Private Fleet Car(?) Review: Santa’s Sleigh
At this time of the year, one particular vehicle is commented on, illustrated and watched for (on Google’s Santa Tracker, for example). It has come to my attention that we haven’t reviewed this vehicle yet for Private Fleet. Unfortunately, it won’t be available through our car reviews page, as it’s an extremely limited edition vehicle and pricing information isn’t available. Nevertheless, because this is the Christmas edition of the Private Fleet blog, let us now present you with the official Private Fleet review of Santa’s Sleigh.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2018 Audi S5
It’s always a pleasure to have a luxury car in the driveway. It’s always a pleasure to have a sports oriented car in the driveaway. When the two mix, it’s double the pleasure. The 2018 Audi S5, with “Quattro” all wheel drive and turbo V6 packed into a lithe and sinuous body, takes that a notch or two further. With a list price of $96,200 and a final drive-away figure of $116,500, does the S5 offer luxury supercar performance at a reasonable price?
The keys to the S5 are the 3.0 litre V6, eight speed tiptronic which has been updated from the previously available seven speed, and all wheel drive. Peak power is 260 kilowatts between 5400 and 6400 rpm and maximum torque of 500 Nm on tap at a billiard table flat 1370 – 4500 rev band. Helped by 255/35/19 rubber from Continental and a dry weight of 1690 kilos it’s good enough to see a 0 – 100 kph time of 4.5 seconds, with a seat of the pants feeling that’s a conservative figure.
Economy will vary depending on how heavy the right foot is employed. Audi quotes 7.5L/100 km of 98RON for the combined cycle and an average of just 10.0L/100 km for the urban cycle. A worst of over 15.0L/100 km was seen and that was when testing acceleration times.
It doesn’t hurt that the S5’s aerodynamics add to the rapidity of the S5. At just 0.25cD it’s one of the slipperier cars of its type. Part of this comes from a redesign to the front, with a lower and more pedestrian friendly nose that houses the signature Audi Singleframe grille. Smooth sine wave lines join the LED headlight front via the two door coupe’s subtly larger flanks to the short tail that gives up a deep if not vertically capacious 455 litres.
Fold the rear seats and that’s up to 829 litres. Step inside and there’s a combination of high tech with the Heads Up Display, 12.3 inch TFT “Virtual Cockpit” dash display and variable drive modes against a stunning business club feel thanks to the sumptuously appointed diamond quilted leather seats. That’s front and rear, with the back seat occupants not forgotten in the search for comfort as Audi provides a three zone climate control system.
There’s an impressively modern feel and look to the plastics, with a mostly ergonomic approach to the layout of the dash and console mounted buttons and switches. There’s a broad swathe of venting to the view of the front seat passengers which looks slightly unusual given the accepted 2 + 2 vent look everywhere else.
Although the S5 is a decent 4692mm in length and has a longish 2765mm wheelbase, interior room isn’t as spacious as one would suspect. Yes, you have to duck your head to get in, and yes, rear seat leg room and head room is tight for an Oompaloompa, you can almost forgive that given the outright driveability and the comfort levels the S5 provides.
The LCD screen in front of the driver is the latest word in how to do something pretty damned well. With a changeable look that gives a number of different display looks, such as full screen map, speedo and rev counter along with long and short term driving stats, it’s intuitive and easy on the eye. What isn’t is Audi’s decision to stay with a centre dash mounted screen that looks plugged into a cut-out slot. Nor does the DAB/FM/AM display show anything other than the station you’re listening to with RDS (Radio Data Service) info seemingly locked into a separate screen.
Road manners come as no surprise in being benign when driven gently, tenacious when driven moderately, and superb at maximum attack. The drive modes, being Comfort, Dynamic, Individual, either sharpen or soften chassis and throttle response and, unusually, it really dos work. Too often (you hear us, Kia and Hyundai?) these electronic changes are added and seem to add nought. In the case of the Audi S5, m’lud, they do.
The transmission really does offer quicker changes and using the paddle shifts there’s a blip blip blip on upshifts. Downshifts are fractionally slower…fractionally. It’s a hugely enjoyable experience and using Dynamic is great for quiet roads or track days, Comfort for cruising, and really that’s all you need. There’s also the 1587mm/1568mm front and rear track to aid in high speed and around town stability plus a tight turning circle (11.4 metres) with the steering itself a natural feeling setup lock to lock. 
Recalibrated suspension components in the front lend their aid to the ride quality too. The S5 brakes are just what you need and expect from the package, with a sensitive pedal telling the driver just how much retardation is happening at any given time.
On board are six airbags with the S5 missing a driver’s knee ‘bag, accident pre-sensing which did throw up some false positives, Blind Spot Warning, pre-tensioning seatbelts (which caught the Mrs unawares more than once), a pedestrian friendly “Active Bonnet” and the usual driver aids. There’s also autonomous braking on board.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2018 Renault Captur Intens
It’s rare nowadays to find a vehicle that can be kindly described as loathed by automotive writers. Technology in the form of entertainment, engine management, transmission variants, and the like, means cars drive, perform, cosset, and are generally regarded as nothing less than good.
Then there’s the revamped for 2018 Renault Captur. The Intens is the range topper and is fitted with digital radio, a turbocharged three cylinder, and dual clutch auto. Sounds good so far. But, the gap between expectations and reality for this particular vehicle is Grand Canyon sized. Priced from $22,000 to $31,590, it’s got a lot to live up to.
The Captur comes with a choice of two engines and neither are what could be considered…big. There’s a 0.9L or, in the case of the Intens, a turboed 1.2L, with power and torque to match the relatively tiny motor. Peak power of 88 kW arrives at 4900 rpm, with peak twist of 190 torques at 2000 rpm. Thanks to the small size of the car itself, it’s good enough to see just on eleven seconds for the 0 to 100 kph stretch.
Because it’s such a small body at just 4122 mm in length and a wheelbase of 2606 mm, the fuel thimble holds just 45 litres of 95 or 98 RON. Renault quotes a combined figure of 5.8L per 100 kilometres. We lobbed at 7.0L/100 km with a more non-suburban drive. Power and torque hit the tarmac via the front wheels only. Also, also ostensibly resembling a SUV, it’s not intended to go off-road.
Transmission: dual clutch autos are pretty good once a vehicle is in motion. It’s the getting from stopped to going that is the issue and the Captur Intens is no different. There’s no engagement of drive from Park to Drive, or Reverse to Drive and vice versa. In Drive and at a standstill, there’s easily a second before the clutches engage and that’s time enough for oncoming vehicles that were a safe distance away to not be. There’s a dial in the centre console that offers three drive modes, one of which is Expert. It didn’t appear to change the feel of the Intens at all.
The interior: flat, slabby looking, hard to the touch, black plastics mix with a 1980s style monochrome dash display, truly odd button placement, and wasted design opportunities imbue a sense of WTF in driver and passenger. For example, the dial on the centre air vents didn’t move the louvres for better airflow, it closed them The small centrally mounted touchscreen also hails from the last decade and, as the radio (DAB through the optional Bose sound system) and map shared space on screen, had a Home button that was ineffective, and looked like an attempt at high tech in a low budget sci-fi movie, utterly failed to visually appeal.
Even the aircon had a quirk, with a button marked aircon off, with the end result presumably meaning the aircon is on all of the time otherwise. Safety? If you want more than four airbags, flashing brake lights in an emergency stop, and Blind Spot Warning then this is not the car for you.
2018 Holden Commodore Pricing Released….And It's Good!
Since Holden announced it would be ceasing car manufacturing in Australia, there was plenty of speculation about what would replace the locally developed and engineered Commodore. That answer was given and finally, in 2018, the fully imported Commodore will be released for the Australian market. Holden has today (December 12, 2017) provided pricing details and nope, they’re nowhere near as bad as some naysayers touted, nor are the spec levels anything to be ashamed of. There’s still a Sportwagon, too.
Tech will come in the form of such things as DAB (Digital Audio Broadcast), Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, Forward Collision Alert, Side Blind Zone Alert, the aforementioned 2.0-L turbo four and the adaptive all wheel drive for the V6 models, and more.
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