The Car Guide

By now, it is highly likely that there are very few people who don’t know that the finale of the 2021 Formula 1 season at Abu Dhabi was exhilarating, frustrating and controversial, all at the same time and for myriad reasons. Here is a two-minute mashup of the final lap battle at Yas Marina Circuit, as seen from multiple perspectives.   The post Watch Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2021 finale mashup video appeared first on CAR Magazine . The Car Guide

There’s no denying the huge success that Land Rover’s reboot of the legendary Defender nameplate has found, much to the delight of Land Rover and fans of the brand alike. Over the seventy-odd years that the previous generation of the characterful off-roader was built, many variations were sprouted, however the reboot, for now, only feature in short-wheelbase ‘90’ and long-wheelbase ‘110’ form. The Heritage Customs arm of Dutch coachbuilder , Niels van Roij Design, clearly heard beach Barbie piping up at the back of the room, because they have decided to produce just the car for her – a drop-top Defender 90. Arguably the perfect beach/seaside holiday vehicle. Just five of these convertible versions of their upgraded and modified version of the new Defender, the Valiance, will be produced in 2022, and it would seem as though five is the number they’re settling on. Priced at €138,000 excluding VAT, that works out to quite a bit more than a standard Defender 90, however you can a...

South Africans will be delighted at the news of a decrease in the price of fuel next week Wednesday with petrol and diesel prices set to decrease by between 73c and 76c per litre, depending on the grade of fuel. Due to the fact that South Africa buys fuel in dollars, the Dollar-Rand value, as well as international oil prices, dictates the price of fuel locally. Motorists can expect a breath of fresh air in the form of a fuel price decrease next week. While the price of Brent crude steadily rose over the past month, there has been a decline in local oil import prices, subsequently counteracting the weakening rand. Over the past month, the rand has weakened by 35c from R15.39/dollar to R15.74/dollar. Over the course of the last year, a litre of 95 has gone from R14,86/litre in January 2021 to R20,29/litre at the time of writing. This can be attributed mainly to soaring oil prices. As a result of lockdown restrictions being eased globally and the subsequent increase in economic dem...

Decades ago, station wagons were “in” and sedans with bench seats could accommodate six passengers. Then SUVs took over and compact minibuses filled. Toyota Avanza Space: 7 seats, 128-430/1 424 L Safety: 2 airbags, ABS Cost of four tyres: R 4 736 Road test issue: May 2012 (1,5 TX) 0-100 km/h: 12,30 seconds Top speed: 164 km/h Power: 76 kW Torque: 136 N.m C02: 168 g/km Fuel consumption: 8,64 L/100 km The Avanza became a top seller almost immediately, mainly because it was a tough and reliable Toyota. Well, a Daihatsu actually, but then they are the same parent company. As a compact seven-seater, the Avanza soon found service as a people-mover for those who needed more than a hatchback but didn’t need a full-size Quantum. More suited for shorter distances and speeds of around 100 km/h owing to the lowish power and gearing that required over 4 000 r/min to do a true 120 km/h on the open road. The styling has been tweaked over the years with curves and angles that give the im...

The German autobahn presents itself as one of the few places where drivers are able to legally explore the top speed of their vehicles. Sure, this could be moderately fun in something like a Golf GTI or a M440i xDrive , however exploring the top speed of a supercar or a hypercar as a completely different box of frogs. Striking design cues abound that harken back to ‘ Bugs’ of yore. In November , the owner of a Bugatti Chiron, Mr Radim Passer, made his way to an unrestricted section of the autobahn near Wittenburg, south-west of Berlin. It is worth noting that Passer is a stranger neither to this stretch of the autobahn, nor the heady side of 400 km/h – six years ago he clocked 402 km/h in his Veyron . Early one morning, when the roads were quiet and his line of sight clear and true, the owner of the 1 103 kW Chiron mashed his right foot into the beautifully milled accelerator, allowing all 1 600 Nm to surge him on to a top speed of 414 km/h, just shy of the hypercar’s ...

A little over a week ago, we asked CAR readers to vote for their reader’s car of the year. The results are in!!! The competition was tough with the usual Toyota and Volkswagen suspects appearing as ‘top of the pops’. Hardly surprising by now given how the Chinese newcomer has taken the motoring landscape by storm, but the Haval Jolion 1,5T Luxury Auto is in the top five, being beaten only by Volkswagen and Toyota offerings… In for the running, we also have a Porsche, a Honda and a Mercedes-Benz, as well as two hybrids an EV and an MPV for a total of fifteen vehicles from twelve manufacturers. And so, with fewer than 50 votes separating the winner and second place, CAR’s 2021 reader’s CAR of the year is – drumroll, confetti at the ready, oversized cheque in the wings – the Toyota Hilux 2,8 GD-6 4×4 Legend RS. It was closer than we could ever have expected, with the Volkswagen Golf GTI coming in at a close second and the Toyota Corolla Cross 1,8 Hybrid XR taking third. Who would hav...

The neat industrial complex doesn’t give anything away. It looks like it houses storage units or some type of manufacturing equipment, not a treasure trove of some of the most highly sought-after Japanese cars under the rising sun. As photographer Peet Mocke and myself were welcomed by Shiran and ushered through the front door, the bewinged machinery immediately grabbed our attention; all perfectly parked, in an almost military fashion. A couple of the cars are stored here for clients, some are for sale and a good chunk belong to Shiran himself. As expected, most of the R35 Nissan GT-Rs are not standard. Most owners prefer to customise these cars, some more liberally than others. A white R34 V-Spec II caught my eye; without a doubt, the most collectible. Shiran explains, “My first car was a hand-me-down Colt Galant. I started modifying everything I could, from the engine to the exhaust. When I left school, I acquired a Ford Escort. I read CAR magazine, browsed the classifieds and lear...

As their badges – RS and JCW – would suggest, both the Audi Q3 and Mini Countryman are top-dog crossovers, fitted with bombastic turbopetrol engines and enough model-specific exterior items to trumpet their flamboyant performance-orientated personas. The most notable items distinguishing them from their garden-variety stablemates are their deep bumpers, flared wheelarches, RS- and JCW-specific alloy wheels, and chunky tailpipes. As far as grabbing peoples’ attention, both have perfectly adhered to the brief. Surprisingly, it is the RS Q3 – dressed in a seemingly conservative Nardo Grey hue – that turns the most heads. A few team members noted that the Sportback’s sloped-rear suits the RS Q3 to a T. The Mini JCW, on the other hand, while more conventional, is far from demure with its bodywork adorned in red paintwork and accents. Opposites attract Opening the front doors via keyless entry of the Audi and Mini reveals cabins with polar-opposite approaches to interior design. Brimming...

For decades, through all its generations, the BMW M3 has held the upper hand in the battle of the iconic German performance saloons, but diehard Audi Sport fans have always been vocal against this. As the G80-generation M3 Competition arrives in South Africa more or less at the same time as the updated B9 RS4 Avant, it’s again time to pit them head to head to see which heritage hero ends up on top. The fighters The M3 is mechanically identical to the M4 Competition we tested in our August 2021 issue, aside from the four-door body style. Compared to the F80 M3 M-DCT Competition tested in October 2016, the new M3 is a bit heftier on the scales at 1 738 kg but an increased power output of 375 kW more than compensates for this. What it translates to is a power-to-mass ratio increase of 18 W/kg. The G80 sedan no longer has a perfect 50/50 weight distribution owing to a heavier nose that now has a 53% share of the car’s mass. Furthermore, an eight-speed automatic torque converter replaces ...

The odd BMW, a Mercedes-Benz/AMG here and there, Vauxhall’s, Vipers, Ferrari’ and a plethora of Porsches have all been adorned with the GTS moniker. The E92 M3 GTS was a more track-focused M3. ‘S’ for Sporty. And So expensive. While each of the decidedly different models from the abovementioned manufacturers may have represented a variation on the GTS theme, the common thread is that they offered a higher-specified and racier version of the car upon which they were based. For example, a Viper GTS has very little in common with a Volkswagen Scirocco GTS.   In the context of Porsche, perhaps the most ubiquitous use of the three-litters, the story goes like this… 904 Carrera GTS – The forefather 904 Carrera GTS (1963):  A mid-engine coupé for both road and racetrack fell in line with the maxim that every Porsche was suitable for racing. It was the first sportscar from Zuffenhausen to have a plastic body and only 106 units were built. Its greatest victory came in 1964 at...

ICYMI: It might be holiday season but that hasn’t stopped automotive news from rolling in; here are this past week’s interesting automotive happenings from around the globe… BMW is facing a class-action lawsuit in the US due to the fact that the X7 ’s cupholders have the ability to set off the airbags. Should the cupholders get wet – very likely one would think – that liquid could run into the airbag control unit which, rather interestingly, sits beneath the cupholder in the centre console, oh dear… BMW have been denying the allegations, with each repair costing up to $2 000 (R31 000). No news yet from BMW South Africa on whether or not this effects local units. Audi have opened what they call a Charging Hub in Germany and its both clever and practical. Six chargers are on offer outside the reservation-only luxurious facility, with snazzy vending machines available, a technician at hand and electric scooters that can be rented. Recycled battery packs from decommissioned d...

As you may have come to learn by now, we love a good drag race – all in the name of science, of course. The lads at Top Gear have pulled together quite the line-up with Team DS’s Formula E racer, Ford’s Fiesta WRC rally car and a Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 car going head-to-head down a rather damp drag strip. And those of you with a keen eye will have noticed a certain white helmet at the helm of the Formula 1 car… Off the line, the WRC car jumps ahead, its 4WD system giving it the upper-hand in wet conditions, however, there’s no match for the sheer power and undeniable weight advantage of the Formula 1 car, especially once its on the move and finds a bit of grip. The Formula E racer can just about hold its own in this company and straddles not too far behind, however it was pipped to the post by the WRC Fiesta, but only just… The post Watch: Formula 1 vs WRC vs Formula E drag race in the wet appeared first on CAR Magazine . The Car Guide

Almost 16 years ago, a seemingly mad Finn had the gumption to squeeze one of BMW’s largest motors into one of its smallest vehicles. The Bavarian Frankenstein that emerged was an E36/5 316 Compact with an E31 850 CSi’s 5,6-litre V12 motor shoehorned into the engine bay. Wide stance and full M bodykit suggest that this isn’t an ordinary 3 Series Compact… With power marginally increased to 300 kW and a few other tasteful modifications here and there, the Titanium Silver hatchback garnered much attention by all who encountered it upon its many journeys across Finland. Suspiciously fat tailpipes are linked to something somewhat more substantial than the Compact’s original 4 pot. In addition to BMW Motorsport’s S70/B56 V12 mill upfront, the Ti benefits visually from wide wheel arches at the rear, as well as a full exterior M-package. The front and rear suspension was sourced from the E36 M3 and E36/7 M Roadster. The dashboard comes a la M3, too along with the wiring etc so as t...