Why must Porsche do this to us petrolheads? On the one hand, we are sworn enemies of the hybrid, they are not the answer to anything. On the other hand, this particular hybrid is the most impressive, most spectacular, and sexiest hybrid ever, and now they’re going to make it. Yip, it’s the 918 Spyder, and production is confirmed.

Apparently as a result of the overwhelming response Porsche received for the concept car, the Porsche board had no choice but to produce this perturbation in nature. The 918 Spyder did certainly make a splash when the cover was pulled back in Geneva, because whilst it was a plug-in capable hybrid, it was also a mid-engined Porsche housed in the most gorgeous body Porsche designers had come up with in ages. Astonishing considering Porsche’s design department is actually just one one guy, and he only comes in on Wednesdays, hence the general lack of, well, design on most Porsche’s. The 918 though, is another story.

The 918 Spyder is being developed in Weissach and assembled in the difficult to pronounce without sounding silly Zuffenhausen. One has to presume that by the time the 918 Spyder does make it into customer hands, it won’t be in identical configuration to the concept car, but it will nevertheless be guaranteed to be potent. When considering the starting point of the concept, it’s hard to see how Porsche could possibly go wrong in this regard. The 3.4L petrol motor is mid mounted for starters, a configuration used by Porsche to telling effect in the Carrera GT. With power hovering around the 500hp mark, that alone would be enough for a serious machine (It’ll rev to 9200rpm if you’re unconvinced by that statement), but then there’s the electric power thrown in as well. Electric motors capable of shoving an additional 160kW through the powertrain are stuck in there somewhere too. As I said though, details on the exact production powertrain remain unconfirmed. But the performance figures of the concept were 0-100km/h in 3.2s, top speed 320km/h and just 3.0L/100km fuel used, in addition to your electric bill of course so if that’s what the concept can do, the real thing is definitely worth getting excited about.

Stay tuned here, because Porsche are sure to slowly release more details of the production 918 Spyder, and despite it being a hybrid, I can’t wait.

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Love them or hate them, you could never accuse the Germans of resting on their laurels. They always seem to be either inventing new market segments or individual manufacturers enter segments that are new to themselves. And that according to Audi is what they’re up to with the A7 Sportback, although I’m not entirely convinced the A7 Sportback is all that new for Audi, but it does look very handsome indeed. The A7 Sportback was revealed recently in Munich, hardly the most glamorous city in the world, but I guess it is German.

For Audi the concept of the A7 Sportback is threefold; it needed to combine the elegance of a coupe, be as comfortable as their luxurious sedans and even maintain the practicality of a stationwagon. Well, it certainly is a pleasantly shapely car, so sure, I wouldn’t disagree  that the A7 Sportback resembles an elegant coupe. As comfortable as a sedan? I don’t know, haven’t driven it. What I do know however from the numerous Audi’s I have driven is that they have some of the best, possibly even the the best, interiors in the business. Build quality from Audi is always stellar, and the feeling of quality permeates every nook and cranny. So we’ll give Audi the benefit of the doubt on this one. But practicality of a stationwagon, surely not. At least that’s what I though from first impression of the exterior, the dimensions don’t imply a great big boot crammed in there. And yet, when I saw the boot, Audi aren’t that far off. I’m afraid I’m still not absolutely convinced, we’ll have to see about rear legroom, but even if this criteria is a bridge too far, the A7 Sportback still looks very close to the the stationwagon practicality criteria.

he surprisingly big boot

There are four engine options, and as usual there are a variety of nice engines, and silly motors allegedly less harmful to the environment. The split is actually down the middle with two petrols and diesels a pice. Interestingly though, all the engines are V6’s. Power across the four motors ranges from 150kW to 220kW, which when considering this isn’t supposed be a performance range, the power figures are adequate. The 150kW option is a 3.0 TDI and claims impressive fuel figures, at just 5.3L/100km the 150kW A7 Sportback is very efficient for a vehicle of this size. The other diesel makes 180kW but is still a 3.0 TDI. The fuel efficiency is apparently thanks to an inventive thermal management system as well as start-stop technology. The petrol motors are a 2.8 FSI and 3.0 TFSI, the 2.8 produces 150kW and the supercharged 3.0 is the range topping 220kW engine.

In addition to the four engine options there are two transmission options offered by Audi. The standard automatic transmission has two flavours depending on the engine selected, a continuous multitronic front wheel drive variant and of course a quattro system is available as well. If you want quattro you’ll get the slightly sportier seven speed S tronic gearbox, the quattro on the A7 Sportback by the way features Audi’s relatively new crown-gear centre diff, which despite my initial scepticism does indeed help with Audi understeer quite a lot.

The chassis itself deserves a mention, its construction is fairly advanced and sports aluminium control arms. Worryingly though, the power steering system is a new electromechanical system. For me this is troublesome because if there is a trend in Audi steering it’s that the steering can feel a little light and numb, and integrating the word electro anywhere in the power steering can’t help with that. Then again, this isn’t a sports car, so numb could be seen as a positive.

The interior, as I touched on earlier, is sure to be excellent. Nevertheless here are some of the features, a 15 speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system, the MMI Touchpad system, as well as an advance navigation system. Following the crowd somewhat Audi are also offering a heads-up display as an option on the Sportback.

And that’s about it really. The A7 Sportback may not have achieved its goals with complete perfection, but then that could very well be impossible. As it stands then this effort from Audi to target a new market segment for them is on first impressions an admirable offering.

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On the 30th of September 2010 at 16:45 CET at the Paris Motor Show, Lotus could very well be revealing a new Esprit, a throwback to the original Esprit Lotus launched in 1975. Lotus seem to think that the Esprit launched 35 years ago in Paris was a fairly significant event, I can’t comment as I wasn’t all that interested in cars back then. But I am now, and a new Lotus supercar is definitely worth getting excited about.

Lotus haven’t actually outright confirmed they’ll be unveiling a new Esprit in Paris, which may seem strange to you given my precisely detailed statement above about just what Lotus will be up to come September 30. But Lotus are dropping some very unsubtle hints that we will see a new Esprit soon. One would hope however the new Esprit won’t just be a concept, but a fully fledged production car.

Lotus Esprit concept

Of all the cars we’ve had in 2010 thus far here at Drive, the best has been the TT RS. Well, Russell and I think so, but I say this to point out that despite its somewhat less than manly roots, we rather like the TT. Or at least we like it when Audi’s performance RS arm gets hold of it. The diesel on the other hand, I’m not the biggest fan, of any diesel in that sort of chassis truth be told, not just the TT, but nevertheless Audi seem to like the diesel TT. Audi have just pushed the 10,000th TT 2.0 TDI out the door from the assembly line.

Now Audi claim that the TT 2.0 TDI is the worlds first diesel sports car, which in itself is a problem for me. Can a diesel be a sports car? The TDI does have 125kW/170hp though, which isn’t too bad, but it isn’t just about power for a sports car, how the power is delivered is also critical. The 125kW four cylinder motor produces a more impressive torque figure obviously, 350Nm, and is claimed to only consume 5.3L/100km of satan’s fuel. So on paper one can see why Audi has been able to move 10,000 diesel TT’s, but there’s more to performance than stats.

So well done Audi, for any premium manufacturer to produce 10,000 of a model variant is always impressive, but it’s in my opinion a stretch to call the TT 2.0 TDI a true sports car.

TranStar Racing

Is it just me or is there some 458 in there?

I think a lot of people have a soft spot for man-in-a-shed sports cars, the whole concept has a certain level of appeal. From the complete and utter focus on performance, not a shred of concern for safety, or comfort, or anything other than speed in fact, there’s definitely something to be said for that from a petrolhead’s point of view. So when I queried TranStar Racing about their latest wild  creation, the ruthlessly quick Dagger GT, I was amused when one of the founding members mailed back. Had I enquired about Porsche’s GT2 RS, it’s not as if the newly appointed Matthias Muller would have responded. But you’re not reading this because you want me to waffle, the shapely and sexy image of the Dagger GT caught your eye, and you want to know more.

I’ll be honest, the first time laid eyes on the Dagger GT I was curious for sure, but not sold. It just seemed like some American’s had looked at the Ferrari 458, seriously, look at the curves on the nose, and then put a bigger engine in, as is their way. But it didn’t take me long to convert. For starters, if you’re going to resemble a supercar, can you make a better choice than the 458, which has got to be one of the prettiest and yet aggressive of the modern era of supercar’s. And then there’s the warning on the website, which as Drive does not believe in man-made global warming (it’s been proven to be a lie), really made us laugh. I quote: “WARNING: Material on this website may not be suitable for viewing by environmentally-sensitive, energy-conscious, or non-competitive type personalities.” I like these guys.

Okay I’ve held off for too long already, here’s the real reason the Dagger GT has me smitten. TranStar Racing took a lightweight supercar body and chassis, and then they put a 1300hp/956kW motor in it. Amazing. It gets it even better, if you pump the 9.4L mid-engined twin turbo with race spec fuel it’s capable of 2000hp/1471kW. Overall the Dagger GT tips the scales at roughly 1360kg, that’s good for a supercar record breaking power-to-weight ration of 1.5:1, through the rear wheels. The worlds relentless pursuit of power continues.

The performance stats, although not all of them are confirmed at this time, are impressive to say the least. A top speed of 314mph, 0-60mph in 1.5 seconds, and getting back to 60mph in total will take just 4 seconds.

Only five are going to be made for the 2011 spec though, so it’s hardly going to be readily available, but then that’s a good thing in this league.

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I thought it was fairly common knowledge that if you have to explain why something is cool, then it isn’t. If you have to label it as cool, then it isn’t. Top Gear have taught us this; if you would have to explain to Kristin Scott Thomas why a car is cool, then you’ve already failed. So now we have Ford, with a car that doesn’t actually look that bad for what it is, and yet they’ve called it the Figo, a word that comes from an Italian colloquial term that apparently translates to ‘cool‘ in English. Do they not watch Top Gear?

The Ford Figo does however have a good chance of proving me wrong by selling well in South Africa, and with two decent engine options and an established platform there’s no reason it shouldn’t do well. Both the engine options are 1.4L motors, but naturally Ford had to cater for both proper petrol and that other fuel. The 1.4L Duratec petrol and 1.4L Turbo Diesel Duratorq motors will both use a five speed manual gearbox, which interestingly implies a lack of automatic as an option, I’m not complaining in any way, just pointing it out.

The Figo seems to be relatively well equipped for a car of this segment. MP3/iPod connectivity is in there, a South African necessity is the PATS (Passive Anti Theft System) as well, and then of course the usual safety features like dual front airbags and ABS. So if Ford can match the Figo with an aggressive pricing structure and try as much as possible to keep all the nice equipment standard as opposed to pricey optional extra’s, well Ford could have a strong seller on their hands. Especially when considering the Figo come with a fully comprehensive 4 year/120 000km warranty as well as a 5 year corrosion warranty.

It still isn’t cool though.

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Range Rover, a fan of the brand I am not, but they do deserve a certain level of respect for  their latest creation, the 2011 Range Rover. Whereas seemingly every manufacturer is downsizing engine capacity in favour of smaller forced induction options that allow them to claim lower fuel consumption without actually achieving it, well Range Rover have gone the other way. Replacing the 3.6L TDV8 of the current Range Rover is a 4.4L V8, and whilst Range Rover is still claiming improved fuel economy despite the hike in capacity, I rather like the fact that a manufacturer can still grow engine sizes.

The new motor’s stablemate hasn’t changed for the Range Rover Sport, the 5.0L supercharged LR-V8’s services have been retained for no reason other than drinking huge amounts of fuel. There is however a new gearbox, an eight speed automatic which can be mated to the new 4.4L TDV8. It is an electrically controlled gearbox that has been designed to integrate well with the new motor, taking advantage of the 4.4L LR-TDV8’s specific strengths. Of course just saying a gearbox is electronically controlled isn’t enough, we need to know what the electronics are making the gearbox do, and as it turns out, quite a bit. firstly, the new motor produces strong low end torque, something Range Rover were keen to capitalise on with the transmission, so a torque converter lock-up occurs quickly to ensure a little torque as possible escapes with an slipping.

There are also several tricks employed to help with fuel economy, which it definitely needs.  Transmission Idle Control is a feature which whilst not as drastic as a full out start-stop system could be useful if implemented well (Not holding my breath on that though). What it does is disengage 70% of drive power if you’re stationary and the motor is idling, and will probably save plenty of fuel in traffic plagued Joburg, but I feel sorry for the first person to experience it when the electronics go wonky and the gearbox gets stuck in 30% power mode. Further fuel saving tricks include a cold running mode of sorts that selects lower gears for cold conditions that helps get everything up to optimum operating temperatures as quickly as possible. It all comes together with wheel-mounted flappy paddles, although how long it stays together is another issue all together.

Not much has changed in 40 years it seems

So we’ve established that range Rover have put significant effort into taming the new motor, and when you read the stats you’ll see why, it’s a torque beast. 700Nm emanates from this torque mill, but diesel’s achilles heel, well one of them anyway, is still there. Power is a miserly 309bhp/230kW, from a 4.4L twin turbocharged V8, it isn’t exactly something to write home about. There’a a Brembo braking system to slow you down if do manage to unleash the avalanche of torque, the same system as used on the big daddy supercharged V8 Sport model. Speaking of which, the supercharged motor puts things into perspective just how much 700Nm is. The 5.0L supercharged motor can only manage 625Nm of torque, it does manage over 500bhp though, so it’s still a superior powerplant.

The rest of the alterations aren’t all that major. The exterior and interior styling hasn’t been tweaked, but nothing to get worked up about. The enhancements to the Terrain Response systems are worth mentioning though. Both Hill Start Assist and Gradient Acceleration Control have been given some work, so expect some improvements in those features.

So it all seems to be shaping up nicely. It must be said however, if you’re considering one because of all the fuel saving measures, look elsewhere. It doesn’t matter what they do or say, it will use prodigious amounts of fuel.

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Not an extravagant design, but good looking nonetheless

VW’s Golf with a distended boot is no more, shocking I know considering its over 9 million units sales success. Okay, that’s a bit of a half truth, VW haven’t killed their Jetta, but it will no longer be based on Golf underpinnings. The new Jetta is well and truly its own car now, which is nice and all, but an odd decision from VW considering that we live in an age of platform sharing. And the Golf VI platform is a good one, so to ditch it is unusual.

As evidenced by the Jetta’s strong U.S sales, and the Yanks being the biggest market in the world of course, VW seem to have placed a big emphasis on U.S tastes in the new Jetta. And if there’s one things Americans like, barring war naturally, it’s German engineering. So VW are offering U.S customers a choice of four finely engineered, advanced and efficient motors. Three of the four engines are petrol variants, with power starting at 85kW. Power ramps up nicely in the other two petrol motors; a 2.5L motor making 125kW is next on the list with the range being topped off with VW’s ubiquitous 147kW 2.0L TSI. The diesel, if we must speak of such things, is also a 2.0L, turbocharged too as is standard on diesel nowadays. The 2.0 TDI features common rail injection, but can only just make it over the 100kW mark with 103kW. Torque is more impressive however at 320Nm.

Europe will be getting six engine options, but as is the trend in Europe, the engines will tend more towards lower capacity and more forced induction. In total there are four petrol options, and two diesels. At the bottom of the petrol pile is a 1.2 TSI, with 77kW, and then two 1.4 TSI’s. The 1.4 TSI’s produce 90kW and 118kW’s, and once again the 2.0 TSI completes the petrol lineup with 147kW. Similarly, the top diesel is the same as the American diesel, a 2.0 TDI, but in addition to the 2.0L 103kW motor there will also be a 1.6 TDI option of 77kW power. Further to Europe’s obsession with all things ‘green’, two of these Jetta motor’s feature VW’s BlueMotion package. The 1.2 TSI and 1.6 TDI both receive the technology package which includes start-stop and battery regenerative systems. This makes the 1.2 petrol good for a claimed 5.3L/100km fuel economy and the diesel even better at 4.1L/100km.

The new Jetta is bigger than it has ever been, with a wheelbase longer than previous Golf based Jetta’s, which results in the happy consequence of a more spacious cabin and improved rear legroom. The overall design has been given a workover as well, with VW’s new family design language showing though well. And that’s about it, not really anything that new or interesting, except for the entirely new platform that is.

Seriously, this has got to be a scam. Doesn’t that look, well, exactly like the Suzuki Swift. Sure, that makes sense because it is, a Suzuki Swift. But apparently it is supposed to be an all new Suzuki Swift to be launched later this year, in third generation trim. Of course the penny has since dropped, VW now own 1/5th of Suzuki, and counting. So it looks like the VW influence is starting to show, you know, change basically nothing, but tell everyone it’s all new.

When Suzuki do allow the Swift to break cover at the official public reveal, it’ll be in Hungary at Suzuki’s production facility in Esztergom. And whilst it looks essentially identical, despite Suzuki claiming ‘strong developments in styling’, there should be at least some improvement under the skin. Suzuki have reworked the safety aspect of the Swift’s design, thanks partially to stiffer and stronger steel, and then there are the usual bold claims made for every new car from every manufacturer. Better performance, better handling, better fuel economy, and thus lower emissions. Yeah, we’ll see about that eventually as Suzuki have inly released limited details thus far, but for now take such bold statements with a grain of salt.

Interestingly, the new Swift is a bigger car than its predecessor, not a huge difference but seemingly in every dimension measurement it is larger. 90mm longer, 50mm wheelbase increase, it’s higher too, both rear and front track has been upped including larger diameter 16 inch wheels, although with a lower profile tyre. Now Suzuki say not to worry, it may be bigger but that won’t hurt efficiency, which I have my doubts about. They have however made use of the already mentioned new higher strength steel, which makes the body-shell and underbody metalwork lighter and stiffer, despite there being more of it. Which I would believe, if Suzuki provided a dry weight for the new Swift, they gave use every other dimension they could think of, but no weight. Conspicuous in it absence, and I admit I am a cynic at heart, but could it be that a higher weight would have contradicted both their improved economy and fancy new steel claims? So they just left that little stat out.

As would I, if my suspicions are correct that a bigger car makes a heavier car, well I wouldn’t tell the press that my heavier car also has a smaller engine. Which it does. It’s not as if the outgoing 1.3L petrol was overpowered or just suffering from a crippling high capacity or anything, but marketing is marketing, so now the petrol option for the Swift is a 1.2L unit. The 1.2L petrol, featuring dual VVT does produce 69kW @6000rpm however, which is slightly more than the outgoing 1.3L unit. Torque too has been improved, it’s now sitting at 118Nm @ 4500rpm. A manual transmission will be standard but there will be an automatic option.

If you want to go down the diesel road,you’ll have to wait a while longer, as the diesel won’t launch immediately with the petrol. The diesel will be a 1.3L, and of course offer improved economy.

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The net result of Red Bull's immature team

So it’s been a week since the Red Bull Turkey debacle, and it seems the dust has finally settled. Or rather the mud, considering the amount of mud that was slung about since the coming together of Vettel and Webber from the lead of the Turkish GP. Everyone has blamed everyone else, with no one actually unequivocally taking blame. And now it’s my turn to throw in my 2 cents.

Okay, right off the bat, both drivers did stupid things on lap 40, we can debate endlessly, or until the next F1 scandal, which party was more culpable, but its irrelevant now. Let’s start with what Webber did wrong first though. In terms of the rules of racing, Webber did absolutely nothing wrong. Since lap 40 however, with all the information that’s come out of the woodwork, in terms of being in a racing team, team being the operative word, Webber screwed up. Webber was in a light fuel saving mode, Vettel wasn’t, so when Vettel came charging up behind Webber whilst under pressure from Hamilton, he was going to be coming by. Red Bull have stated unequivocally, that had Vettel not made a move they feared Hamilton could take at least Vettel. Upon seeing Vettel looming large in his mirrors, Webber actually asked the team to back Vettel off, which of course they weren’t going to do. Horner then informed Webber’s race engineer of the situation with Vettel and Hamilton, and that Vettel was coming past soon, basically a subtle reminder not to break F1’s rule no.1. Don’t take out your teammate.

Vettel and Webber fake one for the camera, really, they hate eachother

Here’s where the waters get murky though, apparently Webber’s race engineer failed to pass on this critical message. So when Vettel made his inevitable move, Webber defended very aggressively. Nevertheless Vettel did get through, only just but he made it, and yet Webber still didn’t relent. As a team player, who was supposed to be informed of the situation, he should have given Vettel more room. He didn’t, which broke the rule of not taking out your teammate.

Of course, Webber can’t take all the blame, in fact Vettel should probably receive more. The simple fact of the matter with Vettel, is that whilst Webber was overly aggressive with Vettel, Vettel turned into Webber. Had Vettel waited another second, he would have been 100% past as opposed to the 99% past he was. It was his sharp jerk to the right that was the final straw.

So if you view the crash as a pure racing event, blame falls on Vettel. If you take into consideration what was happening on his pit wall at the time, it shouldn’t have happened. Which means Webber must take some of the blame.

The Turkish GP before Red Bull went insane

What makes this whole story all the more intriguing is that an identical situation almost occurred between the two McLaren’s. They were both put into fuel saving mode during the latter stages of the race, with Lewis actually given specific lap times that he would need to be roughly clocking to make the end. Lewis, naturally concerned about dropping off his pace with Button so close enquired whether or not Button was in the same situation, and thus whether Button would make a pass:”If I back off, is Jenson going to pass me or not?”. McLaren responded to this question very clearly: “No Lewis, no”. Well, we all know that didn’t happen, Button you see apparently wasn’t given lap times to focus on, he was in a fuel saving engine mode, but still pushing that mode to the limits. This enabled him to briefly lead the Turkish GP before Lewis fought back.

So here we have the top two teams, not blatantly issuing team orders, but certainly messing about enough to almost cause disaster for their drivers. Interesting times indeed.