Mercedes Benz South Africa are welcoming in the third generation of their premium all-wheel-drive SUV with a range of cars that boast efficiency uber alles. Seriously, they’re only concerned with you knowing that their new M-range consumes 23-28% less fuel than the outgoing range. In the battle for green, an almighty blow for the premium Germans.
A combination in the range, BlueTEC Diesel models and a BLueEfficiency petrol engines.
The ML 250 BlueTEC 4MATIC produces 150 kW of power and 500 Nm of torque, and a combined fuel consumption of 6.5 l/100 km.
The ML 350 BlueTEC 4MATIC has a revamped 3.0- litre V6 which offers 190 kW and impressive torque levels of 620 Nm. Increased performance and efficiency, 24% increase from the last model to be exact.
The lovely sounding ML 350 4MATIC V6 petrol engine produces 225 kW of power and 370 Nm of torque, with a combined fuel consumption of 8,8 l/100 km.
And the ML 500 features the new V8 direct injection engine with 300 kW of power and 600 Nm of torque. Massive power for an SUV.
Efficiency? Blue? What does it all mean in real life? In the ML 250 BlueTEC 4MATIC, it means driving 1500kms on the 93-litre fuel tank before needing to refuel.
The efficiency and performance bug has been caught by the new big boy too…the ML63 AMG.
Only 11.8-litres to 100kms is pretty decent for an AMG car and this is a proper 28% increase on the last model.
The AMG 5.5-litre V8 biturbo engine puts out 386 kW and a peak torque of 700 boostable to 410 kW if you opt for the AMG performance package (at an extra R70 000).
Boasting rights come standard. An SUV that does 0-100 in 4.7 seconds and reaches 250km/h is a sight to behold.
At R1 380 000 though, one has to imagine the family that needs to get anywhere that quickly? Perhaps a banking CEO with two kids who both captain the Rugby team and a wife who doesn’t see men, she sees minions.
When I got into the cockpit of the McLaren MP4-12C, I was suffering from a terrible sinus head-ache. It was turning winter, the air in Jozi was dry, and it was just something I lived with.
When I got out of the car, I didn’t have a sinus headache anymore. R4-million, but there’s no denying the results.
This should give you just a small idea of the brutal acceleration you’ll experience in this car. Remember when you were 16 and you took your first drag of a cigarette, the head-rush that kept you coming back for more. Identical experience here only this won’t give you cancer, it’ll straight up kill you if you get it wrong.
Happy “but” here. It’s implausibly hard to actually get it wrong in this car. So much so that it’s a criticism Pedro from Daytona is happy to share with me “people say this car is actually too perfect”.
The McLaren MP4-12C is the first production car from the British car manufacturer since the mesmerizing F1 set records in 1992. That’s almost 20 years without so much as a facelift, and this time around, instead of relying on the Germans at Mercedes to do it for them, the McLaren team hosted an all-British tea party and did it themselves.
The kudos would be showered on the Brits outright, but you must bear in mind that McLaren have one of the most successful Formula 1 teams ever. Some of that tech has been squeeze into this long awaited supercar to make it more exclusive and sought after. The inclusion of “brake steer” for example, tech which slows the inside/turning rear tire to reduce understeer when cornering hard.
Driving this car can actually be simulated by heading around a go-kart track on a Sunday morning with your buddies. Of course you won’t experience the speed or the longing looks from everyone you pass on the road, but my example is a lot more accessible.
The car is only 1.2m high when the gullwing doors are closed, so you can just picture your ass getting torn up the tar as you break laws on our nation’s highways. It’s this low center of gravity as well as the ProActive Chassis Control that make this car so easy to handle. The steering is actually quite heavy to the touch, but that’s mostly down to the thick tires you’re being carried around on. Once you’re at speed and actually driving, the steering is so responsive you have moments of nerves between lane changes.
When it comes to changing lanes, there is always the blind spot to think of in a coupe-like car such as the McLaren. And there pretty much isn’t one here. Of course you’ve got more than enough power to take on anyone coming up from behind you, but there is always that split-second of “did I check right before I moved?”
You would imagine driving a supercar to be a quite frightful experience. But in the McLaren, it isn’t at all. Sure there are moments of fear as you hit 220km/h through Woodmead, but robot-hopping in Sandton, even as you put-foot to get to that robot in time, just isn’t that scary. In fact the thing you’re worried about the majority of the time is scratching the body-paint, not totaling the car.
“It’s a car you can drive everyday” I’m told, “the kind of car you can really own and drive.” And they’re not lying. The drive of the car is far from uncomfortable; in fact, I’ve driven some hatchbacks that don’t take bumps as well. Inside they’ve gone for minimalism while still giving you most of the essentials you’ll need day-in and day-out, like a radio with a touchscreen control, and air-conditioner and the world’s smallest sun-visors. So minimal is the inside of the car in fact, that the unboxing video I did took all of 55 seconds.
So you’ve got a car you can (if you want) drive every day. But you’re not buying a McLaren for its convenience, you want to know about the performance.
In the corners this car is great, and I look forward to the track day they’ve promised us they’ll put together so we can really put it through its paces. But even at average speed, this car handles brilliantly. As I said above, the low-center of gravity makes it handle like a go-kart, and couple that in with the almost 50/50 weight distribution and the F1 inspired “brake steer” and you have a car that if anything will oversteer, and when that happens you rub yourself out of the corner with a bit of extra speed.
Get yourself a patch of open highway, and you’ll see the true meaning of McLaren. The acceleration in the MP4-12C (crap name, we all agree) comes almost immediately thanks to the twin-turbo set up. There’s no waiting around or anticipating like in a Ferrari. It’s just there and it’s efficient. You stick your foot into the floor board, grip your hands to the steering wheel and duck your head into your shoulders to avoid any whiplash. Soon you’ve run out of road, the back of your head is a bloody mess and your eyes are trying to find their way back to the front of your face.
Speed is addictive and we all love to go places quickly (well in Jozi we do anyway) but frankly the McLaren failed to scare me too much. Let me tell you what I mean.
My first car: a Toyota Corolla 1600. One of those box shaped ones. The perfect car to be handed down at age 17. “Off you go, crash it if you must but just learn to drive” my Dad said.
At 110km/h on the M1 to Pretoria that car became that house you always see getting lifted up into the eye of a tornado. The seats slid back at least 5-inches, the windows rolled down if they were up and if they were down the back windshield flew out, the radio just stopped working altogether and the engine started poking its head out of the bonnet.
Terrifying, yes. But at the same time, you knew you were pushing the limits of a machine, you knew you were tempting fate, you knew that you were glad you didn’t have any dependents and didn’t need an up to date will. You knew what it felt like to drive a stock car in the 50’s.
With the McLaren, you kind of hoped that they had created something that would let you feel what it’s like to drive a Formula 1 car. F1 drivers are after all the fittest athletes on the planet and their bodies can take up to 6 Gs and yada yada whatever else your mate said to you in the bar last week.
The McLaren isn’t like that though. It’s really calm and easy to drive inside. The seats are comfortable and the Meridian audio system is good enough for you to play your favorite song at full tilt. In all it’s a driver’s car, not a racing driver’s car.
As with any car capable of 130km/h or more, what’s the point though? Sure I get why we have speed limits, but spending this amount of cash on a car you can only ever drive sensibly is a complete waste of resources. I take the same stance with this car as I did with the Mini Roadster, a car made with a track in mind: take it out, as often as you can to a racetrack and remind yourself why you work so hard for your money (with apologies to the Grillhouse in Sandton).
Ask any petrolhead and they’ll agree: manufacturers are slowly reducing the need for a driver in modern day cars. Seriously! As soon as you begin to pass a certain segment or price range in a car these days, the car starts to take away more and more responsibility from the driver, to the point at which driving some premium cars is as easy as offending a South African politician.
We want to drive, take risks, be irresponsible, show off. We’re South Africans after all. It’s our car, let us drive it.
Lexus though, admit this is a problem, and they’re doing something about it in their new GS range. “Cars are being over-engineered and slowly removing the driver from focal point”, is their thinking. And isn’t this the exact reason you drive (aside from getting to places)? I mean, you’re the one laying out the cash on the car. You’re the one who should get to drive it, no? Not the ESP and the BMG and the S&M.
Lots of talk though, how have they faired?
Quite well actually. The new Lexus GS is as smooth as P Diddy to drive and the good news is they haven’t compromised on anything through the range. Buy the top end or the entry level and you’re getting yourself a luxury sedan.
So much so, that Lexus point out that to get to the same spec level as the GS350 in a competitive BMW sedan, you’ll need to spend a whopping R169 000.
Lexus is introducing a new identity for its cars with this range and it’s marked by the Spindle Grille and a likeness that kept reminding me of the LFA supercar. I can dream!
In all honesty it’s not much to look at from behind, but the front end is very aggressive, especially when you consider that those driving this car turn and run when someone else they don’t even know gets into a fight in a bar.
The GS range features three V6 engines, only two of which are coming at launch, the 3.5-litre and a quite brilliant 450 hybrid which has the 3.5-litre engine mated to a powerful electric motor and high voltage battery.
The 3.5-engine is as you can imagine quite powerful. A decent 233 kW and 378 Nm of torque as well as the compulsory din of a V6 will keep you quite content with this car.
It’s the hybrid that’s more impressive though. Many a hybrid would leave the driver with the shivers in passing a truck on the mountain pass. The 233kw engine is complemented to a grand total of 252kw, all of which comes through as smooth as if you were idling a 1-litre engine in a Pick n Pat parking lot.
At 120km/h on an open road, gear down from 5th, to 4th, to 3rd, and there’s not a wince from the engine. Sure the real petrolheads will groan at this ‘cos we want the thrust from behind and the rev of a V6, but a civilized human with his family in the car is going to welcome the electric motor picking up the slack of the gear change.
Over 160km/h the car did get a bit wobbly, but how often are you going to drive that speed anyway?
Driving the 450h is like walking into a bank with a fully loaded AK47 and a pair of tights in your pocket. You feel invincible!
Inside the Lexus GS is as comfortable as you can imagine. Leather all round with contrasting trim, a Playstation steering wheel and the party piece: a 12.3” center console display. Some would call it overkill, others unnecessary and others “still smaller than my penis”. Whatever your take on it, it’s so big they have had to chop their OS in two. The familiar Lexus mouse system can hover from the right section to left.
Gripes? Is it necessary to have such a big button for switching between Eco, Sport and Sport Plus? Couldn’t the mouse control go there instead. That’s all.
As for pricing, there is only one option in this range and that’s the 350. The cheapest hybrid model is R180 000 (and then some) more expensive than the most expensive 350 model. That’s a down-payment on a new house in a decent neighborhood. Frivolous spending really. And for what, to save a few trees?
Model
GS 250
GS350
GS 450h
GS 450h F-Sport
Engine type
2500 cm³ V6
3456 dm³
3456 dm³ Hybrid V6 with electric motor and battery
3456 dm³ Hybrid V6 with electric motor and battery
Max power
154 kW @ 6400 rpm
233 kW @ 6400 rpm
213 kW @ 6000 rpm
(252 kW total system output)
213 kW @ 6000 rpm
(252 kW total system output)
Max torque
253 Nm @ 4800 rpm
378 Nm @ 4800 rpm
345 Nm + 275 Nm
345 Nm + 275 Nm
0-100 km/h
8.8 secs
6.3 secs
6.1 secs
6.1 secs
Gearbox
6-speed auto
6-speed auto
e-CVT
e-CVT
Consumption (combined)
8.9 ℓ /100 km
9.4 ℓ/100 km
6.2 ℓ/100 km
6.2 ℓ/100 km
CO2 (comb.)
215 g/km
223 g/km
139 g/km
139 g/km
GS 250 EX R494 400
GS 350 EX R564 900
GS 450h F-Sport R753 700
GS 450h SE R771 700
Helica 1913
This car is a great demonstration of how far we’ve come as humans. It only took two mechanics losing their fingers for the invertor Marcel Layet to finally work out that the propeller went on top.
The idea was simple, “a plane without wings”. Passengers sat one behind the other like in a plane and the front mounted propeller put out 6kw of power. Not a lot by any means, but when you consider that the car only weighed 250kg, it’s nor surprise it hit speeds upwards of 170km/h.
Maybach Exelero
It may look more tlike a bad charicature of rap moron 50 Cent than a one-off design made for a tyre company, but the Maybach Exelero is mostly a throwback to the machine beasts of the 30’s.
The specs on this machine are astonishing as well. A V12 Twin Turbo engine adds to the more than 2.5 tons of weight. And the price…$8 000 000.
Ferrari 250 Testarossa
There’s almost no racing event in the world that this car hasn’t impressed at, and that include Le Mans and the Sebring 12 hours. For this reason alone, every petrolhead worth their carbon emission wants to drive one.
The V12 engine spits out 223kw and can go from 0-100 in just 6 seconds. So saught after is this car that one went for a record $16.4 million at auction last year.
Lamborhini Reventon
Not rare if you’ve ever spent any time playing Forza, but you have to admit that this car is breathtakingly beautiful. Like something Batman turned down before deciding on his other car.
Borrowing the engine from a Murciélago LP640, the Reventon has a maximum speed of 340 km/h and accelerates to 100km/h in 3.4 seconds.
Only 20 were made and they each cost $1 000 000. The only thing similar they could find to race it against was a Tornado fighter.
Isdera Imperator 108i
This car is proof that not everybody in the 80’s was snorting coke. Some people will still taking acid and smoking weed.
This car was only reproduced 30 times and each one was given its own rear-facing periscope and gullwing doors.
Any South African will tell you that you get 3 types of families in our country: Toyota families, Ford families and Volkswagen families.
We’re brought home from the hospital on the day we’re born in our fathers choice of one of the above, he gives us the money for a second hand one when we turn 17, it’s what we buy when we have a child of our own and it’s the make of car that carries our coffin to our grave on the day we die. Our brand of car is unwavering, sometimes irrational and always emotional.
You’ll understand then why the launch of the new face-lifted Volkswagen CC is such a huge deal. This car represents one of South Africa’s favorites firmly taking on the big boys in the market, the BMW 3-Series and the Merc C-Class.
That’s a huge dragon to sleigh.
The good news is that VW have made a beast of a car here.
Firstly the ride is more comfortable than minestrone soup in mid-June. Velvety and effortless and steering, manageable like Grade 1 math.
Pair this with the very decent delivery of power from three engines in the range, and you have the makings of something great. There’s a very fast 3.6-litre V6 with 225kW of output and a very comfortable 2-litre TDi.
While both are predictable VW engines, the 6-speed automatic DSG gearbox they’re paired to make for some steady, albeit a bit mundane, driving. Worth noting, they’ve done away with the manuals from the last range as no one was buying them.
You’ve got the comfortable ride and the speed. Check. But if it’s going to go out dragon sleighing, the CC has got to be just as comfortable on the inside. And it is…
Few spots on the interior can be picked out as “cost-cutting”. The dash is modern and smooth and even features a strip of wood trim a la some sort of Bentley or Rolls or something. They did however let someone who listens to Gareth Cliff in the morning get a word in somewhere, so you’ll find a stupid analog clock in the middle of the wood trim, protected by a piece of plastic nog al. It can’t all be good.
Another niggle on the inside was the absence (in option and standard equipment) of a USB port anywhere. VW South Africa, rightfully so, defend this by insisting that it’s not their doing, but rather how the cars arrive from Germany. But this doesn’t distract from the fact that the Germans have left out one of the most standard connection ports in the world in a car that is aimed at the upper-end of the spending spectrum. Instead you’ll have to make do with just an SD card and optional Bluetooth audio.
As I pointed out to some of the griping journos, you could also just buy one of these.
The last word has got to go to the astonishing design of this car. Take a look at that sloping back roofline and tell me that isn’t going to put the Audi A5 or Audi A7’s nose out of place? Just spectacular!
Only time will tell how this new offering will dent the sales of some of the most popular cars on SA roads. What do I think? I think they’ve got a brilliant car here, and anyone who’s in the market would be an idiot not to check it out.
But if I had it my way, I would have advised VW to rebrand the car in some way, the way Toyota did with Lexus. I fear that too many of those ol’ traditional Saffas who see VW as the honest, homely, reliable and safe brand that brought them up through childhood are going to have a hard time buying this car now that it’s taking itself seriously and trying to be all hoighty and stuff.
They wouldn’t even have to do much. Just tone down the huge VW badge in the front, find a more sleek and stylish way to get it across, maybe come up with a new emblem or something. Although that would be a bit like painting a penis on a picture of the president of a country. So nevermind.
It’s not often you’ll see ze Germans and the Italians working together on a project…unless it involves sticking one over the British. This is a rarity…the BMW Zagato Coupe.
Stunning isn’t it?
This concept was revealed at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este classic car show, held on the banks of Lake Como.
Features that tell you it’s a Zagato car: no rear or front bumpers, flat door handles and their signature double-bubble roof leaving space for a helmet. None of which are present here as this is a 100% road-legal car, a challenge to the designers apparently.
The only specs released are that the car has a light-weight aluminium body, is rear wheel drive and looks great. Definitely some BMW Z characteristics in there.
Fans of American V8 engines, brace yourself.
Chevrolet had announced they’ll be bringing out a new V8 SS Sedan in the near future. Well that is if you consider 2013 for 2014 the near future, and that is if you live somewhere in the US.
The limited production version of the Chevrolet SS will be a 2014 model and will arrive in dealer showrooms in the United Stated in late 2013. Some palonka with too much money will no doubt import one into South Africa. And from that day on, none of us will get any sleep while that guy prowls the streets at night.
Watch the Daytona 500 for it’s racing debut in 2013.
Scion came up with a great idea to virally market their new iQ to the public. “Let’s ruin 4 of them”, marketers said.
So they took models, bikers, pigs (sic cops) and dudes, threw them into the car which was wired with some cameras and did donuts in a donut shop parking lot. The ruining came in when they gave each group some donuts and milk to drink while the spinning went on.
Watch the fun below.
The campaign only lasted about a week before some prude on Youtube called the “babes” clip sleazy and Scion, probably in fear of having their brand associated with something sleazy, pulled the ad.
No complaints yet about the other 3 ads in the campaign. Except the dudes one. Everyone is complaining about it not flipping over and bursting into a ball of flames.
A combination in the range, BlueTEC Diesel models and a BLueEfficiency petrol engines.
