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ZA Car Show: Episode 25

Posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 1:04 pm by admin and filed under Podcast Episodes, ZA Car Show.

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To celebrate our 25th episode, we pretend we went to Geneva and report back on the latest models. The economic recession’s full effects are felt as Aston Martin launches its R15-million (one million Euro) supercar, the 1-77. Lamborghini has the Murcielago SV, Rolls Royce a baby Phantom and Spyker a fantastic-looking model called the Aileron. We also lay into SUVs just a little bit more and all get very ‘Excited’ about another VW Citi Golf. Sigh.

Christo gets excited about the new Chevrolet Spark, and the team reviews the Renault Twingo 1.2 Dynamique+

Direct file download (22.2MB)

More news, links and stories after the jump…

South African Launches:

Audi Q5

Audi has launched that it calls “the sportscar of the SUV landscape” in the Q5 (don’t they all call their SUVs that?), the smaller companion to the bigger Audi Q7 which seems to be selling okay in SA. Summary of press release: its another way for Audi to  secure sales in a segment which seems to be growing as consumers downsize without necessarilly downgrading. Our verdict: the Audi Q5 prettier than most big SUVs but also the BMW X3, VW Tiguan and new Nissan Murano. It’s never going to do any serious offroading anyway, so you may as well buy the one that looks the prettiest, no?

Pretty little microsite

Prices:

2.0 TDI – R407 000
2.0 T FSI – R460 500
3.2 FSI – R515 000
3.0 TDI – R533 500

BMW 7-series

One of the world’s oddest cars got more handsome. The predecessor which has been an unprecedented sales success was never one of the good looking kids. The new 7-series from BMW combines a design that’s easier on the eye, which upset the Ophthalmologists out there, but nevertheless will more than likely be able to steal some sales from the typical luxo-barge leaders Mercedes-Benz. 54-Page press releases summary: Despite sales, we are sorry for subjecting you to the last generation BMW 7-series. To say sorry, we have given you one that with just blend in at the golf club and offer nothing remarkable to make it stand out. “At BMW we talk with our engines;”  this is no different with the new 740i, 750i which are not 4.ol and 5.0l as you might expect and 730d.

Another pretty microsite

We also discuss:

• Like that old dog that might just be better off euthanaised but then shows you puppy dog eyes, VW releases yet another version of the VW Citi (Golf 1 circa 1974).
• BMW are pretty poor at keeping secrets – click here to see the X6 M and X5 M – yup, fast SUVs. We don’t know what to say.
• The Geneva Motor Show2009  is in full swing. Click here to see some of the cars we talk about in the show.

Test Driven: Renault Twingo Dynamic+

A pretty little super mini from the Frenchies. Not all of us agree and opnions are very different. We can only agree that it offers better value than the Hyndai i10 1.2 High spec.

Vital Stats

• Engine: 1.2; 4-cyl 16 valve (56kW/107Nm)
• Gearbox: 5-Speed
• 0-100km/h: 12 sec
• Max speed: 170km/h
• Fuel Consumption l/100km (Combined/urban/extra-urban): 5.7/7.5/4.7
• CO2 emissions: 132g/km
• Safety: 4-airbags (driver/passenger/sides), ABS, EBD, EBA, auto-lock doors, ISOFIX child restraints
• Comfort: MP3 cabable single CD player, satellite audio controls on steering column, auto-headlights, auto-wipers
• Price: R133 500

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