October 2012: NASA’s ‘Curiosity’ rover may be making news on Mars, but here on earth we have the almost-as-high-tech new Range Rover. It’s the world’s first aluminium monocoque SUV.
September 2012: Some cars just grip and hold their line. But then there are those, like the Jaguar XKR-S, that don’t. Sure, it has loads of aero addenda to keep it in line, but as a certain N Karthikeyan proved at our annual track day, the Jag just loves to dance.
August 2012: Some see the countryside for the trees. For the green fields and the smell of chlorophyll permeating the air. Others see a playground. One where the earth is your sand pit, the air is pungent with diesel, the toys are torqued-up 4x4s and everybody leaves wearing a uniform shade of mud.
July 2012: A 503bhp Jaguar and 5000 square kilometres of absolutely flat land to play with.
June 2012: It’s still called a Mini, and compared to other luxury cars, it still is. But look at the 2012 car and the ’60s originals in the same frame, and the word ‘compact’ takes on a whole new meaning.
May 2012: Porsche’s venerable flat six in its latest guise powers the all-new Boxster. The new version is much cleaner, greener and meaner. The rasp is even sharper and the top end is even more manic.
April 2012: The most spectacular leg of the entire ‘four-corners-of-India’ drive started as soon as we crossed the Brahmaputra. It was 230 kilometres of untouched, unspoilt, isolated beauty.
March 2012
February 2012: We had exactly five seconds to click this shot. Any longer, and the car would’ve been completely obscured from our frame by camera-toting admirers.
January 2012: Merc’s new M-class crunches its way up the snowed-in path with ease. It has the torque, traction and smart diffs that help keep it on the road — or lack thereof. And it looks fresh with its new identity.