Category: Cars

New Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo aka Off Roader

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date March 11, 2021

Porsche have recently announced the latest addition to the Taycan family, the Cross Turismo. Prior to the Gran Turismo, Porsche did not have an all-roader vehicle like the Audi A6 Allroad, they either created a sports car or an SUV. However, it seems that Porsche were aiming to attempt a new segment with their electric car platform, with the Taycan Cross Turismo being the result of this decision. The Taycan Cross Turismo is based on the classic Taycan but has higher suspension settings. Off-road abilities, under bonnet protection, and a potential off-road setting are implemented to mimic a differential lock effect via torque vectoring systems on each axle. In addition, the calibre of the electric motors creates an off-road environment.

The downside of electric motors in an off-road environment is that they deliver all of their torque instantly. Meaning that if you are on a loose surface and you need as little as possible torque, good luck using the electric motors, you will be digging up the surface. The gravel driving mode in the Cross Turismo enables the vehicle to accelerate smoothly on loose surfaces. Certainly, the Cross Turismo is not an SUV and is not designed to face serious off-road environments. But then which SUV faces a serious off-road environment! It is also nice to have additional ground clearance and an off-road driving mode to use some shortcuts on your path.

Would I buy it? Honestly, yes! I do not like the idea of driving an SUV in the city, they are designed for the off-road environment. Yet, I like the practicality. Especially when the roads get a bit snowy and muddy. The Cross Turismo is a perfect vehicle, that will not compromise the off-roading’s performance driving experience, and will get you around that muddy road.

If I ever buy a Porsche 911, I will get the Cross Turismo.
The performance details are here;
• The Taycan 4 Cross Turismo with 280 kW (380 PS), overboost power for Launch Control 350 kW (476 PS), acceleration 0-62 mph in 5.1 seconds, top speed 137 mph, range (WLTP) 242 – 283 miles.

• The Taycan 4S Cross Turismo with 360 kW (490 PS), overboost power with Launch Control 420 kW (571 PS), acceleration 0-62 mph in 4.1 seconds, top speed 149 mph, range (WLTP) 241 – 281 miles.

• The Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo with 460 kW (625 PS), overboost power with Launch Control 500 kW (680 PS), acceleration 0-62 mph in 3.3 seconds, top speed 155 mph, range (WLTP) 245 – 281 miles.

• The Taycan Turbo S Cross Turismo with 460 kW (625 PS), overboost power with Launch Control 560 kW (761 PS), acceleration 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds, top speed 155 mph, range (WLTP) 241 – 260 miles.

Photos // Porsche

Tags Porsche, Porsche Taycan, Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo

Cars

Porsche Boxster is 25 Years Old

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date January 29, 2021

In 1996, Porsche made a radical decision to introduce Boxster, an affordable two-seater car with a relatively small engine. During this time, bigger was considered better, and no one ever anticipated that the Boxster would become a game-changer. Also, during the same time, Mercedes-Benz introduced the SLK, a hardtop, whereas the Boxster was a soft top.

The compact structure and rear-mid engine placement made the Boxster a proper car for driving enthusiasts. The interior quality was also high for its time. As time went by, Porsche continued to develop the Boxster and added the Cayman to the range. However, Boxster became an iconic car of the 911.

After all these years, and a significant profit generated, Porsche is celebrating the 25th birthday of the Boxster with a special edition. The Boxster 25th Edition is based on a GT4, 4-lt engine (this six-cylinder mid-engine has 400 PS). It has the same colour scheme that Boxster’s concept model had in 1993. It will be (1200 cars only)limited in quantity available and definitely a future classic.

Images // Porsche

Tags Porsche, Porsche 718 Boxster, Porsche Boxster 25 Year Edition

Cars

Bentley Flying Spur vs. Rolls Royce Ghost

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date January 9, 2021

A few weeks ago, Rolls-Royce revealed the second generation Ghost. The original unveiling was expected for February 2020; however, the COVID-19 pandemic meant it was postponed. This new generation Ghost is a state-of-art Rolls-Royce that will be heating up the competition with the latest Bentley Flying Spur.

After Bentley stopped manufacturing the Mulsanne, the Flying Spur became the flagship sedan that was expected to compete with the Rolls-Royce Ghost and the Mercedes-Benz Maybach S-Class. But how does the Flying Spur compare to the Ghost? They both have British DNA and bespoke tailoring inside the cabins, but which comes out on top?

Bentley’s Flying Spur is based on the Porsche Panamera modular platform – it is a reskinned Panamera. That is not particularly negative, because future technologies from Porsche can be implemented rapidly to the Flying Spur; however, it does reduce the exclusivity of the car. Not ideal if you are keen to own something bespoke.

Despite the shared modular platform, the Flying Spur is designed with both comfort and dynamic driving in mind. When you take to the driver’s seat of the Flying Spur, you won’t look odd. The Panamera’s suspension and drive train geometry offer a sportive driving character wrapped in luxury and comfort. It offers two engine options – W12 and V8 – mated with a twin-clutch 8-speed automatic. It is impossible to ignore the rear-biased all-wheel-drive system; Flying Spur is a proper driver’s car. The W12 engine is slowly being phased out, and this feels like the right choice. It was inherited from the VW Phaeton and was probably designed in the late 1990s. The V8 is lighter and more responsive, coming from the Porsche Panamera.

In terms of luxury, Bentley are renowned for offering some of the best interiors and attention to detail! Every part of the interior is a piece of artwork; you will be surrounded by more luxury than you can imagine. Sadly, the driving assistance systems are not as sophisticated as those boasted by the Ghost. I was expecting to see the same level of driving assistances as those in the Audi A8; however, the Flying Spur is a few years behind that. Overall, the Flying Spur is a great luxury sedan, and you will feel the Bentley DNA and experience exquisite luxury.

Moving to the new Ghost, let me start from the bottom end. The modular platform of the Rolls-Royce is unique solely to Rolls-Royce models. Whilst the Ghost does not share a platform with the BMW 7-Series; however, there is still some technology sharing with the BMW Group. With the volume of the Rolls-Royce, they can’t survive without benefitting from BMW’s know-how. Sadly, the Ghost did not receive a brand new engine, which is not too surprising given that it is not easy to redesign a V12, especially when it will be only used by three low-volume Rolls-Royce. The V12 engine is therefore based on the BMW V12.

The good news is that the Ghost is an ultimate luxury car that does not blind. The sound insulation is state-of-art engineering. It was reportedly too good and resulted in passengers experiencing motion sickness. To avoid this, Rolls-Royce has increased the amount of interior sound.

Unlike the Flying Spur, driving the Ghost by yourself still looks a bit awkward; you look like a professional driver in need of a client. In future, a possible Black series could make it more of a driver’s car. The best part of the new Ghost is the driving assistance system. BMW equipped the new Ghost with state-of-art technologies. Now, the Ghost can scan the road surface and adjust its suspension via 48-volt electric actuators, and offers perfectly refined comfort. Long journeys will certainly not be an issue with the new Ghost.

The interior quality is more sophisticated than the previous generation and is on par with the Phantom; however, I still think the Bentley is better by a slight margin (albeit a hard to notice margin!).

Finally, the new Ghost has an all-wheel-drive system adapted from BMW, which is amazing! The BMW xDrive is one of the best all-wheel-drive systems available. Rolls-Royce didn’t stop here and implemented rear-wheel drive steering to improve the driving experience. Overall, the new Ghost is more driver-focused than before, and I am sure it offers a competitive driving experience to Bentley Flying Spur.

The final verdict is yours—the differences between the Bentley and the Rolls-Royce are such a close margin that, ultimately, it comes down to personal taste.

Photo Credit // Rolls Royce & Bentley Motors

Tags Bentley, Flying Spur, Rolls Royce, Rolls Royce Ghost

Cars

11th Year Anniversary

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date December 18, 2020

Today is the 11th birthday of my blog.

I still cannot imagine, it has been 11 years. I still remember the first day, I posted my first article on Blogger.com and now I am here.

Cars

The Pursuit Seat – Rolls-Royce’s Answer to Garden Furniture

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date December 13, 2020

A few days ago, Rolls-Royce unveiled their latest product; a garden seat, valued at £6581. Never expect anything cheap from Rolls-Royce. If you think Apple is too expensive, or Christian Louboutin charges too much for a pair of shoes, you will reconsider your thoughts after seeing the Rolls-Royce price list. Whilst the Rolls-Royce brand is well-known for its skyrocketing prices, for this price, you could easily purchase a second-hand BMW!

Despite its shocking price, the Pursuit Seat is a state of the art chair. It is made from leather, carbon fibre and aluminium (it is probably aluminium alloy). Honestly, it has a minimalist design and is both portable and versatile; you can carry it and use it almost anywhere. The engineering and finishing details that have gone into this chair really are insane; it is, arguably, worth the price tag.

Before I finish, when the Apple Pro Display XDR stand came out, costing £949, people complained; they said it was just a stand. However, it is a state of art stand and offers state of the art comfort. After the launch of the Rolls-Royce garden chair, I think the Pro Stand will no longer be perceived as too expensive!

Photo Credit // Rolls Royce

Tags Rolls Royce

Cars

The Best Bugatti: Bugatti Bolide

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date November 5, 2020

Bugatti Bolide, the best Bugatti ever made?

Bugatti is well known for the 1001 PS Veyron from the early 2000s with its an 8-lt W16 engine. VW Group spent years developing this monster, during which it was a fantastic car. Sadly, many people assumed Bugatti was just a car manufacturer and never fully understood the its heritage.

In following years, we had the limited edition Veyron and SuperSport, among others. With the Super Sport, Bugatti reached up to 1200 PS. Sadly, Veyron was losing money for every car they sold, which is presumably why servicing the Veyron is still too expensive.

After the Veyron, we had the Chiron. By the way, I didn’t have many opportunities to see it. HR Owen Bugatti used to be part of the HR Owen Bentley showroom and after the Chiron, HR Owen Bugatti had its showroom and getting inside it is literally impossible, so I didn’t get many opportunities to see the Chiron. Nevertheless, I wasn’t impressed as much as the Veyron. It was heavier, and the engine and the transmission were from the Veyron. And that’s acceptable, VW Group spent lots of time developing the W16 (there were some rumours that the W16 is two Audi V8 engine glued together) and the transmission. They can’t get rid of them; they had to use them to get more power!

Despite my lack of excitement. I really admired the Chiron, and it was kind of an updated version of the Veyron. It had new materials and more efficient engine but something was still missing. Bugatti used to criticise Bentley for being the fastest truck in Le Mans, and now Chiron was taking that role. After the Chiron, we saw Chiron Sport, Pur Sport, Sport 110 Ans and we had SuperSport 300+. Both of these cars were on the same Chiron platform. They look like heavyweight cars. They didn’t have the lightweight heritage of the Bugatti’s of old.

Until now! Bugatti Bolide made it! Bugatti Head Office removed everything from the Chiron, all the unnecessary parts designed to show off in the streets of London and Monaco. The engine was beefed up to 1850 PS on racing fuel—everything designed for the circuit like the old days. Bugatti wasn’t creating the impression of a truck anymore. I always felt like Veyron and Chiron were the shrunk version of MAN trucks. Bolide is designed purely for Le Mans racing. Every single bit was designed to get the best from the engine and the aerodynamics. They made it!

The Bolide is the best contemporary Bugatti after the Veyron. Veyron introduced the four-digit horsepower league to the automotive industry, and the Bolide was introduced to show how to deliver that power into a racing circuit.

I wonder if the current Bugatti owners will be able to drive this car. As the car is not designed for comfort, driving it will be a challenge. I hope to see more electric-powered Bugattis in future as well.

I assume the Bolide will visit HR Owen Bugatti, and I don’t know if I will be able to see it. As you may notice, I am not an influencer even though I’ve blog about cars for 11 years. If I manage to spot it, I will share the photos.

Interesting facts of Bugatti Bolide:
– 1,850 PS and 1,240 kilograms – weight-to-power ratio of 0.67 kg/PS
– 1,850 PS and 1,850 newton-metres of torque
– With 98 octane fuel at 1,600 PS
– The Bolide takes 3:07.1 minutes to complete a lap of Le Mans and 5:23.1 minutes to get around the Nordschleif
– Top speed is well above 500 km/h

Images // Bugatti

Tags Bugatti, Bugatti Bolide

Cars

Hummer is back! It is the Electric Hummer

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date November 1, 2020

General Motors have recently announced their new Hummer, bringing it back to life after the H3. This time, GM created the Hummer purely electric, and you may presume the driving range would be around 10km, I think everyone has the same concern.

Hummers are notoriously heavy, slow, and unreliable due to their electric power train, with the H1 being the exception. I know I sound slightly negative, but Hummers do not have a good reputation.

According to GM, Hummers are capable of delivering 1000 hp and 15,000 Nm of torque. I think this was a typo! Neither the drivetrain nor the tyres will be able to cope with this amount of torque and stress. The range is approximately 560km but turning on the Hummers front light could reduce the range to 50 km. They appear hilariously energy-consuming for an electric SUV and will feature two or three electric motors with 350 kW charge speed.

In my opinion, it will be fun to see an electric Hummer. Maybe this time GM will produce a Hummer that will not fall apart like the previous ones. We will see!

Images // GM

Tags Electric Hummer, Hummer

Cars

New Rolls Royce Ghost // HR Owen, Mayfair London

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date October 31, 2020

Recently, Rolls-Royce revealed the second generation Ghost. And I had the chance to see it at the HR Owen Mayfair London dealer. The first generation Ghost was unveiled in 2010. It was based on the F01 BMW 7 Series platform and uses a 6.6lt V12 N74 family engine with a ZF 8-speed automatic gearbox. It was a great success for the Rolls-Royce; the Ghost enabled them to reach a new audience and begin to capture Bentley’s market share. Also, a coupé and cabriolet version of the Ghost was revealed, named Dawn and Wraith respectively, both of which were very successful.

A decade has passed since Rolls-Royce first released the Ghost. This time, it is based on the Rolls-Royce’s in-house modular platform shared with the latest Phantom and Cullinan models. Instead of using the BMW 7-Series platform, Rolls-Royce wanted to create their own. However, the new Ghost features a 6.75lt V12 N74 family BMW engine. Sadly, Rolls-Royce does not have an engine factory yet (as far as I am aware).

The new Ghost is an all-wheel-drive based on BMW x-Drive technology (a perfect choice) including all-wheel steering. Now you can have the magic carpet experience driving the new Ghost. The front camera and laser scanner analyses the road surface and adjusts the suspension for added comfort. The Ghost is quieter than before; actually, too quiet, causing passengers to experience motion sickness. Therefore, they had to increase the noise level inside the cabin. Rolls-Royce also developed a new upper wishbone damper unit that has never been seen on any other car’s drivetrain.

BMW have included their latest driving assistance system in the new Ghost. I know Rolls-Royce does not wish to mention any mutual technology with the BMW, but without the BMW’s know-how, the Ghost would simply be an analogue car. To stay current in the luxury car market, you need a big company behind you. Just look at Aston Martin, no one is supporting them, and they struggle to keep up with the competition.

People usually say the features I mention are not particularly luxurious. However, the definition of luxury has changed dramatically. If your car does not have smartphone connectivity, it is obsolete. Overall, new Ghost is an amazing car will definitely regain the market share lost to the Bentley Flying Spur.

Tags Rolls Royce, Rolls Royce Ghost

Cars

A Cool Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon: Project Geländewagen

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date October 4, 2020

Coupe of weeks ago Gordon Wagener, the Chief Design Director of Mercedes-Benz, announced a brand-new G-Wagon. A collaboration with Virgil Abloh (founder of Off-White brand and artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s men wear collection). However, only one has been produced so far, with the project being named Project Gelandewagen. The car is inspired by the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG and looks fantastic.

The reason I am saying that this is a fantastic vehicle is because G63 AMG is undeniably the most pointless SUV. It has massive wheels, its engine is not fit for off-road drives, it makes too much meaningless noise and the exhaust is overexposed. I would even argue that the G63 AMG should have a different, bolder design than the traditional G-Wagon.

The Mercedes-Benz marketing team initially proposed the G-Wagon as a fashion item rather than a functional vehicle. Sure, this helped increase sales figures, but it distanced people like me from the G-Wagon. I think it’s a really good off-road vehicle which doesn’t need to offer an AMG engine. It should be something like a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon – a true off-roader!

Now Mercedes-Benz has the opportunity to offer a proper G63 AMG; it has been designed by Virgil Abloh and Gordon Wagener, LV men’s fashion director and the founder of the Off-White brand. It is only a one-off project, but I think it should be mass produced.

A bit about the vehicle itself: literally everything inside the vehicle is removed. The steering wheel is from the AMG F1, the seats are from the AMG GT, the chunky door handles are done. There’s brand new paint inside and outside. All dials are replaced with the GT racing dials. Their massive slick tyres reduce suspension height and project for the headlamps with duct tape.

This is a proper G63 AMG – I loved it, and I believe this is how it should be offered.

Images // Daimler AG

Tags G-Class, G-Wagon, Gordon Wagener, Mercedes, Virgil Abloh

Cars

Mercedes-Benz CLA vs. A-Class Sedan

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date September 25, 2020

A couple of days ago, I had the opportunity of seeing the Mercedes-Benz A-Class Saloon, in person, on the King’s Road, Chelsea. I thought it was a CLA, and that someone had decided to remove the CL from the vehicle’s badge. Apparently, I was wrong! I should have read the Daimler AG’s press release more carefully, as the A-Class Saloon is an entirely different car than the CLA model.

I personally consider the CLA to be the most obsolete car on this planet, in fact, in our solar system! It looks like someone put the CLS into a dryer which resulted in the obscure looking CLA. The CLA is, however, a cash maker in emerging markets, where the taxation is burdensome on cars. Even taking this into account, it does not justify the awkward aesthetic of the CLA.

I have always considered the CLA to be the ‘Saloon’ version of the A-Class, with a similar frontage, the same interior but with a larger boot. Daimler AG headquarters had a different idea, launching the A-Class Saloon, based on expensive consultants, Excel spreadsheets, and very long reports to justify the advantages and differences over the CLA.

I have been interested in cars since I was a child, and I can even spot the model of a car at night. I could not, however, decipher the difference in design between the CLA and the A-Class Saloon. True, the A-Class Saloon has a higher roofline at the C-column, along with a few other variances, including the suspension which is probably a bit softer in the A-Class Saloon. Yet no glaringly obvious difference would entice someone to choose anything other than the cheapest.

The CLA is positioned as a sportier version, but the differences are so slight I doubt that someone would visit a dealer and measure the rooflines to then decide.

The CLA and A-Class Saloon will inevitably saturate each-others’ market share.

A similar situation occurred with the BMW brand. Take the BMW 3-Series Gran Tour and BMW 4-Series Gran Coupe; they look the same. I raised this issue on my blog and received an abundance of emails in response as so many people were bewildered about the difference or lack of difference between the two models. The only notable criterion was pricing, and this soon wore thin with the consumers, and consequently, the 3-Series Gran Tour was abandoned!

Inevitably this may also be the fate of the A-Class Saloon and the CLA. Someone accidently pitched the idea to Daimler AG, and it went into production.

Tags A-Class, A-Class Sedan, CLA, Mercedes