Tabla de contenidos para February 2017 en Wheels

A BATTLE royale is looming in 2018 between the controversial Holden NG Commodore out of Germany and an all-new Toyota Camry, as the Japanese-American four-door sedan steps out – and up – in a number of key areas. Japanese-American? Let’s face it. As the US’s best-selling passenger car over the last 15 years, Toyota’s venerable mid-sizer attracted the most attention and the biggest crowd at the eighth generation’s glitzy unveiling at January’s Detroit Motor Show. And, for once, all that Yankee hullabaloo might have substance to it, judging by the comparatively bolder (if still derivative) clothes that the 2018 Camry will wear courtesy of California-based designer Ian Cartabiano. Two distinct nose treatments, far-less bloat, and even the option of a ‘floating’ blacked-out roof treatment… pretty racy stuff for America’s sweetheart.…

THIS story started months ago, in a dimly lit, quiet room in AMG’s Affalterbach HQ. There, a silver cover gripped tightly in his hand, stood AMG boss Tobias Moers, a boyish grin spread across his broad face having just shown me his latest creation – the bright green, track-focused GT R. It was a strangely intimate and highly exclusive opportunity (Wheels was the first in the world to see the car), and one that couldn’t be further away from what I’m experiencing now. I’m in Portugal, at the rather daunting Portimao circuit, and the GT R’s gunslit windscreen is being peppered with small rubber bullets, shot from the back of another GT R just 10 metres ahead. It’s driven by AMG hot-shoe Bernd Schneider, and his wide, green rump kicks…

WITH its concept-car-like futurismo exterior, the new Lexus LC500 may look more fashionable than frightening, but its intimidation factor hits you from the very first moment you stab the lovely, metallic Start button. The glorious noise of the naturally aspirated V8 fills the cabin and makes your pulse race. Earlier in the day we’d also come to appreciate how cleverly Lexus silences the shouting of the V8 – and all other external noises – when you slip into cruising mode on a freeway. The luxuriant ride in the Comfort setting and the low NVH really reflect the duality chief engineer Koji Sato has attempted to achieve with the LC: high-end luxury and sportiness in one car. Happily, the steering of the LC has the kind of forceful feedback and muscularity…

ITS NAME means ‘future’ in Japanese, which says plenty about the latest Toyota eco warrior. Like the Prius two decades ago, the Mirai is trying to lead the way for hydrogen fuel cells as the world glacially eases towards a zero-emissions automotive future. Like the Prius, its design is about slipping through the air cleanly (though its Cd is an unremarkable 0.29) and being as light as possible. Specially designed 17-inch alloy wheels save 2kg, but that seems superfluous when the Mirai weighs a podgy 1850kg. Blame the twin hydrogen fuel tanks (under the rear seat, and behind the rear seat), the hydrogen fuel cell (which performs a chemical reaction to produce electricity) and the batteries borrowed from the Prius. Yet as much as there’s tricky tech going on beneath…

 I’M SEATED in a modest farmhouse in a remote part of Tasmania we’ve been asked not to disclose. Opposite me sits a man whose surname we’ve also been asked not to publish. Andrew, as we’ll call him, looks a bit older than his 50 years, with a tousle of blond hair that looks as if it’s on loan from a faded ’80s rock star. He produces a snap-lock plastic bag containing a rocky white substance. “Ere ya go,” he says, looking me in the eye. “Check it out; ’av a whiff.” The SVR nails the brief like a sprung bear-trap around a thylacine’s leg Now, over the years I’ve been offered many fun things to sniff by colourful characters, some of them producing quite pleasant sensations. But the calcified turd…

“SUCH A BIG, FRIENDLY BEAST OF A THING, AND AWESOME FUN ON GRAVEL...”BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS “CONVERTIBLE FEELS CRUDE; BUILT TO THE KIND OF PRICE TIGHTWAD AMERICANS WILL PAY”JOHN CAREY AUSTRALIA has so much residual love for the Ford Mustang that this ballsy two-door coupe/ convertible was never going to fail in our market. Not at prices beginning in the mid-40s for a manual Ecoboost Fastback and stretching to a still-modest $66K for the flagship V8 rag-top. Nothing can match the traffic-stopping wow factor of a new Mustang for anything close to its price. That’s a huge part of this car’s appeal – its egalitarian pricing strategy, hence why it’s been such a massive sales hit (see sidebar) – but there’s also an unexpected serving of substance to accompany the Mustang’s…

“EXHAUST NOISE IS EPIC… BUT ONLY FROM INSIDE THE CAR”BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS “DIDN’T BLOW MY MIND DYNAMICALLY”ALEX INWOOD HERE’S the car that divided opinion more sharply than any other at COTY 2017. Honda’s aim with the NSX was to create a visionary supercar, something to rekindle its fading reputation for engineering, at once audacious and intelligent. And this hyper-hybrid does demonstrate that one of Japan’s bravest brands, historically speaking, hasn’t turned into a complete coward, technically speaking. But while the NSX is stuffed with tomorrow technology, is this enough to make it desirable today? This, in essence, was the question that split the judges, sometimes noisily. COTY’s Technology criterion demands that innovation should bring genuine advancement. Some argued that the NSX lacks the power, pace and passion of conventional supercars…

“FABULOUSLY FLUENT AND SUPPLE CHASSIS”JOHN CAREY “THE ENORMOUS COST OF OPTIONS IS A JOKE”TOBY HAGON JAGUAR’S previous-generation XF of a decade ago was the company’s game-changer. The XF II, the first under Tata stewardship but wholly British in design and engineering, builds on much of its predecessor’s inherent strengths by adopting the brilliant lightweight rear-drive architecture from the excellent (and woefully underrated) XE, and basically stretching it. Double wishbones, multi-links, the works… In every measurable way, the large Jaguar sedan is better, beginning with a lovely understated interior that meshes modernity with quality and class. While losing the auto-closing central vents is a shame (they’re still at the dash extremities), significantly greater space and improved ergonomics (even over the XE) make the opulent and hushed cabin a relaxing place.…

“ABETTERCARTHAN THE SEDAN – MORE POLISHED, MORE CAPABLE, MORE PERSONALITY”NATHAN PONCHARD “THE C63 S IS SO MUCH MORE CONVINCING THAN AN M4 ”ALEX INWOOD COTY threw up some fascinating contrasts this year, but none as compelling as the familial clash between our pool of C-Class coupe and cabrio variants. The outlying C200 rag-top and C63 S AMG Coupe were separated by nearly $80,000 and 240kW and the personalities were spread just as far. The basics build on the C-Class sedan, with the usual trade of less practicality for an increase in style and exclusivity. Cabin architecture and design is as impressive as the four-door and wagon – although with an obvious reduction in rear space – but the dynamics have moved up a notch, certainly in the Coupe, which…

“THIS CAR IS DYNAMICALLY FLAWLESS”JOHN CAREY “YOU DEFINITELY MISS THAT FLAT-SIX SOUNDTRACK”MIKE DUFF FOUR-cylinder Porsches have a history of being truly fabulous, from the brand’s earliest production model, the 356, to the 912, and the 944 S2, Turbo and 968 from the 1980s and ’90s. And, now, the 718 Boxster. What a relief. Killing off the earlier 981 series’ definitive naturally-aspirated 2.7-litre and 3.4-litre flat-sixes might have seemed an act of heresy, but the result is something altogether reassuringly lovable yet intriguingly different. And even rogue. Not to mention better in key areas. Brandishing meaningful power and economy gains, the all-new horizontally opposed four-pot turbo in 220kW 2.0-litre and 257kW 2.5-litre S configurations mesmerise with muscular performance, the latter adding a level of torquey flexibility that’s downright intoxicating. Over…

“FEELS LIKE AN ALDI AUDI!”BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS “STICKS TO THE PRACTICAL STUFF”TOBY HAGON “4X4 WAGON OFFERS SEARING PERFORMANCE. SUCH A FABULOUS Q-CAR”NATHAN PONCHARD BIG, HONEST, good-looking and unpretentiously capable, the Skoda Superb embodies the same virtues as Australia’s best. It’s the kind of car happy Falcon and Commodore owners looking for more of the same should consider come replacement time. There are some important differences, of course. The Czech brand’s sedan is actually a liftback, and both it and the wagon version are built on a platform that’s front-drive or all-wheel drive, not rear-drive. And the Skoda’s engine line-up is exclusively four-cylinder and includes a diesel. Performance isn’t a problem. The least expensive front-drive Superb costs $39,990 and packs a 162kW turbocharged 2.0-litre beneath its bonnet. It’s a $4000 step…

SECURING a coveted spot on board the COTY train means a car has stood up to specification scrutiny, dynamic deconstruction and intense debate. It’s a solid achievement that the majority of models fail to realise. The 22 that buckled under the proving ground pressures of Round One left a sensational six to slug it out on public roads, where real-world functions such as comfort, economy and driveability rise to the fore.…

“THE GOLF OF SUVs. AND THAT MEANS VERY GOOD”JOHN CAREY “HANDLING HAS FLUENT CONTROL AND INVOLVING POISE”BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS LARGER, smarter and more dynamically appealing than its now faded predecessor, Volkswagen’s second-gen Tiguan brings Golf-like polish and refinement to the cut-throat, and booming, mid-size SUV segment. Oozing a newfound confidence and showroom appeal, the Tiguan impressed even before it turned a wheel at COTY. As the first SUV to switch to VW’s modular transverse MQB architecture, Tiguan V2.0’s most obvious improvement is the boost in comfort and practicality gleaned from increased dimensions all round, including a wheelbase stretched by 77mm. It has officially grown from a small into a medium-sized SUV, though significantly, weight is actually down in almost every variant (by up to 53kg). The packaging is clever too,…

“1.4 TFSI IS ALL THE LUXURY SEDAN MOST PEOPLE WILL EVER NEED”NATHAN PONCHARD “THE MOST COHESIVE AND COHERENT A4 EVER FROM AUDI”JOHN CAREY “SO POLISHED, PREMIUM, AND PERSUASIVE”ALEX INWOOD THE PHRASE ‘always the bridesmaid and never the bride’ could have been tailor-made for the Audi A4. Around in one form or another for over four decades and eight iterations, the premium medium from Ingolstadt has long lived in the critical and commercial shadows cast by its cutthroat compatriots, the BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class. And it’s also faced relentless in-house hostility from the related Volkswagen Passat – a series the original B1 Audi 80 of 1972 actually begat. The elusive big time certainly isn’t due to a lack of innovation – Audi’s mid-sizer was an early…

UTES are more than just a way to get around. They’re a lifestyle, one that’s built an almost cult-like following with some of the more hardcore fellow ute owners. And I’ve learned more about Club Ute in recent weeks, having covered plenty of predominantly city kays, where utes are prevalent. There’s a ute peak-hour (it’s over by about 7.45am and kicks off again at 2.30pm) and a general ute understanding in traffic. And it pays dividends when dicing for a gap on clogged roads. Ute-to-ute is so much easier when merging, with merely a glance to acknowledge such courteousness (although, then again, it could be the sheer bulk of the Hilux – bullbar, snorkel and all – that creates openings that didn’t exist moments earlier). The ute respect works much…

THE GARBO is one of the great unsung heroes of local council. These humble blokes and blokettes earn their packet by rising early to patrol our darkened streets on the wrong side of a whiffy, diesel-belching dumpster to ensure our towns remain litter- and rat-free. If you ever doubted the importance of garbologists in our urban eco-systems then consider the good folk of Napoli, who endured eight months without waste collection back in 2007-2008, leading to mountains of stinking rubbish and a multimillion-dollar bill to send the stuff north to Hamburg for incineration. So, yes, our Garbos are champions of the first order but, as you’ve no doubt discovered, they can be a tad devil-may-care with the placement of bins once empty. The Good Wife found this out to her…

WISE TRADE Andrea Vitale has a collection of Italian cars – Alfa Spiders, mid-90s Maseratis, a Fiat 130 Coupe – and classic bikes. His favourite? “A 1971 MV Agusta 350. Dad gave this to my brother, and a Fiat 128 to me. We swapped.” He keeps the MV at the family house in Sicily where he was born, and where he “goes home” every year. MENTION anything Italian, automotive and here in Australia over the past 40 years and Andrea Vitale has probably worked on it, owned it or built it. Ferrari, Maserati, Lamborghini, De Tomaso, Alfa Romeo... Okay, trick question: Giocattolo? Andrea started it. Since 2010 Vitale, now 62, has been proprietor of Andrea Motori, the go-to service centre for many of Sydney’s Italian car cognoscenti. Vitale has the…

MAZDA’S CX-9 was one of the standouts in Wheels’ inaugural autonomous emergency brake (AEB) testing for COTY 2017. Priced from $42,390, the seven-seat SUV shone in the most comprehensive independent test of its type in Australia of what is an increasingly relevant safety feature. As first reported last month, the tests were conducted in conjunction with Insurance Australia Group’s (IAG) research department, and involved driving towards the two custom target vehicles at speeds of 10, 20 and 25km/h. The AEB testing was introduced to COTY in 2017 as an evolution of Wheels’ long history in independently verifying active safety systems, from ABS to ESC. The CX-9 achieved a perfect score against the two target vehicles – a mid-sized sedan and a high-riding…

STANDING on the Audi SQ7’s seemingly innocent throttle pedal is a bit like watching an A380 take off. Something tells you this big bird won’t fly, but before you can say “nine hundred Newton metres” the Virtual Cockpit display shows three figures entirely incompatible with the speed limit. Foot flat, there’s a pause as Audi's weighty 2330kg SUV inhales, followed by a deep V8 rumble and the rushing air of three turbochargers, surging the five-metre lump forward on an almighty wave of torque. It takes one of the most sophisticated powertrains on sale to manufacture all that thrust. There’s a 4.0-litre diesel V8 fed by two sequential, variable-vane turbos and a third, electric compressor that can spool to 70,000rpm in 250 milliseconds. A 48-volt electrical subsystem powers the compressor and…

HOLDEN’S Zeta platform has given birth to some bloody impressive gear during its 11-year tenure, so it’s fitting that the last-ever Aussie-made, rear-driver bows out with a celebratory ‘bang’. Close to a year before the pin is finally pulled on domestic production, Holden has gathered together all the best components from global Zeta-platformed cars to create three limited-edition models – Motorsport Edition sedan, Director sedan (see far right) and Magnum ute. The Motorsport Edition is the headline variant. Based on the VFII Commodore SS-V Redline sedan, it scores Magnetic Ride Control (MRC) suspension as fitted to the Chevrolet SS export model, completely re-tuned by Holden. Featuring four drive modes (Touring, Sport, Performance and Track), Sport sees the MRC switch to an FE3 damper tune, opens the bi-modal exhaust flaps, introduces…

JOHANN Kistler doesn’t hesitate before answering. “Driving dynamics,” says the BMW 5 Series project head after being asked where his new car’s biggest advantage over the Mercedes-Benz E-Class lies. “The experience of driving, this was very important for us.” Kistler singles out the big sedan’s steering precision for special praise. And there’s some pride when he points out that BMW could make the 5 Series ride comfortably without the air suspension Mercedes-Benz believes some E-Class models need. “It is not necessary, in our understanding,” he says. Predictable responses from someone who’s worked for BMW for 38 years, a cynic would say. But Kistler, as it happens, is right. The seventh-generation 5 Series, codenamed G30, is a lovely thing to drive. Its electrically assisted steering is truly outstanding, and the chassis…

 EVERYONE loves an underdog. But even that doesn’t make the task of an embattled Peugeot attempting to take on the might of Wolfsburg any less daunting. That’s exactly what we have here – the everything-to-prove 308 GTi up against the Volkswagen Golf GTI. And not just any old version of the enduring king of the hot-hatch brigade, either, but the extra-spicy Clubsport 40 – a 500-run celebration of the class-defining Mk1 original of 1976. THIS SHAPES AS A BLOODBATH FOR THE GALLIC CHALLENGER, BUT THE LION’S DEN HAS ITS OWN SPECIAL ALLURES Clubsport 40? If only. For Australia, the anniversary model has been clumsily rechristened ‘40 Years’ due to a long line of HSV Clubsports. Going up against the fastest-ever Golf GTI requires Herculean resolve. After more than a decade…

“THE KIND OF CAR WE ALL WISH BMW’S M DIVISION WOULD DO MORE OF”JOHN CAREY “THE M2 BENEFITS AS MUCH FROM WHAT IT LEAVES OFF AS WHAT IT’S GOT”MIKE DUFF BY THEIR nature, performance cars have an enormous hill to climb at Car of the Year. Typically compromised on space and comfort at the expense of going fast, they nail some COTY criteria but fall spectacularly flat in others. Except the M2 arrives with very few of those go-fast compromises. Utilising much of the body of the regular 2 Series but with 80mm added to its girth, the M2 benefits from a compact yet spacious cabin that can transport four people at a pinch. That it also manages to ride with maturity and some semblance of comfort earnt it…

“BASE ACTIVE HAS TOO MUCH UNDERSTEER … AND A POOR LOW-SPEED RIDE”NATHAN PONCHARD “LACKING THE SORT OF ‘BUY-ME’ VIBES ITS BEST SEGMENT RIVALS MANAGE”MIKE DUFF IN WHAT IS a reversal for cheap Korean small cars, the most expensive version of the sixth-gen Elantra is the best. And the only one to consider. That’s right, folks. Look for the ‘SR’ badge (and ignore the old-school bodykit and spoiler treatments), because this cracking little sporty sedan is the neat but anonymous small Hyundai sedan’s saving grace. Lusty performance from a 1.6-litre direct-injection turbo four, driving the front wheels via a (notchy) six-speed manual or (slick) seven-speed dual-clutch transmission, bigger brakes, reworked front suspension, a multi-link independent rear end (replacing a torsion beam), and a faster steering rack create a driver’s sedan…

“BASE 20d LESS GRAVELLY THAN V6 DIESEL, BUT BOTH CREAMED BY NEW-GEN BENZ DIESEL”NATHAN PONCHARD “THE MORE I DROVE IT, AND THE HARDER I DROVE IT, THE MORE I LIKED IT”BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS IN TERMS of formulas guaranteed to work, you don’t get much more of a sure thing than a luxury SUV. Throw in good looks and a sporty demeanour and it’s sure to sell like hotdogs at the Superbowl. That Jaguar took so long to produce its first SUV, then, is perplexing. Blame it partly on sister brand Land Rover, which has long taken care of that desire for off-roaders with class. As unfashionably late as it is, the F-Pace comes out fighting with a sleek aluminium-intensive body offered in a vast range encompassing two diesel engines and…

“YOU CAN TELL THE MONEY HAS BEEN SPENT ON THE UPPER SUSPENSION VERSIONS”NATHAN PONCHARD “POSSIBLY THE BEST-LOOKING THING IN ITS CLASS … UNTIL YOU SEE THE COUPE”JOHN CAREY PAUL Keating would like the GLC. Just like that famous recession in 1990, the newcomer to the three-pointed-star family is the SUV that Mercedes-Benz had to have. Yet it’s surprising it’s taken so long to get it. Blame that on the international product planning masters, who somehow missed the Down Under surge towards SUVs. At least the GLC is finally here and it appears there was pent-up demand for the mid-sized Mercedes-Benz SUV because it’s shot to the top of the luxury SUV sales charts. No doubt design plays a part. Judges noted how elegant the GLC is, although rued the…

“ZEN’S SUSPENSION HAS A BOUNCY FIRMNESS THAT IS NOT ON-BRAND AT ALL”BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS FOLLOWING the Clio’s impressive top-three finish in 2013’s COTY, we expected much from the new-gen Renault Megane. By honing the Clio’s impressive drivetrains and introducing a host of fresh technology and a striking new design language, Megane IV should’ve been knocking on the door of brilliance. Instead, it’s a case of quite near (if we’re talking about the rorty GT) but still some distance behind where the small-car benchmark sits in 2017. Or even 2013, because the Mk7 Volkswagen Golf remains the hatch to beat. And the new Megane simply isn’t up to the task. Measured against the five pillars of COTY criteria, the Megane performs well in four of them – Technology, Efficiency, Safety and Value.…

“THE ESC SYSTEM HAS CLEARLY BEEN CALIBRATED BY THE PARANOID”BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS  ALMOST two decades have passed since Toyota launched the Prius, now a name virtually synonymous with hybrid propulsion. Few would have imagined the dorky-looking petrol-electric sedan that went on sale in Japan in 1997, and which reached Australia in 2001, marked the beginning of a global phenomenon. Now at gen-four, it’s the most successful eco-car the world has ever seen. “THE NEW-GEN TOYOTA CHASSIS IS TERRIFIC!”NATHAN PONCHARD Toyota’s hybrid drivetrain – four-cylinder petrol engine and two electric motor-generator units, all connected by a CVT-mimicking planetary gear – has evolved gradually with each generation. For the new Prius, engineers improved the thermal efficiency of its 1.8-litre engine. No other mass-produced engine betters it, they claim. At the same time,…

“TYRE NOISE WAS BAD EVERYWHERE AND APPALLING ON COARSE CHIP”JOHN CAREY “ITS MAIN FLAW, IF YOU CAN DEEM IT THAT, IS ITS FAVOURING A SPORTIER TUNE”NATHAN PONCHARD IT’S been a long time in the COTY wilderness for imported Holdens. Not since 2001 has a non-Commodore Holden taken the COTY gong – and there’s been nothing remotely close to challenging for a finals berth in that decade-and-a-half stretch. Enter the BK Astra, the fifth generation of the Opel-sourced small car to be sold here and a vehicle tasked with replacing the Australian-made Cruze that has enjoyed big sales but not necessarily big accolades. While Astra coupes have been available more recently, this is the first five-door Astra to wear a Holden lion since 2009. To say the new Astra arrives…

WITH the COTY 2017 podium players established, Round Three amps up the analysis in search of the year’s crowning automotive achievement. Finalists are pressed into additional urban driving and rigorous ride assessment with a full complement of occupants. A no-stone-unturned dissection of both fundamentals and finer points prompts the final debate of each model’s merits. Just one of them will emerge with the industry’s most prestigious gong.…

“FOUR-POT TURBO WORKS BEAUTIFULLY ... EFFORTLESSLY FLEXIBILE”TOBY HAGON “SUCH A CONVINCING BLEND OF DESIGN, PRACTICALITY AND PERFORMANCE”ALEX INWOOD “TERRIFIC CHASSIS REFINEMENT. RIDE AND HANDLING VERY WELL SORTED”JOHN CAREY THE FACT it has taken more than a decade since the Ford Territory’s landmark Car of the Year win for another SUV to snatch the crown proves that this award is no popularity contest. In the intervening 12 years, SUVs have risen from 18 percent of the total Australian market to 37 percent in 2016, just four points shy of the dwindling passenger-car percentage. So it’s somehow timely – perhaps even well overdue – that Mazda has delivered us a seven-seat family SUV as carefully designed, thoroughly engineered and wholly desirable as the new-generation CX-9. Given the almighty strength…

NOTHING beats back-to-back testing for delivering a definitive verdict on all topics related to dynamics, as Car of the Year proved. It finally gave me the opportunity to directly compare opposing Spark variants – LS manual on 14s and LT auto on 15s – to see which is the sweeter package. With its chassis honed at Holden’s Lang Lang proving ground and on the challenging roads around Victoria’s Gippsland region, no Spark is a dynamic duffer. But away from the lower-speed demands of urban warfare, it becomes clear that the Spark’s handling and steering shine brightest when taking advantage of the far superior grip of the up-spec LT’s 185/55R15 Continental Premium Contact tyres. Gone is the smaller-tyred LS’s propensity to lose adhesion as lateral forces build, resulting in a lack…

1 FERRARI F12 TDF 574kW Tyre-shredding performance from superb 6.3-litre V12 makes for one extremely fast Fezza. That it revs to 8900rpm and provides 80 percent of its torque from 2500rpm is testament to its flexibility. 2 LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR SV 552kW Ballistic 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 defines the carbonfibre Lambo supercar. Soon-to-arrive S update brings four-wheel steering and facelifted styling. 3 BENTLEY CONTINENTAL SUPERSPORTS 522kW Unique W12 layout (combining two VW V6s on a common crank) is a talking point, but it’s the twin-turbocharged grunt across the rev range that makes the Conti such a (thirsty) delight. 4 FERRARI GTC4LUSSO 507kW All-paw V12 fun translates to fantastic off-the-line acceleration in what is the replacement for the FF. V8 model coming soon, but the V12 is the power leader in Ferrari’s grand…

AUSTRALIA’S last-ever homegrown super-sedan range will bid farewell with a torrent of piping-hot V8s. HSV’s 2017 line-up will not only see the revival of the long-rumoured GTS-R badge – last seen on the ‘be-winged banana’ VS GTS-R in 1996 – but there will be a limited-run mega-sedan sitting above and beyond even the ‘regular’ GTS-R, called GTS-R W1. Packing the Chevy Corvette ZR1’s epic dry-sumped 6.2-litre LS9 supercharged bent-eight instead of the regular GTS-R’s tweaked LSA unit, the W1 will justifiably sit right at the top of Australia’s balls-out, muscle-car hierarchy. And it won’t be just numbers on a dyno sheet either. While “in excess of 470kW and 800Nm” are worthy of their own cult worship (as we went to press, official figures were yet to be finalised), the W1…

IS THIS the end for Benz’s large luxury wagon in Australia? Thanks to posh SUVs riding roughshod, the Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate as we have known it over the past 37 years and five iterations looks dead. Well, not quite. Come May, Stuttgart is having one last go with the S213 series E220d All-Terrain, the brand’s first foray into premium crossover territory, taking on the long-established Audi A6 Allroad and upcoming Volvo V90 Cross Country. It’s an important symbolic move. The All-Terrain has 29mm more ground clearance than the regular E-Class Estate, and looks more rugged with its twin-louvered grille, beefier bumpers, black wheelarch surrounds and chunkier 19-inch alloys. But the All-Terrain is more than just a jacked-up marketing exercise. Yes, the platform and wheelbase are the same as the sedan’s,…

IF THE passing of the baton from the WRX to the Golf GTI was VW’s work of the past decade, now its Czech offshoot is working on former Subaru Liberty buyers. The Octavia got off to a slow start on the back of its Eastern-bloc look and unknown status when, with the oddball Roomster, it heralded Skoda’s return to Australia in 2007. But the post-2013 third-gen model works with rising cred and more appealing style. And the RS230 – the hottest Octavia so far – should continue the push with something to please forlorn Liberty wagon and GT buyers. For $3600 more than a regular Octavia RS162 you get a real electronically controlled limited-slip diff (as opposed to a quasi-LSD ESC function), a 7kW peak power boost, handling and styling…

HUMDRUM hatchbacks and predictable SUVs might keep the automotive coffers accumulating coin these days, but it’s the little things that keep real car enthusiasts satiated. Little things like this big, new Kia. An anti-appliance from a brand known for value, pushing against the tide with its rear-drive, all-turbo, gran-turismo mindset, Kia’s new four-door fastback – named Stinger – is the sort of car that makes headlines simply for being unique. And for not being a two-door coupe, as Kia’s 2014 GT4 Stinger concept suggested. Competitors? Perhaps Volkswagen’s forthcoming CC replacement, the Arteon, and possibly Skoda’s similarly sized, though conceptually opposed Superb, as well as Holden Commodore/Calais variants, before and after transitioning to German DNA. Target buyers? More than likely anyone considering a premium-brand four-door (think Audi A4/A6, BMW 3/4/5 Series,…

The Maybach badged Pullman is the new ride of choice for despots everywhere WHAT do Elvis Presley, Pol Pot and the Pope have in common? The Mercedes-Benz Pullman. For 52 years, this six-seat state limousine has been the go-to car for the 0.001 percent. This year, the armoured version celebrates half a century of protecting dictators who met a grisly end anyway: Hussein, Gaddafi, Ceausescu. And now there’s a new one. This time badged the Mercedes-Maybach Pullman, it is the new patriarch of the S-Class family and the new ride of choice for despots everywhere. So far only a handful have been hand-made, and I’m being chauffeured around Dubai in one of them. Dubai is awash with Zondas and La Ferraris and P1s costing well in excess of the Pullman’s…

“ARE ITS POINTS OF DIFFERENCE ENOUGH TO MAKE IT DESIRABLE?”NATHAN PONCHARD “MOST OF THE GOOD PARTS BELONG TO MERCEDES-BENZ”JOHN CAREY SOME say that basing your Japanese premium hatch/crossover range on a competing German brand’s small-car architecture and claiming it as your own might be a bit of a con; others reckon that by adding your own design identity and chassis tuning to an already good thing, you’re creating a winning unique cross-cultural fusion. Let’s split the difference and call it identity confusion, since the Infiniti Q30 and its QX30 crossover sibling, which both hail from England, are a confluence of Japanese design and German engineering that actually works. Said to be based on Mercedes’ GLA structure rather than the almost-indistinguishably smaller A-Class (though both spring from Daimler’s MFA modular…

“ENTIRELY DECENT HANDLING FOR A MEDIUM SUV”ALEX INWOOD “GOOD VALUE AT $28,990; MUCH LESS SO AT 46 GRAND”TOBY HAGON FOUR’S a lucky charm for the Sportage. Kia’s longest-running nameplate, the 1997 original was so bad it is surprising the badge isn’t forever tainted. The second (twinned with the 2004 Hyundai Tucson) was also way off the mark, while the third from 2010 remains stylistically striking, but suffered from dynamic and refinement shortfalls. It is clear, though, that the Koreans are listening, because the longer and roomier Mk4, with its smart German lines, features a substantially stiffer structure that both cuts noise paths and provides a stronger base for improved suspension and steering systems. Armed at last with precision, today’s Sportage handles with assurance, balance, and – this is a…

“IT’S THE BEST MODERN INTERPRETATION OF THE NEW MINI YET”ALEX INWOOD “THERE’S A COHESION HERE WE HAVEN’T SEEN BEFORE IN A MINI”NATHAN PONCHARD THAT the Clubman even made it to COTY is a feat in itself, largely because some weren’t initially convinced of its eligibility. Based on the F55/F56 Mini family, the second generation appears to be essentially a stretched version of cars in the existing Mini range. But as well as extra length and wheelbase (see sidebar) the Clubman is also some 70mm wider than those other Minis, necessitating a unique interior treatment. So the new Clubman is sufficiently different to any Mini before it. From the outset that earnt it praise from judges. The extra millimetres translate into useful interior space, especially in the rear. The Clubman…

“IT DOESN’T MOVE THE GAME FORWARD IN TERMS OF TECH”ALEX INWOOD “HOW DOES IT MANAGE TO SUFFER FROM TORQUE STEER WITH SO LITTLE TORQUE?”TOBY HAGON RENAULT has such high hopes for the all-new Koleos that Australia was the first market in the world to receive the redesign last August, underscoring the medium SUV’s importance. Significantly larger than its 2007-era predecessor, the more wagonoid Mk2 version with its longer rear overhang looks beefy in a sort of scaled-down Audi Q7 way, which is no bad thing. Obviously, the growth spurt ushers in meaningful increases in interior room, including a huge back-seat and vast cargo space. It’s the same deal up front. Along with oodles of storage, excellent forward vision, and an agreeable driving position, it highlights the family-orientated practicality engineered…

“NO QUESTION THIS CAR IS A REAL STEP FORWARD FOR VOLVO”TOBY HAGON “BRILLIANT DRIVETRAIN, STYLING, CABIN… LET DOWN BY ITS RIDE QUALITY”NATHAN PONCHARD IF PROOF proper was ever needed that Volvo has successfully transitioned from Ford’s decade-long Swedish plaything to serious luxury player under Chinese ownership, then surely the S90 is it. The big sedan from Gothenburg (along with the alluring V90 Estate coming mid-year) is gatecrashing the BMW 5 Series/Mercedes-BenzE-Class/Audi A6 big league with a number of innovations, including semi-autonomous driver-assist and accident-prevention systems. All are on top of the company’s renowned pioneering occupant-protecting crash structures. Efficiency, too, shines, with the S90 gaining a bevy of high-output low-consumption/emissions 2.0-litre four-cylinder forced-induction petrol and diesel powertrains, the latter in strident 173kW/480Nm D5 guise also ushering in a lag-slashing patented…

“PERHAPS ONE OF THE BIGGEST AND MOST PLEASANT SURPRISES OF THE YEAR”BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS SUBARU’S model plan often feels like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates: you never know what you’re going to get next. Sure, with the exception of the BRZ they’re predictably boxy and send drive to all four corners, but dynamic quality is far more hit and miss. The outgoing Impreza (2011-16) was one of the most boring cars to ever wear Subaru’s six-starred badge. No longer – the new car is vastly better. If we were handing out a gong for the biggest improvement of the year then the Scooby would have scooped it. It’s across-the-board, from design to handling, with generous standard kit and competitive pricing sharpening its case. While the old car was as blunt…

“IN MANY WAYS BETTER THAN THE S-CLASS; LESS GAUCHE AND MORE MANAGEABLE”MIKE DUFF “INTERIOR IS A TECHNICAL MASTERPIECE, EVEN IN THE BASE CAR”ALEX INWOOD “THE MORE TIME I SPEND WITH DRIVE PILOT, THE LESS I LIKE IT”MIKE DUFF LONG before the W213 E-Class went into production, Mercedes-Benz set out to convince the world a technology superstar was about to be born. Months before the assembly lines began rolling, the company staged a series of day-long, in-depth briefings in Stuttgart. There was, this strategy implied, a brain-swelling amount of innovative excellence packed into the new E-Class. More, even, than in the still-youthful and higher ranking S-Class… Inevitably, many of the new E-Class’s advances rely on digital technology. There are programs, processors and sensors behind so much that this car…

AND just like that, it was gone. Having left for a global launch in Portugal with our bright-yellow Cactus parked firmly on my street, I arrived back to find an empty space, the car having been whisked away by the Wheels crew and returned to Citroen. Turns out someone wanted a yellow Cactus with the sweet-shifting manual and perky 1.2-litre petrol triple so desperately that Citroen sold mine from under me. I’m told it was destined to be someone’s Christmas present which was great, as long as they didn’t mind a few bugs and flies. When it left, the Citroen’s nose was covered in them, its last journey in my care having been a frantic four-up last-minute dash from Melbourne to Mildura to attend a family funeral. With nothing larger…

“HAIL Mary full of grace, please find me a parking space.” I’m not a religious bloke, but I’ll recite a small prayer to any deity that feels like listening if it helps me find a parking spot in the madness of going hunter-gatherer grocery shopping. Thankfully, the Baleno makes life amidst the madness that is a Westfield parking station a little easier. A while back I had attempted to run some errands in an Audi RS Q3 whose keys were thrown in my direction for the weekend. An SUV, yes, but with a 4410mm length, not exactly gargantuan. However, the Audi’s moon-sized 12-metre turning circle forced me to abandon the venture in sheer white-hot frustration before it had even begun. Not so in the Suzuki. Its abbreviated length means it…

Mercedes has fleshed out its new E-Class range with more powerful – and expensive - models. The volume-selling E300 breaks well into six figures but brings more gear as well as a fruity 180kW tune of the four-cylinder turbo. But it’s the V6s that add some real spice to the E line-up. The E400 is fun and fiery while the E43 ramps up the excitement from the same basic 3.0-litre motor, with 4Matic all-wheel drive standard. And for fuel misers there’s the E350e plug-in hybrid, pairing a diesel donk with an electric motor.…