The entry-level Dongfeng 007 has a smaller battery and half the power of the version above it. The most important number on the Dongfeng 007 Prestige is not 007. It is 99. That is how many kilowatts its electric motor produces, and in Singapore that keeps this sleek, nearly five-metre-long electric fastback within Category A COE. And despite having less power, it has the same basic body, much of the same equipment and ...
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The seven-seat Jaecoo J8 has a petrol engine, two electric motors and 422bhp. Oddly, the best thing the engine can do is keep quiet. The Jaecoo J8 is a plug-in hybrid, although you could quite easily drive one for a while and forget about the petrol part. This is because its 1.5-litre turbocharged engine spends much of its time behaving like somebody working backstage. It switches on when required, generates electricity, contributes ...
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The Lamborghini Temerario can creep away silently on electricity. It can also spin its V8 to 10,000rpm. Apparently, compromise means something different in Sant’Agata. The strangest thing about starting a Lamborghini Temerario is that, sometimes, nothing happens. You lift the little red fighter-jet cover, thumb the starter and wait for the sort of explosion that normally accompanies waking a Lamborghini. Instead, there is a whirr. Perhaps a beep. Then silence. The Temerario defaults ...
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The new Mazda 6e electric fastback is handsome, spacious and capable of travelling 560km on a charge. The strange bit is that the most un-Mazda thing about it is sitting right in front of you. Mazda has spent years teaching us that cars should be easy to use. Its infotainment screens were deliberately kept out of reach. There were rotary controllers between the seats. Buttons operated important things. Even when everyone else ...
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The Subaru e-Outback is quicker to 100 km/h than some old WRXs, and it has a huge boot and roof rails you can actually put things on. Priorities, apparently. There was a time when the words “fastest Subaru” would have conjured up a large rear wing, gold wheels and something blue hurtling sideways through a Welsh forest. Now, the title belongs to an electric family car, and there is no enormous bonnet ...
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Every few months I get into a new electric car and spend the first five minutes trying to figure out where the air-conditioning controls have gone. That probably says something about where the EV market is heading. The modern electric car has become impressive. They are quiet, quick, efficient and increasingly loaded with technology. You can have enormous screens, animated graphics, voice assistants, apps, cameras pointing everywhere and enough computing power to ...
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The Aston Martin Vantage S has more power, more fanfare and another letter on its boot. None of those things is actually the reason it is sublime. Typically, when a company aspires to make a faster version of an already fast car, they give it more power, make the suspension harder, or throw in some carbon fibre bits. Stick a letter on the bootlid, preferably something from the sporty end of ...
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The Avatr 07 is arguably the most technologically advanced car you can buy in Singapore right now, but it offers much more than just fancy features and gizmos. Just when I thought I’ve experienced it all, along comes a car that can literally park itself. I’m not just talking about those highly advanced park assist systems on Teslas and some other Chinese cars that can do it all for you. The Avatr ...
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The eighth-generation Corvette Stingray finally puts its V8 where a supercar’s engine is supposed to be. Strangely, that has made America’s sports car more sensible than ever. The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray is unique, although perhaps not for the reasons you might expect. Yes, it has a 6.2-litre V8. Yes, the engine sits behind your head. And yes, from certain angles people will look at it and go “wow what a cool ...
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The eighth-generation Lexus ES is finally here, and it has gone electric. For as long as I can remember, the Lexus ES has been the car you recommend to someone who has already decided that excitement is overrated. That sounds harsher than intended, but the ES has built its reputation by transporting people in quiet, beautifully upholstered comfort while asking very little in return. Now, the eighth-generation ES has gone electric. And ...
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The cutesy Ora brand has grown up with its first SUV model for Singapore, and the Ora 5 offers practical usability with its own unique charm. There are some cars where I wished I had more time to test drive sometimes. Typically these are either mind-blowing high-performance models that I don’t get to experience often, or extremely fun to drive cars that just make me reluctant to hand the keys back. The ...
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It may be a minor technological update, but new hardware in the XPeng X9 Pro gives the car a significant bump in software usability. It seems now that every modern carmaker now talks about software, artificial intelligence and “ecosystems” with the enthusiasm of people who have just discovered Silicon Valley. Cars are essentially moving computers now, and you can’t go anywhere without some virtual assistant analysing your every move. None is more ...
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The Ferrari Amalfi may be the least powerful and least expensive Ferrari you can buy today, but it could also be one of the easiest to genuinely enjoy. It's weird to call any Ferrari an entry-level model. Entry-level suggests sensible shoes, base-spec infotainment and perhaps a monthly instalment plan you can discuss without first contacting your private banker. The Ferrari Amalfi, meanwhile, comes with 631bhp, a twin-turbocharged V8 and a price ...
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Hyundai adds a large electric seven-seater SUV to its lineup, and the Ioniq 9 delivers a remarkably refined and tech-laden experience for the family. It seems like if you want a large electric six- or seven-seater car here, there’s simply no escaping the number 9. Aside from the numerous Chinese MPVs that all feature the digit in their names, even the SUV options all have ‘9’ in their nomenclature. There’s the versatile ...
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Somewhere along the way, SUVs started looking less and less like SUVs. Walk through a carpark today, and you’ll see plenty of smooth noses, curving rooflines, flush door handles and full-width light bars. BYDs, Teslas and the growing wave of Chinese EVs have certainly moved automotive design forward. After a while though, quite a few of them start blending into one another. Not the RAV4 though. It's been a crowd favourite for ...
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