News: Alfa Romeo to get Ferrari engines?

Well, not exactly. But kinda. You see, it was announced today that "Ferrari will take a more active role in engine development for Alfa, similar to what Ferrari already did for Maserati." Those the words of Fiat-Alfa-Chrysler (and therefore, Ferrari-Maserati too) boss Sergio Marchionne. 

News: Merc's AMG E-Class gets boost to 585bhp

 

Mercedes' updated E-Class will now be available with a 585bhp wunder-weapon E63 AMG version.

The hot AMG versions of the new-look E-Class saloon and estate will now be made available as a 'standard' (if that's quite the right word) version with a BMW M5-bothering 557bhp and 720Nm of torque from an updated version of the 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 engine. But there will also now be an S model, with a whopping 585bhp and 800Nm of torque, from a tweaked version of the same engine. That one will accelerate this large, comfy, four door saloon (or estate) from 0-100kmh in just 3.6secs. That's not far off McLaren F1 supercar pace.

The S model will also get a locking rear-diff as standard (which should lead to some interesting on-track moments...) Both models can be fitted with massive 420mm ceramic brake discs as an option, while inside, the cars will be fitted with a high-end Bang & Olufsen sound system and a specially-designed IWC dash clock.

Mercedes' 4Matic four wheel drive will also be available as an option, which sound like it might be a good idea for the 585bhp S version, but there's no official word yet on whether you'll be able to have 4Matic with right-hand-drive.

 

News: Mercedes' hot new E-Class revealed

As part of a big family portrait of its newly facelifted E-Class range, Mercedes has revealed the look of the new E63 AMG model.

It's a bit of a dodgy Photoshop job this, as you can see that the AMG version appears to be massively larger than the regular saloon E-Class running alongsude it, but it does at least reveal the chunky new grille, air intake, bumper and delicious set of black alloys that the new E63 will be wearing. It's certainly the best-looking version of the updated E-Class we've yet seen.

Most significantly of all though, this E63 will be the first AMG saloon to be offered with Mercedes' 4Matic four wheel drive, a major break with hot German saloon tradition. You'll still be able to buy a traditional, rear-drive E63 of course, but the option of the 4Matic setup means that four wheel drive is moving ever closer to the motoring mainstream.

This being an AMG, the opportunity will hardly be missed to give the 5.5-litre twin turbo V8 engine a power upgrade, so expect to see a rortier 550bhp output. That 4Matic option is looking more and more desirable by the minute...

News: Hyundai's going for BMW's throat (in the US only for now...)

 

It's the Detroit Motor Show next week, and you can expect to be seeing all sorts of gorgeous machinery that we just can't have on this side of the Atlantic over the next few days. 

Chief amongst them will be this; the Hyundai HCD-14 concept car, which Hyundai is teasing us with this blacked-out image of. It's a preview of the replacement for Hyundai's Genesis saloon, a US-only model that combines a rear-drive chassis with a 4.6-litre V8 engine and BMW-rivalling interior and dynamics. What a shame we don't get them here...

No word yet on drivetrains or anything else, but the Not Wanted Here sticker could be peeled off at some stage. Hyundai in Europe is keen to grab some of the US's premium halo models for itself and there's a faint chance that this big, sexy saloon could make it to this side of the water at some stage in its lifetime. Here's hoping.

Meanwhile, Hyundai's growth in the UK market looks to be stalling, not because of any problems with the cars or the sales network, but because the UK head office can't get enough cars to meet demand. According to Autocar magazine this morning, extra demand from the US, China and Asia has Hyundai's Korean and European factories working flat out and there's just not enough capacity in the system to make cars to expand sales in the UK. There are more than a few European car makers who'd love to have that problem... 

News: All-new Maserati Quattroporte revealed

Maserati's new Quattroporte isn't just a (gorgeous) new luxury saloon, to take on the likes of the Mercedes S-Class and BMW 7 Series; it's also the kicking off of a massive renewal for the Maserati brand with three all-new models and a plan for 50,000 sales a year.

That's a massive increase on current Maserati sales, but Fiat bosses have big plans for its premium performance brand, and to leave clear air between it and in-house rival Ferrari, the three new models (including this new Quattroporte) are going to be as far from mid-engined supercars as is possible.

The Quattroporte, seen here, will make its official debut at the Detroit motor show in January, and will continue with Ferrari-based V8 power; most likely an updated version of the 4.7-litre engine currently found in Maserati's GranTurismo coupe.

The new Quattroporte is longer and more spacious than before, but with more light weight aluminium in its structure in an attempt to keep its bulk under control.

“Maserati stands today at the edge of an unparalleled strategic and industrial growth that will see our presence in the world rise to 50,000 units a year by 2015" Harald Wester, Maserati's CEO told us. This growth is a challenge for which Maserati has carefully prepared itself and that we all welcome with anticipation.

“It is a growth based on those values of style, elegance, quality and performance for which Maserati has always been recognised and praised in almost 100 years of history. This exciting progression will make the new Maserati a true global player with two new production sites in two different continents and a heart solidly planted in Modena, Italy, where our roots are.

“It is a growth that will be based on three new models entering two new segments of the automobile market – and it starts with the all-new 2013 Maserati Quattroporte.”

The two other models? Well, this is where the mouth really starts to water. First up, probably late next year, will be a new Ghibli; but unlike the sixties original, this Ghibli will be a four-door saloon, smaller than the Quattroporte, that will take on the likes of the BMW 5 Series and Audi A6. There may even be a high-po diesel version using a twin-turbo derivative of the VM Motori V6 diesel found in the Ghibli's distant cousin, the Chrysler 300C.

After that will be the Levante, Maserati's first foray into the SUV world and a rival to the Porsche Panamera. Expect a swoopy body atop a much-modified Jeep Grand Cherokee platform with, again, likely diesel as well as petrol, powerplants.

Road Test: BMW M5

Prices as tested: €137,637

+ Powwwwwweerrrrrrr!!!!!!
– Actually, a bit too much power
= Utterly brilliant, but 90% of its grunt is unusable on public roads


Whatever happens in the next few paragraphs, be in no doubt that this M5 represents a new high watermark in the development of the searingly hot sports saloon. For BMW to have created a car that can pump 560bhp out through the back wheels, yet return 30mpg on a long run and be as comfortable as a conventional 520d is little short of a titanic achievement.

Ever since the eighties, when the original M535i made its tentative debut, the idea of shoehorning a BMW Motorsport GmBH engine into a plain-jane four door has been as appealing as the adding of salt and vinegar to chips. Thundering saloons, usually with big V8 engines, had previously been a speciality of American, Italian and even Australian marques, but with the original straight-six M535i (the first M5 wouldn’t arrive for another generation) the Germans perfected the concept. Understatedly cool, blisteringly fast, totally practical. A recipe as tasty as any of Nigella’s.

And now, we are here, thirty years on, at the F10 M5. On the outside, even net of the bulging arches, the dark grey 20” alloys wrapped in Michelin’s 235-40 (front) and 295-35 (rear) Pilot tyres and the four howitzer exhausts, the casual eye could easily mistake this car for a humble 188bhp 520d, if one with a few sport exterior add-ons.

The cockpit gives away equally few clues. Only the stubby selector for the seven-speed M-DCT twin-clutch gearbox gives the game away that this isn’t some specced-up fleet car, although the sumptuous dove grey leather sports seats and the tri-colour stitching on the steering wheel are dead giveaways to the initiated.

Under the familiar 5 Series bonnet lies an initially familiar engine. BMW has been making V8 petrol engines of 4.4-litre capacity for many a year now. But none like this. Breathing compressed air from two massive turbochargers, this bent eight makes 560bhp and an almost comical 680Nm of torque at just 1,500rpm. Turbos are a bit of a new departure for BMW M. The last M5, the E60, had an ultra-high revving 5.0-litre V10, which sounded like a diesel at tickover but yelled like an F1 car at high speeds. This new V8, thanks to its turbos, is at once more accessible and also far, far more devastating. I have never, in my long and sainted life as a motoring writer, driven an engine with such reserves of ferocity. As soon as you fire it up, it settles into a deep, calm and resonant woofle. Blip the throttle a bit and, in spite of the masking effect of the turbos, there is a brief NASCAR-style growl. Get out on the road, hook up a low gear and nail it, and it evolves into the deep-chested bellow of a mid-eighties Group C Le Mans racer. Some of the sound is, astonishingly, digitally synthesised and pumped into the cockpit through the radio speaker, but at no point could my cloth ears detect any difference between the real sound and the fake one.

And it packs a Rocky balboa punch. Where previous M engines had to be revved to give their all, this one wallops you in the back virtually from tickover. At anything more than quarter throttle, there’s enough forward motion to dispatch all but the fastest of flowing traffic. 0-100kmh is quoted as 4.3secs. It feels quicker.

Really nail the throttle to the carpet, and you’d better be on an airfield, a race track or an Autobahn. The legal motorway limit is left behind before the top of second gear, as the M-DCT box does its frankly incredible job of shifting like a proper race car when you’re attacking, or slushing like an auto when you’re not. The ripple fire of revs as the ‘box blips the throttle on manual downshifts is enough to have herds of roadside cattle running for cover.

Handling? Brilliant, frankly, but with one major caveat which we’ll come to in a moment. The steering, like the gearbox and suspension, has three settings; Comfort, Sport and Sport Plus. In the two lower modes, it’s light and easy, with reasonable feel. Select Sport Plus and it weights up nicely, with lots of proper feedback and information coming up through the chunky leather rim. As good as the best hydraulic systems? No, but still better than most others. The best setting for Irish roads is to have the suspension and gearbox/throttle response set to comfort and the steering to Sport Plus. Believe me, you don’t need to have the engine set to maximum attack if you want to make good progress.

The caveat? It’s too powerful. I can’t believe I’m saying that, but it’s true. On a wet road, even with the stability control switched on, the laws of physics conclude that 560bhp is too much for even those fat rear tyres to handle and if it’s raining heavily, full throttle is deeply inadvisable, as the M5 will suddenly snap ferociously sideways on you.

And even in the dry, it’s too much. There just isn’t enough road in the country or lunacy in this driver to make full use of the M5’s prodigious talents. Any more than a couple of seconds at full effort and you may as well just stop at the next Garda station and hand in your licence. You have to drive it with the reticence of a saint to avoid getting into trouble, and if you have to do that, what’s the point?

I love the M5. It is a glorious statement of what a modern car maker can do when its finest minds are focused on a project. It is more powerful, more efficient and more brilliant to drive than any single one of its rivals. But unless you have about 60km of Autobahn between you and work, or you own your own racetrack, it is all a bit sadly pointless. A €70k 535d with the M-Sport styling pack will provide much of the M5’s thrills for literally half the cost and without quite the same licence losing ability.


Facts & Figures

BMW M5
Price as tested: €137,637
Range price: €43,530 to €134,430
Capacity: 4,395cc
Power: 560bhp
Torque: 680Nm
Top speed: 250kmh
0-100kmh: 4.3secs
Economy: 9.9/100km (28.5mpg)
CO2 emissions: 232g/km
Tax Band: G. €2,258 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

Road Test: Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 V8 Hemi Overland

Price as tested: €POA.

In brief: Pointless? No, not quite. If you’ve got the wherewithal, it nicely straddles the gap between practical and sporting SUV.


I can confidently predict that no-one in Ireland is going to buy one of these. Not the new Jeep Grand Cherokee itself. Actually, I’d be very surprised if that’s not going to be at least moderately successful, in 3.0 CRD V6 diesel form. It’s handsome, relatively affordable and will be nigh-on peerless in the rough stuff, so what’s not to love?

No, I mean that this specific version, the 5.7-litre V8 Hemi (and yes, that’s petrol powered before you ask) will sell in single digits, if at all. Quite apart from the obvious Co2-related penalties, there’s the prospect of gargantuan fuel and insurance bills.

So why are we driving it? Well, for the simple reason that it’s there; Jeep offered us the chance, and it would be churlish not to find out what life is like on the other side of the diesel-philic fence.

Besides, there is rather more going on here than you might at first think, and perhaps that glib no-one will buy one assessment might be a touch to fast off the mark.

First off, this is our first chance to drive the new Grand Cherokee on Irish roads. Based on the same chassis as the current Mercedes-Benz M-Class, this is no hulking, gargantuan American behemoth. It’s big, certainly, but no more so than any Euro-friendly SUV, so you can leave your Chelsea tractor inhibitions at the door.

From the front, with the glowering headlights and bulging bodywork, it looks brilliant; menacing and Gotham-esque. Around the back, it’s a little less successful, looking like a cross between an old Grand Cherokee and a Kia Sorento. Never mind.

Inside, there’s a similar mix of styles. The vast sweep of the cliff-faced dash is covered in expensive looking leather and wood that doesn’t look like it’s been injected into a mould. The main dials are crisp and clear and almost everything you touch looks and feels expensive. Almost. It is let down by the garish faux-aluminium centre console, the switches for the HVAC controls and the clunky gearshifter. American cabin tastes still have not caught up with European quality levels, it seems. Still, it all feels pretty well bolted together, the seats are marvelously comfortable and there’s lounging space for a basketball team in the back.

Boot space doesn’t look great when first you see it (the floor is high set thanks to the massive full size spare stashed underneath) but the tape measure says that there’s 782-litres back there, which is pretty massive. 1,554-litres with the rear seats folded though it s a bit of a disappointment. A Ford Mondeo estate offers more room.

Mind you, you’ll need to watch the build quality. A rogue bit of panel fit meant the right rear door would only open a crack. A simple fix, and it was an early-build RHD car, but still, Jeep is going to have to try harder than that to shake off any lingering quality worries.

Now, let’s get to the good bit. The engine. A proper, massive, 5.7-litre God Of Thunder with Hemi heads and... wait, I can’t hear it...

The fact is that while we assume that every American car with a V8 sounds like a NASCAR race under the hood, the fact is that this is just a pretty normal engine option stateside. So instead of gurgling and woofling like a Hollywood sound effect, it is in fact whisper quiet until you give it the absolute beans, and then makes a crisp-edged snarl more akin to a BMW straight-six than a bent-eight slice of Detroit pig iron. This is a properly sophisticated engine, and with 352bhp and 520Nm of torque, it can push this big 2,382kg Jeep from 0-100kmh in a very respectable 8.7secs. Not as fast as the 3.0-litre diesel (8.2secs, amazingly) but still pretty rapid.

And while you might be expecting to need to be followed at all times by a tanker truck, allowing for necessary refueling every eight minutes or so, the Hemi confounds by being relatively frugal. We got an average of 15.8l/100km, or 17mpg. Hardly the stuff of a Prius, it’s true, but that was with a morning’s hard pedaling on backroads and across country. A more economy minded motorway run should see you easily beat Jeep’s claimed 14.1-litres per 100km combined cycle figure. To put that in perspective, my wife’s ancient, creaky Renault Laguna 1.8 estate gets around 21mpg on average...

Co2 emissions? Best not to ask? Well, no actually. 327g/km seems gargantuan, but thanks to the vagaries of the Irish tax system, you’ll pay exactly the same as someone whose car emits as little as 226g/km.

And it drives well too. OK, so it’s big, heavy and the steering is a bit vague, but you can still place the Grand Cherokee with confidence, and that air suspension system (standard on Overland models) soaks up the worst that Irish tarmac can throw at it. It’s a massive improvement on the wobbly, rough-riding live-axled last-gen Grand Cherokee. There’s a touch of float, and a hefty dose of initial body roll, but once that’s passed, the Grand settles down into a nice, comfortable cornering attitude. On motorways, it tracks straight and true and refinement is little short of excellent.

The Quadra-Drive II transmission (I love the way Americans name everything like this) which comes as standard on the Overland (regular Laredo models make do with a mere Quadra-Trac II system) includes a Land Rover-like selection system that can set the car up for Sport, Mud and Snow, Sand and Rock Climb modes. A quick blast on some muddy bits on the Curragh confirmed little more than that you’d have to be trying very hard to get a Grand Cherokee stuck. The air suspension can stretch up to give you more ground clearance and better approach and departure angles when off-roading, and crouches down on the motorway, or when in Sport mode, to improve the aerodynamics. Maximum towing weight, critical when you’re buying a car like this, is 3,500kg.

Does it make any sense? No. But then what car with a luxury cabin and the ability to go hoicking over mountains like a demented Edmund Hillary does? Being as having a large SUV is the height of silliness to begin with, why not go the whole hog and get yourself a Hemi?

Facts & Figures

Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 V8 Hemi Overland
Price as tested: €POA
Range price: TBA
Capacity: 5,654cc
Power: 352bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Top speed: 225kmh
0-100kmh: 8.7sec
Economy: 14.1l-100km (20.0mpg)
CO2 emissions: 327g/km
Road Tax Bad: G €2,400
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested.