Vehicles 136
Stop the press: BMW is working on an all-new M5 Touring
BMW is gearing up to introduce a brand-new M5 Touring, marking only the third time in its illustrious history. Following the rare E34 and the V10-powered E61 models, enthusiasts can rejoice as another spacious M5 variant is on the horizon.
Hot on the heels of the highly anticipated M3 Touring, BMW has officially announced that its larger sibling will make its debut in 2024. The company has also revealed that the upcoming M5 Touring will feature a “completely newly developed partially electrified drive system.” While details remain scarce, there are indications of a potential plug-in hybrid powertrain. Further information will likely emerge as prototypes hit the public roads.
According to a statement from BMW, the initial testing phase for the new M5 Touring will commence shortly. The prototypes will undergo rigorous evaluation in various settings, including urban traffic, country roads, and highways around Munich, as well as at the BMW M GmbH headquarters in Garching.
MERCEDES-BENZ AND SUPERPLASTIC DEBUT SUPERDACKEL COLLECTION
Mercedes-Benz and Superplastic have partnered to introduce the Superdackel capsule collection, celebrating the luxury car’s iconic dashboard deckel. Launched on World Dachshund Day, the collaboration features a sustainably crafted, 12-inch Dachshund figure adorned with the Mercedes logo.
The collection extends beyond the figure, offering stylish wearables for humans such as organic cotton hoodies, T-shirts, baseball caps, and silk scarves, all featuring the exclusive Mercedes-Benz x Superplastic co-branded logo. Even our furry friends are not forgotten, with the addition of a Superdackel dog collar.
The complete Superdackel collection is available at the Superplastic flagship store, where visitors can explore an immersive gallery space and enjoy full-screen animations of the accompanying short film until June 26th. Customers can also purchase the capsule collection from Superplastic’s online store, with prices ranging from $150 to $3,500 USD.
Will swapping out electric car batteries catch on?
Without even a touch of the steering wheel, the electric car reverses autonomously into the recharging station.
I won’t be plugging it in though, instead, the battery will be swapped for a fresh one, at this facility in Norway belonging to a Chinese electric carmaker, Nio.
The technology is already widespread in China, but the new Power Swap Station, just south of Oslo, is Europe’s first.
The company hopes that swapping out the entire battery will appeal to customers worried about the range of electric cars, or who simply don’t like queuing to recharge.
It was certainly straightforward to book a slot on Nio’s app, and once inside the station, all I have to do is park on the designated markings and wait in the car.
I can hear bolts being undone as the battery is automatically removed from underneath the vehicle and replaced with a fully-charged one.
In less than five minutes, I’m ready to go again.
“You’re not standing outside and taking 30 to 40 minutes [like you do when you recharge]. So it’s more effective,” says Espen Byrjall, Nio’s power and operations manager in Norway.
“There’s no battery degradation. You always get a healthy battery. So, you can keep the cars longer.”
This station can handle up to 240 swaps a day, and the firm plans to create 20 here in Norway.
It’s also partnered with energy giant Shell, to roll them out across Europe, with the aim of installing 1000 by 2025. “It’s going to be a network that lets you drive all over Europe,” says Mr Byrjall.
Alternative strategies
However, from Nio’s flashy showroom in central Oslo, the firm is pursuing a rather different business model – where customers buy the car and lease the battery.
Marius Hayler, the firm’s general manager for Norway and Denmark, says there are several advantages to this approach.
For a start, the customer is not buying the most expensive bit of an electric car – the battery. That knocks around £7,700 ($9,700) off the purchase price.
A buyer then has to factor-in the monthly subscription for the battery, which ranges from £120 to £215, depending on the size of the battery.
But with that cost comes another advantage. “You’re always going to have the newest battery technology,” explains Mr Hayler.
Nio is just one of the latest Chinese arrivals to enter Norway, along with other newcomers like Xpeng, Voyah, and Hongqi, ahead of wider European rollouts.
There are already half a million electric vehicles on the country’s roads and it aims for all new cars to be zero-emission vehicles by 2025.
According to Norway’s Road Traffic Information Council, 83% of all new cars sold from January to March this year were fully electric, while only 6% had diesel or petrol engines.
“Norway has been used as a test market for some time,” says Oeyvind Solberg Thorsen, director of the Norwegian Road Federation lobby group.
“It’s just obvious that the Chinese brands will come here. We have a very favourable set of incentives for electric cars.”
Low taxes on electric vehicles (EVs), widespread charging infrastructure and perks like exemption from tolls, access to bus lanes and free public parking, have all helped Norway achieve the highest rate of EV adoption in the world.
Backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent, Nio sold more than 90,000 cars last year, nearly all of them in China, where it already operates more than 800 battery swapping stations.
Sales in Norway are still in the hundreds, but the newcomer plans to enter Denmark, Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands this year.
Currently, the firm does not share its battery swapping stations with other carmakers but has suggested it would be open to other manufacturers harnessing the technology.
That might help popularise the system further so it really takes off in Europe.
Matthias Schmidt, an analyst from Schmidt Automotive Research, says that such a system could enable smaller and lighter batteries to be used, in turn helping to improve vehicle efficiency.
However, he’s sceptical as to whether battery swaps will be widely adopted in Europe, as fast-charging points are becoming more common.
“The horse has likely already bolted,” he says. “The rollout of a fast-charging network on motorways will be key going forward now.”
But he thinks the technology could be effective for sectors like taxis: “Short downtimes [to recharge] are key for taxis and this could be ideal for the likes of them.”
Although it’s a difficult space to navigate, a decade ago, Israeli firm Better Place launched a similar innovation, but it failed to take off and the business went bankrupt. While, carmaker Tesla also piloted the concept but didn’t pursue it.
Mr Hayler reckons the timing wasn’t right for these firms, saying it was “too early”.
Despite those early failures, other firms are readily employing a battery-swapping model.
Automakers Geely and Aion have recently launched their own systems in China, and battery manufacturer CATL has also developed a facility, called EVOGO.
California start-up, Ample, is working on similar technology, and Honda, Yamaha and Piaggio are also teaming-up to offer switchable batteries for electric motorbikes and light vehicles.
Another benefit, swapping might greatly appeal to customers who can’t easily charge their cars at night.
“In China there are more apartments than you see in Northern Europe. They use the power swap station primarily to recharge the car,” says Mr Hayler.
In Europe, it’s more common to have driveways where home-charging could be installed. So, the swap station might be used mostly to upgrade or downgrade the battery type, Mr Hayler explains. “But we will see.”
Meanwhile, installing battery-swapping infrastructure remains more expensive than charge points. Some people suggest there may eventually be no need to swap batteries at all.
Every year chargers are getting faster and batteries are lasting longer: in April a Mercedes-Benz model drove 1,000km on a single charge.
And even Nio is not betting entirely on battery swaps, it’s also supplying home chargers and installing superchargers on roads too.
Honda Motorcycle logs 33% jump in two-wheeler domestic sales in April
Its total sales for April 2022 stood at 361,027 units. On the overseas export business front, HMSI exported 42,295 units for the month.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India announced on Monday that it registered a 33 per cent Year-on-Year growth in its domestic sales during April. The firm sold 318,732 two-wheeler sales in the domestic market compared to 240,101 units in the same month last year.
Its total sales for April 2022 stood at 361,027 units. On the overseas export business front, HMSI exported 42,295 units for the month.
Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India stated that recovery for the month leveraged support from market relaxations, favourable harvesting period and gradual opening of schools, colleges among other factors.
Speaking on the performance in April, Yadvinder Singh Guleria, Director – Sales and Marketing, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India said, “April marks the beginning of a positive period pillared by surge in market operations and the onset of marriage season. As per initial estimate, we anticipate a double-digit growth in Q1. However, moving forward, supply side issues and global economic scenario may continue to pose a challenge.”
In April, Honda Motorcycle & Scooter India had announced its business transformation plan with a focus on overseas exports business expansion, alternative mobility and a broader entry-level motorcycle portfolio.
It also launched 2022 Gold Wing Tour in India via completely built-up (CBU) route from Japan. The luxury tourer will be available in Dual-clutch transmission (DCT) option with Airbag.
It celebrated the first anniversary of H’ness CB350 and CB350RS for which HMSI organised a first-of-its-kind customer appreciation event at its Global Resource Factory, Manesar (Haryana) which received an overwhelming response from CB350 series owners’ community.
Honda’s premium business vertical, Honda BigWing further expanded its presence in the country with the inauguration of new Honda BigWing (300-500cc) showrooms in Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh) and Ulhasnagar (Maharashtra) and BigWing Topline (300-1800cc) in Kolkata (West Bengal).
2023 Porsche 911 Sport Classic Is the Manual 911 Turbo We’ve Always Wanted
The limited-run Sport Classic keeps the 911 Turbo’s engine but ditches its automatic gearbox and all-wheel-drive system.
- The 2023 Porsche 911 Sport Classic uses the 911 Turbo’s engine, albeit with a reduced output of 543 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque.
- This lesser output allows the rear-wheel-drive Sport Classic to adopt a seven-speed manual transmission.
- Porsche intends to cap production at 1250 units worldwide.
The 2023 Porsche 911 Sport Classic is a 911 Turbo by any other name. Limited to 1250 units worldwide, the Sport Classic shares its engine with the Turbo, but not its drivetrain or transmission.
Whereas today’s Turbo-grade 911 comes exclusively with all-wheel drive and an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, the 911 Sport Classic pushes its power strictly to its rear wheels by way of a manual transmission. A classic approach to a sports car, indeed.
In order to ensure the twin-turbocharged 3.7-litre flat-six plays nice with the seven-speed gearbox, Porsche reduces the engine’s output to 543 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque—a loss of 29 horses and 111 lb-ft of torque relative to the Turbo. If you’re after peak performance, then you’re better off with the quicker shift times and superior traction of the self-shifting all-wheel-drive 911 Turbo. The 911 Sport Classic instead sacrifices the lofty straight-line acceleration capabilities of its Turbo kin at the altar of a more involving driving experience.
Though it’s sure to require a few more ticks to hit 60 mph (the 572-hp 911 Turbo did it in 2.4 seconds in our testing), the Sport Classic ought to maintain much of the dynamic competence of the Turbo on twisting tarmac. Credit features such as rear-wheel steering, active anti-roll bars, and Porsche Active Suspension Management (PASM) Sport active dampers, which lower the car’s ride height by 0.4 inches. Model-specific revisions to the front springs and staggered 20- and 21-inch front and rear wheels are also included. Stopping power comes courtesy of black-painted 10-piston front and four-piston rear callipers that clamp down on the 16.5-inch front and 15.4-inch rear carbon-ceramic rotors.
Along with its engine, the Turbo also lends its wider body to the Sport Classic. Like the prior 911 Sport Classic that Porsche revealed in late 2009, the latest 911 Sport Classic wears Fuchs-style wheels, a retro “ducktail” rear spoiler, and a double-bubble roof panel. A carbon-fibre hood with a central dip complements the look of the aforementioned roof panel, which Porsche also constructs from carbon fibre.
Additional alterations include LED headlights with black housings, Porsche script on the model’s lower sides, side-mounted white circles designed to house numeric decals of the driver’s choice, and a number of special badges shared with the 2021 Porsche 911 Targa 4S Heritage Design Edition. A Porsche crest that mimics the automaker’s 1963 design, real gold badging at the likes of the car’s rear end, and a Porsche Heritage badge mounted to the rear grille complement a set of badges on the front quarter panels.
Despite its Turbo-sourced engine, the Sport Classic ditches the active aerodynamic equipment and side air intakes of its 911 Turbo and Turbo S stablemates. Forgoing the latter feature required Porsche to develop new tooling to stamp the intake-less wide-body panels it fits on this special-edition model. The Sport Classic channels additional air into its engine bay by way of ducts mounted under the rear spoiler as a way of compensating for the missing holes in its sides. Tweaks to the interior accompany the exterior modifications. Both the tachometer and dash-mounted clock of the standard Sport Chrono package includes white needles set against faces with green numerals and accents, while Porsche embosses logos into the headrests and centre-console lid. There are also distinct door sill plates and a dash-mounted badge.
Pepita cloth lines the door panels and seat centres, contrasting with the cabin’s black and brown leather decor. An all-black leather interior is optional for those in search of a low-key look.
Unlike Porsche’s previous 911 Sport Classic, all 250 of which were built for markets outside of the United States, the brand plans to ship an undisclosed number of its latest Sport Classic to our shores. Pricing remains under wraps, but we wager the Sport Classic will sticker for a good deal more than the $208,350 starting price of a 911 Turbo S.
The 2023 Porsche 911 Sport Classic is due to hit dealers before the end of the year, with customers able to outfit the car in one of four paint options: grey, black, dark grey, and blue—each with contrasting light grey stripes.
Behind the wheel of the thunderous Lamborghini Aventador
The $498,258 Lamborghini Aventador LP 780-4 Ultimae is a V12 supercar from a vanishing era. Here’s how it drives—and how it’s made.
We’ve entered the twilight of combustion-engine vehicles, but Lamborghini is going all-in on the gas-burning tech in the form of its Aventador supercar, the LP 780-4 Ultimae, with its naturally aspirated, non-electric-assisted V12 engine.
Decoded, the name “LP 780-4 Ultimae” means “Longitudinale Posteriore,” which indicates that the engine is situated longways and mounted behind the driver. The “780” is the car’s metric horsepower rating, and the “-4” represents its all-wheel drive. “Ultimae” is self-evident as “final,” even to those of us who didn’t spend much time in Latin class, indicating that this Aventador is the last in the line.
The Aventador is the flagship Lamborghini V12 mid-engine missile, descended from the sultry 1966 Miura, through the menacing 1974 Countach, the oft-overlooked 1990 Diablo, and the stupendous 2001 Murcielago. The template for this model gained flip-up scissor doors with the Countach, and the engine has gotten progressively larger over the decades, nearly doubling in size from the Miura’s 3.9 litres and 430 horsepower to 6.5 litres and 770 hp.
Lamborghini’s V12 model gained all-wheel drive with the Diablo VT in 1993 to help put the V12’s power to the road. The 2017 Aventador S debuted four-wheel steering to aid the agility of the car, which has gotten bigger and heavier over the years.
For the Ultimae edition, the Aventador’s 6.5-litre V12 gains 10 horsepower, bringing the car’s final peak output to 770 naturally aspirated, non-electrically assisted horsepower. At full throttle, the engine’s song is nothing less than appropriately thunderous. This is the theatre that buyers are paying for when they purchase such an overt machine, and the Aventador delivers.
However, when driven gently, the engine can relax and step into the background a bit, letting the driver burble around town on its 531 lb.-ft. of torque. In combination with the power steering and four-wheel steering (which aids the ability to manoeuvre through traffic), the Aventador Ultimae is surprisingly docile when driven like an ordinary car.
Shifting gears
This vehicle features a traditional single-clutch Graziano 7-speed transmission that the car shifts automatically. It also operates the clutch, so the Aventador has no clutch pedal. However, single-clutch transmissions require the engine’s power to be interrupted for gear changes. With a traditional manual transmission, drivers become proficient at easing off the accelerator before a shift and easing back into it, to smooth the shifting process rather than lurching the vehicle’s occupants.
Driving the Aventador like a regular automatic transmission car, holding the accelerator pedal steady during acceleration as you’d normally do, produces noticeable driver’s-ed lurches as the computer disengages the clutch, changes gears, and re-engages it.
This seems to be most pronounced in casual driving using the car’s Strada (Street) mode, until the driver masters the art of participating in gear changes as they would while driving a manual transmission car (because this actually is one) and eases off the gas before the automatic shift and eases back into it after. Sport mode driving is similar.
I’ve noticed when driving Aventadors on the track in Corsa (“Race”) mode that the problem mostly disappears because the shifts happen mostly at full throttle and are blazing fast at 50 millisecond. For street driving, the Aventador requests some involvement for the best results.
A tug on the right-side steering column-mounted shift paddle engages first gear. A touch of throttle application and I’m underway on V12 power, with the Avendator’s wonderous exhaust note emanating from the anachronistic engine behind my right shoulder. Half an hour later, the Ultimae is slicing its way through the mountain roads outside Bologna, the engine’s power seeming to flatten the steepness of the mountain and the four-wheel steering is straightening switchbacks that look too tight for the Aventador to carve in one try. On a racetrack, the Ultimae rips to 60 mph in 2.8 seconds and then keeps on going all the way to a top speed of 220 mph. At elevated speeds, the rear-wheel steering system provides enhanced stability rather than agility by reversing its function and steering the rear wheels in parallel with the fronts.
Working with carbon fiber
The Aventador’s lightweight carbon fiber chassis helps the vehicle achieve its maximum performance, and its strength should help keep occupants safe at the car’s terminal velocity.
Lamborghini let me participate in a hands-on carbon fiber workshop so I can appreciate just how difficult the labor-intensive process of creating carbon fiber parts really is. Verdict: very!
The first step is to don protective equipment. That means cut-resistant Kevlar gloves and a Kevlar sleeve on your non-dominant arm (because the knife will be in your other hand), and some rubber gloves topping the Kevlar gloves for protection from the resin in the carbon fiber.
Lamborghini technicians lay out molds on a table for us to make various parts. I work on a simple tray and a more complex vent. Each part is made of pre-cut sections of carbon fiber fabric that is pre-impregnated with resin and kept refrigerated. These sections are cut to the right shape by a computer-controlled fabric cutter that works sort of like a plotter, but rather than drawing a defined pattern on the material, it cuts the material into that shape.
After peeling the backing paper off, I press the carbon fiber pattern pieces one at a time into their correct positions in the mold using a white plastic tool. Their resin adheres them in place, and I trim away any excess with a razor knife. After I think I’m finished, a technician attempts to correct my most egregious mistakes to get the fabric into the best possible position.
Then, I wrap the whole project in blue release plastic that serves as a layer between the carbon fiber and the white batting fabric that goes on top next. This is called “breather” because it facilitates the removal of air around the carbon fiber.
I slide this entire assembly into a vacuum bag, bleeding trapped air out through the vent valve. When I’m done, I connect a vacuum pump to the valve, and after about 20 minutes the sloppy mess has contracted down to a smart-looking object about the shape of the intended final product. This is what will go into the autoclave for curing at high temperature and pressure to produce the final part.
The Aventador’s chassis tub is made this way, along with nearly all of the parts bolted onto it. Metallic parts are pretty much limited to powertrain, suspension, brakes, and a few impact structures. The rest of the car’s parts are made using this laborious process, leaving me to marvel not at how expensive the Ultimae is (at $498,258 for the tested coupe), but at the fact that it doesn’t cost more. Lamborghini is building 350 Aventador Ultimae coupes and 250 of the $546,847 roadster convertibles.
The light weight of the carbon fiber parts contributes to the Aventador’s shocking speed. The rest comes from the ability of the V12 to extract power from exploded gasoline without the aid of turbocharging or electric motors.
Hybrids are the next step for hypercars, as Lamborghini seeks to preserve the traditional character of its cars until we finally convert entirely to power by electrons rather than hydrocarbons. It may be a necessary change, but we’ll have the Ultimae to remind us of the combustion-engine theatrics that came before.
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