Aston Martin has made one of its smartest moves yet. In revising and refocusing its entry-level two-seat sports car V8 Vantage, it is providing an immediate answer to those who are questioning the direction taken by this sector’s all-conquering giant, the Porsche 911 991. And how.
Aston Martin has also honed the styling, in typically understated but well-judged form. There’s a cleaner and more defined front end, inspired by the deep aero-tuned splitter, while the sides gain definition from more sculpted side sills. There’s a rear diffuser and a bigger ducktail-style rear wing too.
The 4.7-litre V8 engine is unchanged, so still produces 309kW, 7kW down on the more potent Vantage S. As suggested by a peak power point of 7,300rpm (and a so-so torque figure of 470Nm), it’s an engine that loves to rev: the bite above 4,000rpm is in real contrast to the relative lethargy below it, something accentuated by a long-travel (but beautifully weighted) accelerator pedal.
And the noise is to die for. Mechanical and pure, it trades the brutish exhaust bellow of some OTT rivals (Jaguar XKR-S and Mercedes AMG) for a smoother, more satin-laced howl. You hear the engine work rather than the exhausts roar. It’s sophisticated and very engineering-led.
Pictures released by Chevrolet of its new TrailBlazer reveal the first look at Holden’s upcoming Colorado 7 — a localized version that sees the work ute turn into a seven-seat SUV.
The Colorado 7 is expected to share the same engine as the TrailBlazer — a 2.8-litre diesel which will generate 132kW and 470Nm of torque when paired with a six-speed manual transmission. However when optioned with the five-speed manual, torque will drop to 440Nm.
The Colorado now 7 becomes the head of Holden’s SUV line-up, joining the smaller Captiva 5 and Captiva 7 models.
More details should be revealed ahead of the Trailblazer’s debut at next week’s Bangkok Motor Show, although for the moment we can at least tell you that the Colorado 7 will be in showrooms before the end of the year.
Diesel cars are often MORE expensive to run than petrol cars despite their reputation for fuel efficiency, a new study has revealed.
British consumer magazineWhich? has discovered that, due to the extra cost of buying a diesel over a petrol, it can take up to 14 years to recoup the extra cash from better fuel efficiency.
“Petrol cars often now provide better value for money,” states the consumer association.
The study contradicts many new car buyers’ assumption that they should choose a diesel to save cash.
Which? executive director, Richard Lloyd, said: “Fuel price rises have been hitting household budgets hard, so it’s important that consumers know they are getting value for money when they buy a car.”
“Diesel cars are known for their fuel efficiency, but with lower pump prices for petrol and a premium price tag for diesel cars, it may make more financial sense for families to go for the petrol version.”
The carsWhich? looked at included the BMW 5 Series, Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Astra and Volkswagen Tiguan. While diesel variants of each did indeed provide better fuel efficiency, price premiums, combined with the extra cost of buying diesel fuel, means “it takes many years before they actually save the average driver money”.
Big improvements to petrol engine efficiency in recent years has also improved their overall value for money.
There was an extra surprise in the study too — Which? also found that petrol cars are generally more reliable than diesels…
Europeans are well ahead of Australians in their acceptance of a large car with a small engine. While sales of the first-ever four-cylinder Falcon languish here, the Blue Oval’s European division has launched a larger (in fact, almost Falcon-size) Mondeo with a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged engine.
The tiniest engine of the ‘Ecoboost’ family produces 102kW and 170Nm – or 200Nm on overboost – about the equivalent of a 1.8-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engine. The triple gets a lightweight aluminium head, twin-variable valve and cam timing, and a low-inertia twin-scroll single turbocharger to maximise the punch from the half-milkbottle capacity.
It’s the headline act of the all-new Mondeo range, which is due here mid next year, but Ford Australia says it is unlikely the turbo-triple will be imported.
However the new Mondeo debuts Ford’s next-generation design language, which replaces the ‘Kinetic’ theme of the outgoing Mondeo, and current Fiesta and Focus. The new design doesn’t have a name per se, but is angular and aggressive, with more than a hint of Aston Martin in the front five-point grille.
An updated Fiesta has followed the Mondeo’s lead, debuting the new Ford face. The 1.0-litre Ecoboost engine looks like a finer fit for the baby Ford than the full-size Mondeo, but the company hasn’t yet confirmed its inclusion in the range locally. With the imminent release of the VW Up, and Fiat poised to lower prices of its 500 range, Ford would almost certainly be studying the case for the three-cylinder Fiesta.
With Focus soon to follow Fiesta and Mondeo and fall into line with Ford’s new design language, it leaves our locally-built Falcon looking particularly exposed. Sales of the large rear-driver are down 27.4 percent YTD, despite the addition of the EcoLPI and Ecoboost variants.
The Age newspaper is reporting that budget cuts have forced VicRoads to scrap its road safety division and ditch its road maintenance strategy.
VicRoads road safety division was responsible for reducing road trauma and improving truck freight routes. 450 of its staff have been retrenched and the rest “scattered across the organisation”, the report says.
According to Vicroads, road repaving commitments for the coming year will be more than halved from 7 percent of the states roads to 3.2 percent. Any Victorian or anyone who’s driven in Victoria lately knows it has the second-worst roads in the country – and it’s a close second – to NSW, which has three-times the landmass but only 30 percent more population from which to draw funding.
Strangely, VicRoads spokesman David Shelton said road safety work would not diminish.
”Improving road safety and reducing the road toll remains a key priority for VicRoads,” Mr Shelton said.
According to 2011/12 budget papers, the Victorian government collected $257million in speed camera revenue, up 3.1 percent on the previous year.
Read the full report here.
News of the World: Mitsubishi boss calls French politician a retard; Suzuki gives up on America; and Maserati prepares new Quattroporte, SUV and return of the Ghibli.
Obama is in but Suzuki is out
America: Suzuki Motor Company has announced that its US subsidiary will file for bankruptcy and shut down its automobile retail business. Suzuki cited unfavourable foreign exchange rates, low sales and a limited model portfolio as the reasons for its decision – two of those three sound self-inflicted to us.
Suzuki has sold 21,000 new cars in America YTD; that’s barely ahead of the brand’s Australian performance (20,102). But where Suzuki Australia is 11th and rising, Suzuki America is down the bottom end fighting mainstream titans Saab and smart for the wooden spoon. Suzuki Motor Co. says it will continue to sell motorbikes and all-terrain vehicles in America.
Mitsubishi boss calls politician a retard
France: The boss of Mitsubishi’s French dealer network has stepped down for personal reasons the day after publically condemning France’s industrial recovery minister Arnaud Montebourg (pictured left) as a mental case and a retard. Jean Claude Debard (right) made the comments after the French government announced a $9 billion bailout package for ailing carmaker Peugeot-Citroen.
At a media drive day in the south of France last week Jean-Claude Debard told journalists, “This mental case, this retard, increases ecological taxes, reduces the speed motorists can go on Paris’ ring road and ruins the life of motorists from all social origins. All suffer as a result of him”.
“He is stupid and understands nothing, you can quote me on that,” he said. Mitsubishi Japan has since apologised for the remarks, labelling them “discourteous”.
Ghibli returns, new Quattroporte and Maserati SUV
Italy: Maserati will launch an all-new Quattroporte luxury sedan, add a smaller 5 Series rival and an SUV to its range as it chases an eight-fold increase in global sales in the next three years.
The sixth-generation Quattroporte will be revealed at the Detroit auto show in January. It sits on a lighter steel monocoque chassis with a longer wheelbase to increase rear seat room, a common criticism with the current car. Kerb weight could drop by as much as 75kg from current levels.
Speculation surrounds drivetrains for the sixth-generation Quattroporte, with some outlets reporting a 390kW Ferrari-sourced V8, others say Maserati is pursuing forced induction to achieve both power and economy gains.
Maserati is also considering an all-wheel drive option for the Quattroporte, a potential no-brainer if Maserati’s plans to build an SUV called Levante also go ahead. Maserati will replace the current ZF-sourced 6-speed automatic with the latest 8-speeder from the same supplier.
The Quattroporte will be joined by a smaller 5 Series rival built off the same platform but with a smaller wheelbase. It could revive the Ghibli nameplate last worn by a two-door coupe which was axed in 1997.
Aston Martin for sale for $800million
Aston Martin’s major shareholder, Kuwaiti company Investment Dar Co., is looking to offload its 64 percent stake in the British supercar builder. According to Bloomberg.com, Toyota and Mahindra are potential suitors to take over the only independently held supercar maker.
Investment Dar paid Ford US $805million for the stake in 2007, and is hoping to sell for the same amount. But suitors are reluctant to meet the asking price, even though Aston is profitable and its sales are stable at around 4200 cars annually. Investment Dar is under pressure to sell to reorganise $4.9 billion of debt, so the longer those interested parties wait, the cheaper Aston could become.
Toyota to share next Mazda2 The next generation Mazda2 will also be a Toyota… for North America at least. Mazda has confirmed the next Mazda2, due in 2014, will be shared with Toyota. Both versions will be built in Mexico at a rate of 50,000 per year. That’s good news for Mazda, which was looking to reduce development costs for future models after Ford sold most of its stake in the struggling Japanese carmaker in 2010. Mazda has also announced plans to share the next MX-5 Roadster with Alfa Romeo.
Raikkonen immortalises own phrase on T-shirt Kimi Raikkonen has sent all 500 members of the Lotus F1 team a black T-shirt with his now famour radio message: “Leave me alone I know what I am doing” emblazoned on the front. Raikkonen made the remark in reponse to repeated driving instructions from his pit crew. Raikkonen has since conceded that maybe the victory — the first for Lotus since 2008, and his first since 2009 — meant more to the team than it did to the double world champion.
‘X’ marks a spot you never thought existed, with speculation that BMW will soon prise open the very skinny space between the X3 and X5 SUVs with its all-new X4.
Mooted for a Detroit motor show global debut in January, the latest BMW crossover will take a leaf out of the X6 in being a sleeker and swoopier version of the second-gen X3 launched here last year.
However, the X4 is expected to go one better (and much harder) than the latter, with high-performance M versions in the pipeline, to give the upcoming Porsche Macan something to lose sleep over.
Paris may well be the world’s most beautiful city, but it has some of the ugliest traffic jams in the known universe and, in the Arc De Triomphe, the world’s most intimidating intersection – a teeming mass of metal so insane that legend has it your car insurance is voided if you dare to drive into it.
But the image-conscious Parisians have come up with a way to lessen the chaos, and make their streets even prettier, by banning any car more than 17 years old (and any motorbike more than eight years old) from entering its city limits.
According to the controversial proposal by Socialist mayor Bertrand Delanoe, the “most polluting and noisiest” vehicles will be banished from entering the French capital’s A86 ring road from September 2014. Sure, he says it’s about noise and pollution, but we all know that cars that old are usually bent badly out of shape, and suffering severely in the stylistic stakes.
The next logical step will be banning people wearing clothes bought more than 12 months ago from walking the city’s streets.
Buses and trucks over 18 years old would also be blacklisted if Mr Delanoe’s automotive-ageism policy flies, raising the ire of classic-car fans and environmentalists alike, many of whom believe that hanging on to your golden oldie is the greenest form of motoring.
NASCAR rivals Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer sparked a huge post-race pit brawl this week at the Phoenix International Raceway, after Gordon deliberately ran Bowyer into the wall during the AdvoCare 500.
“Things just escalated over the year and I’d just had it,” Gordon said afterwards. “Clint has run into me numerous times, wrecked me and he got into me on the back straightaway and pretty much ruined our day. I’ve had it, fed up with it and got him back.”
The all-in brawl initially started between Bowyer’s pit crew and Gordon. Then, Bowyer himself leapt from his car and made a long dramatic run over to the melee, but was restrained by officials before he could get involved.
NASCAR fined Gordon $100 000 for intentionally causing a wreck.
