MINI MK II has gone soft. Soft top that is. Come the North American International Auto Show in January 2009 (also known as Detroit), MINI Convertible will be shown to the public for the first time. Live. For now we have to make do with what we have, which is these pictures right here.
The main feature of this car is that it is a convertible, as the name suggests. It features an electrohydraulically-operating canvass roof with an option of having its opening/ closing mechanism operate at up to 30km/h. Even cooler is that you can open and close the roof remotely from a short distance using the key. MINI Convertible comes in 12 exterior and three roof colours.
Mechanically the Convertible is exactly the same as the other two MINI body types. The engine, a 1.6-litre engine developed by BMW and produced by Peugeot- Citroen, is mapped to make two power figures. Naturally aspirated it makes 88kW and maximum torque of 160Nm. BMW says it will accelerate from 0 – 100km/h in 9.8 seconds and top off at 198km/h.
The spunkier version, Cooper S Convertible, is the same 128kW and 240Nm animal which features an overboost function that takes torque to 260Nm for a short period of time during overtaking. Its 0 – 100km/h time is 7.4 seconds and top speed is 222km/h.
Fuel consumption has obviously become an issue these days and MINI claims an average of 5.7 litres/100km for Cooper and 6.4 litres/ 100km for Cooper S Convertible.
We can expect MINI Convertible to hit Mzansi topless during the spring of 2009 at prices of over R300 000.
Just because the world is in a recession doesn’t mean ultra-luxury car makers are putting significant brakes on their menus. This holds true for Aston Martin too, whose new V8 Vantage 420 has just arrived in Mzansi. Called 420 because it produces 420bhp (brake horse power), Vantage has been improved on the previous model in a number of ways.
Firstly the engine gets an upgrade from 4.3-litres to 4.7-litre for both Coupe and Roadster. From this the Vantage now produces 313kW and 470Nm of torque, which should also increase its real-life road performance as well. A 0 – 100km/h time of 4.8 seconds is attainable, leading to a stop speed of 288km/h. Fitted to the Vantage is a standard manual gearbox, and the optional Sportshift.
A Comfort mode can be engaged, which softens the suspension, while in Sport mode the car becomes harder and handling improves. The car runs on 19-inch alloy wheels sold in either diamond turned silver or graphite finish. A new dash area appears inside and features that ECU (key) that’s made from glass, polished stainless steel and polycarbonate, which is a kind of plastic. A hard disk drive with satellite navigation is included now, with full iPod/MP3 integration.
How much, you ask? Aston Martin won’t say, but the last Vantage Coupe started at around R1.8 million, while its roadster brother was about R1.9 million fresh. Expect similar prices for these here two.
Jaguar turned its own world upside down when it launched the radical-looking XF to the world in 2007 and to Mzansi in April 2008. The car was lauded for being “un-Jaguar”, while the five people who liked and bought its predecessor the S-Type, hated it for the same reason. Personally I think the car works very well and should feature very high on anyone’s Car of the Year list. Or so you’d think.
Now we get news of an R version, which was always expected but never confirmed. Still hasn’t. R is for Jaguar what RS is for Audi; high-performance in the executive luxury market.
We think it will be using a 5.0-litre engine, but the current 4.2-litre V8 mill is still working and can go for longer if needed. Remember, in these times of budget cuts, you do what you can to save on costs. Power will be over 370kW, in line with the Germans. I hope it’s more, much more, I hope it’s over 400kW.
That’s it. Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT-8, the daddy of all Jeeps. The thing that grabs your attention is that front lip spoiler, the one that almost touches ground as you drive along. It features prominently as an accessory, very butch indeed, and it sets the tone for the rest of this SUV’s styling. Aggressive and punchy as it is, our lip is probably the single main factor that keeps this Jeep on the tar, and not anywhere near off-road tracks.
A jeep that can’t go off-road?
A first as far as I know. Off-road requires a high approach angle, which is attained by a tightly-angled front bumper, for when you approach a sudden steep and need to go up it. Bad approach angle, bad off-road car. Also, those thin wide 20-inch wheels are strictly tarmac-made, although these can be replaced for bundu bashing. Regardless, the SRT-8 still features Jeep’s Quadra-Drive four-wheel-drive system for absolute grip. I must say, it’s not the quickest-reacting 4x4 system out there; plant the accelerator to the floor and for a second get some wheel spin, and then you get going.
That’s because of power though isn’t it?
Yes, partly. The Grand Cherokee SRT-8 holds a 6.1-litre V8 engine of natural aspiration, mated to a 5-speed automatic gearbox. No turbos or superchargers. It produces 313kW, which is slightly more than a 4.0-litre BMW M3 and a 4.2-litre Audi RS4, but this car weighs a few hundred more kilos than these two. To this effect its 0 – 100km/h sprint time is said by Chrysler to be under 5 seconds, but in reality it is not. It is in fact, 6.7 seconds in Gauteng, which is very quick for an SUV, but still doesn’t warrant Jeep’s tagline “fastest SUV”. You don’t tackle the great outdoors with so much power and not expect to cause major environmental damage. Even on the road, that power comes at a price, and that price is 19 litres per 100km in petrol usage, giving just over 400km from one full tank. Thirsty bugger this is.
Thunder! Thor!
Oh yes, that sound. Deep, throaty, burble, thunder on the rocks. No other SUV on Mzansi roads sounds this brilliant; you hear it approaching a few hundred metres away and just smile. I worked at an office park where one of the tenants owned one, and each day he’d rev it hard as he went past security at the gates. You knew he was in then. It’s those two big pipes at the back, shiny steel centerfolds neatly tucked at the bottom half of the rear bumper. Wide side skirts make it look funkier.
And the interior?
Still Jeep plastic. Not exactly high-grade, but I guess it is a Jeep, and so it needs to be hard and functional, durable even, but doesn’t need to look like a softie, like those German SUVs’ interiors. Steering is a little light, thin-rimmed. I really like MyGIG, which is the Chrysler Group’s touch-screen infotainment system with a 20GB hard-drive for storing files like MP3s, pictures and video, all of which can be downloaded into MyGIG via USB memory stick or CD.
What’s the final verdict then?
Possibly the best value-for-money high performance SUV on the market. It may not have the type of power found in a Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG (378kW, R1 012 000) or a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S (368kW, R1 695 000) but at R600 000 it severely undercuts the two Germans by enough to buy more than one other car each.
