Perhaps it’s a legacy of Enzo himself, but Ferrari has never been one to err on the side of conservatism or modesty. Who else would roll out cars with names like ‘Speciale’, ‘LaFerrari’ and ‘Superfast’? Fortunately, the company has the cojones and know-how to back up the bluster, and whenever it unleashes a car with a superlative appellation, said vehicle never fails to deliver on its promise.
In terms of sheer volume, there is no bigger automotive segment than the one comprising compact SUVs. Jeep recognised this more than a decade ago and rolled out the Compass and Patriot to target the horde of (mainly) young buyers snapping up crossovers by the hundreds of thousands. It was a new foray for a brand that had until that point focused on larger, heavy-duty SUVs that embodied Jeep’s conquer-all-terrain roots.
It’s not very often a car museum wheels its finest exhibits out the door, transports them to a destination with fantastic driving roads, throws you the keys and says: “Here you go. Have fun!” It’s not a common occurrence even for us weather-beaten career motoring hacks. However, the Porsche Museum handed a small selection of automotive hacks from around the globe (including this DriveArabia scribe) what amounted to an early Eid present, laying on an epic road trip through the Scottish Highlands in some of the finest ‘toys’ in its collection.
Confession time: I was mildly sceptical (and I’m certainly not alone here) of the Lamborghini Huracan Performante’s claimed 6min 52.01sec lap of the Nurburgring Nordschleife when it was announced a couple of months ago.
We got an exclusive sneak preview of the architecture underpinning the all-new (D5 generation) Audi A8 that will be revealed in July. Rather than fixating on an ‘aluminium-intensive’ formula, as touted by some manufacturers in their bid to shed kilos from their cars, Audi has adopted a multi-material approach to the make-up of the next-gen flagship sedan.
This is a case where it would be all too easy to write a paint-by-numbers story. Every single measure and statistic relating to the Chiron is so plain absurd that the numerals in themselves make interesting reading. Fifteen hundred horsepower, 1600 Nm, 0-200 kph in 6.5 seconds, 420 kph (electronically limited for safety!), 16 cylinders, four turbochargers… and even that’s barely scratching the surface.
It’s a bit early for gags, but this is a classic case of thinking outside the box. Say hello to Land Rover’s fifth-generation Discovery, which does away with the boxy (but characterful) shape of its predecessors in favour of softer, more tapered lines that its makers hope will attract a broader customer base to the model.
I’ve never understood the SUV-coupe genre. They’re about as functional as a hollow plastic hammer, offering neither the cabin space of a conventional SUV, nor the dynamism of a low-slung coupe.
There are a handful of cars out there that just feel right. Porsche’s Cayman is one of those, as it has the knack of shrink-wrapping itself around your limbs and feeling like an extension of them within a few kilometres of hustling down the road.
Audi’s svelte A5 coupe has now been around for nine years, but it’s aged with the utmost of grace –- so much so that one could argue it’s still as visually appealing as the much newer BMW 4-Series and Mercedes C-Class Coupe it competes head-to-head with. But it’s clear an all-new model was due if the A5 was to remain competitive with Teutonic rivals in terms of performance, dynamics, cabin layout and mod-cons. Right on cue, here’s the new second-gen 2017 A5, which we had the opportunity to sample at its recent international launch in Portugal.