance Civic, Collins admitted it may not be here the following year, either.
“I don’t think we’ll see it then [2016], but I hope we do,” he said. “I want to be clear: we have not confirmed it. Timing is that variable.”
That’s despite the hot Honda being available for order in Europe since December 1 last year, and first-deliveries expected mid-2015 including right-hand-drive models for the UK.
Honda overnight revealed more details of its hot-hatch contender, showing some of the unique body kit that the hatcback will wear once the production version goes on show in Geneva next month.
The Japanese carmaker revealed that a new, almost completely flat underside would help with airflow under the vehicle, and would combine with a rear diffuser to optimise downforce “effectively sucking the car onto the road”, it said.
As well, a bespoke rear wing will give the car enhanced visual presence and deliver powerful additional downforce, thanks notably to the structure of its airfoil section, it said.
A wide front splitter and deep side skirts also manage airflow and reduce lift, while the front bumper has been shaped specifically to inhibit air turbulence around the front wheels, cutting drag and enhancing high-speed stability.
The front-wheel-drive Civic Type R packs 216kW from its 2.0-litre turbo four-pot engine, good for a top speed of 270kmh, and is gunning for the front-dragging Nurburgring lap record, set by the Renaultsport Megane RS 275 Trophy R back in May last year.
While the French hatch has already arrived here, with Australia privileged to secure 50 of the 250 total global production run, the Japanese record-holder elect’s arrival is yet to be locked in, giving arch-enemies such as the VW Golf R a free kick.
Meanwhile, fresh rivals keep moving the hot-hatch goalposts: a 2017 launch would mean that even the 255kW all-wheel-drive Ford Focus RS that was announced less than a week ago would be on sale here ahead of the Type R.
The slow gestation only adds to frustration for local Honda enthusiasts, who will have to wait until at least 2016 for the new Honda NSX to arrive here, pending production of right-hand drive models from its Ohio, USA, plant.
Timing of the Porsche 911 Turbo rival’s on-sale is also yet to be pinned down to a specific month or quarter in the year. One thing’s certain, says Collins: “NSX will be here ahead of the Type R.”
The fastest, most-powerful and “dynamically focused” Range Rover set to take the fight to X6 M, ML63 AMG and Porsche Cayenne Turbo S.
Developed by Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Vehicles Operations (SVO) and the first Land Rover product to wear SVR designation, the high-performance Sport will land locally in May with a set of formidable performance claims.
Powered by the evergreen 5.0-litre supercharged V8 shared with Jaguar’s ‘R S’ models, the 405kW and 680Nm family-hauler is said to march from zero to 100km/h in just 4.7sec and on to a governed 260km/h top speed.
Bolder still is its maker’s claims of dynamic talent – it’s said that the Range Rover Sport SVR has, in development, lapped the Nordschleife in 8min14sec, one of “the fastest times ever recorded by a standard production SUV”.
Prototypes clocked up no fewer than 1000 laps of the Green Hell during the SVR’s development program.
With adaptive air suspension (with Active Roll Control) tuned for on-road performance and sat on (optional) 295mm-wide 22-inch rolling stock, the top-spec Rangie is said to be capable of generating a whopping 1.3g of peak cornering load.
Available as a paddle-shifted eight-speed auto only at $218,500, the British design, engineered and built hyper-SUV comes laden with luxury appointments, though both passenger rows offer redesigned sport seating in all positions.
Its SVR-exclusive Estoril Blue hero hue will be one of seven available body colours come May.
SLOW sales of the locally made Cruze hatch and sedan have forced Holden to reduce the number of cars it builds each day, and the number of workers needed to make them.
Holden announced it will cut production by 20 units a day, falling from 310 to 290 a day, in response to even more pressure on locally made cars as competition for buyers’ interest becomes even keener.
The announcement comes in the same week as Japanese carmaker Nissan bumped up its full-year profit forecast to almost $6.2 billion after a bumper third quarter that resulted in an almost 27 percent jump in revenue.
Toyota reported last week that Japan’s devaluing of the yen had reaped it $2.3 billion last quarter.
Japanese brands in Australia have benefited from moves in their home market to strongly devalue the yen, giving their vehicles a price advantage against Australian-made vehicles.
To add to the pain, Australia’s three remaining car producers were hit with another competitive hurdle earlier this year with ratification of the Japan free trade agreement, which has removed a five percent import tariff.
As part of the line rate reduction, Holden said it would not renew the contracts of 30 casual staff rather than shed full-time positions from its Elizabeth production line in South Australia.
“Fragmentation and competition across the entire automotive industry continues to place pressure on locally built models,” Holden said in a statement released today.
“As a result, it is necessary for Holden to re-rate its Elizabeth facility’s production from 310 cars per day to 290, effective March 2.
“This move will better align production with demand and support our plan of continuing to build world-class cars in Adelaide until the end of 2017.”
Declining volumes as the door closes on Australian production are a constant worry for Ford, Holden and Toyota. Ford plans to exit local manufacturing late next year, while Toyota and Holden will hold out until late 2017.
Ford cut its line rate from 149 a year ago to just 83 in June last year. With both Territory and particularly Falcon sales sliding – the large sedan’s sales fell to a fresh low in January, normally a bad month for fleet sales, where it hit just 381 units – the company will be under more pressure to shed staff.
Likewise, Toyota is struggling with flagging Aurion and Camry sales, in part as some fleet buyers start to relax policies that once favoured Australian-made products.
Toyota Australia’s line rate for Aurion and Camry is holding steady at 370 units a day, but that includes Camry models for export, accounting for about 70 percent of production. That means about 110 cars a day for local consumption.
Australian carmakers’ share of the 1.1 million-plus market fell another 15.2 percent last year, and is off to a shaky start in 2015, falling a further 2.8 percent in January compared with the same month last year.
In 2006, the first year that locally produced cars’ share of the market was split out of the annual sales figures, more than one in five vehicles sold were made here. Last month, that figure was down to just one in 13.
Lexus introduces the NX200t, the turbo-petrol variant of its NX series compact SUV, which debuted in petrol/electric hybrid NX300h form late last year.
WHAT IS IT The Lexus NX200t might be the mainstream, non-hybrid variant, but it’s not completely conventional. It ushers in the Japanese brand’s first-ever turbocharged engine – a tech-packed 2.0-litre twin-scroll unit producing 175kW and 350Nm.
It is $2500 cheaper than the equivalent 300h, with the same features and equipment, opening with the entry-level $52,500 front-drive and $57K AWD Luxury variants, and rising via the mid-spec $63,500 F Sport to the $72,500 Sports Luxury flagship.
WHY WE’RE TESTING IT The NX300h arrived in October 2014 and the NX200t has just joined it in showrooms. The NX200t’s early-February local launch was our first opportunity to sample the mainstream NX variant – and the brand’s first turbo engine, which was nine years in development.
MAIN RIVALS Audi Q5, BMW X3
THE WHEELS VERDICT Cutting-edge tech of Lexus-first 2.0-litre turbo engine helps it deliver refined performance with efficiency, though our COTY comments on the NX300h apply equally to the hybrid’s petrol-only sibling – dynamically, the NX is no SUV class-leader.
PLUS: Lexus’s first turbo engine is a cracker; quicker and cheaper than the hybrid; interior quality and equipment MINUS: NX not a dynamic SUV, more a plush RAV4; polarising styling; auto does its own thing in manual mode
THE WHEELS REVIEW A BOOST gauge displayed proudly in the centre of its instrument panel signals the turbo-engine tech that headlines Lexus’s conventionally powered baby SUV.
The NX200t – sibling to the hybrid NX300h – ushers in the brand’s first turbocharged engine and, refreshingly, the technically interesting unit takes precedence over the brand’s more usual ‘premium this’ or ‘sports-luxury that’ message.
The brand is late to the turbo party – hybrids have hogged all its engineering efforts – and it has just spent nine years developing the 2.0-litre four-cylinder 8AR-FTS.
There’s cleverness to show for it. The turbo four, already the subject of a Japanese SAE paper, brings a newly developed VVT-iW system. The ‘W’ appended to the faithful variable valve timing acronym stands for ‘wide’ – an inlet valve timing operating range wide enough that the mill can operate on both the conventional Otto and more efficient Atkinson combustion cycles.
No off-the-shelf unit, the turbo’s exhaust turbine housing is part of a single cylinder head/exhaust manifold casting. The twin-scroll snail – each scroll is fed exhaust gas by its own pair of cylinders – boasts a variable wastegate that’s opened not just to control boost pressure, but to minimise engine pumping losses. The turbo pumps boosted air to the engine via a liquid-to-air intercooler sited close to the engine, for throttle responsiveness.
The idle-start system cranks the engine on throttle application; the engine delivers its first power stroke in less than 180 degrees of crankshaft rotation and that can be felt in its immediacy.
Not a brand to leave room when it comes to refinement and reliability, Lexus gave the 175kW/350Nm engine balance shafts for smoothness and piston oil jets for cooling. The Euro-VI donk would be brilliant in something sporty, but this RAV4-derived luxo-SUV isn’t that car.
While the NX200t is smooth and brisk, with a hint of rortiness, the engine is largely over-refined into the background. And the six-speed auto refuses to let the driver tap into the bottom-end of the engine’s repertoire (torque kicks off at 1650rpm, while power peaks at 5600rpm), preferring to drop a couple of ratios and use the revs, even in manual mode.
Despite a different suspension calibration to the hybrid, you will be disappointed if you’re hoping for profound dynamic improvements to go with the extra performance. The brand might be blazing a snail trail, but more time is needed to sort the NX’s one-dimensional chassis, over-cautious ESC and numb electro-steering.
SPECS Model: Lexus NX200t Luxury AWD Engine: 1998cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo Max power: 175kW @ 4800-5600rpm Max torque: 350Nm @ 1650-4000rpm Transmission: 6-speed automatic Weight: 1755kg 0-100km/h: 7.1sec (claimed) Fuel economy: 7.9L/100km Price: $57,000 On sale: Now
AUDI’S next-generation A4 is starting to take shape after its launch was pushed back to allow more styling and suspension tweaks ahead of the new model’s launch.
Our spy images show the reworked small luxury sedan due sometime in 2016 – it should also spawn a wagon version that will roll into an SUV-styled Allroad model – gains more coupe-like styling as it prepares to tackle the segment’s latest newcomer, the Jaguar XE, as well as traditional rivals the BMW 3 Series, Mercedes-Benz C-Class and even the Lexus IS.
Sitting on the Volkswagen Group’s new MLB (modular longitudinal) platform shared with the all-new Q7, the A4 appears to be gaining a wider rear track that will help with on-road performance.
Also helping will be a weight loss of up to 100kg as Audi replaces much of the previous model’s architecture with a combination of high-strength steel, aluminium and carbon fibre-reinforced plastics.
Also gaining a big makeover are the headlights and tail lamps, with the forward-facing beams gaining a new-look, R8-style LED signature as part of the daytime running light cluster.
A key part of the new A4’s architecture is planning for alternative drivetrains. The new A4 is expected to offer tradtional choices of petrol and diesel engines sending drive to the front or all four wheels, but should include a version wearing the brand’s e-tron badge – either as a full electric vehicle or a plug-in petrol or diesel hybrid.
Transmissions are expected to stay as either a six-speed manual gearbox or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.
V8 SUPERCARS: Ford tops official test
CHAZ Mostert gave long-suffering Ford fans a warm and fuzzy feeling on Sunday when he was fastest in a drawn-out Top 20 Shootout on a weekend that marked the track introduction of the Blue Oval brand’s new (and last) Falcon, the FG-X.
Watched by a solid crowd that took advantage of the good weather and free entry, Bathurst 1000 winner Mostert’s Falcon was the quickest car at Sydney Motorsport Park over a single lap (1m30.6583s) when everyone was using fresh rubber.
The test also boosted confidence in the Nissan Motorsport camp, with Todd Kelly’s Altima fastest overall at the test, with a lap of 1m29.5352s, indicating perhaps that the four-car squad has made an important jump forward in the summer off-season. Perhaps the Kelly Brothers’ well-documented frustrations are now behind them thanks to an aero upgrade and with an engine upgrade not far off.
There was also great interest in Marcos Ambrose and the team of two legends – Roger Penske and Dick Johnson.
Smart observers didn’t expect Ambrose to rock Jamie Whincup’s world as soon as he unpacked back at home. But Ambrose is as methodical as ever and his improvement across the weekend was consistent but real. He was 15th fastest.
While the priority of drivers was their V8 Supercars performance, several also showed a keen interest in what was happening 200 kilometres across the mountains at Mount Panorama. Journalists covering the Bathurst 12 Hour in a crowded media centre were taking regular calls from certain drivers at SMP.
Erebus owner Betty Klimenko had torn loyalties, with teams at each track. She spent some time at SMP early before driving to Bathurst on Saturday afternoon.
Penske team boss Tim Cindric was also at Bathurst, keeping an eye on his 16-year-old son Austin, who was steering the second Erebus SLS 63 AMG.
Dick Johnson ducked up to the Mountain to catch the spectacular last 100 minutes of the 12 Hour while Jonathon and Steve Webb, owners of the Tekno V8 Supercar team, were also part of Tony Quinn’s McLaren cheer squad at the 12 Hour.
SPORTS CARS: Quinn’s three-generation dream
TONY Quinn told Wheels of one of his Bucket List priorities – to contest the Bathurst 12 Hour as a driver with both his son Klark and grandson Ryder, who is currently 10 years old.
“Another six years to wait,” said rich-lister Tony, who is “only 56”.
TRS: Randle quick but unlucky at Taupo
RISING open-wheeler driver Thomas Randle has uncorked another fighting performance in New Zealand’s international Toyota Racing Series, this time in the weekend’s penultimate round at Taupo, where he set a new track record and claimed his second TRS podium finish.
On Saturday, in the opening heat, Randle reset Jordan King’s 2012 TRS lap record on the way to fourth. Later he equalled his previous career-best race result of third place in the day’s second heat.
The reigning Australian Formula Ford Champion has moved to sixth in the championship standings and leads the Trans-Tasman Challenge for the highest-placed Australian or New Zealand driver.
In qualifying for the third heat on Sunday, a detached front wing jet flap compromised the Victorian’s qualifying session and put him an unrepresentative 19th on the start grid. In the race, he moved forward to 12th but contact with another competitor three laps from the flag left him with a DNF against his name.
Randle started 10th in the Denny Hulme Memorial Trophy feature race and finished ninth after dealing with engine overheating issues mid-race.
“Two days; two very different fortunes,” Randle summed up his Taupo weekend.
“I really believe Saturday represented my best performance in TRS so far. That’s why Sunday’s result is a bit hard to swallow by comparison.
“In the end, though, we maximised what we could out of a challenging situation. Next week we head into the final round, and if you told me five weeks ago that I would now be sixth in the points, I would be over the moon,” said the wings-and-slicks rookie.
