Roush unleashes a 650 horsepower supercharged 5.0-litre V8 on the 2018 F-150 Roush has made its name on souping up Ford platforms mostly Mustangs but recently its been putting its own special sauce on the F-150 by supercharging the engines and blacking out the grilles.Now the tuner has got a new concoction mixed up: the Nitemare.The company pulled the covers off the thing last Halloween, but just recently released some performance figures for the truck.Hows zero-to-96 km/h in 3.9 seconds sound? The regular cab pulls off those supercar-adjacent times, with the SuperCrew just behind at 4.1.Roush says that makes it the worlds quickest production truck, but we think for that title to officially stick, it has to be something installed on an assembly line, and not by a third-party aftermarket.Hows it do it? The 5.0-litre V8 has been gifted a supercharger in the form of a Roush TVS R2650, which bumps the power up to 650, and torque up to 610 lb-ft. It howls through a tuned performance exhaust that utilizes the companys special valvetrain technology.A console-mounted dial lets you tune what sort of noise you want to hear out of those pipes, with four sound options: Touring, Wide-Open, Sport and Custom (the final option gives you even more specific control via the Roush Active Exhaust app).To truly haunt your dreams, the grille has been swapped out for a custom all-black unit with integrated accent lights; and hockey stick graphics will match nicely with the hockey mask for your Freddie Kruger costume. The truck rides on 22-inch custom Roush wheels, with Continental Crosscontact LX20 285/45R22 tires.The package costs US$19,150 on top of the base price of an F-150. Dual exhaust tips, Off-Road Utility kit, Black and Carbon Leather Seat upgrade, Console Vault and tonneau cover are available as extra-cost options. Canadian pricing has not been announced
Origin: Roush’s terrifying 650-hp Ford ‘Nitemare’ nails 96 km/h in under 4.0 seconds
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Unlikely track day stars: top picks for under £2000
To the casual observer, they appear to be worn-out wrecks. But the Autocar team knows better. These are 10 of the most entertaining, affordable used cars that will be a hoot on track. Cheap but cheerful (well, until a wheel falls off), they are a great way to understand why, when you visit places like the Nürburgring, it’s drivers of old Volvo 340s and Citroën ZXs who are laughing all the way round the lap. And when it rains, imagine how smug you would feel overtaking a supercar in a £1500 Subaru. Avoiding cars with overtly sporting pretensions and sticker prices above £2000, this ragtag bunch proves that very little money can indeed buy happiness. So with the summer now in full swing, why not give into temptation and get yourself sidetracked with an unlikely track-day car. MG F/MG TF 1995-2002 The correct roadster in which to learn the dark arts of pedalling a mid-engined car without falling off the track and remodelling the nearside bodywork should be a Toyota MR2. But the MR2 has a reputation for being good, so prices aren’t all that affordable. The MG F, or TF, is still as cheap as chips, though, probably because those in the know are worried about head gasket failure or the Hydragas-based suspension expiring. Yet snap one up with a long MOT and you’ve got yourself a car as entertaining as it is challenging to master, just like those used in the one-make MGF championship. One we found: 2002 MG TF 1.8, 60k miles, £1295 BMW 318i 1991-1998 ‘Is there a better £15,000 sports saloon?’ asked the Autocar coverline of 24 April 1991. Before you could ponder the question, the crack squad of road testers had answered it for you: ‘We don’t think so.’ Which is why budding track-day drivers should stop fantasising about clipping apex after apex in an E46-era CSL, and start searching for a humble, 28-year-old BMW 318i. It was a joy to drive. And with a few new bushes in the suspension, it probably still is. So track one down and decide for yourself whether the 318i is the best sports saloon – albeit for now less than £1500. One we found: 1993 318i SE, 100,500 miles, £585 It may cost just a few hundred quid. You might be left wondering whether a couple of cylinders are on strike. And there will be misaligned panels following years of Parisian-style close-contact parking. But none of that matters one bit. What counts is that it will teach you everything you need to know about car control in a front-wheel-drive set-up. The ZX, like its Peugeot 306 cousin, features a passive rear-wheel steering system, and once weight transfer takes hold, the tail can be coaxed into angles Ken Block would be proud of. One we found: 1995 ZX 1.4, 82,000 miles, £495 When Lexus released the original, straight-six IS 200, it was a departure from what we’d come to know of US-influenced Japanese saloons. The steering was direct, the alloy-capped, Ferrari-like gearlever had a short-shift action and the rear-drive chassis was set up to reward drivers who treated every trip as though they were running late for a job interview. And then there was the interior, which was like peering into the window of a posh watch shop. Engineered to last, and surprisingly resistant to rust, a well-cared-for IS 200 should give track-day drivers a really satisfying steer. One we found: 2004 IS 200, 87k miles, £1995 Jaguar S-Type 1999-2007 The S-Type wasn’t Jaguar’s finest hour. Bits of the original, pre-facelift car’s interiors felt like they were lifted straight from Ford’s giant parts bin – because they were. Some of the switchgear was lifted directly from the Lincoln LS, a car that in turn looked like a mediocre Hyundai. Nonetheless, with the V6 turbodiesel engine, it’s got plenty of effortless urge, yet won’t run the tank dry in a handful of laps like the supercharged V8 R version would. Find a fully serviced, 100,000-miler for less than £2000 and you’ll be able to lap the circuit – and drive home – in comfort. One we found: 2006 S-Type 2.7D V6, 89,000 miles, £1500 Want to be loud, proud and stand out from the crowd? Then consider one of the most famous names on the road. The CTS is a sports saloon that was sold during Cadillac’s dalliance with the European market. However, Brits didn’t embrace it with quite the same enthusiasm as rock ’n’ roll, Hollywood or drive-throughs, so they’re nearly as cheap as a bottle of flat Budweiser. A potent 306bhp, 3.6-litre V6 drives the rear wheels, making this a proper 155mph highway hauler for less than two grand. One we found: 2007 CTS 3.6 V6 Sport, 56,000 miles, £1995 Ford SportKa 2003-2009 The success of the original Ka took Ford by surprise – it outlived its planned life cycle. But during the first seven years of production, the first question from fans of fast Fords was always: “When’s there going to be a hot version?” It was worth the wait, though. To create ‘the Ka’s evil twin’, Ford dropped in a larger, 1.6-litre engine, paired it with the Puma’s super
Origin: Unlikely track day stars: top picks for under £2000
Under the skin: Why solid-state batteries are a big positive
Enthusiasm for BEVs (battery-electric cars) is growing, which is a good thing. That said, no amount of EV enthusiasts telling consumers they don’t actually need the range they think they do will convince them to pay more for something that does less. Manufacturers know this, which is why there’s so much talk surrounding the latest wonder-tech looming over the horizon: the solid-state battery. So what are these miraculous things that it’s claimed will banish any quibbling about range forever? The main components in any battery are electrodes (anode and a cathode) immersed in electrolyte. A conventional 12V lead-acid car battery contains a solution of sulphuric acid as electrolyte, which is fine as long as it stays in the battery. A lithium ion car battery has an inflammable electrolyte composed of lithium salts in a solvent. Lithium ion batteries have a further important component, too – the separator that keeps the electrodes apart. If lithium ion batteries are not carefully controlled when in use, then heat build-up can cause ‘thermal runaway’ resulting in a nasty chemical fire that is impossible to put out. Because of that they need complex electronic battery management systems and equally fiddly cooling circuits to keep them safe, making manufacturing harder and piling on weight and cost. The upside is that lithium ion batteries are more powerful and store more energy than any other battery type. But they could be better still. Solid-state batteries should overcome all those problems by switching to a non-flammable solid electrolyte, hence the name. Heat in a solid-state battery is easier to control so cooling is simpler, cheaper and less bulky, there’s no need for separators and a heavy, protective outer casing is unnecessary because the technology is intrinsically safe. The real barrier to getting them to work in the past was the poor conductivity of the solid electrolyte such as a ceramic material, but the latest materials are said by battery developers to be highly conductive. The biggest bonus, though, is the energy density – the amount of energy a battery can store relative to its weight and volume. Claims for batteries capable of storing more than twice the energy of a conventional lithium ion battery are being made, along with reduced manufacturing costs. This simply means a solid-state battery will last longer and give an EV a greater range than a conventional battery of the same volume and weight. It’s that virtuous circle again. The lighter the battery, the lighter the car, the less energy it needs to achieve the same range, so the battery can be even smaller. Car makers are talking about the technology being in production by 2025 and some sooner than that. When and if it happens, it would radically change the automotive landscape. Radically increased range would reduce the need for charging on the move, easing the pressure on infrastructure, because one overnight charge (for those with such access) could make the need to charge during a longer journey less necessary than it is today. Inside a lithium ion battery When the battery is connected to the device it is powering, like a motor, phone or whatever, ions are released from the negative anode to the positive cathode. When the battery is connected to the charger, the opposite happens and the battery is
Origin: Under the skin: Why solid-state batteries are a big positive
Under the skin: How haptics are making touchscreens safer
Screens evolved in cars as a means of simplifying the way in which drivers could interact with increasingly complicated, button-cluttered dashboards – but, in the end, may have turned out to be a massive own goal. With the introduction of touchscreens, the problem has got worse, not better, because drivers have no chance of knowing what they’re prodding, swiping or sliding without actually looking at it. The answer may lie in haptic screens, which give a physical, tactile response you can feel when using a soft (virtual) button or slider. That staccato bumping when ABS is activated is probably one of the earliest forms of haptic response in car controls and, more recently, vibrating steering wheels as part of lane departure or blindspot warning driver assistance systems. However, both are fairly crude examples of what is now becoming a precise science. Haptic screens have actuators embedded in them containing crystals that expand when connected to an electric current due to the ‘piezo’ effect. The current is triggered by the capacitive screen when a soft button or rocker switch is pressed and the actuator expands so you feel a click through the screen. It’s also possible to define a ridge separating one button from another using the same concept. A driver can feel the control has been activated, making it much easier to resist taking eyes off the road for a sneak peak, during which time the car could have travelled 40 metres at motorway speeds. Hyundai has recently been showing off research it’s been doing since 2015, trying new ideas out on customers using driving simulators and test vehicles fitted with prototype centre screens and instrument binnacles. Haptic screen replacements are also being developed for steering wheel switchgear after early research revealed that customers didn’t actually know what some steering wheel buttons were for. Research engineers found introducing audio and haptic feedback together made a big difference following a trial in a driving simulator where customers tried haptic buttons in 10 typical real-world situations. You can also choose which configuration of buttons or functions you prefer on the button pads, something that can’t be done with hard buttons. The latest haptic screen technology makes it possible to identify which button is which before it’s pressed, without even touching the screen. Called ultrahaptics, the tech was originally conceived by students at the University of Bristol and lends its name to a company that is developing it commercially in conjunction with Harman and others. Using ultrasound, an ultrahaptic screen makes it possible to ‘feel’ an on-screen switch or button through a sensation in the fingertip while it is still in mid-air. Beyond screens, ultrahaptics can also be used to give haptic feedback to gesture controls and make it possible to feel 3D holographic images in the same way. For manufacturers struggling to simplify the growing levels of gadget clutter drivers are dealing with, the solution could literally be at their fingertips. Predicting the future Jaguar Land Rover has experimented with an infotainment screen that tracks the position of the hand using cameras and predicts which button is about to be pressed. In conjunction with ultrahaptics to produce a tap or a tingling sensation in a fingertip hovering over the screen, trials showed a 22% increase in the speed of selecting the right
Origin: Under the skin: How haptics are making touchscreens safer
Under the skin: How carbonfibre is trickling down to the mainstream
Outside of motorsport, regular users of advanced carbonfibre-reinforced plastic (CRFP) structures include McLaren, BMW and Lamborghini. The Italian firm built a new factory in 2010 to make the Aventador monocoque in-house, developing its own process called ‘RTM-Lambo’. RTM – for resin transfer moulding – usually involves pressing the dry, resin-free lay-up together in a two-part mould and injecting the resin. RTM-Lambo is a lower-cost method of making high-quality body components. The top half of the Aventador tub is made and part cured using the ‘prepreg’ method. Prepreg is carbonfibre mat pre-impregnated with resin. It comes in rolls and is stored in a refrigerator, like ready-made puff-pastry, to stop it going off. Prepreg is the best way to make components with a shiny Class A finish, but it is expensive, so the bottom half of the tub is made using RTM-Lambo, like RTM but with a small, precise amount of resin added first to allow pre-forming of the basic shape. Finally, top and bottom components are pressed together in one large mould, impregnated and cured to complete the monocoque. Past master McLaren handed the world’s largest order for CRFP production car monocoques to Salzburg firm Carbo Tech when McLaren Automotive was launched in 2010. Unlike Lamborghini’s approach, McLaren’s Monocells were made using straightforward RTM in steel moulds weighing 35 tonnes. The objective was not to speed up the process but to squeeze the ultimate performance from the chassis. Even so, each tub could be made 10 times faster than that of the McLaren F1 supercar. Now McLaren has it’s own resource, the £50m Innovation Centre in Sheffield, to produce Monocells and Monocages in-house, the first of which was delivered to the McLaren Production Centre in March. The barrier to carbonfibre in the mainstream has been cost, partly because of the raw material itself but mainly because manual handling of the carbonfibre still plays a big part in the manufacture of complex structures. Production and process costs account for 33 to 75% of the overall cost of components. The BMW-Series ‘Carbon Core’ is a hybrid design with steel components embedded in the mould along with carbon, but despite rumours that the subsequent 5 Series bodyshell would follow suit, it didn’t, sticking with steel, aluminium and magnesium. The closest yet to a mainstream CRFP bodyshell has been that of the BMW i3 but it, and its construction, may not necessarily continue after the current model. A breakthrough in cost cutting may be on the horizon, though. Voith Composites developed an automated system called the Voith Roving Applicator to make the CRFP rear panel and parcel shelf for the Audi A8, calling it “a breakthrough technology in the composites world”. For now, though, aluminium remains a favourite for mass-produced cars and is more sustainable, taking 95% less energy to recycle it than to make the stuff in the first place. Forging ahead Developed by Lamborghini with golf club manufacturers Callaway Golf and hailed as a material of the future, Forged Composite consists of short carbon fibres mixed with resin, injection moulded and cured in just two or three minutes. It was used to make the Sesto Elemento concept car a few years ago and some small production parts today, but while 30% cheaper than RTM-Lambo, it has yet to achieve the breakthrough in car manufacturing once hinted
Origin: Under the skin: How carbonfibre is trickling down to the mainstream
New Ford Focus ST priced from under £30,000 in UK
The new Ford Focus ST will be available from £29,495 in the UK, with first customer deliveries due to begin next month. Sources say that the entry-level variant will be the ST hatch in 187bhp 2.0-litre Ecoblue guise, the most powerful diesel powertrain ever available with the Focus. In estate form, the diesel ST starts from £30,595. The 276bhp 2.3-litre Ecoboost petrol-powered variant will be available from £31,995, rising to £33,095 for the estate version. The 2019 Focus will no longer be available in ST-2 and ST-3 forms, but high-spec ST-Line trim can be paired with a 1.5-litre Ecoboost petrol engine producing 180bhp, from £23,500. Ford says the latest iteration of its Volkswagen Golf GTI rival will offer “the most responsive and agile Focus ST driving experience ever, on road and track”, thanks to the model’s new C2 platform and a host of new technology derived from halo models such as the Ford GT supercar and the Mustang. It is the first front-wheel-drive Ford to get an electronic limited-slip differential (eLSD), intended to enhance cornering stability. Rev-matching technology is available with the six-speed manual gearbox. A seven-speed automatic is also available. Selectable drive modes are another first for the Focus ST. They comprise Slippery/Wet, Normal and Sport, plus a Track mode for versions equipped with the Performance pack. The drive modes adjust various parameters, including the ST’s electric steering, which is Ford’s fastest yet and 15% faster than a standard Focus’s. There is also continuously controlled damping (CCD), standard on five-door petrol variants, which monitors suspension, steering and braking inputs to adjust damping responses every two milliseconds and promises “ultimate refinement”. Leo Roeks, Ford Performance boss in Europe, said: “Technologies like eLSD and CCD make the Focus ST the most ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ yet, able to switch from refined tourer to focused performance car at the push of a button. “We’ve incorporated learnings from programmes including the Ford GT and Focus RS to develop a mid-size performance car with a degree of flexibility that’s unique in its segment.” Ford’s 2.3-litre Ecoboost petrol engine is the most powerful yet offered in an ST. In the 276bhp range-topping variant, it produces 310lb ft from 3000rpm to 4000rpmm, and is claimed to be the most free-revving Focus ST engine yet. The benchmark sprint of 0-62mph is said to take less than 6.0sec, making it at least 0.5sec quicker than the outgoing equivalent model. Anti-lag technology, developed for the GT supercar originally, is intended to provide immediate power delivery in Sport and Track drive modes. The tech keeps the throttle open slightly when the driver comes off the accelerator, easing the reversal of airflow and allowing boost pressure to build faster on demand. Meanwhile, the diesel ST delivers peak power at 3500rpm and 295lb ft between 2000rpm and 3000rpm. The model produces 10% more power than and over twice as much torque as the original ST170. Ford says the ST’s six-speed manual transmission aids “more urgent gearchanges and… a sportier feel”, thanks to a shift-throw reduction of 7% compared with the standard Focus. Revmatching technology, first seen on the Mustang, is also introduced as part of the optional Performance pack for Ecoboost manual models. While the petrol-powered Focus ST receives Ford’s new electronic limited-slip differential, the diesel Focus gets torque vectoring control technology, which reduces understeer by applying brake force to the inside front wheel when cornering. Exterior tweaks over the standard model are subtle: there are unique alloy wheels, a revised grille for increased cooling and changes to the low wing and air curtains to improve aerodynamics. At the rear, there is a spoiler and twin tailpipes. The Performance pack adds red brake calipers. Inside, the Focus ST receives Recaro front seats, a sports steering wheel and a host of ST-embossed features, and engine and exhaust noise is amplified in Sport and Track modes. Equipment upgrades over the ST-Line X include a rear-view parking camera, adaptive cruise control, a Bang and Olufsen sound system and heated steering
Origin: New Ford Focus ST priced from under £30,000 in UK
Under the skin: why hybrid makers love a biscuit tin
If last week’s column was anything to go by, EV motors are far more interesting than they look. Once people get their heads around them, they may hold the same fascination that engines have enjoyed since they were invented. The electric machines (the correct name for motor-generators) in EVs today take various forms electrically, but the one thing they have in common is that they are all radial flux machines. Flux is the scientific name for the direction taken by the magnetic fields but, in simple terms, it means they are cylindrical in shape with a rotor spinning inside a cylindrical stator. There is, however, another type of electric machine emerging, and it’s one that some car makers are looking at intently, especially for integrating with a combustion engine to hybridise it, or tacking onto a small engine to make a range-extender generator. It’s the axial flux ‘biscuit tin’ motor. If biscuit tin sounds derogatory, it isn’t (and come on, who doesn’t like a Hobnob?). It’s the simplest way to describe the shape: short in length and large in diameter. This is useful because it means that in some applications they can use space more efficiently than a radial flux motor, such as when sandwiched between an engine and gearbox on a transverse engine. They have other important advantages, such as the ability to generate more torque than a radial flux equivalent. Whereas the rotor (which rotates) of a conventional radial flux machine is relatively small in diameter because it is housed inside the stator (which remains static), the rotor and stator of the axial flux machine are like two large dinner plates facing one another. So both plates’ magnets, the fields of which interact to generate torque and spin the rotor, are set much further away from the motor’s driveshaft. Because of that, the force they produce has more leverage on the main shaft. That means more torque, or the same torque for less power consumption. A good way to visualise that is to think of the steering wheel on a car. Imagine taking the wheel off and grasping the steering column with your hand. It would be pretty difficult to turn. Moving the effort you’re applying further away from the column – by using a wheel – gives you more leverage, or turning force. The same thing happens with an axial flux motor. More companies are developing the technology, and one of those in the forefront is the Oxford-based firm Yasa. Its P400 electric machine can be sandwiched between an engine and transmission in a ‘P2’ hybrid configuration or be used standalone. At just 80mm thick, this sliver of a machine weighs only 24kg, develops peak power of 215bhp (160kW) and 273lb ft peak torque. Yasa also has a complete electric drive unit (EDU) concept comprising a motor, controller and two-speed powershift automatic transmission. The motor itself produces peaks of 402bhp and 368lb ft and yet it weighs in at just 85kg. That compares pretty favourably with the average four-cylinder engine, which weighs around 150kg without the transmission. The hub of the matter It’s only a matter of time before electric machines move to the wheels, freeing up space and possibly changing the way cars look. The axial flux design lends itself perfectly to this. US firm Protean Electric has yet another design, its ‘inside out’ permanent magnet motor, with the stator on the inside and rotor on the
Origin: Under the skin: why hybrid makers love a biscuit tin
Under wraps: Britain’s most secretive engineering firm
f you only read headlines, you could believe UK Automotive Manufacturing Plc’s entire business (still healthy despite the predictions of doom) was conducted entirely by car makers and giant parts suppliers whose names are carried three metres high on factory walls. That’s not quite true. Below the radar sits an extensive network of discreet technical consultancies the majors commonly use to solve their thorniest problems. They survive and thrive by maintaining a limpet-grip on leading-edge technology and delivering results with a need-for-speed usually honed in motorsport. A prime example is Northants-based RML Group, an engineering and technology company with racing roots back to the 1950s and which expanded into top-level race car design and engineering in the 1980s. It has since further expanded its activities to become a leading authority in lightweighting, prototype construction and electrification, mostly for time-poor automotive giants but also for defence and aerospace clients. Sitting atop this compact empire in Wellingborough, Northants, is CEO Michael Mallock, grandson of Arthur Mallock, an architect of Britain’s post-war motorsport engineering heritage that spawned influential companies such as Colin Chapman’s Lotus and Eric Broadley’s Lola. But while Chapman Co embraced commerce, Arthur Mallock kept making simple, affordable cars go amazingly fast. His Ford and Austin-based specials regularly beat far more expensive and complex designs; his finest hour was probably the creation of the U2 family of clubman race cars that applied basic physical principles so brilliantly that they remain highly successful in modern and classic racing even today. It fell to Arthur’s sons, Richard and Ray, to develop businesses off Arthur’s inspiration. Richard’s stayed with Mallock’s racing cars and Ray’s expanded into RML Group – embracing big-time racing and engineering. It built and campaigned BTCC cars and Le Mans racers (Ray’s special love) before expanding to become a self-styled ‘high-performance engineering company’. This transition corresponded closely with Michael Mallock’s elevation to CEO, following Ray’s staged retirement. “When I left school I came to RML on a formal apprenticeship,” he says, “working in all the departments: stores, electrics, design. As well as driving the van.” RML was doing well with Ray at the top of his game, so there was time for Michael to chase the professional racing dream for a while, starting in single-seaters and moving to sports cars with some impressive results. He returned to RML full time after 2011, first taking a commercial role. He is disarmingly modest about his achievements compared with those of his father: “Ray’s very much an engineer, and a fantastic driver,” he says. “I’m not a bad driver, but not an engineer at all.” This change of emphasis at the top has helped RML adapt itself to the modern market, says Michael. “When I came back, I studied the fortunes of our traditional competitors, people like Triple Eight, MSD, TWR and Prodrive. Some have gone now and the rest have changed. I pushed for us to start moving away from pure motorsport while keeping the race mentality and the cutting-edge technology. Today only about 10% of our business is directly connected to motorsport. We’re still in high-performance engineering, but the work isn’t mainstream. We don’t do Ford Fiesta door seals…” Michael Mallock’s first big project was to manage development and production of the Nissan Juke R, an ultra-high-performance version of the quirky compact SUV. Although production numbers were small, it brought much attention to RML and its changing capabilities, and it is remembered fondly. The biggest recent change, says Mallock, has been the rise of electrification. In just a few years, through clever hirings and rapid acquisition of know-how, RML has become a leader in low-volume electrification, to the extent that it now has a newly established HV (for ‘high voltage’) Centre about 10 minutes’ drive from the company’s traditional base. Most early electric programmes can’t be discussed, but one that attracted huge publicity was Nissan’s ZEOD RC Le Mans car, an experimental petro-electric sports racer built for the famous 24-hour race’s ‘Garage 56’, traditionally reserved for a car that imaginatively employs new tech and doesn’t conform to an established class. With initials standing for ‘Zero Emissions On Demand’, the ZEOD RC used chassis technology developed from the rule-breaking but conventionally powered Nissan DeltaWing and was built to deliver the first-ever all-electric racing lap at la Sarthe. Powered by a tiny, lightweight 1.5-litre, 400bhp three-cylinder petrol engine plus two 110kW electric motors, the ZEOD RC did indeed complete its electric lap, achieving a top speed close to 190mph on the Mulsanne Straight – although it failed to finish the race. Any tour of RML faces participants with a conundrum: most of what
Origin: Under wraps: Britain’s most secretive engineering firm
Three roomy hatchbacks under $25K with generous Unhaggle discounts
Unhaggle has the scoop on generous deals for the Kia Rio, Hyundai Veloster and Chevrolet Cruze.Handout / Kia / Hyundai / Chevrolet Every month, Graeme Fletcher combines manufacturers’ incentives from Unhaggle.com with resale value, dependability and overall ratings to find you the best deal for your money in new cars. This week, we look at affordable hatchbacks. The hot deals are on the 2019 Chevrolet Cruze LT, Hyundai Veloster 2.0 and Kia Rio EX Tech. Chevrolet Cruze 2019 Chevrolet Cruze Handout / Chevrolet Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price: $21,409 Manufacturer Incentive*: $3,000 Unhaggle Savings: $500 Total Savings: $3,500 Mandatory Fees (Freight, Govt. Fees): $1,840 Total Before Tax: $21,335 — lick here for exclusive local pricing This may just end up being the requiem for the Chevrolet Cruze — the last one rolled off the production line last March. That out of the way, the cabin is ringed with decent materials and there’s plenty of standard equipment, including Chevrolet’s MyLink infotainment system with its seven-inch touchscreen, plus Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and a feature called Teen Driver. This kills the radio until the seat belts are buckled, prevents key safety items from being disabled, and gives a report card on how the car was driven. It’s a boon for a parent with a young driver. The rear seat accommodates two adult riders easily, however there is a faux pas — there are three rear seat belts, but only two headrests, which eliminates the middle seat position. This makes the Cruze more of a two-plus-two, and trunk capacity measures 394 litres. 2+2 proposition. Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert and rear parking sensors is listed as a $545 option, but it mandates purchasing the $1,450 True North package to get the items, as they magically become part of said package in spite of the stand-along price. That’s a less than smart, albeit moot point now. The Cruze sedan arrives with a 1.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine with 153 horsepower and 177 lb.-ft. of torque at 2,000 rpm, and paired to a six-speed automatic transmission. There’s some turbo lag off the line, but the engine builds nicely through the mid-range. The Cruze also has a brisk 7.8-second run from zero to 100 km/h, and a posted average fuel economy of 7.3 L/100 kilometres. For those into better fuel economy, a turbodiesel is available. Ride and handling delivers what you’d expect — minimal body roll and crisp response to steering input when pushed through a series of corners, but the Cruze is far more at home on the highway. The Cruze arrives with a generous $3,500 combined Unhaggle discount, speaking to the fact it’s done. The discount leaves a $21,335 price tag. Hyundai Veloster 2019 Hyundai Veloster Handout / Hyundai Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price: $22,299 Manufacturer Incentive*: $1,250 Unhaggle Savings: $250 Total Savings: $1,500 Mandatory Fees (Freight, Govt. Fees): $1,845 Total Before Tax: $22,644 — lick here for exclusive local pricing The 2019 Hyundai Veloster has been reworked and is now offered in 2.0 and Turbo models, along with the frenetic, 275-horsepower Veloster N. The base Veloster, featured here, has sharper exterior styling and takes an intelligent approach to space utilization. The asymmetric door design puts a third portal on the passenger’s side of the car. While it eases entry to the back seat, the limited leg and headroom means it’s best viewed as space to augment the 565-litre trunk. Up front, the Veloster has supportive buckets and Hyundai’s Apple CarPlay and Android Auto-compatible infotainment system with a seven-inch touchscreen. The materials do take a step forward, although some of the plastic pieces are still hard. Blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert is standard, but that’s it for safety equipment. Strangely, a similarly priced Elantra has more available safety features, including automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane-departure warning with keep assist. The Veloster arrives with a new base engine — a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre four-cylinder that pushes 147 horsepower and 132-lb.-ft. at 4,500 rpm to the front wheels through a six-speed automatic transmission. While it’s quiet and unflustered for the most part, the performance it generates is anemic for a car with a nameplate that suggests velocity — the proof is in the 9.8-second zero-to-100 km/h sprint. A note about the turbocharged models: The Veloster Turbo, with its 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine, has 201 horsepower and cuts the zero-to-100 km/h run to 7.2 seconds. The kicker is the 2.0L engine also uses more fuel than the 1.6 — the 2.0L has a posted average fuel economy of 8.2 L/100 kilometres, while the the 1.6 burns 7.8. No prizes for picking the preferred engine. The revised suspension balances the need for comfort with the ability to keep the body flat through a corner. The quick-ratio steering feels connected, with brake-based torque
Origin: Three roomy hatchbacks under $25K with generous Unhaggle discounts
Under the skin: the latest CVT gearbox technology
Toyota’s umpteenth incarnation of the Corolla is now on sale, mainly in Hybrid form. It’s billed as having an ‘e-CVT’, which at first had our news antennae all a-quiver. In fact, e-CVT is simply another marketing moniker for essentially the same hybrid driveline concept Toyota came up with in the 1990s for the first Prius and has stuck with ever since. Originally called the Toyota Hybrid System (THS), it then also became Hybrid Synergy Drive (HSD), giving a nod to the fact that it was also used by Lexus and even sold to a couple of other car makers. Swapping cogs, gear changing, shifting: whatever your favourite expression, gearboxes and cars go together like sticky toffee pudding and custard – unless it’s a CVT. Some drivers loathe the way a CVT’s soaring engine revs are disconnected from the car’s rate of acceleration – known as the ‘rubber band effect’. The CVT was made famous by DAF when it launched the first production version, the Variomatic, in 1958. Instead of a complex box of cogs, it consisted of two pulleys of continuously variable diameter, connected by a belt. To give the lowest ratio (like first in a manual), the engine-driven pulley is at its smallest diameter and the second pulley, driving the wheels, at its largest. As speed increases the engine-driven pulley gets bigger and the drive pulley smaller, increasing the ratio – so the car speeds-up. Controlled not by a computer but by a vacuum, it continuously and automatically adjusts for hills and harder acceleration or cruising. The design has been used by many manufacturers over the years, including Audi, Ford and Fiat. CVTs are not all alike, though. Although Toyota offers a CVT in the new Corolla (but not in the UK), its hybrid drive e-CVT is nothing like the original Variomatic and there’s no belt. Instead, it consists of two electric motor-generators (MG1 and MG2) connected to a planetary gearbox. The whole caboodle has the engine at one end and the driven wheels at the other. Planetary gear sets exist aplenty inside conventional automatics. The compact package consists of a sun, planets and an enclosing ring gear and resemble a desk toy of the solar system. There are only a few components, but making the drive take different routes through the mini solar system allows the two motor-generators to perform different roles. MG1 can start the engine and at other times act as a generator to charge the hybrid battery. MG2 can act as a drive motor on its own or with the engine and also a generator to perform a regenerative braking role. MG1 can also apply small amounts of torque to the gear set to control the balance between the engine and electric drive from MG2, and there are many more combinations. The system allows electric-only drive by decoupling the engine (without the need for a clutch), and it’s small and compact. So not all CVTs are what they seem. This latest one is clever and mega-efficient, and it’s not surprising the basic idea has endured for more than 20 years. Reverse engineering Bosch’s electronically controlled version of the original CVT remains mechanically simple. Despite CVTs being scorned by some, Dutch rallycross star Jan de Rooy dominated with his DAF 55 and 555s in the 1970s. DAFs were banished to their own category in the annual Dutch backwards racing championship (yes, really, it used to be a thing) because CVTs enabled them to drive as fast in reverse as
Origin: Under the skin: the latest CVT gearbox technology
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