This week’s manufacturer news
TESLA/TOYOTA – Tesla Motors Inc and Toyota Motor Corporation has announced that they intend to cooperate in areas such as parts, production system and engineering support on the development of electric vehicles.
VAUXHALL – Has announced the introduction of the Corsa Limited Edition. The new Black & White Limited Edition will feature glacier white bodywork with black detailing, black 17” alloy wheels and a black sapphire roof. It will also feature a VXR body styling kit, sports suspension and piano black centre console. It will be available with a 1.2 litre 16V 85ps petrol or a 1.3 litre CDTi 16V 75ps diesel, in three or five door variants. Prices will start at £13,995 and it will be available in showrooms from next month until the end of the year.
VOLKSWAGEN – Are to introduce a new trim to the Golf range. The Golf Match will directly replace the outgoing SE trim and will be available in three and five door variants with the following engines: 1.4 litre TSI petrol, 1.6 litre TDI 105 diesel (also available with Bluemotion Technology) and 2.0 litre TDI 140 diesel (also available with Bluemotion Technology). A DSG gearbox will also be offered. Standard features over the outgoing SE include: Bluetooth preparation, front and rear park assist, RCD 510 touch screen audio equipment and multifunction highline computer. The Match will be priced at £300 over the SE.
Test car – Audi R8 V10 Spyder
Many people ask me, what car would I buy if money was no object? What car would I favour as being the most fun to drive, the best looking or the best at handling? I have never really been able to give an honest answer; that is until last week.
The Audi R8 V10 arrived looking spectacular in bright blue metallic paint, with every part of its super car bodywork being beautifully in proportion. This car just has a presence about it that attracts attention from just about everyone, from very young children to the elderly. If you leave it in the supermarket car park, you can be pretty sure that it will be surrounded by hoards of people and it is embarrassing when they watch you walk up and get into it. The natural reaction is usually one of wonderment. Why is an old bloke driving a car like this? They were really expecting a famous footballer or a celebrity of some kind.
The R8 is not the sort of car you immediately jump into and drive. You want to walk around it beforehand and take in every feature, but this is impossible to do in a short time as it has so many unique lines and design cues. The R8 Spyder has a cloth roof that goes up and down in a matter of seconds and stows under a cover so that it is kept completely out of view. It has a very clever mechanism that operates so smoothly and quickly; it all works in perfect harmony and is almost like a piece of art. The one worry I had when I first saw the Spyder a few months ago was the fact that the cloth roof was situated right next to the engine bay when stowed away, and this is obviously a place that can get extremely hot. However, Audi has conquered this problem by using materials that sit between the engine and the roof that will not melt it. It does seem to work, thankfully, and I would like to bet that many hours were spent developing and designing this safety feature.
The noise the car makes is just fantastic and it can be heard from a few hundred metres away. This is not the sort of car you can come home late or leave early in the morning in, without the risk of waking the neighbours. The engineering that has gone into the exhaust note is second to none and even some of the most expensive super cars don’t create the same brilliant noise.
The R8 Spyder is powered by a 5.2 litre (5,204cc) FSI V10 petrol engine that produces 525ps, goes from 0-62mph in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed of 194mph where permitted; which in fact is hardly anywhere on this planet. The power it develops is quite astounding and it really throws you back into your leather covered seat when it takes off. Any passengers of a nervous disposition should stay well clear of the V10. Unlike most other cars that produce this sort of power, the R8 has the added benefit of having the Quattro four wheel drive system and this ensures that all of the power is used and goes straight to any one of the wheels when it needs it. It plays a vital part in giving the car its dynamic handling abilities and the result is that it feels solid and safe when cornering and makes the car feel as if it’s on rails. Even when driving on a damp road surface, it is still simply brilliant.
Even though the R8 possesses all this power, it is very docile in heavy traffic and around town; it does not give you the feeling that it needs to be doing 100mph all the time. The CO2 emissions figure is, as expected, enormous at 356g/km and the combined fuel consumption figure is 19 MPG, but in reality it is difficult to achieve much more than 15 MPG in normal driving conditions. If it is driven hard, then I would expect that it could be as low as 12 MPG, but the sort of people who buy this type of car are generally not members of the Green Party. The fuel tank capacity is 80 litres so regular trips to the petrol station are necessary.
The interior is typical Audi and in fact sitting in the R8 is similar to being in any other Audi because the switches, sat nav controls, instrument stalks and heater controls are virtually identical. To some this may be a good thing as it must save money, but to some super car buyers it may be just like using the controls in an A3 or A4. They may want to have something different in front of them in this sort of car.
Quality is assured in this car, with the finest leather being used and fit and finish is superb. The R8 does not have any quirky, strange or unusual features in the cabin and the running gear is certainly not temperamental.
With the V10 engine being at the rear, the luggage area is at the front and although it is not over-generous in size, you could at a push (providing it had the suitable dimensions), squeeze a suitcase into it. It is more than capable of holding a few bags of supermarket shopping though.
The car we had on test was the six speed manual with a gate gearbox. It was a bit clunky but once you get used to it, it is reasonably easy to operate. The R8 V10 is also available with an R tronic sequential gearbox.
When the roof is down, the side windows are up and the rear glass screen is up, there is hardly any wind or turbulence around your head; the wind-in-your-hair feeling is now a thing of the past. When the roof is up, there is no wind or road noise but the engine and exhaust that sits right behind you can still be heard clearly. The Spyder looks better with the roof down, but is still not unattractive with it up.
The side blades that are fitted to the coupe have disappeared from the Spyder and this is a huge improvement to the side profile of the car. It looks so much better without them and you have to wonder how long it will be before the coupe follows suit.
The R8 V10 looks great from every angle, so it has to be hats off to the skills of all of those designers, engineers, stylists and production/assembly operatives for completing what must have been an enormous task. To get that large engine into a two seater car, get the roof to operate easily and efficiently, maintain the high quality, make it handle as well as it does and look brilliant is a wonderful achievement. It really is a magnificent car, well done.
And the price? The 6 speed manual is £111,955 on the road and the R tronic is £117,155 on the road, which believe it or not, is actually good value.
Test car – Vauxhall Meriva 1.4 turbo SE
Every now and again a new car comes along with improvements that are outstanding in comparison to its predecessor. The new Meriva really shouldn’t have had its name carried over, as the car differs so much to the outgoing one.
From the first time I saw the new car as a static model, I knew instinctively that GM had hit on the right idea. The new car has grown by 236mm in length, so has gone from being the Corsa MPV to the Astra MPV. This means that it is now a very useable car as it offers plenty of room and is extremely versatile and practical. Then on the second occasion, I drove the car for the first time and was even more convinced that they were onto a winner. Now that I have used one at home for a few days, I am beyond any doubt that it will take a lot of sales away from other manufacturers. However, it may also steal Astra customers so unfortunately, this is not good news for Ellesmere Port, which is home to the Astra.
The new Meriva is built in Spain, so it will be the Spanish economy that benefits from such a clever car being launched to market, not the UK’s. Some buyers who have choice lists will inevitably go for a Meriva, leaving the workers in the North West to worry about their jobs. It is now up to Vauxhall to provide damage limitation by trying to gain more conquest business and not just have a simple transfer of current Astra customers to the all new Meriva.
The Meriva really is a clever car that seems to do everything so well. It is comfortable, the high seating position gives a good commanding view of the road and it does have the look and feel of a car that costs a lot more money. The plastics used are of a high quality and the fit and finish is up to a very high standard. The three rear seats are all individual which adds to comfort, but they also slide backwards and forwards independently to either provide more leg room or a greater luggage area. The centre seat can be folded flat so that just two passengers occupy the rear; this also creates more space, especially around the shoulder area. This nice little touch adds to the practicality and proves beyond any doubt that the design team at GM HQ in Frankfurt have thought about every last little detail. What they didn’t think about though was the length of people’s arms, especially in regards to ladies and older people. The door pull handle seems to be more than an arm’s length away and you really have to stretch out to reach it. The easiest way to close the front doors is to pull on the door pocket. This is obviously not was intended, but it does work.
However, the really clever aspect of the Meriva is the door system. It has been around for as long as we have had motorised transportation, but it is rarely used these days and only really seen now on London taxis, Rolls-Royces and the Mazda RX-8. It is also present on the Mini Clubman but you only get one door, not two. This rearward opening rear door system looks as though it shouldn’t work; it comes across as more of a gimmick than a practical solution for getting in and out of a car. However, it is certainly easier to get in and out of the Meriva and also easier when it comes to lifting a child into a child seat. This door system just works perfectly and I wonder who will be the next to offer it. It has been used on countless cars in the past and has had its problems; they were called ‘suicide doors’ for years, as some did have a nasty habit of coming open whilst on the move. However, GM has built in many safety devices to the Meriva prevent this from occurring.
The 1.4 litre petrol engine produces 140ps and goes from 0-62mph in 10.3 seconds. It is quiet with hardly any wind noise intrusion, despite it having a high roof line. It has more than enough power, but this engine has CO2 emissions of 156g/km, so is not particularly clean. The official combined fuel consumption figure is 42.4 MPG.
The price of the test car was £18,920 on the road, compared to an Astra five door 1.4 turbo SE at £19,900. Prices for the Meriva start from £12,995 for a 1.4 litre 16V Expression. The Meriva diesel prices start from £16,875.
First driving impressions – Toyota Auris HSD, Derby
This is not the first time we have driven a new Toyota Auris HSD (Hybrid Synergy Drive). The first time was earlier in the year when we went to the IDIADA testing ground in Spain to drive a very early, pre-production car for seven minutes. It wasn’t good and left me with an ‘oh dear’ kind of feeling. The automatic CVT gearbox didn’t seem to work, as it made a constant whining noise and the interior plastics were of a poor quality; in fact the whole car felt as though it had just been thrown together. Sometimes it is just too early to show a new car, often is better to wait for a more advanced stage prototype.
This time around we went the ultra-modern Toyota plant in Burniston near Derby to drive one of the first models off the production line, and what a difference it was. The interior plastics were much better in terms of quality and the problem gearbox was not a problem anymore; it worked perfectly and was so smooth.
The HSD has basically the same hybrid system as the Prius, but many would say that it’s fitted to a more normal looking car. The Auris has been accused of being a bit dull and this may be so, but the recent facelift has made a difference and its styling has improved. It is powered by a 1.8 litre VVT-I petrol engine which is coupled to an electric motor, producing a total power output of 136ps. The electric motor is powered by a large battery that is charged whenever the car is going downhill, when braking or in other such like situations.
The car has three buttons near the gearshift lever and these are labelled: EV, ECO and Power. When EV mode is selected the car can be driven for up to 1.2 miles on electric power only, providing the battery has enough stored energy. ECO mode allows a gentler getaway, conserving fuel and making the car more efficient. When Power mode is selected you can definitely feel a boost of additional power and the car does set off remarkably quickly.
The Auris measures 4,245mm in length compared to the Prius at 4,460mm. The Auris HSD has some unique features over the other Auris models which include a different roof spoiler, lowered suspension by 5mm and unique 17” alloy wheels. There is also of course, the HSD badge.
The Auris HSD is available with two trims: T4 and T Spirit. The model with the lowest CO2 emissions figure is the T4 (89g/km) model and this is priced at £18,950 on the road. The T Spirit is priced at £20,700 on the road.
