News: VW getting serious about performance Passat?

 

There hasn't been a high-performance Passat since the slightly nutty W8 engined version went out of production close to a decade ago, but it seems that VW is now intent on producing a more sporty version of its four-door saloon, at least for the US market.

It may not look like much on the outside, but this is the Passat Performance Concept, bound for the Detroit Motor Show next week and you can pretty much forget the concept bit and assume that this very car will go into production for the US, and just possibly Europe, next year.

There's not many giveaways on the outside; even those ritzy 19" wheels look quite subtle, but underneath this Passat is packing lower, stiffer suspension and VW's EA888 2.0-litree turbo petrol engine cranked up to a hefty 247bhp.

Apparently the interior has been suitably gussied up too, with carbon and leather trim elements. Will such a Passat make it to Europe? Well, the market for hot saloons is pretty tiny, but given VW's sprawling interests and profit margins, they might just decide to do it for a laugh...

News: Cosworth-tweaked Hyundais on the way?

Cosworth was once synonymous with road-and-rallying Fords, and gave us such iconic high performance cars as the Sierra and Escort Cosworth. More recently, newly independent Cosworth has given us a tweaked Subaru Impreza, but the legendary tuner could be making a road-going return with Hyundai.

Hyundai has already upgraded the performance of its cute and clever Veloster coupe, adding a turbo to take the output of the standard 1.6-litre 140bhp GDI petrol engine up to 200bhp for the Turbo model. But Cosworth's tweaked Veloster, seen in sketch form above and appearing at the Speciality Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA, a major American tuning and accessories show) goes quite a bit further.

Like 400bhp further, and that's backed up by Bilstein monotube dampers, massive Brembo brakes and custom-built 19" wheels with almost-slick Khumo tyres. Inside, the cabin gets a half-rollcage (911 GT3-style) and a specially made suede interior finish. Nice.

Of course, this one's just for show not for road, but with Hyundai making noises about a high-performance version of the new 3-door i30 hatchback, and wanting to seriously challenge the premium German players at their own game, there could well be room now in the Hyundai lineup for a road-going Cosworth-tuned performance range.

News: Is this Ferrari's new 900bhp engine?

 We know that Ferrari is currently hard at work on F70, areplacement for the blistering Enzo hypercar, and in fact we've already seen its all-carbon chassis, at the Paris Motor Show. But now, here is the first image of its 900bhp hybrid engine...

It's a bit blurry, but Dutch website Autoblog.nl is pretty sure that this is the first image of Ferrari's new wonder engine nestling in its carbon-fibre cradle. The large grey box, with the orange wires, sitting at the back between the exhausts, is the KERS unit which, F1-style, harvests electric power from braking and various other systems and allows the driver to thumb a button for extra overtaking oomph, or for a short trickle on pure, zero-emissions electric power.

Quite why you'd need extra overtaking oomph from a 7.3-litre V12 in a carbon-chassis supercar that will probably weigh about as much as a Fiesta is a bit beyond us though...

Road Test: Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake

Price as tested: €192,000 (approx)

+ Gorgeous but practical, explosive but smooth
– Thirsty and expensive. Do you care?
= Awesome performance matched with everyday usability




It’s all too temping to describe the Mercedes-Benz CLS AMG with the same terminology that you’d use for armaments and munitions. The artillery barrage of noise from the engine, the machine-gun speed of the gearchange, the sheer weapons-grade explosiveness of the performance. A great wall of Prussian might (Swabian might, actually, but Swabia never had Prussia’s PR machine), a steel hand in a steel glove with some small velvet edging.

But it’s not really like that at all. You see, AMG is in some ways a both a victim of its own publicity and a cunning usurper of its own image. The once independent tuner, now long since an official, fully-owned subsidiary of Daimler-Benz, is happy to project an image of tyre-smoking lunacy, V8-powered bombast and a general mien of being the chief of staff car for the Autobahn Aggressor Corps. And if you were to pick one of the more deliberately lairy AMG models, a Black Series C63 Coupe for example, that’s what you’d have.

This, the CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake is rather a different kettle of seafood, and in many ways a much more pleasing one. One of the nice things about all but the most hardcore AMG models is that, long ago, Mercedes laid down a diktat that no matter how much AMG DNA is injected, the core genes must always be those of Mercedes. So comfort, usability, practicality and refinement are at least as high up the list as sideways shenanigans.

Let’s deal with the CLS Shooting Brake in isolation for a moment. An oddball idea, to take a four-door coupe, itself closely mechanically related to the saloon and estate E-Class, and turn it into an estate, but Mercedes, like so many car makers, is using its manufacturing power and its scales of economy to explore niches in the market that no-one previously knew existed. The original CLS itself was just such an odd idea, and one that proved massively successful. So who knows, maybe there are people out there who want a car with CLS looks and B&Q practicality. Certainly, I can see the appeal myself and that lushly carpeted (or American cherry wood trimmed) load bay is actually quite practical – the 590-litre luggage capacity easily matches the supposedly more upright and practical BMW 5 Series Touring or Audi A6 Avant.

Back to the AMG, and it’s hard not the feel a touch intimidated when you climb aboard first. I recently drove the new 560bhp BMW M5 and pronounced it glorious, but almost impossible to drive legally on the public road. The CLS, with 525bhp, is giving away a touch of power but with 700Nm of torque and a fast-acting twin-clutch seven-speed paddle-shift gearbox, it sure isn’t going to be hanging around.

Like the M5, you can use a series of buttons on the centre console, adjoining the stubby gear selector, to tune the suspension, gearbox and throttle response to your liking. Or you can simply jab a finger at the button marked AMG and get the full-on, full noise performance.

Do so and... and the CLS still feels remarkably docile. Oh, the 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 still snarls and barks as you’d want it to, and the horizon is reeling in towards you at a massive rate, but it never feels intimidating or overwhelming. The power seems to be delivered at a more steady rate than the all-of-a-sudden thump of the M5. The CLS just feels like it leaves a tiny cushion between you and the serious end of the performance spectrum, and that is all to the good when it comes to driving on the road with some level of sanity.

Of course, start to push a little harder, build up your confidence and things really start to come to life. Suddenly, the scenery is flashing by, the steering, accessed through a small, squared-off, suede-wrapped wheel, is alive with information and devilishly quick at getting the CLS’ snub nose pointed into an apex. The whole car feels delightfully slim-hipped and agile, seeming almost to hang weightless between movements, never exhibiting slack yet also never feeling as if it’s going to turn and bite. Add in some wet surfaces or slippery autumnal leaves, and that may change but the CLS’ demeanour is mostly that of a pussycat.

All of which makes it one of the most bewitching performance cars I have ever sampled. Beautiful, practical, comfortable, refined and yet with the kind of rocket-assisted sledgehammer performance that you subliminally expect from an AMG, all wrapped in a delightfully unusual package. It won’t be to all tastes, and certainly won’t be within the reaches of many pockets (235g/km and 10-litres per 100km how are you?) but as an icon of what can be done with modern high performance technology, it is little short of ballistic.

Mercedes-Benz CLS 63 AMG Shooting Brake
Price as tested: €192,000 (approx)
Range price: €70,000 (approx) to €192,000 (approx)
Capacity: 5,461cc
Power: 525bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Top speed: 250kmh
0-100kmh: 4.4sec
Economy: 10.1-100km (27.9mpg)
CO2 emissions: 235g/km
Tax Band: G. €2,258 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested

Road Test: Mercedes-Benz SL500

Price as tested: €170,000

+ Awesome engine, comfort, quality, refinement, image
– Soft-ish chassis, size, chintzy cabin
= Expect it to be sporting and you’ll be disappointed. Expect it to be an SL           and it’s perfect.

So, the questions that has to be asked is; is the Mercedes SL actually a sports car? Has it ever been?
The original gullwing 300SL was certainly sporty, in fact a race car in all but name and some creature comforts. But the “pagoda roof” SL that followed was much more about grand touring (GT) comfiness and the models that followed were not what you’d call trackday specials. Yes, you could have the mental AMG versions of the last-generation SL, which were sharp to drive and blisteringly quick but actually, truly sporting? Hmmmmm... You see, sporting has to do with being light, agile, fast to change direction. Bludgeoning power is all well and good, but if you have too much mass then you’re just not in the sporting ballpark.

Now with this new model, the SL has a chance to reclaim a touch of its birthright. It’s certainly light now, at least lighter, thanks to an aluminium body and chassis that cuts its kerb weight by as much as 140kg. That allows it to be laughably efficient, with our 4.7-litre V8 test car rated at an average fuel consumption figure of 9.1-litres per 100km.

The more popular 3.5-litre V6 version can manage about 6.2l/100km, according to Mercedes. A stop-start system and class-leading aerodynamics play their parts, but the new SL is proof that if you want to be efficient, lose weight.

But sporting? Now that could prove a harder cheque for the SL to cash. For the past 60 years, SLs have been more Rodeo Drive than Nurburgring, and glancing at this new one’s folding metal roof and sybaritic interior, you instantly suspect more of the same.

And that’s precisely what you get here, at first. The SL is hushed and refined and even roof down at 120km/h, conversation is possible at normal volumes. The big V8 is all but silent, the ride pillowy soft and the sheer width and size of the thing, weight loss notwithstanding, dissuades you from pushing it too hard, especially on narrow roads.

Light, slightly distant steering doesn’t help and you soon rest deeply into the ample seats, happy to drive across continents in a single leap and not too bothered about what time you get there at. A classically inclined grand tourer then.

Except, if you have ticked the options box marked Active Body Control (ABC), there is another side to the SL. It’s not quite Jekyll and Hyde, more Jekyll and Hyde’s mildly annoyed brother, but there is some fun to be had. The ABC system tightens up the suspension, not to the point of harshness, but to a tauter setting than the default “comfort” allows.

Flick the gearbox (a seven-speed dual-clutch affair) into sport and let the V8 have its head, and a bit of a hot rod emerges. The twin turbos take a big gulp each and unleash the full 435bhp and 700Nm of torque on the rear wheels. There will be a roar, a snarl and, as it hardens to a NASCAR-esque bellow, you suddenly find yourself rocketing up the road.

Find some tight corners and . . . well, it doesn’t actually change very much. Yes, there is more control on offer, but the steering and body-roll soon make it amply clear that they don’t really like to be hustled and that, if you want that sort of thing, you should really probably wait for the tweaked SL63 AMG when that arrives later in the year.

It’s not that it won’t do the fast cornering stuff, it just finds it all rather tiresome, like an elegantly-dressed uncle forced into a game of backyard tag rugby.

Better to sit back and enjoy the comfort. Our car came in the delightfully tacky combo of pearlescent white paint and full red leather interior, but the default plain black cabin with silver coachwork should look significantly more subtle and suitable.

A shame that the main dials look a little aftermarket, but the glass roof panel (which reacts at the touch of a button like a pair of Reactolite sunglasses), the astonishing stereo with front-mounted bass speaker, and the heating, cooling and neck-warming seats should keep you distracted.

As for the styling, well, we’re really not sure. Mercedes cars these days often look rather over-egged and complicated, yet age and mellow beautifully as the years pass. Given that the new SL doesn’t look radically different to the old one, we’d say that’s likely to be the case once again. But it does look just a touch ordinary for a car with a six-figure price tag, with none of the drama or presence of the SLS AMG or the nigh-on perfect elegance of the W113 ‘Pagoda Roof’ SL.

Use it as intended, as a classy and effortless tourer and the new SL, especially with that mighty V8 engine, is as close to peerless as you will find. Expect it to be a sports car? You’ll be disappointed.

Facts & Figures

Mercedes-Benz SL500
Price: €170,000 (approx)
Range price: €130,000 to €170,000 (approx)
Capacity: 4,663cc
Power: 435bhp
Torque: 700Nm
Top speed: 250kmh
0-100kmh: 4.6sec
Economy: 9.1-100km (31.0mpg)
CO2 emissions: 212g/km
Tax Band: F. €1,129 road tax
Euro NCAP rating: Not yet tested