Range Rover Autobiography India edition at Rs. 3.75 Crore

Land Rover, the Tata owned brand has offered its range topping Range Rover LWB Autobiography edition at an eye watering Rs 3.75 Crore and Rs 3.85 Crore (diesel and petrol respectively, ex-showroom Delhi). This makes it the most expensive SUV in Rover’s line up as well as in our country. This iteration of the standard Range Rover is over 160mm longer in wheelbase, hence the name LWB (Long Wheelbase). Making it first appearance in 2013 Los Angeles Auto Show it has finally made it here.

The Autobiography edition is bestowed with top-class luxury features than the standard Range Rover. There is not much to the mechanicals of the car, except the increased wheelbase and the cockpit is where the real difference is made. There is vital use of leather on the inside coupled with the wood incorporation, defining Landy’s attention to detail.

Rear passenger comfort is taken good care of with reclining seats, center console with various controls, flexible tables, chiller, 10.2 inch infotainment screens mounted on front headrests facing towards rear. Then their are other features like massage feature, lumbar massage on the rear seats, 12-way adjustable driver seat.

At the exterior, there isn’t much to differentiate as there are subtle upgrades like a distinct front grill, 21 or 22 inch gloss aluminium alloy wheel options. While the rear gets chrome garnish with uniquely put tail-lamp cluster. Land Rover has put enough power reserve to propel this epitome of luxury. On the diesel front it gets the 4.4 litre SDV8 that produces 335bhp while the petrol is the 5.0 litre supercharged V8 that generates a massive 503 Bhp. Both these are mated to 8-speed automatic gearbox.

Toyota Corolla Hybrid at AutoShow Shanghai

Toyota has revealed Corolla Hybrid for the first time outside Japan at the on-going 2015 Auto Shanghai in China. The vehicle will be manufactured by Toyota FAW joint venture and will be launched in the Chinese market by second half of this year.

The new Corolla Hybrid offers subtle changes over the current Corolla Altis/Corolla. At the outset, the vehicle gets refreshed headlamps flanked around new dual-slat grille which integrates with headlight graphics. The bumper of the hybrid is also spruced-up compared to the stock Corolla.

Hybrid version features larger air dams and the bumpers use plenty of chrome add-ons. And it has the regular hybrid logo - Blue Toyota badge - indicating it returns more than the stock Corolla! At the rear, things remained unaltered, except for the chrome garnish running through the LED taillights, the vehicle lot of chrome applique throughout the body. Moreover, the vehicle rides on new diamond finish alloys and adorns a new blue color specific to it.

Toyota did not reveal much about the specification of the Corolla Hybrid, but according to the Chinese media - the vehicle is powered by a 1.5-liter Atkinson cycle gasoline motor coupled to an electric motor. The setup extracts maximum power close to 100bhp, consuming nearly 4.9 liters to 100 km in the Chinese driving cycle.

New Hyundai Santa Fe with 8-inch Infotainment System

 Hyundai India is offering a brand new 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system in Santa Fe. Interestingly, the Korean automaker hasn’t done any promotion for this new addition. The website is showing the latest brochure with the updated infotainment system and automatic lighting function.

As per the new touchscreen infotainment system, it gets host of features like flexibility of DVD-USB, Bluetooth streaming, voice recognition, Sat-Nav with pre-loaded maps, 6 speakers and certainly a bigger screen for a better experience. On the downside, this system is only available in the automatic transmission version. And the manual version will be coming with the same age old 4.3 inch touchscreen unit. Looks more like a move to push the sluggish automatic-trans sales of Santa Fe.

Everything else remains unchanged including exterior styling as well as under the hood. Mechanically, it gets the 2.2 litre 4-cylinder CRDi motor that puts out a hefty 194.3 bhp of power and 429 Nm of peak torque and mated to 6 speed manual transmission and an automatic option. The former is a 2 wheel drive version while the automatic is available with AWD option.

Santa Fe’s other interior features sum upto steering mounted audio controls, Bluetooth and cruise control switches, start/stop button, an advanced driver information cluster, glove box chiller, 12 way power adjustable driver seat and dual zone climate control.

Audi TT India launched at INR 60.34 Lac

Audi India has launched its much anticipated TT sports car in an on-going event in Delhi. Priced at INR 60.34 Lac, the TT has only been launched in a single petrol-powered 45TFSI variant.

Based on the modern MQB platform, this third generation TT is 50 kilograms lighter than its predecessor despite having a 37 mm longer wheelbase. Its overall silhouette remains more or less the same and features the characteristic pronounced wheel arches and sloping roofline. While the new trapezoidal family grille, sleek matrix LED headlights and redesigned taillights are some of the new elements on the third gen TT.

Power is sourced from a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine that puts out 230 bhp of maximum power and 370 Nm of peak torque. This power is sent to all wheels through as six-speed dual clutch automatic transmission which in turn is mated to brand’s famous Quattro all-wheel-drive drivetrain. In this state of tune it can touch the 100kmph marker in just 5.3 seconds and can hit up to a top-speed of 253 km/h.

Honda New Jazz in mid-July

While the new introductions in 2014 helped Honda to strengthen its position in India, the Japanese carmaker is now prepping up to enter some new segments during this year to keep the momentum going. The first in this list will be the ‘Jazz,’ premium hatchback, which according to our sources will be making its way in mid of July.

On the design front, the new Jazz does seem to share quite a bit with its elder sibling, the City sedan, considering the fact that both cars follow the latest design philosophy. The large angular headlights that fuses into the grille looks bold, while the large air dam lower on the bumper, adds sportiness to the front fascia. The muscular creases on the bonnet and strong lines flowing throughout the body, goes quite well with the overall look.Being a chrome-loving nation, we expect that the Indian-spec Jazz will have more chrome garnishing, compared to what the world gets.

The Jazz will most likely get the same engine options as the Amaze, in a bid to attract the excise duty cuts. The petrol variants will be powered with a 1.2-litre petrol engine, good for 90PS of peak power and 109Nm of torque. While the diesel engine will be the same 1.5-litre i-DTEC engine that powers all the Hondas currently. It will continue to make 100PS of power and 200Nm ofmax torque. Though in its first innings, the Jazz had failed to attract many buyers, but now with the new design and a diesel engine in the offering, the car looks a lot better package now. We expect Honda not to repeat the same mistake again and price the Jazz at a competitive price this time.