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The Geneva International Motor Show, which was scheduled from March 5 to 15, might have been cancelled but that has not stopped manufacturers from showcasing their latest models.
The Switzerland Federal Council has banned events with more than 1000 people taking place until March 15. The injunction was put in place to help curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Manufacturers have had to find other ways to showcase their latest models. Most have resolved to just having video streams of the unveilings, but other manufacturers like Koenigsegg still had unveilings at the Palexpo convention centre where the motor show was scheduled to take place.
Koenigsegg
Koenigsegg invited a few brave journalists to fly in and check out their new cars, in particular the new, monstrous family car the Gemera.
Koenigsegg boss Christian von Koenigsegg described the new car as a “mega grand tour”. Mega it certainly is.
The four-seat car features a small 2.0-litre 3-cylinder engine producing a massive 447kW and 600Nm of torque. That engineering marvel of an engine works together with three electric motors, one located at each rear wheel and one on the crankshaft.
Together the electric motors produce 820kW, taking the total 1267kW or 1.27MW and 3500Nm, that’s the mega part sorted then.
The GT part comes from the fact that this car will take in four adults in comfort. It even features eight cup holders, something rarely seen in supercars.
Only 300 of these cars will be made. The mega car will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 1.9 seconds and go on to a top speed of 400km/h.
The other car Koenigsegg showed off was the Jesko Absolut. No, it is not a car produced in conjunction with a vodka brand... the absolut stands for absolute madness.
The Absolut is the fastest Koenigsegg ever, quite a feat for a car company that has been making 400km/h+ cars for more than 10 years. The Absolut is poised to become the first car to hit the 500km/h barrier.
It features a more conventional 5.0-litre V8 producing a 1600kW and 1500Nm of torque. Power goes to the rear wheel via a nine-speed Light Speed Transmission by Koenigsegg.
The transmission breaks all the laws of transmissions. Koenigsegg says that the transmission “enables gear changes in virtually zero time from any gear to any other gear, regardless of how many gears are skipped”.
Audi
On the more normal side of things, Audi announced its new Audi A3.
The new A3 looks a lot like the old A3 but that’s Audi for you. They sharpened up the look but nothing drastic.
The changes that are easy to spot are in the interior. The A3 new dash is dominated by touchscreen infotainment that looks a lot like the one found in its bigger brothers, the A7 and Q8.
Unlike the big brothers though the A3 only has one screen in the centre console. It keeps the physical climate control keys, something that’s appreciated as the touchscreen configuration found in the bigger cars can be a pain to use on the move.
The driver’s cockpit screen has grown in size and also features new crisper graphics. The interior is a sharp-looking thing; the air vents look like they are borrowed from the Lamborghini parts bin.
Merc
Mercedes-Benz also unveiled the facelifted E-Class and, unlike the A3, most visual changes with the E-Class are on the exterior.
Fresh new headlights and rear lights and a new grille give the E-Class a design more in-line with all the Mercedes range.
BMW
BMW continued the trend with the unveiling of the Concept i4. The Concept i4 is a concept version of next’s years i4 electric car, the third car to come out from BMW’s i division after cars like the i8 and the i3.
Poised to take on the popular Tesla Model 3, the i4 will feature a 530bhp electric motor. Powering the motor is an 80kWh battery. It will do 0-100km/h in 4.0 seconds.
The range is stated at 600km under the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle test standard. The concept i4 also gives glimpses of what the upcoming combustion engine powered 4 Series Gran Coupe will look like. The cars share the same platform.
So it looks like the massive snout-like kidney grille is here to stay.
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Sthembiso LebusoJournalist | City Press | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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