Posts Tagged ‘Cars’
Alfa builds a cracking car – at last
February 13th, 2010 | 
Author: 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.
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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?
Driving a Tata Nano in Mumbai
Over Christmas I optimistically nominated the Tata Nano as my car of the decade, even though I hadn’t actually driven one. It’s social significance and engineering achievement was what appealed to me.
I put that straight yesterday, though, on a half-hour adrenalin-charged drive through Mumbai’s crowded streets. To be honest it wasn’t the car raising my pulse to a steady 150bpm, it was the crazy driving conditions here. It’s like being bombarded with one of those tennis ball serving machines or being on the top level of a video game; things come at you so randomly and so fast that you’re just fire-fighting to stay out of trouble.
Chas Hallett blog: A taste of India
Thousands of pedestrians, other cars, street traders, cows, buses, taxi cabs and the odd dog are all sharing the same space.
Timidity means failure though; you’ve just got to grit your teeth and go for it or else some crazy cabby will be occupying the piece of tarmac you’ve got your sights on. And keeping his hand glued to the horn whilst he does it. Then again, while such a system shouldn’t really work, here it kind of does.
Anyway, most of my time in the Nano was spent preserving it, me and the lads from Autocar India in the back. I did find out, however, that it’s way better than a £1500 car deserves to be. The ride is surprisingly good for such a short car that has to bounce over Mumbai’s chronic roads. The two-cylinder motor is not the quietest device but its low-down grunt is ideal for town work – and quick squirts to get out of the way of slower obstacles. It also feels stable and well-planted on the road. The unassisted steering, too, is sweet and communicative if predictably stiff at parking paces.
Best of all though is the Nano’s space. It’s barely bigger than a Smart but four big blokes can easily squeeze in. And four of us did in search of yet another amazing Indian meal. It also feels extremely well made. Sure the cabin is basic and the driving position too high for my tastes, but I reckon that our 4000 miler will still feel solid in 10 years time.
The main consideration with the Nano though is that it was Ratan Tata’s vision to get some of his less fortunate countrymen away from transporting their entire families on a scooter (you see thousands of them) and into four-wheeled transport. Yet, it’s far from being just utilitarian transport – it’s way too good for that.
So anyone who voted for the Range Rover, the eventual winner in our poll, or anything else – sorry I think that you were wrong.
The price of Veyron ownership
A routine service, for instance, costs £12,866 or the price of a middling Polo, whereas an annual service for a Ferrari Enzo is £1680, which seems like a bargain by contrast.
Bugatti Veyron vs Bugatti EB110
Buying new rubber for the Veyron will produce similarly heart-freezing bills, a set of four tyres costing £23,500, in part because they have to be capable of 253mph, more than 100mph faster than Concorde’s landing speed.
Worse news still is that at every fourth tyre change the Veyron’s rims must be stress tested for cracks – a sensible precaution in a car this fast – and replaced if they are found wanting at a cost of £7050 per corner.
For all these reasons, it’s not surprising to learn that one owner has taken to having his Veyron trailered to his favourite roads and following it there by executive jet, an arrangement that works out cheaper than driving the Bugatti several hundred miles to reach the dream Tarmac.
All of which is guaranteed to keep the Veyron out of reach of 99.9 per cent-plus of all car buyers, even if it should depreciate colossally. And, despite these maintenance costs, even that looks unlikely.
4WD v FWD – a surprising result in my snow test
The problem with four-wheel drive is it lulls you into a false sense of security, as the mate of mine who’s just binned his Honda CR-V will attest. Modern four-wheel drive systems are so good at finding traction where there is none, you only realise just how lethal the conditions are when you have to make even a slight turn and continue straight on, or need to stop. By contrast, with front wheel drive you always know where you are grip-wise and will never miss that moment when your journey becomes a fool’s errand.
Watch our winter tyre test video
Of course four-wheel drive can be a life-saver as all those who have been rescued by off-roaders in the last few weeks know well. But these cars will tend to be Land Rovers and the like which have not only four driven wheels but, just as importantly, tyres designed to cope with these conditions. But modern soft-roaders come with road tyres whose treads clog at the first sign of snow, leaving you little better than four driven slicks.
The point is this: if conditions are too bad to provide safe passage for modern front drive cars with sophisticated electronics, perhaps they should be considered too bad to drive on at all, unless you have the right specialist equipment.
Going out in terrible weather because you have four-wheel drive is not safe: not going out in the first place because you haven’t got four-wheel drive is safe. This is why I like the choice provided by the Peugeot/Mitsubishi arrangement so much: I drive in front drive, relying on ESP and traction control to provide due warning of slippery conditions, leaving the selection of four-wheel drive as a last resort.
But if I had to choose between the two, I’d stick with front-wheel drive.
