Admit it! You’ve secretly wished to witness the ultimate showdown featuring the low-riding Bugatti Veyron and an unruly, star-reaching speed bump.
So here we have it, thanks to Supercars, Exotics and Imports Hyderabad Facebook page – The Veyon that costs 16 crore rupees a pop may put up with irritants such as poor fuel quality, bumper-to-bumper, clutch-cooking traffic and the curious motorists driving too close for comfort for a money shot, but the Indian speed breaker edges them out to take the crown as its biggest threat – See how the driver has to position the car carefully to negotiate the speed hump!
Fast fact – A set of Veyon tires costs as much as Ford Fiesta Classic!
After revealing Fiat’s inauguration plan for its new cafe outlet, we brought some snaps of the unfinished ‘Fiat Caffe’ in new Delhi. But if you are dying to know what would you find in a Fiat Caffe, we are pleased to let you know that Fiat has launched a website to give you a 360 degree experience of ‘vita italiano’.
Fiat India is struggling to establish a strong fooothold in Indian market. The partnership with Tata did not bring much relief to bleeding sales figures. The company believes that the root cause for the struggle is the lack of awareness of the Fiat Brand.
The Fiat Caffe bridges the gap between Fiat and its prospective customers. It thrives to show India the meaning of Fiat, their USP and technological capabilities.
Two Fiat Caffes at Pune and Delhi will be functional at dawn of 2012. If the concept is successful, Fiat will extend it to other cities. By viewing the website, we could figure out that it’s going to be an awesome chill-out for us petrolheads!
One could have coffee with pals, check out Fiat cars, buy Fiat merchandise and even book their very own Fiat from this café. Fiat plans to have many events and meetups through these cafes in India.
Frankly speaking, it is an INSANE concept which is being tried in India for the first time. We do hope that Fiat is able to carry the concept through and many more cafes sprout across India. After all we are all a bit bored of CCDs, Costas and Baristas, aren’t we?
BTW, sound like a good place to have the next IAB meetup. What say?
Sure we are excited about the Delhi Auto Expo 2012. But soon as that gets over, the 23rd Detroit Motor Show will begin on 10th Jan 2012 which also promises some fireworks.
For a kick off, Mercedes is planning to unveil not one but two hybrids for the E-Class – petrol and diesel, according to AutoCar.co.uk. The two hybrids share the stage with the new generation SL-Class.
The E300 BlueTec Hybrid uses a 2.1-liter, four-cylinder diesel engine with 201 hp and 500 Nm of torque. An electric motor developing 27 hp and 249 Nm of torque joins the diesel mill thus making it a hybrid.
This Diesel-electric combo can jolt the E300 from 0-100 km/h in 7.5 seconds and all the way to a top speed of 241 km/h. Mercedes tanks this E300 with fuel saving technologies including stop-start, brake energy recuperation, sailing mode and low rolling resistance tyres.
Second in line is a US-only E400 Hybrid using a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine mated to the same electric motor used in the E300.
While sedans and hatchbacks dominate the Indian car scene, little attention is paid to the station wagons leave alone sportswagon. A few that were launched in India are Baleno wagon, Palio Adventure, Octavia combi, Indigo Marina. Apart from the Marina, very few of made it to considerable number of Indian homes.
The situation is reverse in western European countries like France and Germany where the ever more practical Wagon is the king. Thanks to its car like handling characteristics, huge boot space and great fuel economy (as compared to SUVs), people like owing a wagon. In fact, they like their wagons to be sporty, they send out a message to the society by driving one.
Noticing the demand, GM has started working on its popular Cruze sedan to convert it into a wagon. LeftLaneNews reports that this Cruze Sportswagon could make its debut as early as Geneva Motor show next year with a 1.6 or 1.8L petrol engine or a 2.0 turbodiesel. GM could release an RS version of this sportswagon just like they did with the Sonic RS.
Skoda India’s first all-by-itself product – the Rapid may have successfully moped up 1,600 orders in its first month of the launch, but little 
did we know Skoda is betting BIG on India. CAR magazine has revealed the future plans of Skoda and oh boy does it have some juicy bits exclusively for India. Here are some pointers of the plans:
- After a failed partnership with Suzuki, Skoda takes charge of VW’s budget car plans worldwide.
- The economic crisis has had a very small impact on Skoda.
- Skoda will set up a new centre in India which will be in charge of future low-cost vehicle architecture and a new low-cost engine.
- Skoda will get very aggressive in Russia, India and China.
click through to read on
Our image specialist Shoeb Kalania tried his hand in reconstructing the missing portion of the EcoSport teaser image’s face and what he ended up with provides a more detailed look of the vehicle’s front end. Many components are still missing and if we get hold of another clipped image of the face’s lower half, we can construct the whole face (Hello Ford India!)
The EcoSport is likely to be shown to the media during the press conference on the 4th of January. From there it is shipped to the Ford stall at the Delhi Auto Expo. Ford should launch the vehicle not later than mid-2012. Can the EcoBoost breathe life into the petrol cars, a breed that is endangered in higher segments?
A 1-liter petrol engine that produces similar outputs of a 1.6-liter engine while returning better gas mileage than a naturally aspirated 1-liter block is a technology that is capable of this miracle. Either that or a tricky government policy can lend a hand to petrol cars!
We’ve been hearing about REVA’s NXR (next generation REVA) in India since the time it premiered at the Frankfurt Motor Show back in late 2009. If you recollect, our Brazilian follower Gustavo Ruffo sent us snaps of the unveiling too. REVA initially hoped to launch the NXR in India last year but after Mahindra acquired control of the company, the launch for some reason has faced delays.
The two-door hatchback features Lithium Ion batteries that enable it to reach a decent top speed of 104kmph and give it an adequate range of 160km on a single charge.
In a press release sent out today, Mahindra stated the NXR will be exhibited alongside an electric Verito at next month’s Delhi Auto Expo. We believed the car in question was the same model showcased in Frankfurt. Turns out Mahindra has pasted its company logo on the NXR’s front grille.
Spied near Bangalore, the REVA NXR sports a fine pearl white color revealing new details. This could be a low-end variant as it lacks fog lamps and body colored wing mirrors. Notice the windshield wiper that is of opposed type and the blackened roof.
This version of the NXR is expected to be on view at the Auto Expo next month. We’re told that Mahindra is charting plans to launch the vehicle next year on the back of rising fuel prices. The REVAi is available through certain Mahindra outlets and the new addition could be retailed alongside the predecessor.
If you were a bit disappointed that Tata Motors has not done much to exteriors and interiors, I am pleased to say that most of the startling changes are to the mechanicals.
So buckle up to find out:
What powers the 2012 Nano?
Tata Motors did not change the capacity of the Nano’s engine. But they have tweaked it to produce a little more power while being kinder to your wallet. The 624 cc, twin cylinder engine now produces 38 PS instead of 35 PS. At the same time, Tata Motors obsession with ‘25kmpl’ has affected the Nano as well. The torque figure has also increased but only by 0.4kgm (4 Nm)
Start the engine and you notice reduced vibrations when the engine is idling. Put it in gear and you notice the clutch is significantly lighter than the older version. Once on the road, you feel that all those changes in the engine are not just marketing material for the brochure.
