Tag: SUV

This is What I Think About the New Range Rover Evoque

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date December 29, 2018

The second generation Range Rover Evoque has been unveiled. Whilst the first generation Evoque was a game changer in this segment, also keep in mind the world was a different place back in 2010! The second generation brings less of a revolution. In 2011, people were not expecting too much in terms of technological features from a car and also the Evoque emerged looking like something from out of this world.

However, things have changed a lot during the seven-year time period. We are now an extremely well-connected society; everything we do is through our smart phones. We communicate across all devices and the Apple Watch 4, for example, is more powerful than the iPhone 4 from 2010!

It is therefore unsurprising that the unveiling of the second generation Evoque has not create the same vibe as last time. It is, arguably, just a smaller version of the Range Rover Velar. It does not provide drivers with the highly sophisticated driving assistance systems that can be found in the Mercedes-Benz GLC and the BMW X3. Despite being a new car, the Evoque is still at least five years behind its competitors.

Does it look outstanding? Unfortunately, no. It is just a smaller Velar and this will make people perceive the Evoque as a half-baked Range Rover Velar. The second generation Evoque does not bring any distinctive characteristics compared to the first.

Considering the positives, the engine is improved, as you would expect, and the interior is built better than previously. Is this enough, however, to attract people to purchase the second generation Evoque?

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Photo credit // Land Rover

Tags Evoque, Land Rover, Range Rover Evoque, SUV

Cars

New Photos of Bentley Bentayga at Jack Barclay HR Owen London

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date May 20, 2016

A couple of months ago, I managed to spot Bentley’s first SUV, the Bentayga at the Jack Barclay (HR Owen) Mayfair, London dealer. However, it was the pre-production version with a massive emergency stop button.

Finally, the production version of the Bentayga reached the dealer, and I was there. Literally, there is no difference between the pre-production and production version. The display model also features a roof-top luggage space for people who are planning to travel the whole of Europe with a Bentayga. We all know that will never happen.

Tags Bentley, Bentley Bentayga, HR Owen, Jack Barclay, SUV

Cars

Facts and Photos of Bentley Bentayga SUV

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date September 11, 2015

The Bentley Bentayga is here, facts and photos! We have been waiting for this SUV for ages. Personally, I have been waiting for a Bentley SUV for 10 years! The rules of the SUV game are now changed with the Bentley’s attack. The Range Rover used to capture a market share that does not belong to it; however, due to the lack of competitors, consumers did not have any other choices other than the Range Rover.

Now that excess market share will be shifting to the Bentley Bentayga. First, Bentayga is based on the Audi Q7, so don’t surprised by the resemblance of the two SUVs. This resemblance is not only limited to exterior design; it can be found on the driving assistance systems as well. The Q7’s cleaver features are not available on the Bentayga.

So what is new with the Bentayga?

Starting with the headlights, which are all LED, Bentley finally got rid of the xenons. As you expected, Bentayga offers a sculptural exterior design. Regards to offr-road, Bentayga offers eight different driving modes to satisfy the expectations of off-road abilities. According to Bentley, it can go anywhere! However, there are no differential locks and low-range gearbox. I won’t be advising you to push it too hard off-road.

Innovation? The Bentley Dynamic Ride offers a very innovative technology, thanks to the 48V electric system. The active anti-roll bars enable the Bentayga to have the maximum grip on any terrain condition, and this ensures a better ride.

Driving Assistance?

Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go, Predictive ACC, and Traffic Assist enable the Bentayga to offer driving assistance systems similar to the Mercedes S-Class. Similar to BMW and Rolls Royce, Predictive ACC uses GPS and navigation data to predict the corners, border, and changes in speed limits to adjust the speed accordingly. Traffic Sign Recognition is now available as well, and the Rear Crossing Traffic Warning scans the on-coming traffic while reversing from a parking space.

The Bentayga can also park itself like its relatives in VW Group. The Electronic Night Vision uses an infrared camera for night driving, and there is a Heads-Up Display.

Unfortunately, there is an Android tablet at the rear, which is already outdated!

The Engine?

The W12 is designed from scratch. Now, it features direct and indirect combustion for better efficiency; I have no idea why they used a technology like this! The W12 produces 608 HP and 900 Nm of torque, and this is coupled with an 8-speed automatic gearbox. Acceleration to 100 km/h is 4.1 seconds, and the top speed is 301 km/h! In case you want some economy, the new W12 can shut off half of its cylinders and can run on a 6-cylinder configuration. The CO2 emission level is 292 gr/km, and you still need to pay the congestion charge in London. If you can’t afford to run a W12, there will be diesel and plug-in hybrid versions as well.

In the end, the Bentley Bentayga will eat up the market of the Range Rover and will shift the level of technology and luxury to a new level. I am really excited to see this SUV in real life and will upload the photos from London as soon as I spot it at the dealer.

Photo Credits | Bentley

Tags Bentayga, Bentley, Bentley Bentayga, Bentley SUV, SUV

Cars

The New Audi Q7 (Second Generation)

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date March 15, 2015

I’ve finally managed to see the new (Second generation) Audi Q7 in Mayfair, London. Actually, it was the pre-production model and didn’t feature all the new gadgets. Despite being in pre-production, the new second generation looks way way better in real life than the Internet photos. The main reason for this? The press photos from Audi have been taken when the Q7’s air suspension is lowered to the bottom, thus making the Q7 look like a raised estate car. In real life, the Q7 looks like a real SUV.

What’s New!

Interestingly, it is 30mm shorter than the first generation but it does look really long. Despite its size, this model features a class-leading pre-crash and warning system. It is also capable of semi-autonomous driving up to 65 km/h. That’s a great feature, I love it! You don’t need to drive whilst the car is moving. The Q7 also features a night vision assistant. And if that isn’t enough, it can understand whether you’re sticking to your lane or not, blindspots as well!

In terms of gadget features, the second generation model features an NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor and you can even order it with two Android tablets at the rear. However, you do have to deal with the Android updates! Did I mention there is a 1,920-watt Bang Olufsen sounds system? I am not into sound systems.

The coolest features are the all-wheel steering and 1000-rpm driving mode. Rear wheels can steer up to 5-degrees depending on the situation. And the new vaporisation system enables the engine to run as low as 1000-rpm without any vibration. This reduces the fuel consumption.

The interior ergonomics are very good and it was really easy to control Audi’s MMI information system. The massive touch pad makes it so easy to access the menus and set the navigation or the radio.

Despite the unexpected external look of the second generation, the features and the quality of the interior space compensate for that non-charming exterior. For me though, it is more of a massive gadget than an SUV!

Price starts from £50,000. Technical details are;

Audi Q7 3.0 TDI (272 HP) 5-seater:
Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 6.1 – 5.7** (38.6 – 41.3 US mpg);
Combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 159 – 149** (255.9 – 239.8 g/mi)
Audi Q7 3.0 TFSI (333 HP) 5-seater:
Combined fuel consumption in l/100 km: 8.1 – 7.7** (29.0 – 30.5 US mpg);
Combined CO2 emissions in g/km: 189 – 179** (304.2 – 288.1 g/mi)

Camera: Canon 70d with 50mm f 1.8 lens.

Tags Audi, Audi London, Audi Q7, Canon, London, SUV

Cars

Personalised New Range Rover with a Minor Revision

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date May 1, 2013

Personalised new Range Rover. Many people love to personalise or customise their cars, especially the expensive ones like the new Range Rover. So, I decided to join this trend and did a minor revision, which creates a personalised look to Range Rover.

I removed the air vent inspired side vent design items from the front door of the Range Rover and made it flat like the previous model. This small revision creates a unique look and moves the design of the new Range Rover closer to form follows function design philosophy. Also creates a cleaner look in the door sides, from rear-end to front-end.

I am definitely sure this personalisation can be done by any workshop very quickly :)

Pictures’ Copyrights

Land Rover

Tags Design, Land Rover, New Range Rover, Range Rover, SUV

Cars

New Ford Kuga Test Drive

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date April 27, 2013

Ford Kuga test drive. Usually, I don’t take cars for a test drive but I was very curious about the new Ford Kuga. The one I took for a test drive was a Ford Kuga Titanium spec, 1,6-lt four-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine with 180 HP and 240 Nm of torque. Kuga was offered with a double clutch automatic gearbox, Powershift.

Ford Kuga is an all-wheel drive SUV, it is not a hard core off road vehicle but thanks to recent update on their drive train, Kuga is capable coping with some off road experience. Vehicles are like Kuga, small size SUVs are great to cope with adverse weather condition. With winter tyres, you will never ever have a problem with Kuga and you won’t be experiencing the cost of running a huge SUV.

Titanium spec Kuga had the Active Park Assist (Car parks by itself), blind spot warning, lane keeping aid with steering wheel adjustment, auto high beam control, traffic sign recognition, driver impairment monitor (If you sleep, Kuga can detect it). The lane keeping aid with steering wheel adjustment, adjusts the steering wheel when you are heading to the other lane. You can feel the steering wheel moving by itself, but if you take your hands off the steering wheel the systems stops and Kuga starts beeping! Another nice feature was the foot operated boot, when you have the Kuga with keyless access you can open the boot by moving your foot under the boot. Very practical.

The two-zone automatic climate control is a bit weird, you can not have a huge temperature differences on different zones, unlike other brands. I really don’t know why the Ford did not offer a proper independent two-zone climate control.

The interior of Kuga is really ergonomic and production quality fulfils your expectations. Only the navigation screen is quite small for nowadays vehicle. Ford should have offered a bigger size screen, nowadays these technology are really affordable and not that expensive.

The handling of Kuga is excellent. Ford always offered benchmark handling for their vehicles and with Kuga you have the same, also torque vectoring features reduces the under steers and over steers.

Overall, Kuga worth its price but never go for the basic version. Because, you will get a car with no features, it will be so plain. Go for a high spec model! And 1,6-lt petrol engine is way better you expected. And double clutch gearbox works seamlessly but Kuga does not offer paddle shifts on the steering wheel, they are placed on the gear lever, which is a bit weird.

Pictures’ Copyrights

Ford

Tags Ford, Kuga, SUV

Cars

Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen for 2025

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date November 19, 2012

Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen for 2025. G-Wagen is the oldest production vehicle of Mercedes-Benz, which did not change its design philosophy at all. Actually, Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen never changed since it was introduced in 1979.

Despite the over conservative look of Mercedes G-Wagen, I always loved this vehicle but I never considered as a car to buy unless I really need to off road. Because, G-Wagen is very expensive due to its off road ability and manufacturing costs.

Anyway, Mercedes-Benz recently announced a concept vehicle as the future G-Wagen and it is called Ener-G-Force. It does sound like an energy drink :) The Ener-G-Force name comes from the hydro-tech converter. Like in Back to the Future movie, Ener-G-Force will be able to run on different energy resources that will provide 800 km of range. Also Terra-Scan 360-degree topography scanner will be scanning the surroundings and adjusting the suspensions, springs, damping rates and other driving parameters to ensure the optimum traction on different terrain conditions.

Lastly, Ener-G-Force concept is considered as a police or emergency vehicle, you can understand this by the flashing headlights. Also, the small glass area protect the occupants from potential hazards. In my opinion, those small glasses were inspired from the 1940s American Locomotives!

If the Mercedes Ener-G-Force is designed for police and emergency purpose, I can assume that it will be preferred by Dubia and other Emirates states, as the price of Ener-G-Force will be quite expensive for rest of the state’s budget.

Ener-G-Force looks really charming, hope to see this car on production. And please check the police office on sketch design :)

Pictures’ Copyrights

Mercedes

Tags G-Wagon, Mercedes, SUV

Cars

The New Porsche Cayenne Turbo S with 550 Horsepower

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date October 21, 2012

Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, the most powerful Cayenne ever. For many people Cayenne Turbo is more than enough but for some people just Turbo is not enough. And for Porsche just Turbo is not enough either. They need to sale more cars, as the Cayenne is getting closer a facelift.

When a Porsche vehicle is in the middle of their product lifecycle, Porsche always introduces the Turbo S model. You would never ever have chance to buy a Turbo S version of 911, Panamera or Cayenne when they were first revealed.

Anyway, new Cayenne Turbo S offers 50 PS more than the Turbo, 550 PS and 750 Nm of torque (+50 Nm). Increased horse power and torque turn into shorter acceleration times, just 4.5 seconds (-0.2 seconds faster) to reach 100 kph (62 mph) and improved top speed of 283 kph (+5 kph).

Moreover, Cayenne Turbo S offers these features as standard. Air Suspension with PASM Damping Control, Porsche Dynamic Chassis Control (PDCC) reduces body rolls, improves cornering and comfort. Porsche Torque Vectoring Plus (PTV Plus) operates the torque at the rear wheels through electronically controlled locking differential, PTV Plus improves traction especially in slippery surfaces. And Sport Chrono Package is standard with Cayenne Turbo S.

Price starts from €151,000 and available from January, 2013. Turbo and Turbo S does not seem to have a big difference but if you can afford the difference, go for the Turbo S.

Pictures’ Copyrights

Porsche

Tags Cayenne, Cayenne Turbo S, Porsche, SUV

Cars

Lamborghini SUV Urus from Instagram

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date October 19, 2012

Lamborghini’s second attempt to introduce an SUV, Urus. The first one was LM002, it was a great product but wrong timing. This time Lamborghini is going to reveal the Urus on a better timing. And here are some photos of Urus from Instagram.

If you do not wish your photos to appear in this post, please let me know from the Contact menu or from Twitter, I am going to remove them immediately.

All Instagram Photos’ copyrights belong to their users that are written above the each photo.

@juniornxr

@tony9166

@mikeyr9

@moussbot

@goldrushrally

@markachung

@xenia_x5

@yo2_jonathan

@superbossli

@yo2_jonathan

@pandoraluxfilms

Tags Instagram, Lamborghini, SUV, Urus

Cars

New Porsche Cayenne S Diesel with More Power

Post author By Uygar Kilic
Post date September 13, 2012

Porsche Cayenne S Diesel is finally arrived. I was waiting for this diesel engine for very long time. I know this sound a bit funny, a Porsche with diesel engine and I am waiting for that. I know, Porsche Cayenne offers a diesel engine but it is only a single turbo and not that powerful like its competitors. In the world of SUVs, diesel engine is very important and you need to provide a very powerful one to increase your competitive power.

So, Porsche realised this situation and revealed the new 4.2-lt twin-turbo diesel engine. This new diesel engine produces 382 PS of power and 850 Nm of torque. Both power and torque levels are really high and makes Porsche Cayenne one of the most powerful SUV on the market.

Porsche Cayenne S Diesel offers the same features and technology like other models, nothing is different expect the super powerful engine. I hope that, 4.2-lt twin-turbo engine does not manipulate the weight balance of Cayenne and create a tendency to understeer. But this is Porsche, I am sure they have sorted it out!

My advice, try one and then buy one!

Pictures’ Copyrights

Porsche

Tags Cayenne, Diesel, Porsche, S Diesel, SUV