Inhaltsverzeichnis für April 2024 in Wheels

HOW MANY TIMES have you had a revelatory experience in a car? By that I mean a car that fundamentally alters your point of view on driving. In nearly four decades with a driving licence, it’s happened to me with just three vehicles. The first two were the original Lotus Elise and Ford Focus, both of which redefined how cars in their respective classes should ride and handle. The third wasn’t some low-slung supercar. It was the Tesla Model S – a car that showed there could be another way. I might be tempted to add a fourth. It’s another EV: the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N. Spend some time behind the wheel of one of these and you’ll never worry again about the future of motoring consisting purely of vanilla…

THREE WORDS CAME to embody the development program for the Hyundai Ioniq 5 N, forming a mantra that latterly informed every engineering and calibration decision. They were originally appended to the end of an email in an exchange between Albert Biermann and a group of engineers, one of whom was becoming frustrated that the project was in danger of drifting from its original goals. These three words created a sudden and focused course correction. “DRIVING STILL MATTERS”. Biermann’s title today reads Executive Technical Advisor. You may well have heard some reports that have suggested the German has taken a bit of a back seat with regards to vehicle development at Hyundai, but it’s clear that he’s still deeply involved, more recently with the scope of an even bigger challenge than…

BMW X2/iX2 BMW’S X2 RETURNS WITH TECHNOLOGY AND SPACE TO WORRY THE CLASS ABOVE THERE’S A battle raging in the compact SUV realm and none more fierce than at the premium end of the spectrum, with all the key players vying for a bigger chunk of a growing audience. But in a market where choice is king, more esoteric – or perhaps exclusive – coupe-profiled models are, despite their manifest practical compromises, hot properties. In recent testing, BMW’s newgeneration X1 has proved itself as a force to be reckoned with, bowling over consistently impressive contenders such as the pervasive favourite Volvo XC40 while keeping confident newcomers such as the Alfa Romeo Tonale firmly in their place as proteges yet to realise their potential. Now, though, the Munich brand has reinforced…

UNTIL NOW, an EV with 500km+ of range and a relatively affordable price tag has been frustratingly elusive, yet that’s exactly the promise offered by both of our circa-$60K contenders. Okay, neither the Cupra Born nor the MG 4 Long Range 77 is exactly ‘cheap’ — you can nab yourself a lower-spec MG 4 Excite 51 for just $39,990 — but the appeal here is a package that strikes a strong balance between value, big real-world range, performance and equipment. And on paper, it’s the MG that draws first blood. It retails for $54,990 and offers a WLTP range of 530km from a 77kWh battery. Performance is brisk, thanks to a single electric motor that produces a Golf GTI-rivalling 180kW/350Nm and a 0-100km/h claim of 6.5 seconds. That’s half a…

IN 2023, THE Tesla Model Y wasn’t merely the world’s best-selling electric car – it was the most popular car period. No Taylor Swift tickets, then, for guessing that mid-sized SUVs have the most frenetic market activity of any EV category. Audi, BYD, Polestar, Porsche, Skoda, and Volkswagen are all set to bring competitors to Australia later in 2024, but right now we have the first-ever electric cars from Ford, Subaru, and Toyota. Ford has undoubtedly the most controversial nameplate, daring to trade on its V8 muscle-car heritage by calling its battery-powered crossover the Mustang Mach-E. Subaru has gone all latin with Solterra (a combo of ‘sun’ and ‘earth’), while Toyota has gone leftfield with the alpha-numerical bZ4X. The Japanese brands’ EVs are more than mere architecture twins like the…

FRESH FACTS FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED IN THE CAR WORLD THIS MONTH 1. It’s the start of the long goodbye for the venerable Nissan R35 GT-R. On sale for nearly 17 years, it’s finally bowing out of production. Axed here in 2021, the final GT-R is scheduled to leave the lines in August next year. 2. Hyundai has raked in nearly $14m in preorders for the Ioniq 5 N. While the company won’t be drawn on its allocation for Australia for the performance EV, a spokesman has claimed that supply is not an issue. 3. The double-cab version of the Ineos Quartermaster ute was unveiled, priced from $102,000 before on-roads. 4. More details emerge about the eagerly awaited Kia Tasman ute. It’s now likely that the entry-level engine will be…

CONSTRUCTING THIS issue’s suite of battery-electric road tests meant my typical testing routine was abandoned. A four-car comparison would usually see us escape Sydney by as great a distance as we could, yet when you have four cars that can realistically travel less than 350km between ‘filling up’, you’re at the behest of charging stations. And while 15 minutes sounds short, in reality, it’s between two to five times as long as you’d spend at a fuel bowser. Plus, with less than four spots in most locations and an increasing fleet of amp-heads to feed, the expected experience is a long way from reality in Australia. I was pleasantly surprised when researching New Zealand’s public charging infrastructure that there was a commitment in place to have fast-chargers every 75km –…

LET’S START WITH what this isn’t. As the name suggests, this book covers the cars of McLaren Automotive, starting with the MP4-12C and reaching right through to this year and the current 750S. It doesn’t cover the McLaren Cars business – responsible for the legendary F1 – and, in my opinion, it’s all the better for not getting sucked into that particular vortex. Instead, it’s a documentary tribute to hitting the ground running, playing an effective game of catch up with the established supercar royalty, and making sense of the avalanche of new-model launches that have come in that 14 years. The book documents 49 different vehicles launched within that duration which, on a crude averaging, represents a launch every three and a bit months. It’s certainly enough to keep…

ONE OF THE persistent questions around electric cars – and fairly so – has asked when they might be properly affordable. MG is one of only a few brands to answer the call, with its new MG 4 hatchback that’s priced from $39,990 RRP. It’s among a trio of bargainhunter battery vehicles from China priced below the $40,000 threshold, mixing it with the BYD Dolphin (from $38,890) and GWM Ora (from $39,990). All are five-door hatchbacks, though only the MG 4 looks as though it may have been imported from Europe. The cheekily styled Ora, complete with Mini-style round headlights, brings the most left-field exterior design. Great Wall Motors’ EV in its most affordable Standard Range guise also comes with the shortest WLTP-rated maximum driving range of the group,…

IN A STRANGE twist of fate, electrification has made medium sedans cool again. Toyota Camry, Hyundai Sonata and Mazda 6 are the only notable names left in the ICE camp besides Skoda’s liftbacks. The Tesla Model 3 is the default and sells strongly month-on-month, but new faces such as the BYD Seal, Hyundai Ioniq 6 and recently updated Polestar 2 have rejuvenated competition in the middle class’s old favourite segment. For simplicity, we’ve ignored (Seal notwithstanding) the high-power variants because they push beyond $80K, and we’re examining pricier sedans in detail next month. Fourty-nine thousand dollars is where the nearly 4.8-metrelong BYD Seal Dynamic starts, with a 460km driving range, 150kW, connected technology, and a 12.9-inch rotating central touchscreen. There’s also enough space for four on board. The Premium ($58,798)…

IF WE WERE including a general collection of our favourite sub-$80K EVs here, it would appear fair to add the Hyundai Ioniq 6, Polestar 2 and Tesla Model 3 electric sedans to the mix. But those three highly recommended mid-sized sedans are flip-of-a-coin close, which leaves the Hyundai Kona Electric, Kia EV6 and MG 4 as three vehicles that stand out quite definitively in their respective segments. An outright comparison between this trio this is not, however – we’ve judged the overall Best EV Under $80,000 as we would Car of the Year entrants. Performance of intended function and innovation are the two crucial criteria after they each proved their mettle in value, comfort, and driving excellence against direct rivals. The second-gen Hyundai Kona has matured significantly and is now…

WHICH CAR BRAND made wagons cool? I’ll come back in 25 years when you’ve all finished arguing the answer because it’s a tricky one isn’t it? Like the ‘missing link’ in humankind’s anthropoid evolution, one day the world woke up and the once proportionally awkward, often daggy and utilitarian station wagon had turned into a genuinely desirable option. An option which, in many cases, you’d pick over the sedan and even coupe equivalents. Candidates deserving of credit are numerous. With the soundtrack of a turbocharged five-cylinder engine blended with unapologetically angular styling, theVolvo 850 T-5 R was already cool. Then it started hunting down crims on the UK’s highways at 250km/h dressed up in blue flashers and high-vis, and it went through the stratosphere of cool. The Skoda Octavia RS introduced…

BROWSING BEYOND BASE grades is what Australians do, but does increasing the budget by $10K change our choice of best small electric vehicle? Beyond the $40,000 barrier, MG, BYD, and GWM offer more range, equipment and colour choices that make each model more complete on paper. Nissan’s ageing Leaf is priced above the cut-off ($50,990) which leaves us with just three main vehicles in the segment, starting with the GWM Ora Extended Range ($45,990). Compared with the price leader, it scores a larger 59.3kWh NCM lithium-ion battery with the same 126kW/250Nm frontmounted electric motor. Known as the Funky Cat in the UK, its endearing styling lives up to that promise with vibrant colours to capture a bit of Mini’s pop-car magic. That image comes at the cost of practicality. Despite…

BYD’S ATTO 3 is one of the best-value electric vehicles on sale today and a rare example of (near) price parity with its combustion-engined alternatives. While a little smaller outside thanks to the skateboard-style EV construction, the Chinese-made SUV has more space than aVolkswagen T-Roc R-Line and bang up-to-date cabin technology. It’s this competitiveness that might make the case for families to swap into the $51,011 BYD from combustionengined vehicles – especially with tantalising loan deals available for EVs under the luxury car tax threshold. The Atto 3’s sales speak for themselves and, it’s safe to say, the BYD arrives in this four-way as a favourite. It comprehensively beat the MG ZS EV in a twin test (Wheels December 2022) and is the most affordable EV here at nearly $9000…

REPORT THREE INTER-CITY HAULING PLENTY OF MILEAGE AND IMPROVED EFFICIENCY MAKING PLANS is a mug’s game – best to decide on the spur of the moment and keep some spontaneity in your life. That’s what I’ve been telling myself as plans to take a delayed Christmas holiday in February evaporated faster than a rain shower in Oodnadatta. So I gifted the MG 4 to John Law for a return trip to Canberra. And then followed up Johnny’s ACT adventure with several visits to Newcastle. With the MG 4’s overall energy consumption sitting at 18.2kWh/100km last month (after travelling 813km), it gave a stellar performance in month three, ripping that number down to 17.2kWh/100km, despite much of that mileage being accrued on NSW freeways. Johnny’s Sydney-to-Canberra leg, purely on the Hume,…