RPM TV Online

Honda's new Civic debuts on RPM - plus three-door Range Rover Evoque, and latest Hyundai Accent

The all-new Honda Civic four-door sedan made its South African debut on the scenic Garden Route recently – and the RPM crew was there for a first-hand experience of the sleek newcomer’s capabilities.

We road-tested the Range Rover Evoque in five-door petrol form late last year, but this week, it’s the turn of the three-door version, this time powered by the firm’s two-litre turbodiesel powerplant. We’ve rarely driven something that’s attracted so much attention!

Finally, we focus on a more affordable motoring experience as we get behind the wheel of Hyundai’s Accent 1.6 – and find that beating the budget can be a pleasant experience.

RPM TV premieres at 20h30 on Wednesday on SuperSport 6 and SS6 Africa. It’s also repeated on MNET and SS6/SS6 Africa on Thursday morning at 07h00. As always, there are several repeat broadcasts.

As live sport does affect the scheduling on SuperSport, please check the latest transmission schedule on the RPM TV website at www.rpmtv.co.za. You can also search for RPM under ‘Motorsport’ on the SuperSport website, or the Electronic Programme Guide accessible on Channel 100.

RPM TV is proudly sponsored by Continental Tyre.

The first pictures of an undisguised Mercedes-Benz A-class have been posted on the Internet, revealing what the German powerhouse manufacturer has in store for the premium hatch market.

The new car is a completely revised take on the A-class brand, which has historically been saddled with the moniker of a Mommy’s MPV. Its replacement leaves all thoughts of the MPV behind and replaces them with the new, swooping curves of a hatchback.

The change is necessary as the market for premium hatchbacks has heated up over the last decade, superseding the traditional Golf range as the only real player in that segment. Audi’s A3 and BMW’s 1-Series have both done extremely well, and are currently entering their third and second generations respectively, but the A-Class has not been the success its maker was hoping for.

We could argue that it might already be too late for Mercedes-Benz, especially when you look at what Audi is doing with the smaller A1, and the resounding success that it has had with that smaller form factor.

But Mercedes-Benz has a trick or two left, the most prominent being the A-Class A25 AMG, which is due for its public debut at the September Paris Motor Show.

This hottest of A-class models will be fitted with a 2,0-litre turbocharged engine that’s been given the task of out-muscling the 250 kW of the RS3. The powerplant is being developed in conjunction with Mercedes-Benz’s HPE (High Performance Engine) offshoot, which has been responsible for a number of the marque’s Formula1 engines.

Mercedes-Benz is hoping to achieve mainstream success by having the fastest hatchback money can buy as one of the main A-class lures.

Until then, we can look forward to the official unveiling of the A-class in March at the Geneva Motor Show.

If there was any kind of a leading signal of what we can expect from the next generation of premium hatches, the BMW 1-Series Sports Hatch would probably be it. It’s the first of the big German Three to release its take on the segment, and will be so for the next few months before the A3 hits our shores, so for the time being this is the de facto standard. And on the surface, it is really not a bad template to follow.

When I first saw the car, the styling did not do it for me. The features, especially on the front of the car, resemble a sheet of latex being pulled over the body and anchored at the bottom of the front lip. The rear and side profiles are pleasing enough, with subtle lines extending through them, but after spending just two days with the 1-Series I have already become accustom to its brand of looks.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I have been overwhelmed by the design and will be pasting cut outs of our faces onto magazine photos of happy couples with Labradors and start playing house, but it did manage to sway me under 48 hours – stranger things have happened.

I suppose the 1-Series Sport Hatch’s biggest ace up its sleeve is its interior, which for this class is incredibly comfortable. The previous 1-Series (that’s the 1-Series Sport Hatch (3-Door) by the way, since it is still available on BMW’s website) was often slated for having an interior straight from the BMW E36 days, and although this new one has also borrowed its interior from another BMW it feels more like the current generation 5-Series than a premium hatch back.

A cinematic widescreen display sits perched on top of the centre dashboard and gracefully takes commands from the centre console mounted iDrive and direct access buttons. The system is like any other BMW’s but slightly more refined, even that of the 5-Series (the latest BMW that I have driven). Even the PDC rear view camera offers better picture quality than predecessors.

The instrument cluster is straight out of the 5-Series and is a beautiful mix of analogue dials and digital display components, and offers up a huge amount of data on what is going on with the car but never bombards you with it. There are extra bar charts and numbers relating to the EfficientDynamics working in the background which are useful but don’t retract from the more important data like speed.

As far as driving goes, the 1,6-litre turbocharged petrol engine might not look like much on paper (100 kW and 220 Nm torque) but it does feel perky and alive when you put your foot down. There is a definite lack of power in the midrange, and with the 6-speed manual gearbox you will probably end up down shifting a lot to try and find that power, but with the excellent 8-Speed ZF automatic gearbox it was never a noticeable annoyance.

The car also has three modes which are set by a rocker-style button next to the gearlever. Comfort is the equivalent of normal, while Sport does things to the suspension, steering and gearbox and is for when you want to go fast, or feel like you’re going fast. The chassis didn’t inspire the highest degree of confidence in its sporting capabilities and got very bouncy through corners with uneven surfaces so I really wouldn’t push the envelope on this car. But ECO PRO is probably the most rewarding of the three.

In ECO PRO the l/100km bar on the instrument cluster transforms into an optimum driving meter, showing you if you are using your accelerator pedal too liberally, sometimes even prompting you to back off. The estimated range left also takes back seat to a new metric, a kilometres saved number, which tells you how much extra range you have squeezed out of this tank of fuel by simply following the ECO PRO way of driving.

This type of reward based system (showing the direct saving of driving efficiently) appeals to me. It’s like a game where the score is money saved and the entertainment centre is your drive to work.

So all in all the new 1-Series is brilliant! It’s comfortable beyond all expectations, drives well and is not that bad too look at. So we could assume that we are in good hands for this new generation of premium hatch backs. Well yes, but you are going to fork out for that premium part.

While the 116i retails for a very respectful R268,000 in manual (R286,500 for the automatic), the example that I drove had over R140,000 worth of optional extras, meaning its retail price would be north of R420 000. Almost everything on this car is optional, and even if you go for the Packages, you would still need to cumulatively add six of them to get close to this specification level.

All of sudden all the elegant things about the 1-Series Sport Hatch (5-door) have little price tags hanging off them, asking you if you would really pay that for them every time you use them.

But this is the reality of the new premium hatch backs. They will be expensive, and if you have the money they will be comfortable and you will love it. But as always is the case with an update model range, the 1-Series does not appeal to the same market as it did before. It is now more of a 3-Series with less space, and not the gateway BMW for the younger generation.

We normally don’t think of or care what’s under our seats in a car. Under the bonnet maybe, because the engine is the most important piece of equipment after all. And besides, we can rattle off some impressive sounding numbers to those around us. But beyond that, what does it really matter whether it’s an E36, E46 or E30 BMW?

I doubt this information will change anything for most, so here’s the highlights package before I get too technical: the new Golf Mk 7 platform means that future VWs will be cheaper, more efficient, have shorter waiting lists – and will be powered by smaller engines.

The reason for this is that the Mk 7 platform, named MQB, is the first VW platform that will cater for anything from a Polo to a Passat. This means the same production line can be used to build a significant proportion of VW’s cars, making input costs cheaper, which will hopefully be carried over into the final asking price.

Furthermore, the same platform will be used by all the group companies, including Seat, Audi and Skoda, and due to the homogenous design, an assembly line could be set up to manufacture Passats today, and reconfigured for A1’s tomorrow – or one of the other 60 potential vehicles that the MQB platform will underpin.

As a result, we should see a significant reduction in waiting lists as supply can be matched to demand on a per-day basis. The platform is also the lightest since the Mk 4 Golf, making it more fuel efficient, and saving us a little more each month.

VW will start making use of Audi’s 1,2-litre turbocharged engine with the advent of the Mk 7, which is probably one of the best small-capacity power units around. There’s even talk of an 800 cc diesel engine for the Mk 7, but given the quality of SA diesel, it is unlikely that we would ever see such a minute thing (that’s less capacity than two ‘buddy’ Coke bottles) in a locally available Golf …

At last year’s Geneva Motor Show, Ford CEO Alan Mulally stood up and told show goers that Ford would attack the lucrative MPV market with a new addition to its One Ford strategy, and proceeded to unveil the then concept Ford B-Max.

By all accounts, the Fiesta platform sharing B-Max will make a return to this year’s Geneva Motor Show next month, but will leave its concept designation at the door because it is due for official release later this year, taking the fight to current class leaders like Opel’s Meriva and Renault’s Scenic.

Breaking into a segment is never as easy as it sounds, but Ford expects their name to eclipse these two with the unique but practical aspects of their MPV.

Top of that list has to be the lack of B-pillars and the inclusion of a rear sliding door, making rear loading (be kids, dogs or furniture) and complete breeze. The traditional B-pillar problems, including side collision safety, has been solved by Ford, but more importantly the B-Max does not look like a panel van – the curse it seems of any car fitted with sliding doors in the past.

The use of an integrated B-pillar into the rear sliding door gives the car a traditional ‘car’ look to it, but with that added practicality.

It is still a small MPV though, measuring 11cm longer that the current Fiesta, with which it shares most of its underpinnings.

Styling and dimensions are those of a MPV; high stance and seating position should create a decent amount of space inside the cabin, while the exterior is inherited from the current Ford Focus and Fiesta lines.

Further details are on the scares side at this stage, but with Geneva a little over a month away, we are sure that there will be plenty of in depth specifications flying around before its estimated European launch in September.

Vehicles equipped with a three cylinder 1,0-litre engine might have always been the realm of budget minded buyers, swapping asking price for small interiors and frugal petrol usage, but this will change when Ford releases their entry into the odd-cylinder block market.

The lump in question is their 1,0-litre Ecoboost; an engine that is not only frugal but also quite powerful, due to the attached turbocharger, allowing the most powerful version of this engine to  produce 91 kW and 170 Nm of torque.

Frugality is still top of mind as that same engine will be able to sweep through the kilometers while only sipping 5,0 l/100 km, which is excellent news since the vehicles themselves will be anything but money saving.

The current UK price schedule has the entry level 74 kW turbocharged 1,0-litre costing a nudge more than the 1,6-litre base model while the 5-door version will add a slight premium on top of that or the extra versatility.

The prices aren’t unreasonably higher (the 5-door has a 5% attached premium) but there might still be some resistance amongst people who have only known 1,0-litre cars as the puny Peugeot 107 and Citroen C1, both of which are more student car-esque in their ways compared to the corporate fleet Focus.

A local release is very unsure at this point, due to fuel quality and maintenance costs, but this is actually an engine layout that should do very well in South Africa, especially Johannesburg. Up in the Highveld the elevated altitude tends to sap the power from any small naturally aspirated engine, meaning that this turbocharged focus will be a lot of fun to drive.

Glamorous Aston Martin Visage joins Mini Coupe and VW Caddy on RPMTV

Aston Martin’s glamorous Virage fits in neatly between the desirable DB9 and the hard-core DBS. And that V12 sounds glorious, too. The British bombshell headlines RPM TV this week.

Somewhat more controversial in the styling department, but truly entertaining on the handling front, is the Mini Coupé – featured here in Cooper S AT form.

On a more pragmatic note, we road test the Volkswagen’s no-nonsense, highly practical and surprisingly nippy Caddy people mover. Plus there’s news coverage of last week’s Honda Civic launch on the Garden Route.

RPM TV premieres earlier than usual at 19h30 on Wednesday on SuperSport 6. It’s also repeated earlier than usual on MNET and SS2 on Thursday morning at 07h00. As always, there are several repeat broadcasts.

As live sport does affect the scheduling on SuperSport, please check the latest transmission schedule on the RPM TV website at www.rpmtv.co.za. You can also search for RPM under ‘Motorsport’ on the SuperSport website, or the Electronic Programme Guide accessible on Channel 100.

RPM TV is proudly sponsored by Continental Tyre.

The engineers at German supercar motor house, Porsche, have applied some knowledge that has actually been part of conventional wisdom amongst drag racers and extreme vehicle tuners for some time: any power problem can be solved by adding a turbocharger – or three.

The engine in question is not even a fringe development lump from a race car, but the seminal 911 Turbo’s pressure-aspirated flat six, suggesting that the development team is very confident of its plans.

The reason for the addition of a third turbocharger is not to produce more power, but to smooth out the power delivery at lower revs while limiting the adverse effects of turbo lag (the time it takes the turbocharger to spool up before it can add its power).

Big turbochargers suffer from more lag, while smaller units are far less susceptible. This has resulted in the development of hybrid turbocharger configurations, where a small turbocharger is placed in front of a larger one.

With the addition of a third turbo, Porsche has shuffled around the configuration of the forced induction units, applying a smaller turbocharger very close to the engine, with the two bigger units mounted in a similar fashion to the 997-generation 911 Turbo’s engine.

The food-for-thought here is that Porsche has always used variable-geometry turbochargers, which also limit the effects of turbo-lag, so we would hypothesise that the third in-line turbocharger is meant to reduce the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions coughed up by the 911.

It’s not that the turbocharger makes the engine run cleaner, but rather that it allows the driver to drive more efficiently.

There is likely to be a power hike in the new 911 Turbo engine, but we suspect that it is purely an expression of fan service. It would hardly be good news if the power output remained unchanged, despite the addition of a third turbocharger. Instead, the new engine is expected to touch the 390 kW mark, and should be impressively tractable, making it easier than ever to control all those horses.

The new 911 Turbo is due next year, but a preview model is expected to debut at the Paris Motor Show in October this year.

The M6 is normally considered BMW’s silly card in the deck, because what the car ends up being really depends on the mood of the project manager.

The previous version ended up with the same, naturally aspirated V10 as the then current BMW M5, and the result was certainly rapid, but hardly involving. But perhaps the project leader of the next-generation M6 was been cut off by an Audi R8 on the way to the conceptual meeting, because the upcoming model means business.

Instead of messing around with a simple transplant from the F10-generation M5, BMW has decided to crank up the go-faster settings of the twin-turbo V8 to stratospheric levels, squeezing 400 kW and 680 Nm of torque from the 4,4-litre mill.

This makes this M6 the most powerful BMW that you can drive off a showroom floor – and it still includes a five-year maintenance plan.

But it doesn’t end there. The project boss must have really taken that traffic altercation to heart, because the M-Division has also raided the group racing bin and conjured up some embellishments to the 6-Series body, including a roof and assorted panels made of carbon fibre, carbon-ceramic brake discs, and lightweight alloy wheels, all aimed at boosting both the power-to-weight ratio and braking potential.

Although the M6 will be BMW’s weapon of choice when it comes to sports car comparisons, it is also adamant that the M6 will offer both true driver appeal and grand touring capability. In other words, this won’t be a track day scud missile.

But if the M-Division has its way this could also change, as it is seeking permission from BMW to develop a new, ground-up car of its own.

The idea is similar to that of the Mercedes-Benz SLS, which was developed by in-house noise-and-muscle practitioners, AMG. The M-Division is hoping for a similar opportunity in the not too distant future.

Until then though, the M6 will be as fast as you can go in a production BMW while still listening to the soothing strains of a Bach sonata through 73 Harman Kardon speakers and not wondering if the suspension is made of granite.

Throughout the A1’s early conception and motor show appearances, we mused that it could be possible (and downright mind-blowing) if the Audi created a S1, and managed to slap in the 155 kW A3 2.0-litre turbocharged engine into it.

Pulling up a stepladder and leaving the groundings of reality, we thought that it would be an even better idea if, while they were busy fitting that 2,0-litre motor to the A1, they dropped in the S3’s 188 kW 2,0-litre instead, and called that car the RS1.

Sadly, we were wrong: the S1, like the runner-up on X-Factor, never made it off the drawing board, leaving the A1 1,4TFSI S-Line and its 136 kW turbocharged motor to generate the smiles. And nothing was ever mentioned about doing something useful with that aging 2,0-litre engine.

But then, late last year, Audi out of the blue announced that it would be releasing a very special edition of the A1: only 333 examples, to be exact, and available in left-hand drive only. And lo and behold, it would combine quattro all-wheel drive with the current S3’s 188 kW lump.

With stats like that, there is very little not to get excited about, and since the UK has been allocated 20 units, could it be that a few potential South African A1 quattro owners could have their dreams realized on local soil, too?

Sadly, we can only report on their disappointment, as SA will not be receiving any A1s – purely because it is illegal to market left-hand drive cars here, making this special A1 an outlaw on local tar.

But what it does introduce is an important addition to the PQ25 platform in the form of an operational and production-ready quattro all-wheel drive system. So, maybe the long-rumoured 155 kW S1 will make its appearance, after all – if the quattro drive system in the context of the A1 is feasible in right-hand drive.

For VW fans, it also conjures up the potential of another very popular small hatchback with lots of power and four-wheel traction – a car with a Polo R badge on the back, and maybe a right-hand drive Polo R...