Inhaltsverzeichnis für February 2021 in Wheels

IF YOU THINK trying to find a 911 variant that’s off most people’s radar is harder than playing Uno blindfolded, then you probably deserve a gold medal. But if you think that’s because the model in question isn’t quite up to scratch, then you would be profoundly mistaken. By the time the 911 Carrera 3.2 Club Sport arrived in 1987, the rubber-bumpered ‘G-series’ 911 had been on sale for more than 13 years. There had been a few significant updates to the everyperson’s 911 (notably the SC of 1977 and the Carrera 3.2 of 1983), but in terms of new-model action, the 911 appeared to have been sidelined by the 944 and 928. Remember when Porsche thought its future was water-cooled and front-engined? What few people knew at the time…

IT’S HERE. THAT part of the year when Aussies go AWOL while the days are long and the weather’s warm, and take pause to reflect. From the Wheels banana lounge, I’m pondering the things that were awesome about 2020. Erm, spending more ‘quality time’ with the family? A new normal that did away with rush-hour and the need to trouser-up, like… ever. The welcoming of a pricey pup into your pack, minus the literal teething problems. And now, with 2020 confined to the rear-view, hopefully never hearing the expressions ‘new normal’ or ‘home schooling’ ever again. Add to that list of highs today’s top-spec medium SUV. Really? Yep. Just five years ago, a comparison of flagship soft-roaders from our brands here wouldn’t feature half the good stuff today’s iterations do,…

Escape’s head-up display projects onto a transparent panel that sprouts from the dash-top while CX-5’s is onto the windscreen – but both units are handy. Ford’s wide-angle reversing camera display is brilliant, bringing a sense of being able to see around corners and providing terrific confidence during manoeuvres. The 12.3-inch virtual cluster brings flashy graphics with the selection of each drive mode. Love the white-stitched upholstery; not so much the biggrained dog-nose finish on lowlevel plastics. Chief criticism of busy steering wheel buttons is that cruise is where you would expect to find volume.…

If you can wait until the second half of this year, the petrol and diesel Santa Fe variants will be joined by a petrol-electric hybrid. A 1.6-litre turbopetrol engine combines with a 44kW electric motor for combined power and torque outputs of 169kW and 350Nm fed to all four wheels via a torque-converter automatic transmission. Not only will the hybrid be the efficiency hero of the Santa Fe range, Hyundai says it will be the performance pick too. It could also be the variant that introduces Hyundai’s growing N-Line brand to the Santa Fe range.…

From $16,690 (driveaway) WHAT IS IT with 3-badged cars and greatness? BMW, Mazda, Tesla… but MG? Don’t laugh. The Toyota Yaris-sized, Britishengineered, Chinese-built MG3 is now Australia’s bestselling sub-$25K supermini. Cynics might say this is because in recent years big players like Hyundai, Ford, Nissan, Mazda, Honda and even Toyota have spat the dummy and abandoned the bottom end of the market, claiming that it’s all just too hard. Poor little rich multinationals. Not little old MG, though. Yes, that same brand that started back in 1924 spicing up humdrum Morris sedans and then became renown for inexpensive roadsters like the evocative MGB – before SAIC Motors eventually stepped in aft er the Rover Group’s collapse in 2005 – is once again booming. In production for a decade now, today’s…

From $22,990 (driveaway) ASIDE FROM TINY crossovers like the Suzuki Ignis, Australia’s cheapest SUV auto is the Haval H2. Maybe that’s why China’s answer to the Mitsubishi ASX enjoyed a startling surge in popularity last year, with sales more than doubling over the previous year. Buyers are clearly starting to take notice, but the H2 actually landed here in 2015, just two years after the brand formed as Great Wall Motors’ international SUV subsidiary. But the base Premium auto then cost almost $30K on the road. Prices have since steadily fallen. In some important ways, the H2’s appeal lies beyond the driveaway number. Larger and roomier than the Mazda CX-3, the design is proportioned and pleasant. Handsome 18-inch alloys enhance the looks. Step inside and shapely seats, a pleasant dashboard…

OUR SCORE FITNESS FOR PURPOSE: 7/10 DRIVEABILITY: 4/10 DESIRABILITY: 8/10 SAFETY RATING: n/a RESALE: 54 percent after 36 months VALUE: 5/10 From $40,990 (driveaway) In the land where the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger top the sales charts with boring repetition, you have to ask yourself: how rich is Australia when the two most popular vehicles can cost nearly $80,000? Which brings us to another question: Can rivals with similar macho styling, equally opulent interiors and corresponding technologies for nearly half the price show up the Big Two? To find out, we sought out the all-new Cannon 4x4 from Great Wall Motors – China’s biggest maker of pick-ups, and a brand on a roll with sales up nearly 40 percent in 2020 locally. There’s the $34K opener, and a mid-spec…

FORD PUMA ST-LINE Price as tested $36,140 This month 606km @ 7.3L/100km Total 4694km @ 6.9L/100km I’VE BEEN blessed/cursed with sensitive feet. No, I don’t mean I break out in hives if I expose them to salt water or anything like that. It’s more how my tootsies interact with the pedals of a car; in particular, the middle one. I have no idea why I’m so fussy with brake feel. It’s not like I was subjected to ritualistic sensory training as a child that set me up for a life of being overly judgemental about vehicle retardation. So what do I like under my right (or left, I’m fine either way) foot? I like a medium-high pedal, with a low-resistance transition to a wellmodulated, fulsome engagement that is consistent right…

IT SOUNDS LIKE heaven now, and it probably was: an easily affordable, European-pedigreed, Japanese-engineered, stylish sedan and fastback coupe, starting this side of 900kg and with rear-wheel drive. Holden’s ubiquitous You and I and Gemini jingle for its new TX Gemini small car reflected the rush of mainly young buyers to pair up with the brand’s first Japanese-sourced model. Holden’s strategy of ‘If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em’ paid off so handsomely that within 12 months the Aussie-assembled Gemini had nabbed Wheels’ COTY gong and was besting the then-dominant Ford Escort and Toyota Corolla in the local sales charts. The Gemini had been developed to take on the world. In 1974, General Motors backed Japanese minnow Isuzu (in which it held a 34 percent stake) to develop the successor…

01 VOLVO XC40 RECHARGE EV Arriving: Q2 Price: $75,000* ALREADY KNOWN FOR safety and building practical wagons, Volvo is set to bring electricity into its modern repertoire via the XC40 Recharge EV. Sitting above the XC40 Recharge PHEV, the EV version drives all four wheels via two electric motors making a combined 300kW/600Nm. The dash to 100km/h takes just 4.9sec and the claimed range from its 78kWh battery is north of 400km. Considering the XC40 is already one of the market’s topselling PHEVs, it bodes well for the all-electric version due mid-year. (*denotes an estimated price) 02 BMW iX Arriving: Q4 Price: $135,000* SHAPING UP AS the most convincing of all the electric BMWs, even if it arrives shortly after the smaller iX3 that will kick the all-electric SUV story…

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 LETTER OF THE MONTH ‘Stephen Corby said I wouldn’t regret the Commodore purchase. Correct’ COMMO CONUNDRUM I’M BECOMING INCREASINGLY despondent; I should not have read Ponch’s Modern Classic piece on the VE SSV (Jan ‘21). My current ‘town car’ is a ’14 VF SSV Sportwagon. So far it has 97,700km on the odo. Nowadays I’m not driving the big miles in the Commo, I just doddle around Canberra and environs on shopping trolley duties, so I feel like a pea rattling around in a shoebox. I’m intending to replace it with something smaller and equally engaging; a manual…

CONSIDER IF YOU WILL the fates of happenstance that would require one to buy a car with more than seven seats. Or maybe it’s best you don’t… The choice of machines that can cater for a volleyball team’s worth of kids is, let’s be honest, not that inspiring. The Honda Odyssey is competent and the Hyundai iMax is… well, big, but neither will ever adorn your laptop as a screensaver. It’s not to say Australia’s best-selling (by some margin) people carrier, the Kia Carnival, has the ability to set hearts aflutter either – but when you’re browsing in this aisle, you have a whole new set of priorities anyway, like space, safety, space, baby-seat mounting, space and more space. Now in its fourth generation, the Carnival aims to blend the…

New operation GM Special Vehicles (GMSV) Australia plans to offer the 369kW V8 ‘base’ C8 Corvette for approximately $150,000 late this year – built in factory right-hand drive at GM’s Bowling Green plant in Kentucky. But what are the chances of the even-hotter versions we’ve reported on here, officially hitting Aussie roads? Well, not zero, but they are slim. These models are likely to be in hot demand in the USA, meaning potentially there’s no need for GM to bother going to the extra effort – and cost – to produce and validate them in right-hand drive for low volume markets like Australia, the UK and Japan. And even if GM did, cars like the ZL1 Zora would still have to survive another business case to be offered locally. But…

Mazda’s still unconfirmed CX-5 update is thought to be mild – a Turbo badge may be the extent of the exterior tweaks – but Hiroshima’s long-term play is just the opposite. The next CX-5 could adopt the CX-50 nameplate to slot in with the CX-30 and forthcoming MX-30, a rear-wheel-drive/AWD platform, and petrol and turbo-diesel six-cylinder engines with 48V mild-hybrid and plug-in hybrid assist. And here we were thinking donk downsizing was an irreversible trend. The sights, it seems, are set on Germany.…

1. LIKE A BENTLEY New flying buttress-style centre console in Active level or above dominates the cabin. It sits below a cinematic 10.3-inch touchscreen on the dash of the range-topping Highlander. 2. LAH DEE-DAH Diamond-quilted Nappa leather upholstery features at the top end of the Santa Fe model range (below left). For our cash, the colour combination of tan – actually called Camel – leather with black is a knockout. 3. LOAD ’ER UP Bigger body increases boot space to 782 litres behind the second row, and even more with it folded (below). Or a reasonable third-row seat can be raised to provide accommodation for seven people on short trips.…

OUR SCORE FITNESS FOR PURPOSE: 4/10 DRIVEABILITY: 3/10 DESIRABILITY: 2/10 SAFETY RATING: 3 star (ANCAP, 2015) RESALE: 47 percent after 36 months VALUE: 3/10 7-seat diesel from $34,990 (d/a) LDV IS A COMPARATIVELY new brand with old ties. Standing for Leyland DAF Vans, the name has roots stretching back over a century to Leyland (yep, of eventual P76 fame), forming in 1993 from the ashes of the latter’s doomed merger with Dutch maker DAF seven years earlier. That went bust by 2005, until SAIC (owners of MG) purchased LDV’s intellectual property and founded Maxus 10 years ago – but that name is barred in Australia and New Zealand due to copyright issues. So, another defunct British marque resurrection job from China, then. Unveiled in 2014 as a Toyota HiAce rival,…

OUR SCORE FITNESS FOR PURPOSE: 7/10 DRIVEABILITY: 6/10 DESIRABILITY: 6/10 SAFETY RATING: 5 star (EURO NCAP, 2019) RESALE: 55 percent after 36 months VALUE: 9/10 From $40,990 WHAT DO YOU think of when you see the initials ‘MG’? Creaky and musty mid-20th century ragtops driven by equally weathered anorak-wearing divorcees, broken down literally and metaphorically in driving rain outside Tudor-style English pubs boasting risqué names like The Fawcett Inn? If so, get with the times, folks, because MG has. Nowadays the SAIC-owned marque adorns the posteriors of cheap-n-cheerful light cars and rather Mazda-esque SUVs, led by the booming bottom-of-the-market ZS (which, in China, is known as the Roewe RX3, for you fans of Japanese rotary-engined classics). Launched in late 2017, the ZS looks the goods but is dull, slow and…

KIA SORENTO GT LINE Price as tested $64,990 (driveaway) This month 105km @ 9.2L/100km Total 2096km @ 9.1L/100km IRECKON there’s a broad rule of thumb that can be applied to the essentialness of all-wheel drive on cars and SUVs. If the platform is fundamentally rear-drive, you can almost surely do without it, if you’re happy to live on the edge. Witness the Porsche 911 GT2 RS versus Turbo S, or Lamborghini Huracan LP-2 models. However, if the platform is born as a front-driver, there’s every chance you do want AWD; evidenced by Golf R versus GTI, or a bunch of fast AWD Audis versus their front-drive counterparts. This thinking carries over to the Sorento. It’s a front-drive platform that really does benefit from AWD. Without giving too much away about…

ALFA ROMEO – BENTLEY YOUR COMPLETE NEW CAR BUYER’S GUIDE WHAT IT ALL MEANS PRICE Recommended retail figure at time of publication (asterisk indicates driveaway price) ENGINE TYPE L, in-line; V, vee; F, flat. Number of cylinders. T, turbo; S, supercharged; D, diesel; H, hybrid; E, electric SIZE Litres or kWh POWER kW TORQUE Nm TRANSMISSION M, manual; A, auto; D, dual-clutch; C, CVT WEIGHT Kerb, kg 0-100 km/h, acceleration in seconds (Wheels as-tested figures in italics) FUEL CONS Consumption in litres, or kWh, per 100km RON Octane of fuel required, as numbered, or D for diesel RESALE percent, 3-year resale in Glass’s ISSUE TESTED month/year DRIVE A, all-wheel; F, front; R, rear. Any figure in bold is our own estimate. Subscribe to wheels on YouTube For drag races, reviews,…

AUSSIE SALES 2009 – 214 2010 – 189 2011 – 114 2012 – 624 2013 – 494 2014 – 255 2015 – 139 2016 – 198 2017 – 158 2018 – 83 2019 – 31 2020 – 24 IT SHOULD COME as no surprise to anyone in the Western world that sedans are slowly dying. They’re the Amazon rainforest of the automotive kingdom – once abundant and seemingly everlasting, but now approaching the ‘endangered’ list. Given our insatiable thirst for consumer stuff, why wouldn’t you want a high-riding wagon to wedge Ikea flat-packs into rather than a staid old sedan? It’s a mindset that has finally buried the 5 Series-baiting Lexus GS after four generations and almost 28 years. The bitter irony is that the SUV hammering the nails into…

DUE FEB AUDI Q5 Halfway through its second generation, the facelift for the Q5 will bring updated looks and new engines into the fold. With seven different variants offering a choice of 2.0-litre turbo diesel, 2.0-litre turbo petrol with mild hybrid, or a turbo diesel 3.0-litre V6, the range starts just shy of $69,000, and tops out at almost $90,000. Brawnier SQ5 sibling will follow later in the year. DUE Q1 HYUNDAI NEXO Hyundai already has 20 hydrogen-powered Nexo SUVs in the country, but as test vehicles on loan to governments. Now, Hyundai says it’s preparing to make the Nexo available to the public as more hydrogen refuelling stations pop up as part of a push from the brand along with Toyota. DUE Q2 HYUNDAI TUCSON Fourth-gen SUV from Seoul…

$600 RRP LOGITECH G923 TRUEFORCE The affordable standard for sim racing, the Logitech G29/G920 wheel controller has been superseded after five years by the G923. Logitech says the Trueforce system is able to draw data directly from a game’s physics engine to make force feedback to the user even more realistic. F1 driver and sim racer Lando Norris even had a hand in its development. RICCIARDO G’DAY SHIRT Our Aussie F1 hero has gone orange, and his new McLaren range of merch is topped off with this somewhat casual… er, top. You can grab one for about $50 from mclarenstore.com. PORSCHE UNSEEN BOOK The last decade saw Porsche create 15 concept cars, but they were all kept secret from the public until now. Photographer Stefan Bogner documents the creations in…

SOMETIMES, AS THE expression goes, attack is the best defence. Whether you’re trying to stop a marauding hoard of rebels breaching your ramparts, or protecting your turf in Australia’s fiercely competitive new-car market, landing a solid right hook while your opponent is still tying their shoelaces can be a cripplingly effective move. And that’s exactly what Hyundai has done with the introduction of its new grand SUV, the Palisade. Five metres long and two metres wide, its silhouette on the horizon should be as intimidating to rivals as Hannibal’s elephants. But this plus-size SUV is somewhat more sophisticated – and brings a lot to the battleground. Two variants lead the Palisade charge in Australia – an entry-level version and the more premium Highlander – with the choice of a 3.8-litre…

Model Honda Civic Type R Engine 1996cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo Max power 228kW @ 6500rpm Max torque 400Nm @ 2500-4500rpm Transmission 6-speed manual Weight 1393kg 0-100km/h 5.8sec (tested) Economy 8.8L/100km (claimed) Price $54,990 On sale Now I THINK WE CAN all agree that the worst thing that’s ever happened in the history of the universe is when Arnotts changed the flavour of its Barbecue Shapes. Surely when snack food perfection has been achieved, it makes sense to leave it alone or face the wrath of the Australian people? Thankfully the consumers spoke and, when widespread rioting appeared imminent, the company backtracked. Which is why I was sceptical when I learned Honda had updated the automotive equivalent of Barbecue Shapes – the Civic Type R. The Japanese hot hatchback is…

ZR1 one CHASSIS Upgraded suspension will feature a more performance focussed tune of the base C8’s Magnetic Ride Control suspension. Combined with wider wheels, grippier tyres and vastly superior aero, it will take performance into AMG Black Series territory. Brakes will switch to monster carbon-ceramics clamped by 10-pot calipers. two ENGINE New 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 will have dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. Dubbed LT7, it will produce about 520kW and 1150Nm in the ZR1. The Zorabadged flagship will kick this into previously uncharted territory for a Corvette, using front-motor electric assist for a total of 746kW and 1356Nm. three BODY ZR1 will get a ‘wide body’ treatment with flared wheel arches to cloak the wider tyres and revised rear suspension, as well as extra venting to increase…

New ‘Zippo’ key replaces the slimline unit that Mazdas have used for a while. It’s form over function, with small buttons on the edge and bulkier proportions in the pocket. CX-5’s virtual cluster features dynamic red dial marking at the speed limit – so simple and useful. Nappa leather upholstery in ‘Dark Russet’ is a welcome break from default black. Dash-top infotainment display is set to grow from 8.0 to 10.2 inches with the incoming CX-5 update. Rear seatbacks fold 40/20/40 for a bit more versatility than Ford’s 60/40 arrangement.…

NEW CARS CAN have a tendency to age like a glass of milk. What seemed like revolutionary styling touches last year date faster than Liam Hemsworth on Tinder, and the incredible advancement of powertrain technology can make last year’s efficiency hero look like a steam train against the latest engines. But not the Hyundai Santa Fe. When it rolled out in its fourth generation, Hyundai’s then biggest SUV was devilishly handsome and brought a package of driving dynamics and practicality that put competitors in the segment on notice. But that was a mere two years ago and, unlike many of its rivals, the Santa Fe has not aged a day. Which is why it’s so surprising that Hyundai has already treated the model to a mid-life refresh – and it’s…

IT SAYS ALL you need to know about John Harvey that he raced for more than 30 years without actually owning any of the 55 race cars he estimated he drove. He had gifted hands, ones worthy of being entrusted with some of the most valuable race cars on the planet. He rewarded their owners with multiple speedway titles, a circuit racing openwheeler championship, two sports car titles and a world championship race. And as a member of the mighty Marlboro Holden Dealer Team, he rightfully claimed his place in the pantheon of the sport by climbing to the top of the mountain, winning the Bathurst 1000 alongside his mate Peter Brock. The fact that so many owners were prepared to hand over their cars also says much of John…

THE RISE in Aussie market share from the Chinese brands has all been driven by the price tags that undercut the mainstream players. But are these apparent bargain brands all that they seem? What do you lose by buying away from the mainstream? We put six models from Chinese manufacturers – and one from ‘the other Korean’ – under the Wheels microscope to sort out the good value from the merely cheap, and see how they stack up against the segment leader in each class.…

From $26,990 (driveaway) TWO MEDIUM-SIZED SUVs were unveiled within a few months of each other in 2019, representing a substantial leap forward over their underwhelming respective predecessors. One was the fifthgeneration Toyota RAV4, which has since become Australia’s sales darling, and the other was the fourth iteration of the SsangYong Korando. Say what? While there are parallels in size and packaging – expansive cabins, deep glass areas, comfy seating, quality dashboard presentations, family-friendly practicality and generous luggage capacities – they diverge in two key areas. The first is pricing, with the base RAV4 GX costing about $10,000 more than its Korando EX equivalent, and the second is popularity. Last year, the former shifted 38,537 units, the latter just 252. Now, we’re not suggesting the RAV4 isn’t worthy, but the Korando…

OUR SCORE FITNESS FOR PURPOSE: 8/10 DRIVEABILITY: 4/10 DESIRABILITY: 6/10 SAFETY RATING: 5 star (ANCAP, 2017) RESALE: 50 percent after 36 months VALUE: 7/10 From $35,990 (driveaway) SOMETIMES YOU NEED to be more than simply the cheapest. A unique selling proposition beyond merely low pricing can really help achieve the required results. Exhibit A: LDV’s D90. Last year this ladder-frame T60 ute-based seven-seater large SUV-cum-wagon enjoyed a whopping 171 percent sales jump. Engineered and built in China by SAIC, the D90 kicks off from an eye-opening $36K driveaway in base RWD guise. To put that in perspective, its 4WD-only Haval H9 compatriot starts from $42K driveaway, Toyota’s HiLux-derived Fortuner 4WD begins from $50K and the Ford Ranger-related Everest in seven-seater format commences from $51K as a 2WD and $56K in…

THINGS you hear when collecting friends in a Genesis GV80: “Ohhh, is this a Bentley!? I’ve never been in a Bentley! Isn’t this fancy! Actually, is it an Aston? The grille is more Aston Martin… Oh I don’t know! What is it!?” The giddy sense of expectation is so high as they scramble into the back seats and start cooing over the diamond-stitch leather that it feels a tremendous anticlimax to say, “Well it’s actually a… Genesis.” Mostly this is met with perplexed looks, but they’re preferable to what happened when one group of friends included someone who knew their cars. “No, guys, cool your jets,” he proclaimed. “It’s just a Hyundai.” I’ll admit to feeling slightly stung by that one (I shudder to think how I’d feel if I’d…