What do you get if you cross a Porsche 911 Targa 4 with a 911 Carrera GTS? Well, a 911 Targa 4 GTS, of course!
This variation will stand at the top of the Targa model line and gives you a cool retro roof and 316kW to play with. It’ll spit you out to 100km/h in 4.3 seconds (ugh, that’s slower than the Cayenne Turbo S) and has a top speed beyond 300km/h.
The Porsche 911 Targa 4 GTS goes on sale down under in the second quarter of 2015 and is priced from $305,300.
Just in case anyone cares, Porsche has launched a Turbo S version of its Cayenne behemoth at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.
The super SUV boasts 419kW/800Nm thanks to its 4.8 litre biturbo V8, which is rather impressive. Even more so is the fact (or claim) that it can lap the Nordschleife in under eight minutes.
If you want to buy one in Australia, start getting $284,700 together and turn up to your local Porsche dealer sometime after March.
Ask your car buddies if they like SUVs and almost all will say, “No, I hate them!” And yet, one in every two new vehicle sales in Australia is an SUV or light “truck”. People buy these cars. Manufacturers are clamouring over themselves to produce the newest and greatest SUV.
Jaguar will be the next to join the list by turning its C-X17 concept into a production model. But maybe Jaguar is showing it hates SUVs too. Why else would the bosses sign-off on such a crap name like F-Pace if they thought SUVs were good?
The F-Pace will go on sale in 2016. Perhaps by then people will have become used to the terrible name.
Volkswagen, what has taken you so long? The stupid public has been demanding SUV crossovers for years and, finally, in 2014, you guys wake up and give the Golf the Alltrack treatment.
Don’t tell anyone, but we think this is pretty cool and are sheepishly standing in that group we just called the stupid public. It’s a euro Estate, so that’s a tick and with its pleasing styling and extra practicality this would make a very useful addition to any family-friendly car fleet.
Put it this way, we reckon it’s a better option than a Tiguan. And it looks a fair bit nicer than the plain Jane Variant model on which it is based.
The Golf Alltrack has “up to 20mm” more ground clearance and 4motion all-wheel drive to enhance its modest off-r0ad capabilities. Sure it’s never going to rival a proper four-wheel drive, but nobody is claiming that.
When it hits European showrooms in Q2 2015 the baby Alltrack will have four engine options to choose from. There’s a 132kW/280Nm 1.8 litre petrol engine and three TDI engines: 81kW/250Nm 1.6 TDI, 110kW/340Nm 2.0 TDI and 135kW/380Nm.
There’s no word yet from Volkswagen Australia to confirm they will be bringing the Golf Alltrack down under, but they’d be mad not to. A model like this would sell pretty well, don’t you think?
If you can stomach the planet’s insatiable desire for SUVs then you’ll be primed for this review from Autocar. It’s the BMW X4 up against the Porsche Macan. Two SUVs likely to polarise opinions on numerous levels, but two SUVs that are likely to be among the best in their class.
Specifically, Autocar has compared a BMW X4 xDrive30d M Sport against a Porsche Macan S Diesel. And at 1895kg and 1880kg respectively these little “small” SUVs have a lot of weight to throw around from their elevated positions.
So, they’ll be crap handlers right?
As the irrepressible march of SUV demand continues racetracks have become the new offroad. That much is evidenced by this angry face, photographed at Silverstone, screaming “get out of my f@#king way!”
That face belongs to the Range Rover Sport SVR and behind that snarl you’ll find a 405kW/680Nm 5.0 litre supercharged V8 designed not to save you from the depths of sinking sand, but rather to take it up to the likes of the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG on the world’s most fearsome racetrack.
With its permanent four-wheel drive capabilities and a specially-tuned 8-speed automatic transmission the Rangie Sport SVR can fire you to 100km/h in 4.5 seconds and onto an electronically limited top speed of 260km/h. Despite its show pony pretensions the SVR is fitted with a hard working two-speed transfer case with a low-range function. Although, this is rather undone by the fact the car rides standard on 21″ alloys, with 22″ rims ready to be optioned by the likely suburban buyers.
Go fast SUVs are a quandary that whether we like it or not are here to stay. Like the excess of development in Dubai, such vehicles remain a constant reminder of what modern engineering can do, while simultaneously making you feel dirty for even daring to admire such achievements.
We do kind of like this Range Rover Sport SVR and would like to have a go behind the wheel. And that makes us feel bad.
8 minutes 14 seconds.
That’s how fast that Range Rover Sport SVR above was able to lap the 20.832km of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. That’s pretty quick for a truck. Actually, it’s pretty bloody quick for any vehicle.
According to the unofficial list for unofficial production car lap times the Sport SVR has split the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG (8:13) and the BMW 1 Series M Coupé (8:15) right down the middle. That’s some exalted company for a motoring monolith to be mixing with around the Ring.
Of course, the secret lies, in part, in the SVR suffix which indicates this super SUV has 404kW (550PS) to play with from its fearsome sounding 5.0 litre supercharged V8. That’s an extra 29kW (50PS) more than the regular Range Rover Sport.
The JLR Special Vehicle Operations boffins who found that extra power also beefed up the SVR’s suspension for flatter cornering. Although, importantly, “this has been achieved without compromising the vehicle’s class-leading all terrain capabilities or high levels of comfort”.
Although, as the video below reveals, presumably they’re not referring to the oh so comfy racing buckets and roll cage fitted to this particular “production SUV”. Still, a sub-8:30 SUV that sounds like a thunder storm, what’s not to like!
As night follows day Mercedes-Benz has found another model to stuff its mighty 265kW/450Nm 2.0 litre turbocharged engine into. After servicing the hot hatch and saloon markets, Mercedes has now turned its hand to the all conquering mid-size SUV segment with the GLA 45 AMG.
As its name suggests this is the lovechild of the A45 AMG and GLA. What we have here is an SUV, a Mercedes-Benz and an AMG! How can anybody resist that holy trinity?
The car will make its public debut in Detroit next week before going on sale in Europe in July. And we predict they will sell a fair few as well.
As with its hatch and sedan siblings the GLA 45 AMG features a 7-speed dual clutch transmission and 4matic all-wheel drive system. The baby SUV AMG can reach 100km/h in 4.8 seconds, two tenths slower than the hatch. Presumably that’s die to increased weight, although we don’t have the stats to confirm that at this stage.
This is now a well proven recipe for Mercedes-Benz and greater detail can be found after the break, along with additional photos.
Audi has continued the inexorable march of SUVs by announcing it will launch a Q1 in 2016. Judging by this sketch it looks like we can refer back to the Crosslane concept from last year to get a better idea as to how Audi might style the baby Q.
The Q1 will be built at Ingolstadt and is part of a model expansion which Audi hopes will result in sales in excess of two million units per year by 2020. By that time Audi will have increased its portfolio from the 49 model variations we have today to beyond 60.
More, more, more!
The new Macan is a sportscar. The new Macan is a sportscar. The new Macan is a sportscar. The new Macan is a sportscar. The new Macan is a sportscar.
Nope, I still don’t believe it. Watch these two videos from Porsche and see if you end up being convinced.
Make no mistake the Macan will be very, very good. And probably very fast too, in Turbo guise. But, Porsche, please, cut the bullshit!
Porsche has revealed its new Macan SUV in separate launch events at motor shows in LA and Tokyo. Of course, Porsche ambassador Maria Sharapova could only be in one place at once and LA got the sweets on that front.
The Macan is destined to be Porsche’s best selling model and if you have a dislike of SUVs from Stuttgart we suggest you learn to get over it, and fast. As far as SUVs go the Macan looks very good and with relatively affordable pricing (for a Porsche anyway) you’ll be seeing a lot of these on the roads.
At launch Porsche has released information on three models, all boast Porsche Traction Managment—what you and I would call all-wheel drive—and 7-speed PDK transmissions:
Macan Turbo
Engine: 3.6 litre V6 biturbo
Power: 294kW at 6000rpm
Torque: 550Nm at 1350–4500rpm
Weight (unladen): 1925kg
0–100km/h: 4.8s (4.6s with optional Sport Chrono)
0–160km/h: 11.1s (10.9s with optional Sport Chrono)
0–1000m: 24.2s (23.9s with optional Sport Chrono)
Fuel consumption (NEDC): 9.2–8.9l/100km
Macan S
Engine: 3.0 litre V6 biturbo
Power: 250kW at 5500–6500rpm
Torque: 460Nm at 1450–5000rpm
Weight (unladen): 1865kg
0–100km/h: 5.4s (5.2s with optional Sport Chrono)
0–160km/h: 13.2s (13.0s with optional Sport Chrono)
0–1000m: 25.7s (25.4s with optional Sport Chrono)
Fuel consumption (NEDC): 9.0–8.7l/100km
Macan S Diesel
Engine: 3.0 litre V6 turbo diesel
Power: 190kW at 4000–4250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1750–2500rpm
Weight (unladen): 1880kg
0–100km/h: 6.3s (6.1s with optional Sport Chrono)
0–160km/h: 16.7s (16.5s with optional Sport Chrono)
0–1000m: 27.2s (26.8s with optional Sport Chrono)
Fuel consumption (NEDC): 6.3–6.1l/100km
Full details from Porsche are available after the break, including the 71 page press kit from the LA Auto Show.
We’ve already been given a sneak peek at the new Porsche Macan, but here’s another couple of pics to check out before the official reveal.
The Macan S is expected to be powered by a turbocharged 3.6 litre V6 producing 320hp (240kW). Entry level models are understood to be powered by four cylinder engines, while the range-topping Macan Turbo will use the same engine as the S, tuned to offer 395hp (295kW).
A 250hp (186kW) 3.0 litre V6 diesel will also be found in the Macan range.
[Source: Autocar]