FERRARI launched the most powerful convertible in its history – the 458 Speciale A – at the 2014 Paris Motor Show as a book-end to the brilliant sports car’s line-up.
The A stands for Aperta (Italian for ‘open’), but this car is essentially a 458 Speciale spider.
It shares the same 4.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 that gives the car its numerical designation, but, with 445kW, it is the most potent drop-top Ferrari ever built.
Only 499 will be produced.
“We present here a car … that represents the end of the 458 era,” said departing Ferrari boss, Luca di Montezemolo.
“It is the fastest-performing spider Ferrari has ever made; 0-100km/h in 3.0 seconds, a record in terms of specific power – 135 horsepower per litre [101kW/litre] – but, even more important, a record in terms of C02 low emission and consumption.”
The rumoured 458M did not appear at the show, but is coming, as a potent farewell to the glorious 458 series that debuted five years ago.
It will use turbochargers, following the lead set by the California T, which was the first turbocharged Ferrari since the 1988 Ferrari F40.
“The 458 has been for us a very important family, very successful,” Montezemolo said.
“This car is full of innovation and technology, and I think the best way to celebrate the last 458 family member … we are preparing a new 458 that I am sure we will be ready to present before next summer, and this event is the end of a very important era.”
LAND Rover has unveiled the seven-seat Discovery Sport that will take on the likes of the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and even Nissan X-Trail.
Shown for the first time in public at the 2014 Paris Motor Show, the Discovery Sport is not a replacement for the larger current Discovery, which is due to be replaced, nor even the Freelander – despite Freelander production coming to an end early next year.
This is the Land Rover that stylish families are supposed to buy.
The new Disco Sport sits on the Evoque platform and is powered by Jaguar Land Rover’s all-new “Ingenium” four-cylinder turbo-diesel engines, driving through the nine-speed ZF automatic transmission that appeared on the Evoque earlier this year.
Key features include seven seats, a full-size spare and loads of luggage space.
It’s also the second car, after the Volvo V40 hatch, to feature a pedestrian airbag that reduces head injuries.
While the car’s styling has it looking like a more modest relative of the latest generation of Range Rovers, design boss Gerry McGovern denies it is derivative.
“We need to make our designs not generic, and certainly not retrospective,” he said. “They need to become more universally appealing.”
The clean, crisp lines include a clamshell bonnet (made of aluminium), a floating roof, signature C-pillar graphic and ‘compass’ tail-lights.
“This particular Discovery is not a replacement for the bigger Discovery; when that comes out, you may say, ‘I can see Disco far more in that’.” McGovern said.
It’s the packaging of the new Sport that’s most impressive.
In the second row seats, there’s 100mm of legroom – almost as much as Range Rover’s – and with the third-row of seats folded, the load area is also as long as the bigger, more luxurious models, even though the Discovery Sport is only 4.6 metres long.
The space has been created with clever engineering (headed up by Australian Murray Dietsch), including a compact integral-link rear suspension and the positioning of a full-size spare under the boot.
Technical advances include electric power steering, which enables features such as Advanced Emergency Braking (AEB), while a new more responsive 8.0-inch touchscreen, shared with the new Jaguar XE sedan, can be used for a ‘Tow Assist’ feature.
There’s also the full suite of Terrain modes that are mandatory for the Land Rover brand.
Connectivity includes the ability to pair two mobile phones simultaneously, one for music streaming and one to take calls, and for mobile apps to be used through the display.
There will be three engines offered at launch in Europe: the 177kW 2.0-litre Si4 with nine-speed automatic, a 110kW 2.2-litre TD4 and a 140kW 2.2-litre SD4, mated to either a six-speed manual or nine-speed automatic.
A more efficient Ingenium diesel capable of 119g/km will arrive in an ED4 model later in 2015
The Land Rover Discovery Sport will go on sale in Australia in May 2015.
WINNING in Formula One is Ferrari’s top priority, new company boss Sergio Marchionne declared at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
While the road car business is in its best shape ever, with about 7200 cars to be delivered in 2014, Marchionne – who also heads up the Fiat Chrysler empire – says it’s more important for the Prancing Horse to stand on top of the F1 podium.
“It’s absolutely crucial. I think that the winning side of Ferrari on the track is the biggest goal,” Marchionne said.
However, he knows it won’t be easy: “We’ve seen phenomenally massive automotive houses fail. BMW couldn’t make it, Toyota couldn’t make it… but we also understand very thoroughly that it’s in the DNA of the [Ferrari] brand.”
The sentiment was echoed by outgoing boss Luca di Montezemolo, in his last appearance at a motor show for Ferrari.
“There’s no question Ferrari has to win again,” Montezemolo said, “but our belief has been based not only on the victory in Formula One – in the States, Formula One doesn’t exist and it is still our largest market – but winning in the races is important.
“Ferrari not winning is not good for the brand, is not good for the image.”
Marchionne has made it his mission to get Ferrari back to the top in F1.
“The key objective right now is to re-establish Ferrari in Formula One. We’re all optimistic about 2015; whether we can do it first time out, whether it takes two times, it’s got to be done. It’s a non-negotiable objective.”
MERCEDES-AMG chief Tobias Moers has confirmed to Wheels that the new 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 for the GT supercar and new C63 sports sedan has plenty more to give.
Both the AMG GT supercar and the C63 S sedan are due in Australia in the first half of 2015. The AMG GT will have 350kW, while the C63 S gets a slightly more powerful 375kW version. Despite this, Mercedes-Benz says the $280K GT is the pinnacle of its performance hierarchy.
Neither is short on performance, and we can expect even more powerful versions of both in due course.
“The stress level of that engine is not that big,” Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers told Wheels at the 2014 Paris Motor Show. So how much more stress could it take? “A little bit, yeah. More to come.”
Moers’ admission means there are sure to be 400kW-plus versions of the new M177/M178 engine.
The basics of these variants of the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 are identical, according to Moers. But the M178 version in the AMG GT features a dry-sump lubrication system and a front engine plate to accommodate a pump for the sports car’s hydraulic steering system, neither of which is required for the C63’s M177 version.
Mercedes-AMG’s new V8 needs its built-in power growth potential. The planned production life of the GT sports car will be “seven, eight years,” Moers confirms.
Incremental power increases are one obvious strategy for Mercedes-AMG to maintain customer interest in the car over such a period. But, while all-wheel-drive is technically feasible in the GT, it’s not part of Mercedes-AMG’s life-cycle management strategy for the model.
Moers is also keen for AMG to produce a successor to the GT, AMG’s second bespoke model after the critically acclaimed SLS supercar.
“That’s for sure my plan,” the executive says of a second-generation GT. “This is AMG’s plan.”
More details of the new Falcon XR8 have dribbled out of Fortress Ford this week, including pricing for the last of the V8s.
Having disappeared from price-lists just on three years ago, the XR8 badge is back, and promises a new wave of speculators keen to buy now and cash in soon on what will be a landmark car.
he tragedy there is that the XR8 deserves to be driven, not locked up in a collection somewhere; a fate that has befallen the bulk of the FPV GT-F launched earlier this year and a model that is already changing hands for multipletimes its sticker price.
But why is the XR8 so good? Because it gets the Australian-developed Miami version of the Coyote five-litre, complete with supercharger and 335kW (the same output as the most recent FPV GT and GT-P). And that, folks, will make it the fastest non-FPV Falcon ever made here. Oh, and the last.
The good news is that the new XR8 will get not only the full-monty 335kW/570Nm engine output, but also all the suspension goodness of the R-Spec FPV of a couple of years ago.
That means stiffer springs, re-valved dampers, a thicker rear sway-bar and stiffer bushes and mountings, and 275mm rear hoops on a 19 x 9.0-inch rim and geometry tweaks to suit.
Brakes are now four-pot Brembos at the front while the rear stays a single potter, albeit with a Brembo logo cast into it. Throw in a larger capacity cooling fan, and a heavy-duty battery to crank the blown mill and you’ve got yourself the last of the XR8s. And, like we said, very likely a very collectible car.
The interesting thing to watch now will be whether the speculators out there start ordering XR8s with a view to off-loading them for a profit even before the car has been delivered (or even built, in some cases).
We hope not, because at $52,490 with a clutch pedal and $54,690 with the six-speed auto, the last XR8 continues the value-for-money theme that the XR franchise has always promised.
MERCEDES-Benz has confirmed it will start to fit its cars with revolutionary DiesOtto engines that provide diesel-like economy from petrol-fuelled systems.
The Mercedes-Benz S500 Plug-in Hybrid, potentially on sale in Australia late next year, marks the start of a sustained period of hybridisation from the efficiency-seeking car maker, which plans to launch 10 more hybrid models between now and 2017.
However, the company plans to follow up on its hybrid technology with a great leap forward with internal combustion engines.
DiesOtto technology will improve petrol engine efficiency around 30 percent, to diesel levels, “some years from now,” promises Dr Thomas Weber, Daimler’s research and development chief.
Weber says the planned Mercedes-Benz four-cylinder DiesOtto engine will deliver six-cylinder power.
But it’s a tough technical challenge. DiesOtto is Mercedes-Benz’s preferred term for what other companies label HCCI (for homogenous charge compression ignition, if you need to know).
Whatever the technology is called, it means burning petrol in a combustion chamber that can squeeze to the same very high compression ratios that make diesel combustion inherently more efficient. To do it, Weber says Mercedes-Benz is working on a variable compression concept.
“It’s a major step,” he says. “The crankcase is different, so we have to change a lot. It’s not a facelift of an engine; it’s only possible with a new engine.
“What we are talking about is an engine with the in-line four displacement and a power output comparable to a six-cylinder. So this is really a highly efficient, powerful engine.”
It’s the kind of engine that naturally belongs in high-end models, Weber believes. As with hybrids, it may be a challenge for Mercedes-Benz to convince the market that DiesOtto is a premium technology.
“We have to convince our customers that high-tech in the future is no longer linked only to displacement and to the number of cylinders,” he says. “The real high-tech in the future is the smaller one.”
The DiesOtto engine has already made an appearance in the S-Class limousine-based Mercedes-Benz F700 concept car unveilled in Frankfurt in 2007.
The F700 featured a twin-turbocharged 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine under the bonnet, producing the equivalent of 175kW/400Nm. Meanwhile, fuel use was estimated to be less than 6.0L/100km, or about the same as a small city hatchback.
INFINITI is muscling in on the four-door grand tourer segment, unveiling the Q80 Hybrid saloon that’s about the size of a Porsche Panamera, but “more nimble”.
The four-door hatchback, unveiled at the Paris Motor Show overnight and powered by a 373kW hybrid drivetrain, is based on a new aluminium and carbon fibre-clad platform that stretches more than five metres.
It is led by a more intricate double-arch grille, LED headlamps sweeping back to super-sharp shoulders, with a panoramic roof. Infiniti says the Q80’s purpose is to announce the arrival of Nissan’s luxury arm into the larger model segment.
The overall design isn’t as visually heavy, nor cluttered, as the city-sized Q30 Concept and current model. Instead, it moves closer in essence to the similarly long and low Emerg-E concept shown in 2012.
“It rivals in character or segmentation the derivative big boys – the [Porsche] Panamera, these kinds of cars,” says design director Alfonso Albaisa.
“Yet really it’s quite a different car to the Panamera when you have them next to each other. That car [the Panamera] is a very beautiful car, but it’s quite solid and squared off. This car is a lot more nimble, and has more agility, and is much more lightweight.”
The interior of the Q80 is a significant point of difference, and goes beyond the ‘suicide’ rear-door arrangement.
“When we make a hatchback of this size, we’re really celebrating the rear passenger,” says Albaisa.
The Q80’s rear pews are two individual, quilted-leather trimmed chairs sunk rearwards for more legroom and a more luxurious environment. Fitting the luxury slant, the show car includes a bottle of champagne nestled between the rear seats ‑ a far cry from a conventional bench seat.
Under the Infiniti Q80’s long bonnet is a 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 hybrid drivetrain making 373kW, with the batteries cooled via the intricate wave on the C-pillar, and details such as copper in the exhaust, supposedly to enhance the Q80’s engine note.
While not confirmed for production, the Q80 would be priced at around €80-90K ($A115-130K), making the Infiniti’s cost of entry about the same as for the Porsche Panamera. Oh, and while there’s still room in the Infiniti line-up for a Q90, the Red Bull Racing F1 car is officially known as the Q100.
THE Land Rover Discovery is set to spawn its own family of models within the luxury SUV specialist’s line-up, according to design boss Gerry McGovern.
While the Discovery Sport, unveiled in full this week at the Paris Motor Show and bearing a “5+2” seven-seat configuration despite its meagre 4.6-metre length, is to be the second member of Land Rover’s Discovery range, McGovern confirmed it will form one of three families within the brand – Range Rover, Land Rover Discovery and Land Rover Defender.
Within the new Discovery family, there will be more than two models.
“You’re not a family if there’s only two,” McGovern told Wheels, hinting that there could soon be a smaller model than the Discovery Sport, and even potentially one wearing the Range Rover name.
“Within our complete range I think that there is the potential for sub-compacts” he said.
“Why couldn’t you do a very expensive, incredibly luxurious sub-compact … even Range Rover, Evoque – down from that. That is something we are considering.”
While details of how the third Discovery model will slot into the line-up remains a mystery, a replacement for the current seven-seat, stepped-roof Discovery is certain.
“The biggest pointer is, you saw the [Vision] concept vehicle,” McGovern said, referring to a design study for a potential Discovery 4 replacement unveiled ahead of the New York Motor Show earlier this year.
“That, in terms of its size, is much closer in size to the current Discovery, so that’s where you should take you pointers from for the next generation,” he said.
While whatever the new model is will share much of the new Discovery Sport’s DNA, the Discovery 4 replacement potentially won’t lose the quirkiness that has earned numerous design awards.
“It probably will have to have a stepped roof, because the big difference between the Discovery and the bigger Discovery is an optimised seven-seater,” McGovern said.
KIA is working hard on plans to release the pint-sized Picanto hatchback in Australia next year as a rival to the Mitsubishi Mirage.
To slot underneath the lightly revised Rio seen for the first time at the 2014 Paris Motor show, the Korean-built supermini is charged with attracting new and younger buyers to the badge.
“We are seriously looking at the Picanto again,” Kia Motors Australia PR boss Kevin Hepworth told us in Paris.
“We have an innovative marketing plan ready, because sales in the micro-car segment are so restricted. We think we can create a market for it.”
While Hepworth refused to confirm variants or specification details, he promised that, if given the green light for Australia, it would arrive with a five-star ENCAP safety rating.
It most probably would be a facelifted version, since the existing model is now two years old.
The Picanto news comes just days after Kia announced a ground-breaking seven-year unlimited-kilometre transferable warranty on all new vehicles sold in Australia from October 1 this year.
It kicks off a busy next 12 months for the company, with the facelifted Rio (basically bumpers and trim updates) here from November, followed by the third-generation Sorento SUV (another Paris debutante) and Carnival people-mover landing in January.
The next-gen Optima is expected to debut at the Chicago motor show in February of the New York motor show in April, ahead of an Australian release later in 2015.
Look out for a frugal diesel-hybrid version, previewed in the current Optima at Paris as the T-Hybrid.
It features a 1.7-litre turbo-diesel mated to a 48V lead-carbon battery, electric motor and an electric supercharger for significant power and emissions benefits.
THIS could be the new Holden Barina, should Holden decide to import it as a rival to the Ford Fiesta.
In Europe it’s called the Opel Corsa and this freshly updated version has just been revealed at the 2014 Paris Motor Show.
Holden wouldn’t say if it’s considering the Corsa as a replacement for the Holden Barina, but one key Opel employee revealed it would.
Asked by Wheels if the Corsa would hit Aussie roads, Opel exterior design director Malcolm Ward said: “I can’t really tell you that, but, yeah, I think it is. I really think it is. I actually don’t know when, but we’re launching the Corsa in Europe now and I think it goes on sale towards the end of the year, so Australia and New Zealand will be pretty soon after that.”
The official line from Holden was: “We’ll look at every car that’s available to us from the GM portfolio and see what makes good business sense. At this stage our focus is on the three Opel models we’ve got coming next year.”
Holden has already confirmed it will import the Opel Astra GTC/VXR, Insignia VXR and Cascada convertible early next year, with the front-drive Insignia widely tipped to replace the Commodore as Holden’s large family sedan once local manufacturing ends.
The new-generation Corsa will be available in three-door and five-door body styles and is built on a heavily revised version of the current Corsa platform.
Every exterior panel is new, as is the interior, and among a five-strong engine range is a new 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine that produces up to 85kW/170Nm.
The new Corsa is lower, slightly longer and boasts new electric steering, while customers will be able to choose from two chassis tunes – comfort or sport, the latter riding on 15-20mm lower suspension and bigger 16 or 17-inch wheels.
Corsa also bristles with Opel’s latest safety technology, including lane-departure warning, sign-post recognition, high-beam assist and forward-collision warning as options.
Hard-core performance junkies will also get their fill, with a Corsa VXR already spotted undergoing testing at the Nurburgring.
Expect the VXR to ride on 18-inch wheels, sport an even more aggressive body kit, bigger brakes and produce about 150kW.
Click here to read the full range review of the Holden Barina
