You may have seen it splashed across magazines, newspapers and television as Audi’s slogan for the new Q5 compact SUV: “Perfectly synchronised engineering”.
Well, sometimes things don’t go exactly as planned.Three Audi Q5s have suffered complete power-steering failure on Australian roads within the last nine days, leading to an admission from Audi Australia there is a fault with the steering system on a small number of cars delivered from the factory in Germany. The fault has been identified and the fix is being implemented, but it was nevertheless a slightly embarrassing glitch for a company that prides itself on quality.On the recent media launch of the car, held in NSW’s Alpine country, two Q5s suffered complete power steering failure. The first meltdown happened in my own hands. After traversing a reasonably challenging firetrail (over which the Q5 performed faultlessly, I might add), we emerged back onto the tarmac without incident, but two sweeping corners later and the power steering failed. After pulling over, a quick check confirmed the power steering’s oil reservoir was completely empty, with the fluid pooled inside the wheel arch. After being collected by the support vehicle, five minutes down the road and another white Q5 (driven by a different media outlet) stood stranded by the roadside, bonnet up with power steering failure.Audi’s initial reaction was cautious, pointing to either a weird coincidence or perhaps over-enthusiastic driving.Neither proved to be the case.The two vehicles were sent back to Sydney for investigation, with Audi Australia boss Joerg Hoffman telling journalists: “I can tell you 100 per cent that our cars have best-in-class quality. The Q5 has undergone hundreds of thousands of kilometres of testing, in South Africa, everywhere. We tested the Q5 over 20,000 kilometres in Australia before releasing it to market, with 30 per cent of that off road. If there had been any product issue, it would have been rectified 10 times before coming to market. We believe it is a hydraulic leak, but we are still investigating. I don’t know, maybe it was just an unlucky coincidence.”Fast forward five days and Wheels staff journalist James Whitbourn is driving another Q5 for cornering photography when the power steering fails again. A call to Audi and a flatbed truck is dispatched to collect the Q5. Ingolstadt, we have a problem…Following investigation by Audi’s local technicians and feedback from the factory in Germany, it’s discovered a potential fault with the power steering’s return hose had been previously flagged by Audi HQ in Germany. The failure was caused by pressure build-up within the power steering system as a result of certain high-load driving conditions.This fault had been identified and apparently corrected back in Germany, but a mix-up at the factory resulted in an unspecified number of early build cars being fitted with the faulty hose. According to Audi, the fault was only present on 3.0-litre TDI models fitted with the Active Steer option, of which 64 had been delivered to Australia. It’s not yet clear how many of those 64 cars were fitted with the failure-prone hose, but Audi Australia is in the process of checking every car and replacing the hose with the new part as required.It’s also important to point out that no customer cars had been delivered yet, and Audi Australia say no cars will be delivered with the faulty hose.
It’s been a long, long wait, but the next evolution in Nissan’s GT-R family has finally arrived.
Wheelsmag pays tribute to the four generations of Japan’s super coupe, with archived stories, images, vision, and recent reviews and comparisons.We will be loading more old features and footage through the week, so stay tuned, and enjoy the nostalgia.
Though the stats at Ferrari’s annual stockholder’s meeting showed a record total sales gain of 17.6 percent, there was one missing figure that will come as a tremendous loss to the carmaker.
Jean Todt’s resignation from his spot as CEO and member of the Board of Directors was not a shock for some, with the 16-year Ferrari man thought to be considering a move to the FIA (F1 governing body) for some time. But the former Scuderia Ferrari boss has timed his exit well, leaving Ferrari with 1,921 million Euros profit in the bank from 2008 sales, and (possibly) heading towards an F1 world in the midst of change.“Jean Todt has been one of the leading protagonists of the Ferrari story of the last 15 years,” said Ferrari Chariman Luca di Montezemolo.“Skill and passion have always characterised his work and have won him the respect and affection of my staff, the Company as a whole and Prancing Horse enthusiasts everywhere. “All of these years we’ve spent together – victories and tough times included – have forged a link between Jean Todt and Ferrari that will never be broken.”Well, unless he does join the FIA…
Dutch carmaker Spyker has been dodging deadly bullets as the economy worsens, and now it seems its owner is doing the same.
Alexander Antonov, the head of Spyker and of a bank group called Konvers Group, was leaving his residence in Moscow, Russia yesterday when he and his bodyguard were gunned down in the street by an unidentified assailant.
Reuters reports that the Russian billionaire is stable but remains in intensive care, after five gunshot wounds to his stomach and losing one of his fingers. The security guard is also in intensive care with a gunshot wound to the leg.“A. Y. Antonov was injured, and he and his security guard are in intensive care,” said Viktoria Tsiplenkova, an investigator with the General Prosecutors’ Investigative Committee (source: Reuters/ RIA Novosti ).Moscow investigators said the shooting was likely linked to Antonov’s business dealings. A Russian financier was jailed last year for the 2006 murder of Andrei Kozlov, the deputy head of the Central Bank, after he led a campaign against money laundering and corruption.
Indians travel in a torrent. They go three to a bicycle, four to a motorbike and five to a rickshaw.
They go so many to a minibus that they spill out of its open doors, and so many to a bus that the number of passengers on the roof matches that on the inside. And they all race together down terrible roads, over roadworks started but long ago abandoned, through the fierce heat and the stink of the drains and their own clouds of thick black soot, all constantly on the horn.
They ignore traffic signals and cops and lane dividers and one-way signs. They barrel past oxen and camels pulling impossibly heavy canvas grain containers that sag like fat bellies over the edge of the cart. They tear past rickshaw riders straining at their pedals to move enormous loads and past women in electric-coloured saris carrying almost as much on their heads as the camels.
They don’t stop for the roadside shrines and painted, emaciated sadhu holy men, or even notice the holy cows and performing bears and stray dogs and the stiff, dead specimens of all of the above. They only narrowly avoid the blackened, barefoot, barely clothed children who live in the rough tarpaulin tents on the roadside and the lepers who, when you finally stop, thrust their twisted limbs into the car to plead for alms.
Nothing can prepare you for your first taste of Indian rush-hour driving; nothing. If your first 50 metres through downtown Mumbai or Delhi doesn’t turn you into a sweating, swearing, wide-eyed whimpering mess, you’re a stronger man than I. So, why are we here? Well, two reasons.First, India is rapidly becoming the next automotive superpower. From 40,000 sales in 1982, Indians will buy nearly two million cars this year. In Europe and the US, the downturn has caused sales to plunge terrifyingly; in India, growth has simply slowed. When it resumes, billion-strong India will dwarf the European markets and join the US, China and Japan at the top of the table. All the major car makers are piling in, though not all will succeed. And it’s far from just some plump, profit-heavy new market for the big players to pillage as their home markets turn to dust. India is turning its attention outwards. It is starting to export. Tata has bought Jaguar and Land Rover for US$2.3 billion, and stakes in companies that make cars that run on electricity and compressed air.And secondly, Tata is about to launch the Nano. At $4000, this car takes everything we previously thought about how much a new car should cost and stands it on its head. It will make car ownership a possibility for hundreds of millions of people who thought they’d never be able to afford one. Privately, Tata bosses say they could make a million Nanos each year once it’s introduced in other markets. Some analysts think that’s conservative and the Nano might just turn out to be the Model T of the 21st century.And what we all want to know is how it drives: surely a whole car that costs less than some premium-brand options must be terrible, right? Wrong, and we’re in a unique position to tell you. We haven’t driven it, but we’ve been to Tata’s test track in Pune, India, and scored the only passenger ride in the Nano. Nobody else outside Tata has experienced it in ‘action’. Tata is very protective of its new baby.But before we tell you what we thought, you need to appreciate this car in context. Each year, 130,000 people (roughly the population of Cairns) are killed on Indian roads, but only 15 percent of them die in cars, buses or trucks. Far more are swept off their bicycles or scooters. Families of four often travel together on one motorbike; the consequences of an accident hardly need explaining. Ratan Tata – the shy, Bollywood-handsome chairman of this family-owned, 150-year-old, and impossibly diverse tea-to-IT conglomerate – wants to build a car that those currently on two wheels might reasonably afford. This is crucial. The Nano isn’t out to compete with other cars; instead it aims to create its own new market. If it succeeds, it will have a major impact on India’s appalling road-safety record. It will also worsen its chronic congestion and pollution. And if it fulfils even a fraction of its sales potential in India and other emerging markets, it will make Tata Motors’ acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover seem a minor distraction.So how do you judge this $4000 car? What do you compare it to, when there hasn’t been anything like it before? Do you start with the view that because this is a car, its comfort and features ought to be compared with those of other cars, even if they cost several times as much? Or do you start with the price, and an assumption that anything that offers four wheels, four doors and a roof for the cost of a scooter must be a good thing? We don’t think you should do either. We think that you have to make the same mental leap as Tata’s boss and engineers did, and chuck away all your preconceptions and expectations, your notions of value and car-ness. Start again; it’s not easy.Basics first. When we first started reporting on this car three years ago, our sources told us to expect something utterly un-car-like, possibly without glass or doors and with a fabric roof and plastic panels. Since its unveiling at the Delhi motor show in January 2008 we now know that it is a proper, four-door steel monocoque; it looks suspiciously like a normal car.Now that we’ve sat inside a production cabin, we’re pleased to report that it feels like one in here, too. The engineers say that they’re most proud of the way they’ve maximized space, and it is mightily impressive. At 1.6m the Nano’s height disguises its length; up close it’s bigger than it appears in the pictures, though hardly long at 3.1m, or 60cm longer than the original Smart. But because the mechanical package is so tiny and the front and rear ends so bluff and upright, virtually its entire length is usable cabin space. It is, frankly, massive inside. The Nano’s rear bench will take three, and one six-footer can sit behind another with head- and knee-room to spare.But after that, the standard car comparisons start to run out. To save on all the pressings and hinges and catches, there’s no rear hatch. To access the 100-litre boot, you flip the rear seats forward; a glass-only hatch might be offered as an option. There’s only one windscreen wiper and one exterior mirror on the driver’s side.The fuel tank is a tiny 15 litres, but at around 4.7L/100km, you’ll get a 300km range. The tank sits under the front seats, but you’ll look in vain for an external fuel filler flap. Again, too many pressings, hinges and catches; instead, it’s a simple plastic funnel hidden under the tiny front bonnet along with the washer filler, the full-size spare, the un-boosted, non-ABS brakes, the unassisted rack and pinion steering, and not much else. You don’t need power assistance when the car only weighs 600kg; less stuff, less weight and less cost make an appealing virtuous circle. The entire engine – 624cc, two cylinders and 24kW – and rear suspension assembly is held in a cradle which attaches under the boot with just four bolts. Reducing the cost of building the Nano is as important as reducing the cost of its parts; the 12-inch wheels attach with three bolts, rather than the usual four or five.There will be three trim levels, with the base model available in just three solid colours and with black rather than body-coloured bumpers and door handles. It is staggeringly simple inside, but surprisingly well-made and it reminds you just how little stuff you actually need in a cabin. The seats have been designed with the minimum possible padding but remain comfortable. The entire instrument panel carries little more than an airbag-less steering wheel, a single stalk and a centrally-mounted speedo, but it’s made of an impressively thick, pricey-looking plastic.There are a couple of blanking panels under the speedo; the middle trim level fills one of them with an air-con control, and also covers some of the exposed metal pillars in the cabin. The top trim level adds a heater, and a console around the gear lever with cupholders and controls for the electric front windows. There are no factory options; you just choose one of the three trim levels, but if you want to save up and add the air-con to your base model later, or indulge in such luxuries as a nearside exterior mirror, or dinky 12-inch alloys, or a radio, your dealer will oblige.If all this makes the Tata Nano sound disappointingly like a real car, it’s because that’s exactly how it looks and feels. The big question is whether it will drive like a real car; surely this is where its car-ness falters? Seems not. We were taken for a drive in a prototype with three Tata engineers aboard. It proved instructive; 24kW sounds just about enough to move an unladen 600kg car, but would be much less impressive if the car, its passengers and their luggage weigh in at closer to 1000kg.The engine note lies somewhere between a putt-putt and a whirr. The four-speed gearbox changes with a clunky action, as we discovered sitting in the driver’s seat while stationary; the linkage back to the rear must be awkward. But using it enthusiastically, our driver showed the Nano has more than enough acceleration to cope with city traffic, and enough poke to maintain a decent cruise; claims of a 105km/h top whack feel entirely plausible.The tall body and narrow track mean it assumes some hilarious roll angles through bends, but even fully laden and pushed hard, the front end resists understeer and the car feels stable. It has an easy, loping ride and the body soaked up the worst of some coarse tarmac surfaces and the noise and vibration of the eager but hard worked motor. This is just a prototype, and experienced only on Tata’s test track, but the car felt tantalisingly good, as if Tata has forgotten to make it a misery to drive.And it might get even better. Tata is examining more powerful, three-cylinder petrol engines, common-rail and turbo-diesels, a five-speed gearbox and an automatic. Tata’s investments in Norwegian electric-car company Miljo and French firm MDI (inventors of the compressed-air car) mean the Nano is likely to run on both before long. For export, it is actively researching how to include some airbags, anti-lock brakes, stability control, more side-impact protection and reduce emissions. It will look different too, with a wider track and bigger wheels.When a car is this cheap, the proportion of its value accounted for by raw materials becomes much greater. Those costs have eased in recent months, but then angry protests from farmers displaced by Tata’s new Nano factory in West Bengal forced it to take the extraordinary step of abandoning the virtually complete facility and starting a new one from scratch in Gujarat. It won’t be ready for a year at least; production will start at one of Tata’s other plants in the meantime, albeit five months behind schedule and at lower volumes.So if it does cost the target of 100,000 rupees, or $3000 when it finally goes on sale around April, we’d be surprised. With taxes and the dealer’s margin, Indian buyers are likely to pay around $4000 in total. But they’ll be glad to, and so would we; you’re getting one of the smartest, most significant cars in years. Just be glad you don’t have to drive it in that traffic.
Tata Nano
Body steel, 4 doors, 5 seats Drivetrain rear engine (east-west), rear drive Engine 624cc in-line 2cyl Power 24kW @ 6000rpm Torque 48Nm @ 2500rpm Transmission 4-speed manual Size l/w/h 3100/1500/1600mm Wheelbase 2468mm Weight 600kg 0-70km/h 14sec (estimated) Price $4000 (estimated) On sale Late ’09 (India)
The adoption of E85 – a blended mix of 85 per cent ethanol and 15 percent petrol – by V8 supercars this year has brought a number of technical and strategic challenges to the two-make championship.
While the mandatory new brew was extensively trialled by representative teams from Ford And Holden late year, the recent official test sessions (at Winton and Queensland Raceway) marked the first experience of E85 by many teams and drivers.And the E85 seemed to get the thumbs up, though it’s early days yet.Ford Performance Racing’s Steve Richards noticed one very positive outcome – the absence of nauseous petrol fumes in the cockpit.“That’s going to be such a huge bonus particularly at the street circuits where the fumes add so much to the fatigue factor when combined with the extreme heat and the endurance,” Richards enthused, believing the benefits will make the transition from rural Winton to the walled street venue in the city of churches.“It will particularly be a huge saviour in at Adelaide next week for all of us.“And the overall performance was absolutely spot-on; no issues whatsoever.”Not as efficient as premium unleaded, the new E85 is about 30 per cent less economical than PULP used in recent seasons, so there will be a greater frequency of pitstops in long distance races this year.So far, the economic meltdown hasn’t hammered V8 supercars. An expected 29 or 30 cars are expected to line-up for the twin 250km races on the Adelaide streets.But the second-tier Fujitsu Series has lost some entries – about 19 are to race this weekend.The crowd-wowing Aussie Racing Cars category has healthy numbers reflecting its relatively low cost and the appeal of competing in the category generally accepted to offer the most exciting racing in the nation. It has 35 entries for the Clipsal.Fighting well above their size and weight, Aussie Racing Cars are only a few seconds a lap slower than V8 supercars and operate to relatively affordable budgets.Making his debut is Garry Jacobson, a talented karter racing under the auspices of the CAMS Aussie Young Gun programme.A joint initiative of Aussie Racing Cars and CAMS, it gives give young drivers the opportunity to move into racing at a subsidised cost.Jacobsen, 17, senses the pocket rockets offer him a chance to learn the national tracks as he develops his race craft.Jacobsen says he has adapted comfortably to the Aussie Racing Cars as he didn’t have any bad habits to unlearn. Aussie Racing Cars demand left foot braking, just like karts.The 2009 Aussie Racing Car Super Series is run over seven rounds across Australia and Jacobson will contest the full series in the blue and white number 20 CAMS Aussie Young Gun team car. The following weekend he’ll be pinching himself as he races around Albert Park.As the season unfolds Jacobson will be joined by a yet to be chosen second Young Gun when the team is expanded to two cars.
Kia has fired a shot across the bows of Toyota and Nissan in the U.S., putting its new Soul up against the Scion xB and Cube.
The box-on-wheels with is U.S.-designed exterior is arguably more interesting than the little Toyota and cuter-if-not-as-hip as the Cube. Kia targeted young adults in their low 20s as their market, though in our drive through Miami, Florida, we saw more interest from 40- and 50-year-olds. But the Soul is cute and different and, like all these microvans, quite handy.And inexpensive. At its most basic, a Soul is worth US$13,300 (theologians finally have their answer) and at that is equipped with such niceties as power windows, rear wiper, air conditioning and a reasonably good sound system, complete with today’s requisite input jacks.The cost of the ultimate Soul (begging more religious questions) comes in at US$18,600 and includes a list of options and accessories that stretches (not literally, but figuratively) all the way back to Kia’s headquarters in Seoul, South Korea.Naturally the journalists’ Souls (we’re happy to announce) were well equipped and proved quite useful, from the nicely laid-out gauges to the audio/HVAC controls at the centre dash. There are loads of cubbyholes for the stuff that seems to accumulate, seating for five adults and the usual split-folding rear seat layout for cargo.One doesn’t buy these vehicles for their dynamic driving fun, so they just need to get the job done with fair aplomb. For that Kia fits the base vehicle with a 1.6-litre four (91kW, 156Nm) matched to a 5-speed manual or the upgraded versions featuring a 2.0 four (106 kW, 186Nm using the 5-speed or an automatic 4-speed.City driving seems to yield mileage in the 7.6 l/100km range, while highway numbers run around 9.4. Our 2.0-litre test car easily had enough power with two adults on board, though it might prove a bit sluggish with 5 adults and their gear.The chassis has MacPherson struts up front, a twist beam suspension at the back and all the electronic tricks–electronic stability control, traction control, ABS, etc–one expects in a modern machine. Trying to predict if Kia will sell oodles of Souls is like prophesizing the next fad among the young adults who are expected to like microvans.I’d tell you how very acceptable, cute, usable and financially reasonable I found the Soul to be, but if word of my age got out it would likely kill the vehicle’s sales just as it gets to the dealerships.
Barbie is 50, but apparently refuses to age gracefully.
The pink, pretty Mattel stalwart celebrated ‘her’ golden birthday yesterday at the life-sized 3,500-square-foot Malibu Dream House in California. And amongst the mound of fluffy, frilly prezzies was a gooey pink gift from German manufacturer Volkswagen and Italian carmaker Fiat.The Fiat’s metallic pink was achieved by layering lacquer over a unique fine aluminium bodyshell. Crystals in the shape of Barbie’s silhouette are stuck to the pillars, more are crammed onto the hubcaps and window frames; even the antenna.Inside, silver Alcantara is matched with silk and sleek viscose. The glove compartment is a mini-make-up box, matched to a high-powered LED vanity mirror that could burn the retina with prolonged exposure.Not to be out-pinked, the customised Beetle Cabrio is fitted with a white custom leather interior and soft-top, with pink quilted leather lined doors and floor mats. To top off the over-the-top interior, about three kilos of rhinestones are scattered through the cabin in a pattern reminiscent of a deranged patient let loose with a BeDazzler.There is an automated vanity set in the trunk, and the oil dipstick is shaped like a pink lipstick. Five shades of paint went into the lurid hot-pink paint job.“Like the New Beetle, Barbie has made a remarkable impact on pop culture history, and still remains a cultural icon today,” said General Manager of Marketing, Volkswagen of America, Laura Soave. Hmmm.What’s the bet Paris Hilton has one of each by the end of the week.
Geneva has held star show status since its inception in 1905.
From the early Pininfarina Ferrari and Alfa Romeo prototypes, to production motor cars, all were welcome in the neutral Swiss city.
Itself a hub of design and influence, Geneva is the first major European show of the year. In its 79th year, the world is watching.
Remember those childhood road trips, when your parents separated you and your sibling with a suitcase in the centre rear seat? It may not have stopped you arguing, but it did stop you from hurting eachother.
Well, Toyota has released information on a similar concept – a rear seat centre airbag. It won’t stop a crash, but it will prevent the damage.
Claimed as a world first, the airbag deploys from a roof-mounted console in the centre of the second row. In a side-on collision, the airbag is designed to prevent injury from debris and impact between passengers or possessions.We aren’t sure if it compromises a split-folding seating (or how it would even work in a five-seat car), but Toyota is planning to introduce it as a production feature ‘in the near future’.More details as they come to hand…
OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
TOYOTA DEVELOPS WORLD FIRST REAR-SEAT CENTRE AIRBAGToyota has developed a world first rear-seat centre airbag to help reduce the severity of passenger injuries in side-on collisions.The new Supplemental Restraint System (SRS) airbag is fitted in a large, fixed, rear-seat centre console and will feature in particular Toyota models to be released in the near future.When the vehicle is hit side-on, the airbag deploys from the top of the console to act as a barrier that helps lessen injuries caused by passengers colliding with each other or into the console.Toyota continues to develop and make available its safety technologies to enable its vehicles to better respond to a wider range of accidents.Toyota intends to further strengthen its traffic safety initiatives in the future by developing safer vehicles and technologies, participating in the creation of safe traffic environments and implementing traffic safety education activities.
