RENAULT has seized control of Alpine, the sub-brand that has spawned some of its most exciting cars, ending a brief relationship with British sports car brand Caterham.
The announcement that the French car maker had bought Caterham’s stake in Alpine – the badge worn by the likes of the iconic Renault-engined A110 – means that the two brands will now work separately on developing a line of sports cars.
“Following a mutual agreement between Renault and Caterham Group, Renault has increased its stake in Société des Automobiles Alpine Caterham to 100 percent, following acquisition of the interest held by Caterham Group,” Renault said in a brief statement announcing the year-old partnership had dissolved.
“Renault will now continue to develop its own Alpine sports car to be launched in 2016, as initially planned. Caterham Group also plans to continue with its own sports car.”
However, while both car makers will chase their own sports car dreams, the pair said there was still scope to work together “in line with each company’s strategic policy directions”.
The move to dissolve the partnership was flagged earlier this year, but took until now to become official.
Caterham had said its version of the sports car would “lay the foundations for an expansive product family that will deliver ‘accessible fun’ to new markets”, suggesting the new platform would spin-off several models.
Caterham’s new sports model was to be built alongside Renault’s version at the French car maker’s Dieppe factory that formerly built Alpine sports cars, and is today the home of Renault’s performance arm, Renault Sport.
Renault has described its version of the sports car, due in 2016, as a “berlinette for the 21st century”, a reference to the low-slung, two-door Alpine A110 Berlinette sports car built in the 1960s and 70s, and which dominated world rallying in 1973.
However, the next-generation, modern-day Alpine-badged version of the classic is expected to be based on the front-engined all-wheel-drive platform that underpins the current-generation Nissan GT-R via Renault’s partnership with the Japanese car maker.
A concept of the new-age berlinette released in 2012, the A110-50, borrows heavily from the original car’s design, although this time around clad in an expensive carbon fibre outer skin.
It features a rear-mounted 300kW 3.5-litre V6 engine fed via a roof-mounted air intake, and a six-speed sequential gearbox.
Although not officially earmarked for production, Renault said the concept car borrowed heavily from design cues that will eventually roll out across future models.
The privately owned Alpine was bought out by Renault in 1973, and was shelved by the brand in 1993 in response to the rising cost of developing a specialised line of sports cars in the face of increasing competition.
DANIEL Ricciardo has been the best driver of the 2014 Formula 1 season, according to fellow Aussie Mark Webber.
Ricciardo replaced Webber at Red Bull Racing this year and last weekend scored his maiden F1 victory with a stirring drive at the Canadian Grand Prix.
It was the latest result in what has been a stellar season for Ricciardo, with the young West Australian achieving what Webber couldn’t – trounce four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Clearly unintimidated by Vettel, Ricciardo has beaten the German 5-2 in qualifying and leads him in the championship.
But in an exclusive interview with Wheels, Webber said Ricciardo doesn’t just have Vettel’s measure, but this year has outdriven Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and even Fernando Alonso – the man widely regarded as the strongest driver in F1.
“Daniel was always going to do very, very well and I think he’s been the driver of the year,” Webber said.
“He’s adapted well to the new regulations and has had no mistakes, is driving very cleanly and I think he’s living every driver’s dream – to be in a team like that in that kind of situation and grabbing the opportunity with both hands. And that’s what he’s doing.”
Webber added that, while many doubted Ricciardo’s ability to deliver consistent results in a top level team, he always expected Ricciardo to do well in 2014.
“He hasn’t surprised me at all,” Webber said. “Everyone said I was crackers when I said it’d be 50/50, if not in favour of Daniel in qualifying; well, I’ve been pretty much spot on.
“Obviously, when Seb [Vettel] starts having a smoother run technically he’ll get some momentum, but I think Daniel will still finish the season very strong.”
Webber retired from Formula 1 at the end of last season to join Porsche’s sports car effort in the World Endurance Championship.
This weekend marks the 37-year-old’s return to the Le Mans 24 Hours and Wheels will be there, embedded with the team to share all the action as it happens.
Be sure to return to Wheelsmag.com.au for updates, or tune into our live blog on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/WheelsAustralia.
NISSAN has revealed a futuristic concept car that hints at a next-generation GT-R supercar, and will even give you a chance to jump behind the wheel – a video game, anyway.
The unnamed concept car, revealed overnight on Sony’s PlayStation games console social media feed, reveals a design steeped in science fiction, featuring slender front headlights and Nissan’s signature ‘V-Motion’ front end.
Other details reveal a low-riding front splitter, while lightweight wheels fill out pumped guards to give an unmistakable performance look. The rear haunches, in particular, shout Nissan’s beer-budget supercar.
It’s rumoured that the concept will introduce a hybrid drivetrain – a key long-term goal of GT-R program developer Kazutoshi Mizuno.
Deep side air intakes suggest the next-generation GT-R could abandon its front-engined, rear-drive layout for a mid-mounted petrol engine paired to an electric motor sitting in between the front wheels, providing on-demand all-paw grip.
Set to be fully unveiled on June 16 as part of driving simulator game Gran Turismo 6’s ‘Vision GT’ program – which sees many top manufacturers, and non-automakers such as Nike, debuting wild concept cars digitally – this new concept could be our first look at the replacement of Nissan’s iconic GT-R.
The first car revealed under PlayStation’s ‘Vision GT’ program was the Mercedes-Benz AMG Vision Gran Turismo, a car that is likely to become a new Mercedes coupe, while Mitsubishi, Volkswagen and BMW have also flagged they will reveal virtual cars that punters will be able to drive in the game.
As well as the Vision GT cars, Gran Turismo 6 was also the first place you could drive the new BMW M4 and Toyota FT-1 before they were available in the metal.
THE final GT Falcon is damn fast.
We know because we were given a short teaser of the last-ever Ford Performance Vehicle at Ford’s You Yangs proving ground south-west of Melbourne earlier today.
FPV will build 500 examples of the 351 GT-Fs – and 120 Pursuit utes – over the next few months before shutting down the brand.
The supercharged V8 Falcons are officially rated at 351kW, but Ford says they will produce 404kW when the transient overboost function kicks in. And the demand for these last FPVs is so great that almost all the cars have already been sold.
The two media test vehicles – build numbers 1 and 14, along with final-build number 500 – will be auctioned off to charity because Ford Australia knows they will raise some serious money.
Perhaps this charity was the reason Ford only allowed the assembled hacks at today’s launch to drive the two GT-F test cars for few laps of the banked oval and a do couple of hard acceleration runs.
As a result, I can confirm the GT-F goes around left-hand corners very nicely indeed.
I wasn’t able to turn right myself, but Ford did allow us to go for a ride with its talented (and fully insured) test drivers who flogged the instant icons like renters.
In their hands, the GT-F was able to go hard around both left and right corners.
This is because the GT-F gets the GT R-SPEC chassis upgrade packages, which significantly improved the handling of the regular GT models.
Traction is also improved thanks to nine-inch rear tyres replacing the fast-to-fry eights on the tails of regular GTs.
The other chassis upgrades, including firmer strut mounts, thicker rear anti-roll bar, revised springs rates and new dampers, mean the GT-F seems far happier to turn into corners.
The regular GTs tended to suffer a lot more body roll on corner entry, while the R-SPEC, and now the GT-F, feel much more agile.
Of course, the GT-F is still quick to spin the rear tyres, as you’d imagine with 400-odd kilowatts surging down the driveshaft.
Automatic and manual GT-Fs each get launch control systems, and the revised ECU has been tuned for the recently revised stability control. It is now predictive, so if you go to stick the boot in with the steering wheel turned, the system will pre-emptively limit power to stop you careering off the road.
And yes, you can turn it all off if you want to go full bogan and smoke the rears.
From our brief experience, the GT-F accelerates bloody quickly. FPV insiders say it could well be as quick as HSV’s big daddy GTS – or even faster.
While Ford is saying nothing about its pace in public, those in the know claim it can belt out 4.6sec 0-100km/h runs time after time, which is about 0.2 seconds faster than the GT R-SPEC.
The 0-400m time is “in the 12s” which means it is not hanging about.
As for the visual appeal of the car, the final GT looks smart and is not as garish as some of the GT special editions that have appeared along the way. While FPV fans may have liked something more special, Ford couldn’t justify new body parts for a 500-unit run.
Instead, the GT-F has several blacked out exterior parts and a wide single stripe. There are ‘351’ badges on the boot and front fenders and ‘351’ also appears on the seats and the centre digital screen. There is lots of unique interior stuff, including some neat graphics behind the traditional instruments, while the centre display screen gets cool digital dials and a G-force indicator.
Of course, the driver isn’t going to be looking at these when stomping on the accelerator, but passengers should get a kick out of them.
Our brief taste suggested the final GT Falcon really is something special and whet our appetites for an in-depth drive.
To read about that, check out the next edition of Wheels, on sale 19 June.
MAZDA is developing “breakthrough technology” that will make its next generation of cars quieter.
High levels of road noise has been one of the few obvious shortcomings of the cars from Hiroshima, and now their engineers are doing something about it.
Crucially, it will not affect Mazda’s deserved reputation for above average handling.
“We are in the middle of the development of the breakthrough technology,” Mazda engineer Masashi Otsuka said.
“It will be incorporated in our future models one by one.”
Steering and handling will also be improved, the CX-5 and CX-9 program manager promises.
NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) and handling are long-time enemies. Improving performance in one has always meant worsening the other.
“I think we can achieve both of the goals,” Otsuka says. “I think we can find another solution for this.”
Mazda’s innovation will, he says, reduce the strong influence of tyres and dampers on NVH levels.
While Otsuka and other Mazda engineers were not prepared to go into more detail, there were hints that the breakthrough is in the area of body structure.
Mazda seems to be aiming to build shells that absorb vibrations perceived by humans as noise, or which do not vibrate so readily.
Such an advance could be delivered by more powerful computer-aided-engineering software, new materials, smart construction methods, or a mixture of all three.
If Mazda’s engineers can deliver something that’s truly a breakthrough, there should never be another too-noisy Mazda.
BRITISH Police have revealed a surprise new addition to their ranks, the Ariel Atom PL.
Based on the regular Atom 3.5R – one of the quickest cars in the world – the Atom PL has a supercharged 2.0-litre Honda-sourced engine tuned to produce 260kW, with a claimed 0-100km/h time of 2.6 seconds.
The one-off Atom is adorned in police livery and even has emergency lights and a working siren.
Ariel director Simon Saunders said the company is planning to launch a motorcycle later this year and the police car is being used on a promotional basis to highlight bike safety.
“We want our bikes and customers to be as safe as they possibly can be, so this message is important to us,” he said.
In a similar vein, Lexus Australia has provided NSW police with two hybrid vehicles to draw attention to its own Road Safe and Snow Safe campaigns.
“Road safety remains one of the top priorities for police, and unique cars like a Lexus are a great way to engage with the community and discuss safe driver behaviour,” Inspector Jim Fryday of the NSW Police Force said.
Fryday said one vehicle will be used throughout the ski season to remind motorists to slow down and stay safe, while the other will appear at NSW sporting events to promote safe driving.
“The Lexus hybrids will give us an opportunity to talk to people on an informal basis and hopefully make a positive impression about police and what we do,” Fryday said.
Expect to see the pair of hybrid Lexus police cars on NSW roads from early June.
IF YOU thought the final GT Falcon – the GT-F 351 – makes 351kW, think again. It actually pumps out 404kW.
Ford has finally come clean and admitted its FPV GT models have been producing far more power than the official ratings since the introduction of the Miami V8 in 2010.
Owners of Ford Performance Vehicles have been reporting dyno readings significantly higher than the 335kW maximum stated power figure of the regular GT vehicles running the supercharged 5.0-litre.
FPV sources indicated a transient overboost function allowed for more power to be produced for short periods, but the peak power figure did not qualify as the official number. This is because the design rules require the engine to achieve its peak power figure at any time.
Now that FPV is producing its final batch of cars – and having made a big thing about the 351kW figure – the company has ’fessed up about how much extra grunt is produced when the overboost function is operating.
It says in that situation the engine will make 15 percent more power. That drives the peak power figure of the GT-F final edition cars to 404kW.
At lower temperatures, the overboost function works without a time limit. That means it produces 404kW all the time.
The only limitation comes on hot days, when the engine control unit limits the overboost function to 15 or 20 seconds to prevent engine damage. The way the ECU is calibrated, the overboost does not work in first gear in order to protect the transmission.
The official recognition of transient overboost function will make no difference to FPV sales, as stocks of regular GT and related models are almost all sold and every single GT-F has been allocated to a dealer.
It does, however, create more excitement around the return of the Ford Falcon XR8 model when the updated Falcon range appears in November.
That car will run what was the FPV GT engine, which is officially rated at 335kW.
However, as Ford now admits, the V8 will pump out 15 percent more power, for a peak figure of 385kW.
This much power in an XR8, which is likely to be priced within range of Holden’s SS Commodore, which costs $41,990 and produces 270kW, could really boost the appeal of the final hot Falcon.
The XR8 will also be the first Ford-badged V8 model since the last XR8 bowed out due to emission rules in 2010.
By then, FPV had removed all the Ford Blue Oval badges from its cars, replacing them with oval FPV badges.
With the release of the GT-F, Ford said its engineers achieved the 351kW power rating without any mechanical changes. Software modifications were made to achieve the iconic number, which matches the size (in cubic inches) of the famed 5.8-litre V8 that powered muscular Fords from the 1960s through to the early 1980s.
The company insists a noticeable change in the GT-F’s power curve can be observed above 4000rpm in every gear other than first.
“We developed a strategy around the calibration that allowed for a performance upgrade without impacting the all-round drivability,” said FPV chief program engineer Peter de Leur.
“In doing so, we were able to make this car special for our FPV GT-F customers.”
Ford Australia will not officially discuss the 0-100km/h figure of the GT-F, but Wheels sources suggest the car will do the sprint in 4.6 seconds, around 0.2sec under the GT R-SPEC, which was previously the fastest car in the line-up.
The GT-F costs $77,900, while the ute-based Pursuit will be $52,990.
The final 500 GT-F models wear a single, wide stripe that runs over the bonnet, roof and boot. They can also be distinguished from other GTs by the gloss black doorhandles, wing mirrors and spoiler, while the section between the headlights and bumper, as well as a strip above the grille, is also blacked out.
The cars also have unique instrument dial faces, seat stitching and a centre console screen that displays ‘GT-F 351’ on start-up.
Ford has also announced 120 Pursuit Utes will be built as part of the final FPV production run. These vehicles will take on many of the visual cues of the 351kW GT-F, but will not run the same engine tune.
Engineers admit the leaf-sprung rear end would be too much of a handful if the ute was fitted with anything more than the 315kW version of the Miami V8 that served in GS models.
As a running change that now applies Falcon as well, the GT-F will pick up new wide windscreen wipers and a roof-mounted radio antenna replacing the in-glass unit.
SOURCES inside Mazda have revealed that a small Mazda 3-based SUV or crossover will go into production next year as the CX-3.
Although Mazda director Seita Kanai would say only that “in terms of the technologies we have, it’s fully feasible”, Wheels has learned from another executive that its launch is scheduled for 2015, probably in the second half of the year.
As Kanai observes, Mazda already has everything it needs to build a CX-3, with a fresh and flexible new architecture to serve as a foundation, and a range of efficient and powerful new SkyActiv petrol and diesel powertrains, plus the CX-5’s all-wheel-drive system.
Sales of small SUVs continue to grow, not only in Australia, but around the world.
Although Mazda is a relatively small car maker with limited design, engineering and development resources, this is a segment that almost guarantees a good return on investment.
Mazda is very busy right now with the new 2 is about to go into production, development of the fourth-generation MX-5 almost complete, and a replacement for the CX-9 in the works.
Our reliable source says the CX-3 will likely launch between new MX-5 and CX-9.
Director Kanai says Mazda has no plan to add anything to its model portfolio smaller than the 2, or larger than the CX-9.
However, he added that “there is potential possibility for us to deploy a variety of things” in the range between, so there may be even more to come after the CX-3.
CGI rendering by Milos Dvorak
MAZDA may have stopped building rotaries, but the company continues to develop its trademark engine.
Director Seita Kanai and executive Masahiro Moro have both confirmed that a team of engineers is still working on improving the rotary, although the Hiroshima car maker shut down rotary production in 2012.
“We have never given up, and will not give up,” says Moro.
But the number of engineers working on the rotary is “very small”, the global sales manager admits, saying that “Mazda likes underground activity”.
The team is concentrating on improving fuel consumption, with the objective to equal the efficiency of a piston engine.
High consumption and consequent CO2 emissions were the major reasons for Mazda’s decision to kill the rotary and, at the same time, the four-seat sports car it powered.
Europeans thought the RX-8’s emissions were “almost criminal”, Moro said.
“This engine has a wide variety of capability,” he said, although Mazda does not have a role in mind for a revived rotary. “We have not decided how to use (it).”
But he has some ideas where such an engine might find a home.
“Sports car is one obvious application,” Moro says. Another is as a range-extender for a plug-in hybrid, though the first is more likely than the second.
Director Kanai, soon to be promoted to the position of Mazda chairman, would not say whether the new MX-5’s rotary-friendly rear-drive platform might serve as the foundation for an additional model.
“Too much good question,” he joked, possibly to avoid telling a fib. Japanese executives seem to find lying tougher than their Western counterparts.
I DROVE a Mercedes-Benz SL the other day and noticed it had something called ‘Magic Vision Control’.
Wow. Magic.
The Interweb says the word magic means “the power of apparently influencing events by using mysterious or supernatural forces”. Oooh.
So what is this remarkable optic sorcery?
Well, the wiper blades have jets on the left and right side that only squirt in the direction the blade is travelling. They clear the screen so you can see.
Sorry Mercedes, this is not magic. These are called windscreen wipers. These particular ones are well-designed windscreen wipers, but there is no magic involved.
I know the way the wiper arms move back and forth might seem supernatural, especially when they start waving automatically as soon as it starts raining, like they are possessed by some sort of devil that despises raindrops. But as much as I want to avoid being labelled a cynic, I’m thinking the wiper blades are more driven by electric motors and sensors than spirits from the other side.
The occult windscreen wipers are not the only other-worldy Mercedes function, either; the company’s marketing department have also dreamed up Magic Sky Control (a sunroof that dims on demand) and Magic Ride Control (active suspension), perhaps after watching Harry Potter movies with their kids.
This is not the only time a car company’s marketing department hasn’t quite gotten its head around how vehicle technology works.
For example, many brands proclaim their cars have DNA, usually sporty. Really?
To the Google machine!
Look, a cat playing a keyboard…
Sorry, back to the DNA thing. Yep, it says here that DNA is a molecule that encodes genetic instructions to all known living organisms.
Now, there may well have been some organisms in the car I had when I was at university; I believe a slice of seafood pizza that lived under a sea of empty cans and junk food packaging supported several life forms.
But new cars fresh off the production line that are yet to be touched by human owners are just collections of inanimate objects, plastic, metal, glass and rubber.
Or are they? Maybe cars really do have DNA.
I’ve seen Jurassic Park. Things with DNA are always trouble.
What’s that noise? Oh, God, a Toyota Yaris has snuck up on me.
Clever girl…
