2011. So what's interesting?

It’s the same thing every year, manufactures release new vehicles, some are great, some are good, some are okay and others are utter rubbish. Here’s the list of cars I can’t wait to meet.

Let’s start off with the small cars, because they seem to be the thing saving car manufactures all over the world at the moment – hence Aston Martin’s even starting to build one.

The Audi A1. It might not be the sportiest thing, but with a punchy 1,4-litre TSI motor and wheels placed far on the corners of the chassis, it promises to be a blast to drive.

The BMW M1 Coupé also makes the list. Even though I can’t really see the reason for one over and above a 135i, it looks like a proper little brute. It’s powered by BMW’s renowned straight-six engine with two turbo chargers, coupled to a six-speed gearbox, pushing out 250 odd kW. What’s not to like?

Mini will be giving us the Mini Coupé this year, which is also a major wow. Very similar to the Mini Cooper in looks, the Coupé features a lower roofline with an extended rear-end, which makes for a good-looking car. Engine lineups will more than likely remain the same with a John Cooper Works being the serious bad-boy of the bunch.

Another small car, again German, and more than likely a bit cheaper than all of the above mentioned that I think will be awesome, is the next generation Polo GTI.

The GTI will boast a 1,4-liter turbo and supercharged motor good for 132 kW, which means it’ll be able to do 0 – 100 in 6.9 seconds.  

The last of the small cars I can’t wait for is the Fiat 500 turbocharged Twin Air. I know 900cc and two cylinders doesn’t sound like much fun, but as a technological innovation I think the 63 kW it produces will be pretty impressive – like a shot of tequila. Not much there, but it still leaves you wondering how it works so well.

Speaking of serious shots, there are rumors floating around that we might get the 500 Abarth here next year, and that’ll be more like taking a fat swig out the bottle! We can only hope…

In the hot hatch segment there are sister ready to do some damage. The Golf and Scirocco R. Both feature an uprated version of VW’s 2-litre TSI engine pumping out an impressive 198 kW and is electronically limited to 250 km/h. Very nice.

The big league list starts off with the upcoming BMW M5. Sadly the V10 has fallen away, but is replaced by a 4,4-litre twin-turbo V8 that has a boiling point of 413 kW. Sadly a Torque figure isn’t yet available, but we recon it’s going to be pretty impressive (some people are even entertaining the idea of as much as 1000 Nm).

Merc unveils their facelifted CL during 2011, and even though that doesn’t seem like such a major wow, what’s hiding under the bonnet of their CL63 AMG’s bonnet should send a shiver down your spine. It will be the first AMG Merc to feature Mercedes’ new 5,5-litre biturbo V8 engine with 400 kW and 800 Nm on tap.

And the last vehicle on the list is also a Mercedes. You know the SLS AMG Gullwing we have all come to love? Well, they’re going to do a Roadster version – sadly it means you lose the doors though, a minor sacrifice.

Gorgeous styling, 420 kW and 650 Nm, no roof, an exhaust note that will leave even Julius Malema speechless, and it will be here just before the end of the year. Dear Father Christmas…

Riding Shot-Gun On The Devil’s Back

As many of you may already know, I am in Cape Town and will soon be starting an internship at CAR Magazine. And to be perfectly honest, I am sick of coughing up butterflies because my stomach can no longer contain them. 

So, just to help ease or add to the tension - depends on which angle you look at it from, I was taken for a spin in a vehicle I have idolised for quite some time...the Audi R8. But not just any old R8, the new R8 V10 Spyder. 

And who took me for this spin, Hannes Oosthuizen, the Sub-Editor of CAR Magazine himself.

Mmm, don’t worry, I envy myself just thinking back. 

As for the car, ah, well, it’s as good, if not even better, than what you think it is. 

Understand my problem is that I haven’t really had the chance to drive many ‘serious’ cars, so bear with me. 

The interior is typically Audi, and whereas in most cars you have scratch around to find bits of leather, in the R8, it’s the other way around...you have to hunt to find bits of plastic. The seats are great, supportive, but at the same time very comfortable. 

The centre console houses a navigation system (standard with a Bang & Olufsen sound system), climate control, controls for the seat heaters and so on. The gearbox was Audi’s 6 speed R tronic automatic, which, at a quick glance, adds almost R45 000 to the price tag. I’m sorry, but I really don’t think it’s worth it. Plus, this is a driver’s car, and deserves a proper manual. 

Just behind the gear stick you find a couple of buttons, and honestly there wasn’t enough time to note what they all did, but there were two that did take my fancy. One is for the suspension, and if pushed firms up the suspension for even more composure in the corners. The other...is the ‘Sport’ button, and I don’t think I really need to tell you what that does. 

On the road the R8 is a breathe taking piece of art. As we drove past, construction workers   slipped off their spades, pedestrians wondered into oncoming traffic to have a closer look and traffic cops had their radar guns at the ready. 

But every now and then, Hannes would do me the favour and plant his foot, at which point in time the world would become but a blur. 

The R8 has Audi legendary Quattro system, which means grip like I have never felt before.  To give you a rough idea, we were taking corners that had a speed limit of 30 km/h at speeds well over double that - I’d love to tell you the exact figure, but during such cornering, I was discovering what the view out of my left ear looked like as my eye-balls were slowly pushed along my ear-canal. And the best part, this wasn’t even near the Spyder’s limits, there was no over-steer, no under-steer, hell, there wasn’t even a bit of tyre squeal. 

The brakes are brilliant. On numerous occasions I thought I might make my entrance through the pearly gates with the stupid ‘GP’ Jeep Cherokee that wouldn’t get out of the way plastered to my forehead. But alas, no matter how fast we where traveling when he decided to pull out in front of us, the R8 would come to a dead halt if asked to.

The engine is the same 5.2 liter V10 that is found in the Lamborghini Gallardo and produces 386 kW and 530 Nm. It does 0 - 100 in 4.1 seconds and has a top speed of 313 km/h. 

After my spin, I felt so on top of the world, I felt like telling Julius Malema he was a complete idiot and Dolly Parton that her boobs were too big. 

This is one of those cars that can make you better than a million bucks, with a starting price of ‘only’ R2.1 million. Start saving kids, because as we speak, I’m blowing the dust off my piggy bank.