Text Ted Macauley, James Kevin Mac Goris
Images Reuters, Getty Images, Rex Features
Buckle up for a test drive and keep up to speed with the latest motoring news
Travel with a clear conscience
The new Mercedes-Benz F700 brings environmentally friendly thinking to the luxury car market
Guilt complexes of the wealthy who like to buy cars to fit their image and status will be soothed by Mercedes-Benz’s bold decision to go ‘green’ with the ultimate luxury vehicle. It’s a car to clear the conscience and ease the pain caused by gas-guzzling motors bought by the well-heeled to carry them in five-star comfort.
The stunning F700 was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September and is destined to become one of the hit luxury cars of 2008. It’s everything a fat cat could want and more, thanks to a revolutionary engine that’s kind to the environment. The superbly sleek and seductively curvy F700 benefits from a super-efficient 238-horsepower, four-cylinder, 1.8-litre turbo-charged engine.
It creates as much power as standard
3.5-litre petrol or 3.0-litre turbo diesel alternatives, and pumps out only as much pollution as a Toyota Yaris mini city car. This roomy, comfortable glimpse of the near-future still makes it from standstill to 100km/h in 7.2 seconds and levels out at 200km/h.
The silhouette was styled in California, the inside fashioned in Italy and the engine dreamed up and assembled in Germany. All for a predicted price of around €84,000.
While the owner smugly recognises the part he has played in saving the environment, he can luxuriate in a sumptuous interior that resembles the best of a boardroom. There are high-tech TV and computer screens, rear seats that swivel to allow passengers to face each other for meetings on the move, and rear doors that open backwards for easy entry and exit.
What more could you ask? Lasers that scan the road ahead for bumps and danger spots? You’ve got it…
Hollywood’s electric dream
Eco-conscious celebrities are lining up to buy a car that’s the star of a range of state-of-the-art electric motors
The environmentally friendly Tesla Roadster has taken the US by storm and tops the wish-lists of movie millionaires George Clooney and Matt Damon, and California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The founders of Google, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, have also put their names down for the must-have motor priced at €70,000.
The Tesla is being assembled at the Lotus factory in the UK. Its chassis is based on the sporty Elise, while its windscreen, tyres, airbags, suspension and dashboard switchgear are the same as on the famous British high-performance sports car.
This is the first 100% electric car to match and equal the speed and performance of petrol-powered rivals. It reaches 130mph and goes from standstill to 60mph in 4.0 seconds. It can travel more than 200 miles before the battery needs charging.
Matt Damon enthused: “I can’t wait to get my hands on one – it’s as fast as anybody would want to go, you get the equivalent of 135mg and it doesn’t harm the environment. Fantastic.”
Rossi rallies round
Valentino Rossi reveals his love for the rougher side of racing on four wheels
Multiple MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi has underlined his preference to race rally cars rather than Formula One missiles when his two-wheeled days are done. The Italian ace, urged to switch to F1 by Bernie Ecclestone, had a try-out at Rally New Zealand in 2006 and managed a creditable 11th place.
He is now planning to contest this month’s Rally Great Britain. Rough-ride legend Subaru has offered to back him with a proven winner, the Impreza WRC.
The London-based biker, who lost out to Australian Casey Stoner in this year’s MotoGP title chase, says: “I love rallying – it’s the sort of tough challenge that gives me a buzz.”
In the news
Montoya mouths
off at Dennis
Outspoken Juan Pablo Montoya, the Columbian former Formula One driver who split with McLaren and returned to race in the US Nascar series, couldn’t wait to voice his opinion on old team boss Ron Dennis. As the bitter wrangle between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton emerged, Montoya said: “Lewis is Ron’s baby. Ron paid for his whole career, so Ron always wanted Lewis to win and not Fernando. Fernando means nothing to him.
He would rather see Lewis win because Lewis is like his own child.”
December dates >
8-9 – London Motorsport Show, ExCel, London; 16 – A1 GP, Zhuhai, China
TEST DRIVE
The new Mazda 6
Fresh from launching the urban-friendly 2, Mazda returns to take on the middle-heavyweights with an updated 6 series. James Kevin Mac Goris takes it for a spin
The mid-level executive sector is no pushover – competition is stiff and there are plenty of good, solid motors battling for the corporate market – there’s Volkswagen’s Passat, Citröen’s C5, Peugeot’s 407 and Renault’s Laguna to name just the homegrown brands. Mazda has had to pull something extra out of the hat just to set itself apart and carry on the success of the new series, originally launched in 2002.
So what’s really new about the ‘new’ Mazda6? Well, the look for one. With a more aggressive front end, profiled headlamps and more muscle in the shape of the wings, the 6 has shades of the RX8 and looks a lot sportier than its competitors, while at the same time avoiding the design ‘extremes’ one can see, for example, chez Peugeot. The back end is less pleasing to the eye on the saloon – a bit too chunky and high – but the estate is definitely a design success.
Size-wise, the car is a bit bigger all round – but it hasn’t put on any weight.
On the contrary, despite the fact that the Mazda6 has more in the way of security equipment, it has actually lost around 35kg – nothing great you may say, but at least Mazda’s engineers are doing their bit to reduce waste.
There are four engine options for this new model, only one of which is actually new – a 2.5 petrol version that’s a development on the original
2.3. It’s very nice to drive – powerful and smooth at the same time – but it’s a pity that it probably won’t make the series’ success given the fiscally advantageous nature of diesel in this sector. However, at 140bhp, the diesel version puts more than enough power on tap, and will certainly be the biggest seller in countries such as Belgium, France and the Netherlands.
At the wheel, the car gives a good, stiff ride that’s both sporty and reassuring. Steering is precise and lively enough, but the real surprise is the excellent braking – something often overlooked in this sector.
The only let-down is perhaps a certain lack of imagination in an otherwise very practical dashboard, as well as in the blacks and muted greys of the interior colour palette. All in all though, in a sector that’s already too full, this new pupil is definitely near the top of the class.
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