| The Volkswagen Touareg TDI V6 – Middle Class Warrior |
| Volkswagen's Touareg SUV is the sole survivor of the carmaker's ambitious attempt to market luxury four-wheelers during the noughties, having been able to hang tough in six-figure pricing positions when the equally well-conceived Phaeton saloon couldn't Perhaps that's because heavyweight UV buyers are less brand-sensitive than their counterparts in the luxo-saloon sector. |
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| The Volvo S80 D5 – A Comfortable Way To Cover Long Distances |
| Call it coincidence, but I have exceptionally romantic memories in Volvos. Wooed a (now ex-) girlfriend in the S60 (she fell for the sunroof trick), went with another (ex-) girlfriend for a leisurely monsoon picnic in the V40 Cross Country (the panoramic roof!) and then had a slightly adventurous stint (ahem!) in the XC60. |
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| Mini Cooper Hatch VS Mini Cooper S |
| BMW unveiled the third generation Mini in Oxford last Tuesday, shortly before the car broke cover at the Tokyo motor show and then appeared on the other side of the world at the LA motor show. It should arrive in SA next autumn. |
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| Range Rover Sport – Bridging The Gap |
| With the introduction of the Sport, the rejuvenation of the Range Rover line-up is complete. The process kicked- off with the launch of the highly successful Evoque and followed by the latest flagship Range Rover early last year. The Sport bridges the divide. |
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| 2013 Porsche Boxster S – Rox Star |
| Yes, the 911 still reigns supreme. In this, the 50th year of the vaunted 911′s rule over all of sports-cardom, that fact is amplified, reflected upon, espoused and celebrated. And you will find no quarrel here. |
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| TOYOTA MIRAI : Future power |
| The future is here. No, really, it is. Because that is the name of Toyota's first mass production hydrogen fuel cell vehicle (FCV) - Mirai, which means future in Japanese. |
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| Fuel cells or 'fool cells' |
| A fuel cell car is essentially an electric car. But instead of a battery pack that is recharged via an external power source, the fuel cell car makes its own electricity. |
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| The Kia Sportage – Sport On You |
| Kia, if you haven't noticed, is on a design-led revolution. Each new model the company rolls out is a huge improvement on its predecessor. The Sportage is a fine example. The second-generation Sportage, model designation KM for the train spotters, was a visually challenging affair. |
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| The Latest-Generation Of The 911 |
| Reviving A Tradition Porsche Has Cleverly Fused The Classic Elements Of The Original Targa Concept With Cutting-Edge Technology In The Latest-Generation Of The 911 |
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| The Mercedes C-Class – Changing The Game (Part 3) |
| It isn't sharp or agile per se, and it has a noticeable front weight bias in the way the nose tends to naturally push wide mid comer; but it never loses its calm, remains consistently sure-footed, and as mentioned earlier, is always refined in its demeanor. |
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| The Mercedes C-Class – Changing The Game (Part 2) |
| Cabin space is decent as opposed to generous, but the way it wraps around occupants is comforting, cocooning, without ever feeling claustrophobic. However there is a sense of width in the cockpit area |
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| The Mercedes C-Class – Changing The Game (Part 1) |
| You could drive almost anything in Marseille and chances are that you'll be left with nothing but good memories of the experience, well, as long as you haven't somehow become habituated with the beautiful coastal French city. |
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| The Citroen C3 Exclusive – Citroen Revival Continues |
| Citroen's revival in New Zealand is slowly gaining momentum. As reported previously, the plan from new distributor Sime Darby was to grow the dealer network, rationalise the range and add value to the products. So far, sales total just 138 units, though Citroen NZ is hoping to have between 350 and 400 cars on the road by year's end |
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| The Holden Commodore SV6 – Sixes To The Fore |
| The SV6 takes the Lion's share of Commodore sales. Key to its popularity is sporty styling. It looks exactly like the SS, but is powered by a V6, which keeps company accountants happy. SV6 follows the same recipe in VF guise, and so is again expected to carry the sales for the range. It's the second rung on the variant ladder and costs the same as the old model, at $55,490. |
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| The Jaguar F-Type V8 S – Hell Cat (Part 3) |
| The soft-top roof is designed to keep unwanted noise at bay and considering its massive footprint an average in-cabin dB reading of 77.9dB is pretty remarkable. Certainly it's tolerable, and there's always the cackle of the engine on the overrun to listen out for. Not all noise is nasty. |
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| The Jaguar F-Type V8 S – Hell Cat (Part 2) |
| F also stands for Fresh, and the F-Type gets up to the minute underpinnings, designed for optimum rigidity and dynamics, minimum weight, supposedly. Cue an all-alloy body, except for the boot lid which is a composite design. There's so little conventional metal on the exterior that we had to attach the magnetic GPS antenna to the windscreen wiper blade! |
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| The Jaguar F-Type V8 S – Hell Cat (Part 1) |
| And the F-Type does a pretty decent job of doing so. Where the E-Type stood for Elegance, the F-Type stands for Ferocious. No other way to describe it really, though Fantastic also springs to mind. Fuel efficient? Not quite so much. |
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| Smart Forfour And Fortwo - New Rivals For The Volkswagen Up |
| The all-new smart Forfour and Smart Fortwo go on sale this autumn. Both have the same goal: to lure buyers away from mainstream rivals such as the Ford Fiesta, Hyundai i10 and Volkswagen Up through the promise of quirky, futuristic looks and the premium quality materials, build quality and equipment traditionally associated with parent company Mercedes-Benz. |
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| Studio To Street Back In 2012 It Was Just A Show Car |
| The Italian countryside is at its resplendent best, as if to greet the Diso Volante. Now it might sound romantic, but it somehow befits the occasion. The area around Lake Como looks as beautiful as the gorgeous body of the Touring Superlaggera, which has been pulled out exclusively for an AUTO BILD test drive. |
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| The Audi Q3 S – Clutch It Tight |
| You can count on your fingers the number of luxury cars from the German big three (sold in India) that have sported a manual transmission. Mercedes-Benz briefly sold the C-Class (W203) with a manual 'box. Audi offered the R8 coupe, powered by the 4.2 V8 with a rower. Heck, even Nissan offered the 370Z with a manual gearbox. |
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| The Brazen One - The All-New Mini Cooper (Part 2) |
| There are two glaring omissions in the Cooper S, though. Firstly, the pedals aren’t finished in stainless steel with rubber grip inserts (which is standard in the previous model), and secondly, the steering wheel does not come with paddle-shifters. According to the local agent, the paddle-shifters can only be had with the Sports Automatic transmission, which is a $6k option (ouch). |
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| The Brazen One The All-New Mini Cooper S (Part 1) |
| Mention “MINI” to anybody who loves cars, and adjectives such as “fun to drive”, “unconventional” and “stylish” will be used to describe the three-door hatchback. What’s amazing, however, is that these are the same words used to describe the original Mini, which was launched in 1959. |
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| Road And Track – Shadow Boxing (Part 4) |
| Above 6000 rpm, the engine churned out a hard-edged, miniature-Hoover Dam honk and ripped to redline in a lively pounce. There was slightly more grip than power, brakes that seemed barely necessary, killer suspension travel. |
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| Road And Track – Shadow Boxing (Part 3) |
| Our white F80 was a preproduction M3 wearing carbon brakes, 19-inch wheels, and the optional seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. (A six-speed manual will be standard, complete with automatic rev-matching for people who are incapable of learning a simple and rewarding skill and who should probably stay on the couch.) |
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| Road And Track – Shadow Boxing (Part 2) |
| The competition M3 debuted at Monza on March 22, 1987. Over the next five years, it dominated the touring-car scene, snagging more than 30 international road-racing championships, multiple rally and hill-climb titles, a Corsica rally win, and a one-two finish at the 24 hours of the Niirburgring. |
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| Road And Track – Shadow Boxing (Part 1) |
| For 30 years, every new BMW M3 has lived in the shade of the iconic original. We put munich’s 2015 turbo-monster against its world beating. Forebear: one built the legend, the other reframes it and the stopwatch doesn’t lie. |
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