Cyrus Dhabhar was born and brought up in a motorsport family and cars run deep in his blood. As a passionate founder and head of a classic car club in Mumbai and an avid part of the vintage and classic car scene in the country, Cyrus prefers his cars older and simpler. That said, he loves everything on four wheels and the occasional two-wheeler as well. Cyrus currently is the Assistant Editor - AUTO for the NDTV Group.
The Ford Ecosport facelift has been launched in India. Introductory pricing on the 2017 Ford Ecosport Facelift has remained unchanged and is exactly the same as compared to the prices of the pre-facelift outgoing model that was originally launched in India in 2013. The new Ecosport comes with a range of updates that includes a new front end look with new headlamps, fog lamps, LED daytime running lights and a new grille. Other changes on the exterior include new 17-inch alloy wheels, new tail lamps and an updated rear bumper. The new Ecosport also features several important upgrades to the interior. This includes the new 8-inch touchscreen infotainment setup that comes with Ford's SYNC3, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Ecosport now also comes with a leather interior package on the top of the line model. So lets see how it compares with its chief competitors, the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Tata Nexon, Honda WR-V and Mahindra TUV300 in terms of pricing.
The Renault Captur has been launched in India at an introductory price of Rs. 9.99 lakh. While it mainly rivals the likes of Hyundai Creta and Nissan Terrano, but based on the pricing it also comes in territory of Maruti Suzuki Ciaz, the new Hyundai Verna, Honda City and the Volkswagen Vento.
The Tesla semi truck is also expected to be very revolutionary in terms of overall design language with a futuristic look that is also extremely aerodynamic in order to reduce wind resistance on highways.
While Toyota hasn't really had a purpose built sub 4-metre SUV in its ranks until recently, a concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show did catch our eye!
Although the likes of the standard petrol, diesel or the hotter GTI versions are more popular, the 150 millionth Volkswagen is actually a hybrid in the form of the Golf GTE. The GTE is the plug in hybrid version of the popular hatchback and sits alongside the all-electric eGolf hatchback.
While infrastructure has always been the biggest hurdle, these first baby steps towards creating a public electric charge point network spearheaded by an Indian government agency is a move in the right direction.
Porsche has launched an all-new 911T as a brand new variant in the Carrera range. And while the 911T might look like just another standard Carrera, the new car gets one all important feature that has all the automotive enthusiasts and Porsche connoisseurs jumping for joy - a manual gearbox option
Volkswagen has announced that it will try and break the Pikes Peak electric vehicle hill climb record with a purpose built race car. Although official images of the race car haven't been revealed just yet, Volkswagen has teased a silhouette of the frankly insane looking race car that is poised to take on the challenge. The car will be driven by Romain Dumas who is an ex-winner at Pikes Peak and also an ex record holder himself. The current record of 8 mins 13.878 seconds was established in 2013 by none other than legendary rally driver Sebastian Loeb in a purpose built Peugeot 208 T16 Pikes Peak which featured outlandish wings to add to the aero downforce.
The Audi A7 is the German automaker's full sized 4-door 4-seater super coupe that takes on the likes of the BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe and the Mercedes CLS. Launched originally in 2010 with a facelift in 2014, the first gen A7 had lived out its life cycle quite well with iterations of the crazy twin-turbo V8 powered RS7. And now Audi has unveiled the second gen Audi A7 with sharper and more muscular styling that falls in line with the design direction that the likes of the new A8 and Q8 have taken. The new Audi A7 apart from packing in new infotainment, design and engine options will also be equipped with the hardware that will support Audi's upcoming AI package that is due to be launched in 2018.
The SEMA show in Las Vegas, United States is the largest modified car show in the world with the best tuning companies and automakers all showcasing some of the most insane one-off builds and parts. The show is a yearly affair and where is originally started off as a place for aftermarket part manufacturers to show off their latest go-fast bits, it has recently become a hot bed for OEM automakers to showcase special versions or editions of their performance cars with even more custom work thrown in for good measure. Hyundai has recently been very active in the SEMA scene with a yearly display of some very well made modified cars and this year is no less.
With the new McLaren 720 destroying all the competition in terms of outright performance, the British supercar maker has announced yet another car next year. The new McLaren which will be very track focused will most likely be called the P15 and will be a part of the British supercar manufacturer's 'Ultimate Series' which in the past has had the likes of the P1. The P15 will not be a replacement for the P1 though but will probably cost as much and will only be made in limited numbers, all of which have already been pre sold to customers before the car has officially been showcased.
Taking current technology into consideration, the Lithium-Ion battery is the only realistic solution to power electric cars amongst other electronic devices. With ranges quickly exceeding the 500 km range on one charge, the Lithium-Ion battery does serve the purpose it needs to by powered the electric motors in a car. That said, they are quite expensive and the battery pack is without a shadow of doubt the most expensive component in any electric car today. While research into super capacitors and hydrogen fuel cells have been progressing quickly, the immediate relief in terms of a big price drop is a new Sodium-Ion battery technology
The Porsche 718 twins are already available in India in their standard forms. The price for the Boxster is Rs 85.53 lakh while price for the Cayman is Rs 81.63 lakh. There is a more powerful version of the car, the S that has not been offered in India so far and now Porsche has unleashed an even quicker and even more powerful variant for the 718 family, the range topping GTS. The Porsche 718 Cayman and Boxster GTS now get an added 15 bhp over the S, taking the total power output to 365 bhp. This is a 35 bhp jump over the last generation car which used to be a naturally aspirated 6-cylinder engine as compared to the new car that gets a turbocharged 4-cylinder motor.
Polestar, formerly an inbuilt division for Volvo makingperformance variants,and now an independent automaker that will make performance electric cars based on Volvo design and chassis, has showcased it's first ever car - the 'Polestar 1'. The Polestar 1 will be an hybrid performance car that will be built in a new purpose built factory in China alongside two other cars that Polestar will showcase soon. The Polestar 1 will have an electric motor along with a set of electric batteries along with a turbocharged 4-cylinder petrol engine that will power the car.
BMW has launched a new variant of the 330i Gran Sport in India - the M Sport. The 330i Gran Tourismo M Sport is priced at Rs 49.40 lakh, ex-showroom and features styling updates over the standard models. The 330i Gran Tourismo M Sport essentially gets a new front and rear bumper that have been inspired by the design on the M3 and a new set of side skirts to enhance it visually. The 330i Gran Tourismo M Sport also gets a new black front grille as compared to the matte black ones on the standard car and a set of //M badges on the front fender. Other additions include the 18-inch M Sport wheels that are again inspired by the M3.
The Maruti Suzuki Dzire, launched on May 16, 2017,has been one of the most popular cars of the year and has now crossed the notable 1 lakh unit sales figure in just five months! The new Dzire has managed to pull off a notable response from the Indian car buying junta despite the other cars in its sub 4-metre sedan segment showcasing very lack lustre sales figures. The Dzire has also appealed to the a larger audience than ever due to the fact that it is now available with both petrol and diesel engines along with a 5-speed manual or a 5-speed automatic in both engine options. Along with the engine and gearbox options, Maruti Suzuki has also ensured that they have offered the automaticsin the top of the line variants, which have attracted audiences who would have otherwise bought premium hatchbacks too.
A few weeks ago, we exclusively brought you the Rs 1.65 Crore price point that the Maserati Levante would be launched at. While these prices were set before the increase in GST rates, expect the new launch prices to be around the Rs 1.80 Crore mark. And with the official launch just around the corner, we have some more information on the Italian automaker's plans for the SUV in India. The Italian automaker will only launch the Levante initially with a diesel engine in India. The more powerful petrol engines will only make an appearance in the SUV in 2018 and will be available in the standard or the 'S' variant which offers more power.
The sub 4-metre subcompact SUV segment is the fastest growing and possibly most popular automotive segment in the country. With players like the Ford Ecosport, Mahindra TUV 300 and the Honda WR-V making a mark in the segment, the highest selling and most popular of the lot is the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza. Having won the likes of the Subcompact SUV of the Year and the Viewer's choice segments at the 2017 NDTV Car And Bike Awards, the Vitara Brezza sells nearly eight to ten thousand units a month! Now though, there is a new SUV that is vying to take some of that market share away and make itself the new benchmark of the segment, the new 2017 Tata Nexon.
The Skoda Rapid Monte Carlo edition was launched in India less than a couple of months back. A district court issued the ban a few days ago that cites trademark infringement by the automaker as the trademark for the 'Monte Carlo' nameplate lies with a clothing and apparel manufacturer from Punjab.
The new 2017 Volkswagen eGolf is based on the MQB platform that was originally always meant for internal combustion engines. Volkswagen though has found space underneath the floor to fit the battery pack. The battery pack is made of 24 cells in total, with each cell weighing about 12 kilograms each. The whole pack though, which also contains the battery cell controller, the battery junction box, the management system, housing and insulation weighs a total of 350 kg and consists of 2500 individual parts! Incidentally, the battery cells, which were originally sourced from Panasonic, are now sourced from Samsung. The whole battery pack makes 35.8 kWh of power.
