I was never planning on writing anything about this rental car, and as such I didn’t pack my SLR camera as I left for vacation to North America. But such was the driving experience that I had to make do with my smartphone, and at least write a little something. Also, the fifth-generation Mustang recently went out of production after nearly ten years of service. So in short, this is my goodbye to the best generation of Mustangs yet.
The Kia Soul never struck me as a standout car when it came out in 2008, and after six years of being in the market it has received a facelift. On first impressions, the Kia Soul is meant to be a stylish alternative to a hatchback or small MPV, but to be honest I never was smitten by the looks of the previous Soul. The interior wasn’t that nice either, what with low-rent materials scattered throughout. However, going with Kia’s new-found mojo of designing good-looking cars, things look a lot better for the new Soul, which might just make my job of convincing you that it’s a good car that bit easier.
Dodge have finally unveiled the true horsepower number of their upcoming super muscle car, the SRT Challenger Hellcat, and it's a lot.
The Hellcat’s supercharged 6.2-litre HEMI V8 engine has an official power figure of 707hp and 650 lb ft of torque. This makes the Hellcat not only the the most powerful Dodge V8 ever, but also the most powerful muscle car in history. The car will come with two key fobs, a red and black one. When the black fob is in use, engine power is limited to 500hp, while the red key fob unleashes all of the available 707hp. An eight-speed TorqueFlite automatic transmission is available for sending all that grunt to the rear wheels. No official acceleration times have been made available yet, but a safe estimate should be in the low 12-second or high 11-second range on the quarter-mile. We’ll be sure to post the times when track tests start rolling in. Ferrari F12 TRSFerrari are rather good at making good-looking cars, but they’ve gone a step further and made the stunning F12 TRS for a special customer. The one-off car is rumoured to have cost around $4.2 million, and for that you get the same 6.3-litre V12 producing 740hp and 690Nm of torque as in the F12 Berlinetta, allowing it to get from 0-100km/h in 3.1 sec and from 0-200km/h in 8.1 sec. You also get one of the rarest cars ever, and a car that will be very sought after by collectors. Ford Focus STThe Ford Focus ST has received a few updates, the biggest of which is the availability of a diesel engine. The turbocharged 2.0-litre EcoBoost with 250hp is carried over from the previous version, but it now comes with a stop-start function – improving fuel efficiency by a claimed six percent. As mentioned before, a new diesel engine is available – a 2.0-litre TDCi unit producing 185hp and 400Nm of torque, with CO2 emissions being 114g/km. Acceleration from 0-100km/h is 6.5 sec for the petrol option and 8.1 sec for the diesel option. Other updates include new chassis control technologies, tuned suspension and steering, and bespoke tyre specification. The exterior gets new headlamps, grille, bumper design, and 19-inch wheels. The interior now gets a new SYNC 2 connectivity system with a high definition 8-inch touch screen. Jaguar F-TYPE Project 7To celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Le Mans winning D-type, Jaguar will be building a special edition F-TYPE called the Project 7. The car will come with a 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine producing 575hp and 680Nm, propelling the 1,585kg roadster from 0-100km/h in 3.9 sec and on to an electronically limited top speed of 300km/h. The Project 7 name pays homage to Jaguar’s seven Le Mans titles, and will be limited to 250 examples. An eight-speed Quickshift automatic transmission is standard, as well as an Electronic Active Differential, Carbon Ceramic Matrix (CCM) brakes, and Torque Vectoring by Braking (TVbB). Other items found on the Project 7 are carbon-fibre aerodynamic aids and a different suspension set-up to the standard F-TYPE.
When the current Kia Sportage made its first appearance in 2010, it struck me as one of the best-looking crossover SUVs I’ve seen in a long time. Fast forward to this mildly facelifted 2014 version, and things are much the same. Competitors such as the Toyota RAV4 and Ford Kuga have since been newly released, but despite them being a bit younger, I personally think the Sportage still beats them in the looks department. The only car I can think of that’s in the same segment that looks better is the rather more expensive Range Rover Evoque. Apart from looks though, my two weeks with the Sportage revealed other reasons for why it’s a rather good car to live with.
What do you buy when you just want a cheap run-around, that you don’t mind bearing a few small scratches from other careless drivers coming out of parking spots? Most people would go for a small hatchback and then call it a day. Me? I’ve bought an 18-year-old E36 BMW 320i, and considering that it was just a regular run-of-the-mill 3-Series in the ‘90s, convincing you that it’s a standout car might be a bit difficult.
To celebrate 30 years of the M5, BMW have unveiled the most powerful M5 yet, the special edition “30 Jahre M5”.
The 30 Jahre M5 is limited to only 300 examples, and will come equipped with the same twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 as the standard M5, but with power rated at 600hp – making it 40hp more powerful, and with torque rated at 700Nm (516 lb-ft). Acceleration from 0-100km/h takes 3.9 seconds, while top speed is limited to 250km/h (305km/h with optional M Driver’s Package). The claimed combined fuel economy and CO2 figures are 9.9l/100km and 231g/km. It might have a silly name, but by the looks of evo magazine's test drive, the LaFerrari has stepped the supercar game up by quite some margin. It will definitely make McLaren P1 and Porsche 918 Spyder owners think if they truly made the right buying choice. Enjoy. The new Cee’d GT is Kia’s very first attempt at producing a hot hatch, which was enough reason for me to travel nearly 260km to Zurich to get a hold of a test car. But apart from being keen to know what it’s like as a first attempt, I also wanted to know how it compares to the already established big names of the hot hatch world. In other words, will it give Ford Focus ST and Volkswagen Golf GTI owners nightmares? Or will they laugh at the poor fools who ended up buying one? I had two weeks to find out.
Whether you enjoy going to motor shows or not, there's no denying that this year's Geneva Motor Show isn't short of some interesting new metal. With that said, this gallery is but a summary of some of the cool new cars at the show, and should give you an idea of what to expect when the doors open to the public tomorrow. Enjoy.
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