smartbuy issue dated october 27, 2010

SmartbuyWednesday, October 27, 2010

G A D G E T S | A U T O | L U X U R Y www.blsmartbuy.com

Business Line

The world’s fastest carDriving the Bugatti VeyronPage 8

Nokia N8 reviewedTruth behind LEDsDiwali gifting ideas+

2 October 27, 2010Smartbuy

WHAT’S HOT this week

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Mahananda [email protected]

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Apple has launched 11 and 13-inch models of its popular MacBook Air, which weigh as little as 2.3 pounds. Thesenotebooks feature solid state drives, up to seven hours of battery life and 30 days of standby time. They are 0.11-inches attheir thinnest and 0.68-inches at their thickest, making them ultra portable. They feature the glass multi-touch trackpadthat’s found on the MacBook Pro, and have built-in Face Time camera for video calls between the iPhone 4 and iPodTouch. These notebooks ship with Intel Core 2 Duo processors and NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics, making themsuitable for most computing needs. 11-inch: Rs 60,900 onwards; 13-inch: Rs 79,900 onwards

Lenovo has launched the Z460 (14-inch) and Z560 (15-inch), which adds to its IdeaPadseries of notebooks. The laptops are powered by Intel Core i5-460 processors and comewith the ergonomic Chiclet keyboard. They include features like OneKey Theatre,which provides an enhanced movie experience, Dolby Advanced Audio for a superioraudio experience, HDMI and eSATA ports. The notebooks, which come with a metallicfinish near the palm-rest, are equipped with safety features like Lenovo Veriface FaceRecognition technology and OneKey Rescue system. Rs 34,000 to Rs 46,000

The latest from the Dior family, Shanghai Blue, like all Dior phones, comes with anAMOLED screen, crystal sound and quad-band connectivity. My Dior is a partner to theDior phone, which connects to the main handset via Bluetooth (within a 15 metre range)and enables you to receive and make calls, store the 10 most recent numbers, displaytime, show the address book as well as serve as a make-up check with its mirroreddisplay screen. The Shanghai Blue edition is made of hand-chiselled pure sapphirecrystal, for a luxe calling experience.Rs 2.7 lakh

Cover photo: S. Muralidhar

Thin is in MacBook Air

‘Z’ooming in Lenovo IdeaPad Z SeriesOriental luxury Dior Shanghai Blue


The latest from the Garmin-Asus collaboration, the A10, isa navigation phone, which isbased on the Android 2.1platform, upgradable toAndroid 2.2. The phonecomes pre-loaded with maps,so you don’t have to dependon third party applications, orbe worried about losingnetwork coverage. ‘WalkingMode’ is for pedestriannavigation and features anelectronic compass. Featuresinclude a 3.2-inch capacitivetouch screen, 5-meg camera,4GB of internal storage,512MB RAM and GoogleMobile services. Rs 18,990

Following the success of theE63 and E71, Nokia haslaunched the C3, a fullQWERTY handset. Thephone has features likeone-click access to SNS,email and chat via Nokiamessaging, a WebKit-basedbrowser and Opera miniclient. It comes with a2-meg camera with 4xdigital zoom, a mediaplayer, FM radio, 3.5mmheadphone jack, built-inhands-free speaker andsupport for up to 8GB ofstorage via microSD card.The C3 will be available inthree shades - Slate Grey,Golden White and HotPink.Rs 7,249

Social stationNokia C3

Philips has introduced 15 new modelsof LED TVs with sizes ranging from24 to 55 inches. These full HD TVswill come with Natural Light 2Engine, which adjusts the brightnessof edge-light, as well as Digital NoiseReduction. The two-speaker audiosystem provides an enhanced audioexperience, and energy efficiencyquotient means you consume 40 percent less energy. For increasedconnectivity, the TVs come withHDMI and USB ports.Rs 26,500 onwards

Guidingthe wayGarmin-Asus

A10

‘LED’er of the packPhilips Series 5000


SMARTPHONE review

Ketaki Bhojnagarwala

In the good old days, there was only one brand thatwas almost synonymous with a branded mobilephone – Nokia. A flood of new brands and newhandsets later, Nokia has been pushed out of the

limelight, especially in the smartphone market. Recently,they launched the Nokia N8, a smartphone with an all-new and improved Symbian̂3 OS. With a high price tagputting it on par with the big boys out there, we wanted tofind out whether the N8 matches up to the smartphonebenchmark.

First glanceAt first glance, the N8 really impresses. It has a sturdybody, encased in an anodised aluminium casing. It feelshefty in your hand, although it is just about short of beingcalled bulky. The 3.5-inch screen is a 16:9 HD AMOLED,which is a decent size for viewing videos and photos. Italso ships with 16GB of internal storage, expandable byanother 32GB through microSD. One of the USPs of thisphone is the inclusion of a whopping 12-meg camera withCarl Zeiss optics and a Xenon flash. The camera protrudesout of the back panel, however this does not interfere withthe overall look of the phone.

The front of the phone is bare except for a single buttonon the bottom left, which brings up the menu screen whenpressed. The right panel has a volume rocker switch aswell as a dedicated camera button. It also features a lockbutton that you slide sideways to lock or unlock the phone.On the left is a slot for a microSD card slot, a SIM card slotand a mini-USB port. The back panel is fixed, so you don’thave to bother taking out the battery to put in your SIM.However, this also means that the battery is difficult toreplace.

The top of the phone has a power button, a 3.5mmheadphone jack and best of all, an HDMI slot. The bottomonly has the standard Nokia thin-pin charging point.

The phone can be charged either through the thin pinslot or via mini-USB.

InterfaceThe new Symbian̂3 interface definitely appears to be animprovement over the last few versions. It includes fea-tures like HD video playback, three customisable homescreens, multi-tasking and one touch switching betweenopen apps.

You can add widgets of your choice to the home screens,by long-pressing the screen until the edit option pops up.Switch home screens either by swiping to the left, orpressing the touch button at the bottom of the screen.Other touch buttons on the screen are Options and a Callbutton.

The touch screen is capacitive, and you canprogram it to vibrate when touched. The screenwas responsive and worked smoothly most ofthe time. The screen supports multi-touch, in-cluding pinch to zoom and swiping.

You get a choice of two keyboards – theQWERTY keyboard in the landscape modeand the alphanumeric one in the portraitmode. We found typing in QWERTY mode tobe slightly difficult, as the virtual keys were abit small.

MediaUnlike in most phone cameras, the 12-meggerin the N8 doesn’t let you down. The closestwe’ve seen to such good image quality is withthe 8-megger on the Sony Ericsson Xperia.The camera comes with a variety of scenemodes, and gives you manual options to ad-just ISO, White Balance, Exposure, Contrastand Sharpness. Images came out with goodcolour reproduction, and the camera func-tioned quite well in low light too.

The camera is also capable of taking goodquality videos in 720p at 25 fps. The onlydownside we observed was the lack of ade-quate zoom – the camera offers only 2x zoomfor stills and 3x zoom for videos. However,considering that this is a phone camera, thoseniggles can be overlooked.

The phone also has a decent photo and videoeditor. The latter lets you add music clips andtext, and we ended up with some really fun productions.

Videos played beautifully on the N8, with crisp qualityand no stagger. We used the provided USB connector tohook the phone up to a flash drive, and were able to browseits contents and play media straight off it. The phone actslike a mini-computer, letting you use external devices as astorage option. Transferring a 700MB movie file took lessthan three minutes, and we were able to navigate throughthe movie without any delays, stagger or pixellation.

The music player displays album art, which is always awelcome addition. The ample storage means you can storeall your media without the need for an additional Mp3player. It also comes with an FM radio.

The Social network manager from Ovi integrates Face-

book and Twitter into one handy application, displayingyour updates on the home screen. What we missed was thelack of contact integration between Facebook and thephone book.

What you can do however, is add someone’s socialnetwork profile to their contact details, so when you selectthat you’re taken to their SNS profile. However, the Sym-bian̂3 interface, unlike the Android, doesn’t allow for auto-matic integration, so you tend to avoid the tedious, manualprocess. Events from your Facebook do get added to yourcalendar, which is a nice feature.

The Browser on the phone hasn’t seen much improve-ment – what is on offer are just basic functions, so you cando a Google search or enter in an URL. We would haveliked to see the addition of multiple tabs on this latestSymbian OS. However, it comes with Flash Lite, whichsupports most Flash Player 10.1 content.

The phone comes with integrated GPS, and Ovi mapsalso worked really well, pinpointing our location in sec-

Love: Improved UI, outstanding cameraHate: High price tag, sluggish sensors

Price: Rs 26,259

Return of theTitan?


onds and giving step by step directions to where we want-ed to go.

Call qualityWe had absolutely no problems with call quality on the N8.We were able to hear people on the other end clearly, andour callers had no complaints about clarity, even when wewere in moving vehicles.

PerformanceThis is one area where we felt that the phone let us down.Although the Symbian̂3 OS has made a huge difference tothe overall experience, we observed niggling issues thatmade us think Android or the iOS 4 trumped Symbian. Thephone comes with a 680MHz ARM11 processor, so itdoesn’t match up to the 1GHz processors we’ve seen insome other smartphones.

The accelerometer wasn’t very accurate, often it wouldcontinue in landscape mode for a couple of seconds evenafter we turned it to face us vertically. We also found thatthe menu and apps took a few seconds longer to loadcompared to some of the other smartphones in the market.

The phone has a built in proximity sensor, but this is onearea where it really failed. Often the sensor didn’t work,and even when it did, it only resulted in the screen timingout, so we ended up putting people on hold or activating

the speaker phone on numerous occasions. Symbian̂3 does support multi-tasking though, so we

were able to have the music player on when doodling withother functions on the phone.

We were also able to use the accelerometer to put thealarm on snooze simply by turning the phone upsidedown.

Battery life is estimated at 720 minutes of talktime and390 hours standby. With the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on, allapplications running in online mode, intermittent use ofthe camera and a few hours of talktime, the phone lastedabout a day, which was pretty good. Putting the widgets inoffline mode and turning off the Bluetooth increased bat-tery life considerably.

Our verdictDespite the improvements made on the new Symbian OS,it doesn’t match up to the Android’s user interface. This isdefinitely one of Nokia’s best attempts at the smartphonesegment, and the N8 trumps the N97 Mini by far. But,Nokia is also pitching the N8 at a hefty price. However, ifNokia does decide to go down the Android road, othercontenders in the market might find themselves in a spotof trouble.

Photos: S.S. Kumar

Form factor: Touch screen monoblock

Protocols: WCDMA 850/900/1700/1900/2100 and GSM/EDGE 850/900/1800/1900

Codecs: AMR, NB AMR, WB AMR, FR, EFR

Display: 3.5-inch AMOLED, capacitivetouch screen, widescreen 16:9 HD with(640x360 pixels) 16M colors, active area43.2 mm x 76.8 mm

Processor speed: 680MHz

Connectors: HDMI, 3.5 mm AV connector,micro USB interface to PC, uSD slot, 2mmDC jack, USB 2.0 High Speed, USB OTG,USB charging

Memory: 256MB RAM, 512 ROM

User Memory: 140 MB internal afterboot-up, 16GB eMMC, Hot swappablemicroSD up to 32GB

Camera: 12-meg AF with Carl Zeiss Tessarf/2.8 28mm wide-angle optics. XenonFlash, focal length 29 mm, 20x digitalzoom camera

Physical keys: application key, power key,camera key, lock key, volume up & down

Input methods: Finger touch support fortext input and UI control: ITU keypad, fullkeyboard. Chinese handwritingrecognition. Possibility to use capacitivestylus

Stereo FM Radio

Hands free speaker: Boosted Class Dmono speaker

Integrated GPS

3D Entry Accelerometer

Proximity sensor

Battery: BL-4D 1200mAh (inbox), up-to7.7/5.4 2G/3G talk time, 719/603hrsstanby, 7.3 hrs H.264 video 720pplayback, 3.2h 720p video recording

Dimensions: 113.5x59x12.9 mm

Volume: 86 cc

Weight: 135 g

Specifications

Send feedback to [email protected]


USER manual

Mahananda Bohidar

With Diwali just around the corner, it’s timeto hit the stores to pick up everything thatyou might have been saving up for.

And if you have been eyeing that bright-ly lit, size zero display at the local electronics store but areconfused by all that advertising blitzkrieg about LED and3D TVs, allow us to enlighten you.

The big-wigs in the display game like Samsung, Sonyand LG have managed to grab your attention with theirlarger-than-life ads for their new ‘LED’ television dis-plays, but here are a couple of things you should knowabout LEDs, before you shell out the big bucks.

Some ‘unlearning’ first! LED TVs, as you might havebeen led to believe, are not truly LED (Light EmittingDiode) displays but are, in reality, LCD ones. The differ-ence between a regular LCD and an LED TV lies in the‘backlighting’. What’s that, you ask? Here’s a low-down.

Remember the digital watch you had as a kid or thescientific calculator that you dad gifted you? The displayon those were LCD displays too! The only differencebeing, that those weren’t backlit, unlike TV sets that adornour living rooms today.

LCD displays are based on liquid crystals, which areparticles that can arrange and re-arrange themselves inresponse to an electric current. Each crystal can act like ashutter either allowing light to pass through or blockingthe incoming light.

One LCD panel constitutes millions of such liquid crys-tals arranged in a grid to let a backlight through and create

images. As a source of backlighting, regular LCD TVs usefluorescent bulbs, technically known as CCFLs (Coldcathode fluorescent lamps). These had succeeded CRTtelevision sets that were bulky and created pictures thatwere far from stunning.

The LED TVs that are being portrayed as larger-than-life displays in ads now, are an improvement on the exist-ing LCD TV technology and are not truly a brand newtechnology altogether. Hence, LED TVs are actually justanother type of LCD displays.

These are called LED TVs because, instead of the CCFLbulbs, a panel of Light Emitting Diodes or LEDs are thesource for the backlight for these LCD TVs.

Why the replacement?CCFLs are significantly more cost-effective for biggerdisplays like a TV set but when it comes to the overallpicture quality, contrast ratio, colour gamut and powerefficiency, LEDs can deliver better. This has prompted allmajor manufacturers to turn to the new lighting kid on theblock.

Types of LEDsThere are two-types of LED TVs based on how theyprovide the backlight for the LCD display.

Backlit / Full array LED – Backlit or full-array LEDTVs are made up of LEDs grouped in ‘blocks’ and placedbehind the LCD panel in the display. These blocks of LEDscan be switched on or off independently of each other.This ability, popularly known as local dimming is exclu-

sive to backlit LEDs and results in a much improvedcontrast ratio than a traditional LCD or even an edge-litone.

Edge-lit LED – Like the name suggests, the LEDs onthese sets are arranged only along the edge of the LCDpanel but a ‘diffusion’ panel allows for the light to bedistributed evenly throughout your TV set.

Owing to the fact that this kind of display requires theLEDs to be placed only at the sides of the unit, it paves theway for manufacturers to build a set so slim that it wouldgive size-zero models an inferiority complex.

Edge-lit LEDs also score when it comes to power effi-ciency. Compared to the conventional LCD TV and even abacklit LED, an edge-lit consumes much lesser power.

Television setupApart from the LCD panel, an LED TV has a couple ofother layers or panels that constitute the display.

One panel consists of ‘diffusers’ that ensure uniformbrightness throughout the screen and ‘polarisers’ thatsandwich the LCD panel to make sure that the picturerelayed is aligned correctly.

Depending on the manufacturer, there might be anotherlayer of anti-glare coating apart from the main display.

You have a light source behind the liquid crystal panelthat shines light through the display.

Even when it comes to LED backlights, there are twocategories of backlighting possible.

White LEDs – These LEDs aren’t actually white but acombination of blue LEDs and yellow phosphor that give

Spotlight on LEDs!

Black LevelA black level for a screen is its ability to reproduce theblack colour. It is crucial for a display to produce theblacks as deeply and clearly as possible, which effectivelyhelps the screen to reproduce the rest of the colour gamutwith optimum vibrancy and clarity.

Advanced TFT (LCD)/ Multi-scene displayThe Advanced TFT (LCD) Multi-Scene Display LCD canbe used both in reflective mode and transmissive modeaccording to the brightness of the surroundings to view ahigh-definition picture.

Contrast/Contrast RatioIn flat panel displays, the ratio between light state anddark state, or the luminance ratio is called the Contrast orContrast Ratio.

CrosstalkCrosstalk is a leak of drive signals on the panel to the areasthat are not driven. This may cause shadowing. (The termoriginally meant interference).

Electro Luminescence (EL)Electro Luminescence (EL) is device (or display) thatutilises a material that generates fluorescence (self lumi-nous) when a voltage is applied. It has features such ashigh-contrast, wide viewing angles, rapid response, lowpower consumption, etc. Those that don’t contain carbonmolecules are called inorganic ED, and those that do arecalled organic EL.

Full HD (1080p)With a resolution of 1920x1080p, Full HD i.e. Full High-definition signal is the highest possible video resolutionavailable for consumer video products till date. 1920 rep-resents the vertical lines in the video signal and the 1080represents the horizontal lines on the screen, while ‘p’stands for progressive which, implies that all these 1080horizontal lines are projected in a progressive scan meth-od. This is considered to be better than 1080i (HD Ready)

LuminanceThe display brightness is called Luminance. Its unit isCandela (cd/cm2), and the greater the luminance, thebrighter the display is.

Plasma Display Panel (PDP)PDP is a flat display that is equipped with two glass boardswith electrodes between which gas is filled and utilisesemission by plasma discharge.

PPI (Pixel Per Inch)PPI is the number of pixels per inch. The larger thenumber, the more enhanced the fineness.

Pixel/DotA pixel is the dot element that, together with the others,constitutes an image on a video screen or in print. A videoscreen contains thousands of pixels, each of which ismade up of one or more dots, or a cluster of dots. Amonochrome screen would contain a single dot for eachpixel which a colour screen will contain three dots (red,green, blue) for each pixel on a screen.

Projection (Display)It is a method to project the display contents on the screensuch as projections. There are two types of LC projections– the front type projection that projects the display lightfrom the front and the rear type projection that projectslight from the back of the screen.

Reflective LCDIt is a type of LCD that uses outside lights as a light sourceinstead of a backlight, and displays the image with itsreflections. As it doesn’t use the backlights, their powerconsumption is on the lower side.

Response TimeIt is the time period between the signal input and the startof operation or output; this means that in LCD panels, thetime elapsed since the ‘on’ or ‘off’ driving signals are inputuntil the transmission rate or reflection rate gets to thespecified value. Often the sum of the response times forthe ‘on’ and ‘off’ signals are used as response time. It is alsoreferred to as response rate.

wherein the horizontal lines are projected in an inter-laced (i) manner.

Gamma CorrectionAs a characteristic of CRTs and LCDs, the luminancedoesn’t increase in direct proportion to increase of theinput voltage. (It rises in a curve). A method to correct thisis called Gamma Correction as CRTs to be compatiblewith them.

Grey ScaleThe Grey Scale indicates the number of halftone levels.The more the levels, the richer will be the expressivenessof the image.

Halftone LevelThe Halftone Level is defined as the luminance levelsbetween the highest and lowest luminance. The numberof levels is called a grey scale.

HDMIHDMI stands for High-Definition Media Interface. It isthe latest digital connection available for consumer prod-ucts. Its biggest advantage is the high bandwidth whichallows it to carry, high resolution audio and video signalstogether at the same time. HDMI 1.4 is the latest versionreleased for a HDMI cable. It also supports the 3D videosignal.

Liquid Crystal (LC)Liquid Crystal is a material in a state between liquid andsolid. In its natural status, molecules are aligned accord-ing to a loose regularity. The molecule formation changeswhen a voltage is applied.

Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)The LCD is a display device that utilises the nature of ‘LC’wherein its molecule formation changes when a voltage isapplied.

Light Emitting Diode (LED)This is a device that is composed of two kinds of semi-conductors joined together. It emits light when a voltageis applied and excels in luminance (brightness). AV MAX


the impression of white light. Most edge-lit LED sets usethis technology with the light diffusing panel behind theLCD panel to redirect and scatter the light in a way toensure an evenly lit image.

RGB LEDs – Owing to the fact that these LEDs workon the basis of all three primary colours, the colour ren-dered on the screen is way superior. The colours aredeeper and more realistic than those produced by whiteLEDs. This makes most television manufacturers to go forRGB LEDs in their high-end LED-backlit television sets.

Why does LED score?Contrast – This parameter is usually denoted by a ratio

of the brightest white to the darkest blacks that can bedisplayed on the screen. When it comes to contrasts, LEDstrump CCFLs because of their ability to ‘dim’ locally thusallowing the screen to show both light and dark details aswell as possible, resulting in an improved on-screen con-trast.

Form factor – While the average thickness of LCDTVs could be anywhere between 6-inches to about 2-inches, LED TVs, especially edge-lit ones are extremelysleek and space-efficient; apart from being easy to movearound and wall-mountable owing to thickness that can beas little as 7-8 millimetres.

Plasmas

Plasma TVs are based on electric current being made topass through neutral gases to produce colour and conse-quently, images. These gases are trapped between twoplates of glass and offer very bright, crisp images, even on alarge screen surface.

However, one factor that Plasma TVs lose out on isburn-ins or dead pixels. Due to the inherent technology

that Plasma TVs work on, the chances of the displaygetting a burn-in are present while no such thing canhappen with an LED TV set as they work on a completelydifferent technology.

Plasma screen, on the other hand, deliver amazing re-production quality for fast-moving videos and are ideal forwatching sports and movies.

Adding to this, Plasma TV sets do not suffer from mo-tion lags or ghosting while displaying fast moving images,a common issue with LCD TVs especially in those withlarger screen size.

Moolah talkWhen it comes to display sizes, LED TVs can range fromanywhere between 22-inches to 55-inches. The price obvi-ously differs depending on the manufacturer, but on anaverage, an LED TV can cost you a minimum of about Rs20,000 and can go up to Rs 2.5 lakh for a 55-incher.

The low-end models would be ideal for a bedroomsetting but might not have the capability to playbackhigh-definition content. On the other hand, if you have aliving room to adorn a mammoth LED TV with or areplanning to set it up in your home theatre, you could gowith a big-screen one that will also provide you with FullHD or even 3D capabilities.

>> Glossary

Regular LED versus 3D LEDYou must have seen the flashy new TVs being ad-vertised as 3D LEDs. These displays are your regularLED TVs that come with inbuilt processing capabil-ities that enable you to watch 3D content on your tellywith the help of accessories like Active Shutter glasses.Some of these televisions also come with 3D processorsand emitters that allow for an auto-conversion tech-nology that convert regular 2D content on variouschannels into 3D in real time. Do keep in mind that aregular LCD or LED will not be able to playback 3Dcontent for you even if you have 3D-enabled players or3D movies on a DVD. You would need a 3D LED TV toindulge in a 3D experience in your living room.


AUTO focus

S. Muralidhar

Few cars can compare to the Bugatti Veyron whenit comes to exclusivity. If you were to own or driveone of them, the only experience that might countas being more exclusive would be rocketing into

space and back!The Veyron was conceived to be an ultra-elite sports-

car, just like the Bugattis of the past. It delivers exclusivityin every parameter conceivable for an automobile – mate-rials used, engineering, performance, bespoke options andproduction numbers.

It is the most powerful and the fastest street-legal carever manufactured. “Give me statistics,” you say? Now digthis – it has a top speed of over 400 kmph and togetherwith the Grand Sport and Super Sport variants, only about500 units of the Veyron will be built. And the total numberof Bugattis that have been built in all of the company’shistory is yet to cross the five-figure mark! No wonder, theVeyron is called the supercar amongst supercars.

DesignThere is something awe-inspiring about the design of theBugatti Veyron. It is like no other and there is this sense oftaut anticipation even when the car is standing still. Walkaround it and there are inevitable comparisons to be madebetween the Veyron and a fighter jet or aircraft. There aremore than a few hints – the extremely low-slung, aero-dynamic profile, the massive twin air intakes on the roofand the trademark Bugatti oval grille at the front – thatmake the Veyron’s design look like a cross between a jetand a super sportscar.

The Veyron is an extreme interpretation of automotiveengineering ability. Every part of it is over-engineered onpurpose to make it capable of intense performance that ison the very edge of what is mechanically possible by a car.The top speed of the Veyron is not limited electronicallydue to legal restrictions, but is limited to about 407 kmphbecause the tyres can’t handle more!

Pure powerTo keep the Veyron’s abilities a rare mixture of power andsportiness Bugatti engineers have endowed it with a mon-strous engine. Two V8 engines were effectively boltedtogether to get a 8-litre W16 configuration engine, whichadditionally gets the help of four turbochargers to spit outa mind-numbing 1001PS of peak power. That is almost

twice the power generated by some of the top supersportscars of today like for example the LamborghiniGallardo. Just for putting the Veyron’s raw power inperspective, consider the Suzuki SX4 for example – theVeyron weighs only one and half times the Maruti sedan,but is nearly ten times as powerful!

To get a taste of the Veyron’s abilities, I travelled toBugatti’s headquarters last month. I get to drive the newerGrand Sport, a roadster version of the Veyron, with theroof capable of only being manually removed, no electricalretraction (because there is no space and will also lead toan increase in weight). Stepping on the throttle of theVeyron Grand Sport, I immediately get the feeling of beingin an aircraft.

The rear-mounted engine hisses and growls at the sametime. The noise of air rushing in is coming from the airintakes on the roof. The Veyron’s intakes sucks in as muchair in one minute as an average human being would in fourdays!

The handcrafted W16 engine itself is built with about3,500 parts, twice as many as that of an average sedan.Many of the parts are made with Titanium, pistons aremachined from solid aluminium, and there are a total of 12radiators around the car to keep the beast from over-heating. The Veyron’s engine also generates crazy loads oftorque – as much as 1,250 Newton meters from as low as2,200 rpm.I just tap the throttle and the Veyron feels like itis taking off. I feel the surge in torque in the pit of mystomach. In seconds, the car has already crossed the 220kmph mark.

Next to me seated in the car is Pierre, Bugatti’s famous

Photos: S. Muralidhar

A lesson in taming ‘The Speed Demon’

test driver, who clocked the top speed of 431 kmph in theVeyron on a test track. Molshiem is a small sleepy townwith a very small population, one McDonalds and onefamous landmark – the Bugatti Atelier. This is not theplace where I could have experienced the full potential ofthe Grand Sport I was driving.

Super-cruisin’But, the ease with which the Veyron was cruising at speedsthat other cars have to work hard to achieve is amazing. Aglance at the horsepower control in the Grand Sport’sdashboard reveals this unique car’s full potential – con-stant 250 kmph speeds require merely 270-280 HPs of theGrand Sport’s output. More than 700 HP are continuously‘on standby’ for quick and fast interludes. In other words:at 1,000 rpm, only slightly above idling, the Veyron has 730Newton meter of torque available!

To handle the extreme amount of power on tap, Bugattiengineers have given the Veyron a seven-speed, dualclutch transmission. We are all aware of dual-clutch trans-missions where one clutch keeps the next gear on standbywhile the previous one is operating. In the Veyron, thegearbox shifts so fast that I don’t even feel the change –forget lurching, not even a faint hesitation is evident. I onlyhear the gear shifts, as the engine revs up, dips and risesagain with every flick of the steering paddles.

It takes only 150 milliseconds for the transmission toshift. That is about the time you would take to blink youreye. And because there is so much power available inreserve, I could not feel the gear change even when Ishifted down to first gear from the seventh when I wascruising at a 170 kmph!

The Veyron engine’s prowess boggles the mind. It cango from standstill to 100 kmph in 2.7 seconds, and 0 to 300

kmph comes up in a mere 16.7 secs – that is on a par withmodern Formula 1 cars. But, to make sure the Veyron issafe as it is capable, this super sportscar actually stopsfaster. Massive carbon-ceramic brakes (similar to the onesyou will find in jumbo jets) and its rear wing or spoilercombine to generate twice the force of gravity in brakingforce to bring the Veyron to a standstill faster than it tookto accelerate.

The rear wing of the Veyron and its fine electroniccontrol is also the reason why the car doesn’t take offliterally; after all it can travel at speeds that are higher thanthe speeds at which jumbo jets take off.

Ah, here is more of the comparisons with an aircraft.The body panels of the Veyron as crafted out of alumini-um, the monocoque forming the passenger cabin is madeout of carbon-fibre, there is titanium all around the car,including each individual bolt, and aircraft-grade stainlesssteel is used for the front and rear frame of the Veyron.

The Veyron’s unique abilities also throw up uniqueproblems. Like the risk of huge damage to the vehiclewhen even a seemingly harmless object like a bird strikesit at high speeds. After an incident where a gull hit thebonnet of a Veyron causing heavy damage, the cars nowget Titanium honeycomb covers for the bonnet and air-dam grilles. Titanium is one of the lightest and yet hardestmetals known to man. We see it occasionally in a luxurywatch strap or an expensive fountain pen. The Veyron hasloads of it all around. And oh, the Bugatti oval bonnet grillelipping is made out of solid sterling silver!

Ka-Ching!The Veyron is not for the weak-hearted or for those withshallow pockets. The Grand Sport is expected to cost overRs 20 crore (no, that is not a typo), when launched in India.A regular service of the Veyron can cost as much as anentry-level luxury sedan. Each titanium bolt that Bugattiengineers use in the Veyron cost about $ 130, and a set offour replacement tyres for the Veyron can set you back byas much as the price of a premium sedan!

But, if you have about Rs 20 crore to spare and arelooking for the exotic amongst exotics, the Veyron GrandSport is it. Period.



HistoryHere is a bit about the Bugatti brand and the compa-

ny’s past. The Bugatti brand and the Manufacturingplant at Molsheim, in the Alsace region of France wasfounded by Etorre Bugatti, an Italian immigrant. Theplant was set up in 1909 and for the next fifty years,Ettore Bugatti, his son Jean and later (after they passedon) other company engineers built some of the fastest,most technologically advanced and luxurious cars oftheir times.

Bugatti cars were some of the most successful cars inthe racing circuit. And Ettore Bugatti and his son’s pas-sion for perfection and exclusivity ensured that the

brand and its cars enjoyed an unparalleled appealamongst discerning buyers and collectors. With the out-break of World War II, Bugatti’s sales petered out andthe car plant stopped production and had to be handedover. Molsheim, originally in Germany became part ofFrance after the war.

Then, for a decade between 1987 and 1997, the Bugattibrand was owned by Italian entrepreneur Romano Artio-li, and registered as the company – Bugatti AutomobiliSpA. The Bugatti EB110 was the most noteworthy carthat was launched during this period. Later, in 1998, theBugatti marque was acquired by the Volkswagen group,and production of its future cars was brought back to theoriginal site in Molsheim, France.

The newly registered company – Bugatti AutomobilesSAS – decided to manufacture the Veyron in the year2000 and the first car rolled out in 2005. Today theVeyron and its variants are manufactured at the compa-ny’s Atelier (a French term for an artist’s studio) inMolsheim. Here a total of just 17 specialist workers puttogether the Veyron by hand after much of its handcrafted parts are flown in from around the world.

Situated right next to the renovated château (see pho-tos), where Ettore originally worked out of, the Atelier,featuring modern minimalist architecture, is a rare com-bination of the old and the modern being the home forwhat is arguably the world’s most advanced and mostunique car.


AUTO news

Stepping into a new benchmark setting segment Mer-cedes-Benz’s latest launch, the new R-Class, claims to

combine sedan like performance, all-wheel-drive SUVconfidence and the brand’s trademark safety.

ExteriorDesigned like a crossover, the seven-seater boasts a five-door design with multi-element headlamps, standardfront fog lamps, 18-inch alloy wheels, dual chrome exhausttips and LED lamps.

Interior

The in-cabin experience is enhanced by spacious seating,generous legroom and headroom, power windows thatinclude flip-open 3rd-row quarter windows, electric sun-roof, leather interiors, leather-covered tilt and telescopicsteering wheel, three-zone automatic climate controls anda choice of high gloss wood trims. The R-Class also fea-tures an audio system with an in-dash six-disc CD/DVDchanger, eight-inch screens for rear passengers, DVDplayer, wireless speakers and more.

EngineThe 3.5-litre V6 engine, the R350 4MATIC is capable of

generating 272 bhp of max power at 6,000 rpm and amaximum torque of 350 Nm at 2,400 to 5,000 rpm. TheR350 4MATIC is also equipped as standard with the7G-TRONIC automatic transmission.

The R-Class is equipped with Mercedes-Benz’s PRE-SAFE safety system that acts decisively to prepare for apossible accident using sensors from two of the activesafety systems in the vehicle: Brake Assist and ElectronicStability program.

The premium MPV will be available in the Long WheelBase R350 4MATIC version with the V6 petrol engine. It ispriced at Rs 58.79 lakh, ex-showroom Mumbai.

New R-Class from Mercedes-Benz

Honda Siel cars India has launched an ‘Exclusive’ varia-nt of the Honda City, with new interior and exterior

luxury features. The new City gets a chrome trunk garnishand chrome door sash moulding along with an ‘Exclusive’rear badge and body coloured mud flaps. The additionsalso include leather seats and leather steering in MT & ATand leather gear shift knob in MT. With the new entry,Honda City also gets a new colour – Urban Titanium –apart from the existing Taffeta white, Alabaster silver,Crystal black pearl, Bold beige metallic and Habanero Red.The Honda City Exclusive is priced at Rs 9.53 lakh (V MT)and Rs 10.25 lakh (V AT), ex-showroom New Delhi.

An Exclusiveaddition to the

Honda City

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The time has come for vibrant colours to seep into yourhomes, to stock up delectable chocolate boxes and colourful

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Raise a toast

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Get nutty

What: Sparkling sterlingsilver candle standsstudded with SwarovskicrystalsBest for: Elegant lighting,with or without thecelebrationsWhere: Momentz store,New DelhiHow much: Rs 1,025 per piece

Crystal lights

What: Sauza Tequila partykit containing a Sauza Goldand BlancoBest for: A game of roulettethat comes with it if you arebored of the ‘taash’ partyWhere: Across retailers inselect citiesHow much: Rs 3,000(approx)

Roulette calling


TASTER’S choice

John Mariani

Americans may still eat more beef than pork -about 63 pounds per capita each year versus 48- but the current foodie fascination in the U.S.with all things porcine has crowned the pig

king. Whether it’s roast Italian maiale or a Vietnamese banh

mi sandwich stuffed with slices of ham, pork hasn’t hadbetter press since Charles Lamb wrote “A DissertationUpon Roast Pig” back in 1823, in which he nailed theappeal of the savoury porker as a kind of “animal manna.”

Yet unlike beef, which demands a big, brawny CabernetSauvignon to match its mineral-rich, juicy flavour, roastpig, sausages, and ham require a bit more thought as towhat wine truly enhances the meat.

This year, I decided to find out which wines would gobest with a backyard roast. I collected a dozen bottles ofvarious varietals.

I had already eliminated a few I knew wouldn’t work,including those big Cabernets, expensive Pinot Noir-based Burgundies and Super Tuscans.

To some extent I relied on cultural tradition, that is, Iasked myself what wine would be drunk by people whohistorically do pig roasts - Italians, Spaniards, Central andSouth Americans.

I eliminated the Chinese, who tend to sweeten the meatwith soy sauce, caramel and ginger.

Lite beerPig roasts are certainly a part of the American South’sculinary tradition, but wine has never played a big role inthat history. Rather like in the hillside barbecues calledlechoneras outside of San Juan, Puerto Rico, where a coldMedalla Light beer seems to work wonders.

Because I basted with a puree of garlic, onion, chillypepper and orange juice, I needed a wine with tannicbackbone and an undertone of sweetness to complementthe richness of the meat. Those two characteristics hap-pen to be part of the appeal of the best California Zinfan-dels and their Italian counterparts, Primitivos.

A Joel Gott Zinfandel 2008 ($18) from Lodi and Amadorhad the right intensity, spice and peppery notes, providinga counterpoint to the smoke and basting juices.

Primitivo is the Italian name for the same grape asZinfandel (both came from Croatia), and a 2007 examplefrom Piana del Sole in Puglia, where the varietal hasflourished, had a perfectly pleasant, cherry and raspberrycomponent. Yet overall the wine didn’t do much for theroast pig’s big flavours.

Spanish blendMore complex but still a bit pale were two other Italianbottlings, a Masi Campofiorin Ripasso 2005 ($18) and TreRoveri Pico Maccario Barbera d’Asti 2007 ($25), while aSpanish Mas de Can Blau 2005 ($42.50), a blend of Carine-

na and Garnacha, had the depth and brawn those grapesare known for, marrying well with the meat.

My favourite match-ups were two Amarone della Val-policellas. These wines from Italy’s Veneto region aremade from Corvina, Rondinella and Molinara grapes leftto dry out on straw mats to achieve a raisin-like status,intensifying the sugars. A decade ago this traditional proc-ess resulted in unique, high-alcohol wines that tasted ofleather, with more than a hint of sweetness and oxidation.Today the wines are better made, cleaner and intended tobe drunk earlier, and the result is a wine of enormous bodyand 15 per cent alcohol, but without the musty oxidation.

Two AmaronesI tried two Amarones, a Vaona 2006 ($44) and a SperiAmarone 2004 ($92). The former was right on target tomatch the big flavours of the smoky meat, melding fruitand soft tannins with fat and smoke. It is a silky, sensualwine and the meat seemed blessed by it.

The Speri, considered one of the finest Amarones nowmade, has the benefit of aging, and its layers and layers ofdark ripe fruits and its Port-like bouquet seem tailor-madeto go with my backyard meal.

At $92, it’s one you save for a special occasion - such as amajor meal like this or a birthday - which it was: mine.

(The author writes on wine for Muse, the arts and leisure sectionof Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.)

Finding a match for roast pork

Photos: Bloomberg


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MELANGE luxury redefined

smartbuy issue dated october 27, 2010

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