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Issue 9 ● January 2010
MOTOR MONTHLY
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iSelect’s
British elite’s fastest model ever races into Australia
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Editorial
GoAuto Newsroom
PO Box 18
Sandringham
VIC 3191
(03) 9598 6477
newsroom@mellor.net
Editor
David Hassall
dhassall@mellor.net
Production
Luc Britten
Chris Harris
Sub-editor
Ron Hammerton
Contributors
Marton Pettendy
Byron Mathioudakis
Terry Martin
James Stanford
Philip Lord
Advertising enquiries
Sally Mellor
(03) 9598 6477
0425 700 904
sally@mellor.net
iSelect’s
MOTOR MONTHLY
Continental souped
Bentley’s potent Continental
Supersports is a 329km/h monster
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Issue 9 ● January 2010
Mokin’ Gun
Beachcomber reprises the Mini
Moke, an Australian icon of the 1960s
Achtung Powers
Teutonic twin-turbo V8 rips
up the road. Yeah, baby!
Driving us NUTs
LA shell-shocked by Honda’s radical three-seater P-NUT
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Bentley Continental Supersports //
Continental souped
By JAMES STANFORD
BENTLEY has unleashed its most
performance-oriented model in
Australia, the Continental Supersports.
But the fastest Bentley ever produced is
not cheap at $525,000, which represents a
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$126,413 premium over the standard GT and a
$96,753 premium over the GT Speed.
The first car has just arrived in Australia,
with more customer cars expected to arrive
in January and February. Bentley expects to
deliver 15 of the ballistic coupes to Australian
customers before the end of next year.
The Continental Supersports is the first
model to emerge from the Volkswagenowned
company’s base at Crewe in England
with carbon fibre components, which have
helped Bentley engineers cull 110kg from the
Bentley’s potent Continental
Supersports is a 329km/h monster
Continental GT Speed.
Around 26kg of this comes from the
removal of the rear seats, which means the
Supersports is now a two-seater coupe, while
another 45kg has been saved by replacing
the sumptuous leather front seats with new
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carbon fibre bucket seats (sourced from
the Bugatti Veyron).
New super-light wheels, lighter
chassis components and the introduction
of carbon fibre brake discs have saved
another 39kg but, despite the cuts, the
Continental Supersports still weighs in
at a hefty 2240kg.
The big Bentley is still has a top
speed of 329km/h and is able to post
a remarkable 0-100km/h sprint time of
just 3.9 seconds, which is 0.9 seconds
faster than the Continental GT and 0.6
seconds faster than the Continental
GT Speed.
The Supersports features a similar
twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre W12 engine
to other Continental models, but the
turbo boost pressure has been increased
to produce a whopping 463kW of power
at 6000rpm and 800Nm of torque at
1700-5600rpm.
The engine has also been modified to
run on E85 ethanol-petrol fuel as part of
Bentley’s attempt to give its muscle car
a green tinge.
The official fuel consumption figure
does not look too green, though, coming
it at 16.3 litres per 100km for the
combined cycle. The city consumption
figure is a staggering 24.5L/100km.
The Supersports runs a torque
converter-type six-speed automatic
transmission that has been adapted for 50
per cent faster shifts. This transmission
can be controlled with the central
gearshift or by dash-mounted paddles
behind the steering wheel.
Like the other Continental models,
the Supersports has constant all-wheeldrive.
But, while the other models
feature a system that sends 50 per cent
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to the front wheels and 50 per cent to the rear,
the Supersports has it split 40 per cent to the
front and 60 per cent to the rear for sportier
performance.
To achieve greater stability, Bentley has
increased the width of the rear track by
50mm. This engineering change also led the
designers to flare the rear wings, which give
the Supersports a slightly meaner look.
The front suspension features stiffer bushes,
a retuned anti-roll bar and aluminium forward
levers, while all the dampers have been
recalibrated, along with the steering. The
wheels are lightweight forged aluminium, 20
inches in diameter, and shod with 275/35 ZR20
Ultra High Performance Pirelli tyres.
Bentley has also retuned the electronic
stability control system to allow for sportier
driving.
It spared no expense when it came to the
Supersports’ anchors, fitting what Bentley claims
are the largest and most powerful brakes ever fitted
to a road car. The carbon discs have a 420mm
diameter at the front and 356mm diameter at the
rear, gripped by eight-piston calipers at the front
and dual piston calipers at the rear.
Like all Bentleys, the Supersports’ interior
can be customised, but has several carbon
fibre surfaces and a combination of leather and
alcantara on the doors and the seats.
It is easily identifiable from outside, thanks to
deeper front and rear bumpers, larger exhaust
pipes and bonnet vents, which Bentley insists
are fully functional. There is also a slightly
more pronounced rear wing, at the front of the
boot, which pops up at 80km/h.
The traditional chrome bright elements have
been replaced by blacked-out items and Bentley
says the process of painting these stainless steel
parts – which include the headlight surrounds,
window surrounds, front grille and option
wheels – is an industry first.
The Supersports is available in 17 standard
paint colours, as well as two matt colours
that will be available in limited numbers as a
MOTOR
$60,000 option.
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\\ Mini Beachcomber concept
Mokin’ Gun
Beachcomber reprises the Mini Moke,
an Australian icon of the 1960s
By RON HAMMERTON
and DAVID HASSALL
MINI has curiously chosen the frozen
climes of wintry Detroit to reveal
the sunniest of concept cars – a
born-again Mini Moke called the Beachcomber
– at the North American International Auto
Show in January.
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The open-top doorless all-wheel-drive fourseater
is unlikely to see the production line in this
exact form any time soon, due to its lack of sideimpact
crash protection, but speculation from
Europe suggests the car has strong engineering
ties to Mini’s forthcoming fourth model line, a
small SUV to be called the Countryman.
Due in September 2010, the Countryman is
likely to share the Beachcomber’s all-wheeldrive
system, larger wheels and taller ride
height when it joins the Hatch, Cabrio and
Clubman body styles in the Mini line-up.
And, while the Beachcomber has pillarless
open-air sides like the utilitarian Mini Moke of
the 1960s, it clearly has side openings capable
of taking four doors in SUV form.
The original Moke was penned by Alex
Issigonis, designer of the first-generation Mini
and the man credited with putting the world
into front-wheel drive cars.
Production started in the UK in 1964 – five
years after the original Mini donor car – but was
discontinued in 1968, when production was
shifted to Portugal. Remarkably, it remained
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The Beach is Back: Mini has taken the spirit of the Mini
Moke to preview the brand’s forthcoming baby SUV.
in production there until 1993, mainly as a
supply of hire cars for holiday destinations.
Australia had a particular fascination for the
Mini Moke and it became something of a cult
car. It was manufactured here under Morris
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and Leyland badges from 1966 to 1981, with
many exported around the world.
Australian Moke production ultimately
totalled 26,000 – more than the combined total
for the UK (14,500) and Portugal (10,000).
With no roof, the Moke’s Mini-based
platform was reinforced by large box-like side
sections – one of which alarmingly held the
petrol tank.
The Beachcomber differs from the original
chop-top Moke by retaining side roof rails that
boost rigidity and roll-over safety.
While the original Mini was powered by
a transverse four-cylinder engine that grew
progressively from 1.0 litre to 1.3 litres over the
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years, the Beachcomber Concept is believed to
house one of the Mini’s 1.6-litre range of petrol
and diesel powerplants, also in a transverse
layout.
Unlike the two-wheel-drive Moke, however,
the Beachcomber (and Countryman) will
provide drive through all four wheels, using
the company’s ALL4 system.
Curiously, Alec Issigonis also built an allwheel
drive prototype just before the launch of
the original Moke. This 1963 test car, which
was referred to as the “Twini”, was fitted
with a pair of standard Mini four-cylinder
engines mounted on the front and rear axles
respectively to provide go-anywhere ability.
Two more all-wheel drive prototypes were
built in Australia in the late 1970s with a view
to making the Moke more suitable for off-road
applications, but the program was shelved and
local production ceased soon after.
The Beachcomber’s tonneau-like soft-top
roof also draws comparisons with the Moke’s
rudimentary original rain shelter, sliding from the
rear to fastening at the top of the windscreen.
Transparent plastic inserts in the sides and
rear provide the “windows” while “door”
openings in the sides and rear are lashed shut
to keep out the elements. For more secure
protection, solid plastic panels are available to
provide a roof, sides and cargo cover.
All four seats provide fore and aft adjustment,
and the backrests all fold flat to provide space
for bulky items.
Large 17-inch alloy wheels fitted with
chunky tyres for off-road work sit in flared
mudguards, giving the Beachcomber a
serious look. Knock-resistant unpainted
black trim – including the bumpers – add to
the macho look, as does the crossbar grille
that harks back to the original Moke’s basic
flat stamped design.
A spare tyre mounted on the back of the
Beachcomber completes the classic Moke
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\\ BMW X6 M
Achtung Powers
Teutonic twin-turbo V8 rips
up the road. Yeah, baby!
By BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS
YOU didn’t ask for it, but here it is
anyway – the 2010 X6 M, the most
fabulously acrobatic SUV money can
buy, or so says a confident BMW.
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A tradition-breaker in more ways than one,
the US-built, twin-turbo V8 with four seats is
a vehicle of extremes – docile enough to be
the family runabout while frantically running
about a racetrack.
It is brilliant, obnoxious, offensive and
deeply moving (in both senses) … but would
you still buy one?
Priced from $179,900, it packs a mighty
wallop thanks to a 4.4-litre twin-turbo V8
petrol engine that delivers 408kW of power at
6000rpm and 680Nm of torque from 1500rpm
all the way through to 5650rpm.
In contrast, rival outputs are 375kW/630Nm
for the Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG,
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King Crossover: BMW’s unusual
coupe-style SUV gets the M treatment
that is more go than show.
404kW/750Nm for the Porsche Cayenne
Turbo, 368kW/1000Nm for the Audi Q7 V12
TDI and 375kW/625Nm for the Range Rover
Sport S/C V8.
Despite weighing 2305kg, the X6 M
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accelerates from standstill to 100km/h in
only 4.7 seconds (0.1s faster than a Cayenne
Turbo), while the 14.3 litres per 100
kilometres fuel consumption average and 335
grams per kilometre carbon dioxide emissions
are better than its petrol-powered rivals (the
diesel-powered Audi returns 11.3L/100km
and 298g/km.
BMW’s EfficientDynamics philosophy sees
the inclusion of Brake Energy Regeneration,
an on-demand fuel pump, a detachable airconditioner
compressor and a volume flowcontrolled
supply of the hydraulic fluid that
goes to the active anti-roll system.
An M-massaged ZF six-speed automatic
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German superpower: The complex
408kW twin-turbo V8 engine (bottom
right) has explosive performance.
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gearbox with paddle shifters sends
drive to all four wheels, distributed
continuously according to road
conditions and driving style – up
to 100 per cent of torque can even
be delivered to the front wheels if
necessary – and with the assistance of
a raft of electronic control systems.
Brakes are massive 19-inch highperformance
discs using lightweight
technology with ‘virtually’ no fading,
BMW says, while the steering is a
hydraulically powered Servotronic
system, with a ‘Sports Mode’ setting
via an M Drive button that sharpens
high-speed cornering and control
capabilities.
BMW Australia launched the highperformance
SUV on the challenging
Phillip Island race circuit near
Melbourne, the thinking being that
the X6 – always the most car-like of
all the luxury SUVs – is transformed
in M form into a vehicle of almost
supernatural ability, response and feel
for a 2.5-tonne elephant.
And it’s true – this BMW bends
the rules the moment you tip it into a
corner, since the combination of a trick
rear diff, xDrive all-wheel drive torque
transfer, a hydraulically controlled
anti-roll bar, and car-like front and rear
suspension design create an SUV that
is much closer to a sports sedan than
a truck.
Throw in the explosive 4.4-litre twinturbo
petrol V8 with a set of lungs deep
enough to blow Dorothy from Kansas
to Krypton and you have the makings
of an epically powerful machine.
And all this is in normal mode. Slot
the auto-only lever into Sport, press the
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TM .
Kia Koup
KIA, perhaps even more than Hyundai, is a stirring
giant who has at last quit hitting the snooze button.
Models such as the Soul and latest-generation
Sorento point to a marque on the rise, while the
new Cerato Koup – perhaps the best-looking car
you can buy for not much cash – proves it.
> FULL STORY
Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
MERCEDES-BENZ launched its hairy-chested
new E63 AMG super-sedan on the same Classic
Adelaide rally roads where the car made its recent
Australian debut in the hands of five-times world
MotoGP champion and past owner of no fewer
than 10 AMG models, Mick Doohan.
> FULL STORY
HSV Clubsport GXP
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HOLDEN Special Vehicles (HSV) has followed
Holden’s lead by applying the Pontiac G8 treatment
to its most popular ClubSport sedan and Maloo ute
models. Due to join the HSV model line-up from
March next year, the limited-edition 2010 ClubSport
GXP sedan will be priced at $59,990.
> FULL STORY
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M-Sport button on the steering wheel spoke
and straight-line acceleration goes from bloody
quick to blisteringly, hurling you towards the
horizon with a mental soundtrack to match.
Be brave enough to switch the stability
and traction controls off – we didn’t for
long, that’s for sure – and there is enough
sideways sliding action to have you figureskating
this like no SUV ever has in history
while remaining composed and in control
the whole time.
But the sheer talent of the BMW around
corners is ultimately its undoing because,
although there is nothing else on earth like it
that will keep up, soon even the X6 M starts
to make promises that simply cannot be
delivered.
We found that the height of the SUV, mixed
with its almost unbelievable grip and flat
cornering attitude, just makes you drive harder
and faster because it doesn’t feel that fast, to
the point where even M GmbH can’t quite beat
the laws of physics.
Plus it’s hard to feel electrified by the
experience because the steering – though
responsive and super-accurate – is bereft of the
sort of tactility and feedback you might expect.
It’s just too remote to be a real sports car.
The X6 M is the sort of vehicle that you
walk away from with a newfound respect
for its talents and capabilities … but you are
still happy to walk away because it lacks the
interaction and intimacy you demand of an
M-badged car.
However, the X6 M is for the family man
who needs a vehicle with perhaps the most
extreme automotive personality traits available
on earth. And in that it succeeds brilliantly.
Sadly we can’t tell you how the 20-inch
wheeled behemoth rides on our patchy roads
or just how efficiently dynamic BMW’s
engineers have been once reality seeps in and
you’re looking at filling up yet another empty
tank of premium unleaded.
But we can tell you that the X6 M would
have you laughing out loud as you hurl it
impossibly fast from one apex to another on
MOTOR
a race track.
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By TERRY MARTIN
IT IS impossible to look at Honda’s allnew
P-NUT as anything but, well, a
car designed to look like a peanut, but
the Personal-Neo Urban Transport concept
unveiled at the recent Los Angeles auto show
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Honda P-NUT //
Driving us NUTs
has a more serious purpose in pointing to a
future “ultra-compact and sophisticated city
coupe”.
Following similar urban concepts from
Nissan (LandGlider), Renault (Twizy) and
Volkswagen (L1), to name a few, the P-NUT
is a three-seat, rear-engined, rear-drive vehicle
claimed to be able to accommodate a number
of different potential powertrains, including
a conventional internal combustion engine,
petrol-electric hybrid or full battery-electric.
However, Honda provided no specific details
LA shell-shocked by Honda’s
radical three-seater P-NUT
on the powertrain used in the P-NUT concept
car shown at the LA show in early December,
if indeed there even was one installed.
Created at the advanced design studio of
Honda R&D Americas in LA, the P-NUT
has a 1+2 seating configuration with a
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central driving position and two
rear positions at either side – an
arrangement designed to maximise
legroom for all occupants and which,
according to Honda, is equivalent to a
medium-sized sedan in a vehicle that
has an exterior footprint similar to a
micro-car.
The rear seats can also be folded to
increase storage room, while at the
front end the windscreen serves as
a head-up display for the navigation
system and reversing camera.
The Japanese manufacturer
describes the exterior as “sleek
and aggressive”, with the outwardspanning
design allowing for a
“spacious and open interior with
excellent visibility”.
The P-NUT is intended to capture
“a future direction for premium
sophistication while balancing the
need for maximum interior space
and an aerodynamic appearance”. It
is 3400mm long, 1750mm wide and
1439mm high.
“A new generation is discovering
the benefits of living in urban centres
that provide convenient access to
business, entertainment and social
opportunities,” said Honda R&D
Americas’ director of advanced
design, Dave Marek.
“The Personal-Neo Urban
Transport concept explores the
packaging and design potential for a
vehicle conceived exclusively around
the city lifestyle.”
While the P-NUT is still a long way
from reaching a production line, Mr
Marek said it demonstrated that ultracompact
cars in the future would be
far removed from current models.
“The objective of the exterior and
interior designers was to explore
the potential for a new type of
small-segment category vehicle that
overcomes many of the objections for
existing micro-car designs,” he said.
“While the Honda P-NUT concept
introduces function-oriented
concepts, it also shows that small
cars don’t have to compromise on
style or amenities.” MOTOR
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In a NUTshell: The interior
features a central driver’s seat
with two rear seats on either side.
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