WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside When women CAMPUS • The Gulf English get to play actual School launches human beings Week Without Walls P | 4 P | 12 INTERIORS • urphy beds are making the bedroom superfluous Automakers want to turn back the clock to a time P | 6 when performance and speed trumped concerns about energy and the environment. A look at some FOOD • Rethinking a fatty of the hot wheels at North American International dip to have a Auto Show in Detroit. healthier side P | 7 HEALTH • Screen pregnant women for gestational diabetes: US panel P | 11 TECHNOLOGY • Google gains entry to homes and prized team with $3.2bn Nest deal P | 12 HOT WHEELS AT Learn Arabic • Learn commonly used Arabic words and their meanings DETROIT P | 13 2 PLUS | WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 COVER STORY Performance meets green at Detroit auto show By Paul Lienert Even the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z28, which goes on sale this spring, o look over the roster of racy has benefited from General Motors new and future vehicles at Co’s “lightweighting” efforts. GM engi- the 2014 North American neers shaved mass from the $75,000 TInternational Auto Show muscle car by using a smaller battery here, the initial impression is that and thinner rear glass, as well as elimi- US, European and Asian automak- nating the trunk carpet and the tire- ers want to turn back the clock to a inflator kit. time when performance and speed trumped concerns about energy and The Fun Factor the environment. Chevy also aims to amp up the fun So-called green cars — electric vehi- quotient for Corvette owners. Later cles, hybrids and hydrogen fuel cells this year, the 2015 Corvette will — are being heavily overshadowed at offer an optional Performance Data the Detroit show by sports cars, in a Recorder — essentially a built-in high- broad spectrum of sizes, shapes and def videocam and microphone that will price segments, from Ford Motor enable drivers to record up to 13 hours Co’s redesigned 2015 Mustang to Kia behind the wheel and play it all back Motors’ zippy GT4 Stinger concept. of yesteryear - or an economical 2.3- smaller to improve efficiency, but on the car’s in-dash touchscreen or “Speed sells,” said Michael Tracy, liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine devices such as turbochargers provide upload it to Facebook and other social principal at Michigan-based consul- that still cranks out an impressive 305 more power, so there is less tradeoff media sites. tancy the Agile Group. “People don’t horsepower. between going faster and going farther. Five years ago, during the depths talk about wanting to buy a Camaro “We’re seeing a new era of perform- Perhaps the epitome of the modern of the US auto industry’s recession, because the base V6 gets great ance cars that are very safe, very fuel- sports car is Kia’s GT4 Stinger, a com- “excess went out of fashion,” said con- mileage.” efficient and more mainstream,” said pact, low-slung four-passenger model sultant Merrihew, as auto companies industry consultant Lincoln Merrihew, fitted with a 315-horsepower turbo- parked their performance models to A Hint Of Green of Millward Brown Digital. charged 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine focus on greener technologies. In fact, there is more than a hint of that hints at a future rear-wheel-drive Now that the economy has green lurking in even the glamorous Evolving Definition performance model from the Korean rebounded and automakers are rede- sports cars at this year’s Detroit auto The definition of “performance” is manufacturer. fining performance as a combination show. Take the new Mustang, which evolving, from the old-school values of Makers of traditional sports cars of speed, safety and efficiency, “that this fall will offer buyers the choice straight-line acceleration and corner- are reducing weight, which further stigma is starting to fade,” he said, of a 420-horsepower 5.0-liter V8 - a ing capability. As with the Mustang enhances both sides of the power ver- “and performance cars are OK to buy throwback to the classic street cars and the Golf, engines are getting sus economy equation. again.” Reuters PLUS | WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 3 Here are some of the new cars and experimental concept vehicles unveiled at the show: Porsche 911 Targa: Porsche is dialing up the 911 with two new mod- els, the Targa 4 and 4S. As with the original 1965 Targa, the new models feature a roof bar, movable front roof section and wraparound rear window. The new roof can open and close at the push of a button and stow behind the rear seat. Porsche said they are aiming for a “sporty and low-slung profile.” The Targa 4 accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 4.6 seconds, the 4S slightly quicker with an optional package. The Targa 4 has a sticker price of $101,600 BMW 2 Series Coupe, M3 Sedan, and the 4S is at $116,200. Deliveries are M4 Coupe: The two-door, four-seat, scheduled to start this summer. rear-wheel drive 2 Series Coupe — the Corvette Z06: General Motors replacement for the 1 Series Coupe — rolled out a hot new version of the will come in a 228i version, which fea- Corvette Stingray, called the Z06, with tures a 240 horsepower, 2.0-litre V4 a staggering 625 horsepower super- engine, and the M235i version, which charged V8 engine. The company says features a 322 horsepower, 3.0-litre the performance of the 2015 Z06 will V6 engine. The 228i promises offers rival the best supercars in the world. 22-23 mph in the city and 34-35 mpg The car gets a new 6.2-litre engine and on the highway, depending on the a new eight-speed automatic trans- transmission. The M235i gets 19-22 mission. A seven-speed manual also is mpg in city driving and 28-32 mpg on available. The standard corvette has a the highway. Scheduled to go on sale six-speed automatic. The Z06 — and starting in March, BMW plans to sell the Corvette Racing CR7 — gets an the 228i for $33,025 and the M235i for aluminum frame. The car also has a $44,025. BMW also is showing its new removable top. No performance times 2015 model M3 Sedan and M4 Coupe. or prices were released. The standard Plans call for the cars to go on sale in Corvette starts around $52,000. early summer, with pricing and options Mercedes-Benz S600: The top announced in the coming months. model from Mercedes-Benz is get- Volkswagen Golf R: The compact ting an upgrade. The S600 sedan Volkswagen Golf is getting a power- features a 12-cylinder, 6.0-litre twin- ful boost. Its latest incarnation packs a turbocharged engine that packs 523 290 horsepower, 2.0-litre turbocharged “normal” and “race.” Volkswagen esti- the car was devised first in the Sony horsepower. With the look and feel engine that improves on past fuel effi- mates highway fuel economy around 31 PlayStation Gran Turismo game envi- expected from the highest tier of the ciency. The all-wheel-drive Golf R mpg with the six-speed manual trans- ronment. The automaker says FT-1 will luxury brand, it seats four or five and promises zero to 60 mph acceleration in mission, up from 27 mpg. The Golf R be available as a downloadable vehicle features touchpad controls that allow 4.9 seconds with the automatic trans- is scheduled to go on sale in the US for PlayStation 3 Gran Turismo 6. The letters, numbers and special charac- mission version. Sporty touches include as a four-door model only in the first physical car is designed to stir emotions ters to be entered in handwriting in a leather-wrapped three-spoke steering three months of 2015. Pricing will be and push limits with Toyota design, nine languages. It’s scheduled to go on wheel, as well as a two-branch exhaust announced later. according to Kevin Hunter, president sale in the spring. Pricing is yet to be with four chrome tips. And it features a Toyota FT-1: This vehicle’s devel- of Toyota’s Calty Design Research announced. series of performance modes, including opment started two years ago, and facility in Newport Beach, Calif. AP 4 PLUS | WEDNESDAY 15 JANUARY 2014 CAMPUS nternational Week is an annual celebration for the many cultures hosted within the American School of Doha’s (ASD) campus. The ASD com- ASD celebrates its diversity Imunity takes pride in the fact that it comprises over 2,100 students from 75 countries. The opening ceremony saw speeches from student council presidents of the high school, middle school and elementary school. As Aisha Javaid, high school student council president, said: “It isn’t every day that when you walk into a classroom you see children from every corner of the world working together. This diversity and richness of cultures is the gift of ASD to all of us in preparation for the increasingly globalised world.” ASD’s middle school president Omar Mardini shared his experience with the full student body for “Week Without Walls” and stated: “Last week, I had a chance to go to Sri Lanka for Week Without Walls. I learned more about the Sri Lankan culture. We stayed in the centre of the green country, Sigiriya. As a service project, we fixed up the school, played with the kids that were almost the same age as me… 14.