Comparo Accord V6 vs Teana V6 vs Superb V6 4x4
V6 will rock you The new Teana V6 and Superb V6 4x4 take on the Accord V6 Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre
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Driven Chevrolet Cruze LTZ
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Back to the front
The General prepares the next wave in its fightback to the throne Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Martin Alva
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WINNERS Yokohama Tyres N Vikram
Porsche 911 (1:18) Shruti Sodera
Goodyear Garage John Philip
Porsche Principle Ava Marazban Amroliwala
Lambo cap Amit Samant J Shane Lambo Bag Neeraj Pundlik Dilip Ramesh Lambo Gallardo Yogesh Sahu BMW X6 Naraintran S Kartikey Umre Kamal Ramreddy Yeltiwar Gajanan Hole Audi Q7 (1:87) Amit Gupta Palash Jain Audi Q7 (1:43) Gavin Almeida Audi TT Rashmi Samant Azal Kunnath Merc umbrella Rajeshwar Parkhani Jaseem PM Basil Thampi Sharan Shrinivasan Rajan Chadha Merc caps Aadit Ajay Laghate Manish Mithagare Ayush Deep Akbar Karjikar Rithesh Shetty
Cramster Hippo Shankar Bhat Mehak Chadha Shaikh Imran Anirudh Ubgade Ravinesh Khokher Mohsin Khawas Garfield Soares Bikash Ranjan Mohanty Rajive Sudera Saurin Patel Cramster Turtle Chetan Dholakia Amber Gill Kartik Swarup Udayarashmi G Ganesh Star OD subscription Phani Uppala Anuj Sodera Priyanka Rao Dhaval Thakkar Minhaj Ahmed surendra dhingra Shoaib Mohammed Saniel Faseeh Mhaskar Priju C Thomas Naresh Dhiman Outdoor Travel Gear Bike charger Utpaljiet Singh Khanduja Lester Lobo Prabhjyot Singh Ashish Joneja Nobel Aiyappa Eicher Atlas Vinu Menon Roopesh Kumar K.V Max Khan Ishan Singh Janesh Mehta Hyundai i20 clock Srinath H R Ariete key chains Simran Agarwal Amit S Duke TT DVD M Rhenius Amal Abraham
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Yamaha frames Sachin Pradeep Rahul Naik JK Trip Suhrud N Gujarathi Jazz shirt Vikram Godbole Skoda book Vinod Dhumale One Man’s Island Siddharth Sharma Vortex Sunil Singh Aniket Dongerkery Rohit Gutch Nishant Kanodia Sandeep Kallappa Ralliart RC Yash Jani JK Tee Ramith B Shetty Saifullah Badar JK Puncture kit Rohit Patil Deepak Kale Krishanu Dutta Manu GP Antonio D’costa Hrishikesh Dixit Channabasanna S Kailash Haresh MRF Caps Natarajan Subramanian Madu Sridhar Bangyaa Vashum Siju Varghese Sunoj Kittunni Dinesh Chordia Shrestha Singh Amit Bhalla Rakesh Kumar Angural Bharat Bhushan Ralliart Tees Akshay Rajgure Ramreddy Yeltiwar Pradyumna Taduri Vijeet Rathi Khushveer Sahni Ralliart caps Ricky Madappa Vishal Kinha Sandeep Kumar Ceasar Braz Mithun Poovanna
October 2009 www.OVERDRIVE.in
Prizes are subjected to change without notice. OVERDRIVE’s decision on the winners is final and non-negotiable. Contests open to Indian residents only.
Drive Honda Civic
Vamped up Civic Honda’s D-segment chartbuster gets a face-lift
T Spoiler admits sporty aspirations but little under the hood to excite
Interiors stay the same though the automatic’s steering wheel gets cruise control switches
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he Honda Civic is by far India’s most loved D-segment car, setting sales charts on fire ever since the day it was launched. Despite its popularity, stiff competition from Toyota’s Corolla Altis and Skoda’s new Laura have reduced the Civic’s appeal. Not to be left behind, Honda has refreshed the Civic with visual enhancements rather than mechanical upgrades. The new car will now be available in three trim levels with two gearbox options. You could also opt for either the Elegance or the Inspire packages similar to the new Accord. So what’s new in the Civic? At the front you get redesigned bumpers inspired by Honda’s iconic Type-R hatch giving it a typical Jap aftermarket tuner effect. Adding to the drama is a rear spoiler coupled with new smoky effect headlamps and an octagonal tail lamp array. Overall the Civic does look much sportier and hints at a more aggressive stance. Sadly nothing under the hood has changed. As
for the interiors, you get new fabric upholstery to begin with. The biggest inclusion however is cruise control on the automatic variant with control switches for this system located on the steering wheel. Though why Honda decided to go down this path and not the one that provides steering mounted audio controls is anybody’s guess. After all in India the audio system is used more often than cruise control ever will be. Nevertheless for those who appreciate the Honda quality and want a good looking car, in fact the best looking car in this segment, you need look no further than the Civic. We however were expecting more out of this car, and by that we mean some significant mechanical refreshments as well. Prices for the new Civic have gone up by nearly a lakh of rupees across every variant though for sheer value the Civic does not spell much. As it stands the arguments favouring the Honda Civic are not going to last too long.
Comparo Zen Estilo vs Hyundai Santro
Around town The Maruti Zen Estilo gets a new face while the Santro makes do with interior tweaks. We settle another city car debate Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre
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’m sure that by the time this reaches you, the blokes at Guinness Book of World Records must already be inscribing the Maruti Suzuki name for launching a record number of small cars in the recent times. Jokes apart, Maruti is on a roll. Celebrating 25 years of its existence, the company is currently riding high on the tech and design prowess it has acquired in the past few years (read post Swift era). Gone are the days of tinny small
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cars and internationally phased out Suzuki models with dated powerplants (which were still efficient) that spoilt India for choice for more than two decades. Its elite line-up now features current models that are developed and manufactured in the country for the world. Another breakthrough has been the K-series engine that we’ve already seen on the A-star and the Ritz. This is the new face of Maruti and the face-lifted Zen Estilo is the latest addition to Maruti’s prolifer-
ating small car fleet. Essentially the MR Wagon, the Zen Estilo was a decade old design and still shared the showroom floor with its successor, the Wagon R. Sporting the same engine as the latter, it was quite accomplished on the mechanical front but what it lacked was contemporary design. Being a Maruti, it still sold but it wasn’t a patch on the outgoing Zen. To add pizzazz to the Zen successor, Maruti gave it a fresh new face and most impor-
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Feature Harley-Davidson India launch
Mango mercy Harley-Davidson arrives in India, thank the humble alphonso!
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t’s been a long time coming since we first heard about the mango-Harley deal, but the mango tree is about to bear fruit. Harley-Davidson has finally started the process of coming to India, beginning with the creation of its fully-owned subsidiary in India, Harley-Davidson Motor Company India Private Limited. We met Anoop Prakash, the managing director for a chat. When quizzed about the mangos-for-Harley deal he smiled, “Think of it as an icon for an icon. The Americans will now get to experience an Indian icon, and we’re hoping that Indian enthusiasts will soon take part in the American icon’s experience.” How soon will this happen? “Harley’s Indian operation is a world first for us. The usual way is to set up a distributor and follow that with a subsidiary once the brand’s been established. India is the first time we’ve set up a subsidiary before sales have begun. That’s how serious we are. We’d like to announce the initial model line in January 2010, hopefully at the Auto Expo. Our first dealers, in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and in Punjab (Chandigarh or Ludhiana), should be open by September 2010 and that is when sales should begin.” Harley isn’t fully clear on what bikes it is bringing. Prakash said, “We expect to open the chapter with 12 to 15 motorcycles representing each family of HarleyDavidsons. Obviously, if someone were to want a specific model, like the CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations - Harleys customised at H-D), they can always order them. We will have to procure the special
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orders, of course, and that means delivery periods will be a little longer than usual.” We probed deeper into the model line-up and Prakash added, “We’ve done extensive clinics and the motorcycles that consistently received a good response are the Night Rod Special, the Fat-Boy and of course, our entry level bike, the Sportster.” Which means it’s almost certain that these will make the starting grid. What about the XR1200? The XR1200 comes closest to being a regular naked for the street and looks brilliant! Anoop smiles, “Indians seem to love the XR. They grasp immediately that it will be easy to ride, fun to own and it look great.” But Harleys are seriously expensive motorcycles aren’t they? “We are going to be hindered by the huge duties the Indian Government levies on imported motorcycles. We started this process and finally cleared a way for 800cc+ motorcycles to be sold legally in India. Even if no one else in the industry speaks up for lower duties, we will. We believe that a more reasonable duty structure will actually be more beneficial to the government in terms of revenue and to the enthusiast in terms of accessibility and we will do what we can about that. As of now, if you add the duties to the showroom price our cheapest model in the US, we should be looking at a range that starts from Rs 7 lakh. We will do everything we can to see that we enter India at that price or as much lower than that as possible. While we don’t think pricing is the biggest challenge for our products in India, it
India MD Anoop Prakash (left) and (global) COO Mark Levatich at Harley’s India launch
The XR1200 is a gorgeous, street-naked Harley. We want this!
The Electra Glide is the ultimate Harley-Davidson for touring
Arnie made these famous. The Fat-Boy is another bike Indians seem to like very much
The Dyna Street Bob is at the heart of H-D’s factory bobber-style cruisers
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Test JAGUAR XF
Cat among the pigeons Jaguar’s XF in all its excess is here to stun the well heeled! Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre
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Road Test no. 815 OD rating Price Rs 62.5 lakh ex-showroom Mumbai
+ V8 audio better than B&W + Incredible interiors easily class best + 0-100kmph in 7.2s - Styling may not appeal to everybody - RWD & 385PS not for amateurs - Lack of dealers and service centres
ow many Indians are going to be driving Jaguars now that Tata Motors has brought them to India? I don’t know how many of you will ever drive a Jaguar, I certainly won’t be - not that I don’t want to, but I just can’t afford to. In fact, I’d actually love to own and drive a Jaguar; since I was a kid it’s been one marque that has shared space on my wall with Ferrari, Lamborghini and Claudia Schiffer. As iconic automotive brands go there are few more spectacular or aspirational ones than Jaguar. For decades the world has diligently watched their every move, from the highs of the ’50s to the lows in the late ’90s. Over the last seventy plus years Jaguar has seen numerous mergers. In my opinion they did nothing to match the reception Jaguar was accorded until the 1940s. Now that it has been acquired by Tata Motors, will the association help it get back to former glory is anybody’s guess. What I do know is because of the merger we are now able to see and drive Jaguars in India, a situation that was never on the cards with Ford at the helm. There are just a handful of Jaguars I can recall. The 1940s E-Type to date is one of the most sinuous shapes ever crafted. The XK140 Roadster is one of my all time prime favourites; in fact I remember it more vividly than I do Sarah Michelle Gellar from ‘Cruel Intentions’. Then there’s the XJ220, the first 350kmph supercar until the advent of the McLaren F1. The eighties and the nineties however saw Jaguar cars failing to garner public interest. Staunch Brits were the only ones buying the pouncing cats but even those numbers dwindled. That state of affairs lasted until around 2006 when the XK, a 2-door sports coupe made people sit up and take notice. It was followed in 2008 by the XF and then Jaguar was finally bought out by Tata Motors. Now, roughly 20 years after I pinned my first Jaguar poster on my wall much to the consterna-
tion of my mom who could never understand my fascination with all things automotive, I’m driving the XF.
DESIGN In all honesty, I am not a big fan of the XF’s styling. If you have seen the C-XF, you’d agree. The C-XF was first showcased at the 2007 North American Motor Show as a 4-door coupe-like concept on which the XF is based. But it’s incredible just how much difference a few design details can make. Where the C-XF looks truly spectacular, the XF is a unique sedan and the design details responsible for that heaven and earth difference are the shape of the headlamps, those large 22-inch wheels that fill the wheel wells and a low sloping roofline that enhances its muscular flanks. The XF isn’t a bad looking car; thankfully it does not look solid and plain like the cars that come from the other side of the channel. It has a fraility and elegance that traditional British cars embodied so well. It will make people look up and it will make urchins run up to it just to get a peek at the superstar sitting inside. Black is the colour that an XF is most becoming in, and to drive home the point the cars showcased at the India launch and displayed at the Jaguar showroom are all black. It has lines that are not straight and are devoid of any kinks. The XF is curvy in a very wholesome Claudia Schiffer way; it makes you walk tall and add a hint of arrogance to your strut. The graceful aura it exudes is not understated, but neither is it brash and in-your-face. I suppose Jaguar could have utilised a less garish grille which draws attention away from the sculpted hood and flared arches. The rear however is very similar to an Aston Martin accentuated by the wraparound tail lamps and the chrome strip on the boot lid, but is that so bad? I think not; at the very least it gives the XF its best visual impact.
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Feature Jazz Yatra
Sound B garden Hunting for ‘live’ music in the garden city Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre
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angalore airport is nuts. But thankfully, the car I’m is humming peacefully along the expressway into town. I’m humming along to Axel F... Axel F? Which Bangalore cabbie plays Harold Faltermeyer? Then the staccato syllables of Kannada interrupt the riff. What’s playing, my friend? “Famous saang from film-a. Auto Raja - remake of old, famous Kannada film starring Shankar Nag.” Oh really? And
they ripped off Axel F, eh? “Ille saar, Axle all ok. Only service yesterday.” Quite. Welcome to the garden city, then. I’m here searching for music. My bungling around is now cemented into legend. Who said third time lucky, then? I’m here on a Monday, which even a failed restaurant owner will tell you is the slowest day in the week. To make things worse, while I’m looking for 'live' music with an open mind, the Karnataka
government, ever at the forefront of fundamental, up-to-the-minute social change has seen fit to kick the guitars in, hole the drums and clamp the cymbals shut. Doomed? I call a friend who’s proud to be a local. “Yeah, yeah that sucks. But there are places which do still play 'live' music. I think the most famous place is a joint called Opus. There’s two of them, I’ll text you the address you should go to. Oh, and try Take 5 for jazz...” Yeah, I know. Viraj
(Suvarna, remember him from the Goa trip?) told me to head in there. “...and if you can try Kyra. Oh and there’s this place...” I scrawl illegible notes, even to me, in my new notes book as I try to keep up with her furious list of places. While I figure out the itinerary for the day, I go get the Jazz I’m supposed to be driving around to the various pubs and clubs. Now, as nice as the Jazz is, driving to the clubs totally isn’t happening, man. Imagine an evening full of
good music, great conversation, some photography and great food. With iced water and a slice of lime to chase it down with. Or at best, a Virgin Mary. At least the white Jazz I’m in is a quiet place to have the aircon running while the Garmin, Google Maps, and my notes book try to make sense of the schedule. This is what I like about this car, and I’ve said this before. Luggage stowed in the boot, Gaurav’s catching forty winks and missing many - in the rear seat,
while I spread myself out on the front seats. Everything, including me, finds more than adequate space. Strains of Pink Floyd’s Momentary Lapse of Reason sound good and seem eerily appropriate. The aircon smooths the edge off the pregnant humidity. But where to bloody start? My phone rings. “Here’s the number, call DJ Ivan.” DJ Ivan is a famous professional disc jockey who’s played some serious gigs and plays regularly at some very hip joints all over
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Ride Hero Honda Karizma ZMR
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Comeback The HH Karizma gets sportier styling and fuel injection. Is it back in the game? Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Mohd Nasir
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he Karizma name has stirred my fancy a couple of times. The first time was in 2003, when a friend informed me of this spectacular bike that had landed at the local Hero Honda dealership. I zipped there as fast as my RX135 would take me. Only to be crestfallen at the swanky Karizma’s Rs 90k price tag. I remember the sleepless nights that ensued as I devised plans to acquire a Karizma and I turned green with envy every time a Karizma rider passed me by. It was ‘the’ bike in my college years but things have changed radically since. We now have potent bikes like the Yamaha R15 and Bajaj Pulsar 220 with their chick magnet appeal, as desi alternatives to biking nirvana. Although the Karizma has drawn a faithful following over the years, sales had been dwindling and even an ‘R’ suffix and cheeky red wheels didn’t really help. It was time for Hero Honda to give it a serious makeover. The launch of the new version was the second time the Karizma stirred me up in much the same way as
the first time. I kept wondering if the revamp was just cosmetic involving a few new stickers, or it went more than skin-deep, making for a completely new bike. The Karizma ZMR, praise the lord, is a completely new design and except for the fuel tank, it is hard to find a resemblance to the old Karizma. The new bike looks far sportier with a full fairing and international design trends abound. The huge headlamp cluster seems inspired by the older Suzuki GSX-R and the fairing gets dummy air intakes akin to the latest Honda Fireblade’s. The rest of the fairing is formed with swooping overlapping surfaces and reveal just enough of that proven engine, now finished in a shade of gold. The sides are splattered with big ‘ZMR’ decals that look a lot like the Hayabusa kanjis. The kickstart has been dumped. The rear has been completely redesigned and is cast in the same mould as the CBZ Xtreme’s, although it’s sleeker. The tail lamp gets a cool pentagonal arrangement of LEDs and is flanked by clear lens blinkers. The Xtreme
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Feature Mclaren MP4-12C
Upper cut
This McLaren MP4-12C aims to beat Ferrari in the road-going supercar arena Words Ray Hutton Photography McLaren
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cLaren aims to beat Ferrari. Nothing new or surprising about that. Except that this isn’t on the track and doesn’t involve World Champions. In 2011, McLaren will enter another supercompetitive league: the sales battle for road-going supercars. This car, the MP4-12C, is the first of a series of models that is intended to knock Ferrari off its pedestal as the maker of the world’s most desirable road cars.
It is no idle ambition. Ron Dennis, eight times World Champion F1 constructor has given up direct control of the Formula 1 team to devote his energies to a new role as executive chairman of McLaren Automotive. The car that McLaren will launch in 2011 is a two-seater coupe that will compete with the new Ferrari 458 Italia, successor to the F430. The price in the UK is expected to be something over £150,000. McLaren will emphasize the MP4-12C’s tech-
nical sophistication and Formula 1 heritage – hence the type number continuing the race car line. It is a mid-engined coupe with a notably cab-forward stance and dihedral doors that swing outwards and upwards from a single upper pivoting hinge. The MP412C is the slightly shorter, narrower and lower than the F430 and should be lighter, below 1,400kg. The chassis structure is carbon-fibre tub that weighs 80kg. It is moulded in one piece using a
unique but still-secret process that reduces the cost by a factor of 10 compared with a race-car monocoque. Outer bodywork is aluminium and SMC composite (Sheet Moulding Compound). McLaren is promising something special in suspension technology, incorporating electronic roll control. The shock absorbers are hydraulically interconnected and the car incorporates a deployable rear wing that doubles as an air brake.
The engine, mounted longitudinally, is a purpose-built 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8 with dry sump lubrication to lower mounting height. Unusually, the radiators are at the back, alongside the engine. The engine is code-named M838T. It has dual variable valve timing and revs to 8,500. McLaren says that its output is ‘around 600bhp and 600Nm’. It will need that if it is meet the claim to be the fastest car in its class; the 458
Italia claims a 320kmph top speed and 0-100kmph in 3.5sec. Like the latest Ferraris (Italia and California), the gearbox is double-clutch design with seven speeds, selected by F1-style rocker switches on the steering wheel. McLaren has been working on the MP4-12C (known during its development as P11) for more than two years and has built up a team of motor industry specialists, including managing director Antony Sheriff, who was in charge
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Drive Mercedes-Benz E 350 CGI
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Easy street Mercedes-Benz readies the new E-Class for India
Words & Photography Shubhabrata Marmar
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uto anoraks don’t use car names. A former colleague was forever E46 is better than E90 and another one was always W124’s better than W210. You don’t refer to your computer as its motherboard designation or for that matter, to your mother by her maiden name (or model number, if applicable) so why this unnecessary barrier? Well, so that I can appear suitably well-informed, what you’re looking at is the W212, the new E-Class that Mercedes-Benz will be launching shortly, replacing the round-eyed MercedesBenz they called the W211. It’s an important car for Mercedes-Benz - the C-Class racks up sales, but it’s the E that’s always been the centre piece of Merc lore, the car that set’s the bar so that the S-Class can raise it. Question is, can the W212, sorry, new E-Class do this? Let us begin with the styling package, and pay attention, for the car is actually longer, bigger and better proportioned than it looks in the pictures. Starting with the ConceptFASCINATION, Mercedes hinted at taking the soft curves of the E-Class and turning them into harder edges. The C-Class is a production example you can readily relate to. Similarly, Mercedes has taken the new E to a harder edged format. The car’s an inch longer and four inches wider, but it doesn’t really look it. The edges in the design, headlamps onward, the rising form and the stubby boot give the E an appearance of a car that knows where it’s headed. Which is a good thing, for purpose was not an attribute you’d associ-
ate with the outgoing E-Class. But there’s an elegant simplicity to this design which I rather like. In the flesh, the car also looks longer and lest I forget this is a more aerodynamic car than the previous one, and Mercedes claims it’s the slipperiest of all its peers. Bet the mirror never answered that question. The interiors mirror the exterior in philosophy - straighter lines, simple elegance and luxurious as well. As you saw in the S-Class and later ML-Class, the shifter is now mounted on the steering column and this liberates space in the centre console for bottle holders. The result is a cabin that’s actually only an inch or so bigger than before, but feels much larger. As we have said before, Mercedes-Benz remain the masters of the art of incorporating technology and gizmos into the cars without creating cabins that’re button-filled to the extent where you can’t tell what is where and what does which. Do note that Mercedes-Benz failed to locate the correct trim version - Avant Garde - for us and this is the Elegance version which is a lower specification. Avant Garde also means the big front grille with a giant threepointed star, mind you. I spent a startlingly small amount of time in the car, but for what it’s worth, it’s a typical Mercedes-Benz saloon. The ride quality is effortlessly good and the car glides just like I’ve heard EClass cars tend to do. AMG aside, the E isn’t expected to be sporty - and the E 350 CGI isn’t. It goes where you point it, it does without effort but there isn’t the sense of
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Feature Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
Bird of pray Mercedes’ stunning new SLS AMG unveiled, to debut at Frankfurt
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f you could only save one Mercedes-Benz in the world before armageddon, it would have to be the 300SL, that shook up the rule books in 1954. Regarded as one of the absolute greats whether it be in terms of automotive design, technology (for the time) or appeal, the swoopy car with its iconic doors and heritage is perhaps the most fundamental car Mercedes-Benz has ever made. Come 2009, the Gull Wing is back. Frankfurt Motor Show crowds will be blown away by this, the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. SLS means it will be replace the current SLR at the very pinnacle of German sportscar exotica, and AMG means it will have the performance to do that. But forget all that, that isn’t why the SLS is spectacular - just look at it. This car could easily be a cheeky, classy reincarnation of a car from the fifties. The long bonnet, oversize front grille, massive three-pointed star allude clearly to the 300SL. The modern touches extendable rear spoiler, LED lights and gigantic alloy wheels - perk up the old school cues, rather than turn the whole design into a mish mash. Mercedes claims to have been inspired by aircraft and some of those elements are present and work well. The SLR-style fins on the sides and the sloping bootlid produce the requisite impression of solid muscle rather well, helped no end by the pronounced shoulder and flat tail lights. But the doors will blown your doors off. They open at 70 degrees vertically and when open, it looks like the car’s about to take flight. The aircraft theme continues inside, but not as successfully, we’re afraid. Jet engine inspired aircon vents are nice, as is the seven-inch multimedia screen, but the designers have gone ballistic and the resulting interior is just a bit too cluttered with all manner of avionic-inspiration finding its way into the cabin. Where the 300SL was a clean, simple car that went brilliantly and looked smashing, the SLS cabin is a awash with too
The cockpit is attired in two-tone leathers and carbon fibre. Flat bottom wheel is sporty
SLS blends the original 300SL’s graceful lines with modern design cues
many elements, and not all sit well with each other. Not that you will have time to notice this. Under the hood is an AMG fettled naturally aspirated 6280cc front-mid mounted V8 which rumbles up 579PS at 6800rpm and 650Nm at 4750rpm. Mercedes saw fit to electronically limit the car 317kmph - we’re not sure why, but the engine delivers its considerable power to the rear wheels using a carbon-fibre shaft like Merc’s DTM racers. Thanks to a super light aluminium space frame, the car weighs a lithe 1620kg which lends credence to Mercedes’ claim of needing only 3.8 seconds to roar past 100kmph. Mercedes will employ a sevenspeed dual clutch transmission, which has launch control as well as four modes including a manual to suit your mood. The transmission is actually mounted on the rear axle and Mercedes says that the configuration allows a more direct connection between motor and wheels. The engine, as we said, is mounted front-mid which gives the car 47-53 weight distribution. Add the all-aluminium dou-
ble wishbone suspension system, the promise of direct steering and the wide track to offset the long wheelbase, and you should get a car with spectacular performance in corners as well. ESP will rein in enthusiasm and though Mercedes claim a three-stage operation that includes an off-mode, they also say that all ESP functions will be reactivated when you hit the brakes. Which, by the way, are AMG composite brakes. The SLS AMG is officially billed as a 2011 model and will go on sale in the middle of 2010 at a price expected to only be about half that of the outgoing SLR. And that isn’t all. Mercedes had also announced earlier that they are working on all all-electric version of this car, rumoured to go on sale in 2015 at the earliest, which will be even more powerful. That car is expected to use four individual motors at each of the wheels, producing a total of 880Nm (staggering!) and 532PS. Mercedes say that the electric Gull Wing will only be marginally slower than the AMG one. Phenomenal. But we’re thinking V8 rumble beats electric whine. For now.
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Test Ford Endeavour 3.0L 4x4
Keep it clean Ford unveils the new Endeavour and the changes are more than skin-deep
Words Bertrand D’souza Photography Gaurav S Thombre
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wo generations after and Ford has brought about yet another sea change in the Endeavour. This time around there isn’t a new engine but significantly, Ford has introduced an automatic gearbox. Also keeping in mind the number of years the Endeavour has been in service here in India and abroad, it has also been given a comprehensive face-lift. The timing may seem a bit awkward, with the changes coming in the wake of the new Toyota Fortuner being launched. But the change and launch had happened several months ago when I first drove the new Endeavour in the Philippines. Here then is the relevant dope on just how good or bad the new automatic Endeavour is.
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DESIGN The Endeavour’s face-lift is just that - a face-lift. Not much else has changed apart from the comprehensively restyled front end. The headlamps are now curvier and wrap around the face and on to the fender. Unlike the brutal facia of the last generation SUV, these curved lamps soften the face and give it a contemporary look. Further style revisions extend to the hood, the grille, the front bumper and the wing mirrors. The hood now follows the contours of the headlamps and the big bulge that previously extended from the windshield to the grille now stops a few inches short of the grille. It has also grown larger giving it a more pronounced though blunt look that adds muscle to the
profile. Further ahead of the hood, the front grille has also undergone a sea change. The most obvious is that the grille is no longer a rectangular unit with straight cut edges; instead it tapers toward the bottom. Three horizontal slats are decked on both top and below the three slats housing the Ford logo by wider chrome strips, with Endeavour etched across the top strip. The bumper too is softer with round edges and an inverted goatee with fog lamps on either side add to the toned down yet sporty personality. The wing mirrors too are a new design, curvier and incorporating turn indicators. They also come in a chrome overlay rather than the body coloured style seen previously. The changes may seem minor but they make for a remark-
able head turning effect. So Ford has achieved what it set out do in the first place, refresh the product without having to incur significant development costs while making it look neater, simpler and contemporary as well. That also means no significant costs will filter down to the consumer. Inside, little has changed though you will notice the neat wood inserts that lend a sophisticated look and feel. You also get an impressive feature list which includes satellite navigation, aluminium pedals, overhead LCD screen and three-row seating with air-conditioning for all three rows.
ENGINE & TRANSMISSION The engine options stay the same.
3.0L TDCi VGT 4x4
Max power
156PS@3200rpm
Max torque 380Nm@2500rpm
The big debate is that Ford will not offer the manual transmission with 4x4. Why? To this there is no clear answer and to me that reduces the desirability of the Endeavour. But as the debate raged on what became apparent is that not many diesel users complain about how bad their vehicle's fuel efficiency is. The general attitude is ‘care a damn as long as it's diesel’. So while the automatic does make life simpler on road it also simplifies matters off it. To me the best of both worlds would have been a manual 3.0; the automatic wins the argument on sheer convenience alone. And that is exactly what Ford is hoping its loyalists will conform to.
DOHC, 16-valve
Transmission 5-speed automatic LxWxH (mm) 5060x1788x1826
ACCELERATION kmph
0
sec
174kmph (limited)
Price
Rs 17.9 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi)
+ - Fuel efficiency, springy ride Top speed, convenience
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Road Test
5s
ECONOMY (kmpl)
7.3
12.1 8.5
75 % 25 %
city
Highway OVERALL
Tank capacity Range
0-400m: 20.5s/105kmph 60
0s
0-100kmph 18.27sec Top speed
Comfortable mud plugger presents cleaner rear end view
PERFORMANCE
Power/weight 78PS/ton Valvetrain
Who thought an Endeavour would sport aluminium pedals!
Auto shift stick feels vintage and odd in hand
71 litres 603.5km
Standing 1km: 38.5s/131.3kmph
80
100
10s
120
20s
IN-GEAR ROLL ON
80-0 kmph
TOP Speed (achieved)
100-0 kmph
180kmph 174kmph True speed
25s
30s
BRAKING (with ABS)
(Kick-down) 20-80kmph 10.21s 40-100kmph 13.84s
Indicated speed
825
28.95
Type
VERDICT
18.27
Specification
Speedo needle actually sees 180kmph while gear indicator is only new addition to facia
11.61
The auto box has not made the new Endeavour slower than the
Interior are familiar but sat-nav and wood inserts are fresh off the boat
6.71
performance and efficiency
Thunder+ in all the acceleration tests. It does the 100kmph run in 18.4 seconds which is nearly 4 seconds off the pace of the 3.0litre manual. The quarter mile and the standing kilometre however come up in 20.5s and 38.5s respectively. In the first case it is about a second slower but thanks to a stronger top end is nearly a second quicker close to the kilometre. At a 174kmph it also registers a much higher top speed and has better driveability than the manual. Fuel efficiency however is not top notch compared to the manual. In the city she racks up 7.3kmpl, on the highway 12.1kmpl and that gives an overall efficiency of 8.5kmpl.
3.04
However there is a new 5-speed automatic gearbox with selectable first, second and third gears and a new powertrain mix. The older 2.5-litre Endeavour will now be available in only a 2WD version; 4x4 with low ratio will be reserved only for the automatic and which will only be available with the 3.0-litre diesel. Now we aren't complaining; rather like I mentioned it in the last issue, mating an automatic to the 4x4 drivetrain is a smart thing since it makes off-roading much simpler without having to wonder which gear you need to be in. The automatic however isn't the most refined box we have seen. It is competent, does the job fairly well but lacks the refinement seen in competitive Japanese SUVs. It also felt a bit sticky and during initial acceleration felt more like a CVT rather than a conventional auto with the rev needle taking forever to hit the redline indicating a taller set of ratios. It however presents a more linear power delivery, spreading torque evenly across the rev range with the meat and potatoes being served at higher rpm. It takes away the sharp intense torque bursts that you experienced with the manual in the older Thunder+ but still offers enough lowdown grunt to engage in some amateurish hooliganism when slotted in 2WD.
0s
32.66m/3.15s
54.19m/4.27s 10s
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s
Control Average Feel Average Overall Average
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Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG
579ps, 0-100kmph in 3.8s, top speed 317kmph
Comparo Toyota Fortuner vs Mitsubishi Pajero vs Ford Endeavour vs Nissan X-Trail
Romancing the bean Black as hell/ strong as death/ sweet as love… And without it our day just wouldn’t start right; without a steaming cup of coffee. We pay homage to Indian coffee and trace its roots to Chikmagalur in the Toyota Fortuner, Mitsubishi Pajero, Ford Endeavour and Nissan X-Trail Words Sirish Chandran Photography Gaurav S Thombre
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Drive Toyota Corolla Altis Sport
Limited option Toyota’s making only 300 of these, the Corolla Altis Sport Words Shubhabrata Marmar Photography Gaurav S Thombre
S
uffix a car with Sport and throw in a new test track - whee! Well, that’s how it should be. Unfortunately, in our adrenaline addled minds, test tracks are full of wildly challenging corners, acres of run-off room, no ESP and unbridled aggression. In the real world, that rarely happens. The only thing we got out of all that, was no ESP, and that’s because the Corolla Altis doesn’t have ESP. The test track in question is the new test facility at Toyota’s Bidadi plant. Before I go completely off the track, the facility is designed for basic model testing and apart from the usual gamut of shower stalls and rumble strips, it has a 1085m straight with two U-turns at the end, both signposted for 30kmph. And no, over speeding is frowned upon. Although, I have to admit, that on the day, the Toyota staff were feeling rather indulgent, allowing me to squeal the Altis Sport as much as I liked. So what is it about the new
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Corolla Altis Sport? Well, it’s a tarted-up Altis. You get bumper extensions in the front and rear bumpers, a subtle side skirt, some headlamp highlights and a tiny rear spoiler. Inside, there’s twotone seat fabric and - oh you have to get this feature in your next car - wood-finish rear cup holders. And you can have this car in ‘two exciting colours’ - silver and grey. The overall impact, when you’re staring at the car from the outside is of a more aggressive car. I’m not saying it’s prettier or worse looking because I can’t decide. What I do know is that the Sport looks decidedly more aggressive than the vanilla Corolla Altis unlimited edition. There are no powertrain tweaks, which means you get the usual 1.8-litre V VTi engine that makes 132PS and 170Nm. Shifting up through the fivemanual box, you remember that the Altis does everything well enough to be a good drive, but the dynamic package leans
No major changes here, except for the two-tone seat fabric
That’s the new skirt and the spoiler
heavily towards a cossetting ride quality. The result is a understeery car that demonstrates its dislike for hard cornering with body roll. On the other hand, the rear seat of the Corolla is one of the best in the segment, with its exceptional ride quality (and
wood-finish cup holders) doing its utmost to offer you an unruffled, smooth commute. The limited edition is on sale for Rs 11.35 lakh ex-showroom Delhi and if you want one, you’d better rush your order in before the 300 are all spoken for.
Drive Toyota Camry 2.4L A/T
Skin deep tweaks The Toyota Camry has been given a cosmetic make-over Words Vijayendra Vikram Photography Gaurav S Thombre
I
’ve just finished dinner and what’s on my mind now is a big bowl of vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce. So what does dessert have to do with the Toyota Camry face-lift, you’re wondering. Well, vanilla is the world’s most popular ice-cream, because of the infinite possibilities of toppings it offers - chocolate chips, strawberry crush, mint sauce, crumbled Oreo cookies or whatever else your imagination can conjure. Toyota has similarly, given its best-selling Camry, a few new toppings. Toyota has not been too generous though and the new Camry’s toppings are restricted just a handful of choco chips. Toyota has not fiddled with the engine, so the changes are purely cosmetic, like a redesigned bumper and fog lamps encased in chrome surrounds. The grille hasn’t changed form but gets chrome lining along the slits for a stately appearance. A subtle change are the LED blinkers on the rear-view mirrors. The redesigned 10-spoke alloys are elegant. The changes on the inside aren’t very evident unless the
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salesman briefs you or you peer at the fine print on the brochure. The sunroof is a welcome addition as is the AUX input set in a compartment in the centre console. The air-con now features separate climate control for the front passengers and vents for the rear occupants. The A/C now features a ‘plasmacluster’ system that filters impurities and particulate matter ensuring clean air inside. The steering wheel that housed the air con and audio system controls, now sports a display button for the multi-information system displaying real time info like instantaneous fuel efficiency, tank range and external temperature. The centre console is still lit in translucent blue, inspired by the older iMacs and wooden hues could’ve lent the cabin a classier aura. The Camry is plush on the inside, a car to be revelled in from the backseat perspective. There are no changes to the powertrain, the Camry still sporting the creamy 2.4-litre engine developing 167PS of power at 6000rpm and 224Nm of torque at 4000rpm.
Opulent cabin now gets a sunroof
10-spoke alloys look good. Fogs get chrome surround
Steering wheel gets a display button
The tail lamps feature enhanced visibility
Ride Triumph Thunderbird
American parallel The Triumph Thunderbird radiates an American custom cruiser aura Words Harriet Ridley Photography Jason Critchell
I
must be cheating as I roar down Aylesbury High Street in Britain’s Oxfordshire on Triumph’s Thunderbird. Where are the big beard and belly? And surely I shouldn’t be a girl? You’d expect to see this 1600cc custom beast down Daytona Beach in the US, not in English suburbia. Yet although the Thunderbird looks intimidating – check out the wide tank, acres of chrome and overall gigantic proportions – jump on board and it’s a pussycat. The Thunderbird’s considerable weight is well positioned in the chassis so that it dissolves the second you lift it off the stand. The torque-laden engine pulls away
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smoothly, with the perfectly set up fuel injection we’ve come to expect of Triumph. The exhaust note is evocative; Triumph has played around with the harmonics to give it the loud throbbing sound of a custom, although it feels more refined than, say, a lumpy HarleyDavidson’s motor. The brakes are from a different league too compared to the usual dubious, single-caliper stoppers found on your average cruiser, which for some bizarre reason cruiser enthusiasts tend to prefer (apparently, dual calipers are for pansies. Call me old-fashioned, but I’d rather have a bike that stops!). The Nissin twin calipers at the front and Brembo
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F1 Force India
Force fortune The secret behind Force India’s shock turn of form Words Dan Knutson Photography sutton-images.com
O
nce upon a time, like just a few races ago, Force India drivers qualified near the back and usually finished about 16th or 17th during a Grand Prix weekend. Suddenly, at Spa, Giancarlo Fisichella won the pole and finished a strong second in the Belgian Grand Prix. Two weeks later Adrian Sutil gridded second and his new team-mate Tonio Liuzzi qualified seventh for the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. Sutil finished a fighting fourth while Liuzzi retired with mechanical problems. It seems like the team owned by Indian tycoon Vijay Mallya has turned itself around almost overnight. The reality is that the improvements have been coming slowly and steadily since the F1 season opened in Australia at the end of March. And then the team made several major steps in recent weeks. “It is not as if we were laggards at the start of the season,” Mallya said. “We were always pretty competitive. We have been a good midfield competitor. Now,
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of course, we have taken the next step forward.” What has changed? Overdrive put the question to F1 technical guru Ross Brawn. “They have obviously made some good upgrades on the car, and we are at very low drag circuits (Spa and Monza),” he replied. “Plus Force India has a very good engine. The Mercedes-Benz engine is one of the best if not the best. There is a reasonable logic why they are doing well. They have got the support of McLaren’s technology, and they use the McLaren gearbox and hydraulics. It is clearly a car that works well in a low drag configuration.” Last year, the Force India car was basically the old Spyker chassis fitted with a Ferrari engine. This year, Force India designed and built its own car, which it has been able to consistently develop. “From Australia we’ve gradually improved,” Mallya said. “We put on a big update for Valencia, which was successful. We put on another one for Spa. We know that the car is quick – blindingly quick.”
The other big change that happened to the team was the technical partnership with McLaren and Mercedes. “McLaren has played a good role,” Mallya confirmed. “We use their gearbox and hydraulics. We use the Mercedes-Benz engine all of which has contributed to the performance of the car.” The vastly improved performance has also improved the morale of the drivers. “The car is amazing,” Adrian Sutil said after qualifying second for the Italian Grand Prix. “It is quick, unbelievable, so it is just so good for the team after a big success in Spa that we continue it here. “It is just such a different feeling in the car now as you know you have a chance. The good feeling of being a race driver is back and it is just such a great feeling. I enjoyed every single moment.” “When you’re at the back, it’s sometimes quite hard to motivate yourself,” Sutil added, “and after two years, consistently being at the back, you forget about how it feels to be when you’re fight-
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MOTOGP Valentino Rossi interview
Rossi redefined The myriad facets that make Valentino Rossi a complete bike racer Words Michael Scott
W
hen you meet Valentino Rossi, you sometimes have to remind yourself you are in the presence of greatness. At least when he gets to know you over the years. Other riders may be simmering with aggression, stricken with introversion and ego, or in so deep that they have to concentrate too much on racing to care about anything or anybody else. With Vale, you find a casual, charming conversationalist, with a readiness not only to laugh, but also to share his laughter. It’s much like the way he rides. On a motorcycle, above all else – above the skill, the will and the art, Rossi radiates enjoyment. Never forget, either, that the conversation is steered, braked and accelerated just as carefully as his motorcycle. An intelligent expert with the sound-byte (“When I fell at Indy, my first thought was: I am a donkey. Today, I am the Flying Donkey,” he said, after winning at Misano); Vale is also fully aware of what an interview and a subsequent magazine feature mean. He knows he’s talking to the world – not only his fans, but also to racing insiders and to factory staff and management. He also understands it is through a mouthpiece that is ultimately beyond his control. In the circumstances, charm is just another weapon in a formidable arsenal. T he complete racer. We spoke just a week after the news that Yamaha had signed teammate Lorenzo for another year, after the Spaniard rejected a huge offer from Ducati. Rossi hadn’t wanted that:
Jorge had been riding so well and so fast that he had become a thorn in his side. At Indy, Valentino said: “Jorge has made the right decision;” and dutifully repeated his mantra of the last couple of years: “I want to finish my career with Yamaha”. Then came the episode with the donkey. Lorenzo was on devastating form at Indy. He passed Valentino, and the great man almost directly fell off trying to get him back. It was his second race crash in three rounds, his third this year. But this one was not excusable. It was a demonstration of vulnerability. It couldn’t have come at a worst time. In the intervening days, he’d been having a rethink. And he got straight to the point. Valentino – every year we meet the same way. Usually you are leading the championship, but the circumstances are always different. Now it’s a team-mate, on the same motorbike. Is it more pleasing to do that? You know… is different. Is a different way to work in the team also. Usually the big manufacturers in the last years have always just one top rider each. We are in two in Yamaha, so this is a different strategy that can bring good result, but also big disaster. (laughs) Yeah – for sure on the track is a great satisfaction… more satisfy because you are at the same level. But usually I always try to make a great work for developing the bike, and I usually make the work just for me. But now I also make the work for my worst enemy. (laughs again)
I have a precise riding style, I don’t throw anything away. Clean and precise
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But that’s what you have to do now. Yeah. You know… sincerely I think I don’t deserve this, after what I do for Yamaha. But this is the Yamaha choice. Of course, this year’s battle is not over. Will you be playing it safe at the last five races? This year is a great performance but also some mistakes… a little bit too much. Two times because was strange conditions, with the slick tyre in the wet (Le Mans and Donington). Last time was a stupid mistake… and now we have half of the advantage of before. So we need to arrive always on the podium, and arrive at the end of every race. This is the first target. (He made nonsense of this the nex day, winning at full steam.) I must be more careful, and try to work better in practice to arrive in a better way in the race, because in Indianapolis we never fixed the problems. That crash was a strange one: touch the brakes and it just went away. Have you ever crashed like that before? Never like that. It was very strange, yeah. For me the bigger problem was the line because I make a mistake on the turn before, so I come back on the line, but too much, and I go to brake one and half meters wider. Maybe it’s more dirt, but especially a bigger bump. And when I hit the bump, I was already braking, and I lose the front. Maybe the bump had a bigger peak, and this caused the problem. After almost 14 years in GPs, is your riding still developing. Yes. Have to, because the bikes change a lot. I spent seven or eight years between 500 and 990, that were a different way to ride than 250, but now with the 800 with Bridgestone tyres and a lot of elec-
tronics, I have to come back like 250. What I learned and the way to ride of the last years I have to throw away, and restart to modify another time the style, to use this type of bike at the maximum. Do you have to ride more cleanly? Yeah, a lot more clean – to not slide, but especially a lot more on the edge compared to the past, because the grip on the edge is a lot better and the electronic on the bike help a lot to open the throttle also on the edge. What is your strongest point, of technique? Precision, I think. I have a precise riding style, and also I don’t throw anything away. Clean and precise. If you were teaching your brother to race, what would be the three most important lessons? Try to use at the maximum the track and the bike, and with a clean and precise style. I think is very important the mind… concentration. Is so important when you are on the bike to be able to forget all the rest. You have to make your life out of the racetrack different: stay quiet with not a lot of pressure, and try and fix all your personal problems before you go on the bike. And for the rest: keep quiet. I mean, sometimes is possible you arrive in one track and you are very slow, and you are not able to ride like you want – but don’t be desperate, because maybe next week all change another time. So don’t be very desperate when is all shit, and at the same time don’t be very happy when all is okay. Concentration seems to come naturally to you. You joke around the paddock, sign autographs, wave at the camera – then you pull the footpeg of the bike, and you seem completely focused.
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