Inhaltsverzeichnis für December 2019 in Wheels

IF IT AIN’T BROKE, don’t fix it. That’s been the mantra behind Wheels Car of the Year for some time. The award process did a good job of sieving a diverse bunch of contenders down to one excellent vehicle, so why change things? Because cars are changing, the way buyers shortlist cars has changed, and because it’s COTY’s responsibility to help drive change, not merely react to it. So what’s different for 2020? A big one is the transparency of the judging process. We reiterate the five criteria that the cars are judged against every year. Function, Technology,Value, Safety and Efficiency become a mantra for every juror. What we haven’t done to date is publish the scores that each car achieves against those five pillars. That changes this year. Every…

“EXCELLENT GRAPHIC DESIGN, INTERESTING READING AND GREAT CUTAWAY DRAWINGS” But please, keep it tight (no more than 200 words) and do include your suburb if via email: wheels@wheelsmag.com.au You can also have your say on Facebook (search for Wheels Australia), Instagram or Twitter WHEELS MAGAZINE BETTER BY DESIGN I HAVE A letterbox with a clear window in it so I can check if I have mail from a distance. Last week I could see, as I approached it, the latest issue of Wheels with the Design Issue graphics on the cover. Having a passion for mechanical and styling design, I couldn’t wait to get it out of the letterbox and read it. Brilliant. I had given up on English Motor Sport because the graphic art was terrible. I had given…

Not surprisingly, Lamborghini’s foray into electrification is unconventional in the extreme. Rather than following its rivals down the battery-electric path, the Italian supercar maker’s first hybrid uses a supercapacitor to store electrical energy which is fed to a small electric motor. Compared to even the most advanced batteries, supercapacitors both charge and release their energy much faster and can tolerate many more charge and discharge cycles without degradation. For the Sian, a 25kW motor is built into the gearbox to provide either an e-boost to the 577kW 6.5-litre V12, or power the hyper coupe purely on electricity during low-speed manoeuvring. With such fast charging, the Sian doesn’t need to be plugged in to top up its supercapacitor. Instead, the full charge is achieved through regenerative braking each time the brake…

Model Hyundai Veloster Turbo Engine 1591cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo Max power 150kW @ 6000rpm Max torque 265Nm @ 1500-4500rpm Transmission 7-speed dual-clutch Weight 1350kg 0-100km/h 7.1sec (claimed) Economy 6.9L/100km Price $38,490 On sale Now JUST BECAUSE you can do something doesn’t mean that you necessarily should. This life lesson has served me well, especially when it comes to chancing that oyster starter despite being several hundred kilometres inland. It’s not a lesson that Hyundai has embraced, however, when you look at the latest iteration of the Veloster… er… four-door hatch, I guess you’d call it. The car you gaze upon now represents the only right-hand-drive iteration of the second-generation 2+1 Veloster anywhere in the world. Talk about an outlier. The first-gen Veloster lobbed into an unsuspecting market in early…

Model Volkswagen T-Cross Engine 999cc 3cyl, dohc, 12v, turbo Max power 85kW @ 5500rpm Max torque 200Nm @ 2000-3500rpm Transmission 7-speed dual-clutch Weight 1270kg 0-100km/h 10.2sec (claimed) Economy 4.9L/100km Price Under $30,000 (estimated) On sale March 2020 CONCEPTUALLY, Volkswagen’s little T-Cross crossover bridges the gap between the Polo and Golf, and the Tiguan SUV. It’s due in Australia in March 2020, with a price starting “under $30,000”, says VW. Two models will be offered initially, both powered by the 1.0-litre turbo-petrol triple we tested here. Each variant will be front-drive, and come with a seven-speed DSG. At 4108mm in length, the T-Cross is 54mm longer than the Polo (whose A0 platform it shares) and rides on a roughly similar 2551mm wheelbase. The T-Cross is 138mm higher overall, some of which…

Model Audi Q3 35 TFSI Engine 1395cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo Max power 110kW @ 5000rpm Max torque 250Nm @ 1500-3500rpm Transmission 6-speed dual-clutch Weight 1470kg 0-100km/h 9.3sec (claimed) Economy 7.2L/100km Price $46,400 On sale Now WE CAN thank Audi’s sub-compact Q2 SUV for allowing this second-generation Q3 to mature into a far more spacious, useful and appealing offering than its predecessor. Not that the original Q3 struggled; it was consistently a segment sales leader since its inception in 2012, and sold over 19,000 units in Australia over that seven-year period. But it was cramped for adults in the back; a bit tight for luggage space, and had a lumpy and often restless ride on Aussie roads. All of which have been addressed with the second-gen model, which launches initially…

1 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Eighth gen of this legendary US nameplate is a landmark, not least because of its (now) mid-engined layout and the fact it’s built as a factory right-hooker destined for Holden showrooms. We’ll be out to uncover whether locating the engine behind the driver brings tangible dynamic benefits over the C7, if it’s really as fast as the 2.9sec 0-100km/h claim suggests, and how well the extreme driver-centric interior design works in the real world. Expect a yee-hah. 2 AUDI A1 All-new second generation of Audi’s entry-level hatch gains maturity and sophistication, without losing the ‘cranky toddler’ exterior design elements of the original. The longer wheelbase means it’s roomier, a Virtual Cockpit display becomes available, and the must-have personalisation packs have proliferated. But will it deliver dynamic depth…

STHELIERS BAY is one of those affluent waterside suburbs you might find in Sydney, Melbourne, San Francisco or Barcelona. In this case it’s Auckland in New Zealand. The coffee shops are doing a roaring Sunday-morning trade, the joggers are out in force, as are the dog walkers and a multitude of cyclists. Picking her way through the throng in a white Mustang convertible V8, it’s top appropriately dropped on this sunny morning, is Kay Hart, the president and CEO of Ford Australia-New Zealand. Soon she’ll be driving the hour south to Pukekohe Motorsport Park to watch the Supercars racing version of the Mustang GT Fastback in action. But right now she’s squeezed some time in for a photo shoot and a talk with Wheels in the area where she grew…

1. CITROEN C3 AIRCROSS Skinny, stylised interior looks funky, with comfy seating, cool 7.0-inch touchscreen functionality and plenty of kit, but hard plastics, poor storage and drab back seat area disappoint. Manual (T-bar) handbrake a welcome throwback but betrays ageing PF2 platform underneath. At 410 litres with fake floor removed, the cargo area is deceptively deep. The spare is a space-saver. Ground clearance is 175mm. 2. SKODA KAROQ Airy and spacious, the Karoq’s longer, lower and wider cabin is inviting, with a superbly presented dash, seating for larger people, a premium ambience and thoughtful details like front passenger seat height adjustment, rear-seat tablet holders, sliding cargo cover, rail-mounted carry hooks, umbrella and torch. Spare is a space-saver. Luggage capacity is 479L (a huge 1810L with back seats out). Ground clearance…

ONE OF THE more memorable recurring features in this magazine’s long and illustrious history was the ‘King of the Hill’ series, started in the late 1970s, pitting a desirable-spec Holden against the Ford Falcon equivalent. As made clear in editor Peter Robinson’s opening paragraph back in the January 1978 original, the comparison helped ascertain whose model range was better, down to the bread-and-butter HZ Kingswood SL and XC Falcon 500 that made up the bulk of Australia’s two top sellers’ volumes. The GTS and GXL V8s as tested representing them respectively were simply their makers’ best feet forward. Readers loved it. It also sold many magazines. The world has changed unrecognisably since, of course, with big sedans all but dead and the local heroes gone, replaced in the hearts and…

RENAULT MEGANE RS280 CUP Price as tested: $50,180 This month: 640km @ 7.9L/100km Overall: 8392km @ 8.8L/100km PERSPECTIVE’S a lovely thing. If you’ve been keeping tabs on my stint with the Renault Megane Cup, you’ll know that we haven’t really bonded. I admire the car and will freely admit that it can be a lot of fun, but it’s one of those cars that you need to be in the right mood for. It’s like that friend that never stops cracking jokes: sometimes it’s just what you need, while at other times you feel the growing urge to go postal. Feeling that I needed a break from the Megane’s always-on personality, I borrowed editor Inwood’s Ranger Raptor for a week. It was bliss. A diesel engine, an automatic ’box and…

TOP THREE BOMBARDIER GLOBAL 7500 If the garage was big enough, and had an airfield next to it, I’d have a Bombardier Global 7500. That’s a plane which can go nonstop from Australia to Dubai. And I’d have a helicopter too; an Airbus H125. It’s just a good all-round, fast, practical helicopter, if there’s such a word. MERCEDES-AMG GLC 63 S As for a car… I’m not a big car collector as such, so for me a vehicle needs to be A-to-B. I would like to have something for the racetrack, but right at the moment my favourite car is a Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S. So I’d have one of those, in dark grey with black wheels. Stealth spec. HONDA PCX I’ll throw a scooter in too. I’d like a…

REMEMBER WHEN American pick-up trucks were considered nothing but oversized oddities in Australia? These lumbering giants loomed large on roads clogged with comparatively tiny car-based utes, and had usually been converted to right-hand drive in the kind of questionable backyard labs that wouldn’t look out of place on Breaking Bad. No longer. Any vacuum left by locally built workhorses has been comprehensively filled (and then some) by American-built pick-ups, with trailblazers from Ram and Chevrolet now set to be joined by a stream of new and gigantic metal – all with names so macho they’d get Rambo excited – from Nissan, Toyota and Ford. These jumbo dual-cabs haven’t just grown a market segment, but uncovered a whole new one, somehow revitalising Australian automotive manufacturing along the way. Cars aren’t made…

CARS WEARING the Blue Oval are again being built in Australia. Well, kind of. No, it’s not the full mass production that once created such a singular and cherished automotive culture, but Aussie workers are being tasked with assembling supercharged V8 Mustangs in a secret building at Ford’s Campbellfield facility. The small-scale production line has been reignited to pump out the new R-Spec Mustang, which you can read all about in our feature on p58. There are subtle technicalities involved when describing who builds the cars (see sidebar, right), but the simple version is that Herrod Performance employees are responsible for the assembly at a Ford-owned facility, with Ford Australia selling the 522kW/827Nm vehicles through its dealer network. Only one other company has been able to ink a similar deal:…

2400 According to data culled from Tesla’s import facilities at Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, the Model 3 shifted around 2400 units in September, instantly becoming the top-selling electric car in the country Not only did it outsell the combined Australian electric car market by more than 6 to 1, but September deliveries of the Model 3 totalled more than the previous two years’ deliveries of Tesla’s Models S and X combined. WELL THAT SUCKS James Dyson has pulled the plug on his electric car project. The vacuum-cleaner magnate had committed $4.6bn to the project, employing 500 people at its Hullavington facility in the UK. In an email to staff, Dyson confirmed that the automotive project had run its course. He said that the design and engineering team “has developed a…

Model Volkswagen T-Roc R-Line Engine 1985cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo Max power 140kW @ 4180-6000rpm Max torque 300Nm @ 1500-4180rpm Transmission 7-speed dual-clutch Weight 1495kg 0-100km/h 7.2sec (claimed) Economy 6.8L/100km Price $45,000 (estimated) On sale April 2020 WHERE the VW T-Cross is Volkswagen’s more practical small SUV, the T-Roc is the emotive one, using its extroverted styling and Golf-derived driving dynamics to woo potential buyers both younger and not so young. Unlike its Polo-based sibling, the T-Roc is based on the bigger Golf platform, so, you could consider it a sportier T-Cross, or a Golf SUV… It’s both, and also very much a model in its own right. Volkswagen Australia has confirmed a three-model T-Roc range is due in Australia from early Q2: Style, Sport and the R-Line we tested…

AUTOBAHN, 180 clicks south of Berlin. Rain spatters the windscreen as you patiently negotiate the melange of trucks, white vans and hustling BMW wagons. Then, as if by some invisible signal, the fast lane clears and the road straightens. Flatten it. The Porsche explodes forwards, but not in the way you’re used to. There’s no kickdown from the gearbox, no flare of revs, no howl from a collection of pistons, valves and plugs. There’s only silence, save for some wind rustle and the rising roar from the 21-inch Goodyears. Just silence, and crushing, unrelenting, seemingly unstoppable acceleration. Ferocious and sudden turns of speed have long been the EV shtick, yet beyond the tonne, combustion cars mostly hold the upper hand. But this is different. Where other EVs start to run…

Up to the end of September 2019, around 31,000 of the 48,600 vehicles sold by Ford in Australia were Ranger utes. Hart takes that win, and plays down the negatives of the reliance. “Are there other opportunities we would like to take more advantage of? Yes, we are always looking for that, but that doesn’t negate any of the success of Ranger and the continued focus on that,” she says, and she’s clearly relieved the new Ford-VW alliance hasn’t robbed Ford’s Australian-based technical and design centres of next-gen Ranger and Everest SUV development. “The powertrain work has moved from Australia to the USA; that’s a transition that was made earlier this year, but all the top-hat work on this next generation is done here by the Australian team. That’s a…

THE D1 IN NORTHERN France is one of those perfect roads. It lopes across the plains above the River Somme, at the heart of the WWI battlefields. It’s open, inviting, and flows to the horizon with just a few kinks that won’t impede your progress. If you’re in a fast car like the Bentley Continental GT Convertible, you can let it rip here. But then, heading east towards Bray-sur-Somme, you crest a rise and an imposing, grey stone cenotaph bearing a Rising Sun emblem looms beside the road. If you’re Australian, it will stop you in your tracks. It commemorates the First Australian Imperial Force’s Third Division. It is one of the emotive memorials that honour the Diggers who so distinguished themselves in France between 1916 and 1918. As you…

1. HYUNDAI TUCSON Like a jumped-up i30, the updated Active’s dash is big on familiarity, simplicity, functionality and user friendliness. Cabin is spacious and comfy to boot, with the trio’s most reclinable rear backrest, though the ambience is the least inviting, and not helped by the lack of air vents and too much road noise. Group’s only manual handbrake underlines Tucson’s dynamic focus. Boot is a surprising 488L. The spare is full-sized. Ground clearance is 172mm. 2. MAZDA CX-5 Low-slung, sporty and cosiest of the three, yet amply spacious, even the base Maxx seems the most upmarket inside (Maxx Sport pictured), with beautiful dials, racy wheel and most tactile trim. Seats impress, but dated multimedia and no digital speedo nor rear vents are oversights. Doors open wide for best entry/egress,…

MERCEDES-BENZ A250 4MATIC Price as tested: $76,790 This month: 1101km @ 8.9L/100km YOU’LL REMEMBER I finished last month’s report with something of a mini cliffhanger as my A250 was whisked back to Mercedes to investigate a curious sound emanating intermittently from the engine bay. As is the way with these things – “Mate, I swear it was making the sound two minutes ago!” – it took some investigating to get to the bottom of it. The likely cause, it was determined, was a squeaky belt or similar, so the Mercedes tech team dutifully removed and checked all of the ancillaries. Success! With everything replaced, oiled and tightened, the A250 is now back in my care and performing faultlessly. Good thing too, for the past month has been a mishmash of…

SUZUKI JIMNY Price as tested: $24,490 This month: 1268km @7.81L/100km I RETURNED TO the driver’s seat of the Jimny recently after spending a week in a luxury SUV with a six-figure price tag and a 405kW supercharged V8 under the bonnet. I imagine the experience is similar to what people going on a two-week juice cleanse would go through – the automotive equivalent of a hard detox. However, I’ve enjoyed my motoring recalibration, taking the opportunity to embrace the simpler side of motoring. Earlier gripes about the Jimny’s ability as a daily driver have been tempered significantly by weekend excursions. Ever since the little Suzi arrived in the garage I’ve wanted to ‘fix’ its retina-searing paint by smearing it with as much mud as possible. Cue Toolangi State Forest, 80km…

If large lumps set your heart racing, feast your eyes on the 7.3-litre V8 Ford’s cramming into the engine bays of its F-250 and F-350 trucks. The pushrod/overhead-valve unit cranks out 320kW and 644Nm. While this capacity might seem like flipping the bird to fuel economy, Ford insists the beefy powerplant was created with frugality in mind, the pushrod two-valve design enabling the engine,mated to a 10-speed automatic ‘box, to produce peak power at low revs. Sadly, it’s not an option for the F-150.…

DUE Q1 FORD FIESTA ST All good things come to those who wait... Ford ditched the mundane Fiestas in favour of the 147kW/290Nm ST, and it’s priced at $31,990. We’ll only get the five-door version of the three-pot hot hatch, but it’ll be loaded with goodies like the Performance Pack and ‘ST3’ grade interior as standard. DUE Q1 SKODA KODIAQ RS Performance, diesel and SUV aren’t always happy bedfellows but Skoda’s Kodiaq RS is a diesel seven-seat SUV Nurburgring record holder. Its 176kW/500Nm twin-turbo oiler sips fuel at 6.4L/100km, putting an element of green into the Green Hell. Yours for $65,990. DUE MAR AUDI Q3 SPORTBACK It’s yet another SUV-cum-coupe design, but this one looks good. Three variants are coming down under, the first of which will be the 35…

Model Lamborghini Huracan Evo Engine 5204cc V10 (90°), dohc, 40v Max power 470kW @ 8000rpm Max torque 600Nm @ 6500rpm Transmission 7-speed dual-clutch Weight 1422kg 0-100km/h 2.9sec (claimed) Economy 13.7L/100km Price $459,441 On sale Now BACK IN 2014, the Huracan was $98K cheaper than a Ferrari 458 Italia and 24kW more powerful. In other words, it was a bargain. Fast-forward five years and the $459,441 Lambo is only $25K less than a $484,888 F8 Tributo and is 60kW down on grunt. So it now needs to work a lot harder in order to earn a recommendation. Then you drive it and realise that it might just mark the pinnacle of normally aspirated supercar capability. That in itself will be enough for some. The revised aero package works and works well.…

Model Kia Seltos S Engine 1969cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v Max power 110kW @ 6200rm Max torque 180Nm @ 4500rpm Transmission CVT Weight 1355kg 0-100km/h 9.6sec (claimed) Fuel consumption 6.8L/100km Price $25,990 On sale Now CAN THE all-new Kia Seltos take on the cut-throat small SUV segment and become the Korean brand’s biggest seller in Australia? Yes it can. But it won’t. In a frustrating twist for Kia Australia, which has waited so long to plug this substantial gap in its line-up, Seltos imports will be limited to just 650 per month, with Kia’s Gwangju plant having to satisfy strong US demand. A shame, as the Seltos should attract broad appeal, not least because of its driveability. When we first drove Kia’s box-fresh Seltos small SUV in its homeland (Wheels, September…

5:47PM, SATURDAY October 12. It’s the day before the Bathurst 1000, and the entire Mount Panorama circuit is subdued with a tense silence. The peace is shattered by a feral, mechanical howl. It’s Scott McLaughlin at the wheel of his DJR Team Penske Ford Mustang, its 485kW 5.0-litre naturally aspirated race engine screaming like a bombing siren as it’s put to work for the most important solitary lap of the year, tearing down the pit straight with furious intent. There’s a crackle as the 26-year-old Kiwi bangs down a couple of gears, before propelling himself up the mountain. The silence returns. It’s only broken when McLaughlin reappears, precisely 2:03.3783 minutes later. He’s just completed the quickest lap by a Supercar in Mount Panorama history, and the team erupts into suitably…

WHAT DOES Citroen have to do to catch a break in Australia? Famous as an early pioneer of front-drive, monocoque construction, aerodynamics, and hydropneumatics for superior suspension, steering and braking, the brand has been present here for most of its 100-year history – and in this magazine since August 1953 (only our third issue). Additionally, assembled in Melbourne for a time, the DS’s beauty has proven transcendental and tough alike, inspiring the Concorde while conquering rallies – including 1968’s gruelling London to Sydney marathon (until it crashed near the finish line). Yet Aussies choose to ignore such illustrious and inclusive heritage and instead treat Citroens with uncertainty and even suspicion. Just last year, it managed only 494 sales, against Mercedes’ 40,000 and 217,000 Toyotas. Maybe the box-fresh C3 Aircross will…

MAZDA 3 G20 EVOLVE Price as tested: $50,180 This month: 1533km @ 6.3L/100km IT’S LATE, a work night and, on this rare occasion, I’ve managed to complete something akin to meaningful exercise. All things considered, my checklist for the day is going well. All that remains is grabbing some dinner before heading home. All good – in theory. For those who don’t know, Melbourne’s Chadstone shopping centre is huge; often referred to as the biggest shopping centre in the southern hemisphere. For me, that spells parking hell – 10,000 spaces awaiting cars piloted by drivers of differing levels of incompetence. Said dinner acquired, I return to ‘my’ Mazda 3 to be confronted with a mangled front bumper bar. No note on the windscreen. After just a handful of weeks with…

THE FASTEST and most technologically advanced road car in the mid-1950s? Probably some Ferrari, maybe a Maserati – or perhaps even a Jaguar, given its Le Mans successes? The automotive pinnacle of the mid-1950s was indeed based on a dominant Le Mans racer and equally on a two-tonne limousine. And it was a Mercedes-Benz. One of the world’s most recognised cars with its roof-hinged gullwing doors, the W198 300 SL (‘super-light’) touched down in February 1954 at the New York motorshow. The venue betrayed its links to US car importer Max Hoffman, whose influence also spawned 1950s roadsters from BMW, Porsche and Alfa Romeo. Mercedes-Benz’s engineering had reached peak geek with its Silver Arrows machines, but its post-WWII return to racing in 1952 was under tight financial constraints. Team manager…

300 SL ‘GULLWING’ (W198) COUPES BUILT 1400 80 PERCENTAGE OF ALL W198s SOLD IN THE US 300 SL IS VOTED SPORTS 1999 CAR OF THE CENTURY 1963 LAST 300 SL ROADSTER (MERC’S FINAL SEPARATE-CHASSIS PASSENGER CAR) IS BUILT SOME LIKE IT HOT The 300 SL coupe’s stratospheric price tag brought a sports-luxe interior with tartan fabric or leather on the one-piece buckets, a drop-hinged steering wheel, trimmed alloy dash and comprehensive ventilation. But its racing roots couldn’t be ignored: access was awkward, a large glass area and fixed windows made it a hothouse, and the spare took all the boot space. POWER PLAY The 2996cc, sohc iron-block straight-six weighed 265kg and made 85kW in its original M186 300-limo spec. The dry-sumped W194 racer’s triple Solex carbs (and 129kW output) gave…