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.
Porsche is now getting ready to launch its successor, possibly codenamed the 992 series. And now, just before the official unveiling of the new sportscar, spy pictures showcasing the car in all its (undisguised) glory have now surfaced!
Niki Lauda, the Formula 1 legend and three time F1 champion has undergone a lung transplant after suffering from a 'severe lung disease' according to reports. An official statement by the Vienna General Hospital said, "Due to a severe affection of the lungs, Niki Lauda had to undergo a lung transplantation at the AKH Vienna today. We kindly ask for your understanding that the family won't give any official statements and we ask to protect the privacy of the Lauda family.
Nissan India has confirmed the launch schedule for their upcoming SUV, the new Nissan Kicks, which will take on the likes of the Hyundai Creta and the Renault Captur. The new Nissan Kicks will be launched in India in January 2019 and will be slightly different from the one that is sold internationally. The car will be more spacious and is set to have more connectivity technology options too. The new Nissan Kicks should be priced at about Rs 11-16 lakhs (ex-showroom) and will be available with both petrol and diesel options similar to the ones found on the Nissan Terrano. While its rival, the Hyundai Creta currently offers an automatic, and the Renault Captur due to get an autobox option soon too, whether or not the Nissan Kicks gets an autobox at the time of launch still remains to be seen.
The 2018 Maruti Suzuki Ciaz Facelift will be launched later this month and will be a big boost in the arm for the Japanese automaker's flagship offering in India. Bookings for the Maruti Suzuki Ciaz facelift have not officially begun yet, but unofficially, some dealers have started accepting bookings for the sedan with booking amounts ranging from Rs 11,000 to Rs 21,000. The 2018 Maruti Suzuki Ciaz facelift will be available only in the premium NEXA outlets across the country and not in Maruti Suzuki Arena outlets. It will be sold alongside the likes of the Baleno, S-Cross Facelift and the Ignis. Taking on the likes of the new Toyota Yaris, Honda City, Hyundai Verna, Volkswagen Vento and Skoda Rapid, the new updated and facelifted Maruti Suzuki Ciaz has the potential of once again regaining top spot in the segment.
The Renault Kwid is the benchmark when it comes to the entry level hatchback in India. With over 2.5 lakh units sold, the feature rich car with a crossover like design has really taken the imagination of the Indian car buying public by storm. And now in order to continue with their sales success, Renault has updated the Kwid and just in time for the upcoming festive season. The new Kwid gets even more features as compared to the one available currently and more importantly also gets a few updates that make it safer.
The Datsun brand will get a major refresh in terms of its exterior design making the cars more modern and more up to date with global design levels.
Pagani has made its last and final Huayra coupe. Called the L'Ultimo, the final Huayra has been built as a one off and was delivered to a dealership in the United States. The car has been heavily inspired (apparently) by Lewis Hamilton's Formula 1 Mercedes-AMG F1 car with a silver and blue livery with a fair measure of naked carbon fibre thrown in. This particular Huayra, a BC spec car, will be the final coupe made before Pagani launches the BC version of the Cabriolet. The Pagani Huayra Coupe and Cabriolet are both limited to 100 units each and this particular car is chassis 100/100.
After teasing the name for its all new hypercar called the 'Divo', Bugatti has put out yet another teaser. The new teaser doesn't really showcase much of the car but it does showcase a new set of absolutely bonkers tail lamps that have been made from a series of LEDs or OLEDs placed in what appears to be a very random sequence. The teaser also showcases the car starting up and driving away showcasing a very aggressive and rather loud exhaust note, which is very unlike the likes of the Veyron and the Chiron. The new 'Divo' will be launched in August at 'The Quail - A Motorsports Gathering' as a part of the Monterey Car Week. The Monterey Car Week will also see the launch of the highly anticipated new BMW Z4 and the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.
The Force India Formula 1 team co-owned by Vijay Mallya has been in deep financial trouble for a while now. With rumours of the team shutting down day-to-day operations, Sergio Perez, one of the current drivers approached courts in the United Kingdom. His move was prompted by the fact that last Wednesday (July 25, 2018), one of the creditors who is owed money by the team approached the courts in order to get a 'wind up' notice, which would have meant immediate stopping of all activities and possibly selling off team assets to make sure the creditors are paid. Sergio Perez's legal team alternatively requested the courts to put the team under 'Administration', which allows the company (or team in this case) to operate until a new buyer is found. The British Courts, in an urgent hearing has appointed an 'Administrator', which means that the Force India team will continue its racing for now. The team will now be looking for a new buyer, which in all likelihood is expected to be Lawrence Stroll, father of current Williams F1 driver Lance Stroll.
Its Official! The Lamborghini Aventador SVJ is now the new lap record holder at the legendary Nurburgring race-track in Germany. The latest iteration of the Aventador (and most likely the final version) has set a lap time of 6:44.97, which is over two seconds faster than the previous record holder, the Porsche GT2 RS, which had set a time of 6:77.3 and even the all-electric Nio EP9 supercar that has set a record of 6:45.9. The Lamborghini Aventador SVJ will be officially unveiled to the public at the upcoming 2018 Monterrey Car Week and will be available in limited units in both coupe and cabriolet form.
We are in the age of an automotive renaissance. Where the small and relatively unknown automaker once again can do great things - just like the early days of the motorcar. Of course, the big difference is that this time, its all about electric cars and here is another electric carmaker that is keen to make its mark on the world stage. Gyon, a new electric Chinese automaker under the FAW car manufacturing giant has announced that it soon be showcasing its first car in Los Angeles on August 8, 2018. The new car will be an all-electric long wheelbase luxury sedan.
The state of West Bengal will soon change its name to 'Bangla' after the state assembly approved the decision. Of course, with the central government yet to take a final decision on the name change, albeit as just a formality, there will be a fair few changes expected in the state soon. One of these of course, will be a change in the number plates or registration plates for cars. While the current nomenclature in West Bengal uses the plate WB, we expect (as is usually the case) the state to change this to a new naming system. While it isn't certain as to what the state would change the registration series to, we expect one of the following to be chosen: BA, BG or maybe even BL. In all probability though, BA sounds like the closest and most likely.
Lamborghini's latest and most likely final iteration of the Aventador will be the fastest, most powerful and possibly one of the craziest street going cars we have ever seen. Named the Aventador SVJ or Superveloce Jota, this final version of the V12 powered supercar will be packed to the gills with active aerodynamics that the automaker calls ALA or Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva. And of course, it will have even more power than ever before (rumoured to be around the 800 bhp mark). The new Lamborghini Aventador has never really been a track weapon but this new version will be the most track focused street car to ever come out of the Italian automaker and where better to prove yourself than the famed Nurburgring. We have all seen pictures of the car going around the German racetrack and now according to reports by the German publication Auto Motor und Sport, the SVJ has broken the Nurburgring lap time by setting a new record of 6:44.95, two seconds faster than the current lap record for production cars.
If the Harlem Shake or the Mannequin Challenge featuring the song Black Beatles by duo Rae Sremmurd wasn't cringe worthy enough, there is now a new internet dance sensation taking over the world. If you haven't heard of the 'In My Feelings' or 'Kiki Challenge', it is basically busting a dance step or two while using the song 'In My Feelings' from Drake's new Scorpion album. Now while this might appear to be a harmless thing for most, there will always be a few (read as senile) people who will want to make it dangerous. And that is exactly what has happened. As if there wasn't enough stupidity on the internet, the world wide web has now been flooded with videos of people jumping out of their cars while it is still rolling (at slow speeds of course) and dancing next to it with the song playing in the background. Ladies and gentlemen, let us make this very clear - not only is this dangerous to you and people around you, it is also extremely, extremely stupid.
The cat is out of the bag - McLaren has officially named its upcoming hypercar, which earlier bore the codename 'BP23' - 'Speedtail'. Calling it a 'hyper GT car', the new Speedtail will be the latest addition to McLaren's Ultimate Series cars, which have so far given birth to the electric assist hypercar, the P1 and the track focused, crazy aero equipped Senna. The new Speedtail will also be the spiritual successor to the bonkers McLaren F1 of the 90s with its three-seater configuration and central steering setup. Only 106 Speedtails will be made, all of which have already been allocated and sold long before the car was officially announced in late 2016.
The GST Council, set up by the Indian Government has reduced the GST rate on lithium-ion batteries for electric cars from 28 per cent to 18 per cent. Although this reduction is not as drastic as predicted earlier, the 10 per cent rate in reduction of GST on these batteries will help reduce the overall price of electric vehicles in India.
Quick on the heels of Suzuki's India operations (Maruti Suzuki and Suzuki Motor Corporation India) completing their 20 Million production milestone in India, Maruti Suzuki by itself has also crossed the 20 Million units production milestone. While the earlier milestone included production from Suzuki's Gujarat plant, which makes the Baleno premium hatchback, this new milestone only takes into consideration Maruti Suzuki's Gurugram and Manesar assembly lines that makes the likes of the popular Swift, Dzire, Vitara Brezza, Alto, Wagon R, etc. Earlier this month, the Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza had crossed the 3 lakh sales units milestone while the new Swift which was launched at the 2018 Indian Auto Expo in February 2018 has also crossed the 1 million units sales milestone.
The Audi Q3 and the Mercedes-Benz GLA are both due for a replacement very soon as they are both quite deep into their life cycle. The Q3 in particular is getting quite irrelevant in this segment as it just doesn't have the firepower to take on the rivals and honestly, with its crossover-esque design, the once benchmark Mercedes-Benz GLA falls short too. So it's a two horse race, the BMW or the Volvo. If you want a driver's car, you need to read no further - just buy the BMW X1. But as an overall package for the individual who likes driving, being driven and more importantly being pampered in a real level of luxury and not just luxury because of a badge, the Volvo XC40 is the new benchmark in this segment and our choice in this entry level compact SUV segment.
The Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza mileage or fuel efficiency is rated at an impressive 24.29 kmpl for both the manual and automatic versions.
Volkswagen will be expanding its engine manufacturing operations and will start making the new 1-litre TSI engine in India. The 1-litre TSI engine will power Volkswagen's upcoming compact SUV and also a range of new vehicles.
