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73 Articles

You have heard dozens of credible reasons why autonomous cars will transform the world into a better place. Safety, primarily. But we only seem to talk about the safety of drivers and pedestrians but many of us have furry critters we regard as family - loved enough to dress them in knitted sweaters when we worry their layer of fur is not adequate for our winters. They share our bed, bring us gifts from the garden, welcome us home and protect us. In turn we need to protect them from our cars. Car makers like Volvo have started to do this with a system called Large Animal Detection but as the name categorically implies, this is mostly set up for reindeer and I’m yet to come across one of those on…

MAKING IT HAPPEN

WHO: ANDY FRANKLIN WHERE: MONZA, ITALY Andy was so excited to be out of the office, he spent hours slaving over a “Hello Mum!” sign. Then forgot to show it to the camera WH0: RICHARD PARDON WHERE: MONZA, ITALY “I’ve never crashed my drone...” Famous last words from photographer Pardon on the P80/C photoshoot WHAT: VW’S UNOFFICIAL PANAMERA SPORT TURISMO RIVAL WHERE: EN ROUTE TO LE MANS Think this platform sharing and technology link has gone a step too far WHAT: BMW’S DRIFT RECORD WHERE: MONTICELLO MOTOR CLUB, NEW YORK BMW’s strategy for winning the GTE Pro category at Le Mans was vetoed by the FIA WHO: AVON MIDDLETON WHERE: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA All have the wide body shape. Still speaking about the 911, promise WHAT: GEARKNOB WHERE: MILAN, ITALY Italy: home of sartorial elegance and fashion. And minicabs that use a broken tennis ball for a…

MAKING IT HAPPEN

You have heard dozens of credible reasons why autonomous cars will transform the world into a better place. Safety, primarily. But we only seem to talk about the safety of drivers and pedestrians but many of us have furry critters we regard as family - loved enough to dress them in knitted sweaters when we worry their layer of fur is not adequate for our winters. They share our bed, bring us gifts from the garden, welcome us home and protect us. In turn we need to protect them from our cars. Car makers like Volvo have started to do this with a system called Large Animal Detection but as the name categorically implies, this is mostly set up for reindeer and I’m yet to come across one of those…

ASTON’S VANTAGE AMR

Big news, driving geeks: the Aston Martin Vantage now comes with a manual gearbox. To grab some attention it’s being introduced with the limited-run Vantage AMR you’re staring at here, but will be offered as an option on regular Vantages from 2020. Much like the V12 Vantage S that featured a cameo-appearance stick shift in the car’s previous generation. It’s a seven-speed transmission with a quirk: it features a dog-leg first. So first gear is left and down, with gears two to seven in the H-pattern road cars more commonly use – cue much stalling at the lights because you think it’s in first when it’s actually in second. Good news is you don’t need to be a heel-and-toe master to get the most out of it – it’s equipped with…

ASTON’S VANTAGE AMR

F1: Beyond the Grid BBC & C4, F1 guru Tom Clarkson’s podcast has some cracking interviews. Hearing Kimi R trying to speak English is a delight for the ears Avengers Endgame Avoiding spoilers has never been this difficult but it did give us another peek at the Audi E-Tron GT. Whoops, spoiler. Monster Jam What can we say, after seeing them in SA we now want to see more carnage and destruction on their 2019 tour. Check youtube A playlist of colours Two words – Purple Rain The Chemical Brothers – No Geography Their best album in yonks. Includes the earworm ‘We’ve Got to Try’ (watch the video... it has a dog and an F1 car)…

MAKING IT HAPPEN

WHO: ANDY FRANKLIN WHERE: MONZA, ITALY Andy was so excited to be out of the office, he spent hours slaving over a “Hello Mum!” sign. Then forgot to show it to the camera WH0: RICHARD PARDON WHERE: MONZA, ITALY “I’ve never crashed my drone...” Famous last words from photographer Pardon on the P80/C photoshoot WHAT: VW’S UNOFFICIAL PANAMERA SPORT TURISMO RIVAL WHERE: EN ROUTE TO LE MANS Think this platform sharing and technology link has gone a step too far WHAT: BMW’S DRIFT RECORD WHERE: MONTICELLO MOTOR CLUB, NEW YORK BMW’s strategy for winning the GTE Pro category at Le Mans was vetoed by the FIA WHO: AVON MIDDLETON WHERE: CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA All have the wide body shape. Still speaking about the 911, promise WHAT: GEARKNOB WHERE: MILAN,…

MAKING IT HAPPEN

DIARY OF A TEST DRIVER

People often say, “Hey Timo! Visiting exotic locations, driving supercars as fast as possible – you must have the best job in the world!” To which I reply, yes I do! If by ‘exotic locations’ you mean ‘Finland’s frozen Arctic Circle’, and by ‘supercars’ you mean ‘a ‘North Korean budget supermini’, and by ‘as fast as possible’ you mean ‘at 80kph exactly, non-stop for an entire day’! Yes, it’s been a big week in our development programme, culminating in the Cheery Bong II’s 24-hour reliability test. Normally such a test would be undertaken by a team of four drivers, but Rong Un Motors runs a lean operation. Our team comprises a) me, and b) Jari, who collects my reports twice a week and dispatches them to North Korea. Having written this…

DIARY OF A TEST DRIVER

VIVE LA COMFY CAR!

“BRAVO CITROEN, PUTTING COMFORT FIRST FOR A CHANGE” You could use the Citroen 19_19 to play concept car buzzword bingo. You’d shout “House!” almost immediately, too, given just how electric, autonomous and connected it is. Far better, though, to channel our energy into excitement. Citroen is going nuts again, and we’re all for it. We’re all for its stonking 30-inch wheels, too. While a set of 22s may butcher the ride of family SUVs, those don’t possess the 19_19’s ‘suspended’ cockpit and hydraulic suspension, which is inspired by the Citroen Xantia Activa, only now with the modern addition of cameras and sensors that allow it to adapt to the terrain ahead. The Activa is one of many cars this centenary-celebrating concept pays homage to. Other references range from the obvious (the old…

VIVE LA COMFY CAR!

ASTON’S VANTAGE AMR

Big news, driving geeks: the Aston Martin Vantage now comes with a manual gearbox. To grab some attention it’s being introduced with the limited-run Vantage AMR you’re staring at here, but will be offered as an option on regular Vantages from 2020. Much like the V12 Vantage S that featured a cameo-appearance stick shift in the car’s previous generation. It’s a seven-speed transmission with a quirk: it features a dog-leg first. So first gear is left and down, with gears two to seven in the H-pattern road cars more commonly use – cue much stalling at the lights because you think it’s in first when it’s actually in second. Good news is you don’t need to be a heel-and-toe master to get the most out of it – it’s equipped…

ASTON’S VANTAGE AMR

For 53 years, Jeep has held its Easter Safari in Moab, Utah – the owners’ meet of all owners’ meets and the site of multiple unveilings. Namely Jeep’s Easter concepts. This year’s are all based on the new Gladiator bakkie, and boy, has Jeep gone to town. Top left is the Flatbill, with “an unmistakable, loud and rowdy appearance”. Never before has a car been aimed so directly at the less mature end of the TG office. As well as containing a pair of motocross bikes, it has been designed to look like one, with decals you’d expect on a two-wheeled toy. Want to do proper off-roading? You won’t want ridiculous fripperies like a roof and doors, then. That’s the hard-as-nails Gravity, a Gladiator that’s simultaneously dieting and necking protein shakes. The maddest…

F1: Beyond the Grid BBC & C4, F1 guru Tom Clarkson’s podcast has some cracking interviews. Hearing Kimi R trying to speak English is a delight for the ears Avengers Endgame Avoiding spoilers has never been this difficult but it did give us another peek at the Audi E-Tron GT. Whoops, spoiler. Monster Jam What can we say, after seeing them in SA we now want to see more carnage and destruction on their 2019 tour. Check youtube A playlist of colours Two words – Purple Rain The Chemical Brothers – No Geography Their best album in yonks. Includes the earworm ‘We’ve Got to Try’ (watch the video... it has a dog and an F1 car)…

DIARY OF A TEST DRIVER

People often say, “Hey Timo! Visiting exotic locations, driving supercars as fast as possible – you must have the best job in the world!” To which I reply, yes I do! If by ‘exotic locations’ you mean ‘Finland’s frozen Arctic Circle’, and by ‘supercars’ you mean ‘a ‘North Korean budget supermini’, and by ‘as fast as possible’ you mean ‘at 80kph exactly, non-stop for an entire day’! Yes, it’s been a big week in our development programme, culminating in the Cheery Bong II’s 24-hour reliability test. Normally such a test would be undertaken by a team of four drivers, but Rong Un Motors runs a lean operation. Our team comprises a) me, and b) Jari, who collects my reports twice a week and dispatches them to North Korea. Having written…

DIARY OF A TEST DRIVER

ANTHONY BRADBURY

1 Last year you introduced cars in hot parts of the market, the I-Pace and E-Pace, and still Jaguar sales barely edged up. Why does Jag do so badly? The I-Pace was the end of the year, and the E-Pace wasn’t a full year, either. But more generally Land Rover does better than Jaguar because it has grown its portfolio more consistently. Jaguar has moved in fits and starts and had design changes. 2 We all like driving the XE, but it hasn’t sold well. Any reason? The customer wanted a more special interior, which we’ve addressed in this facelift. More generally, we’re still relatively new to this sector. The BMW 3-Series is a safe default choice. Our name is connected with more expensive cars. We’re seen as luxury. 3 But you can’t sell…

ANTHONY BRADBURY

VIVE LA COMFY CAR!

“BRAVO CITROEN, PUTTING COMFORT FIRST FOR A CHANGE” You could use the Citroen 19_19 to play concept car buzzword bingo. You’d shout “House!” almost immediately, too, given just how electric, autonomous and connected it is. Far better, though, to channel our energy into excitement. Citroen is going nuts again, and we’re all for it. We’re all for its stonking 30-inch wheels, too. While a set of 22s may butcher the ride of family SUVs, those don’t possess the 19_19’s ‘suspended’ cockpit and hydraulic suspension, which is inspired by the Citroen Xantia Activa, only now with the modern addition of cameras and sensors that allow it to adapt to the terrain ahead. The Activa is one of many cars this centenary-celebrating concept pays homage to. Other references range from the obvious…

VIVE LA COMFY CAR!

“OLD BENTLEYS ARE LIKE CHIPPENDALE FURNITURE” My earliest motoring memory was when my father took me on a tour of London to see the sights. I was stepping out in to the road and there was this monumental beep. I was dragged back by the scruff of my neck and just missed by a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III. My father said: “You don’t want to get run over, even by a Rolls-Royce.” Those words rang in my ears for days. Rolls-Royce. I learned to drive in my father’s car – a 3.0-litre Ford Capri. I’ve no idea how he managed to get me insured on it, it was properly fast. Once I’d passed my test, I was going very quickly in the wet and drove it into a brick wall. I wasn’t…

For 53 years, Jeep has held its Easter Safari in Moab, Utah – the owners’ meet of all owners’ meets and the site of multiple unveilings. Namely Jeep’s Easter concepts. This year’s are all based on the new Gladiator bakkie, and boy, has Jeep gone to town. Top left is the Flatbill, with “an unmistakable, loud and rowdy appearance”. Never before has a car been aimed so directly at the less mature end of the TG office. As well as containing a pair of motocross bikes, it has been designed to look like one, with decals you’d expect on a two-wheeled toy. Want to do proper off-roading? You won’t want ridiculous fripperies like a roof and doors, then. That’s the hard-as-nails Gravity, a Gladiator that’s simultaneously dieting and necking protein…

IT’ZZ THE VW ID ROOMZZ

When is a fully electric, self-driving, futuristic-looking SUV with seven seats not a Tesla Model X? When it’s this! The VW ID Roomzz concept! Look how cool it is, with its not-a-typo zed-tastic name and interior designed to resemble – you guessed it – a lounge. Yep, there’s a whiff of your dad dancing at a wedding to the ID Roomzz. A slight hint of a politician doing a party-policy rap. It’s VW, one of the biggest, most traditionally play-it-safe carmakers in the world, trying oh-so-very hard to be down with the kidz. We’ll let you be the judge of the results. What the ID Roomzz previews is, well, the roomiest member of the all-electric ID family that Volkswagen will launch later this year. It’s a seven-seat 4x4 with Level 4 autonomous…

IT’ZZ THE VW ID ROOMZZ

YOU CAN’T KILL A CACTUS

We suspect that members of Citroen Car Club South Africa (there is such a loyal group) are still in a state of rapture by the news that the colourful French brand, renowned for niche abstract designs admired by the same people who think Air Pods are fashionable accessories, is making a tentative return to South Africa in the same short time it takes the Proteas to play in a World Cup. Expect much platform sharing with Peugeot and Opel, plus dealerships that carry all three brands.…

YOU CAN’T KILL A CACTUS

ANTHONY BRADBURY

1 Last year you introduced cars in hot parts of the market, the I-Pace and E-Pace, and still Jaguar sales barely edged up. Why does Jag do so badly? The I-Pace was the end of the year, and the E-Pace wasn’t a full year, either. But more generally Land Rover does better than Jaguar because it has grown its portfolio more consistently. Jaguar has moved in fits and starts and had design changes. 2 We all like driving the XE, but it hasn’t sold well. Any reason? The customer wanted a more special interior, which we’ve addressed in this facelift. More generally, we’re still relatively new to this sector. The BMW 3-Series is a safe default choice. Our name is connected with more expensive cars. We’re seen as luxury. 3…

ANTHONY BRADBURY

COMMENTS: MERCEDESBENZ GLS

THE GOOD I WILL drive this... watch me! Ernie Fourie I think Mercedes are currently on a roll design wise. New 8-Series aside, BMW seem to be designing ugly cars on purpose in some sort of Bangle-era throw back. Kieran Self LOOKS WAY BETTER THAN THAT UGLY BENTAYGA TAYGA Robert Middl Middleton t n THE BAD The last one slammed the brakes mid-highway when the active cruise control got confused by a truck crossing the bridge up ahead. Andrew Leopold RANGE LOOKS BETTER BUT THE FIT AND FINISH OF A RANGE IS A DISAPPOINTMENT. AND FOR THOSE WHO DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIG SUV THING, I SUGGEST YOU TRY MARRIAGE AND 3 KIDS. Jean Yang THE UGLY Pointless ego car for privileged morons who have absolutely no regard for the environment JOhn029 It looks like Winnie the Pooh in cammo Andu Nica IT’S UGLY. IT’S FIGHTING THE…

COMMENTS: MERCEDESBENZ GLS

“OLD BENTLEYS ARE LIKE CHIPPENDALE FURNITURE” My earliest motoring memory was when my father took me on a tour of London to see the sights. I was stepping out in to the road and there was this monumental beep. I was dragged back by the scruff of my neck and just missed by a Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III. My father said: “You don’t want to get run over, even by a Rolls-Royce.” Those words rang in my ears for days. Rolls-Royce. I learned to drive in my father’s car – a 3.0-litre Ford Capri. I’ve no idea how he managed to get me insured on it, it was properly fast. Once I’d passed my test, I was going very quickly in the wet and drove it into a brick wall.…

HORSES FOR COURSES

If you want a nice watch, you’ve got to be prepared to pay for it, right? Well, just like in the car industry, there are plenty of companies who are more than happy to relieve you of almost limitless quantities of money for things that are lovingly fettled over many hours of highly skilled toil. But that’s not the only way. If you don’t care much for how a watch is made, life is easy: you simply go to a big shop – probably at an airport – that has aisles filled with cheap, battery-powered watches and choose whichever one catches your magpie eye. That approach works perfectly well for most watch buyers, who are not looking for a watch to pass on to the next generation, just something that…

HORSES FOR COURSES

1 Goodwood Flint Wall The hillclimb packs a lot of jeopardy into 1.7 kilometres of driveway. Molecomb corner is the infamous blind bend where many motorsport classics have come a-cropper. Survive that and you’ve still got to negotiate the straits of the Flint Wall. 2 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Wall of Champions At the Canadian GP, eyes tend to be focused on the chicane left-hander at turn 14: the Wall of Champions. Multiple F1 greats – Hill, Villeneuve, Schumacher – have run it too close and paid a carbon-fibre-shattering price. 3 Ferrari factory entrance If you’re liked enough by Ferrari to be allowed the honour of factory collection of your new supercar, then you’re unlikely to depart without getting a selfie under the famous factory gate, with the company name above your head. 4 Wall of Death Carnival…

IT’ZZ THE VW ID ROOMZZ

When is a fully electric, self-driving, futuristic-looking SUV with seven seats not a Tesla Model X? When it’s this! The VW ID Roomzz concept! Look how cool it is, with its not-a-typo zed-tastic name and interior designed to resemble – you guessed it – a lounge. Yep, there’s a whiff of your dad dancing at a wedding to the ID Roomzz. A slight hint of a politician doing a party-policy rap. It’s VW, one of the biggest, most traditionally play-it-safe carmakers in the world, trying oh-so-very hard to be down with the kidz. We’ll let you be the judge of the results. What the ID Roomzz previews is, well, the roomiest member of the all-electric ID family that Volkswagen will launch later this year. It’s a seven-seat 4x4 with Level…

IT’ZZ THE VW ID ROOMZZ

Tamiya HKS Nissan Skyline GT-R r/c car This is radio-controlled model manufacturer Tamiya’s way of saying happy 50th birthday to the iconic Nissan GT-R. It’s a detailed replica of the R32 Skyline that raced under the brilliantly bonkers psychocamo colours of tuning company HKS in the 1993 Japanese Touring Car Championship. That car certainly wasn’t the most successful racer ever, in fact it only won one race that season and the title was taken by a different Skyline altogether. However, a livery this cool is clearly the one you want to have immortalised in model form. The pint-sized GT-R comes with a polycarbonate body, four-wheel drive and double-wishbone suspension, as well as slick tyres for maximum grip. In short, it’s a properly serious bit of kit. The electric motor and battery…

TEAM SONIC RACING

Team Sonic Racing is the latest in a quietly successful, kid-friendly series of kart racers. It doesn’t have the effortless genius of Mario Kart 8, but like that game there are dizzying, colourful rollercoaster courses to negotiate and the mandatory four-player split-screen mode for cheerily vindictive couch-based multiplayer action. You’re racing in a squad of three now, and working with your teammates (via slipstreaming, side-drafting and sharing items) is the easiest route to victory. It’s frustrating when you lose the race as a team, even though you finished first but if, as is likely, you’re playing alongside a little nipper who’s struggling to wrap their tiny hands around the controller, let alone drift around a corner, it allows you the option to cooperate and win together. Just remember to swap the…

TEAM SONIC RACING

COMMENTS: MERCEDESBENZ GLS

THE GOOD I WILL drive this... watch me! Ernie Fourie I think Mercedes are currently on a roll design wise. New 8-Series aside, BMW seem to be designing ugly cars on purpose in some sort of Bangle-era throw back. Kieran Self LOOKS WAY BETTER THAN THAT UGLY BENTAYGA TAYGA Robert Middl Middleton t n THE BAD The last one slammed the brakes mid-highway when the active cruise control got confused by a truck crossing the bridge up ahead. Andrew Leopold RANGE LOOKS BETTER BUT THE FIT AND FINISH OF A RANGE IS A DISAPPOINTMENT. AND FOR THOSE WHO DON’T UNDERSTAND THE BIG SUV THING, I SUGGEST YOU TRY MARRIAGE AND 3 KIDS. Jean Yang THE UGLY Pointless ego car for privileged morons who have absolutely no regard for the environment…

COMMENTS: MERCEDESBENZ GLS

HORSES FOR COURSES

If you want a nice watch, you’ve got to be prepared to pay for it, right? Well, just like in the car industry, there are plenty of companies who are more than happy to relieve you of almost limitless quantities of money for things that are lovingly fettled over many hours of highly skilled toil. But that’s not the only way. If you don’t care much for how a watch is made, life is easy: you simply go to a big shop – probably at an airport – that has aisles filled with cheap, battery-powered watches and choose whichever one catches your magpie eye. That approach works perfectly well for most watch buyers, who are not looking for a watch to pass on to the next generation, just something that…

HORSES FOR COURSES

3D-PRINTED TITANIUM WHEELS

SHOULD I CARE? Do you have eyes? HRE Wheels has revealed this second iteration of its lightly astonishing 3D-printed titanium wheel, using the excellently named Direct Metal Laser Melting manufacturing system. That’s right, FRICKIN’ LASERS. SHOULD I BE SCARED? No, no, it’s all rather simple: lasers melt ultra-fine layers of titanium powder over each other to gradually build up “complex forms with extremely fine detail”. A glance at the pictures suggests that yes, it is very complex and kerbs really aren’t your friend. SHOULD I TELL MY FRIENDS? Oh yes. Especially if they like Electron Beam Melting – a beam of electrons is deployed to heat and fuse raw materials in a vacuum. SHOULD I SPEND MY MONEY? Yes, you’ll be able to feel the immediate benefit of 20in and 21in rims weighing just 7.2kg and 8.6kg.…

3D-PRINTED TITANIUM WHEELS

1 Goodwood Flint Wall The hillclimb packs a lot of jeopardy into 1.7 kilometres of driveway. Molecomb corner is the infamous blind bend where many motorsport classics have come a-cropper. Survive that and you’ve still got to negotiate the straits of the Flint Wall. 2 Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Wall of Champions At the Canadian GP, eyes tend to be focused on the chicane left-hander at turn 14: the Wall of Champions. Multiple F1 greats – Hill, Villeneuve, Schumacher – have run it too close and paid a carbon-fibre-shattering price. 3 Ferrari factory entrance If you’re liked enough by Ferrari to be allowed the honour of factory collection of your new supercar, then you’re unlikely to depart without getting a selfie under the famous factory gate, with the company name above…

It’s happened to your phone, your laptop… the battery suddenly can’t hold charge. Usually one day after the warranty expires. THE BATTERY WILL BRICK IT BEFORE LONG, JUST LIKE YOUR PHONE” With electric cars it’s a bit different. For a start, EVs come with long battery warranties. Most are eight years and 160,000 kilometres. Normally, the warranty means that if the battery has fallen below 70 per cent of its range when new, it’ll be replaced or fixed. Now it turns out that it’s extremely rare for one of these batteries to suddenly fail in a normal lifetime’s use. Even so, eventually batteries do lose their capacity. It happens a little sooner if you mostly use fast chargers. What then? Well, your battery won’t be scrap. It’ll still be worth something, as it can…

Tamiya HKS Nissan Skyline GT-R r/c car This is radio-controlled model manufacturer Tamiya’s way of saying happy 50th birthday to the iconic Nissan GT-R. It’s a detailed replica of the R32 Skyline that raced under the brilliantly bonkers psychocamo colours of tuning company HKS in the 1993 Japanese Touring Car Championship. That car certainly wasn’t the most successful racer ever, in fact it only won one race that season and the title was taken by a different Skyline altogether. However, a livery this cool is clearly the one you want to have immortalised in model form. The pint-sized GT-R comes with a polycarbonate body, four-wheel drive and double-wishbone suspension, as well as slick tyres for maximum grip. In short, it’s a properly serious bit of kit. The electric motor and…

TEAM SONIC RACING

Team Sonic Racing is the latest in a quietly successful, kid-friendly series of kart racers. It doesn’t have the effortless genius of Mario Kart 8, but like that game there are dizzying, colourful rollercoaster courses to negotiate and the mandatory four-player split-screen mode for cheerily vindictive couch-based multiplayer action. You’re racing in a squad of three now, and working with your teammates (via slipstreaming, side-drafting and sharing items) is the easiest route to victory. It’s frustrating when you lose the race as a team, even though you finished first but if, as is likely, you’re playing alongside a little nipper who’s struggling to wrap their tiny hands around the controller, let alone drift around a corner, it allows you the option to cooperate and win together. Just remember to swap…

TEAM SONIC RACING

We’ve got nothing against modern tech, but the EZ-POD concept is designed to make us lazier. Renault calls it a “small, autonomous, connected and electric robo-vehicle, designed to transport people and goods over short distances.” It’s built on the same platform as a Twizy, so seats two adults, but the battery size is pared back to the minimum. There’s no word on speed, but Renault references electric scooters and the bicycle when describing the EZ-POD as a ‘limited-speed micro-mobility solution’. Renault says it could be used in pedestrianised environments such as airports, car parks or shopping centres.…

1 ROOKIE TAKES POLE 20-year old Sheldon van der Linde from South Africa became the youngest pole sitter in BMW’s DTM history. DTM’s YouTube coverage is also worth a pole-position mention. 2 NURBURGRING RECORD Renault returns to the top of FWD Nurburgring leaderboard with the 220kW Trophy-R, deposing the Civic Type R by 3.7 seconds. Does so with fewer wings and exhaust tips, too. 3 ‘EXPLODING’ AUDI R8 Latest in Fabian Oefner’s ‘disintegrating’ series is an R8 with back-end issues. Each component is photographed individually then comped together. We’re not worthy. 4 NISSAN GT-R ANNIVERSARY EDITION 50th anniversary special marks the return of Bayside Blue, the R34 Skyline’s signature colour, and one we’ve not seen since 2002. It rocks. 5 LEGO CIVIC TYPE R Anyone else gettin ng a teeny bit bored of full-size Lego cars s? No? Excellent,…

It’s happened to your phone, your laptop… the battery suddenly can’t hold charge. Usually one day after the warranty expires. THE BATTERY WILL BRICK IT BEFORE LONG, JUST LIKE YOUR PHONE” With electric cars it’s a bit different. For a start, EVs come with long battery warranties. Most are eight years and 160,000 kilometres. Normally, the warranty means that if the battery has fallen below 70 per cent of its range when new, it’ll be replaced or fixed. Now it turns out that it’s extremely rare for one of these batteries to suddenly fail in a normal lifetime’s use. Even so, eventually batteries do lose their capacity. It happens a little sooner if you mostly use fast chargers. What then? Well, your battery won’t be scrap. It’ll still be worth…

“TO EVERY OTHER ROAD USER, I WAS SOME SAD COD-HIPPY IN THE WAY OF THEIR SUV” A month savouring the joys of slow cars. I am becoming an evangelical bore on the subject of low horsepower. A foreign visitor to this planet would think we’re completely bonkers – making cars that go faster and faster, then setting laws that force them to travel slower and slower. What’s the point? According to the European Union, speed limiters will be mandatory in a couple of years. This does make the outraged car nut inside me want to march with angry placards, but, in reality, I’m taking a more relaxed, fatalistic approach. I’m thinking of driving much slower cars. Driving, when you pare it back to its basic principles, is nothing more than operating a…

3D-PRINTED TITANIUM WHEELS

SHOULD I CARE? Do you have eyes? HRE Wheels has revealed this second iteration of its lightly astonishing 3D-printed titanium wheel, using the excellently named Direct Metal Laser Melting manufacturing system. That’s right, FRICKIN’ LASERS. SHOULD I BE SCARED? No, no, it’s all rather simple: lasers melt ultra-fine layers of titanium powder over each other to gradually build up “complex forms with extremely fine detail”. A glance at the pictures suggests that yes, it is very complex and kerbs really aren’t your friend. SHOULD I TELL MY FRIENDS? Oh yes. Especially if they like Electron Beam Melting – a beam of electrons is deployed to heat and fuse raw materials in a vacuum. SHOULD I SPEND MY MONEY? Yes, you’ll be able to feel the immediate benefit of 20in and…

3D-PRINTED TITANIUM WHEELS

Overly tight briefs, you will be aware, can inhibit fertility. We’re talking about journalistic enterprise here. If I’m told too exactly what to write, then there’s little point in uncovering unforeseen information, because there will be no home for it within the constraining brief. Glad to say, then, that the brief for this monthly column was along the lines of, “Write about, y’know, the future an’ stuff.” So I began, last issue, looking at how autonomous cars are slipping further into the future as the problems of developing them become more apparent. This is a reminder no one can be exact about the future. They’re just modelling and extrapolating, not actually observing. We do know things are changing fast, mind. Three years ago, I interviewed BMW’s then sales and marketing chief…

THE MIDDLE LANE

The future of driving, we are told, is autonomous. This scares me. Not just because of the ‘inevitable enslavement of humans by the wheeled robots’ thing, but because I’m pretty sure self-driving cars won’t ever get their occupants where they need to go. Consider the scene played out thousands of times each day. You’re driving down a single-track farm road. You meet a car coming the other way. One of you has to reverse, but who? You vaguely remember a layby a few hundred metres back, but maybe there’s one closer, behind the other car. Neither of you knows who’s got the shorter reverse, so, through a time-honoured combination of shrugging, gesturing and – let’s be honest – mild intimidation, one of you eventually relents and reverses. “IN THE FUTURE, PAYING MORE…

THE MIDDLE LANE

FOR An all-new engine and the best of BMW’s recent designs AGAINST Somewhat inconsistent in what it means to be a real M car To badly paraphrase the opening line from our main feature this month, Monticello Motor Club in New York probably wouldn’t rank in the top fifty of great circuits. You can imagine the late Charlie Whiting scrupulously eye-balling around there with his weighty FIA-emboldened clipboard and scribbling big red NOs next to the myriad rules and regulations a modern circuit must now comply with. Suffice to say, Monticello isn’t going to host a round of Formula One anytime soon –picturesque lush mowed grass rather than 6ft high catch fencing and grandiose grandstands, it’s aligned to the millionaire’s playground or gentleman’s club racing. But then again, we’re in BMW’s fastest…

We’ve got nothing against modern tech, but the EZ-POD concept is designed to make us lazier. Renault calls it a “small, autonomous, connected and electric robo-vehicle, designed to transport people and goods over short distances.” It’s built on the same platform as a Twizy, so seats two adults, but the battery size is pared back to the minimum. There’s no word on speed, but Renault references electric scooters and the bicycle when describing the EZ-POD as a ‘limited-speed micro-mobility solution’. Renault says it could be used in pedestrianised environments such as airports, car parks or shopping centres.…

1 ROOKIE TAKES POLE 20-year old Sheldon van der Linde from South Africa became the youngest pole sitter in BMW’s DTM history. DTM’s YouTube coverage is also worth a pole-position mention. 2 NURBURGRING RECORD Renault returns to the top of FWD Nurburgring leaderboard with the 220kW Trophy-R, deposing the Civic Type R by 3.7 seconds. Does so with fewer wings and exhaust tips, too. 3 ‘EXPLODING’ AUDI R8 Latest in Fabian Oefner’s ‘disintegrating’ series is an R8 with back-end issues. Each component is photographed individually then comped together. We’re not worthy. 4 NISSAN GT-R ANNIVERSARY EDITION 50th anniversary special marks the return of Bayside Blue, the R34 Skyline’s signature colour, and one we’ve not seen since 2002. It rocks. 5 LEGO CIVIC TYPE R Anyone else gettin ng a teeny…

R962 300 FOR Style completed with substance. Locks down those off-road credentials AGAINST Trim squeaks and rattles afflicted some launch models It’s a tad ironic that a vehicle Land Rover consistently touts as an “urban SUV” was presented to the press posse at the company’s impressive new Gauteng Experience Centre which incorporates some testing off-road sections. These were tackled in the dark, doubtless to add to the drama and the “degree of difficulty” but the exercise conclusively proved the new Evoque, now equipped with Terrain Response 2, can wade with the best and tackle steep ascents and descents, as well as traction and articulation tests, while barely raising a sweat. Some eight years down the line, the second generation Evoque needs to live up to its progenitor’s reputation as the fastest-selling Land Rover of all…

Chop and Change

R2 277 000 FOR Drives freakishly well with the right options. Tangible engineering depth AGAINST Less space for more cash, as per the SUV coupe norm You think I am going to introduce Porsche’s newest vehicle derivative with some derogatory remark about Germany’s purest sportscar brand having finally gone peak SUV. But no. Instead: a quiz. The sloping roofline SUV you see on these pages should remind your subconscious of a legendary car in Porsche’s recent product history. Look. Think. Close your eyes for a second. The lava-like colour. Those yellow brake callipers. Those ten-spoke matte grey wheels. Are you thinking 991 GT3 RS? Congratulations. So was I, when Porsche rolled their launch fleet of Cayenne coupes into an Austrian hotel parking area for us to drive. Porsche’s engineering philosophy might still be guided by…

Chop and Change

“TO EVERY OTHER ROAD USER, I WAS SOME SAD COD-HIPPY IN THE WAY OF THEIR SUV” A month savouring the joys of slow cars. I am becoming an evangelical bore on the subject of low horsepower. A foreign visitor to this planet would think we’re completely bonkers – making cars that go faster and faster, then setting laws that force them to travel slower and slower. What’s the point? According to the European Union, speed limiters will be mandatory in a couple of years. This does make the outraged car nut inside me want to march with angry placards, but, in reality, I’m taking a more relaxed, fatalistic approach. I’m thinking of driving much slower cars. Driving, when you pare it back to its basic principles, is nothing more than…

Overly tight briefs, you will be aware, can inhibit fertility. We’re talking about journalistic enterprise here. If I’m told too exactly what to write, then there’s little point in uncovering unforeseen information, because there will be no home for it within the constraining brief. Glad to say, then, that the brief for this monthly column was along the lines of, “Write about, y’know, the future an’ stuff.” So I began, last issue, looking at how autonomous cars are slipping further into the future as the problems of developing them become more apparent. This is a reminder no one can be exact about the future. They’re just modelling and extrapolating, not actually observing. We do know things are changing fast, mind. Three years ago, I interviewed BMW’s then sales and marketing…

FROM DAWN TILL DUSK

As racetracks go, windswept, patchy Llandow is not one of the world’s greats. But it is somewhere we can cut loose. As driving roads go, Llandudno’s jogger-heavy Marine Drive is not one of the world’s greats. But it does look very pretty in photographs. These are our bookends. And they’re handily distant from one another. I might have almost planned it that way. What am I saying? I did. Because it’s what happens in between that’s important. On the B4268 and A470, the A494 and B4391, plus the B4501 that I desperately wanted to have time to do that day as we drove from morning in south Wales to a stunning sunset in the north, but didn’t. So we went there the next day instead. The Toyota Supra is a sports car.…

FROM DAWN TILL DUSK

THE SPECIAL ONE

PHOTOGRAPHY RICHARD PARDON TIME WITH ANY RACING CAR TENDS TO BE FRAUGHT. Fraught in terms of the track window, of ensuring that all the temperatures are optimal, that you’re comfortable both physically in the car and mentally with its myriad operating systems. The variables are almost endlessly… variable. Yet we’ve added a few more today, and they’re big. As the man from Michelotto, the specialist that’s prepared and run Ferrari GT race cars since 1969, adjusts the belts on a seat designed for someone more snake-hipped than me, the Monza pit-lane beckons. Monza. The heartbeat of Italian motorsport. Home to some of the most romantically oil-flecked dudes ever to climb into a racing car. Stomping ground of the tifosi. Ahead lies one of F1’s most notorious chicanes, the Variante del Rettifilo, which flows into…

THE SPECIAL ONE

THE MIDDLE LANE

The future of driving, we are told, is autonomous. This scares me. Not just because of the ‘inevitable enslavement of humans by the wheeled robots’ thing, but because I’m pretty sure self-driving cars won’t ever get their occupants where they need to go. Consider the scene played out thousands of times each day. You’re driving down a single-track farm road. You meet a car coming the other way. One of you has to reverse, but who? You vaguely remember a layby a few hundred metres back, but maybe there’s one closer, behind the other car. Neither of you knows who’s got the shorter reverse, so, through a time-honoured combination of shrugging, gesturing and – let’s be honest – mild intimidation, one of you eventually relents and reverses. “IN THE FUTURE,…

THE MIDDLE LANE

Tempting, isn’t it, to dive straight into this new thousand-horsepower Ferrari SF90 Stradale, submerging ourselves in the numbers and shapes and engineering? But hold on. Let’s first stand back for a moment, cast our eyes to the horizon and see where it fits into the landscape. A supercar landscape of more mountainous peaks and staggering vistas than we’ve ever visited before. Everywhere you look, something new rises before us. Ferrari is having an epic year. It replaced the 488 with the F8 Tributo just a few months ago – in fact, the first of those haven’t even reached their buyers, and we haven’t tested one. Yet the Tributo’s 530kW is now, we find, just the baseline. The SF90 is a production car, not one of Ferrari’s limited-edition hypercar series. It’s got…

FOR An all-new engine and the best of BMW’s recent designs AGAINST Somewhat inconsistent in what it means to be a real M car To badly paraphrase the opening line from our main feature this month, Monticello Motor Club in New York probably wouldn’t rank in the top fifty of great circuits. You can imagine the late Charlie Whiting scrupulously eye-balling around there with his weighty FIA-emboldened clipboard and scribbling big red NOs next to the myriad rules and regulations a modern circuit must now comply with. Suffice to say, Monticello isn’t going to host a round of Formula One anytime soon –picturesque lush mowed grass rather than 6ft high catch fencing and grandiose grandstands, it’s aligned to the millionaire’s playground or gentleman’s club racing. But then again, we’re in…

R962 300 FOR Style completed with substance. Locks down those off-road credentials AGAINST Trim squeaks and rattles afflicted some launch models It’s a tad ironic that a vehicle Land Rover consistently touts as an “urban SUV” was presented to the press posse at the company’s impressive new Gauteng Experience Centre which incorporates some testing off-road sections. These were tackled in the dark, doubtless to add to the drama and the “degree of difficulty” but the exercise conclusively proved the new Evoque, now equipped with Terrain Response 2, can wade with the best and tackle steep ascents and descents, as well as traction and articulation tests, while barely raising a sweat. Some eight years down the line, the second generation Evoque needs to live up to its progenitor’s reputation as the…

WHY FERRARI SHOULD BE DOING AN SUV

Long-term Ferrari watchers have had their work cut out keeping up with the company’s SUV. Rarely has a vehicle – for that’s what it is – been more rumoured, more denied, and ultimately (and reluctantly) confirmed. Even now, you’ll get little joy on the subject out of the top brass. The SF90 Stradale has just landed, there’ll be three more new Ferraris this year, and the Purosangue isn’t among them. We’ll see it in late 2021, and until then… nada. But let’s run through what we know. TG was right there when the late Sergio Marchionne ousted former Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo, at an emotional press call during the 2014 Paris show. “He wants to build a truck!” the latter opined, with tears in his eyes, and it was this,…

WHY FERRARI SHOULD BE DOING AN SUV

Chop and Change

R2 277 000 FOR Drives freakishly well with the right options. Tangible engineering depth AGAINST Less space for more cash, as per the SUV coupe norm You think I am going to introduce Porsche’s newest vehicle derivative with some derogatory remark about Germany’s purest sportscar brand having finally gone peak SUV. But no. Instead: a quiz. The sloping roofline SUV you see on these pages should remind your subconscious of a legendary car in Porsche’s recent product history. Look. Think. Close your eyes for a second. The lava-like colour. Those yellow brake callipers. Those ten-spoke matte grey wheels. Are you thinking 991 GT3 RS? Congratulations. So was I, when Porsche rolled their launch fleet of Cayenne coupes into an Austrian hotel parking area for us to drive. Porsche’s engineering philosophy…

Chop and Change

THAT’S NOT AN SUV. THIS US AN SUV

The gun-slit-narrow rear view frames a huge Lamborghini-manufactured explosion of road detritus. The accompanying noise is a combination of dust, stones and rocks being thrown up by all four driven wheels and their impact in, around and under the car, and it is brutally violent. The road hits a rise which we crest and the car goes light, we touch down and I jump on the brakes, turn in and the car starts to rotate. I get back on the throttle and aim in one long sideways spray of dust, noise and V10 brilliance around the long left-hand turn in third gear. While for most supercars this would be the wincingly embarrassing paragraph describing the moment when it all went wrong, when I ran out of talent and ended up talking…

THAT’S NOT AN SUV. THIS US AN SUV

WHY DANIEL RICCIARDO IS STILL... ...SMILING

Parked jauntily in an eerily pristine Cotswold village, the liquid-yellow, wide-boy Clio V6 looks amusingly disruptive. I’m half-expecting locals to round the corner with pitchforks, when Daniel rocks up. A little late, no biggie, he apologises, grins and everyone relaxes a notch. I’d heard his personality was infectious, but this is ridiculous, the man is a ball of positivity even at 9am, pre-caffeine. We take a drive to the Enstone factory, where he’s due in an hour’s time. TG: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS? EVER BEEN IN A CLIO V6? DR: No, I have not. I’ve definitely seen one before, but probably in England as opposed to Oz. TG: NOW, I KNOW YOU’VE EXPLAINED YOUR MOVE TO RENAULT A MILLION TIMES.. DR: You’re bored already, aren’t you? TG: I’M BORED WITH THAT STORY, SO…

WHY DANIEL RICCIARDO IS STILL... ...SMILING

FROM DAWN TILL DUSK

As racetracks go, windswept, patchy Llandow is not one of the world’s greats. But it is somewhere we can cut loose. As driving roads go, Llandudno’s jogger-heavy Marine Drive is not one of the world’s greats. But it does look very pretty in photographs. These are our bookends. And they’re handily distant from one another. I might have almost planned it that way. What am I saying? I did. Because it’s what happens in between that’s important. On the B4268 and A470, the A494 and B4391, plus the B4501 that I desperately wanted to have time to do that day as we drove from morning in south Wales to a stunning sunset in the north, but didn’t. So we went there the next day instead. The Toyota Supra is a…

FROM DAWN TILL DUSK

THE GODFATHER OF SOLE

In the Sixties, big-brained engineers came up with all sorts of ways to shave a few seconds off lap times. Upside-down aerofoils, exotic monocoques, gas turbines, early ground effects – things that required an unsociable grasp of physics and a forehead best measured in acres. But one of the smartest breakthroughs came not from some virtuoso designer, but from an unknown Italian cobbler, whose invention – the world’s very first pair of speedy shoes – made everything else look somewhat over-engineered. Believe it or not, in the first 50 years of motor racing, nobody had ever thought to make a shoe for that purpose. Drivers were suited, but still clumpy-booted. From the top down, the typical uniform consisted of an open-face helmet, some comedy goggles and a baby-blue onesie, all incongruously…

THE GODFATHER OF SOLE

MERCEDES-AMG CLS 53 EDITION 1 4MATIC+

PRICE R1 706 900 DRIVER Avon Middleton Let’s start with the full name, the Mercedes-AMG CLS 53 Edition 1 4Matic+. It’s quite a mouthful for what is a mouthful of a car. It’s a car of many firsts. Merc’s new performance vernacular is this CLS 53; the first mild hybrid-powered AMG for the masses powered by a combination of tricks that some might say are inspired by Formula One. Coupled to Merc’s in-line six cylinder (remember those) is a starter motor to end all starter motors. This one adds some 16kW of power as well as permits a coasting/sailing in a bid to save fuel. But wait, there’s more…to reduce lag and increase efficiency, there’s another small electric compressor to cover the small area outside the turbo’s range. This has never happened on a…

MERCEDES-AMG CLS 53 EDITION 1 4MATIC+

THE SPECIAL ONE

TIME WITH ANY RACING CAR TENDS TO BE FRAUGHT. Fraught in terms of the track window, of ensuring that all the temperatures are optimal, that you’re comfortable both physically in the car and mentally with its myriad operating systems. The variables are almost endlessly… variable. Yet we’ve added a few more today, and they’re big. As the man from Michelotto, the specialist that’s prepared and run Ferrari GT race cars since 1969, adjusts the belts on a seat designed for someone more snake-hipped than me, the Monza pit-lane beckons. Monza. The heartbeat of Italian motorsport. Home to some of the most romantically oil-flecked dudes ever to climb into a racing car. Stomping ground of the tifosi. Ahead lies one of F1’s most notorious chicanes, the Variante del Rettifilo, which flows…

THE SPECIAL ONE

BMW X3 xDrive30i

PRICE R805 200 DRIVER Andrew Leopold I return to our X3 30i with luggage in hand, having just sampled the mutated M-version of this well-known, friendly SUV that volunteers for everything life can throw at it. Yes, this is TopGear so naturally I miss the swollen arches, bigger brakes, another 200kW and that monstrous wave of torque. But maybe you’re not missing that, and neither is your budget. This X3 30i genuinely proves why BMW is able to mould a midrange X3 into a fire-breathing performance SUV, and other brands like Hyundai could never dream of doing the same with a Tucson, even though in this space the two are actually close competitors. So you’re paying the hefty premium for the depth of engineering that can be easily ramped up into schporty models. And a…

BMW X3 xDrive30i

Tempting, isn’t it, to dive straight into this new thousand-horsepower Ferrari SF90 Stradale, submerging ourselves in the numbers and shapes and engineering? But hold on. Let’s first stand back for a moment, cast our eyes to the horizon and see where it fits into the landscape. A supercar landscape of more mountainous peaks and staggering vistas than we’ve ever visited before. Everywhere you look, something new rises before us. Ferrari is having an epic year. It replaced the 488 with the F8 Tributo just a few months ago – in fact, the first of those haven’t even reached their buyers, and we haven’t tested one. Yet the Tributo’s 530kW is now, we find, just the baseline. The SF90 is a production car, not one of Ferrari’s limited-edition hypercar series. It’s…

PRICE R1 214 284 DRIVER Francisco Nwamba If you’re looking to divide opinion in the South African automotive world, buy yourself a station wagon. Down south is a challenging landscape for cars of this ilk – many German marques have tried but eventually they all leave. Not Audi. For decades this brand has stuck to their guns and doggedly educated consumers on the tenets of excellent boot space and idiot-proof off- the-line thrust in the RS 4 and RS 6. Both tragically undervalued cars, somehow deemed less desirable than the maddening SUV Coupe rise in popularity. Rant over, in the new RS 4 Avant the soul of the car is a 2.9 litre bi-turbo V6 producing 331kW/600Nm - the same that you’ll find in the RS 5 and in a Porsche Panamera. The engine…

WHY FERRARI SHOULD BE DOING AN SUV

Long-term Ferrari watchers have had their work cut out keeping up with the company’s SUV. Rarely has a vehicle – for that’s what it is – been more rumoured, more denied, and ultimately (and reluctantly) confirmed. Even now, you’ll get little joy on the subject out of the top brass. The SF90 Stradale has just landed, there’ll be three more new Ferraris this year, and the Purosangue isn’t among them. We’ll see it in late 2021, and until then… nada. But let’s run through what we know. TG was right there when the late Sergio Marchionne ousted former Ferrari CEO Luca di Montezemolo, at an emotional press call during the 2014 Paris show. “He wants to build a truck!” the latter opined, with tears in his eyes, and it was…

WHY FERRARI SHOULD BE DOING AN SUV

Ford Ranger 2.0 Turbo XLT double-cab 4x4 auto

PRICE R570 200 DRIVER Lance Branquinho Mindfulness activists tell us that a content life is being satisfied with what you have, instead of obsessing about what you don’t. Ford’s enormously loyal South African bakkie customers now have a conflict of sorts to deal with regarding this. The new Ranger offers two versions of the same 2-litre turbocharged engine. One is cheaper than the other, by virtue of having only a single turbine boosting its performance, whilst the dearer option features a bi-turbo configuration. Run the numbers and there is a R108 000 cost for the 19% difference in power. Could you be happy knowing that you don’t have the bi-turbo hauling you along? Would you really miss those 25kW? I spent a week driving the single-turbo XLT Ranger and the lasting impression was not its…

Ford Ranger 2.0 Turbo XLT double-cab 4x4 auto

THAT’S NOT AN SUV. THIS US AN SUV

The gun-slit-narrow rear view frames a huge Lamborghini-manufactured explosion of road detritus. The accompanying noise is a combination of dust, stones and rocks being thrown up by all four driven wheels and their impact in, around and under the car, and it is brutally violent. The road hits a rise which we crest and the car goes light, we touch down and I jump on the brakes, turn in and the car starts to rotate. I get back on the throttle and aim in one long sideways spray of dust, noise and V10 brilliance around the long left-hand turn in third gear. While for most supercars this would be the wincingly embarrassing paragraph describing the moment when it all went wrong, when I ran out of talent and ended up…

THAT’S NOT AN SUV. THIS US AN SUV

WHY DANIEL RICCIARDO IS STILL... ...SMILING

Parked jauntily in an eerily pristine Cotswold village, the liquid-yellow, wide-boy Clio V6 looks amusingly disruptive. I’m half-expecting locals to round the corner with pitchforks, when Daniel rocks up. A little late, no biggie, he apologises, grins and everyone relaxes a notch. I’d heard his personality was infectious, but this is ridiculous, the man is a ball of positivity even at 9am, pre-caffeine. We take a drive to the Enstone factory, where he’s due in an hour’s time. TG: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS? EVER BEEN IN A CLIO V6? DR: No, I have not. I’ve definitely seen one before, but probably in England as opposed to Oz. TG: NOW, I KNOW YOU’VE EXPLAINED YOUR MOVE TO RENAULT A MILLION TIMES.. DR: You’re bored already, aren’t you? TG: I’M…

WHY DANIEL RICCIARDO IS STILL... ...SMILING

THE GODFATHER OF SOLE

In the Sixties, big-brained engineers came up with all sorts of ways to shave a few seconds off lap times. Upside-down aerofoils, exotic monocoques, gas turbines, early ground effects – things that required an unsociable grasp of physics and a forehead best measured in acres. But one of the smartest breakthroughs came not from some virtuoso designer, but from an unknown Italian cobbler, whose invention – the world’s very first pair of speedy shoes – made everything else look somewhat over-engineered. Believe it or not, in the first 50 years of motor racing, nobody had ever thought to make a shoe for that purpose. Drivers were suited, but still clumpy-booted. From the top down, the typical uniform consisted of an open-face helmet, some comedy goggles and a baby-blue onesie, all…

THE GODFATHER OF SOLE

MERCEDES-AMG CLS 53 EDITION 1 4MATIC+

PRICE R1 706 900 DRIVER Avon Middleton Let’s start with the full name, the Mercedes-AMG CLS 53 Edition 1 4Matic+. It’s quite a mouthful for what is a mouthful of a car. It’s a car of many firsts. Merc’s new performance vernacular is this CLS 53; the first mild hybrid-powered AMG for the masses powered by a combination of tricks that some might say are inspired by Formula One. Coupled to Merc’s in-line six cylinder (remember those) is a starter motor to end all starter motors. This one adds some 16kW of power as well as permits a coasting/sailing in a bid to save fuel. But wait, there’s more…to reduce lag and increase efficiency, there’s another small electric compressor to cover the small area outside the turbo’s range. This has…

MERCEDES-AMG
CLS 53 EDITION 1 4MATIC+

BMW X3 xDrive30i

PRICE R805 200 DRIVER Andrew Leopold I return to our X3 30i with luggage in hand, having just sampled the mutated M-version of this well-known, friendly SUV that volunteers for everything life can throw at it. Yes, this is TopGear so naturally I miss the swollen arches, bigger brakes, another 200kW and that monstrous wave of torque. But maybe you’re not missing that, and neither is your budget. This X3 30i genuinely proves why BMW is able to mould a midrange X3 into a fire-breathing performance SUV, and other brands like Hyundai could never dream of doing the same with a Tucson, even though in this space the two are actually close competitors. So you’re paying the hefty premium for the depth of engineering that can be easily ramped up…

BMW
X3 xDrive30i

PRICE R1 214 284 DRIVER Francisco Nwamba If you’re looking to divide opinion in the South African automotive world, buy yourself a station wagon. Down south is a challenging landscape for cars of this ilk – many German marques have tried but eventually they all leave. Not Audi. For decades this brand has stuck to their guns and doggedly educated consumers on the tenets of excellent boot space and idiot-proof off- the-line thrust in the RS 4 and RS 6. Both tragically undervalued cars, somehow deemed less desirable than the maddening SUV Coupe rise in popularity. Rant over, in the new RS 4 Avant the soul of the car is a 2.9 litre bi-turbo V6 producing 331kW/600Nm - the same that you’ll find in the RS 5 and in a…

Ford Ranger 2.0 Turbo XLT double-cab 4x4 auto

PRICE R570 200 DRIVER Lance Branquinho Mindfulness activists tell us that a content life is being satisfied with what you have, instead of obsessing about what you don’t. Ford’s enormously loyal South African bakkie customers now have a conflict of sorts to deal with regarding this. The new Ranger offers two versions of the same 2-litre turbocharged engine. One is cheaper than the other, by virtue of having only a single turbine boosting its performance, whilst the dearer option features a bi-turbo configuration. Run the numbers and there is a R108 000 cost for the 19% difference in power. Could you be happy knowing that you don’t have the bi-turbo hauling you along? Would you really miss those 25kW? I spent a week driving the single-turbo XLT Ranger and the…

Ford
Ranger 2.0 Turbo XLT double-cab 4x4 auto

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