Tabla de contenidos para April 2019 en Torque

THE gods in Bavaria have sharpened their knives and bestowed upon us another gift in the form of the M2 Competition. Part of the magic in this baby M car is down to the creamy straight-6 inside the engine bay, now stiffened with a carbon-fibre brace for better handling. BMW has plonked the 3-litre twin-turbo from the M3 and M4 into the M2 Competition, giving it 410hp and 550Nm of torque. That means 40 more horses and 85 more Newton-metres of twist than the old M2. That launches the pocket rocket to 100km/h in 4.2 seconds, one-tenth of a second quicker than the prior model. Pert proportions give the car instant desirability (and also stir up naughty notions as to how you’d treat it later). Downturned front “fangs”, paired with…

A short drive in an all-wheel-driven C4S variant on some narrow, meandering country roads around the launch venue revealed a car with a slightly more grown-up character, with a touch less effervescence than its rear-driven sibling. The helm is slightly lighter, and with virtually unimpeachable traction the chassis is able to handle the unleashing of mid-bend power even earlier than the C2S. It may be 50kg heavier than its rear-driven doppelganger, but the C4S overcomes its weight deficit with monumental off-the-line grip, hitting 100km/h in a near supercar-rivalling 3.4 seconds (0.1 seconds ahead of the C2S). On unpredictable, corkscrewing roads the C4S’ chassis feels even more planted and secure through turns, but at the expense of a small degree of driver interaction. Because the drive being channelled progressively to…

THE S007A is the evolution of Bridgestone’s S001 flagship tyre. Like many of today’s ultra high-performance (UHP) tyres, the S007A has a five-rib, four-channel design. The lateral sipings that help drainage give the S007A a characteristic “Bridgestone look”. More than that, these sipings have been designed with a degree of block interlocking to increase block stability and resistance to feathering, while still maintaining good drainage. In fact, all of the tread edges have a gentle rounding that make the tyre appear worn even when it is new. This is a very important factor for tread block optimising to ensure high levels of grip and durability. The tread belt and sidewalls are very stiff due to the extra Kevlar inserts in its bead seat that extend partway up the sidewall. Dry…

A lot can happen in a year. Scoring that promotion, growing your family, creating new memories – it can all happen in a brief 12 months. And ŠKODA, on its first birthday in Singapore, has every reason to celebrate a year of becoming one of the most successful car brands here. Returning after a four-year absence, ŠKODA has captured the hearts and minds of local consumers looking for cars with value for money, yet retain bold styling and clever functionality. It’s a comeback that hasn’t gone unnoticed: both consumers and the motoring press alike have given kudos to ŠKODA’s offerings for their SMART mix of functionality, style and innovation. In 2018, the phenomenal 7-seater Kodiaq beat a strong field to be crowned Torque’s Best Seven-Seater SUV. The car impressed judges…

LEXUS ES250 2.5 versus BMW 520i LUXURY 2.0 versus MERCEDESBENZ E200 2.0 STEPPING up into the world of corporate middle management means getting a few perks: a customary celebratory dinner, your own office, maybe even your own parking lot. Filling that last one demands a bit of creative thought. Nowadays, even cheaper cars look pretty good compared to, say, a decade ago, but you wouldn’t be caught dead driving anything without a German badge. That’s where the Lexus ES250 comes in. With its newest executive sedan, Lexus’ efforts of fighting the Deutschen incumbents have paid off with the ES250 emerging as the Best Luxury Sedan in our 2018 ST-Torque awards. Can the way of the samurai once again cut through the competition here? Easily its most accomplished 5 Series yet,…

SHORTLY before the international media drive of the new Porsche 911 (992), the German carmaker gave a select group of journalists a detailed rundown of its new features, as well as rides in the 911 Carrera S and 4S to demonstrate the car’s new capabilities at the famous Hockenheimring race circuit. Here are some of the features that grabbed our attention. MORE POWERFUL ENGINES The new turbocharged flat-6 engines are not only compliant with the latest emissions standards, they pack more power and torque, too. The increased outputs are thanks to new, bigger turbochargers with electronically controlled wastegate valves, a redesigned charge air cooling system and piezo injectors, which are used for the first time. The end result is 30PS and 30Nm more than its predecessor. ONE MORE GEAR The…

CHRISTOPHER Wehner hails from Fulda, a small town in central Germany of about 70,000 inhabitants. Founded in 744 AD, the town lies along the Fulda River which cuts through the Rhon and Vogelsberg Mountains. It is little wonder then that the 51-year-old German loves the outdoors, motorcycles and convertibles. The latter two let him soak in the sights and sounds of nature on the go. A graduate in Economics and Business Management from Friedrich-Alexander University in Nuremberg, it was natural for him to end up in BMW after stints in consumer goods marketing and in Audi marketing, a department he helped start in 1996. After five years with Audi in Hamburg, he applied to BMW and was given a position in Land Rover marketing. As soon as he landed the…

WHILE doing some research for a story, I came across an article about female-friendly car features. The list included features such as parking aids, a built-in vacuum cleaner and even a male gaze detector. I am sure some women genuinely do appreciate these features that may help them stay extra safe, keep extra clean and deflect amorous extra attention from the opposite sex. But for me, they came across as somewhat discriminatory, stereotyping women as bad drivers, reminding us that our place lies within the domestic sphere, and sexually objectifying females. However, they did get me thinking about some of the features that I would personally find useful in a car. Most are relevant only to female drivers, but male drivers may find one or two features rather useful too.…

The sleek and sporty Lexus ES250 is straight from a Japanese businessman’s checklist: large C-pillars to shade your face from the hoi polloi, and three-quarter-window shades for enhanced privacy. A vocal engine and tight foot space keep it from rising further, but it remains very much a fully-featured and assertive contender in this group. The ES250 is for someone who loves to be chauffeured and enjoys controlling the in-car technological amenities from their rear-seat perch. It’s a very un-German car, and for the better. The Mercedes-Benz E200 speaks volumes for itself. The baby S-Class, long a favourite of the progeny of towkays, maintains its enduring tradition of offering a blissful ride and on-demand performance, all while being wrapped up in a gorgeous body. This time, Mercedes has truly ticked all…

DESPITE appearances, the car that you see on these pages is indeed the all-new eighth-generation Porsche 911. Successive models of this rear-engined icon have always looked evolutionary rather than revolutionary, but this latest version (internally known as the 992) takes design conservatism to a new level, looking barely distinguishable at first glance from its seventh-generation (991) predecessor. But closer scrutiny reveals quite a few subtle but significant changes. The fenders are more muscular, with the front pair swollen slightly to cover a front track that is 45mm wider than before. And at the back, all models in the range now sport the widebody rear (and wider rear track) which was previously reserved for the all-wheel-drive and GT versions. Wheel sizes are now staggered, with 20-inch rims at the front and…

APPARENTLY, on a good day it takes just 30 minutes to cross both checkpoints when driving from Singapore to Malaysia or vice-versa. Those horror stories of being stuck in traffic for three, four or even five hours are, believe me, very true. During long-weekends, school holidays and particularly year-end festive periods, the volume of traffic increases by an average of 10%. Let us not even try to analyse how a 10% increase translates to a doubling or tripling of transit time. We shall leave that for another forum, and definitely not when you are in the thick of that traffic. Well, on a recent drive up to Kuala Lumpur, my family of six sat in traffic at the Second Link for a little over two hours. For a long weekend,…

TOYOTA CAMRY FROM $145,988 ON THE ROAD Everyone’s favourite bread-and-butter sedan has been given a dramatic, sporting makeover, now built upon the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) shared with the delectable Lexus ES. The base Toyota Camry still has 165hp, but the 2.5-litre version now gets 207hp, a 30hp bump from the old one. Add more spice, stir, keep the price low and you’ve got the recipe for the Toyota Camry. Keep your eyes peeled for our review. ■ RIVAL: MAZDA 6 JEEP WRANGLER SAHARA FROM $233,888 ON THE ROAD Mud and gravel cower in fear when a Jeep Wrangler approaches, as do many drivers on the road. With tough bumpers, knobbly tyres and that seven-slatted grille, it’s hard to mistake a Wrangler for anything else. It’s not all rough-and-tumble…