Table of contents for January 2018 in Wheels

What is it? Audi’s latest exploration of combustion engine fuels that don’t rely on petrochemicals sucked from the ground. A pilot factory is being constructed in Switzerland that will produce up to 400,000 litres of e-diesel per year using nothing but renewable energy and water. How does it work? When complete, the industrial lab in Laufenburg will use electricity from a neighbouring hydroelectric power station to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. In the second stage of processing, the hydrogen is combined with CO2 that is either extracted from the atmosphere or waste from other industrial processes instead of being released to the environment as a greenhouse gas. In a secret reverse water-gas shift reaction, the hydrogen and CO2 form long hydrocarbon chains, and in the final stage, a Fischer-Tropsch…

BYE, AUSTRALIAN How many readers of Wheels magazine can remember the days of the Federal Government spruiking the ‘Australian Made’ campaign? I certainly can. Look at every state and local authority. Almost each one has a police presence, many have an ambulance, each shire council has a fleet of cars – meaning every government authority in this country, be it federal, state or local, buys an enormous number of vehicles each year. And yet, over the years, our politicians in these cities and towns have slowly but surely ditched Holdens and Falcons for, from my observations, mainly Korean, and in many country towns, Toyota Prados. If each government authority at every level had been honest with us and led by example by buying Australian, the volume in this segment alone…

JUST like that it’s over. No more Australian-made Camry, ending 91 years of manufacturing that began with Standard/Triumph. Frankly, however, the old Altona-assembled Camry was past it, trailing all in a 10-midsizer comparo (Wheels, September 2016) due to a drab cabin, rattly fittings, fidgety ride and endless droning. Approaching the imported 70-series Camry (the eighth since 1983) is like bumping into an ex; you hope things have worked out for them but also feel a tinge of schadenfreude if anything’s amiss. National pride aside, the change is promising. Now out of Japan again from $27,690, the completely redesigned and re-engineered range is up to $4K exxier compared to the outgoing $26,990 driveaway promotional pricing, but leaps ahead in value. Now AEB, adaptive cruise control, lane-departure warning and LED headlights with…

JUST 10 percent of Aussie Maserati Levante buyers are expected to shell out for this thrusty new twin-turbo V6 S version, yet it’s almost a no brainer that this is the drivetrain the high-riding Italian has been crying out for. Built by Ferrari in its Maranello engine plant, we get the full-boost 321kW/580Nm version of the twin-turbo 3.0-litre direct-injection V6, tied to ZF’s excellent eight-speed auto and Maserati’s highly effective all-wheel-drive system. It’s predominantly a rear-drive set-up that can transfer up to 50 percent to the front treads, and features a mechanical rear LSD and torque vectoring. And in fast going, its operation is seamless, sending drive to the outside rear wheel in a highly entertaining fashion. Channel your inner Ricciardo and the Levante S delivers a physics-defying display of…

ALPINE is the best sports car maker most people have never heard of. The Renault-owned brand hasn’t produced a car since 1995, but now it’s back with the A110. It’s a tactile, thrilling thing to drive, a 1100kg bundle of energy that takes the best principles of Lotus and Porsche and remixes them with the Renaultsport knowhow that makes the Megane RS such a weapon. That this newcomer is simultaneously so usable, comfortable and unintimidating to throw around only underlines its appeal. But then, that’s what Alpines always were about – cars to rip over a mountain pass, not destroy the quarter mile. Alpine was founded by Frenchman Jean Rédélé in 1955, won the inaugural World Rally Championship and Le Mans during the 1970s, and was snapped up by Renault…

THE SHRIEK IS TOTALLY WRONG: NO PONTIAC FIREBIRD EVER SOUNDED LIKE THIS THE SHRILL roar, the instant responsiveness of rising-falling revs, echoes around the huge warehouse. Except the shriek is totally wrong: no Pontiac Firebird ever sounded like this. Where is the anticipated deep, low-revving burble of a rumbling GM V8, gulping for air through a four-barrel Rochester carby? Clearly, this is no ordinary 1970 second-generation Firebird. Intrigued, photographer Wielecki and I discover it’s a Bill Mitchell special. During Mitchell’s reign (1958 to 1977) as vice-president of design at GM, he led a team that created some of the best-looking American cars ever built (1963 Corvette Sting Ray, 1963 Buick Riviera, 1966 Oldsmobile Toronado and the first 1967 Camaro). He also commissioned 55 personal cars, an average of three a…

1 STATIC POKE AND PROD After a short presentation on each model’s genesis, the judges inspect its every orifice. Exterior and interior design, packaging efficiency, seating, cargo space, versatility. 2 RIDE AND HANDLING: SEALED ROAD (4.0KM) Used for on-limit handling, bitumen ESC effectiveness, braking stability and steering characteristics. 3 RIDE AND HANDLING: GRAVEL ROAD (1.4KM) Slippery sand over hard-packed clay, and a slight crown. Used to assess handling and ESC effectiveness. 4 DIRT ABS TEST Full-force panic stop at 80km/h on a silty surface that can become muddy in wet conditions. 5 ROUGH RIDE ROAD (1.0KM) Potholes, patches, lumps and bumps driven at a steady 100km/h reveal plenty about a car’s ride, stability and rigidity. 6 DOUBLE LANE-CHANGE (120M) Simulates emergency avoidance manoeuvre at 80km/h. Primarily assesses ESC system on…

THERE’S a certain calculated conservatism to Audi’s Q5 that, were you of a cynical persuasion, could be described as vehicle development by numbers. It’s hard to shake off the feeling that plug-and-playing parts from the Volkswagen-Audi Group’s existing platform and componentry catalogue to form a cohesive end result can’t have been overly taxing. Despite this circumspection, the Mexican-built Q5 initially seems greater than the sum of its parts bin. In fact, it’s a thing of quiet loveliness in the way that it draws a bead on its target market and then coolly ticks boxes until it appears folly to consider anything else. Audi does button-pressing with a truly opaque guile. We arrived with a $65,900 2.0 TDI quattro, a $73,500 2.0 TFSI quattro and a $99,611 SQ5 and it was…

GIVEN the ever-expanding footprint of the medium-SUV category, the importance of the Equinox to Holden’s fortunes in this country cannot be overstated. If this Astra/Cruze-derived front- or all-wheel-drive wagon manages the expected 20,000 sales per year, the Equinox will become Holden’s best-selling vehicle. And if not, someone at GM needs to take a long, hard look at the opposition. Against two core COTY criteria – Value and Function – the Equinox punts the ball directly between the goal posts. The $28K LS manual solidly nails the equipment brief for its modest outlay, although you need to stretch to the auto-only LS+ ($33K) to ensnare a full safety suite of AEB, forward collision alert (with your choice of a near-deafening audible warning or a mildly titillating driver’s seat that vibrates), along…

THE i30 is a Korea best. It’s more accomplished than anything the country’s biggest car maker has done before. “Hyundai at last comes of age,” noted Mathioudakis. His fellow judges wouldn’t disagree. This is a range of good-looking small hatchbacks from a car maker that’s finally reached maturity, after a long and spotty puberty. But while the i30 line-up is generally polished, some models in the range shine brighter than others. The SR and SR Premium, the only i30 models equipped with Hyundai’s fine 1.6-litre turbo four and multi-link rear suspension, are the stars. There’s very lively performance, delivered in a refined fashion, to go with a chassis that neatly blends agility and comfort. While the ride and handling of third-generation i30 models with turbo power is a cut above…

 IT’S BEEN almost seven years since Land Rover last introduced a fresh model line, with 2011’s Range Rover Evoque. And much like that fashion-forward trendsetter, the arrival of the Velar, which sits elegantly above the Evoque and below the iconic Range Rover Sport, ushers in a new era of glamour to the JLR line-up. “A RIVA POWERBOAT FOR THE ROAD, IN DYNAMICS AS WELL AS LOOKS” JOHN CAREY “IMPRESSIVELY FAST AND EFFORTLESS. THE GEARBOX IS JUST PERFECT (FOR AN AUTO)” BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS The Velar smugly side-eyes the BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC and Jaguar F-Pace (while sitting on the latter’s aluminium-intensive D7A platform, and even sharing its wheelbase) and, wow, does this Brit do it with style. Cue a futuristic, concept-like cabin featuring multi-hued and textured leathers, a clean and minimalist…

 WELCOME to the Volkswagen CC replacement, one of several late-year releases and in every sense a Car of the Year wildcard. “REAR HEADROOM TIGHT-ISH” TOBY HAGON “JUST LIKE A PASSAT ONLY MORE SUPERB” JOHN CAREY Following in the footsteps of its low-slung predecessor, the newly christened Arteon continues in the Mercedes-Benz CLS-style mould of being a more rakish and richly equipped version of a sedan. While in this scenario we’re again talking about the Passat mid-sizer, changes abound for the model that now serves as Volkswagen’s flagship. For starters, the Arteon ditches a bootlid for a liftback (the first Passat derivative to do so in 30 years, history buffs), adding another dimension of family-friendly practicality, backed up by an extended wheelbase offering near-limo levels of rear-seat legroom (if not headroom).…

“VERY FAT A-PILLARS. VISIBILITY POOR ON ROUNDABOUTS” JOHN CAREY “TAILY AROUND THE HAIRPIN. SURPRISINGLY PLAYFUL” TOBY HAGON AFTER consecutive wins for the Mazda MX-5 and CX-9, there were few betting against the updated KF-generation CX-5 making it an unprecedented three COTY wins in a row for the brand. The original CX-5 was already an accomplished thing, and Hiroshima had clearly listened to customers in excising that car’s key shortcoming; namely its lack of aural refinement. Of course, improving quality and delivering more kit wouldn’t hurt its chances either. A vote from every judge into the second round is the best guarantor of a place at the pointiest end of COTY, but a berth in the final three eluded the CX-5. Two key issues held it back. The first was its…

THE FINAL three and there’s an Alfa Romeo among them. Can you believe it? You ought to. In almost every conceivable sense, the Giulia nails its maker’s brief of being a dynamic, efficient and enjoyable sports sedan that puts the driver first. Not only is this podium result the highest ever for the Milanese brand, it’s also the highest ever for an Italian car. In the 55 years of this award, that’s difficult to believe. Our first inkling that Alfa had created something special occurred when we initially savoured the new-generation Giulia (known internally as Tipo 952) back in the middle of 2016. And later, on Australian soil, the Giulia scored two memorable comparo victories against ruthless rivals from Germany and England. For readers with long memories, winning is how…

IT CAN be cruel and pitiless, COTY testing. Having run this long-term LC500 for the previous two months, I was keener than most to see how the big Japanese muscle car would perform at our toughest week of the year. I was, justifiably I’d say, optimistic of the LC’s chances. Striking to look at, superbly made and luxuriously comfortable, it’s even possible to argue the LC is decent value considering its wow factor, size, quality and performance. The addition of the Hybrid model, which uses a fiendishly complex powertrain to boost performance and economy, appears to have COTY’s technology criterion covered off too. And yet despite the promise, the LC failed to progress beyond the proving ground. The full reasons why are detailed on page 110, but I suspect there’s…

WHAT started out as a brief and exciting overseas fling on the freezing streets of Hyundai’s native South Korea way back in February, and became a blossoming longterm relationship with the i30 SR Premium, has all too quickly come to an end. It wasn’t just the fact that I continued to see other cars, spending time intimately handling their interior parts, or the fact the Hyundai spent many happy hours getting to know other Wheels staffers, including the odd weekend away enjoying the company of strangers. The keys always came back to my bowl. Some relationships simply run their course and when it’s time to go your own way it’s best to do it with maturity and dignity. But the truth is the i30 SR and…

SPIFFING DISTANCE As CEO of the Royal Automobile Club, Markus Friedler spends his days among timber-lined corridors, serene reading rooms, quilted leather chairs and framed photos of Australian motor racing in the 1920s-’50s. His Volvo S60 Polestar downstairs might be parked next to an AMG GT or a 1920s Rolls-Royce. “We always make sure we put an oil-spillage tray underneath those old-timers,” he says. “We learned that lesson …” IT’S HARD to tell what it is that so perfectly equips the gentlemanly Markus Friedler, 54, to be CEO and Secretary of the Royal Automobile Club of Australia, headquartered in a grand, heritage-listed building in Sydney’s prime Macquarie Street. Logically, it’s Friedler’s family history in hospitality and his subsequent, stellar career as a general manager and turnaround specialist for international hotels.…

TWIN turbos make BMWs fast today, but the company has a plan that will eventually put triple-motor EVs at the very top of its performance car hierarchy. Sometime by the middle of the next decade, BMW’s most desirable car is likely to be an EV that’s quicker than today’s M5, with a greater driving range than the current Tesla Model S, and which looks like the i Vision Dynamics concept revealed in Frankfurt last year. “The trend towards e-mobility is irreversible,” according to BMW sales chief Ian Robertson. The experienced exec was speaking recently in Munich at an exclusive workshop to brief media on the company’s latest product strategy. The problem for BMW is that the world isn’t moving towards an electric-powered driving future at a uniform pace. “Governments have…

Impress your Porsche fanatic friends when you tell them you built a 2.0-litre flat six on the weekend and it started first time. They don’t have to know it was a 1:4 scale model of the original 1966 911 engine. The 290-piece kit requires no messy glue and uses transparent parts to offer an X-ray view of the internal components moving. Porsche does not say whether it is Euro6 compliant. Porsche flat-six model kit $329 shop3.porsche.com/Australia Is that an Aston Martin bonnet-badge-display-case-shaped gap on your garage wall? It is? Well you’re in luck. For the Aston owner who has everything, the British car maker has created a set of nine bonnet badges to celebrate the brand’s involvement in the World Endurance Championship, limiting global allocation to just 249…

WE’VE BECOME fat on torque, gorging ourselves on great dripping gobs of it. Once you sample the addictively brawny character of the RS4 Avant’s turbocharged V6, you’ll wonder how you ever managed without 600Nm of the stuff. Before we go any further with that line of reasoning, let’s throw on the picks and pull it into context. The flagship of Audi’s sports car portfolio, the R8 V10, only hawks up 540Nm. And it’s torque that transforms this latest RS4. When compared with the original B5-gen RS4 from 1999, power has risen by 18 percent, while torque has stepped up by twice that amount, the latest car developing better than 36 percent more. The old 20th-century 2.7-litre V6 RS4 made more Newton metres than the last normally aspirated V8 model, a…

THE HOLDEN Equinox has active aerodynamics. Yep, it’s true. This mid-size SUV is more sophisticated than its American hire-car styling might suggest. Dozens of elements including motorised louvres behind the grille bring incremental efficiency improvements, and its lengthy list of engineering cleverness continues from there. Aussie engineers devoted five years of input to this car’s clean-sheet North American development and carried out an extensive local assimilation program to fine tune it for Oz. Revisions to the dampers, anti-roll bars and bushes tighten up the chassis to make it “drive like a Holden should,” the brand says. Engines include two petrols (a diesel will be added soon) in front- or all-wheel-drive configuration. Five trim levels range in price from $27,990 for the LS manual to $46,290 for the range-topping LTZ-V AWD.…

HOW DO you make one of the best hot hatches even better? Ford’s Focus RS has won over the hearts of Wheels staffers, but even we will admit that there was still room for improvement. Enter the Focus RS Limited Edition. It doesn’t address our complaints about cabin quality or uncomfortably high front seats, but nevertheless, the Limited Edition which lobs at a $6K premium over the normal Focus RS, is no sticker-pack special. Power output remains at 257kW/440Nm from the 2.3-litre turbocharged four-pot, but it’s the new Quaife mechanical limited-slip differential on the front axle that makes the Limited Edition something special. Tested back-to-back with the ‘regular’ Focus RS at Sydney Motorsport Park, the Limited Edition’s traction advantage was obvious. Power goes down more cleanly, with the front inside…

THERE’S a pocket of industry in south-eastern Melbourne with deeper significance to the Australian motoring story than it lets on. Long before Holden Special Vehicles called it home, this site in the suburb of Clayton produced thousands of cars every year to get Aussies mobile. Volkswagen built the walls and paved the way from 1954, Nissan and Datsun took over in the 1970s, before the baton was eventually handed to Volvo who let the site fall silent in 1988. HSV picked up the torch in 1994 and more than two decades later began assembling the vehicle Australia will forever remember as the high water mark for locally made cars – the HSV GTS-R W1. The race-derived super-sedan is the most extreme thing to leave the Clayton facility in its 63-year…

Keeping John Carey’s immortal “monotonous repetition is the foundation of great road testing” mantra foremost in mind, COTY’s road loop is all about re-tracing the same roads, at roughly the same speeds, in every Stage Two variant. Deviating slightly from our previous route due to the implimentation of 80km/h limits in former 100km/h zones, the road loop begins in the charming village of Loch, transitioning from a 50km/h-limited suburban street directly into the topographically challenging 100km/h-signposted turf that is the Loch-Wonthaggi Road. A driver change just after the roundabout on the sinuous Bena-Kongwak Road introduces an even lumpier surface until emerging in the hamlet of Bena. Then it’s left on the South Gippsland Highway – a great test of engine torque, cruise control and driver-assist systems – before returning to…

CONTENDERS don’t get long to make a favourable impression during the first few days of COTY and that’s exactly how it should be, in a way replicating the time spent during the test drive experience of a paying customer. If a car can’t shine in that first 20 minutes at Lang Lang, it’s almost a guarantee it will struggle to progress – a quandary in which BMW’s 5 Series finds itself. So technologically dense is the G30 generation that it takes quite a while to appreciate its breadth of talent. Unfortunately it seems that a focus on driver aids and infotainment has come at the expense of the sort of driving dynamics we associate with the 5 Series. In short, it no longer feels like the keen driver’s choice in…

THE MOST improved new vehicle of 2017? That’d be Honda’s CR-V hands down. Now in its fifth generation since helping lead the medium-SUV onslaught some two decades ago, this is new-from-the-ground-up stuff, sharing nothing from before bar its nameplate. And thank Lord Soichiro for that! The previous model unceremoniously bombed out of COTY 2013 due to being uncharacteristically rubbish. But clearly Honda has been listening. The new CR-V’s fresh, strong ‘Earth Dreams’ chassis soaks up bumps where previous versions would simply telegraph them through inside. Noise, vibration and harshness levels have been quelled significantly; the stability and traction control systems now work with (rather than against) smooth and relaxing passage; and general handling and roadholding traits have improved markedly. Volkswagen’s (previous) Tiguan and the BMW X3 served as dynamic benchmarks,…

 IF YOU’RE going to be late to a party then bring it or don’t bother attending. Clearly, this is the approach Hyundai adopted with the all-new Kona which goes all-out to impress the baby-SUV set. “THE 1.6-LITRE TURBO ENGINE IS A LITTLE BEAUTY!” JOHN CAREY “OVER-MARKETED, UNDER-ENGINEERED” ALEX INWOOD Positioned beneath the big-selling Tucson, the Californian-styled, German-engineered newcomer makes a grand entrance with striking looks backed by an array of colour and accessory couture. This South Korean-built crossover is literally high fashion right now. Based on the latest i30 hatch platform, Hyundai’s packaging boffins have also created a comparatively spacious and sensibly laid out interior, despite being even shorter than arch-rival Mazda CX-3, courtesy of a wide and lengthy footprint. So, five at a squeeze will fit, with a segment-average…

 FIVE years ago Australians were ready to write Peugeot off. Irrelevant. Uncompetitive. Compromised. Expensive. The 130-year-old carmaker had not only lost its way but seemingly also its mind. “IT’S AN ARCHITECT’S CAR” NOELLE FAULKNER “I WANTED TO LOVE THIS CAR AND IT DIDN’T DISAPPOINT” ALEX INWOOD Then came the all-new second-gen 308 in 2014, nearly scooping COTY with its high levels of efficiency, refinement and involvement. Sadly, continuing slow sales simply reflect the damage that the 2000s cars inflicted on the brand. However, in SUV-obsessed Oz, the 3008 should drive Peugeot’s consumer renaissance, even if its walrus-like predecessor’s name carries through. Handsome on the outside and almost radical on the inside, the mid-sized crossover really amps up design, technical innovation and functionality within a package that sits roughly between a…

 IF THEATRICS were part of the COTY criteria the Tesla Model X could have scooped the gong on day one. Its polarising Falcon Wing doors rise like a bird majestically preparing for take-off. Hidden within those innovative rear apertures are two sets of hinges and six sensors designed to stop them from banging into things, but at least one judge’s noggin provides empirical evidence that the system hasn’t quite been perfected. “THOSE REAR DOORS ARE A NIGHTMARE” JOHN CAREY “THE PUNCH THIS THING HAS OUT OF CORNERS IS INCREDIBLE” ALEX INWOOD Then you press the accelerator, launching Tesla’s 2.5-tonne electric family car towards the horizon as if scooped up by the hand of God. The 100D is quick, but the P100D is ballistic, able to blast to 100km/h in 3.1…

“AN ENTHUSIAST’S ESCAPE FROM THE MUNDANE AND PRETENTIOUS” BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS “VIRTUALLY PERFECTLY PITCHED. A JOYOUS LITTLE THING” ANDY ENRIGHT WHEN casting agents devised the term ‘triple threat’, they couldn’t have known it would aptly describe Suzuki’s charming fifth-gen Swift. The third iteration since the nameplate’s 2005 reboot presents a three-strong line-up brimming with audience-pleasing sparkle and an ability to sing, dance and act. A grown-up sophisticate when it needs to be, yet also capable of playing fun-to-drive every time you get behind the wheel, it’s the sort of car we like very much. Offering more room and vastly superior comfort is one thing, but it’s the new Swift’s 135kg weight loss – and the subsequent benefits to its fuel efficiency and agility – that mark this little belter as a…

SIZEABLE and capable, affordable and likeable, the Kodiaq brings a lot of ‘able’ to the table. This big SUV doesn’t have winning looks, but it is adept at earning respect. Admirable rather than desirable, the Kodiaq’s good-natured character and unrelenting usefulness carried it to the final stage of COTY 2018. Skoda’s faceted and sharply creased exterior design language works well on the Czech brand’s cars, especially the almost-medium Octavia liftback and wagon and small Fabia hatch, but isn’t so successful when stretched to the scale of a seven-seat SUV like the Kodiaq. While not offensive to look at, it is visually bulky and rather plain. This Skoda’s beauty is all on the inside. The spacious interior of the Kodiaq has been artfully arranged. Comfortable and supportive front seats face a…

LIKE MILLIONS of other working-class Aussies, economic necessity means I’m forced to endure a grinding cross-town commute twice a day, five days a week. An upside for me, however, is that I get to do it in a wide range of cars and can spend at least some of those otherwise lost 60 minutes considering various aspects of vehicle performance. Judging by my fellow motorists this discipline is not nearly as popular as talking or texting on the phone, picking one’s proboscis, or doing your nails, but it works for me. My drive starts in the tree-fringed northeast of Melbourne and, depending on the chosen route, often includes the first 15 minutes traversing an undulating back road, laced with an assortment of hills, twists, turns and even the odd ’roo…

WANT to feel inadequate? Drive a Kia Picanto into a carpark filled with a supercharged Tickford Mustang, a duo of Porsches, a Golf R wagon and a Renaultsport Clio 182 with the intent of joining the cohort on a spirited run through some of Melbourne’s best driving roads. It was like I’d walked into a skirmish armed with a pea-shooter, while my opponents were packing more firepower than a Southern Texan militia. I might be getting a little ahead of myself here. I should explain why the Picanto and I were surrounded by such a formidable armada. It was painfully early on a Sunday morning, and I’d forced myself out of bed and some caffeine down my gullet in order to take part in a Drive against Depression ‘Treasure Hunt’…

IT’S HARD to deny that 2017 was a vintage year for new metal. Cars like the HSV GTS-R W1, the Volvo XC60, the Porsche 991.2 GTS, the Toyota C-HR, the McLaren 720S, the Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio and the Range Rover Velar all made last year one for the ages. Or so we thought. It seems that it’s about to be upstaged quite unceremoniously by the onslaught of new model reveals slated for the next 12 months. Such is the pace of change in new-car development, driven both by disruptive technology and emerging Asian powerhouses, that the traditional seven-year lifecycle for new cars is being compressed. This accelerating conveyor belt of newer, shinier and better product is creating a buyer’s market like never before. In real terms, cars are around 40…

JANUARY-FEBRUARY BMW 3 Series facelift, 6 Series GT and i3S; CITROEN C3 hatch; HOLDEN ZB Commodore/Calais; JAGUAR XF Sportbrake; LAND ROVER Discovery Sport update and Range Rover Evoque update; MERCEDES-BENZ S-Class facelift; MAZDA MX-5 update and MX-5 Limited Edition; MITSUBISHI Eclipse Cross; NISSAN Navara update; SUZUKI Swift Sport; VOLKSWAGEN Golf GTI Original three-door MARCH-APRIL ALFA ROMEO Stelvio; GENESIS G70; HYUNDAI i30 N and Ioniq hybrid; JAGUAR E-Pace, XJ update and XJR 575; KIA Cerato sedan; LAND ROVER Range Rover Sport facelift and Range Rover facelift; SUBARU Forester; VOLKSWAGEN Mk6 Polo 70TSI/85TSI DUE FEBRUARY Holden ZB Commodore/Calais Hitting Holden showrooms late in February, the German-built ZB Commodore and Calais range will attempt to offer something for everyone (besides a V8 engine...). Starting at $33,690 for the Commodore LT 2.0-litre front-drive ‘liftback’…

by the legions of Volkswagens, Audis, BMWs and even – improbably – Buicks. Imports have a far greater appeal to wealthy Chinese buyers than domestic models. Strike one for freedom of choice in what remains, technically at least, a communist state. But if the Chinese won’t buy their own cars, why should anyone else? Previous attempts to sell Chinese models in first- world markets like Australia have been viewed more as amusement than transportation, but things are set to change, and to understand why you have to look at the odd dynamics of the Chinese market. This is effectively split into three: pure domestic cars at the bottom, a middle ground of locally built models from international brands and then a top end of super expensive luxury imports. Until now,…

EVER been the new kid at school? A mid-semester interloper who one day shows up at the front of the class, long after the other kids have settled in? That’s the Volvo XC40 – a handsome, high-achieving type bound to make its class compatriots jealous. While these entrenched rivals, who go by the names Q3, X1 and GLA, will do their best to cut the XC40 down to size, everyone else will likely adore it. Here’s why. Call us shallow but appearance matters. The unconventional XC40 forgoes the traditional eight-pillar turret of many SUV wagons for a hatchback-style look that bookends the glasshouse with a thick C-pillar rather than a dainty D-pillar. Broad at the base, yet tapering towards its intersection with the roof, the XC40’s C-pillar may look bulky…

DID YOU realise that Nissan no longer sells a true passenger car in this country? Putting the GT-R and 370Z coupes aside, the closest you’ll get to a spiritual successor to the Pulsars that populated our rose-tinted past is the high-riding, UK-built Qashqai SUV, of which more than 13,000 found homes here in 2017. So Nissan’s mid-life facelift of this second-gen Qashqai (formerly badged Dualis) is hardly a desperation move. Buyers clearly appreciate its size – sitting neatly between the quirky Juke and larger X-Trail (which shares Qashqai’s platform) – and presumably its more European style. But Nissan’s new family look hasn’t been too kind to Qashqai. The old model’s elegant front end is now much fussier, sporting a more extreme version of Nissan’s ‘V-motion’ grille, though the black plastic…

The lure of Bodie, in the Eastern Sierra Nevada region, began to pull at me like gold-strike fever MAYBE it’s the notion of a five-cent whiskey. Or perhaps the reality that, should you learn of another man messin’ with your lady, you could shoot him in the leg and no-one in the saloon would blink an eye. Either way, the thought of life in America’s wild-west gold-rush era has long held a fascination. When I learned about the town of Bodie in the Eastern Sierra Nevada region about seven hours from LA, that claimed to be the best-preserved ghost town in the USA, it began to pull at me like gold-strike fever. This was a town that drew over 8500 hopefuls to it back in the late 1800s; people from…

IN PURE Car of the Year criteria terms, the HSV GTS-R W1 almost certainly shouldn’t be here. But extraordinary times – such as the recent demise of Australia’s century-old car manufacturing industry – often call for extraordinary measures. And in many ways, the W1 is an extraordinary car. Let’s remove the elephant from the room first. This is a heavily modified version of a four-year-old sedan (remember the VF’s Round Three appearance at COTY 2013?), based on an all-Australian design that claimed a COTY trophy on its debut in 2006. So while the W1 gets its own dry-sumped engine and close-ratio gear set (from the Corvette ZR1), a unique input shaft (rated at 850Nm), a twin-plate clutch, solid flywheel, new suspension hardware and toughened components, it fails to tick the…

 FEW CARS as vast as the Land Rover Discovery have been measured against the COTY criteria. But, hey, we love a (big) challenge. And a challenge is exactly what the curvaceous new Disco provided. “BIG TICKS FOR REFINEMENT, RELAXED RIDE, SMOOTH AND MUSCULAR DIESELS” ALEX INWOOD “A RANGE ROVER-LIKE LUXURY SUV THAT CAN GO UP A MOUNTAIN”BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS Size generally means mass – in this case around 2.2 tonnes of the stuff. Yet despite the weighty issue, judges were impressed that hundreds of kilos have been stripped from the new-generation Discovery’s aluminium-intensive body. While an SUV like this will never be truly agile, the Disco is borderline featherweight for a vehicle with this level of space and rock-hopping ability. Off-roading isn’t part of the COTY test regime, however experience on…

 PART limousine, part sports car infused with a dusting of 911. Nothing has changed with the premise of Porsche’s largest car. “IT FELT AS IF IT COULD HAVE WALTZED THE LANE CHANGE 50KM/H FASTER” ANDY ENRIGHT “IT’S THE BEST FOUR-SEATER LIMO IN THE WORLD” NATHAN PONCHARD But Panamera 2.0 is vastly improved, from the new-generation V6 powerplants to the lighter, more agile platform, all of which ensured it started strongly when measured against COTY criteria. Ticking the function box is a wheelbase that’s stretched 30mm, in turn bringing more room for leg-stretching. Combined with luscious bucket seats, it makes for a rock-star travel experience. Those wanting a third rear seat can choose the new Sport Turismo wagonette body, complete with a chunkier look and an extra 20 litres of luggage…

 IT’S A genuine rarity, a Toyota with style and spirit. The Japanese giant is ultra-conservative, seldom deviating from the blandly anonymous competence millions of equally conservative customers seem to prefer. The C-HR is different. “LEAGUES AHEAD OF MOST SMALL SUVS” BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS “WHY DOES REAR VISION HAVE TO BE SUCH A FAIL?” ANDY ENRIGHT This small SUV’s design, especially its exterior, is bold and confident. The same is true of the car’s technology. The power output of its downsized turbo four-cylinder engine may be modest, but the steering and chassis of the C-HR make it entertainingly agile. And Toyota has left nothing essential off the car’s standard safety and infotainment equipment lists. While not cheap, the C-HR is good value. The C-HR line-up is very simple; one engine, two transmissions,…

“A PRETTY COHESIVE PIECE OF WORK, DYNAMICALLY SPEAKING. VERY GOOD CHASSIS BALANCE” JOHN CAREY “HUGE EXPECTATIONS FOR THIS CAR AND IT DELIVERED … SORT OF” ALEX INWOOD IF HELEN of Troy had a face that launched a thousand ships, then the Kia Stinger surely has the hips that buried a thousand derogatory comments about Korean cars. Styled in Germany by a team led by a Frenchman, with more than a passing reference to the golden era of gran turismos, the Stinger truly signals to the world that the Kia Mentor and other previous horrors are now relics from South Korea’s deep, dark past. Completely against type, Kia’s decision to pursue development of a rear-drive, sedan-shaped liftback crowned by a mega-thrusty twin-turbo V6 deserves applause. And not just for its bravery.…

I hurt myself today / To see if I still feel / I focus on the pain / The only thing that’s real... So sang Johnny Cash in ‘Hurt’, one of the most powerful, emotive ballads of our time. And believe me, I’ve been feeling hurt, though whether my temporary loss of a long-termer is akin to Cash’s pain and depression as he knocks on death’s door is debatable. It started with just another drive into Wheels central in the heart of suburban Oakleigh. My commute kicks off with a freeway run where I can set the active cruise control and relax behind the wheel, the traffic ahead defining the pace. This day was different, though. We were in that moment between darkness and light, when the sun just broaches…

THE DEVIL, they say, finds work for idle hands. So with much of the month off, I found time to truly explore the GT side of my Renault Megane wagon. Colleague Nathan Ponchard had already used AOC-309 as an effective tool to scout for a fresh road loop for COTY. After his first stint behind the lovely wheel of the Spanish-built wagon, our road-test veteran was impressed with its combination of character, agility and comfort. Quite the step up from the bread-and-butter versions, he declared. Appetite suitably whetted, I too undertook an intrastate blast through south-eastern and central Victoria’s more alluring roads. And as the clicks accumulated, likewise something clicked in me. Namely how masterfully Renaultsport’s chassis magicians have transformed the chassis. Yes, the regular Megane’s core is fundamentally sound,…

PORSCHE’S 550 Spyder was a car of many firsts, and not only in terms of its dominance of class endurance racing in the mid-1950s. Ferry Porsche’s car-making company was less than five years old when, spurred by maiden class victories with modified 356 coupes in the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hour and the Liège-Rome-Liège race, it produced the Type 550 as its first purpose-built racing model. For all its firsts, the 550 would be best known for one infamous ‘last’: chassis 550-0055, delivered on 21 September 1955, would be the last car of actor James Dean, who owned it for just 10 days. The 550 was inspired by a series of Porsche racing specials built by Frankfurt VW dealer, Walter Glöckler. Built on part-spaceframe chassis, these specials flipped the 356…