VW GOLF 6 NOW IN SA

Volkswagen is banking on the fact that the new Golf VI (6) has recently won the 2009 World Car of the Year Award. The German company hopes the feelings of the international judges will rub off on to the South African public. From the two days I spent piloting the Golf 6 it became clear to me that the Golf, while growing up a little bit, remains a Golf. You can clearly see this from any angle, in fact some people will have trouble differentiating it from the Golf 5 but the differences are clear.

The new front end features VW’s new face with a smaller, thinner grille blades, sharper headlights and a new rear lights cluster.

The moment I got to turn the key and start up the 1.4-litre TSI engine, there was no mistake that I was behind the steering wheel of a Golf. Whether you like the car or not it represents a significant step forward for the Golf brand. The design team set out to create the best Golf ever, and indeed the best car in its class.

Inside, the higher-quality finishings point to a more sophisticated car than its predecessor. The materials used include brushed chrome accents, cloth upholstery (on the lower models) and comfortable leather for the higher versions. Attention has been paid into making the car very quiet and even on rough roads this was obvious. Noise-damping film has been used on the windscreen and the front windows are 10% thicker than the outgoing model. A new sealing solution is utilised for the doors to keep noise at a minimum. Other areas dampened are the front fenders, foot pedal area, engine firewall and the centre tunnel.

I killed about 8 hours in the new Golf and not once did I feel alienated by the cabin. Most of the switches are placed where one would expected them to be. The indicator stalks are on the left as per Euro spec, the headlight switch remains on the right-hand-side of the steering wheel on the dashboard, the side mirror adjustment knob is still where it used to be but is now covered in chrome. So are the electric window buttons. The 3-spoke steering wheel is fun to grab and feels quite sporty. New control switches on the wheel are easier to operate and feel more upmarket.

Stuff they have inside varies depending on which model you are driving. Five trim levels are available, namely the 1.6 Trendline, 1.4 TSI Trendline, 1.4 TSI Comfortline, 1.4 TSI Highline and the 2.0TDI Highline. At the moment they all come with a 6-speed manual gearbox except the 1.6-litre with its 5-speeder.

Standard to all the cars is the McPherson strut up front (very good handling for a front-wheeler – hopefully to be amplified in the GTI), a multi-link rear suspension, ABS brakes and ESP (an exclusive for the segment). Both Trendline models come fitted with 15-inch alloy wheels as standard while the Comfortline car has 16-inchers and the Highline models have 17-inch alloys.

The engine menu looks as follows. At the bottom of the heap is a 1.6-litre naturally aspirated motor making 75kW at 5600rpm and torque of 148Nm at 3800rpm. The 0 – 100km/h time is said to be 11.3 seconds with a top speed of 188km/h. It has C02 emissions of 166g/km which are only Euro2 compliant.

Next up is the 1.4TSI with only a turbocharger. That one produces 90kW at 5000rpm and 200Nm at 1500rpm. The engine will allow the car to do 0 - 100km/h in a claimed 9.5 seconds and top off at 200km/h. It’s average emissions are 144g/km and are the EU5 compliant.

Top of the petrol range is the 1.4TSI with a red SI. This powerplant is both turbo and supercharged thus giving it low-end grunt where it’s needed for takeoff. Once the car gets going the turbo takes over from the supercharger which then gives it higher speeds. It makes 118kW at 5800rpm and 240Nm at 1500rpm. Notably it will make 200Nm at about 1100rpm, which is virtually an idle speed. Sprint times are 8 seconds for the 0 – 100km/h dash and 220km/h for the top whack. C02 emissions are just 145g/km despite more power and torque compared with the turbo unit.

On the diesel side the 2.0-litre TDI makes a return. That’s the same engine with 103kW at 4200rpm and maximum pulling force of 320Nm from 1750rpm.

Optionally things like satellite navigation (R28 290), front and rear park distance control (R4 520), xenon headlights (R9 080), electric sunroof (R6 630) and the RCD-510 MP3 6 CD changer (R3 620) are available.

The new Golf VI is available for sale at your nearest Volkswagen dealership.

Golf VI pricing

1.6 Trendline

R214 400

1.4 TSI Trendline

R227 900

1.4 TSI Comfortline

R238 400

1.4 TSI Highline

R272 900

2.0TDI Highline

R298 900

SPORTECH OFFERS LORINSER KIT TO MZANSI FANS

For many, the Mercedes-Benz SL remains the archetypal 2+2 Grand Tourer, combining the character of a sports car with the comfort of a GT...all underpinned by the reputation for innovation and quality of one of the planet’s foremost premium brands.

Trouble is, that popularity often results in a loss of exclusivity but fortunately it’s a problem which Sportech can help owners solve – not single-handedly, but with the help of acclaimed bodywork specialist Lorinser.

"Lorinser has been around since before the Second World War and has made tuning products for the Mercedes-Benz SL since the first generation was introduced in 1954,” explains Sportech boss Chad Wentzel. “The car currently on sale is the facelift of the fifth generation and like its predecessors is proving to be very popular. As a result, many buyers love to personalise their cars and there are literally dozens of possibilities in the bodykit department.”

Because of its reputation for build precision coupled to a tasteful yet still daring interpretation of how a customised SL should look, Sportech has opted for Lorinser and can offer the kit as seen here for R250 000 including painting and fitting in the company’s modern Johannesburg facility.

The front of the standard SL is quite conservative and the there was plenty of room for improvement. The new spoiler/bumper assembly is characterised by three enlarged openings, with mesh grille inserts. The spoiler ‘sword’ (the indented section directly below the nose of the car) adding a menacing element. The spoiler flows seamlessly into the widely-flared Lorinser fenders, which add some 50 mm to the total width of the car. The three-pointed star in the centre of the single –bar grille has been replaced by the ‘Lorinser’ script while the backdrop is an open mesh pattern.

“I particularly like what Lorinser has done with the sides of the car,” says Wentzel, “and the treatment of the air vents behind the front wheelarches and the cooling ducts ahead of the rear wheels is very classy. The car has a lovely ground-hugging stance which transforms the SL’s composed look into something much more aggressive – especially when the car has its roof closed!”

It all culminates in a rear end which is full of energy and the new rear bumper draws its inspiration from the nose and flanks. The bottom section features a pronounced diffuser, flanked by a pair of exhaust outlets either side. The finishing touch comes in the form of a subtle winglet on the trailing edge of the boot lid, which follows the curve of the sheetmetal down to the outer edges of the lid.

Needless to say, fitting such an extraordinary bodykit and leaving the wheels and tyres unchanged would be a bit like going to a black tie dinner with velskoen on your feet and Sportech is able to supply a range of 19 and 20 inch mags – with premium tyre brands to suit – from the world’s finest makers of light alloy wheels.

MZANSI BOY GAVIN CRONJE WINS IN SPA

MOTORPICS SAYS: In the two races of the Formula Le Mans Championship at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, South African driver Gavin Cronje quickly established himself as a top competitor in European Sportscar racing amongst the international endurance racing fraternity.

The Formula Le Mans Championship is a feeder series to the Le Mans Series, the official five round European Endurance series, which includes the ‘most famous race in the world’, the Le Mans 24 Hour.

Formula Le Mans culminates in two one-hour heats over the race weekend, one on Saturday and one Sunday, contested by open ‘Le Mans Prototype’ cars, built to LMP3 specification.

Cronje, who has in the past represented SA as the Rookie driver in A1GP Team SA and is the 2008 championship winner of the Formula Volkswagen Series, gave notice of his pace at the first official test for the Series, at the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans on the 30th April. Piloting an Oreca LMP3 car, prepared by the highly respected Team Dams, Cronje topped the time sheets in both the wet and dry sessions.

It was based on this performance that together with his teammate Nicolas Verdonck, Cronje was selected to drive at this weekends Belgium round, and put himself squarely on the map as a more than capable endurance driver.

Gavin would have to start this past weekends race after doing only two flying laps of the difficult and notorious Spa circuit on Friday before the session was red flagged, coupled with Nicolas damaging the car on the out lap of qualifying. This meant that the pair had to start from the back of the grid in both Saturday and Sunday’s one-hour races as they had not been able to post a qualifying time.

Nicolas started race one and made short work of getting through the field to hand the car over to Gavin in 4th place at the pit stop. Gavin then went out and continued the good work by taking the car into the lead with just two laps to go, setting the fourth fastest race lap in the process. The Dams team was highly impressed with Gavin, not least for taking the car through the world famous Eau Rouge corner without lifting off the accelerator, on his first lap after he took over the controls, this being only his third flying lap of the circuit in this type of racing car!

In race two Gavin impressed again by carving his way through the field to hand the car over to Nicolas, again in 4th position, while setting the second fastest lap in the process. It was Nico’s job this time to take the car to the front which he did, and not a moment too soon, as the race was red flagged due to a racing incident two laps from the end, the same lap Nicolas claimed the lead!

With the pair now leading the championship they will go Le Mans in June as one of the official support races to the Le Mans 24 Hour, as firm favourites.

LEEROY POULTER: KING OF KILLARNEY

For the second race meeting in a row former national production car champion Leeroy Poulter (Nissan Dealer Team GP Windscreens Nissan 350Z) showed his class to the rest of the field in round three of the Bridgestone SA Production Car Championship at Killarney in Cape Town on Saturday.

After setting the early pace in practice at the picturesque Western Cape circuit on Friday, Poulter qualified the SAM Racing Nissan on pole for race one ahead of former champion Anthony Taylor (BMW 330i) and Michael Stephen (Audi A4 quattro). He led the 8-lap sprint from green lights to chequered flag, finishing 0.87s ahead of Taylor and 1,75s in front of Stephen.

Nissan Dealer Team-mate Marco da Cunha, after qualifying just three tenths of a second slower than Poulter in fourth place on the grid, brought the Tubular Nissan 350Z home in fourth place ahead of a fast charging Melvill Priest (Audi). The former Formula GTi and SA drivers’ champion did well to hold off the challenge of reigning class A champion Johan Fourie (Audi) for much of the race, until Fourie dropped out on lap six with a damaged engine.

For the first time the entire class A field was reversed on the grid for race two, resulting in Poulter starting from the back of the field and Da Cunha from sixth place. Poulter and Taylor banged wheels in the opening lap, affecting the balance of the Nissan’s wheels and the car’s handling. Despite this, Poulter was able to stay with a midfield battle for fourth place behind the slower Subaru of Dawie Olivier and finished seventh behind team-mate Da Cunha at the end of the 10 laps.

Poulter finished second overall for the day in the two closely-contested races behind championship leader Taylor and ahead of Nissan Dealer team-mate Da Cunha. Top points scorer for the day, Poulter improved his championship position from fifth to third and is now seven points behind Fourie and 20 behind Taylor.

Poulter: “We had good pace all weekend and no problem winning race one from pole position. The reverse grid sort of settles the race two result right from the start, so for me there wasn’t much opportunity other than to hang in there and pick up places where I could.”

Da Cunha: “I enjoyed the battle with Johan in race one and was pleased to keep him behind me. Third overall for the day was a good result for us.”

Lee Philips, SAM Racing and Nissan Dealer Team principal: “Both drivers did the team proud today. Pole position, a win and second and third overall for the day is a great reward for the whole team’s hard work.”