What did we learn from the Monaco GP?
Well, the first thing we learned was that
a good dose of rain certainly brightens up a Grand Prix.
Described as ‘the great leveler’ it certainly did that at
Monaco. The slippery conditions do not take reputations into
consideration, and those with true webbed feet came to the
top. Or perhaps floated to the top!
Prime amongst these were Adrian Sutil, the young German
driver in the Force India. With a car that is a true back
marker, he had climbed as high as 4th with only six minutes
to go, never having put a wheel wrong. His reward was a hard
rear-ender delivered by the current world champion, Kimi
Raikkonen, who had been ‘all at sea’ all afternoon. The
further irony was that having received yet another nose
Raikkonen was able to continue, but Sutil’s car was too
badly damaged. Tears were shed in the pits, but despite no
points, Sutil has elevated himself as a driver, while the
monosyllabic Finn has not, despite wearing the driver’s
crown. The ‘other’ Ferrari driver Felipe Massa looked as if
he was going to win by a country mile, but then dropped the
ball again. It seems that the Brazilian cannot concentrate
for two hours at a stretch, perhaps suffering from ADD
(attention deficit disorder)?
The second driver who impressed was Sebastian Vettel (Toro
Rosso), who this year seemed to be a first rate first lap
crasher. He came from 19th to 5th and again did not put a
wheel wrong. Despite his dreadful start to the season, the
talent is there, and he has shown this before in the wet
race in China last year.
Other drivers who mastered the conditions included the
eventual (and worthy) winner Lewis Hamilton (McLaren
Mercedes), the gutsy Pole Robert Kubica (2nd in the BMW),
Mark Webber (4th in the Red Bull) and even Rubens Barichello
in the Honda (6th) driving in his 900th Grand Prix (or
perhaps it just seems like that)!
Another driver who has most certainly passed his ‘use by’
date is David Coulthard. Red Bull should replace his race
mechanics with crash repair specialists, Coulthard having
crashed very successfully in Qualifying and the race.
Another driver who wears his previous championships as if
they give him divine rights is the sulky Spaniard Fernando
Alonso (Renault). Unfortunately, divine rights do not stop
you running into walls and other drivers, a lesson that he
seems not to have learned. He should retire and polish his
crown before he loses all credibility.
Alonso’s Renault partner has already lost his credibility,
Nelsinho Piquet crashing out on lap 47 after being told to
raise his game by his team. I would not be surprised to see
him replaced before the end of the season.
If Heidfeld (BMW) has not realized by now that Kubica is the
number 1 driver in the team, then he should just take a look
at his own performance at Monaco. Woeful. Do not expect to
see him at BMW in 2009, as there are other more talented
Germans looking for a front-running team.
Still on the Germans, young Rosberg in the Williams was very
fast in between accidents. He has to learn to temper his
talents to be a worthy front-line competitor. Team mate
Nakajima finished in the points as those in front of him
crashed their way to retirement. At least he didn’t hit
anything/anyone for a change.
Toyota? What an embarrassment for the Toyoda family (correct
spelling). After spending gazillions to come in 12th and
13th, these are Hara-Kiri results! Give up now.
The next race is in Canada on June 8.
Bajaj and Renault
offspring for 2011
Renault-Nissan and Indian motorcycle maker Bajaj
Auto Ltd. say they will be ready to market a $2,500 car that
gets about 34 km/l (82 mpg) by 2011. The ultra-low-cost car,
codenamed ULC, will be a direct competitor to the $2,500
Nano sedan from Tata Motors Ltd. that goes on sale in India
later this year.
Tata
Nano
Initial production is expected to be 400,000 units per year
at a new plant being built in Chakan in western India. “The
car will initially have a gasoline engine ... later, it will
also have a diesel engine,” said S. Ravikumar, Bajaj Auto’s
vice president in charge of business development. The car
also will be sold in other emerging markets. Ravikumar said
the car will be exported using the global sales network of
Nissan and Renault.
The companies announced their collaboration last October.
The venture is 50 percent owned by Bajaj Auto, 25 percent by
Renault and 25 percent by Nissan. Analysts forecast 13
percent growth in India’s passenger car segment for the year
to March 2009 and expect manufacturers to remain committed
to the small-car segment despite rising raw material costs
and the expectation of slower economic growth.
General Motors, Honda and Toyota all have expressed similar
interest in producing low-priced cars for the Indian market,
where an emerging middle class is moving from motorcycles to
cars. There should also be a market in Thailand, which will
not be filled by the forthcoming eco-cars which will not be
much cheaper than the current small car range available in
this country.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week I asked which manufacturer who built the
“Rolls Royce of motorcycles” also built a superior car? Clue
- a play on words. The correct answer was George Brough who
built the Brough Superior car between 1935-39 when WWII
stopped play.
So to this week. What was the Glas S1004 of 1962 famous for?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email [email protected]
Good luck!
Now if you want real
fuel miser …
I stumbled across a report from Australia on the
econo-cars available down under, and it will make you weep.
Why? Because all but one are not available in Thailand, and
the one that is, is so expensive that you would have to keep
it running for about 20 years before you would recoup your
money in saved fuel costs.
All
the cars listed here offer official or claimed fuel
consumption of less than five liters per 100 km (56 miles
per gallon by the old measure) in ideal conditions. So here
we go - the real fuel misers:
Fiat 500 1.3 JTD Pop 4.2 L/100 km: This is the re-born Fiat
500 of donkey’s years ago, and is the vehicle to be seen in.
There is no getting away from the fact that it looks ‘cute’
in that retro way. So this car has desirability and
efficiency. In fact, official figures place this immensely
appealing and quite practical re-born 500 as the most fuel
efficient auto on the Australian market.
The smallest of the Fiat Group’s turbo diesel, the 1.3 is a
shade slow but winds up nicely to provide a good cruising,
despite the engine size. Described as the DINK’s (double
income, no kids) city car par excellence: if the 500 doesn’t
raise a smile, then it’s you that’s wrong.
Fiat 500
Citroen C3 Hdi 4.4L/100km: While the French marque’s
reputation for reliability gets nowhere near that of the
Japanese, Citroen does chic (after all it is French) in a
way that Toyota does not.
That Prius-equalling consumption is achieved with 65 kW/215
Nm 1.6 liter turbo diesel that utterly erases the petrol C3s
for efficiency and performance; however, that should not be
so earth-chattering, as all diesels are more fuel efficient
than similar capacity petrol engines.
It typifies the “downsizing but up-speccing” paradigm that
has seen sales of light and small cars overwhelm the larger
cars in Australia. However, in ‘macho’ Australia the Citroen
C3 is thought of as a ‘girl’s car’. Mind you, I have also
described some of the Ferraris of 15 years ago as the
‘fastest girl’s cars on the planet’ - Porsches are for real
men!
Toyota Prius II 4.4L/100km: The world’s most successful
automotive marketing exercise probably to counter its weird
styling I felt, but now the Prius is synonymous with lean
and green motoring.
The Australian report went on to say another paradox is that
being as visually appealing as a chunk of cheddar has
enhanced rather than damaged its appeal. It is distinctive
and that is what counts. What’s the point of making an
eco-statement if no one knows you’re making one? It is a bit
like wetting yourself in a dark suit. You know what you’ve
got, but nobody else does.
The Prius comes into its own in commuter traffic, where the
constant throttle needed to extract the best return from
diesel can be hard to maintain. It is dull to drive in the
typical Toyota fashion, but it is by no means awful with
quite responsive and reasonably direct handling. Our
motoring editor at large, John Weinthal, has driven one and
actually enjoyed it, which must say something for the Toyota
Prius 11. Too dear, though, even down under, while here the
grey market has the Prius 11 at over two million baht. When
you can buy a Jazz or a Vios for under one third of that
price, who, other than dedicated environmentalists, will pay
that sort of premium?
Prius 11
Fiat Punto 1.3 JTD 4.5L/100km: Rather more practical than
the 500, the larger Fiat achieves its frugal consumption via
a robotised six-speed sequential manual; one that does
without a clutch pedal and provides an automatic drive mode,
minimizing the emission spikes that occur when gear changing
in a conventional manual.
If you can do without the rear seat headroom and don’t mind
joining a queue, take the 500. Fiat have invested too much
in the 500 for it to flop.
Audi A3 1.9 TDIe 4.5L/100km: This hugely efficient and
incredibly clean (119g of CO2/km) turbo diesel is absolutely
a Prius rival, both in terms of its consumption figures and
being madly over-priced.
An eco-conscience can come with a considerable cost but, in
this instance, at least you get a decent badge for your
dollars (never mind that it’s all Volkswagen Golf
underneath, which we don’t get here either).
On the basis of other Golf/A3 diesels, the 77 kW/250 Nm
provided by this unit promises to make being green slightly
easier to bear.
Citroen C4 SX Hdi 4.5L/100km: Again you’ve got to go for the
sequential/robotised transmission to realize this figure
from the 1.6 liter 80 kW/240 Nm diesel - which is certainly
no hardship these days. For a city car, and Thailand
traffic, why would you ever want to stir the transmission
yourself? After all, GM gave us the Hydramatic on
Oldsmobiles in 1940, and that’s only 68 years ago.
The passenger room is excellent, but it still has the
Citroen stigma, but apparently could make for a very
efficient, cheap to run (fuel-wise at least) family
runabout.
Honda Civic Hybrid 4.6L/100km: A 1.3-litre petrol-electric
hybrid that’s much cheaper than the Prius, the Civic
attracts infinitely less attention just by virtue of the
fact it looks like any other Civic, rather than an
advertisement for itself, like the quirky Prius (even the
name is ‘prissy’).
Hyundai i30 SX CRDi 4.7L/100km: This little jigger from
Hyundai has been gaining Car of the Year awards, and is part
of Hyundai’s resurgence. It has a responsive 85 kW/245 Nm
1.6 liter diesel, and the i30 is a spacious,
European-designed hatch that dispels any lingering notions
about Korean cars. If such doubts do linger, in Australia it
comes with a five year, unlimited kilometer warranty.
Hyundai i30 SX
So there you are, some of the world’s best econo-cars, but
don’t expect to see them in a showroom near you any time
soon. If you are looking at economy from your wallet’s point
of view, the way to go is diesel. Forget ethanol blends,
which do not return the consumption figures of its gasoline
base.
