Jim Kenzie's The Driver's Seat

Porsche 911 Turbo Launch Control

I know there's about four thousand videos of the 911 Turbo with launch control on YouTube.

But only one that I shot, at the car's press preview event in Germany a week or so ago.

Well, there's two videos I shot, but I can't find the other one.

In this video (and the others, I must say) it all looks very calm and peaceful from the outside.

You select launch control, left-foot brake, floor the loud pedal, it revs to about 6 grand, you side-step the brake, and off you go on a perfect nearly-three-second 0 - 100 km/h ride.

From inside though, it's pretty intense.

Noisy.

Fearsome.

Huge fun.

Note at the end of this run, the brake lights flash as the car slams to a halt. In case you haven't driven behind a fairly modern German car lately, if the ABS is activated, the brake lights flash, to indicate to the dudes and dudettes behind you that you are stopping.

RIGHT NOW.

With the carbon ceramic brake package that comes with the new 911 Turbo S, there's a way better than even chance its brakes are better than whatever is behind it.

Enjoy here.

Nice Tatas

From the get-go, I figured that Jaguar and Land Rover being bought by the Indian Tata conglomerate would be a perfect marriage. OK, so maybe a three-way.

Not that this was a universally-held opinion (I'm kinda used to that).

Tata is a massive world-wide organization. They even have several thousand employees here in Canada, mostly in IT.

But few who don't actually work for the company have any idea it even exists.

My thought was that if Tata could be successful managing two iconic brands with world-wide renown, it would help put them on the public perception map.

That part of it has worked out far better than anyone dared hope. Tata has helped Jaguar and Land Rover finance the development of brilliant new models (e.g., the Jaguar F-Type and Land Rover Evoque; I'm sure you can tell which photo is which). According to my sources, as long as the two car makers keep "hitting their numbers", Tata management leaves them alone to do what they do best.

Sales of both brands are strong everywhere.

Meanwhile, Tata's share of the automotive market in India has seldom been worse, dipping into single-digit territory. India is largely (you should pardon the expression) a small-car market, and Tata is getting its butt handed to it by Suzuki and Hyundai.

The company's much-touted "Nano" (I'm sure you can pick that one out too...) was supposed to be the cheapest new car in the world. It was intended to do for India and the rest of south-east Asia what the Model T Ford did for North America and the Volkswagen Beetle did for Germany - provide reliable transportation for the masses.

But the car has been a dismal flop. My Indian colleagues tell me the car isn't all that bad, but few new-car buyers, even first-timers, want to be known as having had to settle for "the cheapest car in the world".

Tata has recently upgraded the Nano, trying to turn it into a hip 'urban car' for young people.

But new product is always what moves the car biz, and Tata hasn't had an all-new model since 2010.

You would have to think the company is too big and too smart to allow this to go on. 

Then again, we are only a few years removed from when car companies with a much larger global footprint than Tata almost went under.

Can Tata recover, with or without government assistance?

Time will tell.

 

France and Germany Lose their Cool

For whatever issues the European Union faces - we hear lots about the PIIG countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, not to mention Cyprus; will Britain join the euro or stay out?) - one undeniable fact remains: the two largest countries in that bloc, which were more-or-less in a continual state of war for most of the last couple of centuries, haven't fired a shot at each other since 1945. 

That is progress.

Now however, a minor battle has erupted.

No gunfire is involved.

But for the past three months, France has been refusing to allow the German Daimler-Benz corporation to sell a wide swath of its new Mercedes-Benz product line (including the CLA shown here) because - well, because of air conditioning refrigerant.

The issue dates back to the 1970s, when the chemical universally used in automotive A/C systems, a chlorofluorocarbon called R12, was deemed to be a threat to the ozone layer.

It was banned - subsequently, the ozone layer has apparently begun to heal; cause and effect, if any, not really established.

It was replaced with the seemingly less-threatening R-134a.

But when R-134a leaked, as refrigerants do, it turned out to be a way worse greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, the universal Bad Boy of that branch of environmental science.

So another new compound - R-1234yf - was introduced, and became the European Union-mandated product.

As I understand it, this was invented and is made only by Honeywell and DuPont - I know a bit about cars, not so much about cartels...

But Daimler-Benz says that R-1234yf is extremely flammable, and when it leaks in crash tests, it can cause fires. Safety has long been a Mercedes touchstone, so the company has gone back to R-134 until a better replacement can be found.

This is in contravention of the EU rules. Almost needless to say, the German government gave Daimler-Benz a Mulligan on this one.

But France decided to put its foot down by refusing to register any new Mercedes models with R-134a in their A/C systems.

German cars tend to emit more pollutants by virtue of their larger, more powerful engines than do French cars, which tend to be smaller.

Gosh, you don't think the French government is playing politics here, do you? Using regulations to help their home-grown manufacturers? Who would even think of such a thing?

(Well, I guess I did, so...).

In any event, just three days ago, France's highest 'administrative court' - I guess it's like their Supreme Court? - struck down the ban.

The war isn't over.

But this battle goes to the Germans.

Life's A Bitch, Someone Steals your Lunch...

...and then you die.

Here you can see the sort of thing I am forced to do for living....

Nissan and Football

Nissan is having a massive sale at Ontario Place this weekend.

It has been organized by Nissan Canada in conjunction with its local dealers.

It follows on a similar event held last month in Montreal, which was judged a success.

You can test-drive the entire line-up on a little test course set up in the Ontario Place parking lot (well, 'entire' except, as I understand it, the mighty GT-R sports coupe).

Balloons, hot dogs, fun for the kiddies...

(BTW I lifted this image from the InterTube. It is a bunch of Nissans, it is Ontario Place, I cannot guarantee it was taken from this particular event. But you, um, get the picture...).

There's also a big spinning wheel - buy a car, spin the wheel, and depending on where it stops ("Nobody Knows!") you get $1,000, $3,000 or $30,000 off your purchase.

If you're like one lucky dude yesterday, that means you get your car for free.

At the very least, I guess you could take the TTC or GO to the CNE, buy a car, and drive home.

Nissan says this event is planned as a one-off, but if it works spectacularly well, why wouldn't they do it again? Probably in other cities as well.

One thing I find odd about this event. Nissan has shown great intelligence by being a corporate sponsor of the Canadian Football League, by far the most entertaining brand of football played anywhere.

Every player on every team even has "NISSAN" right on his jersey.

Yet this Ontario Place event offers swag from the US National Football League.

The NFL is what you watch if golf is just not boring enough to put you to sleep.

Yeah, yeah the athletes are fantastic.

But that tiny field, the ridiculous rules... "Fair Catch?" Come on, you coward - catch the ball and run. That's what you're paid millions of dollars to do.

I'm sure if there wasn't Las Vegas betting on NFL football, that entire snooze-fest would disapppear without a trace.

The Stupour Bowl? Give me a break.

Why the heck is Nissan Canada not leveraging its association with the CFL?

The minds of marketing people work in mysterious ways.

Corvette Stingray Family Photo

From the media preview of the 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, a.k.a. "C7", in Monterey California, a nice family photo.

Front row, left to right: C7 Coupe, C7 Convertible, 1963 Split-Window Coupe.

Back Row, left to right: C1 through C6 respectively.

More details and driving impressions on the C7 coupe to follow in this Saturday's Wheels.

As a bit of a tease, let me just say that I did NOT have to use my favourite Media Preview line to the engineers: "Is it too late to stop production?"...

 

 

Corvette Stingray

This is the 2014 Corvette Stingray, best known amongst the cognoscenti as the C7:

It's parked in front of the Aquarium in Monterey California Monday evening; we'll be driving the car around this area Tuesday - that'll be as in today for most of you reading this....

This close to Laguna Seca Race Track and not ON the track?

Sadly yes - this is Pebble Beach Concours / Monterey Historic Races Week around here, and the track is otherwise booked.

But we have been told by others who have driven this route that it does give the car a good workout, and we'll have full details in Wheels this Saturday.

My colleague Marc Lachapelle and I drove the fabulous new Jaguar F-Type in Spain a couple of months ago; we are teaming up again in the C7, and expect it to be pretty stiff competition for the Jag.

And, as it always has been, the Corvette will be a tremendous bargain, being tens of thousands of dollars less than the Jaguar.

Yes, I do have a tough life. Thanks for your concern.

Oh - did I tell you next week it's the Porsche 911 Turbo in Germany?

I know. You all hate me.

But I still love you all...

Sharp-Looking Hyundai

'Sharp-Looking Hyundai"?

Wasn't too long ago when that would have been an incongruous phrase.

Even corporate cousin Kia seems to have stolen a march on Hyundai, styling-wise anyway.

But the other day, eastbound 401 across the top of the city, early afternoon, I saw what could only be considered a sharp-looking Hyundai.

Took me a while to recognize it, truth be told.

Sorry I couldn't take a picture of it for you, but I'll try to describe it.

It was an Elantra GT - that'd be the four-door hatcback version, by far the most intelligent body style they sell here (they don't bring the wagon in any more. Not their fault if we collectively aren't smart enough to buy them...).

I'm pretty sure the paint colour wasn't stock - it was a dark blue-ish purple that really looked good for this shape, for whatever reasons.

The wheels definitely were not stock - they were alloys, but painted a lovely shade of yellow. Almost mustard yellow. Not quite the gold of Subaru STi wheels, but not far off either.

The plastic inserts surrounding the fog lamps on either side of the grille had been painted yellow to match the wheels. A nice detail.

It also appeared that the car had been lowered a little. Not crazy low, just enough to improve the stance a bit. 

The Elantra GT isn't a bad looking car in base form. That's one to the right; I don't think that's the colour of the one I saw, but maybe...

But when so many after-market treatments of cars make them look hideous, overblown or downright dangerous, this one was particularly tasteful.

I did check with Patrick Danielson, the clever young PR guy for Hyundai Canada who has a pretty good grasp on the sort of cars favoured by the younger buyer, but he was unaware of this particular car.

Maybe one of you 'alert readers' knows more about it?

If so, please let me know!

What Does Detroit's Bankruptcy Mean for the Detroit Auto Show?

Again, an 'alert reader' asked me the other day what impact the bankruptcy of the city of Detroit might have on the Detroit (officially, "North American International") Auto Show next January?

This link (somewhat surprisingly, sent to me not from the good people at the Detroit Show itself but from their counterparts at the Tokyo Motor Show) says it all.

In case you don't want to read the entire release, let me summarize - no impact at all.

The venue, Cobo Hall, and the show itself are independently owned, and do not depend on the city for their operation.

I suspect there might be some issues if there are no police officers to direct traffic, etc., but I imagine that sort of thing can be handled privately.

The show will run as scheduled January 18 - 26, 2014.

Three Minus Two Equals - Four?

Three Minus Two Equals - Four?

It does if you're counting doors via the New Munich math.

Take two doors off a BMW 3 Series, and now you'll get the new BMW 4 Series.

From now on, all coupes and convertibles in the BMW range with be designated with even numbers, the sedans and Touring (wagon) variants will have odd numbers.

It is not just a ploy to charge more for 3 Series hardware, although the cynic (who,moi?) might be forgiven for thinking so.

The differences in styling, suspension, features and equipment on the 4 are considerably greater than has been the case for previous-generation 3 coupe models.

Around Lisbon Portugal and - as I type - at the former Formula One Race Circuit in nearby Estorial, we have been driving the 435i, equipped with the 3.0 litre twin-turbo inline six. We will also get the 428i with the 2.0 litre four-cylinder turbo; both will be available in rear- or four-wheel drive.

We won't get the 2.0 litre turbo Diesel engine, worse luck. Great torque, fantastic fuel economy - what's not to like?

We'll have more details on this car later in the week, and in next week's Wheels section.