Small Jaguar on its way?
Reports from the UK suggest that Jaguar
is planning to build a small sports coupe or hatch to
compete in the market place with the BMW 3 Series coupe.
Baby
Jaguar
However, Jaguar designer Ian Callum said at the recent
Frankfurt motor show the company had no desire to replace
the unloved X-Type sedan with another conventional offering
when the current model was discontinued.
He believes there is an opportunity for a smaller niche
vehicle in the Jaguar range; one with a unique silhouette,
but apparently, this new smaller Jaguar is not waiting in
the wings and is slated for release in 2014.
It is believed the new model will use lightweight alloy and
a new direct-injection V6 petrol engine to deliver the
lowest fuel consumption seen on a Jaguar.
Jaguar management is looking at ways of expanding its brand
without repeating the mistakes of the X-Type, which dragged
down the company’s image without delivering the
much-anticipated volumes.
Jaguar engineering boss Mick Mohan says his preference is to
build a compact coupe to compete in the BMW 3 Series / Audi
A4 market. “There’s plenty of profit to be made on those
cars and our aluminium platform technology gives us the
opportunity to make one. I think we’d make a really good
one, too.”
At this stage, it looks as if Jaguar’s owners (the Indian
Tata group) are allowing the marque to find its own level
and to continue to use Jaguar’s own engineering base.
The Ultimate Christmas
Gift
Cruden B.V. - the world’s leading designer and
manufacturer of interactive motion-based racing simulators -
is offering its new racing simulator as an extreme
alternative to popular home gaming equipment for affluent
motorsport and performance driving enthusiasts.
The Hexatech - a professional full motion simulator with six
‘degrees of freedom’, realistic g-Force simulation up to
multiple g’s, seatbelt tensioners and 100 percent realistic
steering feedback - is normally found only in top secret
Formula One factories and automotive research centers. Now,
this same sophisticated equipment can provide the definitive
motorsport experience at home, with prices for the base
simulator package starting at the 6.6 m THB.
Frank Kalff, Cruden’s commercial director says, “Let’s be
clear, this is not a video game linked up to a steering
wheel, race seat and pedals. Although easy to operate, this
is the exact same equipment used by the top racing drivers
and engineers to improve their race craft and evaluate new
tracks and car settings. Our simulator and the software it
uses cannot be bought in a store.”
The Hexatech promises years of highly challenging
entertainment both in terms of durability - it is built to
endure hundreds of thousands of ‘driving’ kilometers per
year in almost constant use and lasts 10 to 15 years without
major overhaul. Kalff explains, “Driving a real Formula One
car is not easy and getting fast and consistent laps in the
simulator isn’t either. The simulator takes minutes to learn
and enjoy but a lifetime to master, unlike most driving
games which are conquered and then discarded before too
long. The immense challenge of honing the same level of
driving skill as a top racing driver is unbelievably
addictive and satisfying.”
The Hexatech is available as a three-seater (3CTR), where
passengers sit either side of the driver to experience the
ride together. Cruden can supply open or closed cockpits,
fit bodywork or use actual vehicles, and apply the livery of
a race or road vehicle according to customer preference.
Owners can choose between three ‘wrap around’ 42 inch
screens or (stereo) projectors to view their virtual world
of state-of-the-art graphics. Friends and family can watch
the race projected onto nearby screens or walls. There is a
wide variety of software packages and competition settings
to chose from, allowing customers to host fast lap
shoot-outs, 24-hour endurance races and full championships,
as well as to select race tracks and cars; for example from
Formula One, rally, NASCAR and sports car racing.
So there you are - what every rich kid is wanting for Xmas.
Autotrivia Quiz
Last
week I mentioned that to get the name for their Road
Runner, and a horn that went “Beep - Beep”, Plymouth had
to buy the rights from Warner Brothers. I asked how much
did they have to pay? Remember it was 1968.
Quiz Car
It was only $50,000 and Ivar Hoylem was first in again. I shall have to
make the questions ‘Google-proof’!
So to this week, and to beat the Googlers, what is this car?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be the first correct
answer to email viacars @gmail.com
Good luck!
300 km/h on a Sunday
afternoon
On the motorway, many of you will have driven
at 160 km/h (the old 100 mph, the magic ton, before we
went metric). Some of you with a better motor car will
have driven at 200 km/h. If you are very brave (or
perhaps foolhardy), your BMW or Mercedes may even let
you experience 250 km/h, but at that speed you will be
hanging on for grim death, and praying there is no slow
traffic in front.
Let me now tell you what it is like at 300 km/h in a
Lola T430 Formula 5000 racing car. The engine started
easily and a dab on the accelerator produces a very deep
growl from the engine behind your head. You know you
have 550 bhp behind you.
The Hewland gearbox on a car like this has no
synchromesh, and the ‘dog’ gears select with a clunk and
have a rattle at idle - this is not dangerous but it is
disconcerting at first.
The clutches on these race cars are not the soft
pressure progressive clutches of a manual road car, and
do tend to be in or out, so getting away from rest is a
little tricky, but once trundling down the track you can
begin to take stock of your surroundings and tentatively
start driving this heavy beast with a little more
throttle and some precision. At low speeds, the engine
with the full race camshafts is very “lumpy” but soon
you begin to use more loud pedal and drive the car
deeper into the corners. By making the front tyres bite
as you turn in under brakes, you could then feed in the
power to control the rears and avoid too much oversteer.
With all the horsepower at your disposal, cornering is
done by the right pedal, and corrections are done by the
steering wheel!
You could leave the braking so late, you begin to think
you will never slow down in time - but you can. In fact,
sometimes I had to lift off the brake and use some
throttle into the corner as I was braking far too early.
The next adjustment you have to make is for the
acceleration of race cars like this. Zero to 100 km/h
comes up in less than three seconds. You are no sooner
out of one corner than to find the next one rushing up
and it’s back on the brakes, turn in, throttle out, and
then the next! By the time you are half way through one
corner, you are preparing yourself mentally for the
next. 300 km/h on the straight is the easiest part of
the entire exercise, believe me!
New Proton Saga on its
way
The price war sees another competitor enter the
market - the Proton Saga S 16, which I believe will be
coming to Thailand, when the market picks up.
New
Proton Saga
Australia gets a real cut-price version of the Saga by
sacrificing a significant amount of standard equipment,
including a number of key safety features that are standard
on most of its direct rivals.
According to the manufacturer, “Proton is known for its
Lotus engineered ride and handling and strong styling and
will now also be known for its market leading value.” This
it does by making the base model without front passenger
airbags or ABS brakes or electronic stability control (ESC).
Proton’s S16 returns a relatively respectable 6.3 L/100 km.
It has a 413 liter boot that embarrasses many larger rivals,
and in Australia will be covered by Proton’s
three-year/unlimited-kilometer new-car warranty.
Is Porsche losing the
plot?
Reports in the media of a faster, lighter, more
serious Porsche Boxster emerge ahead of its world debut at
the Los Angeles motor show on December 2.
Called the Boxster Spyder it is positioned above the regular
Boxster and Boxster S, and it will be accordingly even more
expensive. Designed to appeal directly to Californians’
penchant for stripped-out ‘Speedster’ versions of the 911
and Porsche’s iconic 356, it will get the higher-performance
235 kW/370 Nm engine from the hard-top Cayman S.
Apart from 7 kW of extra peak power and 10 Nm more torque,
the new top-shelf Boxster is also about 80 kg lighter than
the model upon which it is based. At just 1275kg, it will be
the lightest model in Porsche’s entire range.
That makes it the quickest Boxster with a claimed 0-100 km/h
acceleration time of 4.8 seconds when matched with the
optional automated twin-clutch manual PDK transmission and
Sports Chrono Package with launch control.
In the same configuration, the Boxster Spyder returns
average fuel consumption of just 9.3 L/100 km on the
European combined cycle (which is marginally better than the
family Fortuner).
However, although it is two-tenths quicker than the standard
Boxster S, its roof must be removed for high-speed runs, one
presumes because it might blow off at the 270 km/h top
speed.
The newest Boxster features lower side windows beneath a
completely new, more lightweight and manually-operated
canopy (Porsche-speak for you don’t push a button) that
replaces the standard Boxster’s automatic soft-top system.
Although power windows and mirrors are fitted,
air-conditioning and a CD sound system will be optional
extras for the Boxster Spyder. Other weight-saving cabin
changes include a pair of lighter and more supportive bucket
seats, plus belt-style door-pulls to replace the Boxster’s
conventional interior door-handles. Just how primitive is
that? 1955 MGA technology!
According to the factory blurb, Porsche’s most hard-core
roadster is a highly modified version of a production model
that attempts to recreate the formula pioneered by some of
the Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen brand’s most famous race and road
cars.
The 550 Spyder of 1953 was the first Porsche sports car
built specifically for racing and homologated for the road.
Weighing in at just 550 kg, the mid-engined roadster proved
victorious in a number of circuit and road races.
It was followed by the 718 RS 60 in 1960 and the name
continues to be used by the RS Spyder Le Mans Prototype
racecar today, but just who is going to buy this
anachronism?
Porsche
Boxster Spyder
