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T he d e s i r a b l e s “Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.”

So begins the poem Desiradata (necessary or highly desirable items) by Max Ehrmann. While to many a sleek, powerful coupé might be a desiradata, these mighty machines are all but placid.

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aying automotive homage to all things desirable is a pretty exciting task because South Africans are about to receive a cornucopia of fabulous new cars from the world’s most dynamic car brands.

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Jaguar F-Type coupé

Jaguar’s latest, most fabulous feline is one feral cat. The F-Type roadster helped to renew Jaguar’s image for building ‘proper’ sports cars and now the coupé version takes it one step further. I think the roadster is beautiful, but the coupé is arguably prettier, with its pert bottom and aggressive haunches over the rear wheel arches.

clockwise from bottom left Lexus RX450h interior; Jaguar F-Type coupé; Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG coupé

How does she handle? Well, the F-type coupé is the most ridged car ever made by Jaguar, so it has the required structural integrity. I was let loose on the evocative Roy Hesketh circuit in KwaZulu-Natal, which was tricky in places, but both the F-Type V6 S and V8 R were jaw-droppingly good. Balance, grip and the turn-in are so brilliant that driving it on the road was almost as much fun as zooming about on the racetrack. Its steering is full of feedback, telling you what the car and road are doing. Intuitive, extremely fast, safe and enjoyable, both the F-type coupé V6 and V8 R are full-on Jaguar sports cars with more of what buyers of these cars want: character.

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Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale

If Italian design is your Franciacorta to the brutish Brits’ artisanal ale, then the Maserati GranTurismo is one of those admirable cars that just gets on with the business of thrilling. Pretty much as aural as the Jaguar, the MC Stradale is the most focused and track-fettled version of the GT currently on sale.

Appealing to my inner child, I learned that selecting ‘race’ mode and blipping the throttle emitted a spit and crackle from the Italian V8 that echoed off parked cars, setting off a chain reaction of car alarms. It’s a neat, if infantile, party trick, but the car is a very grown-up experience and makes this famous trident badge remain so evocative in its 100th anniversary year. It’s a glorious machine, effortlessly oozing Italian ruffian style and old school luxury, which seduces by sheer force of character.

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Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG coupé

How about the latest dream car from Mercedes-AMG? You can rely on Mercedes Benz to wheel out world-first technologies. The S63 AMG brings us the curve tilting function, part of the Magic Body Control suspension system. It uses a stereo camera and radar to scan the road ahead and pro-actively changes the suspension to smooth out the bumps, providing a level of ride comfort that few cars can match at any price. I drove the four-door version at its launch in Austria late last year, and based on this experience, the coupé iteration will literally be one of the most refined, rapid, and beautiful grand tourers to ever grace the tarmac.

Needless to say, when the S63 AMG coupé lands in South Africa in January 2015, the

S63 will breathe rarefied air with a very small handful of ultra-bespoke rivals, like the other Brits, the Aston Martin Vanquish, Rolls-Royce Wraith and Bentley Continental GT. Combining top-end luxury and street presence like almost no other, genuine supercar performance is a given, but the biggest wow factor comes from behind the wheel. The ‘one man, one engine’ hand-built eight-cylinder bi-turbo musters a combined figure of 10.1 litres per 100km, making it the most fuel-efficient model in its segment.

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Interior of the Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG coupé. below

Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale

X4 4 BMW If fuel economy and the opportunity to

take the family with you is a higher priority, enthusiastic drivers still have some cracking SUVs to tempt them. I believe BMW should be lauded for making brave moves with the new X4 by combining the looks of the 3-series Gran Turismo and the X6 with an attention to detail that gives it an athletic edge without being too brash. Imposing, and with that ‘hewn from solid granite’ look, the X4 features a sweeping roofline and coupé-like features that stand out from the A-pillar backwards.

The M Sport Package on the X4 xDrive35i performed impressively when I drove it on deserted, sweeping blacktop in Spain, where the 3.0-litre inline-six turbo-charged 225kW motor

R2.6 million THE PRICE OF THE NEW Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale

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got the most out of its precise, responsive and progressive chassis, making it equally at home on a motorway, and twisting and undulating back roads. The X4 is available from this month (September) and is priced between an indicated R625 000 and R780 000, doing battle with Range Rover’s Evoque and Porsche’s Macan. The success of the other X-models makes it difficult to imagine how BMW will have anything but a roaring triumph with this new addition to the range.

5

Lexus RX450h

If driving noiselessly is a box you want to tick, then take a look at the Lexus RX450h.

Lexus certainly is a brand that goes its own way, continuing to believe that hybrid technology is a better alternative to diesel power in a market dominated by large diesel engines.

Lexus cites fewer particulate emissions and a smoother powertrain compared with its diesel rivals. I tried the new RX450h, which boasts class-leading CO2 emissions of just 145g/km. Visually, Lexus has gone for design continuity, which means unless the new and outgoing models are parked side by side, you’d be hard-pressed to clock the difference. But it’s wider, higher and has a longer wheelbase – and it’s a good-looking car.

The front grille follows an up-to-the-minute interpretation of Lexus’ L-Finesse design language, which makes it more distinctive

Writer Richard Webb xx x xx xx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Maserati GranTurismo MC Stradale

Mercedes-AMG S 63 AMG coupé

Engine 3.0-litre V6 Supercharged

Engine 4.7-litre V8

Engine 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission 6-speed automated manual, RWD

Transmission 7-spd automatic, RWD

Power 343kW

Power 430kW

Power 280kW

Torque 519Nm

Torque 900Nm

Torque 450Nm

Economy 14.4 /100km/h

Economy 10.1 /100km/h

0-100km/h 4.5 seconds

0-100 km/h 4.3 seconds

CO2 emissions 337g/km

CO2 emissions 237g/km

Price R2.6 million

Price TBA

Economy 9.5 /100km/h 0-100km/h 4.9 seconds CO2 emissions 226g/km

than that of the earlier RX. Most of its power goes to the rear wheels in a complex setup that works rather well. Up front, a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine is mated to a continuously variable automatic transmission assisted by an electric motor rated at 123kW, both of which drive the front wheels. Still with me? At the rear there’s electric motor number two, rated at 50kW, which drives the rear wheels when needed, providing a performance equivalent to that of a 4.5-litre V8, hence the ‘450h’ nomenclature.

While we don’t need a lot to get by as we follow our path in life, there is something to be said for enjoying the journey in a beautifully made, intelligently designed vehicle. And the unadulterated joy of driving provided by these ‘born to be wild’ cars makes them desiradata.

Jaguar F-Type S coupé

Transmission Eight-speed ‘quick shift’, RWD photographs supplied

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BMW X4 xDrive35i

Lexus RX450h SE

Engine 3.0-litre inline-six turbo AWD Power 225kW

Engine Front and rear electric motor & 3.5-litre V6 AWD

Torque 400Nm

Power 183kW

Economy 8.3 at 100km/h

Torque 335Nm

0-100km/h 5.5 seconds CO2 emissions 157g/km Price R772 000

Economy 6.3 /100km/h 0-100km/h 7.8 seconds CO2 emissions 145g/km Price R869 000

Price: R982 404

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