The ‘ener-G-force’ fuel cell SUV concept is an idea of the future of environmentally friendly off-road vehicles that ambulances and policemen might be using.

Bleeding awesome, I say!

So here’s how it works (at least in theory). Obviously it’s a zero emission vehicle which stores recycled water on the roof in tanks. This water is then transferred to the ‘hydro-tech converter’ which converts the natural resources in to usable hydrogen for the fuel cells.

The energy is stored in batteries stored in the side skirts of the car, that or replaceable batteries. These change color as the charge decreases, letting the driver know it’s time for a change.

Drive 500 miles on the four wheel hub motors driving each wheel. The car also has a “Terra Scanner” on the rood which permanently scans the surroundings and is thus able to adjust suspension parameters for maximum traction on the respective surfaces.

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Now the Marauder’s parents, the Paramount Group, have given birth to the next child in the family: the Marauder Patrol. And here it is.

Sick, isn’t it?

The Patrol is made by Africa’s largest privately held defense and aerospace company, and is essentially a Toyota Land Cruiser underneath. It becomes a whole new beast once they strap on one of their ballistic protection spec settings, in all, reaching a weight of nearly 3 tons.

The Marauder is an amazing machine, but it’s far, far from practical in day-to-day situations. That’s where the Patrol comes in. Based on COTS (commercial off the shelf) driveline components, the Patrol is aimed at military, police and special forces that require an agile and quick response vehicle for use in tough environments. Like for example if the South African mine workers decided they wanted more money.

They claim it has a deliberately non-aggressive appearance – making it perfect for police, peacekeepers or Special Forces operating in sensitive environments. I say they got Stevie Wonder to design the non-aggresve styling parts.

The Patrol has got the STANAG Level 1 ballistic protection, meaning it can stop shell fragments as well as 7.62mm and 5.56mm bullets. For those wanting extra protection, there is the choice to increase ballistic to STANAG Level 2, without impacting the performance of the vehicle.

The vehicle comes in either a five-door ‘SUV’ version which can carry nine people or a four-door ‘double cab pick-up’ model which can carry a maximum of five people.

In both cases, the vehicle is available with optional extras of run-flat tire inserts, communications systems, add-on armor, various weapons stations and automatic transmission.

Crew comfort and ergonomics were key design elements and the vehicle is fully air-conditioned with plenty of space for tools, medical supplies and communications equipment.

Here are the specs:
Weight – 2,950kgs
Top speed – 120km/h
Turning circle – 15m
Range – 500 or 800km
Engine – 128kw Turbo Diesel
Blast protection – Hand grenade

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Apparently their next trick involves locking a Mini Countryman in a room with a Range Rover Evoque, giving them a bottle of tequila and an Owl City album, and waiting for automative nature to take its course.

The Paceman is the world’s first Sports Activity Coupé in the premium small and compact vehicle segment and also Mini’s 7th model.

There are two doors, a large, in fact very large tailgate, lounge concept interior and two bonus, full-sized seats in the back.

The obvious feature which sets it apart is the downward-sloping roofline and tapering towards the rear.

Other than that, not much has changed. There’s the familiar two petrol and diesel engines as before, 82 kw and 135 kw with a JCW in the works for the future. All-wheel drive is an option.

Petrolhead numbers: 0 – 100 in 7.5 seconds and top speed of 217km/h.

Coming next year.

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The LS was built to showcase everything that Lexus represents. It even features active cruise control and a shiatsu massage function as standard.

Then there’s the LFA and who doesn’t know about the Lexus LFA. This was the Japanese brands chance to kick that little Nissan GTR in the teeth and prove to the world that Lexus could do speed as well as they could do comfort.

And today, a new member of the Royal family is reintroduced: the Lexus LX.

The luxury SUVs you already know are McDonalds R2-50 soft-serves to the Lexus LX’s Ben and Jerry’s R45 full tub.

There’s only one model of the LX coming to SA, but one is enough. The LX 570 5.7-litre V8 comes at the SE specification grade.

Inside 8 people can enjoy the SE luxury which includes electrically adjusted seats with built-in heating function for the driver and passenger, and reclining functionality with power slide for the second row of seats.

The centre console houses a full-colour multi-information touch sensitive TFT display screen giving access to the Multi-Terrain Select mode (MTS) with wheel angle display, full GPS HDD navigation with voice command and the Lexus-exclusive 19-speaker Mark Levinson sound system.

The LX does do offroad, although why would you do that, but in case you do there’s a 12V outlet in the back and 4 cameras all round to make sure you don’t drive off anything you shouldn’t. There’s also 3 TV screens inside for the bored kids picking fights with passing cars.

Outside Lexus are toting about their much bigger, more grand Spindle Grille design which is supposed to show us that they’re not just into luxury but also other bolder things like dust and sand.

The power for the LX comes from a massive V8 5.7-litre petrol engine that produces 270kw of power but a pretty decent 3.2 tonnes of towing capacity.

The car is in permanent 4WD and the safety features abound including 10 airbags, four-wheel disc brakes with a multi-terrain anti-lock braking system (ABS), brake assist (BA), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD), vehicle stability control (VSC), off road ready active traction control (A-TRAC), hill-start assist (HAC) and crawl control with turn assist.

Personally I prefer to drive my car myself, especially when off-roading, but the Lexus LX does it all for you.

Get it: www.lexus.co.za
For: R1 178 600

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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.

ML 250 BlueTEC 4MATIC                                               R683 500

ML 350 BlueTEC 4MATIC                                               R778 000

ML 350 4MATIC BlueEFFICIENCY                              R752 000

ML 500 4MATIC BlueEFFICIENCY                              R935 900

ML 63 AMG                                                                        R1 380 000

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