Fast Lane: Subaru, Bentley, Volkswagen, Audi, Classic Mini

New Forester in 2025

Subaru unveiled the new Forester hybrid in the United States on Feb 6, 2025. It comes with a new design and a larger engine, and Singapore is expected to launch the model by the last quarter of 2025.

The boxy silhouette of the outgoing car is retained, but the new model features a lot more detailing, especially along the flanks, with indentations and rugged plastic cladding.

A 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster replaces the traditional analogue layout of the outgoing generation. This works in tandem with an 11.6-inch screen in the middle of the dashboard.

Mechanically, the 2.5-litre hybrid engine is paired with a continuously variable transmission to send drive to all four wheels.

Special McLaren in Singapore

Eurokars Supersports, the importer of McLaren sports cars in Singapore, unveiled a special version of the 750S to its customers during the Chinese New Year season in January.

The McLaren 750S MSO Double Podium Singapore Tribute was created to mark the racing team’s performance at the Formula One Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix in 2024. At that race weekend, McLaren Racing’s Lando Norris took the top spot on the podium, while Oscar Piastri was third. The duo’s first double podium was at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2023.

The one-off car features a host of touches from McLaren Special Operations (MSO) – from the exposed carbon fibre bonnet to the rear wing with hand-painted finishing.

The car is otherwise identical to the standard 750S, with a 4-litre twin turbo mid-engine supercar packing 740hp and 800Nm of torque, a 0-100kmh timing of 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 332kmh.

The unique creation is priced at $1.59 million without certificate of entitlement (COE), compared with $1.4 million without COE for the standard 750S.

Ms Dawn Loo, general manager of Eurokars Supersports, told The Straits Times on Feb 10 that the company plans to introduce different special editions of the McLaren line-up in the coming months, including a collaboration with a Singapore artist to hand-paint one of the models.

Big Mini adventure

British explorer Ben Coombs made a 6,437km journey across South America in an attempt to reach the peak of the world’s tallest volcano in Chile’s Atacama Desert in a plucky 1974 Mini, nicknamed Daisy, accompanied by a 1990 Range Rover in January 2024.

Since returning from the drive, the Mini is being further modified for more overland outings in 2025. Coombs plans to take a group of 17 vehicles to the Arctic Circle in March.

To cope with the altitude as the car made the ascent, the size of the Mini’s carburettor jet was progressively increased. Even so, the car struggled to get enough fuel into the engine. Eventually, just 100m from the 6,000m target, the engine refused to start, forcing Coombs to head down the boulder field to start the 2,414km return journey.

Despite the challenging terrain that included sharp rocks and rutted tracks that needed tyre pressures to be lowered to gain traction, the car did not suffer any punctures.

The attempt to reach the peak of the volcano follows Coombs’ earlier adventures that included driving across the length of the Americas in a TVR Chimera and crossing Africa in a Porsche 944. More details of his exploits can be found on

www.planetpub2pub.com

More affordable VW EV

Volkswagen will unveil its new entry-level electric vehicle (EV) in March 2025. The EV is among nine new models that the German carmaker plans to launch by 2027.

Expected to be priced at €20,000 (S$28,000), the unnamed model is set €13,000 below the ID3, Volkswagen’s first EV with the modular electric drive matrix (MEB) architecture and, currently, the smallest model.

The plan was announced by Mr Thomas Schafer, chief executive of Volkswagen Passenger Cars, along with the company’s pledge to be “the technologically leading volume manufacturer globally by 2030”.

Volkswagen’s current EV line-up in Singapore consists of the ID4, ID5 and ID. Buzz. The ID3 was never officially sold in Singapore, although there are parallel imported units on the road.

New 1928 Le Mans racer 

An avid Bentley fan who already has four modern Bentley models and one Continuation Series “Blower” 4½ Litre Supercharged has taken delivery of his sixth Bentley, a Speed Six Continuation Series.

Continuation Series are newly hand-built cars from Bentley’s exclusive Mulliner arm that are crafted according to the original specifications of the brand’s legendary racers. The Speed Six Continuation Series delivered is the third car out of 12 that Bentley intends to make.

Taking eight months to build, the car has been customised to feature details that hold special significance for the owner and his family. This includes the blended shade of green, which is a combination of the traditional British Racing Green that donned the original Speed Six, and a lighter shade that was on a scale Blower Bentley model that the owner received as a child.

The Speed Six was a sporting version of the Bentley 6½ Litre and won the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1929 and 1930. In all, Bentley made 182 units between 1928 and 1930.

The Continuation Series version of the Speed Six was based on two original cars – one is owned by Bentley and another was borrowed from an owner. These cars form the basis for all the measurements, materials and components for the new creations.

Audi hits ‘undo’ on new naming

Audi is ditching its plan to name its electric vehicles (EV) differently from models with combustion engines, reverting to the familiar alphanumeric format. The letter A denotes lower-slung models such as saloons and coupes, while Q represents sport utility vehicles.

The numeral following the alphabet represents the size of the model. Currently, the largest model is the A8, while the smallest is the A1.

In the earlier plan, EV models would be even numbered and odd numbers would be used for models with combustion engines. Now, the propulsion technology will be a suffix to the name: e-tron for electric and TFSI for petrol combustion engine, among others.

This means that the electric large saloon will be called the Audi A6 e-tron, while the upcoming petrol-powered version, instead of becoming the A7, will still be called the A6. However, the smaller Audi A5, which in 2024 was announced as the combustion-powered replacement to the A4, will not be renamed.

Mr Marco Schubert, Audi’s board member for sales and marketing, said on Feb 3 that the decision followed “intensive discussions and also follows the wishes of our customers as well as feedback from our international dealers”.

Prior to Audi’s announcement, Mercedes-Benz said in 2024 that it will stop using the “EQ” badge for its electric vehicles. Instead, what was to be called the EQG, which would have been the electric version of the new G-wagen, was named as the G580 with EQ Technology.