snake charmer · racer concept at the villa d’este concours classic car event held beside...

MOTOR MONTHLYIssue 26 ● June 2011

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Snake CharmerZagato gives the Viper a sexy new body

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MOTOR MONTHLYIssue 26 ● June 2011iSelect’s

EditorialGoAuto NewsroomPO Box 18Sandringham VIC 3191(03) 9598 6477 [email protected]

EditorDavid [email protected]

ProductionLuc Britten

Sub-editorRon Hammerton

ContributorsMarton PettendyByron MathioudakisTerry MartinHaitham RazaguiJames StanfordMike Costello

Advertising enquiriesSally Mellor(03) 9598 6477 0425 700 [email protected]

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Faster pastaItalian style meets American muscle

Carbon datedBack to the future for

hi-tech BMW Hommage

Twizy fitsThose crazy Frenchies create

an electric scooter-car

Swedish meatballKoenigsegg goes crazy with its latest hypercar

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\\ Alfa Romeo Zagato TZ3 Stradale

Italian style meets American muscle

Faster pastaBy HAITHAM RAZAGUI

ALFA Romeo has leveraged Fiat Group’s Chrysler tie-up by launching a new limited-edition sportscar built on a Dodge Viper chassis and drivetrain to wrap up the Italian marque’s 100th birthday celebrations and its 90-year association with design house and coachbuilder Zagato.

The road-legal Zagato TZ3 Stradale – just nine of which will be built – is clothed in a bespoke carbon-fibre body, delivering what Zagato says “can represent the first American Alfa Romeo”.

The first three Stradales are already spoken for, with number one already in the hands of American Alfa Zagato collector and Saratoga car museum board member Eric King. A further two will be delivered to customers in Japan and Europe.

Alfa Romeo’s Australian importer Ateco Automotive told us that it is unlikely that any of the remaining six will make an appearance Down Under.

That’s Amore: The TZ3 Stradale stands in front of the TZ3 Corsa, TZ2 and TZ1.



> FULL STORY

V12 Zagato coupe uncovered

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IGNORE the new plain-Jane design and the Volkswagen Eos is classy top-down cruiser that can double as a comfortable coupe. More of a cruiser than a bruiser, despite the availability of the strong GTI engine, the Eos still promises lots of sun-soaked fun.

Quick test: Volkswagen Eos coupe

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FIAT’S Ferrari-inspired 500 exoticar, the Abarth 695 ‘Tributo Ferrari’, has arrived in Australia with a pricetag to match its carbon-clad interior, muscle-car performance and strictly limited availability.

Ferrari-inspired Fiat 500 lands at $70K

BRITISH sportscar maker Aston Martin unveiled its aggressive-looking V12 Zagato endurance racer concept at the Villa D’Este Concours classic car event held beside Italy’s Lake Como at the weekend – and it looks set to make production, albeit in limited numbers.

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No performance figures have been provided, but the Viper on which it is based is powered by an 8.4-litre V10 engine developing 450kW of power and 760Nm of torque to achieve a 0-100km/h acceleration time of less than four seconds and reach a top speed of 296km/h.

Zagato says the TZ3 Stradale celebrates the road legal heritage of Alfa Romeo Zagato coupes dating back to the 1920s.

The Stradale is inspired by but not to be confused with 2009’s TZ3 Corsa, a one-off track-only car weighing just 850kg and commissioned by German Alfa Zagato collector Martin Kapp, whose collection also includes examples of the classic TZ1 and TZ2 from the 1960s.

The Corsa was based on a “mono shell” carbon-fibre chassis with tubular frame, hand-beaten aluminium body and powered by a Ferrari/Maserati-derived 309kW 4.2-litre dry sump V8 mated to a six-speed sequential gearbox.

While the TZ3 Corsa takes its styling inspiration from the TZ1, especially the three-piece rear window set, the Stradale echoes the TZ2’s one-piece rear windscreen, side vents and unmistakably Alfa alloy wheel design.

All TZ-designated cars share the distinctive aerodynamic “Kamm-tail” design made famous by Zagato in the 1960s and enabled a reduction of wind resistance without the need for an elongated tail section. MOTOR

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\\ BMW 328 Hommage

By HAITHAM RAZAGUI

BMW moved a step closer to revealing the look of its next roadster with the 328 Hommage show car that debuted at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este classic

car show, held recently on the shore of Lake Como in northern Italy.

An obvious reinterpretation and evolution of the Vision ConnectedDrive concept from this year’s Geneva Show, the 328 Hommage is a

75th anniversary tribute to the original BMW 328 race car of the 1930s.

Hailed as an interpretation of how the designers of the original 328, Fritz Fielder and Rudolf Schleicher, might have built the car

today using modern technology, the Hommage is largely constructed of carbon-fibre.

BMW said the 328 Hommage shows how the brand’s lightweight construction will develop, with carbon weave visible throughout the car.

Carbon datedBack to the future for BMW’s hi-tech Hommage



Proudly displayed on all parts made of the high-strength, low-weight material, the exposed weave pattern is carefully aligned and matched where it meets, like the fabric of an expensive shirt – and, of course, the lack of paint helps to further save weight.

BMW claims to be a leader in the use of carbon-fibre technology and its forthcoming i3 city car will have an all-carbon passenger cell. The brand has also used carbon-fibre for the roof of its M3 and M6.

Compared side-by-side with the Vision ConnectedDrive concept, the 328 Hommage shares the same overall shape and the silhouette of both cars is almost identical, with just details giving the 328

Hommage its retro appeal.Side-on, only the pepper-pot alloy

wheels with chrome ‘butterfly nut’ hubs and retro leather straps differentiate the retro Hommage from the forward-thinking Vision ConnectedDrive concept. Whereas the latter’s doors lower into the sills, Z1-style, the Hommage is open-sided.

The bluff front end and the general shape and surfacing of the two cars is shared, with the 328 Hommage echoing the circular headlights of its classic antecedent – even mimicking the black tape crosses applied to race vehicles – and a pronounced old-style kidney grille of machined aluminium thrusting forward.

Hommage is where the heart is: The concept car and (below) the 328 that inspired it.


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Where the Vision ConnectedDrive featured a windscreen that cascaded forward along the bonnet, the Hommage stays faithful to the current BMW styling language with its bonnet bulge, but finishes off with an asymmetrical windscreen, faux bonnet-fastening straps and clips to pay respect to the car that inspired it.

BMW provided little technical information but indicated the Hommage is powered by a 3.0-litre straight-six engine.

Around the rear, fat exhaust tips protrude each side of the number plate, proclaiming the car as internal-combustion powered, in contrast to the distinctive lack of exhaust outlets on the Vision ConnectedDrive.

Both cars share the scoops behind the seats but, apart from a retro-styled protruding filler cap, the rear-end treatment of the Hommage is more resolved than that of the Vision ConnectedDrive.

The upswept, curved tail-lights are slimmer and the outer surface of the rear guards continue back to give the effect they are

floating, rather than folding round to meet the rear fascia, though in a less dramatic way than seen on the Vision EfficientDynamics concept from the 2009 Frankfurt show.

The Hommage’s minimalist interior is a further source of similarities, both cars featuring an identical gearlever and iDrive controller and similarly cocooning the driver in an upholstered cell.

However, the Hommage eschews the Vision ConnectedDrive’s digital screens and head-up display in favour of a more traditional instrument set, although this is joined by a pair of iPhones in special aluminium holsters that turn them into timing devices and GPS roadbooks.

In 2008 BMW used the same event to unveil a 30th birthday tribute to the original M1 sportscar with the M1 Hommage, featuring many design cues linking it to the original but also previewing design elements that appeared on the Vision EfficientDynamics concept in Frankfurt the following year. MOTOR

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\\ Koenigsegg Agera

Koenigsegg goes crazy with its latest hypercar

Swedish meatball

By DAVID HASSALL

SWEDISH company Koenigsegg has revealed its second-generation ‘hypercar’ – called the Agera – complete with remarkable full technical specifications for a $3 million street racer version

Built and developed in-house, the company’s twin-turbocharged 5.0-litre V8 engine runs on 1.4-bar of boost to produce 820kW of power at 6900rpm using E85 bio-fuel in the Agera R, but will rev on to 7250rpm before the electronic limiter cuts in.

Using less potent 95-octane petrol, the 32-valve DOHC engine still produces “more than 900 horsepower”, which translates to 662kW-plus.

While the ‘standard’ Agera produces more than 1000Nm of torque from 2500rpm, the

Agera R generates at least that much all the way from 2700rpm and 6170rpm, peaking at an astonishing 1200Nm at 4100rpm.

That may not be enough to unseat the mighty 883kW/1500Nm Bugatti Veyron Super Sport from the top of the supercar perch, but is enough



Fast torquer: Even the ‘standard’ Agera produces more than 1000Nm.

to launch the Agera R from 0-100km/h in just 2.9 seconds and to 200km/h in 7.5 seconds.

The 0-100km/h time exactly matches Lamborghini’s new all-wheel drive Aventador LP700-4, despite the Italian car carrying an extra

245kg of weight and having a comparatively humble 515kW and 690Nm from its naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 engine.

The Agera R’s power and aerodynamics point to a theoretical top speed of 440km/h (it

is electronically limited to 375km/h) and the car has a dry weight of 1330kg – about the same as a Mazda 3.

Koenigsegg claims that no other production engine in the world, regardless of car type, can

match the Agera’s power potential combined with its CO2 emissions rating of 310g/km and fuel consumption figure of 14.7L/100km.

The company claims it employs groundbreaking technology to meet the most



stringent environmental regulations in the world. Its fuel consumption figure compares with Ford’s old Falcon XR8 and makes Lambo’s Aventador look thirsty and polluting with its 17.2L/100km and 398g/km.

Unusually for a modern turbo engine, the Koenigsegg V8 employs an air-to-air intercooler, eliminating the need for water in the intercooling system, which the company says not only saves weight but avoids heat-soak issues during extended high-performance driving.

Petrol is pumped into the engine from an 80-litre tank by no fewer than four “intelligent” fuel pumps.

Koenigsegg’s twin-turbo V8 drives through a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission claimed to be a world first for the company as it uses a single input shaft rather than two like other dual-clutch transmissions.

Developed in conjunction with Cima, it uses both a wet clutch and a twin-disc dry clutch on the same shaft, resulting in a transmission

that is not only smooth and extremely fast but which weighs less (only 81kg) than a conventional dual-clutch unit.

The company claims its new transmission produces “class-leading shift times” and can be used with paddle shifts or in full auto mode.

Koenigsegg also claims its electronic differential is lighter and faster than other E-diffs, while its traction control system is “the fastest reacting in the industry”.

Stopping power for the Agera R is provided

by ventilated ceramic discs, 397mm in the front with six-piston calipers and 380mm at the rear with four-pot calipers, which Koenigsegg says will stop the car from 100km/h in 30.5 metres, pulling 1.6g of lateral acceleration.

The forged-aluminium centre-locking rims (19-inch front and 20-inch rears) are shod with specially-made Michelin Supersport gumballs, measuring 265/35 up front and 345/30 at the rear.

Weighing only 1418kg with all fluids plus half a tank of fuel, the Agera R is 4296mm



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RemaRRRkable: The incredible Agera R provides startling performance – if you have about $3 million.

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long, 1998mm wide and 1120mm high. It rides on a 2662mm wheelbase and has track measurements of 1700mm at the front and 1650mm at the rear.

Suspension is F1-style with long wishbones and a third spring and damper unit connects the rear wheels to prevent the car squatting under hard acceleration while also enabling the spring and damper rates of the main suspension units to be lowered, increasing ride comfort and improving rough- and wet-road handling.

Koenigsegg claims the rear wing uses wind resistance rather than electronics or hydraulics to change shape for optimum performance at a given speed while the spokes of the alloy wheels act as turbine blades to suck air from beneath the car, simultaneously cooling the brakes and increasing downforce.

The interior is made from leather, Alcantara carbon-fibre and aluminium buttons, and

the 120-litre luggage space – said to be the largest for a car of this type – is designed to accommodate a set of golf clubs or the car’s detachable roof.

Standard equipment includes dual airbags, detachable storable hardtop with glass roof, power windows, adaptive rear wing, adjustable pedals and steering column, adjustable seats for rake and length, ABS brakes, hydraulic lifting system, power steering, power brakes, sat nav, MP3 player, USB connection, climate control, digital warning and info system, G sensor, alarm, tyre pressure monitoring, leather carpets, roof storage bag, car cover and a sterling silver key.

Options include fitted luggage, special leathers and colours, a full visible carbon body, an inconel (superalloy) exhaust system, front winglets, rear view camera, heated seats, a “winter wheel package” and four-point racing harnesses.

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Those crazy Frenchies create electric scooter-car

Twizy fitsRenault Twizy //

By HAITHAM RAZAGUI

RENAULT’S futuristic all-electric Twizy can be reserved online in Europe, with the French car-maker opening the books for pre-orders of the cross-bred car/scooter.

However, Australian buyers need not rush to their computers just yet, as Renault Australia has no plans to import the revolutionary two-seater.

Due to go on sale in Europe at the end of this year, the Spanish-built Twizy will be priced from €6990 ($A9334).

The entry-level Twizy 45 is so-called because its 4kW electric motor enables a top speed of 45 km/h, meaning that in some countries it can be driven unaccompanied without a driving licence, and on a provisional licence from the age of 16 in others.

For qualified drivers, the 7kW Twizy Urban (€7690) and Technic (€8490) can reach 80km/h. Both the low and high-output motors produce 57Nm of torque, available from zero revs.

In addition to the purchase price, Twizy customers must also pay a battery leasing fee of €49 per month (€45 for the low-power model).

Renault says the Twizy is more agile than a car – having a turning circle of just 3.4 metres – and that its acceleration is “comparable with that of a scooter”.



All Twizy variants are claimed to have a 100km range from their lithium-ion batteries, which take 3.5 hours for a full charge from a standard 10-amp power outlet, using a three-metre spiral cord stored under a hatch at the front of the vehicle.

The battery pack accounts for 100kg of the vehicle’s 450kg weight and Renault quotes the Twizy’s official European CO2 emissions figure of 32 grams per kilometre as including the “entire energy production cycle and vehicle usage”.

The Twizy is classed as a heavy quadricycle, meaning it does not have to conform to normal passenger vehicle safety standards. It does, however, have disc brakes all round and a driver’s airbag and four-point harness. The passenger, who sits directly behind the driver, gets a three-point seatbelt.

Other than the roof and transparent front-

side fairings directing wind and rain around the cockpit, the Twizy 45 and Urban are fully open to the elements but offer covered storage in the form of two gloveboxes and closed compartments beneath the driver’s seat and behind the passenger seat.

The Twizy Technic adds half-height scissor doors with transparent lower splash protectors.

Renault claims the 2337mm-long Twizy “gets around town faster than a traditional city car thanks to its unprecedented compact dimensions”, but, unlike a scooter or motorcycle, Twizy drivers are unlikely to find lane-splitting easy due to its 1191mm width (not including the mirrors).

The French car-maker claims the Twizy is set to “send shockwaves through the industry as well as the corridors of rival city car and scooter manufacturers”.

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