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Drifting, like Facebook, in eight years has taken the world by storm. This storm is blowing into South Africa very uncharacteristically from the north and east and as posters with pig ears of Ferrari F430s and Bam Magera fall off kids’ walls from the drying prestick, they are being replaced by posters of Vaughn Gittin Jr, Rhys Millen, Ken Block, and extreme sports legends like Travis Pastrana, Brian Deegan and Rob Dyrdek to name only a few.  That is why we’re joined by Jim McFarlane from XS Promotions in Episode 149. XS Promotions has long been in the lead when it has come to extreme sports promotion and event organisation not least of which is the SuperDrift series in South Africa Atomic Junkies shows which wil be taking place in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg this year.

So if you’re keen on the drift scene, want to find out what it involves, what car you should consider if you’re just starting out, or how much money you should put side for tyres, take a listen. Take a listen. Do it now.  John, Trevor and Christo have a great chat with Jim who clearly has a passion for getting your blood racing faster than an Nissan GTR through turn two at Zwartkops Raceway and in our books, that’s brilliant.

In this show we cover some news like the Ferrari Formula One team’s gifts of appreciation, a Fat Pig of a Jeep each - you can read about it by clicking here. No wonder Flippie and Fern are unimpressed.

If pictures could tell a thousand words and you see the disappointment on the Team Scuderia Ferrari’s faces then we wish we had a camera to show you what Christo looks like when he recounts the South African launch of the BMW (F10) M5, we’ve never seen him smile that much.

In other news we talk briefly about the Chevrolet Sonic Diesel — a new entrant in a segment with very few diesel offerings and the Kuga, and no, we’re not talking about older women who are after younger guys, we’re talking about the Ford.

Look we're as muscular (or fat) as our Jeeps

We have yet to test the Chevrolet Sonic but on paper the new 1.3 diesel seems to offer the best small-diesel package. Click on the picture to view the gallery.

This new M5 packs some serious heat; like bazooka to a pistol-fight heat. Click on the image for some more pictures of that car that Christo drive in Port Elizabeth.

The BMW M5 also makes great sounds, sounds that you might want to use as a ring tone, and you can find them right here if you click these slanty words…

This is Mikey from XS Promotions, Jim's business partner. They like to do this...

...forget about ZA Car Show's Sideways Saturdays Mikey and Jim do this for a living and if their passion for the sport while talking with us is anything to go by, then drifting is set to become something great in SA, just like it is around the world. Click on the image to view a XS Promotions' SuperDrift gallery on Flickr.

Doriftuuuu....

Episode 149 download 

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Sometimes working for Ferrari has its perks and sometimes it doesn’t. As one of its Formula One drivers you might expect you get to drive a road going version of the race car, a Ferrari FF, or at least something special like the Abarth 500 Tributo Ferrari 695.  Most time that is the case, but then the drivers sometimes have to pander to FIAT’s other brands, like Jeep…

Alonso: "Hey Filipe, can you see over the steering wheel, how much do you weigh these days, do you think we'll be able to clear the snow in this?"

Scuderia Ferrari Formula One drivers, Filipe Massa and Fernando Alonso are getting used to the ‘posing with a red car in the snow gig.’ Their most recent assignment  involved some really really brash, really American, and ostentatious Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT8s with Rosso Corsa (Ferrari-red to us simpletons) exteriors, red leather interiors, black stripes and black wheels, to give the models some racing-cred (we suspect). Or not.

Look we're as muscular as our Jeeps

These custom Jeeps have been built as a tribute to the Ferrari ambassadors, however if that’s the case the only tribute being paid is for something fat and chunky. Despite this the Grand Cherokee SRT8 has a big heart: a 6.4l HEMI V8 delivering 344kW (468 hp)  and 624 Nm. The SRT8 achieves benchmark performance of 0-100 km/h in 5 seconds and has a top speed of 257 km/h, while massive disc brakes haul it from 100-0 km/h in only 35 m. Jeep also claims this is the best handling model it has ever built – though it’s coming off a pretty low base, if we’re honest.

Despite claiming these vehicles are a tribute to the drivers, they’re really to commemorate the imminent introduction of the SRT8 into Europe, in May this year.

Additional features include:

• Instrument cluster with yellow dials to give the cabin the fake look of the GT cars produced in Maranello
• 7-slot Jeep grill in matte black with red inserts
• Race-inspired, offset black driver’s stripe with a white accent for the  front and rear bumpers, hood, the entire surface of the roof (over those matt black sunroofs, no less) and the rear spoiler.
• Carbon fiber mirror caps
• Gloss black rear light bar with red accents on the Jeep logo
• Italian flag  painted on the underside of the rear spoiler: a tribute to the Ferrari F150º Formula One car
• 20-inch black alloy wheels

Nevertheless, these features sound pretty interesting.

Filipe and Alonso having some real fun in a four-wheel-drive.

It’s good that Jeep is going this far to give its brand some racing heritage and tie into the partnership with the Fiat Group, but we’re rather disappointed with the heads at the Fiat and Ferrari for letting such a thing happen and building some pocket rockets in the past; cars like the Michael Schumacher Fiat Seicento and Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari offered far more petrolhead appeal. They brought handling and fun to the party, and the idea that Ferrari’s F1 team had a hand in developing the cars that were available in (relatively) affordable packages, so what on earth made them think a red SUV sends the same message?

"Look it's red inside, just like Lewis' MP4-12C, what does Seb drive, a Renault?"

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64kbps stream Download audio file (zacs147.mp3)

I googled the number 147 to find out what the number meant in numerology terms. I didn’t understand a thing, but there were two tarot cards one with ‘love’ and the other with ‘devil’ on them. That pretty much sums up the Alfa Romeo 147, then. It also, hopefully, shows how much we love ZA Car Show and with our news and reviews, stop you buying the devils cars regardless of how many times Trevor says buys a SAAB. Whatever the meaning,  listen to the show now, because having told you this, you’re either about to fall in love if you share ZACS with all of your friends or will turn into a devil if you don’t. It’s your choice.

This week with the start of the WRC, Citroen driver, Sebastian Loeb has kicked off the WRC Sebastien Loeb Invitational Season. Will he be as unstoppable as the other Sebastian, Mr Vettel? With the WRC starting we’re glad that the Dakar has ended. Have you considered a Mazda 3? Yeah, we didn’t think so, so you might like the debate that breaks out as Christo tries to tell us about its new update. The Jeep Wrangler has also had an update and it appears to be quite significant while we swoon over the Fiat 500 1.2 Cabrio Audi R8 GT Spyder and Review the MINI One — the one car you should not overlook at if you are already looking at things like the Ford Fiesta, Mazda 2, Volkswagen Polo and Toyota Yaris — we’re willing to bet you’ll be very surprised.

Your hosts this week are Christo van Gemert, Trevor van de Ven, John Beale and Patrick Gearing.

As always, click on the image to view full galleries of the cars featured. You will be directed away from the page, so right click and select “Open Link in New Tab/Window” to avoid this.

MINI Bayswater. Apart from the riduculous colour, these special editions seem to sell out before they're made available. We cant fault MINI on its style. Click on the image to view a full gallery.

Yes it's a Mazda. It has a new engine in the range - 2.5 litres in capacity now and some other tweaks. Click on the image to see a gallery.

Jeep can pull of khaki better than a farmer from Limpopo. Click on the image to see a full gallery (not from the local local launch).

The Fiat 500C 1.2 has become South Africa's cheapest convertible. Oh we do like this little thing.

You can now order one of these in South Africa. You'd better have a fat wallet and not drive past Porsche on your way to Audi.

This is the basic Mini One. It looks pretty much the same as every other MINI, but offers far better value than most competitors. Find out what we think in the show.

Episode 147 hi-fi download (22MB) 

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Alright peeps we’ll kick the week in the teeth with brand new Jeep to make Otto Diesel proud. Stepping out from the crowd is most certainly allowed in the new Peugeot 508 while you’ll not be late in the great Nissan that the GTR badge ate. We round this bad rhyme up with a review of the new BMW (640i) and give a shout out to the dudes at Su-bar-u. Yup it’s true, you might find that the Outback Diesel and Forester Diesel might just be the cars for you.

Bad rhyming aside, we must abide to bring you some great pictures and fun, so go ahead, take a listen to what craziness you might have been missin’

Quite a handsome little tyke

Trevor van de Ven is weak at the knees just looking at this picture. The chances of it being released in South Africa are slim, though, but for a full gallery of the very pretty sedan, click on the image. It will redirect this page to another website, so consider right clicking on the image and selecting 'open in new tab.'

It's not handsome, but it's not exactly pretty either. The 640i has the 3.0 Twinpower Turbo engine too which leaves the team with some mixed opinions. Take a listen to find out why.

Episode 140 hi-fi download (18MB) 
Episode 140 lo-fi download (9MB)

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It’s an eclectic (and electric) mix of cars this week  from BMW’s I to Lexus’new entry-level hybrid, the CT 200h. Christo, Trevor and John Beale discuss these launches while also looking at  the  the Merc C-Class coupe, Jeep Compass and review two hatches all of them had driver, the Opel Astra and Volkswagen Golf R. Who could have thought there could be so many varying opinions?

Menacing and fuel efficiency creds to outdo any current car, this is BMW's i8. Click on the image for a link to a full gallery of the BMW i cars.

The world's first luxury hybrid coupe. Probably its only one too. Very good looking indeed. Click on the image to view a ful gallery of the car at its launch in Cape Town

It looks more like the bigger Cherokee and less like the old Patriot, thankfully. Click on the image to view a full gallery of the new Compass.

Trevor and Christo drove the 1.4 Enjoy+ and John the 1.6 Turbo Sport. Very differing opinions as to which one is the one to get. Click on the image for a gallery on the new Opel Astra.

Episode 128 hi-fi download (13MB) 
Episode 128 lo-fi download (7MB)

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ZACS is joined by a guest from Hyundai this week, Ettienne Du Preez. Having just won the North American Car of The Year with the Sonata, we gain some valuable insight into the company’s local operations and plans for Southern Africa.

In episode 104 we also discuss:

• Mazda’s 900 000th iconic roadster, the Mx5
• The Ferrari and Ford spat over the use of “F150″
• Rolls Royce Spirit of Ecstasy’s Centenary
• Nissan Esflow concept
• Volvo V60
• Jeep’s new Cherokee
• Interview: Hyundai – Ettienne Du Preez

Episode 104 hi-fi download (30MB)
Episode 104 lo-fi download (15MB)

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The team is down to two people this week, with Christo watching some Afrikaans rap star while Tuck works on a race car for the weekend of historics (or is that hysterics?) racing. Patrick Gearing and Trevor van de Ven, man the mics and mixing desk to bring you the one of the leanest ZACS episodes in a long time.

In this episode we talk about the South African launch of the Alfa MiTo MultiAir-engined models as well as the introduction of a new roadster from Nissan, the 370Z. Most notably, however is the review by Trevor on the Hyundai i30, a car which can [and should] change the motoring landscape of South Africa.

Episode 71 hi-fi download (28MB)
Episode 71 lo-fi download (16MB)

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Show notes and links after the jump.

New Jeep Grand Cherokee breaks cover in the US [link to the US microsite]

South Africa sees the introduction of the Nissan 370Z Convertible

Local launch: Alfa Mito Quadrifoglio Verde and Multiair [via: Times Live]

Spot the difference, er yes, the press car didn't have any options so you can't.

Driven: Hyundai i30

Pretty, but a bit bland

The design is distinctly European

So cushy in here, it's like being in bed

Download audio file (zacs49.mp3)

Welcome to the 49th recording of the ZA Car Show. This is a very full week packed with international and, of  course, breaking local news news. We suspect if manufacturers actually launched cars at auto shows instead of  leaking pictures on the ‘net, half of the sparkle will not be lost at the actual events.

Jeep kindly gave ZACS a Jeep J8 for a bit of a comparative test…with a Suzuki Jimny, we’re still trying to work out of we are surprised about the Jimny or the Jeep  both of which equally thrilled when thrown into ridiculous off-road situations.

Jeep J8 and some of its siblings.

For more show notes, pictures of the Suzuki and Jeep excursion and other interesting news  clickerize ‘more’ under this post.

Direct file download (31.6MB)

• Under new VW ownership Porsche plans to kill off non-core models like the Panamera and Cayenne to focus on sports cars [via World Car Fans]
• Porsche then promptly announces the 911 Sport Classic – a model which harks backs to the early 70′s Porsche Carrera RS [via Carscoop]

Arguably better looking than the original

• Fiat Punto Evo: as its name implies it is the next generation Punto with a little more obvious FIAT 500 DNA and FIAT’s Multiair engine [via Eurocarblog]

Still good looking, but many people prefer the original

• Volvo C70 undergoes a bit of a controversial nip and tuck [via Autoblog]

The Volvo corporate styling comes to the C70

• Lexus models also go under the knife and get minor spec changes[via: World Car Fans]
• BMW Vision Concept,  a truly fast hybrid car from BMW with proper hybrid credentials [via: Wired.com]

Remember the orange BMW M1 "Concept"? This bares more than a striking resemblance

• Audi A5 Cabriolet, not yet officially launched in SA, but ZACS breaks the news [Audi A5 Microsite]
• FIAT’s budget saloon car the Linea is officially launched to local press, ZACS drives it

It's good looking, more stylised than the Ford Ikon. Poor choice of engine Christo says though.

• The Nissan Murano’s shows its ugly face in South Africa

Looks like it fell out of a dow and got smacked by the ugly samurai...

The Qashqai DNA runs strong in this one

• Google starts mapping SA, more importantly in Toyota Prius Hybrids

Poles sticking out of Prius roofs became a problem...

• Driven: Suzuki Jimny and non-civilian Jeep J8

Looking a little our of place amongst the Jeeps...

The little Jimny that thought it could...could

Who needs a Jeep for this stuff...

Unless, of course, it's a Jeep J8.

Download audio file (zacs45.mp3)

Seven more episodes to go and the ZA Car Show team will have produced a year’s worth of motoring goodness direct from the shores of South Africa – that place south of Botswana, for Kim Kardashian.

In case you were wondering where the show was last week, we had such a good chat with Des Fenner of General Motors, we decided we could not let you hear it until all the top-secret stuff he mentioned to us has been officially announced. That’s our story anyway. The interview with GM will be broadcast towards the end of August right before it launches the Cruze (oops).

This week our hybrid expert is on leave which saves us from focussing too much on the environment and instead ponder about the stupidness of the evergreen Citi Golf from VW, some green BMWs, a pretty Merc station wagon and some Audi prices. We also go off-roading in a Jeep Wranger Rubicon and Land Rover Defender 110 SVX60.

Direct file download (23.9MB)

For links to news and more show notes click on the little ‘more’ under this sentence.

BMW Vision Concept [via Bimmerpost ]

Sleek profile, looks practical too. BMW marketers go WTF?

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Wagon[via CNet Car Tech]

As far as wagons go, this is very pretty

You could fit a coffin in there without any conversions

Schumacher’s return to racing [Update: he's out again, Tuck sheds a tear]

Nissan GTRs set tyres on SA soil…er tarmac. South Africans only like silver it seems.

Silver's a popular colour; white, not so much.

Driven: Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 3.8

The front view. 4x4 can be fun in one of these.

That's some articualtion and I dont mean the way Christo speaks

Driven: Land Rover Defender SVX 60

Rather than being a war hero, this should be charged with war crimes. It's just too old now.

Download audio file (zacs34.mp3)

If pulling teeth was any fun, we would have done so in this episode of ZACS. Following a quiet week in local and global news, the team of Trevors, Christo and Patrick reflect on the ailing auto industry, which seems as dead as the sales volumes in South Africa. The guys, after some packed shows of late, also [finally] deliver reviews on two dramatically different cars which they had on test: the 2009 Ford Ikon 1.6 Ambiente and 2009 Jeep Cherokee Limited 3.7.

If petrol drinking competitions were being held...

...the Jeep would be right up there. Not much power from this 151kW petrol.

The R8.00 solution to a R1300.00 problem Skyslider sunroof

More show notes after the click

Direct file download (26.4MB)