Inhaltsverzeichnis für October 2022 in Wheels

MORE DOWNFORCE than a McLaren Senna, a roll-cage made of plastic and the ability to alter the chassis and differential on the fly. Say hello to the most extreme road-going Porsche ever: the 2023 911 GT3 RS. Let’s start with the downforce. Thanks to that huge rear wing, vented wheelarches and fresh active aero elements at both ends of the car, this new, fourth-generation GT3 RS produces a massive 860kg of downforce at 280km/h. Need some context? A Lamborghini Huracán STO, which is the most track-focused Huracán you can buy, makes 420kg of downforce at the same speed. A Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series makes 400kg at 250km/h and even a McLaren Senna produces less than the new GT3 RS. At 325km/h, so a higher speed than the Porsche (downforce squares…

Lamborghini’s junior supercar line ended when the 410th and last Jalpa rolled out of the Sant’Agata Bolognese factory on the 22nd July 1988. Few realised that it would be 15 years before the next understudy to the iconic V12 supersports models would appear. That can largely be attributed to the chaos that reigned at Lamborghini at the time. Then-owners Chrysler binned not only the Jalpa but the Gandini-styled P140 prototype that was slated to replace it. Chrysler then sold the company for US$25.2m in 1994 to Indonesian conglomerate MegaTech, which then divided it 60/40 between V’Power and Malaysian concern Mycom Sedtco. The Italdesign Cala shown at the 1995 Geneva Motor Show was the car many believed would be the next baby Lamborghini. Powered by a 294kW mid-mounted V10 engine, the…

FEW EXECS in the car world are like Hiroshi Tamura. I’m watching the 60 year-old Nissan veteran crouch next to the new Z, hands on the ground, mimicking a sprinter in the starting blocks – a sprinter in a crisp grey suit and driving shoes. With a yell he leaps up and forward like a spring, channeling the energy of a full-bore launch-control start. He does all this just to tell me about a swage line in the sheetmetal. Nissan’s new Z? To be honest, it’s more like Tamura’s new Z. The man has lived and breathed Nissan performance cars for decades, catching the bug long before he became a Nissan lifer back in ’84, and for Tamura the box-fresh turbo Z represents the culmination of his career. His heart…

Ford Ranger V6 Sport $66,690 (+ON-ROAD COSTS) New 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel joins the line-up from mid-spec XLT and above. We’ve chosen the new Sport grade. Big expectations here GWM Cannon-X $44,490 (DRIVEWAY) Ultra-sharp price and bristling with standard gear that’s not even available on some of its more established rivals. But is it good value? Mazda BT-50 GT $57,290 (+ON-ROAD COSTS) Twinned with Isuzu’s D-Max, the BT-50 is one of the freshest utes in this test thanks to recent updates following its 2020 launch Nissan Navara Pro-4X $58,730 (+ON-ROAD COSTS) First went on sale back in 2015 but has steadily improved. In late-2021 Nissan gave it a bold new look and added some useful active safety gear Isuzu D-Max LS-U $59,000 (+ON-ROAD COSTS) Strong on safety and drive-assistance tech, now…

Think the term ‘hyper hatch’ is a touch of hyper-bole? Give launch control a try in one of this pair THE TRAFFIC HAS been a slog. The kind that concertinas for no apparent reason, all four lanes making choked, frustrated progress as we slowly leave the outskirts of Melbourne behind. But then, just before we turn off the motorway, a gap. Nail it! The Sonora yellow RS3 leaps forward, the sudden torque demand causing it to shimmy and buck on cold Bridgestones as it rushes towards 100km/h. A glance in the rear-view shows the angry, and equally yellow, nose of the A45 S in lockstep as we both flatten the gas to finally get an inkling of what 2022’s most outrageous hatchbacks can do. Sub 4.0-second runs in a grocery…

FORD ESCAPE ST-LINE PHEV Price as tested $63,885 (DA) This month 371km @5.8L/100km Overall 371km @5.8L/100km THE CURRENT Ford Escape launched here not quite a couple of years ago to build on the relative success of its predecessor. I always thought that it was unfairly ignored, as the old car had the grunt few in the segment had and led the way for sporty affordable SUVs with the ST-Line version. And had been hampered for a while by the terrible Kuga name before reverting to Escape. We were promised the plug-in hybrid not that long after launch but it wasn’t until June 2022 that the PHEV arrived. The PHEV drops the 183kW turbo four of the ICE ST-Line for a 2.5-litre Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder with an electric motor and a 14.4kWh…

MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER EXCEED Price as tested $48,629 (+ORC) This month 2899km @8.1L/100km Overall 6246km @8.7L/100km “IT’S QUIET, huh?” I whisper the observation to The Wife who glares at me with such venom and disbelief that I swallow nervously. It’s the early hours of Sunday morning and under the cloak of darkness we’re sneaking our way out of Melbourne. Ahead of us lies a full day of driving; an interstate road trip that usually takes 10 hours but this time our ETA is a complete unknown. It’s our first long drive with The Baby and there’s every chance it could be hell. An entire day locked in a car with a screaming infant? No thanks. The Outlander has been part of the Wheels Garage for six months now but today will…

THERE ARE SOME who refer to the Pontiac GTO as ‘the great one’, while many others regard it as ‘the Goat’. As much as this says about the hi-po Pontiac’s place in the muscle-car pantheon (and Americans’ failed grasp of initialisations and acronyms), it also reminds us that it doesn’t take much in America to be the greatest of all time. Looking at you, most-ever-voted-for US president, Joe Quincy Magoo. The GTO was a marketing masterstroke, creating the identities of both the American ‘muscle car’ and of Pontiac executive John Z DeLorean. It was he who took Pontiac’s mid-sized, typically six-cylinder Tempest coupe and, noting the popularity of the 5.3-litreV8 LeMans option, decided to step things up for 1964 with a 6.4-litre V8 and a package of handling upgrades. This performance…

THE TOYOTA Tundra full-size pick-up has taken a massive stride towards going on sale in Australia after the company confirmed a local right-hand-drive development program. Toyota Australia has long been investigating the potential to bring the US-focused truck to this market, noting the success of other imported American trucks like the RAM 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado that have been converted to RHD. Toyota’s Aussie Tundra prototypes will be powered by a twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre petrol V6 hybrid unit (Ford Australia recently announced it would introduce the F-150, the world’s best-selling pick-up, in 2023.) Tundra prototypes will begin testing next month and be evaluated “against Australia’s severe local conditions and tough customer use”. Toyota Australia says that by late 2023 the final stage of the RHD reengineering program will involve 300 Tundra…

The Gallardo carved its own piece of Aussie motorsports history by claiming outright wins at Targa Tasmania four times. The Gallardo won in 2010, 2012, 2013 and 2015, all with the combination of Jason White driving and John White navigating. Their Super Trofeo Stradale burnt to the ground in 2014 while competing in Targa West, with the 2015 victory coming at the wheel of its replacement, a 2013 Gallardo Squadra Corse. Point proven, the Whites then defected to Dodge, winning multiple events in a Viper ACR.…

Model Haval H6GT Ultra Engine 2.0-litre 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo Max power 150kW @ 6000-6300rpm Max torque 320Nm @ 1500-4000rpm Transmission 7-speed dual clutch Weight 1675kg 0-100km/h 8.8sec (claimed) Economy 8.4L/100km Price $46,490 (drive away) On sale Now YES, THE ‘thrift-shop Urus’ jokes started coming thick and fast as soon as the 2023 Haval H6GT Ultra rolled into the car park, but almost as soon as they started, the office japers went a bit quiet. This is a well-equipped all-wheel-drive SUV with 150kW and a seven-speed dual-clutch that comes with a seven-year warranty and leaves plenty of change from fifty grand. Can an SUV that seems almost unbeatable on paper cut it against some very capable rivals? The $46,490 on the road ask might be something of a shock if…

THERE’S A MOMENT to savour when driving a performance car; something that speaks volumes about the way the car communicates with the driver. It’s the first time you provoke a skerrick of oversteer and it’s always illuminating. In effect, you’re trying to establish whether the hands react quicker than purely conscious thought. If it seems that winding off lock to catch the slide is the most natural thing in the world, the car has signalled its intentions clearly. If you’re behind the eight-ball reacting to it, chances are that message has been critically garbled at some point in its journey from the rear tyre treads to your prefrontal cortex. The Nissan Z is acing that particular test. While there are a handful of motoring journalists who are naturally born to…

HIROSHI TAMURA’S RESUME might have things like the R33 Skyline GT-R, R34 Skyline GT-R, R35 GT-R, 370Z Nismo and, now, the new Z on it, but the cars that have passed through his garage give a better insight into his mind. His first car was a C110 Nissan Skyline coupe, the famed ‘Kenmeri’, which he followed up with a 240ZG, then a turbo Z31 300ZX, then a highly-modified R32 Skyline GT-R – which he still has today. An engineer by training, Tamura was never the type to keep his cars factory-standard – they were all modified in some way, and that experience – whether botching the cooling performance of his 240ZG or realising that his 800hp R32 was actually much better with ‘just’ 600hp – informed the creation of the…

THE NEW-GEN Ranger may be resetting dual-cab benchmarks with its refined driving dynamics and modern interior, but its class-leading rear end also makes it a compelling proposition. The fact it can swallow a 120mm-wide Euro pallet between the rear wheelarches shifts it towards the front of the pack, and external tie-down rails and six tie-down points (the most on test) will prevent gear from rattling around on corrugated tracks. Range-topping Wildtrak models feature an internal rail with adjustable cleats to modulate tie-down locations, similar to the Navara’s Utili-Track, but we didn’t have the top-spec model on test. The addition of side steps on either side of the tray, to complement the rear step, is another clever and useful inclusion; and once in the tray, the spray-in bedliner is kind on…

CREST THE RISE at Darnum and you’ll see it. At first it looks like a feathering of morning mist, but drive into the Latrobe valley frequently enough and you’ll know better. Trapped by the Baw Baw ranges to the north and the Strzelecki ranges to the south, the air quality at the Morwell East monitoring station today contains four times as much carbon monoxide and nearly eight times as much sulphur dioxide as the air at Geelong South. There are more than four times as many smoke particulates of 2.5 micrometres or smaller. We’re on our way to Australia’s dirtiest power station at Yallourn. It’s easy to feel slightly smug behind the wheel of the Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 AMG. Progress is serene and there are no tailpipes to emit anything…

Audi RS3 Cabin design is modern, the digital driver display and central infotainment screen are easy to navigate, and crucially, unlike most new Volkswagen Group products, ergonomics haven’t been sacrificed in the pursuit of style. Want to adjust the temperature or fan speed? Simply reach for a neat rocker switch ahead of the gearshifter. Nice driving position, too, though like the A45, the driver’s seat feels a touch too high. AMG A45 S Interior design and mix of materials look good initially but once you start to touch and interact with the cabin it begins to feel a bit cheap. In the Audi the hard plastics are mostly kept out of sight but the AMG has a big slab of thin piano black plastic around the central air vents, there’s…

SKODA KODIAQ RS Price as tested $67,440 (+ORC) This month 642km @10.2L/100km Overall 3028km @10.4L/100km LET’S OPEN THIS conclusion with some context. Only recently, Volkswagen launched the stupendously rapid Tiguan R SUV in Australia. Wearing a price tag of $68,990 before on-road costs, the Tiguan R is $13K pricier than the 162TSI that previously acted as the hero model – but the bigger spend gets you 235kW and 400Nm and a 0-100km/h time of 5.1 seconds. Worth it? Arguably yes, when most SUVs with comparable performance are more expensive models from premium marques. It’s not the Tiguan R we’ve got on test here, but at $67,440 before on-road costs, our Kodiaq RS and its 180kW/370Nm 2.0-litre turbo petrol four might seem poor value when held up against the top-shelf Tiguan.…

SUBARU BRZ S Price as tested $41,590 (+ORC) This month 675km @8.8L/100km Overall 1877km @8.8L/100km THERE’S A LOT to be said for a car that delivers excitement at vaguely legal speeds. Many years back, I recall the ex-editor of this mag, Bill Thomas, complaining that a Mitsubishi 3000GT was too easy to drive, before being chewed out at volume across a Welsh bar by LJK Setright. “No car is too easy to drive!” boomed Setright. Think Gandalf and ‘you shall not pass’ and you’ll get the vibe. I’d take issue with the late Setright there. True, any car will get up on its toes if driven hard enough, but how those limits correspond to the public highway is another matter altogether. That’s what makes the Subaru BRZ something to revel…

YOU MAY HAVE noticed a bit of a theme with this series. It usually celebrates a car that was once good, great or merely interesting but which tended to hang around a bit too long, by which point customers become interested in something newer and shinier. That’s not the case with the just-axed Ford Focus ST. Recently departed performance title MOTOR gave the hot Ford hatch a runner-up position at this year’s Sports Car of the Year award. It was in its pomp, a fact underscored by demand easily outstripping supply. So why has this peach of a performance hatch dropped off the twig? Blame the current global supply issues that have strangled production to such an extent that the Australian business case pretty much collapsed. Ford had already pared the…

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, Instagram or Twitter (search for Wheels Australia) “These companies have got to get better after the car leaves the delivery room” PARTING WAYS I JUST READ THE September issue of Wheels. Regarding Angus MacKenzie’s column ‘New Disrupters’, from someone who wants an EV and has been patiently waiting on VW to release some here in Australia (having owned VWs for 22 of the past 23 years, and is now buying a Tesla Model 3) I agree with Angus’s general thrust. But the one aspect not mentioned in which these new companies, including Tesla, are not competitive, and frighteningly so in my opinion, is in the…

Yes, the Italian police really did get functional Gallardo police cars. A pair of 2005 cars racked up over 100,000km each for Bologna and Rome’s plod, while in in 2008 a pair of second-gen cars were bought for the Lazio division. Unfortunately, one was written off a year later when a SEAT Ibiza ambled out of a servo and the fast-moving Lambo glanced off it into a row of parked vehicles. The other continued to be used for high-speed duties, was equipped with a defibrillator and was sometimes utilised for human organ transportation.…

CUPRA’S INTRIGUING trio of sporty Euro models has only just touched down on Australian soil but I’m already familiar and very fond of two thirds of it. A year ago, I got my hands on the range topping Leon 300 (dubbed VZx locally) and it proved to be one of the most involving and exhilarating hot hatches for blasting around the English countryside, enjoying the autumn sun. Some weeks later I saddled up the plug-in hybrid version of the Formentor for a 1200km road trip from Rome to the south of Sardinia and back again. For my second Cupra encounter, the small SUV was both practical and efficient but also an absolute hoot when the roads turned twisty. Cupra is pitching itself as an unpretentious alternative to the traditional European…

WE ARE A nation of dual-cab drivers. That’s the inescapable conclusion from poring over Australia’s new-vehicle sales data. What’s more, we are increasingly enamoured of a brawny ute. A decade ago, the Toyota HiLux was pipped by the Mazda3 in the sales charts. Last year we saw the Ford Ranger and the HiLux occupying the top two spots, with the Isuzu D-Max and the Mitsubishi Triton also figuring in the top ten. This year has seen the launch of the new Ranger, with early reports suggesting that the game has changed as a result. And with the Ranger’s bones underpinning the next-generation Volkswagen Amarok, due here at the end of the year, the whole ute division could well be in for a thorough shake. But rather than fall back on…

AS MORE AND MORE Australians elect for a dual-cab as their main car or family mover, the technology, comfort, space, ergonomics and function of the cabin becomes increasingly important. While all the models here offer accommodation for up to five and four doors, that’s where a lot of the interior similarities end. At the top of the pack, the Ford Ranger is a hard act to follow with the best balance of technology in the form of its portrait-oriented SYNC4A infotainment touchscreen and large digital instrument cluster, practicality in the form of numerous clever storage options, and overall quality and finish. It also offers one of the most spacious front-row cabins and modern touches such as electric parking brake which frees up even more space, and one of the only…

THIS IS THE part where we declare the Best Dual Cab Ute of 2022 after all our exhaustive analysis from our vast team of independent testers – and guest reviewers. But we also acknowledge it’s not the role of our Megatests to simply pick one winner, rub our hands, and pat it on the back for a job well done. Just as there’s a huge breadth of options in the dual-cab ute segment, there’s a wide spectrum of buyers with differing priorities, desires, and budgets. So, think of our Megatests as more of an expert tour guide that aims to make you feel less giddy when it comes to facing the dizzying array of choices. What we will say is that we have assessed all 11 vehicles beyond their specification…

Just how fast can the Mercedes-AMG EQS 53 charge? With charging times increasingly becoming a key differentiator, it’s worth noting that the peak charging power we were able to see on a 350kW fast charger was around 205kW at around a 30 percent state of charge. Charging from 20 percent to 80 percent would typically take around 27 minutes, after which rate of charge drops off rapidly. As it approaches 90 percent state of charge, the EQS’ charging power decreases to around 40kW. That’s about in line with AMG’s claim of 10-80 percent in 31 minutes. In other words, it’s quick but it’s not the last word in speed at the charger.…

GENESIS G70 SHOOTING BRAKE Price as tested $81,000 (+ORC) This month 512km @11.2L/100km Overall 2789km @10.9L/100km IS IT POSSIBLE to form a real bond with a car if you find it a bit of visual munter? Or, conversely, are you more likely to be tolerant of a car’s shortfalls if you’re taken by its exterior design? I was pondering this in the final days of the loan period with the G70 Shooting Brake, right around the time yet another punter strolled up to say how much they liked the look of it and have a chat. I can’t say I love every visual detail about the SB – the extra swage line over the rear guards seems a bit of an unnecessary flourish – but overall it’s been one of…

JAGUAR F-TYPE P450 R-DYNAMIC Price as tested $188,868 (+ORC) This month 895km @12.94L/100km Overall 1669km @12.06L/100km I FEEL I must use these pages to publicly apologise to the occupants of a silver Audi A4 Avant that I likely scared the bejeezus out of on an inner-city on-ramp the other week. You see, the Jaguar really is a caged animal around town. Yes, one could probably deduce that the low-slung styling and hardly ambiguous ‘R-Dynamic’ and ‘P450’ badging (that numerical figure standing for metric horsepower from the 5.0-litre superchargedV8) don’t exactly gel with a metropolitan jungle with restrictive 40 and 50km/h speed limits. An obligatory prod of the exhaust button on cold start-up transforms what is initially a svelte eight-part purr into a rather loud, wet gargle, really ramping anticipation that…