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ZA Car Show: Episode 79

Posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 at 10:59 pm by christo and filed under ZA Car Show.

Our dear Trevor van de Ven, fan of strange cars and unofficial economy run champion, decided not to join the team this week. Instead, he took the early train home, to see if this is the future of commuting in Johannesburg. That left the  remaining three hosts of your favourite motoring podcast to take to the microphones and be concise about the motoring news for the week that was. Except, the waffle on. Like right now.

This past week marked the production of the one millionth BMW X5. It’s been ten years since the first X5 rolled off the production line in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and now number 1 000 000 (a black one xDrive35i, with tan leather) has been delivered to its happy owner in Beijing, China.

The terrible trio also talk about some local arrivals, spying VW’s Amarok, a sporting weekend and review a big, fat diesel monster from Audi.

Episode 79 hi-fi download (28MB)
Episode 79 lo-fi download (16MB)

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Show notes and links after the jump.

Hondas CR-Z hybrid sports coupé will be making it to South African shores later this year. Hopefully this fantastic-looking successor to the CRX will be priced aggressively and sell like hotcakes. Speaking of: no word on pricing… yet.

Mitsubishi’s ageing Pajero (the big one, not the sport) gets a new diesel engine. Power is up from 121kW to 140kW, while torque jumps from 373Nm to 441Nm. Power is now transferred to the wheels via a new 5-speed automatic gearbox, while satnav and Bluetooth become standard features on all models. GLS models feature a premium Rockford Fosgate sound system. Pricing starts at R533 900.

For those who are really keen to get a glimpse of Volkswagen’s Amarok pick-up, it’ll be doing a countrywide sneak-peak tour. Check out the table below for venues where you’ll be able to see it parked in a high traffic area of the mall.

•    10-13 June 2010         Johannesburg, Eastgate Shopping Centre
•    17-20 June 2010         Pretoria, Menlyn Shopping Centre
•    26-27 June 2010         Nelspruit, Ilanga Shopping Centre
•    3-4 July 2010             Polokwane, Savanna Shopping Centre
•    9-11 July 2010         Durban, Pavillion Shopping Centre
•    16-18 July 2010         Bloemfontein, Loch Logan Shopping Centre
•    23-25 July 2010         Port Elizabeth, Walmer Shopping Centre
•    29-01 August 2010         Cape Town, Tygervalley Shopping Centre

While we revealed the pricing info a while ago, Lexus has finally “officially” announced the Lexus LS600hL hybrid limousine. 323 kilowatts in a super-luxury sedan? Yes, please. All of the 12-centimetre longer wheelbase is exclusively for rear passengers, who now get more legroom, Ottoman-designed massage seats, Mark Levinson DVD entertainment and a ton of stuff you don’t even find in First Class on an Airbus. Yours for just under R1.6-million.

Motorsport news

While some men were gathered in a calabash outside Soweto, for some kickball, some men in France were driving around town for a whole day.

Some of those men were driving a new Jaguar car, the first official entrant in a long while, and marking Jaguar’s 75th birthday. Happy birthday old chaps, wot wot.

Then, in French Canada, in a town called Montreal, some other guys were racing go-karts for a few laps. Apparently they’re quite fast.

While they were in Montreal, Ferrari signed up some eleven year old kid called Lance Stroll. He was not quoted as saying, “I’ll be the next Schumacher”, but Ferrari says he shows promise.

Review

Each of the team have driven it, and only one of them really loves it. In fact, he gives it a very big score… The car in question? Audi’s monstrous, 500-horsepower Q7 V12 TDI. Enough torque to help you move house. Literally.

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