LaFerrari

Some people say the Ferraris became overrated. They claim they’re too expensive, should always break performance records… But sooner or later a new Ferrari arrives, and everybody else silences. People from all over the world start struggling to acquire one of its own, moving an amount of money which is almost as countless as the wallpapers set by the fans as a symbol of this passion which any other automaker motivates. Having that in mind, how could someone question Ferrari’s title of world’s most powerful brand?

Part of such reputation comes from the fact of the Italians sticking to what made them famous on the first place. Like Land Rover’s typical off-road abilities, Fiat’s expertise at compact vehicles or Volvo’s legendary concern with safety, Ferrari’s difference from the competitor automakers comes from its overall image. LaFerrari once again introduces this worldwide-known set of features starting with the iconic red, but there’s much more worth attention. For instance, its very name goes without the brand’s surname, making this car unmistakable in the same way as Madonna, Sting or Enzo Ferrari, the brand’s founder which was (even more) immortalized with having the company’s previous top-notch car named after him. That’s why the newcomer’s name is the Italian expression for “The Ferrari”, along with official information such as the title of most powerful Ferrari ever built. When it comes to the styling, it’s interesting to observe there are several references both to the present and the past. The car’s overall silhouette leads to think of an evolved Enzo, but at the same time it’s much more futuristic. The sleek headlights took inspiration from recent models such as FF, while the circular tail lights on a Ferrari are nothing but historical. And while F40 and F50 have strongly-wedged fronts, LaFerrari reproduces Enzo’s concept in a taller double-deck element, which juggles with light and shadow to give a very imponent appearance without getting out of proportion

But if all that is some kind of innovation among these supercars, have you noticed something special about that strong line after the side intakes which ends contouring the rear? That’s Ferrari’s way of drawing central engines’ hoods, like at this and this examples. Finally, the glass area had the sheetmetal around it in black for a reason: the colored part becomes hard not to remind of a F-1 vehicle, just like the fascinating interior – the red-and-black room has everything turned into the driver, although a companion is taken with plenty of comfort in this one. As you’ve already read several times, this car brings F12berlinetta’s V12 6.2L improved to achieve 789 hp at 9000 rpm and 516 lb-ft-torque, but paired to an electric engine which adds 161 hp to complete 950 hp and more than 660 lb-ft of torque, using a seven-speed automated transmission. Such power is applied to hand-made chassis with four types of carbon fiber, resulting on much better torsional rigidity than Enzo’s along with amazing 2800 pounds of weight, even with the electric engine and batteries. If you add to that Ferrari’s most advanced technology kit and performance items such as carbon-ceramic brakes, it’s easy to believe in a 98-feet smaller space to a 124-0 mph stop. When you’re moving one of the 499 units the other way, though, you’ll be able to accelerate to 62 mph in less than three seconds, to 124 mph in less than seven, to 186 mph in around 15… and reach the top speed of about 217 mph.

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Lamborghini Veneno

Even though several concept cars are showed at international events to anticipate its company’s short-term releases, they’re usually mixed with the group whose function seems to be only teasing the fans – Citroën Technospace clearly belongs to the first group, while the old Laguna, Mégane and Scénic concept cars don’t have trouble to put Renault in the second team. But how about when what could be a typical member of “the teasers” was actually all the time projected to the streets and is now officially released?

The Italian, Portuguese and Spanish word for poison also names “one of the strongest and most aggressive fighting bulls ever”, a fact which would be extremely hard for this Italian automaker to ignore. But if it was a matter of waiting for a good moment to use it, when would be more appropriate than its fiftieth birthday? But while Sesto Elemento was an entirely new vehicle, this one carries over Aventador’s structure, working as an even more charismatic brother for Lamborghini’s flagship model. Veneno’s proposal is to offer everything from a race car which doesn’t keep it away of being streetlegal. Since this concept doesn’t imply many design restrictions beyond every super sports car’s standards, this machine presents a futuristic styling which some people compare to Batmobile. There are very strong creases and cuts all over the car, creating very complex graphics which may not have the smallest difficulty at distinguishing it from the older models, but surely take it far away from McLaren P1’s elegance, for example – this obviously doesn’t mean that one of those is better or worse, but very different. Specially because Veneno catches anyone’s attention with the little details, such as the 20” and 22” (front and rear) wheels design or the Y-shaped lights both in the front and in the rear, which remind of Aventador’s and finish an unique visual aggressiveness which will certainly scare anyone who sees it through a rearview mirror.

After seeing what was shown with Sesto Elemento, Veneno’s large use of carbon fiber isn’t surprising at all. Actually, it carries over Aventador’s monocoque with aluminum front and rear subframes, and most of the urban brother’s cabin in the same material – since this car’s intention is to reproduce the race cars’ environment, you’ll still see several high-quality materials, but without focusing on luxury or elegance like a Maserati’s interior. After all, the biggest concern of this sports car is obviously the performance: Lamborghini’s V12 6.5L was upgraded from Aventador’s unit to produce 740 hp on the new car, an increase obtained from larger air intakes and modified exhaust system, everything to enable the engine to achieve higher revolutions. Veneno has all-wheel-drive traction paired to the ISR seven-speed automated gearbox, which features the Corsa driving mode to deliver much quicker gear shifts and helps to achieve the 221-mph top speed. The Italian automaker will only produce four units of this vehicle, one of them the exposition unit which is being exposed at these pictures and at the current Geneva Motor Show. The other three will be painted each in one of the Italian flag’s colors, as if it this car needed to assure even bigger exclusivity. Lamborghini has already sold them all by € 3 million each.

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Volkswagen Golf Variant 7

Expect the Germans to restrict Golf only to the hatchback body would be a complete nonsense. Using a multiuse platform such as MQB certainly saves a lot of new cars’ projecting time, which has certainly had a huge responsibility for VW Group having released five of them in such short time, since the latest Seat León. Now it’s time to turn the spotlights once again to the parent brand, because even though this car family isn’t too big, it never misses a chance of having another complete rearrangement.

Volkswagen’s most successful nameplate has been divided in two “groups” since it was five, in 1979. While Opel and Renault, for example, name each member of a car family after the oldest, like Astra Caravan or Mégane Coupé, there are automakers like the North-Americans, which used to sell the same vehicles under different marques, like all the ones who came from the “Project J” around the world. “The Golfs”, however, had the sedan called Jetta since its first generation and using slightly different design, while the station wagon used to follow the hatchback. This situation only started to change at the third phase, when the sedan was called Vento in some countries. The fourth phase, in turn, not only changed this alternative to Bora as also requested the wagon for itself: the biggest sibling still adopted Golf’s front fascia in some markets but others received it with Jetta’s looks, always being badged as the “donor’s” Variant version. The fifth generation actually unified the family for the first time, with all members having one design only changed to each body’s rear, but their bigger sophistication leap raised the prices so much that the situation ended going berserk once again – today, Golf is at the seventh phase to stay as VW’s flagship vehicle, Jetta received an exclusive sixth one focusing on markets such as Brazil and United States and Variant was facelifted at the fifth. Not to mention all the original Bora’s variations still sold in other countries.

Nevertheless, it seems the MQB platform will restrict this strange badge engineering once again to nameplates. Giving Variant an entirely new generation may look unnecessary because midsize station wagons don’t have too big sales, but it wouldn’t be surprising if producing this one ends up easier than keeping the older. Despite the obvious advantage of offering a more modern vehicle, having Jetta in a totally separate lifecycle frees VW to enjoy nothing but the good part of a strategy this blog has mentioned with Kia pro_cee’d’s article. Golf’s design has a very horizontal roof with abrupt ending, which would demand several changes to be transformed into a sedan… but very few to create an SW. In fact, it was only a matter of adapting the rear windows to include a subsequent third glass and “stretch” the sheetmetal’s original lines. It’s really nice to see how the new Variant combined creases, volumes and glass to look elegant without looking too long like the previous phase. The new structure didn’t give big dimension increases but a surprising 231-pd weight reduction and a 21.3-cu-ft trunk, which can be expanded to 57.2 cu-ft by folding the rear seats. The pictures show the interior is shared with Golf as much as the powertrain, which uses EA-211 and EA-288 families respectively with gasoline and diesel but both with turbo, direct injection and start/stop system and the available DSG transmission.

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Volkswagen XL1

Even if your interest for cars doesn’t qualify you as a fan, you’ve certainly heard about concept cars, specially during auto shows. They’re always intended to take everyone’s attention, such as Citroën with Survolt’s design, but the purposes vary. While that one came only to impress at these events, others anticipate the automaker’s future trends. The design ones can come indirectly, like with Ford Evos, but the technological ones come much more clearly, like VW’s latest project to receive the production version.

Volkswagen’s projects of a super-efficient car have been developed for more than a decade, since the first prototype was showed in 2002, the 1-Litre concept car. All those studies have been done under Ferdinand Piëch’s management, which helps to explain the big similarities since the first project to this article’s car: the intention of achieving the lowest possible consumption rates was always there, like with every other automaker, but only VW has specificated it to the special number of 1 l/100 km, which can be expressed also as 235 mpg and 100 km/l and has been achieved since that first vehicle. The challenge, therefore, became adapting the test prototype to the production model. There was another concept car which seemed to take the studies to a different structure, called L1, but the final vehicle has very much in common with the first one. The essential concern with the aerodynamics has been expressed in the streamlined body, which is 153.1 inches long, 65.6 inches wide but only 45.4 inches tall. The wind flow also demanded a narrower rear axle with covered forged magnesium 16” wheels, although bigger and wider than the 15” front set – by the way, there is carbon fiber here, indeed. This car uses it on the monocoque, while other parts combine materials such as aluminum and magnesium. Another good part is that creating a super-efficient vehicle didn’t stop VW of making it look sporty.

The front fascia even follows its current design trend (looks like a compressed Scirocco’s), and there are several items to enhance the design without leaving the rules of aerodynamics: the arch-shaped LED tail lights give a futuristic touch, while the windows with small opening parts remind sports cars like McLaren F1 and the gullwing doors of the old race cars, opening with part of the roof to make the occupants’ entrance easier. The interior abandoned the original tandem configuration to have the seats almost side by-side. The cabin doesn’t expose much luxury, keeping the good impressions to the visible carbon fiber parts and, specially, to the door-panel monitors, which are fed by rearward-facing exterior cameras to serve as rearview mirrors. XL1’s extensive use of lightweight materials pays off at the final 1750 pounds, while dropping 1-Litre’s original aircraft-inspired canopy in favor of a conventional cabin didn’t disturb this car’s drag coefficient, resulting at 0.189. That’s why its hybrid powertrain needs only a two-cylinder 800-cc diesel engine with 48 hp, paired to a 27-hp electric unit to give a combined 69-hp power and 103-lb-ft torque; the DSG seven-speed gearbox with rear traction gives 0-60 mph in 12s7 and the top speed limited to 100 mph. XL1 will start with fifty units sold in Europe, but even if the acceptance spurs more units to be produced, this car’s profit won’t ever come in money. VW’s concern is to adapt most of XL1’s technologies to the conventional cars, just like it was revealed with up!: it’s expected that most of this powertrain is going to be applied to the supermini’s future hybrid version.

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Seat León SC

Every car fan must have at least one car which just looking to it leads to think “I bet it would be a huge success in the entire world”. Some of these potentials are squandered because the car is bad in some aspect, others because its brand doesn’t have the charisma to attract many customers… and others because its brand’s group prefers to have another vehicle taken to the foreign market. We all know that the new Golf is an excellent car, but wouldn’t be great if VW’s Spanish division was allowed to offer Leon around the world?

While some brands maintain heavy traditions when replacing a particular vehicle, others prefer to take the opportunity of projecting each time an entirely new car. León turns interesting to observe because Seat’s strategy with it acts like a halfway: the mid-size hatchback has been carrying the same name for three generations and fourteen years without even thinking of dropping this name. The first one couldn’t ever deny it arrived in 1999: the overall round, plain shapes were typical 2000s elements, while the wedged front with narrow lights and the high-deck rear remind the 1990s’ cars. Later, the second phase arrived with a much more organic design, using several strong creases only to highlight all the elliptical shapes, such as the headlights. And this time, the compass seem to have been dropped in favor of the ruler: in this generation we observe the smooth lines highlighting square elements. The nicest part is that Seat decided to extend this excellent work by giving León its very first two-door option, not only as a new version but with a whole new body. In other words, instead of only subtracting the rear doors, increasing the front ones and adapting the side panels to this, SC is actually a coupé-inspired hatchback, perfectly suitable to compete with Renault Mégane and Opel Astra.

And once again just like those others’ sporty variations, SC brings a very stylish exterior, with took advantage of VW’s MQB platform to become slightly shorter and wider than the five-doors, everything in order to improve the handling. Some might compare it to the new A3, but the fact is León once again managed to show how it’s possible to avoid the big traditions and deliver very nice products every time. The interior won’t be too focused on being spacious because this is a sporty version, but it’ll take four occupants with plenty of comfort. Besides, as it’s getting (too) usual with the VW Group’s cars, the cabin uses everything in black, gray and silver. It does create a modern impression, but adding some colored details would go really well with a car that comes from the same country as Pedro Almodóvar’s movies. But if you’re the kind of driver which prefers to see the landscape’s colors, specially as quick blurs, Seat will offer you a huge list of powertrain options: only with gasoline there will be the TSi 1.2 (85 or 103 hp), 1.4 (120 or 138 hp) and 1.8 (177 hp), while with diesel it’ll come with the TDi 1.6 (89 or 103 hp) or 2.0 (148 or 181 hp) – the latter ones will obtain very low consumption rates. The transmission options will be manual with five or six speeds or DSG with six or seven, depending on each of its three trims.

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RAM ProMaster

Fiat Group’s latest releases could be seen as a nice class of how to practice badge engineering avoiding its tricks. Like most of the decisions regarding new cars’ releases, there are so many definitions to set that the number of possibilities borders being endless… but to achieve a high-potential vehicle really requires dealing with those. So after creating Fiat Freemont as Dodge Journey’s twin in a way that brought great sales for both, now it’s time to follow the reverse path and adding this whole commercial line to RAM’s showroom.

Long story short, yes, this is a rebadged third-generation Fiat Ducato, which has been succcesssy sold in Europe for about seven years also as the French brother Peugeot Boxer. Since commercial vehicles have very different concerns, such as maximizing the payload and reducing the costs, it’s easy to understand the larger lifecycles these cars usually have. In other words, these customers see aging projects as reliable ones, rather than preferring stylish and always up-to-date designs. Ducato has sold millions worldwide due to its renowned efficiency and resistance, which couldn’t be better showed than with how easy is to see its versions at the European streets; this is an interesting sales argument for this category, rather than having the very latest technologies. This and the fact that it would be pointless to invest in structural changes to an already well-accepted project is what resulted on ProMaster arriving at the US changing only all the badges and the front bumper, to follow RAM’s corporate design. Some Dodge fans might still dislike separating the pick-up truck into a particular brand, but now it’s possible to see the Group’s point: having an exclusive brand gives the opportunity to get dedicated to the commercial vehicles without affecting Dodge’s sporty image.

In fact, this dedication is so big that ProMaster already comes in Ducato’s entire list of options, which denotes RAM’s intention of having an important share of this category’s sales. In other words, the new van comes in two roof heights (90 and 101 inches), three wheelbase lenghts (118, 136 and 159 inches) and four cargo floor lenghts (105, 123, 146 and 160 inches), not to mention the chassis cabs. This car’s structure was projected to be efficient, and this is seen in items such as rear clamshell doors with 260° opening, s-size sliding side doors, not-too-high ride height to facilitate access and all the vehicle systems located in the front, making the rear end very easy to modify. The biggest changes came to the powertrain, in order to adapt the line to Chrysler Pentastar V6 3.6L and its 280-hp power and 258 lb-ft torque; the diesel option is brought by Fiat, though: a four-cylinder EcoDiesel turbocharged 3.0L with 174 hp and 295 lb-ft. The first engine always comes with automatic six-speed transmission, while the second always uses a six-speed automated manual gearbox, but the traction system is always front-wheel-drive. This car will hit the streets in the next summer, highlighting numbers as a payload capacity of 5,145 pounds and, according to RAM, the status of being the best in class for cargo capacity, ceiling height, fuel economy, low load floor and step-in height.

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Mercedes-Benz Classe A

Muito já se falou sobre a reviravolta que os alemães iniciaram com o terceiro Classe A, não só na linha de sua própria marca como em todo o segmento dos compactos de luxo. Seu sucessso tanto com a mídia como com os compradores veio da enorme inovação que ele representa para a marca, não tanto pelo desenho mas sim por todo o novo conceito que este carro lhe traz. É por essas e outras razões que sua apresentação oficial ganhou todos os holofotes da última Top Night da Mercedes-Benz e o artigo que você está prestes a ler.

Esta “classe” em particular sempre esteve associada ao desejo dos alemães de explorar uma lacuna de mercado que se situa logo abaixo do famoso Classe C. Não em preço muito menor, porque isso implicaria em sair do setor de luxo, mas sim em um foco diferente. Porque por mais que o carro-chefe ganhasse novas carrocerias, pacotes de acessórios esportivos e versões de alto desempenho, nunca perderia a tradição de ser uma escala menor de Classe E e Classe S, e menos ainda toda a tradição que eles têm com a sobriedade. Buscar clientes diferentes é sempre interessante, mas é necessário saber como agradá-los. O primeiro Classe A chegou em 1997 inaugurando na marca o formato minivan em tamanho compacto, a tração dianteira e várias soluções de estilo esperáveis apenas em outras marcas, como a coluna traseira em formato de “Z”. Seu problema inicial não foi a quantidade de subversões, mas sim a forma como elas se aplicaram: o carro realmente era jovial, mas parecia feito por outra empresa. Pouco tempo depois do lançamento ainda houve o fatídico capotamento em um “teste do alce” feito por uma revista sueca, o que só ajudou a enterrar quaisquer chances de sucesso de um carro que, na ponta do lápis, resultava ser uma minivan compacta com espaço e motores similares ao da concorrência direta mas com um adicional de preço que não se via compensado pelo nível de requinte que trazia.

Em 2004 a Europa chegou a lhe dar uma segunda chance, mas não o Brasil. A nova geração trazia uma interpretação do estilo anterior muito mais adaptada aos padrões da marca, mas ainda não era o que os clientes desejavam. A marca só foi acertar de fato ao criar a Classe B, que por sua vez assumiu o conceito de minivan por completo. Isso permitiu o retorno da Classe A como um carro completamente diferente. Ele ganhou liberdade para se tornar o belo hatchback que ilustra este artigo, agora com foco muito maior na esportividade mas ainda sem nunca esquecer o DNA que tem: estão lá os vincos tão poucos como fortes, o típico caimento de teto e a frente que exalta a grade inspirada no 300 SL, mas aqui se combinam a elementos muito bem desenhados e de grande personalidade, criando um conjunto que, agora sim, tem potencial para disputar clientes com os rivais que surgiram nesse meio-tempo: Audi A3, BMW Série 1, Volvo V40 e até o Citroën DS4. O novo Classe A não tem qualquer parentesco com as gerações anteriores, mas sim com o irmão maior: a plataforma de tração dianteira foi inaugurada com Classe B, e pouco a pouco vem formando o que os alemães chamam de “nova família de entrada”: o mais novo membro é o sedã CLA, e para breve se espera a primeira aparição do crossover GLA. Todos focando em consolidar a vontade da Mercedes-Benz em oferecer uma alternativa mais casual aos seus modelos mais famosos.

Quanto às versões, o modelo deve estrear no Brasil como A200, primeiro nas opções Urban e Style e depois também na Sport. As duas primeiras são variações do seu pacote de entrada, cujo desenho dispensa o kit aerodinâmico visto na terceira. Porém, mesmo sua lista de itens mais básica será capaz de efetivar a intenção que a Mercedes tem com este carro: convencer compradores da categoria dos médios a esticar o financiamento e levar um carro de nível claramente superior. Itens como ar-condicionado digital, central multimídia, vários airbags ou sensores de chuva e crepuscular são presença obrigatória em sua faixa de preço (que está prevista para começar ao redor dos R$ 100 mil), mas este carro abre vantagem com os detalhes. Bancos mais anatômicos, encaixes silenciosos e precisos e materiais de boa qualidade são o que começa a cativar o público que chega a estas categorias de carro vindo de baixo. Mas todo o conforto desta cabine também permite desfrutar da performance que o novo Mercedes garante: seu arsenal de tecnologias de ponta faz o 1.6 turbo de 156 cv emprestado da B200 repetir as excelentes médias de consumo, mas também entrega força de sobra em acelerações mais fortes, sempre com câmbio automatizado de dupla embreagem e sete marchas. O início das vendas se fará em março, e mais tarde devem chegar as versões A250, com motor mais forte, e a tão falada A45 AMG, que usa tração integral e um 2.0 turbo de 340 cv.

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Toyota Prius

Esqueça o breve período em que este carro só foi visto nas ruas da capital paulista e com a cor branca e os adesivos obrigatórios para o uso como táxi. O híbrido mais famoso do planeta agora desembarca em nosso mercado com disponível para qualquer motorista, dando mais um passo de grande importância para a introdução definitiva de veículos mais ecológicos em nosso país. Mas além de todo o enorme carisma que esse carro apresenta, este artigo irá mostrar um pouco do que faz do Prius um carro tão adorado.

Entrar no mundo dos carros elétricos e híbridos requer ver o conceito de carro de uma maneira totalmente nova. Aqui a função de transportar não tem como segunda prioridade desempenho, luxo ou preço baixo como normalmente se vê, mas sim à eficiência. Estes carros focam em realizar sua função principal com os menores consumo de combustível e emissão de poluentes possíveis, de forma que aqui são os outros aspectos que fazem concessões a aqueles. Tudo isso parece muito interessante de ver, mas já representou grandes dificuldades nos primórdios do carro elétrico moderno. A questão é que essa tecnologia só voltou a se desenvolver com mais força na década de 1990, de forma que ainda não existia nada avançado demais. Em outras palavras, o famoso Saturn EV1 e seus contemporâneos não podiam escapar de baterias caras e pesadas, autonomia curta, desenho desagradável e custos altos para comprar e manter, um pacote não exatamente sedutor. Claro que a imagem de famosos comprando carros ecológicos para uso pessoal trouxe ajuda enorme à sua popularidade, mas isso não surgiu já de início. Como as marcas continuavam a investir nessa tecnologia, ela só prosperou quando as mencionadas concessões por parte do consumidor começaram a diminuir.

A fama mundial do Prius só foi começar com a segunda geração, de 2003: o desenho ficava muito mais caprichado, as baterias permitiam maior autonomia e a habitabilidade foi melhorada. Sem contar que neste momento já existiam cada vez mais concorrentes, como o Honda Insight. O futuro desses carros passou a ser ganhar as mais variadas melhorias, porque isso só lhes deixou mais próximos do que o cliente sempre esteve acostumado: era difícil fazê-lo trocar o carro com o qual tem costume por modelos que tinham aquelas desvantagens. Hoje em dia já se provou que tudo isso ficou no passado, primeiro para os híbridos e depois para os elétricos, mas existem concessões “menos graves” que ainda não se podem dispensar mas estão longe de trazer problemas. Um caso é o estilo do Prius: assim como em Leaf, Volt e similares, apurar a aerodinâmica é fundamental para evitar que o arrasto desperdice energia. Aqui se usa o chamado Kammback, em que a suave ascensão da dianteira à capota simula a forma ideal de uma gota, mas termina num corte traseiro bem abrupto; é provado que assim se consegue efeito muito parecido ao de prolongar sua queda até o final. Se o segundo Prius trazia visual ainda insosso, a fase atual deu grande atenção a estilizar tudo o que não implique em fugir do tal formato: itens como os farois recortados, lanternas transparentes e laterais imponentes trazem semelhança com modelos esportivos.

Entrar em carros mais ecológicos já não impressiona tanto, e isso é excelente. Afinal, ainda não se veem ambientes de luxo, mas sim o mesmo que trazem carros a combustão com porte similar, talvez com um toque extra de modernidade por causa das telas em LCD do Prius. O modelo brasileiro traz pacote muito parecido ao dos demais com preço ao redor dos R$ 120.830 que pede, em que os destaques são bancos e volante em material sintético ecológico, sistema de som multimídia com Bluetooth e mapas, entrada sem chave, heads-up display (HUD), sete airbags, freios ABS com EBD e controles de tração e estabilidade, entre outros. Há o motor de ciclo Atkinson a gasolina e o elétrico de 650 V de potência, que combinados geram um máximo de 138 cv, com câmbio CVT. Não é um número surpreendente porque o sistema nunca chega a usar os dois motores nas faixas de potência máxima. Também existe a frenagem regenerativa, o que permite explicar o esquema de funcionamento desse carro como se vê em seu hotsite: a partida e o uso em baixas velocidades se fazem somente no modo elétrico. Em velocidade constante os dois motores se revezam segundo o que for mais eficiente, as altas acelerações usam a maior força do motor a combustão, as desacelerações são aproveitadas para recarregar as baterias e ao parar o carro se usa o sistema start/stop, que desliga o motor até que se dê um toque no acelerador.

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Nissan Versa Note

This automaker’s politics with its smaller-sized cars isn’t very common. Nissan decided last year that Sentra’s latest generation would be shared with the sedan’s Eastern sibling, Sylphy, in order to reduce costs. Now this strategy will be repeated with the Japanese minivan Note, which was adapted to North America as their new Versa hatchback. The thing is, this car is so different from the sedan that they should even have different names. This article will show what this new hatch-minivan will start to bring next summer.

Although this car shares platform with the sedan just like Versa’s previous generation (which was called Tiida at some countries), its own versions were clearly two variations of the same car. However, the current phase first received the sedan with much lower price, in fact reduced enough to make it compete at the subcompact level, while the hatchback that shares its name is this article’s car. Versa, in fact, looks much more like March/Micra, to the point of they sharing the very same central console. But since the North-American market would never accept a car that small, their choice was to “force” Versa’s line creation with the new car, which will certainly be sold at other markets as a medium-sized hatchback – or even minivan. Nevertheless, this car’s design can be seen as one more proof that Nissan’s idea isn’t to unify their showroom into one single design language, but some of them. So if the sedan now reminds is bigger siblings Altima and Sentra, Note sticks to being the production version of the Invitation concept car. In other words, it brings a very attractive design, without any excess of elements: the front section, for instance, takes all the attention to both the headlights and the grille, with an integrated design which gives an imponent look but also reminds very much of Honda CR-V.

Nothing of that comes as a complaint, though. Note’s design could be described as an up-to-date version of what has been seen at Nissan’s hatches and minivans since the last decade. These lines are more sophisticated than Tiida’s and Livina’s, with better-looking volumes, abandoning the excessively straight lines and creases, some aerodynamical aids, like the two strong roof creases, and using much more inspired tridimensional shapes, such as the tail lights. Entering it, the V-platform shows its advantages with a very well-planned room. Subcompacts never give priority to fancy design or top-notch material quality, but to room for five and lots of pratical solutions: this car counts on items such as 60/40 divided rear seats, whose space can be rearranged with the trunk’s: besides using the complete area, there’s an extra floorboard to create a separate space for smaller items, or finish composing a flat space when those seats are down. On the other hand, it’s very nice to see that Nissan has invested very much also at Note’s safety. Offered in four trim levels, this car can come with tire pressure monitoring system, braking system with ABS, BAS and EBD, and stability and traction controls – the S version will start from $ 13,990, but there are also S Plus, SV and SV with SL package.

But this car has other concerns, too. In order to take customers from Chevrolet Spark, Hyundai Accent or even Fiat 500, Note received a very good technology package: the multifunctional Intelligent Key opens the doors of a car which can bring keyless entry, electroluminescent dashboard, heated front seats, cruise control, GPS tracking, higher-quality internal illumination and an impressive infotainment system: the 5.8” touchscreen gives access to weather conditions, s navigation system, hands-free text messaging and media streaming over Bluetooth connection, online radio through iPhone internet, rearview monitor with the conventional reverse-gear images displayed at the screen, but also the new Around View Monitor, whose four cameras are set one at each side of the car. They work together to help parking by creating a virtual 360° image of the car, allowing to see the exact space available for each situation. Versa Note will always use a four-cylinder 16-valve 1.6L engine, with 109 hp and 107 lb-ft. It uses front-wheel-drive, double injection, continously variable valve timing and several other technologies to achieve the city and highway mileage of 31 and 40 mpg, respectively – only the entry version brings a five-speed manual transmission, while the others count on the CVT Xtronic gearbox. As usual, this car will be produced in Mexico.

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Fiat Palio e Strada Adventure Dualogic Plus

Dirigibilidade melhorada é a arma dos pioneiros Fiat Adventure para 2013. Tanto station wagon como picape (esta apenas na opção de cabine dupla) trazem a nova fase do câmbio automatizado Dualogic, cujo funcionamento fez grandes evoluções na suavidade e agora traz as funções Creeping e Auto-up Shift Abort, que por sua vez facilitam operações cotidianas como baliza e retomadas. Os dois modelos não tiveram outras alterações, mantendo também o motor 1.8 16v e.TorQ de potência e torque de até 132 cv e 18,9 kgfm.

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Aston Martin V8 Vantage

How about starting 2013 with a big photo gallery? The last year gave this car some design updates that surely improved its imponent, unmistakable Aston Martin design but focused at the aerodynamics, in order to achieve better driving dynamics. Besides, the entry-level 4.7L V8 has been reworked to become more efficient. It generates 420 hp now and uses a manual six-speed transmission, but offering an optional Sportshift II seven-speed gearbox. Clicking at the picture will take you to more official photos.

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Volkswagen Golf R Cabrio

Sometimes, the “recipe” for creating a successful vehicle doesn’t demand millions of dollars invested in projecting new models from scratch. Complete renewals are always necessary after a certain time, but there are moments when it’s possible to make interesting additions to the showroom using mostly creativity and common sense. And since everyone likes to have good results and loves to have them without spending much money, that’s why VW decided to satisfy a popular request, now releasing this impressive convertible.

It’s interesting to observe that although Golf is a very traditional car, the families it generates on each generation never are. The sedan, for example, has followed it since the beginning but always with exclusive designs and different timing. The station wagon came only at the third phase and the fifth even had the Plus minivan variation, but the less common history surely is the convertible’s: adapting a conventional car to become roofless demands structural reinforcements and the entire removable roof system, which always raises the car’s cost. Therefore. in order to never have this cabrio too expensive, VW has used some special strategies. The second generation simply skipped this version, receving once again at the third. The fourth, in turn, was a very crafty facelift to give the new car’s front and rear styling to the older convertible. The fifth generation skipped the convertible again, and the sixth one receives it at the exact time when the seventh arrives. This doesn’t look like bad timing, though: since the new car uses an entirely different project, it seems like VW is trying to compensate the convertible’s higher costs by producing it on an already proven base. Anyway, the fact is this convertible only begins to describe a very nice example of what this article begins to comment.

In other words, besides the opportunity to keep selling Golf’s old platform for some time, since VW was releasing this very charismatic variation, why don’t take more advantage of it? Now it’s time to adapt the R version for the roofless version. There are the same elements of the hatchback, such as exclusive bumpers with more aggressive intakes and double exhaust tips, rear spoiler, 18” exclusive wheels (with an optional 19” set), lower suspension and the typical blue tone of the R line. The black fabric roof can be activated while driving at up to eighteen mph and takes eleven seconds to open or close. This car’s interior won’t be very different from what has been seen at this Golf’s phase, but once again the equipment list will be complete, including items such as bi-xenon headlights with daytime LEDs, performance seats and black-painted calipers, but the most awaited powertrain specifications to know definitely weren’t those: this car will bring once again the 2.0L TSi. There are 261 hp of power and 258 lb-ft of torque, paired to DSG transmission in order to achieve 6s4 from 0 to 60 mph and the electronically-limited 155-mph top speed. These numbers are so good that give this car the title of fastest VW convertible ever produced… along with a 8.26-l/100 km consumption, and the reminder that all of this was achieved with the exact opposite of projecting from scratch.

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Fiat Linea Sublime

Séries especiais são um dos vários coringas que as montadoras automotivas aplicam em suas estratégias de vendas. O principal apelo é o toque de distinção que trazem em relação às versões comuns, feito com itens como rodas e cores exclusivas, mas o conjunto se torna sempre irresistível porque tudo isso sempre tem a companhia de pacotes de itens a preços bem menores que os convencionais. Agora a Fiat aproveita a época de fim de ano para oficializar a chegada da primeira edição especial de seu sedã médio no Brasil.

Este toque de distinção mencionado é uma constante entre esses carros, mas é interessante observar que ele pode vir das mais diferentes razões. O Chevrolet Monza 650 dos anos 1990, por exemplo, comemorava a produção de 650 mil unidades do modelo no país. Já a VW fez o Gol “bolinha” homenagear as Olimpíadas de Atlanta e até uma vinda dos Rolling Stones. Por outro lado, a Renault e a própria Fiat fizeram séries especiais de Clio Sedan e Palio apenas porque haviam feito parceria respectivamente com O Boticário e MTV. Nem sempre é necessário apostar em motores novos, exagero na diferenciação visual ou outras ideias similares porque grande parte dos clientes dá mais atenção à melhoria de custo/benefício, na verdade. São pessoas que precisavam apenas de algo que lhes resolvesse a indecisão entre as opções da faixa de preço considerada, ao passo que os que têm a diferenciação como prioridade são minoria. Algumas semanas antes a Peugeot trouxe proposta parecida à deste Linea com seu 408 Limited, mas ali o foco foi aumentar a tecnologia embarcada. O caso da Fiat é um tanto mais amargo porque por mais que seu sedã médio tenha linhas muito bem-resolvidas e conjunto fácil de agradar, sua aceitação pelo público sempre se viu atrapalhada por ter origem no Punto.

Enquanto ainda não se sabe se nosso modelo será sucedido pelo Viaggio ou apenas receberá o face-lift do equivalente turco, a série Sublime chega semanas depois da exposição no último Salão do Automóvel, começando em R$ 55.480. Sua base é a versão Essence, mas o maior destaque fica pelo exclusivo branco Kalahari, única opção da série. Vieram também as rodas diamantadas de 17” com parafusos antifurto e sensores de estacionamento traseiros, ao passo que a cabine surpreende com o bonito revestimento de couro Sabbia marrom para bancos, painel e portas. O modelo traz um pacote de itens que inclui apoia-braço central e saída de ar-condicionado adicional para o banco traseiro, mas de resto é o mesmo Linea de sempre, um sedã médio de dimensões um tanto menores que as dos líderes Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla e Chevrolet Cruze, mas com a vantagem de sua presença menos comum nas ruas preservar sua imagem sem se banalizar. Sem contar na exclusividade do acesso ao clube Fiat L’Unico, que dá uma extensa série de benefícios aos clientes. Com garantia de três anos, o Linea Sublime pode usar câmbio manual ou o recém-lançado automatizado Dualogic Plus, que faz seu preço passar a R$ 58.390 – o motor é sempre o 1.8 16v e.TorQ de até 132 cv.

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Volkswagen CC

Outro dos lançamentos reservados para o recente evento da VW foi a nova fase de seu cupê de quatro portas. Como a família Passat ainda está longe da época de mudar de geração, depois de sedã e perua receberem seu primeiro facelift na fase atual, agora chega a vez de atualizar o irmão “subversivo”. Mas em vez de lhe aplicar uma mera re-estilização, os alemães buscaram aproveitar seu conceito diferente para lhe dar independência, com mudanças pequenas mas de importância conceitual muito grande.

Esta mudança de nome foi o perfeito símbolo para a ideia que se quer passar com este carro a partir de agora. Assim como o carro que lhe serviu de inspiração, o conterrâneo Mercedes-Benz CLS, o então Passat CC surgiu como uma alternativa mais informal à tradicional linha de luxo da VW. A intenção é cativar a parcela dos clientes que aprecia as qualidades desses carros mas não gosta da sobriedade que lhes caracteriza. Então, assim que esse nicho foi detectado bastou deixar o bom gosto trabalhar para aliar esportividade e elegância no que seria o “traje esporte fino” dos carros: a própria denominação “cupê de quatro portas” já antecipa a dualidade de conceitos que esses carros carregam. Esta versão do Passat vem se mostrando um tiro certeiro tanto quanto o CLS, com o agravante de que sua dirigibilidade tão elogiada é um excelente par para a proposta que ele traz. Então, a VW aproveitou a época de redesenhar o carro para investir mais nesse novo conceito. As linhas mais retas que ganhou lhe dão personalidade própria, em especial quando se lembra da ditadura estilística que enfrentam os modelos mais recentes da marca. O CC ficou ainda mais elegante porque abandonou a esportividade explicitada por spoilers e aerofólios para apelar ao potencial de seu próprio conceito, reforçando elementos como a largura da carroceria bem maior que a altura.

Entretanto, por mais independente que este carro tenha virado na nova fase, sua relação com os Passat convencionais não se perdeu. Primeiro porque eles compartilham o projeto e são muito parecidos visualmente, mas a principal razão é que a VW realmente não tem motivo de desvencilhar este carro da linha que só perde em sofisticação para o Phaeton, mas que em seu segmento conta com muito mais carisma que aquele – eles só deixaram implícito o parentesco entre o CC e seus irmãos sedã e Variant. E como era de se esperar, este carro teve diversas melhoras de equipamentos: sua lista ganhou o sistema OPS de câmeras para exibir os arredores do carro em 360° e a nova geração do Park Assist, o famoso assistente de baliza. Todo o demais se manteve, o que vai desde itens como ar-condicionado digital, entrada sem chave e farois bi-xenônio com LEDs diurnos e um pacote de segurança que inclui seis airbags, sensor de fadiga e controle de estabilidade até toda a qualidade dos materiais usados na cabine, com acabamento impecável. O motor é o mesmo 3.6 V6 FSI de antes, com potência de 300 cv e torque de 35,6 kgfm e que usa o câmbio DSG de seis marchas com tração integral 4Motion – este carro vai de 0 a 100 km/h em 5s5 e chega à velocidade máxima de 250 km/h. Ele conta com oito opções de cor externa, duas para o painel e três para o couro Nappa. O CC começa em R$ 208.024, fora os opcionais.

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Fiat 500e and 500L Trekking

After a long time of concept cars being shown and speculations of all kinds, Fiat takes this big opportunity and uses the Los Angeles Auto Show to reveal their next cars to arrive in North-America. Even in Europe, they’re making a big effort into taking 500 from an only version to a whole car family. The first steps were creating the Abarth sporty versions, then the convertible body called 500C, and now the minivan 500L. Here you will find out about two members of this stylish Italian family that just made their debut in the US.

Fiat has received many efficiency awards for the MultiAir and the TwinAir engines, but they’ve never performed any attempt of developing neither electric or hybrid propulsion for series production until now… which doesn’t mean that they weren’t working on it. But electric cars are a very expensive project to release in cars with low sales volumes, so the Italians needed to make a very good first choice. And which Fiat could be better to debut this new technology than their most charismatic hatchback of the last few years? At least in a first moment, 500e will be sold only in the US, but using lots of technology to compete with cars like the also recently shown Chevrolet Spark EV. The new Fiat comes in new color options and features an aerodynamic kit, with spoilers and wheels with less openings, everything to achieve a 13% better air flow. Those are some of the responsibles for the 108 city MPGe and 122 highway MPGe ratings, not to mention the 87-miles range – Fiat claims this is the best number in 500e’s class. The biggest inside changes are the new touchscreen above the console and the driving mode selector: instead of the gearshift lever there’s a button selector for the driving modes. These two-color external details shown in the pictures can be sy customized by the owners, but here’s the painful part of Fiat’s effort with 500e: in order to offer a reasonable price, they will lose money for each sold car.

On the other hand, the North-Americans now won’t need to give up buying a Fiat due to lack of internal space. Some months after the European release, the Italian minivan arrives at the other side of the ocean with some exclusive items: there are more body-color painted parts, giving 500L the appearance of a bigger car. But it also received slight updates to the headlights, including LED daytime illumination, and a panoramic sun roof: the minivan has arrived still only in the five-seat option, but these passengers will enjoy the 42% bigger space along with all the visibility brought by very big windows. And when the weather becomes unpleasant, they can enjoy the also exclusive entertainment system with the UConnect entertainment system with 5” touchscreen or the available 6,5” option. When it comes to opening the hood, this car takes the family with plenty of power but prefers to focus at a low fuel consumption rather than breaking speed records: this car uses the same 1.4 MultiAir Turbo saw in Dodge Dart, bringing the best of downsizing with its 160 hp using manual or automatic double-clutch transmission. Besides that, Fiat will repeat the big personalization options list offered for the hatchback, including different colors for the roof. But the cherry of this cake is the yellow car of these pictures: the 500L Trekking brings all that package wrapped in a more aggressive design, with exclusive colors, bigger wheels and black-painted external details.

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Honda Brio Amaze

The strategy of showing “teasers” few days before a car release is proving itself very successful for the automakers, when it comes to increase the media and public’s interest. The simple posting of a picture or a video on the Internet showing only a part of the about-to-arrive vehicle is enough to attract the world’s curiosity, no matter if it’s a super sports car or a low-cost hatchback. That’s what Honda used to attract the spotlights to their compact sedan, which will try to prosper in a very competitive market, at many countries.

In the past few years, the multi-category brands have understood that although the emergent markets’ car demands are very particular, these countries return their fulfillment with surprising sales, frequently comparable to what they get on their homelands with more expensive vehicles. Mazda already sells Mazda2, Mitsubishi created Mirage with big focus at the efficiency, Toyota released Etios, and now Honda follows this track with Brio. Their idea is to repeat their brands’ quality at construction, durability and technology, but with some concessions in order to offer the cheapest final price it’s possible. Competitive pricing really is a strong sales argument, but the average customer became each time more demanding, in all categories. In nowadays, the cheap cars have to keep low prices but without “seeming” it: they can’t have black bumpers and small wheels anymore, for example. Besides that, the interior needs to offer the biggest space it’s possible, and with big trim levels at the most expensive versions – those are the very particular demands that countries like Brazil, China and India present for their low-budget categories. But there’s one more aspect that these customers appreciate very much, and therefore makes a huge part of these cars’ success: the design.

If the buyers want their car to resemble more sophisticated ones, they expect it to start this by the exterior. Some take advantage of their brands’ visual identity, such as the latest Fiat Palio and Chevrolet Onix (both created in Brazil), with good proportions and no external parts shared with other cars, avoiding drawing freedom losses. These came precisely from two of the best-selling brands in one of the most experienced country when it comes to small cars, which denotes all the expertise they have. And here lies the Japanese problem, which was those other brands’ issue decades ago: as these cars are their very first incursions among the low-cost category, they still don’t have experience with them. So their first idea is to adapt what’s already done with the more expensive ones, but the problem is that it doesn’t work as the first impression may think. The size differences make some elements look good in some cars but not in others, not to mention the customer kind each car will have – try to imagine Hyundai Equus with Mini Cooper’s round headlights or Peugeot 107 with the first Land Rover Discovery’s roof windows, for example. When it comes to Brio, the original hatchback wasn’t already the best design example to remember, but what makes the sedan worse is the wrong choice of the elements.

The front needs to be short but keeping good space for the engine, so it’s a little tall. But using a very small central air intake with big headlights and big lower intake with large blank spaces between than gives the overall impression that these parts are “lost”, visually disconnected. The very strong creases at the side give a dynamism sensation at bigger cars, but in this sedan seem only too heavy. And the back would really deserve credit for the sophistication idea of the chrome details, if it wasn’t for the very, very small size seen at the pictures. The intention of projecting a small-scaled Civic or Accord is good, but this result seems like a squeezed version of those – at the side photo, have you seen how the roof falls to the trunk? Entering the car, its central console’s can’t be described without using “weird”, but the big internal space is a pleasant fact, along with the sophistication given by the three-colored coating and items such as the multimedia sound system. This car’s sales will begin with Thailand, going later to India, Indonesia and Malaysia. When it comes to the performance, it’ll maintain Brio’s 1.2 16v, with i-VTEC valve command and 90 hp with manual or CVT transmission options, but a very nice feature is the Econ mode: as in many other Honda vehicles, activating it changes several driving parameters to reduce fuel consumption.

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Ford EcoSport Powershift

Chegou ao país uma das mais modernas transmissões automotivas da atualidade. Mesmo com o incrível início de vendas, o novo EcoSport mostra que não pretende dormir sobre os louros: sua primeira medida foi incorporar novas combinações de motor e acabamento para aumentar o potencial da versão Titanium, mas sua exibição no Salão do Automóvel prometia muito mais: se a Ford deixou a tração 4x4 para o ano que vem, agora já se pode comprar o primeiro veículo com câmbio de dupla embreagem fabricado no Brasil.

Usar a plataforma do New Fiesta foi um excelente ponto de partida para a Ford executar a ideia de modernidade que este carro tanto exalta. O exterior transpira esportividade visto de qualquer ângulo, com linhas fortes e volumes muito bem esculpidos que conferem uma sensação de imponência e dinamismo sem recorrer a dimensões exageradas, o que certamente desestimularia seu uso urbano. O interior também segue a cartilha de sucesso usada pelos últimos Ford em todo o mundo, com a interpretação da “filosofia Kinetic” feita no design mas também com uma generosa aplicação de tecnologia, tanto em prol do conforto como da segurança. Também há resposta a esse “jeito de ser” nas duas opções de motor, então a Ford não podia seguir essa proposta em “quase todos” os aspectos: se o mercado mostrou aceitação satisfatória para transmissão automática nesse tipo de carros, eles quiseram repeti-la. E se eles querem que este carro seja o mais moderno da categoria, precisaram apostar alto. A transmissão automatizada Powershift já é muito usada nos Ford do exterior, e vem colecionando elogios porque seu alto nível de tecnologia se traduz em funcionamento sem comparações.

Vale lembrar que este câmbio não muda a forma de uso do motorista em relação a qualquer outro automatizado. Ou seja, continua-se selecionando entre P, R, N e D e esquecendo-se do terceiro pedal. A diferença está em que as duas embreagens trabalham em forma alternada, uma com as marchas pares e outra com as ímpares: quando se está usando uma marcha, a outra embreagem já prepara a seguinte para a troca. Isso não só reduz o tempo da troca como evita a interrupção do torque, fazendo que o motorista na prática não as perceba: o carro acelera e desacelera em forma contínua, sem solavancos ou quaisquer desconfortos do tipo. Mas além do dirigir mais agradável, a Ford afirma que essa caixa traz consumo 10% menor que o de uma automática convencional. Fora que a Powershift não usa bombas, fluidos ou radiadores, o que leva a afirmar que ela não precisa de manutenção durante sua vida útil, que é de dez anos ou 240 mil km. O carro mantém a opção de trocas manuais em sequencia e modo esportivo para as duas formas, permitindo ao dono escolher entre conforto ou diversão. Quanto ao mercado, como a versão FreeStyle vende bem sem nenhuma ajuda, a Ford aplicou a novidade às demais: sempre com o 2.0 16v de 147 cv, a SE começa em R$ 63.390 com o novo câmbio e a Titanium em R$ 70.890 – esta pode somar bancos de couro e airbags laterais e ficar em R$ 74.590.

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JAC Heyue A30

The Japanese have already finished it, the Koreans are around halfway, and the Chinese are trying to start it. The last decades saw lots of Eastern automakers following what seems to be a “magical path”, that converts them from unknown, low-selling brands to worldwide hits. The simple concept of finding some way to stand out in the crowd, at any subject, is as easy to define as hard to accomplish: the car releases around the world are increasing so much that to the Chinese prosper in nowadays it’s almost a Herculean task.

If you haven’t lived in Japan, how old are your first memories of cars from Honda or Toyota? Those brands started to sell outside their side of the world only around the 1970s, focusing in United States and Europe to take advantage of the oil crisis: the North-Americans, specially, were forced to quit their “eight-cylinder engines and sixteen-feet length” in order to drive less-consuming cars. But the worldwide success came with the high-performance cars, starting in the 1980s. Cars like Honda NSX, Mazda RX-7, Mitsubishi Eclipse, Subaru Impreza and Toyota Supra dazzled the sports car enthusiasts with huge technology working to extract unimaginable power from small engines. The typical Eastern aggressive design also had big participation at spicing up those brands’ reputation, which until then came only from the urban efficiency of Civic, 323, Lancer, Legacy and Corolla, for example. After that, the 2000s were surprised with the Koreans, specially from Hyundai and Kia: Sonata and Soul presented a style boldness never seen at their showroom. Their technology was invested focusing at the sophistication, to gradually update the entire line using a very attractive visual identity outside and lots of technology inside, in order to make their cars step up among the public’s impression.

In nowadays those Japanese brands already have a solid reputation of high quality and excellence in both performance and mechanical resistance, while the Koreans have already finished their first wave of new cars, and now invest at the maintenance of this excellent phase. Now the surprise comes from China, because the unbelievable market growth is stimulate the local brands to also take part of this, instead of letting the Europeans and North-Americans take their homeland’s customers. However, these automakers are still defeating the first part of the “magical path”: since they haven’t found their “thing” yet, they still have to follow what the other brands present. That’s why those cars always try to deliver high trim levels at low prices, for example. And that’s why there were so many cases of style imitation in the last years, from small “inspirations” to ridiculous copies. In nowadays, some of the Chinese cars have effectively evolved from that phase, specially regional projects such as the new VW Bora, although others insist on the wrong way. JAC now wants to participate among the most recent compact sedans, whose focus goes to much bigger internal space, cutting-edge technology and an attractive design.

This category is very successful in the emergent markets, but it will be hard to hide the fact that Heyue A30’s rear is very, very similar to Ford Fiesta’s. Design questions apart, though, there’s no denial that JAC’s new sedan is an up-to-date project. It features the most recent design trends and a size that gives it the showroom spot between Tongyue and Heyue’s sedan versions. There aren’t many official pictures of this car, but it’s already possible to see that it’ll compensate the bigger price with many equipments: the stylish interior uses two colors combined with items such as digital air-conditioner, touchscreen to the entertainment center and multifunctional steering wheel. This car will be sold with a 118-hp 1.5 which uses manual transmission with five speeds or a CVT one. Besides that, the big trunk is only one more reason to have big expectations of seeing A30 in other countries, such as Brazil and India.

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Volkswagen Bora 2

The biggest car market in the world is certainly also the hardest to comprehend. The strategy of creating regional projects to be sold only at certain markets is very common to many of the biggest automakers, but the Chinese case is unique. The brands seem to forget the mass-production savings and offer multiple options to a same category because they all sell unbelievably well. These features often generate curious situations, such as what will be explained about the latest sedan released by Volkswagen at that country.

That mentioned situation starts with the fact that Volkswagen is actually two brands in China. Since that government demands the automakers to operate there only in joint-ventures with national companies, the Germans have associated themselves both with FAW and Shangai. But instead of making them cooperate, joining production plants or another kind of partnership, they are rivals. Each one sells some of the VW’s European cars, and besides that each one offers their own regional cars, even though they compete with themselves. Once again, the first thought is that this strategy would be completely unproductive, but what is actually seen is that Volkswagen became the top seller in China, when counting both companies’ numbers. This Bora and Shangai’s Lavida today look very different, but their stories aren’t so different: after selling the original Bora, the following generation (Jetta 5) arrived at bigger prices due to much more sophistication. There was created a market gap which could be filled restyling Bora, and that was done by both brands separately. That means Lavida and this Bora could be called grown-apart twins: they use the exact same old platform, their new generation was received around 2008, and after Lavida received its first partial update this year, now it’s time to Bora do the same.

The only possible sales argument that someone who doesn’t live in China could craft to distinguish them is the external style. Lavida takes huge inspiration from the new Jetta, with straight lines and a more classic look which is also sold in that market as Sagitar. But the new Bora deserves more attention because it’s one of the very few Volkswagen cars to escape the heavy visual identity imposed to the worldwide showroom. This facelift has just applied the excessively repeated front style to this car, but the side design reveals a much more sporty interpretation, with smooth shapes and a very elegant third column. There aren’t too much creases or cuts, and the overall impression is much more casual and creative than all other VW sedans currently sold – although it could be better without taking “ big inspiration” from Passat to the front and Citroën C5 to the rear. Entering the car gives access to a beautiful cabin, with good materials variety and a nice combination of the modernity brought by the GPS navigator and the big touchscreen, and the classic look from the wooden line at the air outlets. This car will receive very generous trim levels, including the BlueMotion package: it brings start/stop system and regenerative brakes to reduce consumption. Opening the hood there’s always the 122-hp 1.4 TSI, with manual six-speed transmission or the double-clutch DSG option.

Read more > Volkswagen Bora 2

Mitsubishi Lancer GT 4WD

Este é um lançamento tão atípico para o nosso mercado quanto interessante. Se o Lancer Evolution compete entre os esportivos de alto desempenho mas com preço restritivo, alguns meses atrás a Mitsubishi trouxe as versões urbanas do modelo, que apresentam pacote excelente para brigar com os demais sedãs médios. Agora os japoneses se aventuram a estrear em mais um segmento típico daqui, mas em vez de trazer o mesmo que os demais sedãs médio-grandes, ele aposta nas diferenças que você lerá neste artigo.

Essa iniciativa se torna tão valorável por ser a resposta da marca às vendas do sedã, que embora não cheguem perto de afetar a liderança da categoria, mostram-se satisfatórias para um modelo que sofre com os impostos motivados por vir do Japão – é de se esperar que seus números melhorem se a produção nacional se confirmar. Não se pode negar que R$ 96.990 não são nenhuma bagatela, mas também é necessário lembrar que o Lancer GT AWD tem outro foco. Sua ideia é associar o enorme carisma do Evolution a uma versão bem mais em conta que o próprio, mas que preserva grande parte do conceito daquele. A tração integral vem associada ao câmbio automatizado CVT para conseguir uma dirigibilidade incomparável à dos concorrentes mais diretos, como Hyundai Sonata, Kia Optima ou VW Jetta Highline, cujas apostas neste quesito são restritas a motor e câmbio. O público-alvo deste Lancer é a parcela dos compradores de sedãs médio-grandes que valorizam luxo e requinte, mas não escondem o desejo de adicionar mais esportividade ao dirigir sem precisar de recordes de 0 a 100 ou velocidade máxima que na prática nunca vão tentar superar. Sem contar que o já mencionado carisma deste carro completa a exclusividade trazida pela presença comedida nas ruas: sua imagem torce muitos pescoços por onde passa, sem ser desvalorizada pela aparição massiva.

Contudo, quem pensar que este Lancer deixa os demais quesitos em segundo plano vai adorar saber que se enganou. Seu pacote de itens é fechado e completo, trazendo vários itens que em alguns rivais são vendidos como opcionais. Ou seja, ele conta com ar-condicionado automático, bancos de couro central multimídia com DVD, conexão Bluetooth, controles de tração e estabilidade, farois bixenônio com lavador, freios com ABS, EBD e BAS, navegação GPS em português, piloto automático, pedaleiras esportivas, retrovisor interno antiofuscante, rodas de 18”, sistema direcional AFS, sensor de chuva e crepuscular e sete airbags, entre outros. Tudo isso com o já famoso estilo Mitsubishi de cabine: as imagens mostram que este carro dispensa a sobriedade das cores claras e dos revestimentos em madeira em prol de um ambiente muito mais jovial, combinando a cor preta com os detalhes em prata com muito bom gosto. E se você ficou apreensivo com a parte do parágrafo anterior que menciona o desapego deste Lancer com recordes de desempenho, pode ficar tranquilo: os 160 cv gerados por seu 2.0 16v são mais que suficientes para tracionar as quatro rodas deste carro à velocidade máxima de 193 km/h, com 11s5 para atingir a primeira velocidade de três dígitos.

Read more > Mitsubishi Lancer GT 4WD