Automotive Lighting

ISSUE 59 . MARCH 2014

Boxster boostPorsche powers up its Boxster and Cayman twins

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EditorialGoAuto NewsroomPO Box 18Sandringham VIC 3191(03) 9598 6477 goautomag@goautomedia.net

ProductionLuc Britten

ContributorsMike CostelloBarry ParkByron MathioudakisTerry MartinTim NicholsonDaniel Gardner

Advertising enquiriesSally Mellor(03) 9598 6477 0425 700 904sally@goautomedia.net

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Burn the haus downPorsche introduces its meanest Cayman and Boxster variant

103 Spider biteSexy Italian coupe goes topless as Alfa looks to world domination

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WINNERS ANNOUNCED! Page 11

13 Huracan forceLamborghini Gallardo replacement emerges in Geneva

Maser attackSexy Alfieri concept previews future 2+2 sports coupe

By TERRY MARTIN and RON HAMMERTON

THE automotive world stopped to take a long, admiring glance at Alfa Romeo’s game-changing mid-engined 4C coupe

when it was unveiled at the Geneva motor

show three years ago, and history repeated earlier this month with the presentation of the equally breathtaking 4C Spider.

The stunning near-production concept car is confirmed for production in early 2015, however an Australian schedule is yet to be

locked in – we are, after all, still waiting for the 4C coupe, which is due mid-year.

As we’ve reported, more than a third of those cars are already spoken for, with 120 orders placed by customers before one of its expected shipment of about 300 4Cs has

landed in Australian showrooms. Alfa promises that the 4C soft-top remains

true to the philosophy of the tin-lidded version and its status as an “ultra-lightweight, high-performance driving machine”.

It has inevitably packed on extra weight

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ALFA ROMEO 4C SPIDER

Sexy Italian coupe goes topless as Alfa looks to world domination

Spider bite

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– approximately 60kg – with the structural reinforcements required by safety regulations for open-top vehicles, as well as the high expectations of engineers and ‘Alfisti’ alike in terms of its dynamic performance.

But like the coupe, the roadster is said to have retained the “4C focus and purity” with its lightweight fabric hood and extensive use of carbon-fibre and other weight-saving materials such as low-density SMC (sheet moulding compound) that is claimed to be significantly lighter than steel and aluminium.

Carbon-fibre is used for the rollover bars, spoilers and windscreen frame. Indeed, the monocoque chassis of the 4C Spider is constructed entirely of the material, with the designers ramming home the point by making it clearly visible across the cabin, from the centre console to the door sills and the rear bulkhead, for example.

Far from being a “decorative afterthought”, the Spider’s construction is enough, Alfa says, for the “structural rigidity, mechanical purity and low weight philosophy” of the 4C not to be compromised.

Alfa head exterior designer and chief designer for the 4C, Alessandro Maccolini, said the targa-style fabric roof on the production car would have solid rails on each side, above the

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doors, that clipped to the car’s carbon-fibre windscreen frame and roll bar.

These could be unclipped and the roof rolled up and stored in a special protective holder in the small (110 litre) boot behind the mid-mounted engine.

Mr Maccolini said the solution was similar to that of the Lotus Elise, and meant that the driver could take the roof along in the car in case the weather turned bad or they wanted to leave the car unattended in the street.

We understand that the final design of the roof and the engineering solutions to seal it from the weather are still under development.

The Spider’s design also brings new carbon-fibre clamshell headlights, new alloy wheels milled from solid aluminium blocks, and what is billed as an advanced new Akrapovic-sourced dual-stage central exhaust system with titanium and carbon tailpipes.

Alfa says a key feature of the new exhaust is an electrically operated valve system which can improve performance and enhance the exhaust note at the push of a wirelessly linked button.

The Spider’s overall weight is still to be specified, but dry weight remains less than 1000kg.

The suspension settings have changed compared to the coupe, although Alfa adds that the “outstanding deceleration and lateral acceleration performance, and the balanced 40:60 front-to-rear weight distribution, remain unaffected by the evolution from coupe to Spider”.

Performance-wise, the 4C rag-top mirrors that of the coupe, with its 179kW 1.75-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine – which drives the rear wheels via a six-speed dual dry-clutch TCT transmission – requiring only 4.5 seconds to reach 100km/h from standstill.

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MASERATI ALFIERI

By RON HAMMERTON in GENEVA and BARRY PARK

MASERATI’S Geneva show-stopper, the Alfieri, might be described as a concept, but the man

responsible for the high-end Italian brand in Australia and New Zealand, Neville Crichton,

is convinced the 2+2 sports coupe will go into production about 2016.

Mr Crichton, chairman of Ateco which owns Maserati Australia and New Zealand, said “you can bet your boots” the Alfieri concept would be the precursor for the new mid-sized Maserati coupe.

“This brand is just on fire,” he told GoAuto after seeing the new model for the first time in the flesh on the Maserati stand.

Many pundits at the show concurred, with the slinky Alfieri widely regarded as the show highlight. The design is well on the way to being production ready, although some

fanciful touches on the show car might not make the final cut.

The Alfieri is expected to slot into the Maserati range below the GranTurismo, going into battle against the Porsche 911 and Jaguar F-Type.

The car is named after one of the Maserati

Maser attackSexy Alfieri concept previews

future 2+2 sports coupe

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brothers who founded the company in Modena, Italy, 100 years ago, in 1914, when they built a race car for the Targa Florio road race and promptly won it on their first outing.

Along with the upcoming Maserati Levante SUV – named after the street where Alfieri and one of his seven brothers built their first cars – the Alfieri will give Maserati mass firepower in the global market place.

Unveiling the Alfieri in Geneva, Maserati CEO Harold Wester promised “a neck-snapping motor” and “a foot pedal that is hungry to be floored” in the new car.

He described the Alfieri as the perfect size for a 2+2 sports coupe “that could complete the Maserati line-up”.

“We are wondering if we can put this car into production,” he teased.

Mr Crichton, who was in Geneva with Maserati Australia and New Zealand general manager Glen Sealey for a look at the new car, has few doubts, especially after seeing it.

Mr Sealey said the Alfieri would add a new model to the range, and not

replace any existing model.He said the GranTurismo was

a larger four-seat grand tourer, while the smaller Alfieri would be a true 2+2 mid-sized coupe.

The Alfieri, said Mr Sealey, would drive an incremental

volume increase “provided it goes into production”.

Based on the GranTurismo MC Stradale chassis with a 240mm-shorter wheelbase (now at 2700mm), the Alfieri measures 4590mm long, 1930mm wide

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and 1280mm high.The concept features the marque’s

transaxle platform from the two-door GranTurismo while under the bonnet is a 4.7-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine producing 343kW of power at 7000rpm and 520Nm of torque from 4750rpm – and what Maserati says is a “breathtaking sound”.

The transaxle uses a six-speed ‘MC Shift’ robotised manual gearbox fixed directly to the limited-slip differential, helping to provide an almost perfectly balanced weight distribution between the front and rear wheels – with just a slight bias to the rear.

Stopping all that momentum are carbon ceramic disc brakes borrowed from the GranTurismo MC Stradale, with blue Brembo callipers clinging on.

The wheels are each forged from a single block of aluminium, with 20-inch hoops mounted at the front and 21-inch down the rear.

Inside, a ‘suspended’ dashboard using a single LCD screen mimics the

Maserati 5000 GT. Maserati says the instrument panel

has a classic layout of two binnacle dials with two smaller ones in between, with the edge of each embellished with a small ‘Officine Maserati’ label.

The way that the Alfieri displays information to the driver is more like a modern photographic camera menu, the car-maker says.

“Instead of a rotating indicator, the numbers themselves rotate around the clocks. Current speed and RPM are highlighted by a magnifying glass effect,” it says.

The driver and passengers sit on a combination of hand-stitched silk and leather, with the two rear seats folding forwards 90 degrees to open up the small luggage portal that sits behind them.

The floor of the concept is finished in a material that imitates oxidised steel, a material commonly found on racing cars of the 1950s.

“The Alfieri is being unveiled at just the right time to re-establish

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Maserati’ s orientation in terms of design and production,” Maserati said in a statement after the concept car’s reveal.

“If the new Quattroporte and Ghibli gave the impression that Maserati was becoming oriented towards sporty, premium four-door saloons, the Alfieri concept is a reminder that the brand has a remarkable racing heritage and a unique tradition in exotic GT cars.

“There is no doubt that the Alfieri concept represents the true essence of the Maserati brand.”

Maserati says the sportscar’s sleek, Italian style 2+2 is reminiscent of the brand’s 1957 3500 GT, the 1959 5000 GT and the 1969 Indy.

“Sportier in character than the GranTurismo, the Alfieri boasts proportions that might well be archetypal for a future Gran Sport and are certainly a hint at the brand’s stylistic

intentions for the near future,” it says.Maserati says the voluptuous A6 GCS-

53 designed by Pininfarina in 1954, with its slender wings and bonnet, and a cabin pushed almost back to the rear wheels proved a valuable source of inspiration for the designers.

It says that rather than just being a rare racing machine for gentlemen drivers, the A6 GCS-53 was a masterpiece of design.

“It was also the last car that, at that time, the Carrozzeria Pinin Farina designed on a Maserati model before making a comeback in the first decade of the 21st century with the Quattroporte and the GranTurismo.”

Maserati head of global design Lorenzo Ramaciotti said: “We wanted the Alfieri to test future design paths. The car is very aggressive yet subtle in style, forceful but understated.”

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Burn the haus downPORSCHE CAYMAN GTS & BOXSTER GTS

By RON HAMMERTON

PORSCHE Cars Australia has confirmed an August launch date for the new GTS flagship versions of its mid-engined,

two-seat Boxster and Cayman twins that were revealed in Germany overnight.

The Australian branch has also announced pricing for these most powerful Boxster and

Cayman models, with buyers having to lay out an extra $19,500 and $21,500 respectively for the GTS over the current clubhouse leaders, the Boxster S and Cayman S.

This means the Boxster GTS will land at $146,000 in six-speed manual form (plus on-road costs), while the Cayman GTS manual will cost $161,400. The optional seven-speed

dual-clutch PDK automated transmission adds $4990 in both cases.

Both models will use an enhanced version of the normally aspirated 3.4-litre six-cylinder boxer engine employed in the S, with Boxster GTS power elevated 11kW to 243kW, and Cayman GTS grunt going up a similar amount, to 250kW.

Torque also has been increased by 10Nm, to 370Nm in the Boxster and 380Nm in the Cayman.

As well, the GTS gets Porsche’s Sport Chrono high-performance package as standard. On other Boxster and Cayman variants, Sports Chrono is a $3890 option on manual models and $4790 with the PDK, with the latter featuring

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Porsche introduces its meanest Cayman and Boxster variant - the GTS

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elements such as launch control.The extra grunt of the new GTS variants cuts

about a tenth of a second off the 0-100km/h sprint time compared with the S in PDK form, meaning 4.6 seconds for the Cayman GTS and 4.7 seconds for the Boxster GTS.

That is still not as quick as the light-weight, stripped out Cayman R of the previous generation, which could do the sprint in about 4.5 seconds when armed with the PDK box and Sport Chrono package.

However, the new Cayman GTS can claim bragging rights on top speed, hitting 285km/h, just pipping the Cayman R’s 282km/h.

Both GTS variants achieve fuel consumption of 8.2 litres per 100km in PDK

guise and 9.0L/100km in manual form.As well as Sport Chrono, the new GTS

models get active suspension which provides continuous adjustment of the dampers.

Porsche says these systems allow the driver to switch between “progressive sportiness” and long-distance comfort at the press of a button.

Externally, the GTS models are distinguished by unique front and rear body treatment that includes blackened bi-xenon headlights. The Porsche dynamic light system is standard.

Carrera-style 20-inch alloy wheels get 235/35 tyres at the front and 265/35 at the back.

Inside, the sports seats combine leather and alcantara.

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CONGRATULATIONS

to our competition

WINNERSAdrian A, Brunswick, VIC

Bradley T, Auchenflower, QLD

Ross Jorgensen QLD

Scott Duggan, Auckland, NZ

Vlad M, Manly Vale, NSW

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By RON HAMMERTON and BARRY PARK

LAMBORGHINI’S all-new Huracan supercar is a global success even as it starts to roll down the Italian

production line, with more than a year’s worth

of orders already in the can.The Gallardo replacement – launched at the

Geneva motor show earlier this month – has an order bank of more than 1000 cars from would-be owners around the world eager to get into the 325km/h super coupe that is due to

begin deliveries in the northern spring.The new model has an all-new hybrid

carbon-fibre and aluminium body and a fresh V10 engine that is expected to be shared with Audi’s next-generation R8 sports coupe.

In Lamborghini form, the normally aspirated

5.2-litre V10 punches out 448kW of power at 8250rpm (up 43kW) and 560Nm of torque at 6500rpm (up 20Nm), pushing the 1422kg Huracan from zero to 100km/h in 3.2 seconds and on to a top speed of 325km/h.

The Huracan employs a new seven-speed dual-

Huracan forceLamborghini Gallardo replacement

emerges in Geneva

LAMBORGHINI HURACAN

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clutch transmission that the Italian company is claiming as it own, but which in fact has its origins in sister company Audi’s parts bin.

The driver can also select from one of three driving modes ranging from road to racetrack via a steering wheel-mounted “Adaptive Network Intelligent Management” (ANIMA) switch – the acronym being a reference to the Italian word for “soul”.

The newest Lamborghini features fade-free ceramic brakes as standard equipment, while LED-based lights are fitted throughout the vehicle, which is claimed to be a world-first. The headlights, also LED-based, produce a light that is very close to daylight in its intensity.

The Huracan also takes a leaf out of fellow Italian supercar brand Ferrari’s book, with the LP610-4 version of the car incorporating Formula One-style buttons on the flat-bottomed three-spoke steering wheel that are used to manage functions such as the indicators and windshield wipers.

Lamborghini says that is so the driver can keep eyes on the road and hands on the steering wheel at all times.

Lamborghini’s new model is expected to help drive increased sales for the fourth year in succession, building on 2013’s 2121 units which included a record 1001 V12

Aventadors and – up 9.0 per cent on 2012 – and 1161 V10 Gallardos.

The Gallardo tally was slightly down on 2012’s 1161 units, which is not surprising given the pre-launch hooplah of the new Huracan over the past year or so.The Gallardo will be put out to pasture

as the best-selling Lamborghini of all time, notching up more than 14,000 sales over its life-time.

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However, the more powerful, more sophisticated Huracan looks set to give that record a shake, with unprecedented interest from buyers matched with expanded production capacity at Lamborghini’s Sant’Agata plant in Bolognia, Italy.

It might also help drive overall Lamborghini sales back to the pre-GFC record levels of 2007-8, when the company sold 2406 and 2430 vehicles respectively.

Automobili Lamborghini president and CEO Stephan Winkelmann said the company’s 2013 turnover of €508 million marked an 8.0 per cent increase on 2012.

He said that growth was set to continue, with increased turnover and sales volume on the cards for both the short and long term.

Mr Winkelmann said forward orders for the flagship two-and-a-half-year-old Aventador covered the next 12 months of production, in both coupe and roadster forms.

The Huracan – named after a Spanish fighting bull from the 1800s – is shaping up the same way, with Mr Winkemann saying at this month’s Geneva motor show that the company was holding 1000 pre-show orders.

That was expected to increase substantially in the wake of show publicity and massive media coverage.

The all-wheel-drive Huracan will be rolled out this year around the world at special events for prospective customers in 90 cities, including some in Australia, in Lamborghini’s 50th year.