Snippets:
- It’s happening - turbo charged Suzukis are coming to South Africa
- News we like? The fuel price is set to drop once again. What is this, 1999?
- Toyota wins the Dakar! That’s a South African ‘Hilux’ and team. Well done Nasser Al-Attiyah!
- Ford Rangerok? It’s been confirmed. Ford will build VW's future bakkies. Weird.
- The ultimate Mustang is here – meet the Shelby GT500
Headline story
The new Toyota Supra GR is officially official – set for a Mzansi release before June 2019. And I know, you feel as though you’ve seen it for years. That’s because we’ve been teased for years with concepts, spy shots, renders and more and so there are no surprises left. Except for how much BMW has carried over into the production car including ancillaries, undertray and suspension elements and more.
We’re not going to waste too much time covering the shortfalls as perceived by the Toyota fans, suffice to say that its BMW heart is no slow-poke. Good for 250kW and 495Nm from its blown 3.0 litre it can sprint to 100kph in 4.3 seconds. Cogs are swapped via an 8-speed auto – stick it in auto or shift them yourself via the paddles on the steering column. There’s no manual here – the formula being very much what you’d expect from a performance BMW and that isn’t a bad thing.
Well, depending on who you ask.
The rest
Perhaps the Lexus RC F Track Edition is a better Supra?
Or rather, it is one – again depending on who you ask.
This then is a track-centric iteration of our favourite Lexus – charged with a naturally aspirated 5.0l V8 making 350kW and 454Nm. It’s the complete package, lighter and stiffer than the car it is based on with all the right embellishments for hooning. Koji Sato, Executive Vice President, Lexus International remarked;
"The new RCF and the Track Edition, in particular, benefit from constant development since their original launch. With the latest improvements, these models help further distinguish the F brand by offering fast, durable, highly capable performance cars that rely on a range of technologies to help make their performance accessible to drivers of all skill levels."
There’s a new Porsche 911
The 2020 Carrera S and Carrera 4S is wider, lower and quicker than the car it replaces – both with 331kW from its turbo’d flat-six. The S in particular has just lapped the Nurburgring quicker than its predecessor and is capable of leaping from 0-100kph in just 3.7 seconds while the all-wheel drive car does it in 3.6.
Safety and tech has all been ramped up in the new car, as well as lighting fore and aft. Visually there isn’t much to discern it from the old car other than a light bar across its bum joining the rear clusters. Upfront, pundits will note that the headlamps now no longer intersect with the bumper making for a cleaner aesthetic. If you like that sort of thing.
Personally, I’m still stuck on that 0-100kph in 3.6 seconds – and moistening in anticipation of what the new Turbo, RS3 and RS2 will be capable of.
New BMW 7 Series
The mouthy new 7 Series has a lot of folks struggling to remember why we were so critical of Chirs Bangle all those years ago. That’s a lot of grille, and I’m sure we’ll get used to it – but it would be a sin to not look past it at the highly desirable luxury vehicle beyond it.
The 7 remains the flagship, a massive surface for BMW to show off its stylistic signatures whereas under that acre-long bonnet of the Bavarian marque lives a variety of high-tech petrol, diesel and hybrid engine options. Clamber aboard the luxurious and prepare to be met once again with the absolute leading edge in car-human relations and sophistication.
Also from that vantage, you won’t be able to see that gaping grille.
McLaren 600LT Spider
You know the drill, take recently unveiled super coupe, lop the top off and call it a Spider aka convertible.
Well, fine – the process is a bit more complicated than that and in this case is carried out by some of the cleverest engineers on the planet – but here it is, the 600 Longtail Mac al fresco! Looking resplendent in black and green and equipped with 620Nm of twist and 441kW of grunt.
It will shunt.
What the heck is a Kia Telluride?
If it looks American, that’s because it is. In fact, it’s built there for the people that live there – designed in California and assembled in Georgia. Will we see them in South Africa? It’s doubtful but we live in hope to witness this mighty 3.8 litre V8 powered 7-seater Kia SUV for ourselves.
Detroit concepts
A pair of concepts from Nissan and one from Infiniti. Meet the:
Infiniti QX Inspiration Concept
Nissan IMs Concept
Altima-te AWD Concept
And finally, isn't the Lexus LC Convertible Concept is a beautiful thing?
We loved the LC Coupe, an affordable LFA-alike. And we like this drop-top Lex even more.
