Magus Cars India

With the price of oil at almost $150 a barrel, have we finally reached a tipping point? It goes without saying that the spiraling cost of crude has led to substantial price increases at pumps across the world. Fortunately, thanks to continued subsidies provided by the Government, consumers in India have been largely unaffected – save for a marginal recent increase.

In the US, the price of petrol has doubled in the past four years. In the UK, the price at the pumps has increased by 40% on average in the past twelve months alone. As a result, people’s lifestyles are finally beginning to show signs of change. At the macro level, city governments are having trouble balancing their budgets and are shrinking the size of their fleets – to the extent of even reducing the patrolling of police. On a micro level, people are working from home if possible. There have even been recent reports of residents in certain US towns bordering Mexico making trips across the border to save up to 30% on a tank of fuel.

As expected, car buying behavior is changing as well. Ford is dropping development on its largest V8 engines, and is instead bringing into its home market as many models as it can from its smaller and more efficient European range. Other automakers are also reevaluating their current lineups to focus on fuel efficiency. The car of choice at the moment is certainly the Toyota Prius, especially in states like California. Whereas people previously bought the car primarily to make an environmental statement, they’re now looking even more closely at just how much they’ll save at the pumps. Certain Toyota dealers have even begun offering plug-in conversion kits to make the cars more efficient. Like Toyota, most automakers are planning a number of new hybrid models for the near future. And thanks to Honda, Indian buyers can also experience this technology courtesy of the new Civic Hybrid (featured in this issue). Now it’s up to our government to reduce duties on cars such as these if they really want to propagate usage.

In addition to developing new hybrids, automakers are scrambling to adopt new technologies in an effort to increase the fuel efficiency of their entire line up of vehicles. Even sports car makers like Porsche are adopting direct injection technology to increase fuel economy and reduce the carbon footprint of their cars (see our News section for details). New emissions regulations proposed by various governments across the world may take a decade to effect the same kind of change that shifting customer behavior is capable of doing in just a fraction of that time.

The car that you see here is a Range Rover Sport, and driving it was a true pleasure. But its thirst for liquefied fossil fuel is capable of burning a hole in even the deepest of pockets. As a result, Land Rover, like several other automakers, is in the process of adopting fuel saving technologies such as start-stop systems on certain models. They’re also on the hunt for engineering talent to develop new and efficient powertrain technologies.

Even if the price of oil does normalize to a certain extent, which is expected towards the end of the year, this has been a real warning for car manufacturers. It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out – suffice to say that no one can afford to turn a blind eye again.

This article was originally published in the October issue of autoXchange (www.autox.in), and the original version can be found at http://www.autox.in/cg-jul08.html

If you saw the last page of our November issue, you’ll have seen images of Porsche’s newest model, the Panamera, testing openly (albeit with slight camouflage) on the streets of San Francisco. The car will only make its debut at the Geneva Motor show in March next year, but Porsche has already released the first official shots of the production ready version.

As you can see from these images, the Panamera has a clear family resemblance to the rest of the Porsche range. The car is instantly recognizable as a Porsche with its large air intakes up front and its sweeping rear roof line. Its hatch, however, does make for some odd proportions. Being a four-seater, it’s big car and will compete with the likes of the Maserati Quattroporte, Mercedes Benz CLS, and upcoming Aston Martin Rapide. Porsche have assured that the driving dynamics of the Panamera will be very much in keeping with their DNA.

Under the front hood, the car will feature both V6 and V8 engines with power ranging from 300-500bhp. While most models will be rear-wheel drive, the top of the line variants will also have four-wheel drive. Like its other rejuvenated siblings, the Panamera will feature direct injection and Porsche’s PDK gearbox. Porsche is also developing a hybrid version of the Panamera.

This is Porsche’s first all-new model since the Cayenne debuted in 2002. Having cost the company in excess of 1 billion Euros in development, Porsche management will be keeping their collective fingers crossed when the Panamera hits showrooms in late summer next year.

Cayenne gets a diesel

The Porsche Cayenne has brought with it a lot of firsts for Porsche. It was the first SUV ever produced by the sports car maker. It now becomes the first Porsche ever to offer a diesel engine. New European regulations that provide tax incentives for diesel vehicles have prompted this move by the company. In a step that’s clearly indicative of why Porsche’s been so keen, over the years, to increase its stake in VW, the company.

will use (VW owned) Audi’s 3.0 liter TDi V6, which will produce 240 horsepower and 405lb/ft of torque. Initially, the diesel Cayenne will only sell in Europe. It’ll certainly have a market ready and waiting in India, however, when it decides to bring the 3.0 liter diesel Cayenne to our shores.

Boxster and Cayman also get the PDK treatment

As Porsche did with the 911 earlier this year, both the Boxster and Cayman range of cars have also been refreshed. Both now have direct injection engines to increase power and reduce fuel economy. They also get Porsche’s new seven-speed dual-clutch transmission (PDK), which provides 60% faster shifts as compared with Porsche’s previous generation Tiptronic. Visual tweaks include the now customary LED lights, while the interiors sport a new Porsche Communications Management system.

The 2.7 liter engine in the Boxster now gets an additional 200cc’s, making it a 2.9 liter flat-six that now develops 255bhp – an increase of 10 horsepower. The 3.4 liter engine in the Boxster S now develops 310bhp – an additional 15 horsepower. Similarly the Cayman now gets a 2.9 liter engine that produces 265bhp, an increase of 20 horsepower, and the 3.4 liter in the Cayman S makes 320bhp, an increase of 25 horsepower.

In an effort to put this additional power to the best possible use, both models now have the option of a limited slip rear differential. The Boxster S with PDK and launch control now accelerates to 100km/h in a very impressive 5 seconds, while the Cayman S in marginally quicker at 4.9 seconds.

This article was originally published in the October issue of autoXchange (www.autox.in), and the original version can be found at http://www.autox.in/news-dec08.html