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“I hope this car doesn’t end up being a tragic hero” mumbles my co-driver on the recent launch of the new Alfa-Romeo Giulietta. “You know mos, a fantastic car that everyone ignores” he concludes while we negotiate hundreds of kilometers on scenic Boland back roads.
Dit is nou 20 jaar wat die Renault Clio in ons midde is en nog steeds die koppe laat draai. Die opvolger van die befaamde Renault 5, wat in die sewentigs en tagtigs by uitstek die motor van dames met styl was, en ook vurige jong mans wat met die TS modelle die pad aan die brand gery het, het ‘n hele paar jaar later by ons sy opwagting gemaak; dit nadat hy in Frankryk reeds diep spore getrap het.
Dit is insiggewend dat die eerste Koreaanse Grand Prix (dit is nou in Suid-Korea – nie die kommunistiese noorde nie.) op Sondag, 24 Oktober plaasgevind het. Dit kan gesien word as ‘n teken van die groot vooruitgang wat die Koreaanse motorbedryf die afgelope paar jare gemaak het.
Subaru South Africa’s website alleges that they sell six distinctive model ranges, four of which I’ve already tested. Forester, Impreza, Legacy and Outback are now familiar territory to yours truly with only the Tribeca and STi left for us to test. If anyone at Subaru is reading this, I wouldn’t mind an STi press demonstrator; for a month.
You might agree that our changing weather isn’t the ideal time to launch a new soft-top convertible, but this only boosted the confidence of Mercedes-Benz representatives at the recent launch of the new E-Class Cabrio. Backed by a joyful marketing campaign that denotes the newcomer as one cabrio for four seasons, the topless executive German completes the E-Class line-up of sedan, estate, coupé and convertible. It’s based on the 2-door coupé version of the E and is only available with a soft top.
Think before you speak, something I should’ve done last week before I had to eat my own words with a hefty side dish of umm’s and ah’s. When the friendly Subaru chaps dropped off a pearl-white Impreza sedan I immediately mistook it for a WRX, hence I pointed out their blunder: “No, no, I’ve tested this before” I alleged. “No, no, you haven’t!” they retaliated.
The Volkswagen Golf GTi is often referred to as a legend in the motoring industry, and I got one to visit me for a few days to investigate this claim. The first GTi from the seventies was one of the first “hot hatches” because engineers troubled a city runabout with a performance engine.
There aren’t many things I’m scared of, but the list just grew. Right behind Tequila, cameras in bushes, spiders that are bigger than my shoe, and any building named “Dentist”, comes the Subaru Impreza WRX.
I had to wait the better part of three months to get my turn in Nissan’s new 370Z; and its excited disciples weren’t joking. It is a fantastic sports car, and it just gained another fan.
Four point five litres per hundred kilometres; that was the average consumption of the new Toyota Prius I recently drove for two days on its official launch. The third generation Prius will shortly be available from selected Toyota dealerships to maintain and build on its ecological and economical image. Especially the second model (2003) made the Prius into a runaway success, so much so that in April 2008 it smashed the one million sales mark since its first incarnation arrived in 1997.