After a lengthy development program, and much hype surrounding its final form, BMW has pulled the wraps off the i8, the brand’s first plug-in hybrid vehicle.
The dramatic 2+2-seater is powered by the combination of a 170kW/320Nm 1.5-litre three cylinder, turbo petrol engine, driving the rear wheels through a six-speed automatic gearbox, and a 96kW/250Nm synchronous electric motor, powering the front wheels via a two-stage automatic transmission.
The lightweight, aerodynamic body is made from carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CFRP); the car tipping the scales at 1490kg and boasting a drag co-efficient (Cd) of 0.26.
BMW claims the i8 will sprint from 0 – 100 km/h 4.4sec and return a combined fuel economy figure of 2.5 L/100km (113 mpg).
BMW also says the i8 is the world’s first volume-produced vehicle fitted with chemically hardened thin glass, so far used mainly in smartphone manufacture.
The partition between the passenger compartment and boot of the BMW i8 consists of two layers of chemically hardened glass, each of which is just 0.7 millimetres thick, with acoustic sheeting sandwiched in between.
In 2012, BMW previewed the i8, with the i8 Spyder Concept.
Flick through the gallery to check out the BMW i8.
Jaguar’s C-X17 concept introduces its new modular aluminium monocoque platform that will also underpin its BMW 3 Series/Mercedes Class rival, due in 2015.
The CX itself will ultimately morph into a mid-size luxury SUV not long afterwards.
Although supposedly under “strict embargo” until this morning, these official C-X17 factory images have already appeared in several media outlets.
So perhaps we should now treat “strict embargo” as just another tactic, up there with “exclusive spy shots” and “…to a select group of motoring journalists,” from the car company PR flack’s textbook “How to Manipulate the Media to ensure the Best Possible Coverage for your New Model.”
In other words, we should ignore it.
So many performance Commodores over the last 20 years haven’t cut it as track cars. Brakes that wilted under pressure, boiling power-steering fluid, oil temps off the scale, and alarming axle tramp under hard braking were all serious enough to make even the most mechanically unsympathetic driver wince. But those days are over.
Considering its family-sedan DNA, 2010’s VE Series II ‘Redline’ was a highly capable track car, but the 2013 VF version has seriously polished that car’s dynamic focus and track ability.
“We wanted to give Redline an identity … to make it stand for something,” said Andrew Holmes, Holden’s Program Engineering Manager, at the VF Redline’s Phillip Island launch. Yep, that’s right – so confident is Holden of its new VF SS-V Redline that it launched the ultimate (sub-HSV) Commodore at Australia’s ultimate racetrack.
This time, the changes go far beyond just brakes, suspension geometry and dampers. The brakes themselves are carry-over – big 355mm front discs (up from SS’s 324mm) with four-piston Brembo calipers, and 324mm ventilated rears – but VF Redline gets a new brake pedal, booster and master cylinder, increasing braking stiffness by 50 percent.
Tyres remain Bridgestone Potenza RE050As, but the rears now measure 275/35R19, mounted on forged-alloy rims that are sexy gloss-black in some colours (white, red, orange, silver) and daggy polished silver with the rest. Holden claims the brake and tyre upgrades reduce the VF Redline’s stopping distance from 100km/h by 2.3 metres.
Chassis-wise, Redline gets a retuned FE3 set-up, which, over the FE2-suspended SS and SS-V, gains larger-bore front struts with rebound springs, firmer dampers, bigger anti-roll bars, and an additional ‘Competitive’ tune for the electric power steering.
The stability control also scores a Competitive mode (activated by pressing the ESC button twice) that retains the electronic safety net if things get ugly, but allows enough slip that you can actually power-oversteer the Redline out of Phillip Island’s Honda hairpin and, as long as you’re smooth, do so with almost no ESC intrusion. It imperceptibly nibbles at the edges.
As a track car, the Redline’s a cracker. Lap after lap, its gutsy V8 and positive-shifting Tremec six-speed manual copped continual abuse, while Phillip Island’s punishing speeds failed to overwhelm its brakes.
The electric steering’s Competitive mode is impressive, too, with weighting that treads a fine line between crisp and meaty.
And then there’s the chassis balance, squatting on the outside rear through corner exits, using the reduced roll angles and enhanced footprint to thrust this hot Commodore to credibility.
Apparently, more than 50 percent of VF SS-V orders have been for the Redline, and there’s already a waiting list. After our Phillip Island thrash, you can see why. The Redline turns what is already a great car (the standard SS-V) into a seriously desirable, multi-talented one.
There’s been an argument in the Wheels office. Hair has been pulled and fingers pointed – all over the Lotus Exige S. Mostly because I like it, a lot, and others…well, they’re less convinced that it’s all it needs to be.
But let’s start with something we all agree on: this is an exciting car. Like the angry bastard-child of a Stormtrooper and a fighter jet, it feels alive. Brutal, even.
Drive it and the whole car tingles, vibrates, bangs and pops. It sounds good, too, kind of like an orchestra of hoover-powered violins. Being chainsawed.
Then there’s the sensation of speed. It rockets from 0-100km/h in 4.0 seconds, but it feels even faster. Maybe it’s the lack of sound-deadening, or the fact you sit so low you could lick the ground, but mashing the loud pedal is a raw, visceral experience. Unlike other high-performance cars, in the Lotus you feel like you’re in the trenches pulling the trigger, not in the General’s tent directing the action.
Its real party piece, though, is its steering. Very little this side of a Porsche can match the Lotus for feel, with its small, unassisted steering wheel seemingly hardwired to the front contact patches.
Yes, it’s ridiculously heavy at low speeds – parking is a chore – but show the Exige some bends and it all makes sense. The wheel bucks and jumps in your hands, with the car feeling like an oversized, numberplate-wearing go-kart. It sticks, too. On dry roads the big (265/35), optional semi-slick rear Pirellis hug the road, taunting you to go quicker, drive harder.
So what don’t we agree on? The biggest sore point is the engine, with some thinking the 3.5-litre supercharged Toyota Aurion V6 isn’t “special” or “sweet” enough. Rubbish, in my opinion. Admittedly, it’s not the most refined engine in the world, but its raucous, mechanical feel fits the character of the Exige perfectly. And no one can argue it lacks grunt. With 258kW/400Nm on tap in a car that weighs 1166kg, it really is neck-snappingly quick.
I will concede the Exige has some flaws, though. Only Olympic gymnasts can manoeuvre in and out of it with any dignity, the car is so low other drivers can’t see you in traffic, and despite some lovely aluminium work, the interior doesn’t fit the $120,000 price.
But these are foibles you can live with. No one buys an Exige for a comfortable ride or luxurious feel. They buy it because it’s exciting; because it’s a no-compromise racing car for the road. Think of it as a giant syringe of adrenaline – one that’s injected into your heart every time you turn the key.
Volkswagen has given us a better look at its new Mk VII Golf R by releasing a host of images before it official Frankfurt Motor Show debut.
Captured on track, the Golf R it’s not only the most potent Golf ever offered, but is equipped with supercar-baiting performance.
Using the same, albeit highly tweaked, 2.0-litre turbocharged engine found in the standard Golf GTi, the R’s donk includes a new cylinder head, turbo, pistons and high-pressure injection valves.
Power is sent to all four wheels, with its standard six-speed manual shooting it from 0-100km/h in 5.3 seconds.
Mate it to VW’s dual-clutch DSG, though, and it’ll crack 4.9 seconds to 100km/h – that’s Porsche 911 rivalling territory.
Set to be launched in Frankfurt next week, expect the Golf R to arrive Down Under in the first half of 2014.
We’re propped atop … let’s just call it a precipice, and, disconcertingly, our front wheels are over the edge. The crazy Scot we’ve almost just mowed down is at the driver’s window and telling us he likes to take things to the limit. From his recent antics and what he’s now telling us, that’s obvious.
“Mirrors in, select Rock Crawl and Hill Descent, foot off the brake, and we need about half-a-mile an hour,” he barks. “Our blokes will guide you.” That’ll be those Lilliputians in green polo shirts blending with the shadows and the trees way down there that are ready to rearrange the new Land Rover Sport’s bodywork should we stuff up.
What follows is a (literally) over-the-top, oh-my-gawd, interminably long 15 seconds or so I’ll never forget. Nor will my compatriot, who’s sitting next to me. Like me, he’s gobsmacked by the fact that this is the same car we’ve driven at outrageous pace over some of the best high-speed bitumen in Britain and Wales earlier today, lapping up every mile and minute.
All that time, the Sport has sat flat through bitumen corners we’ve often arrived at too quickly, simply because the 375kW/625Nm supercharged petrol V8 gives you free rein to do that if you want to play. The throttle response has been instantaneous, the electric power steering precise and, like the rest of the car, it’s all sports-car responsive.
And then there is Dynamic, which ratchets up all of the above several notches and encourages even more bark from the exhaust. And it’s done the same on dusty, go-for-your-life loose-gravel roads in a military complex borrowed by Land Rover especially for the purpose of showing off the Sport’s tenacity, and the new model’s decidedly unobtrusive driver-assistance packages.
And yet here we are at crawling pace, tackling jungle-track duty on hilly and thickly wooded tracks even hardcore Aussie off-roaders wouldn’t take on without a winch, or at least a snatch-strap. Yes, in some ways the new Sport will disappoint the live-to-winch brigade, because in all but really extreme conditions, they won’t get a chance to (ahem) play with their tackle.
And that was before we would traverse yet more ridiculously dodgy terrain, clambering up and down similarly treacherous hills, missing trees by millimetres, and navigating three halfway-up-the-doors water crossings with aplomb. All, it must be said, with newfound confidence gained from accomplishing that jaw-dropping initial descent and being able to place absolute faith in the new Sport’s Terrain Response Control trickery and off-road ability which is lesser than the top-shelf Range Rover itself by only imperceptible degrees.
And here’s the thing. After a high-pressure hose-down, a twirl of the console-mounted control knob to lower the Sport back to its road-going height, and a press on the Terrain Response system’s ‘Auto’ button, we’re back out on to backroads bitumen and flinging the car around like we’re in Wales again.
Within minutes we’re on the motorway, that vital V8 growling deliciously as we charge along at an entirely comfortable 110 miles an hour at just 2250rpm. If you could hear us shaking our heads and pinching ourselves, that would be the only noise. Same tyres, same butter-smooth eight-speed ZF auto, obviously the same vehicle, yet evidently we’re not in some sci-fi parallel universe.
Jaguar Land Rover refers to the new Sport’s “breadth of capability”. And when you experience the versatility the Sport shares with the car-maker’s imperious, top-shelf Range Rover – while bringing its own more grounded, more wieldy on-road performance to the party – you understand completely what it’s talking about.
Meet the world’s most powerful Toyota city car – the 313kW Hybrid-R concept.
Revealed in full before its debut at next week’s Frankfurt Motor Show, it’s powered by a combination of a traditional 223kW 1.6-litre turbocharged four cylinder petrol and two 45kW motors that power the rear axle.
Built to showcase Toyota’s latest hybrid technology, don’t simply dismiss it as a publicity exercise.
The body may be pure show car, but underneath it’s specially-developed engine and drivetrain hints at Toyota’s performance future.
Nice.
Just days before the Frankfurt Motor Show Audi has revealed its headline act – the new 305km/h Sport Quattro concept.
Built to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the original Sport Quattro, this recreation boasts a stonking 522kW/800Nm petrol-electric drivetrain comprising a twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8 and small plug-in electric motor.
Channelled through an eight-speed automatic gearbox to all four wheels, Audi claims the Sport Quattro shoots from 0-100km/h in just 3.7 seconds – making it quicker than the brand’s current halo sportscar, the Audi R8 V10.
Styled by a team of in-house designers, the Quattro weighs in at a fairly hefty 1850kg and is expected to fetch more than $250,000 when it goes on sale in limited numbers at the end of 2015.
In Hyundai-speak, it’s the “Local Model Expansion Strategy.” For us, the first result of a more adaptable product-development approach is the i30 SR, a warm hatch that is (for the moment) unique to Australia.
Where the previous i30 SR was a purely cynical marketing exercise – just add stickers – the new model demonstrates Hyundai Australia’s growing skill in developing and tuning cars explicitly for our tough local conditions.
The $27,990 SR combines the 2.0-litre version of Hyundai’s NU direct-injection petrol four with a specific suspension tune and equipment that includes 17-inch alloys, LED head- and tail-lights, leather trim, a more sporting grille and a rear diffuser. It’s virtually the $30K 1.8-litre Premium, minus the electronic parking brake (a proper manual handbrake is fitted) and a panoramic sunroof that adds 28.5kg.
The 2.0-litre engine makes 129kW at 6500rpm and 209Nm at 4700rpm (identical to the outputs from the same engine in the Kia Cerato, which shares the same underpinnings) – increases of 19kW and 31Nm over the multi-point injected 1.8, with unchanged gear and final-drive ratios.
The increased power is welcome – 0-100km/h is slashed from 9.5sec to 8.5sec – but it’s the chassis tuning that converts the SR into a hatchback that, Hyundai claims, rivals the Holden Cruze SRi/SRi-V, Ford Focus Sport and Mazda 3 SP25. That’s a big ask. What we do know is that this Korean family hatchback has a dynamic repertoire to challenge Europeans like the Renault Megane, Peugeot 308 and Opel Astra, if not the class leaders like the VW Golf and Focus.
The Hyundai Australia engineers have done a fine job. Apart from a few niggles with the steering, the SR is a revelation – an i30 that engages with the driver and welcomes corners. After trying 45 different combinations of spring and dampers through the 10-month development program, Hyundai has gone with a set-up that firms up the front springs by four percent, and dampers that completely change the shape of their curve’s characteristics. Anti-roll bars, bushes and bump stops remain unchanged.
This is now a capable and composed handler with excellent body control and a more planted chassis that gives much-improved adhesion to the inside front wheel during hard cornering. Driving out of corners, right foot flat, the SR powers down with near-neutral steering. Wallowing understeer? Forget it. The ride, firm at low speeds, is very well-judged for a car with sporting ambitions.
The next step, acknowledged by the local engineers, is to fix the steering. At least the new electric system eliminates kickback and the old Hyundai failing of huge variations in weighting, but it remains uninformative, regardless of which of the three FlexSteer assistance levels you set. The steering is the SR’s only really obvious deficiency.
The 2.0-litre DI four does the job without being inspired. It needs at least 3500rpm to deliver even warm-hatch performance and lacks the throttle responsiveness of some rivals. It’s happy enough spinning out to the 6750rpm redline, and beyond to the 7000rpm limiter, although a more appealing and sporting induction/exhaust note would help. Certainly, the SR’s precise, short-throw gearchange adds to its driver appeal.
The SR is a breakthrough model for Hyundai – the Accent is next on the list – in how it represents Australia’s ability to develop unique cars for our conditions. Other more focused models are in the pipeline, but for now let’s enjoy the SR and celebrate Hyundai’s maturing dynamics.
Mercedes-Benz has no excuses for not being at the top of the four-seat convertible game. It’s been at it for more than 100 years and its 2014 E500 Cabriolet is now cleaner looking, faster, more economical and far, far safer.
The outgoing E-Class Cabriolet fan barely complained about any of those areas, but Mercedes has just finished the mid-life upgrade of E-Class sedan and is about to deliver an all-new S-Class. The upgraded technology from both exercises was just lying about at Sindelfingen and it mostly fitted quite easily into the E500 Cabriolet.
