Posts Tagged ‘Audi’
Automotive virtual reality has finally arrived
February 13th, 2010 | 
Author: Steve Sutcliffe, a driver whose abilities are held in high esteem by more than one supercar manufacturer, had to admit that electronic chassis ‘aids’ have reached a new level of competence.
“Yes, the electronics in this car are specifically intended as performance parts, not safety features. Switch them off and you will not be able to lap a circuit as fast as you can with them on, not even if your name is Fernando Alonso. You might just be able to match the system for a couple of corners if you fluke the perfect sequence of brake, turn-in, balance power, apply throttle at the exit.”
Read Steve Sutcliffe's Ferrari 599XX drive
In a more down to earth way, I experienced something similar on the launch of the new Audi A8. That car will come with ‘Drive Select’ as standard, which allows you to choose from ‘comfort’, ‘auto’ and ‘dynamic’.
This switchable chassis tuning really does make a difference, especially if you specify the optional sports differential on Quattro versions, which can split the engine’s torque between the rear wheels.
Read Hilton Holloway's Audi A8 drive
So far I’m also the only Autocar staffer to have driven the Mito in both stock and electronically controlled Cloverleaf forms. The difference between the two – driven back to back at Alfa’s test track – was incredible.
Read Hilton Holloway's Alfa Mito Cloverleaf drive
It seems that we have moved into a new era, (partly thanks to the new high-speed Flex ray wiring systems) that will see electronic chassis controls so sophisticated that virtually no driver can out drive them. And better still, the average future car could now be wired to have three very distinct personalities.
Ideally, many of us would prefer that exemplary ride and handling was delivered through the engineering purity of the car’s layout.
But then again, these systems can also make 2.7 tonne cars – such as the new Range Rovers – handle with physics-defying alacrity.
25 years after the false dawn of digital speedometers and talking dashboards, it seems automotive virtual reality has finally arrived.
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Alfa builds a cracking car – at last
Not true. We take as we find, and what we’ve found for the past decade has been disappointing. Like many others we’re frustrated that Alfa has not being producing cars that are totally worthy of such a great brand. Step forward models such as the Brera and Mito.
Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon 1750 TBi TI test drive review
But I drove home in a cracking Alfa last night, the 159 1750 Sportwagon. It’s fitted with the company’s new 1750cc turbo engine which is good for 197bhp. While it’s hardly electrifyingly quick, it’s satisfyingly rapid, smooth and lovely to live with. Way quieter than an Alfa diesel too.
Most of all I was impressed with the 159. The company’s made myriad small changes to the car since it was launched and they’ve all been for the better. It felt like a quality product and was far more satisfying to drive than the Audi A5 Sportback I was in the night before.
Alfa’s at a bit of a crossroads at the moment. Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne has let it be known that the brand needs to get its act together to secure its future. Most of all it needs to fend off the attack from the Germans and start making prestige car makers at least include Alfa on the shopping list. That doesn’t just include the cars either, it has to include the whole buying and aftersales experience too.
But after my quick drive I’d say that if you are in the 3-series/A4 set market you should at least give the 159 1750 some house room.
It’s given me new hope for the forthcoming Giulietta hatch and what comes after it anyway.
First impressions – on board the Porsche Cayenne Hybrid
With performance – both off the line and through the gears – on par with the 400bhp naturally-aspirated 4.8-litre V8 Cayenne S, the new four wheel drive displays exceptional levels of mechanical refinement without any indication of the complex processes taken by its advanced driveline, which was developed in a joint venture between Porsche’s own Weissach based engineers and their counterparts at Volkswagen’s engineering centre in Braunschweig, Germany.
Porsche Cayenne Hybrid – full details
Step off is typical strong, with the electric motor and its 184lb ft of torque providing primary propulsion from standstill up to speeds of 50km/h or until the energy level of the battery runs low.
The only indication of the introduction of the petrol engine – the same unit used by Audi in the S4 – to the drive process from the passenger seat is when the needle on the rev counter – now placed in the centre of the instrument binnacle as with Porsche’s more sporting models – springs to life.
At loads under 2500rpm, the supercharged 3.0-litre V6 is so well isolated from the cabin its operation is barely audible. Under greater throttle load there is a low level growl as acceleration builds but it is never over bearing.
Out on the motorway the over riding impression is of wind noise around the large exterior mirrors. The decoupling of the clutch at speed occurs seamlessly when the driver backs off from the throttle, allowing the Cayenne S Hybrid to coast at zero revs in a state not dissimilar to a bicycle when it is freewheeling with the engine fully disengaged.
Further to the mechanical aspects of the new Porsche, there has been a wholesale improvement in interior ambiance. The new dashboard, similar in style to that gracing the Panamera, is of a much higher quality than that of the first generation Cayenne.
The question that now remains is: how much will Porsche charge for it?
Progress is easy to miss, especially in a Passat
I spent my Christmas break in a VW Passat Bluemotion, complete with the new 104bhp 1.6-litre VW Group commonrail turbodiesel engine.
Volkswagen Passat S 1.6 TDI Bluemotion first drive
There is nothing headline-grabbing about this car. It does not have a fuel cell, solar panels or an electric motor anywhere under its decidedly bland exterior, and it is not made entirely out of recycled potato and hemp.
It is a normal family saloon with a low-powered turbodiesel engine under the bonnet. But it took me and the other half to see family in Koburg, Germany for New Year in perfect comfort whilst easily achieving over 800 miles to each 70-litres of fuel.
That still means we fell short of the claimed 62.8mpg combined figure, but we did manage mid-50mpg for much of the trip and there was no compromise in the overall capability of the car. It was quiet, spacious and pleasant to be in. And it was cheaper and more convenient overall than catching a plane and picking up a rental special at the other end.
Of course, the Passat Bluemotion is exactly as dull as it sounds, and clearly this is a way to make the most of what’s left of finite fossil fuels (and motorists’ over-stretched wallets) rather than the answer to all our renewable fuel needs.
But I think the car industry deserves more credit for making such a constant and rapid move towards better use of resources. That there are many similarly efficient models around, including excellent efforts from Mercedes, BMW, Ford, Kia and Audi among others only goes to prove that progress really is global.
So in the midst of all the frenzied efforts going into producing tomorrow’s planet-saving, blue-sky technologies, let’s take a moment and remember that we’re not doing so badly with the stuff that you can buy today. Well done, chaps. Now carry on.
Infiniti isn’t Lexus
Even though the cars are good, Infiniti already seems to have copped all manner of flak. Observations like, it’ll never take off; BMW won’t notice or care; they’re just Datsuns in disguise and it’s going to be like Lexus all over again.
Why all the hostility?
OK, let’s take the last one first. Lest we forget, Lexus was created originally for North America where over the years it’s been hugely successful and influential (yes, even Mercedes and BMW had to sit up and take notice). Europe has been a much harder slog and 20 years on, Lexus is still mostly about refinement, comfort, quality and luxury, and now eco-friendly hybrids, of course.
Driver appeal and sportiness have never been high on the agenda – until the IS-F came along, that is. And it’s here that the two Japanese brands part company.
Infiniti most definitely is about driver appeal and sportiness, just the kind of things readers of this site and mag are wired in to. Nissan has some demon engineers who turn out good stuff like the 370Z, Skyline and GT-R and when you drive the latest Infinitis, you can feel this DNA coming through.
Yes, I know, all that on its own is not enough. Until Infiniti comes up with some new clean diesels and gets C02 down to a certain level, it’ll be a blip on the radar screens. Guess what, Nissan knows that already which is why diesel power and a new rear-drive hybrid are working their way through the system as we speak. The party starts on that next year, but – yes – really should have been there from the start…
Nissan is also clued into the badge snobbery bit, which is why it’s not making any rash promises about world domination and blowing BMW away tomorrow. It look Audi, after all, the best part of 20 years to make it into the same premium car park as BMW and Mercedes.
Nissan is sensibly starting out slow and steady and, yes, much ultimately depends on how much Carlos Ghosn invests, when the diesels and hybrids come and what the dealer experience is like.
Anyway, Infiniti is not going to be like Lexus. The cars and culture are different, with Infiniti appealing far more to the (free-thinking) petrolheads among us. An attitude like that is eminently worthy of support, I’d say.
