Sommaire pour October 2015 de Wheels

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HAVING confirmed that the Chevrolet SS will die alongside the V8 Commodore at the end of 2017, Stefan Jacoby, president of GM International, said Holden performance fans will still “get exactly what they want, based on different technology” once the nameplate is fully imported. Holden fans had been hoping that Detroit would develop a new rear-drive V8 Chevrolet SS in right-hand drive form. However with Jacoby nailing the SS’s coffin shut at the Frankfurt show, Holden is more likely to offer a sportier version of the car you see here: the 2017 Opel Insignia. Our artist’s impression is your first look at the car strongly tipped to underpin the next-generation imported Commodore. A performance variant would likely to use a twin-turbo V6 driving all four wheels. The current Opel Insignia…

propel the all-wheel-drive sedan to 100km/h in under 3.5sec. Combine that capability with four-wheel steering, torque vectoring and the ability to develop full power even after multiple accelerations and Porsche’s claim of a Nordschleife lap time of less than eight minutes seems wholly credible. Drive with a little more restraint and a 500km range is reportedly possible. The Mission E can replenish its batteries to 80 percent charge (or 400km range) in only 15 minutes via an 800-volt ‘Porsche Turbo Charging’ DC system whereas THE star at this year’s Frankfurt motor show wasn’t up for debate. Porsche’s all-electric Mission E delivered a knockout one-two of ambition and execution, its sights firmly on the challenge thrown down by Tesla. While Elon Musk’s Palo Alto brains trust has a 10-year head start,…

DECEMBER-JANUARY Ferrari 488 GTB; Ford Mustang; Haval H6; Hyundai i10; Jaguar XF facelift; Kia Picanto; Lexus GS facelift, LX facelift, RC200t; Mazda BT-50 facelift, MX-5 2.0L; Mercedes-Benz GLC, A-Class facelift; Mitsubishi Challenger, Evo X Final Edition, Outlander PHEV Mazda MX-5 2.0L THE fourth generation of Mazda’s iconic two-seat roadster arrived here with just a 1.5-litre engine under its sharply creased bonnet. But God Bless ’Murica, because it demanded a bigger engine with an extra 22kW/50Nm over the 96kW/150Nm introductory four-pot, giving us the choice of two mills and a sharp, Toyota 86-rattling $31,990 starting price. FEBRUARY-MARCH Audi R8 V10; Citroen Cactus, DS 3, DS 5; Ford Focus RS; Holden Spark; Lexus ES facelift; Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG, C450 AMG 4Matic, G500; Peugeot 308 GTi; Skoda Octavia RS 230; Toyota Prius; Volkswagen…

Model Holden Astra 1.4T Engine 1399cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo Max power 110kW @ 5000-5600rpm Max torque 230Nm @ 2000-4000rpm Transmission 6-speed manual Weight 1203kg 0-100km/h 8.5sec (claimed) Economy 5.1L/100 (EU) Price From $21,000 (estimated) On sale September 2016 DESTINED to carry Holden’s fortunes from late 2016 in the most hotly contested class in Australia, GM’s new-generation Astra will need to muster every fibre of talent, backed by a class-rattling value package, if it’s to get anywhere near the 34,218 sales high it set in Australia just a decade ago. Thing is, Astra faces exactly the same challenge in Europe, hence why GM’s German outfit has thrown everything at the latest generation of its biggest seller. Riding on a brand new platform that is both lighter and stronger, the Astra…

Model Audi A3 Sportback e-tron Engine 1395cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo + electric motor Max power 150kW @ 5000rpm (total) Max torque 350Nm @ 1600-3500rpm (combined) Transmission 6-speed dual-clutch Kerb weight 1533kg 0-100km/h 7.6sec (claimed) Economy 1.6L/100km Price $62,490 On sale Now AUDI is already talking up improved battery tech and electrified models with Tesla-beating 500km-plus ranges. That’s serious progress from when this car, the Audi A3 Sportback e-tron, was rolled out at Geneva in 2012. So is Ingolstadt’s original e-tron still relevant when the EV is clearly on the rise? Let’s sort out the confusion first: this is not an electric car, but a plug-in hybrid. It has a combustion engine up front – a 110kW/250Nm 1.4-litre turbo-petrol four – and an electric motor sandwiched between it and the…

Model Volkswagen Passat Alltrack Engine 1984cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, TD Max power 140kW @ 3500-4000rom Max torque 400Nm @ 1900-3300rpm Transmission 6-speed dual-clutch Kerb weight 1630kg 0-100km/h 8.0sec (claimed) Economy 5.1L/100km (EU) Price $48,000 (estimated) On sale Q2 2016 THROW a pair of hiking boots and khaki shorts at the new Volkswagen Passat wagon and this is what you get. It’s the second-gen Passat Alltrack, which brings a dose of off-road ability to VW’s sleek mid-sizer thanks to a jacked up ride-height, heavy-duty bash plates and an armoury of high-tech off-road systems. Think of it as the Passat’s rugged, more-outdoorsy brother and you’ve got the picture. Like the regular Passat, which arrives Down Under this month, the new Alltrack is lighter, faster and more efficient than the car it replaces,…

PISTONS AND FISTS pump, as gratuitous bootfuls of bent-eight noise punch holes in the alpine air. No need to knock at the door – the Holden Engineering team has arrived at its quaint digs in the Victorian High Country to wrap the first of three days on the road. We’re in the run up to Christmas 2014. The 80 percent engineering road-train for the VF Series II Commodore program has just pulled in, and it sure doesn’t look like work. The V8 bellows might be all in the name of research; ensuring that they’ve got the bi-modal exhaust just right is one focus, says Chief Engineer Andrew Holmes. “One of the things we’re worried about is, ‘Are these cars too loud?’ We’re a little bit concerned we might be going…

HAVING a faux-manual mode in an SUV might seem like gimmickry, but you can’t discount the benefits for engine braking. And when your SUV has a sports flavour, a bit of manual action is a nice thing to have. Despite a lack of steering-wheel paddles, the CX-5’s set-up is the most driver-oriented. Its tip-shift gate works in our favoured style – forward for a downshift, back for an upshift – and it will hold a manually selected gear at redline. It also has an intuitive ‘Sport’ mode that’s so good at pre-empting your driving mood the tip-shift gate is often unnecessary. The Forester is the only car here to score flappy paddles, though its eight-ratio stepped CVT never feels or sounds as satisfying as an auto with specific gears. The…

IT’S just on six years since McLaren announced its plan to launch a family of supercars designed, engineered and tested in close conjunction with the Formula One team. As promised, three distinct series have blossomed from essentially the same MonoCell carbonfibre chassis and twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V8. The MP4/12C laid the groundwork in 2011. In late-2013 McLaren launched the range-topping P1, a 673kW hyper-hybrid. In March last year came the mid-range Super Series 650S, a 12C turned up to 11. The new entry-level Sports Series, initially comprising 540C and 570S, was unveiled in March this year – at the same time as a Super Series 675LT, spiritual successor to the F1 GTR ‘longtail’ racer of 1997. There’s little faulting the technology, performance, comfort or obsessive attention to detail in the products…

CALL ME a hipster (actually, please don’t), but I’ve always liked having a car that few others do. My new long-termer is exactly that, because base-model Audis are a rarity, and no one, it seems, buys a base Audi in red. Most of the A3 sedans I’ve seen in Sydney are of a higher spec level, or are optioned with the S line sports pack (or both), usually in black or a metallic shade of grey. As well as a taste for the less common, I also have a liking for base models, for their honesty. And there’s something even more appealing about a premium car in bare-bones trim. Compared with the A3 1.8 TFSI Ambition cabrio it replaces in my garage, the silvery cabin highlights are gone, along with…

IN AUTOMOTIVE terms, we here at the Bulmer household pride ourselves on being an equal opportunity employer. By that I mean we hold no prejudice for automotive ethnicity. Germans, Japanese, Aussies (an endangered species, granted), Koreans, and obviously Scandinavians; we welcome them all. Vehicular biodiversity, if I can put it that way, is embraced. So, back in 2010 , when plucky Saab, under the misguided stewardship of General Motors, finally sank through an automotive ice hole, it left Volvo as the sole flag-bearer for Sweden, under the protective wing of Chinese giant Geely. That ‘last-Swede-standing’ status makes me feel slightly protective towards Volvo, and Swedes in general, to the point I regularly give my old Roxette cassettes a good cranking and insist my young daughters master the art of assembling…

SOME clichés really irk me, so I tend to avoid them like, well, the plague. Such as the old line about having one’s cake and eating it, too. I think I understand the sentiment, but it’s still a pretty moronic expression. Has anyone ever said to you, “Hey, please come over for my birthday party; we’ll eat, drink, dance, and best of all, there’ll be a cake! In a glass case, of course, purely for viewing purposes, because, you know, we can’t have our cake and eat it too…” Anyway, my changeover after three months from diesel Qashqai ST to a top-spec petrol Ti model made me recall this irksome cliché. See, my recently departed oil-burner SUV was, if I can continue to torture the cake metaphor in powertrain terms,…

What VW did Volkswagen has deliberately cheated its way past stringent US emissions laws by fitting software to 11 million diesel-powered cars. How they did it Software code known as a “defeat device” detects when the car is being emissions tested and alters engine performance to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) levels. When the defeat device is not active the car’s emissions can be up to 35 times higher. How they got caught An independent clean air advocacy group, the International Council on Clean Transport (ICCT), tested a VW Jetta, Passat and BMW X5 for real world emissions and discovered the two VWs produced extremely high levels of NOx. The BMW performed as expected. The ICCT’s findings were then handed over to the US EPA for official action. The fallout VW…

AFTER a slow start in the mid-1990s, Holden’s Opel-sourced Astra ended up being a big success. But its best year, 2005 (34,218 units), also marked the beginning of its downfall as combined Astra and Viva (rebadged Daewoo Lacetti) sales dried up. Cruze replaced both in 2009 and hit a sales peak of 33,789 units in 2011, but slipped to 18,554 last year, and is down a further 18 percent this year. It seems new Astra can’t land here soon enough. For a preview of its prospects, turn to page 38 of this issue.…

IT TAKES barely 10 seconds of full-throttle action in the new twin-turbo base 911 Carrera to realise that Porsche fans needn’t have feared the worst. The re-engined 911 sounds just like a flat-six Porsche should, only this entry-level model goes so much harder than I’d expected it to. As quick as the previous Carrera S, apparently. It feels incredibly strong from the passenger seat as my slightly crazed driver, Frankfurt local Arnd, throws this 991 Series II PDK around the short circuit at Hockenheim. “I love my job,” Arnd tells me, and it isn’t difficult to understand why. With sports exhaust switched on, the now-standard PASM adaptive suspension in Sport Plus mode, and torque vectoring distributing drive to each outside rear wheel, Stuttgart’s rear-engine icon is slaying this incredible track.…

Model Chrysler 300 SRT Engine 6417cc V8 (90°), ohv, 16v Max power 350kW @ 6150rpm Max torque 637Nm @ 4250rpm Transmission 8-speed automatic Kerb weight 1965kg 0-100km/h 5.0sec (estimated) Economy 13.0L/100km Price $69,000 On sale Now THE powerslide at the end of Temora’s airstrip wasn’t planned, it just happened. And it felt bloody great controllable, smooth and backed by a raucous bent-eight soundtrack. The new 300 SRT (no ‘C’ for some time, and now no longer an ‘SRT8’ either) has been given its own launch following the arrival of the facelifted, V6-powered 300 a few months back. Yet this is the one that Aussies will want, as we love performance cars. And as the folks over at Holden and Ford will tell you, especially rear-drive V8s. Chrysler knows this only…

Model Kia Picanto Engine 1248cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v Max power 64kW @ 6000rpm Max torque 123Nm @ 4000rpm Transmission 5-speed manual Weight 930kg 0-100km/h 11.5sec (estimated) Economy 4.3L/100km Price $13,500 driveaway (estimated) On sale March 2016 KIA Australia is diving headfirst into waters where some big names have floundered – the sub-B city car class – with the Picanto, due here around March. VW Up, Smart ForTwo, Fiat Panda… Australia is littered with the still-warm carcasses of cool cars that should have set the segment on fire but instead fizzled out like a first-term PM. Though the rewards for success are potentially huge (mainly snaring youth loyalty for life), our big open spaces, low fuel prices and irresistibly cheap cars from the next segment above make what are officially called…

Model Mercedes-AMG GLE 63 S Engine 5461cc V8 (90°), dohc, 32v, twin-turbo Max power 430kW @ 5500rpm Max torque 760Nm @ 1750-5250rpm Transmission 7-speed automatic Kerb weight 2270kg 0-100km/h 4.2sec (claimed) Economy 11.8L/100km Price $189,900 On sale Now YOU HEAR Australia’s most powerful SUV long before you see it. There’s a bark on start-up, and, with the throttle pinned open, it cracks, pops and snarls more like a low-slung hot-rod than a high-riding family bus. That’ll be the upgraded sports exhaust then, which is near-identical to the bi-modal system fitted to AMG’s flagship GT. It’s just one in a raft of changes Benz has fitted to this ‘new’ GLE63 S. There’s a different name for a start. Look closely and you’ll see this isn’t an all-new car, but a facelifted…

HOLDEN COMMODORE SS-V REDLINE Engine 6162cc V8 (90°), ohv, 16v Max power 304kW @ 6000rpm Max torque 570Nm @ 4400rpm Transmission 6-speed manual Weight 1775kg (estimated) 0-100km/h 4.9sec (claimed) 0-400m 13.0sec (claimed) Economy 12.9L/100km Price $53,990 On sale Now THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT THIS CAR KNOW ABOUT OUR WORLD LIKE NO OTHER CAR MAKER. IT’S A CAR MADE FOR US HERE’S a problem with this car; a huge one. Only days before we collect this VF Series II – the final Commodore engineered and built in Australia – General Motors’ VP Stefan Jacoby dropped a bombshell. Not only will this be the final Australian-built car – something we already knew – but Jacoby confirmed that when the VFII V8 dies in 2017, the Chevrolet SS goes with it, thus ending…

PAYING $43.5K for the Tucson Highlander buys lots of stuff. It gets a full suite of safety electronics (AEB, lane-keeping and lane-change assist, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, trailer stability assist and active cruise), as well as leather trim, heated/cooled front seats (10-way electric for driver, 8-way for passenger), keyless entry/start, a huge glass sunroof, and LED lights at both ends (directional at the front). About the only areas the $4500-dearer Forester XT Premium upstages the Tucson are its wheel paddles and its far superior eight-speaker Harman Kardon stereo. Otherwise, it wears smaller wheels and has a rear camera but no sensors. The $45K Kuga Titanium gets active park assist and a hands-free power tailgate, but no electric front passenger seat or autonomous electronic safety tech (it’s a $1600 extra,…

THE reason so many manufacturers are moving to smaller-capacity turbo engines is economic rather than for economy. A lower emissions rating means higher sales in many countries due to tax breaks. Starting with a clean slate as Peugeot did with the T9 308 means the engineers were able to create a lighter and more aerodynamic car around the terrific 1.2-litre three-pot turbo, maximising the downsizing potential. And, as regular readers know, we’ve revelled in the performance, agility, control and ride comfort of the 96kW e-THP 1.2-litre turbo-equipped Active. However, for some people, one downside of downsizing is the need to fill them with premium unleaded petrol, due to their higher octane diet demands. While our 308’s triple can run on the standard 91 RON brew, it isn’t recommended. But what…

I FEEL I really should apologise to my trusty Forester, which has become a more beloved part of our family than our clingy cat or the freakishly infuriating Furby we mistakenly bought our daughter, because I shouldn’t have doubted it. A recent trip to the Blue Mountains for a wedding meant packing not only a weekend’s worth of crap and one of the world’s least-utilised suits, but also a grandmother to look after our two banned-from-nuptials offspring. I had presumed that going five-up would be too much of an ask for the plucky Subaru’s cabin, with its tricky, roof-mounted centre-rear seatbelt set-up and ever so slightly squeezy ambience. In my mind, the hilariously optimistically named Honda Accord Sport Hybrid parked outside my house, with people occasionally clustered around it to…

PEUGEOT has revised the engine in its 508 GT to meet stricter Euro 6 emissions regulations. So while it’s cleaner and more fuel efficient – fuel use is claimed at just 4.4L/100km – it’s also down on grunt. Power drops from 150kW to 133kW, while torque has slumped from 450Nm to 400Nm. The lacklustre PSA six-speed auto has been dropped though, replaced by an Aisin auto with the same number of ratios; the result is a 0.4se increase in the 0-100km/h time, now 8.6sec for the sedan. At least the price has headed in the right direction, with driveaway pricing resulting in a $700 price reduction.…

LIKE all France’s carmakers, Renault has a proud history of innovation. Among the Regie’s most daring mainstream models was the humble Renault 4 of 1961, a pragmatic small car acclaimed as the first mass-produced hatchback. The 4 was also a gamechanger in the minds of Renault’s uppermost management. Its interior packaging and the versatility of its porte de service (the unromantic name for its hatchback door) would be responsible for overhauling the design of Renault’s next full-sized sedan. Renault had begun working in 1958 on the replacement for its mainstream sedan, the Fregate. Designer Gaston Juchet, in his first assignment, prepared a conventional and not overly attractive three-box sedan, known as Project 114. With an eye on rival Citroen’s eccentric and expensive DS, the 114 was highly specified in having…

IN THE late-1920s, Harry Howarth established the Carburettor Service Company in Sydney’s inner west, relocating about 12 years later to the bustling automotive strip of Parramatta Rd. After the war, Harry’s son Ray came on board. Decades later, Carburettor Service Company is still on Parramatta Rd, and still in Howarth hands. Third-generation owner Tim (60) joined the business in 1975, an ominous era for carburettors, with the mainstream acceptance of fuel injection by then imminent. “I suppose the 1940s to the ’70s was the golden era for carburettors,” Howarth says. “By the 1940s, carburettor design had matured. The only ones that differed dramatically were SUs; most other carbs just got more complex to try and give better fuel economy and less emissions. “Both my grandfather and my father were great…

TOM ELLIOTT is a finance expert, radio host and Wheels columnist. He also owns a VW. And he’s not happy. “I’m pretty shocked because you accept that companies often make mistakes with cars, but this one was intentional and that’s what worries me. I think ‘Gee, are they covering up anything else?’ “Our [VW Tiguan] is a petrol one and not a diesel, so in a sense it’s not affected by this issue, but it just opens a Pandora’s box. If a company makes a genuine mistake, that I get, because nothing is perfect. But it’s when they deliberately set out to deceive that just says to me that the culture of the place, there’s something wrong with it.” In a nod to the huge and ongoing financial consequences the…

LARGE & IN CHARGE The LSA is the small-block with major muscle. We first saw it here in the 2013 HSV GTS, but prior to that it had been shoehorned into the 2009 Cadillac CTS-V and the 2012 Camaro ZL1. FIGHT CLUB To complement the LSA engine, upgrades include an uprated cooling system, a high-flow exhaust system, a 9.9-inch differential plus beefier drive and prop-shafts.. Super and charged SO YOU think the LSA is just a 6.2-litre LS3 with a supercharger bolted on? Think again. The supercharged unit is built to be 20 percent stronger than the LS3 short-block and features higher-grade rods, pistons and cranks to handle the additional power. The beefier head on the LSA has also been redesigned to handle the altered forced induction fuel/air combustion process.…

1 Low and behold Mazda considered several proposals before settling on this targa-like design. Sleeker and lighter than before, the ND’s roof can also be operated on the move. 2 Ground MX New MX-5 Roadster Coupe will have a lower centre of gravity compared to the previous version, due to an expected lighter roof structure and mechanism. Occupants also sit 20mm lower and 15mm closer to the centre of the vehicle. MAZDA has confirmed it will debut a new targa-like electric roof for its upcoming ND MX-5 Roadster Coupe. Wheels has learned that the second ‘closed’ version of the Japanese coupe icon will feature a sleeker silhouette than the previous version’s abrupt three-box shape. It will be dominated by a thick fixed B-pillar and curved rear glass in a fashion…

AUTONOMOUS FOR THE PEOPLE THE big worry I have regarding fully autonomous vehicles is that if we don’t accept them our traffic authorities will simply invent even more annoying ways to control us: even lower speed limits, lots more speed cameras and traffic cameras, and lots more ‘traffic calming’ measures such as speed humps. The transition will certainly be difficult. All transitions are difficult – ask any woman about the transition from foetus to baby, and at my age I try not to think about the transition at the other end of life – but it’s useful to remember the benefits: fewer hassles getting a licence, lower insurance premiums, easier parking, texting while driving could become legal, less need to remember road rules, fewer problems with ‘grandad’ drivers, fewer hassles…

Model Suzuki Vitara RT-S Engine 1586cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v Max power 86kW @ 6000rpm Max torque 156Nm @ 4400rpm Transmission 5-speed manual Weight 1075kg 0-100km/h 11.5sec (claimed) Economy 5.8L/100km Price $22,990 driveaway On sale Now ANY WHICH WAY you look at it, Vitara is an ’80s icon right up there with Roger Rabbit, Reebok, and Roxette. The modishly chunky original sure had the look, inspiring the first Toyota RAV4 that kicked off the whole car-based compact SUV craze. Which is kind of ironic because Suzuki has refused to evolve its darling 4x4 since, sticking with the tough ladder-frame chassis for the subsequent (and not so) Grand Vitaras of 1997 and 2005. What must’ve been love 25 years ago was over now, as SUV buyers abandoned the out-dated Japanese original in…

Model Ford Focus Trend Engine 1498cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo Max power 132kW @ 6000rpm Max torque 240Nm @ 1600-5000rpm Transmission 6-speed automatic Kerb weight 1364kg 0-100km/h 9.0sec (estimated) Economy 6.2L/100km Price $24,390 On sale Now FORD Australia has some great cars in its line-up but it’s not selling too many of them. So here’s hoping that this mid-life Focus update will provide renewed vigour to shift more product from Ford’s showrooms. The Focus is one of the last Fords to receive the new corporate nose, which also brings different bumpers and a subtly revised rear. Inside, the centre console and dash have seen a litany of buttons smoothed over for a much cleaner, smarter look. There are optional paddle-shifters and much improved surface finishes, elevating this car much closer…

READ ALL THE LATEST REVIEWS WHEELSMAG.COM.AU VW Golf R wagon We’ve long championed affordable fast wagons, and in the Golf R Variant, Volkswagen has finally delivered. Did you hear that, Ford? WheelsMag.com.au/golfRwagon Mercedes A45 AMG Minor styling and interior alterations garnish more significant upgrades to the A45’s oily bits, including even more grunt. But is it enough to keep the A45 ahead of the pack? WheelsMag.com.au/mercedesA45 Toyota Prado D-4D Toyota’s first all-new diesel for Prado in a decade brings greater refinement and driving pleasure, but no significant improvement in performance, despite an extra 40Nm of torque. WheelsMag.com.au/pradoTD Mazda BT-50 Thai-built pick-up cops a refresh with more palatable styling and new infotainment in preparation for battle with Toyota’s forthcoming new-generation Hilux. WheelsMag.com.au/mazdaBT50 Stay regular Get your daily dose of Wheels with…

OUR first taste of the ‘MY16’ (as Holden calls it) SS-V Redline sedan was in a slalom test at Lang Lang. Holden had set up an exercise to demonstrate the difference between the LS3-engined and dynamically tweaked VF Series II against its MY15 predecessor, and the difference was massive. The old 260kW 6.0-litre auto felt docile, like it’s a gear too tall, without the punch to subtley kick the tail out to dissolve understeer. The 304kW 6.2-litre, on the other hand, felt like it had been given a shot of adrenalin straight to the heart. Its combination of more power, shorter gearing and a greater rev range transforms the car’s feeling of liveliness. And the MY16 suspension changes, particularly at the rear end, combine with the grunt increase to really…

MAZDA CX-5 GRAND TOURING V HYUNDAI TUCSON HIGHLANDER V FORD KUGA TITANIUM ECOBOOST V SUBARU FORESTER XT PREMIUM AWD spec, packing a detuned version of the Veloster coupe’s 1.6-litre direct-injection turbo four, tied to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Hyundai asks $43,490 for the privilege, placing the top Tucson eye-to-eye with the Mazda CX-5 Grand Touring ($43,390), Ford Kuga Titanium ($44,990) and Subaru Forester XT Premium ($47,990). UNLIKE ITS OVERSTYLED AND DATED ix35 PREDECESSOR, THE TUCSON HAS REAL PRESENCE IN THE FLESH Unlike its overstyled and dated ix35 predecessor, the Tucson has real presence in the flesh. Its broad, masculine grille, aggressively angled headlights and handsomely proportioned shape look very European, especially when garnished with the Highlander’s 19-inch alloys. The Tucson’s rear is less striking, but its distinctive horizontal tail-lights and…

Model Audi A4 2.0TFSI quattro Engine 1984cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, turbo Max power 185kW @ 5000-6000rpm Max torque 370Nm @ 1600-4500rpm Transmission 7-speed dual-clutch L/W/H 4726/1842/1427mm Wheelbase 2820mm Weight 1510kg 0-100km/h 5.8sec (claimed) Economy 5.9L/100km (EU) Price $60,000 (estimated) On sale February 2016 ERHAPS it’s easiest to think of the fifth-generation B9 Audi A4 as a new iPhone, which despite looking similar to your last one can suddenly do new and amazing things. Parked next to the old A4, it looks more ‘facelift’ than ‘new-gen’, but Audi says that’s deliberate. The A4 is too popular and too important to risk a dramatically different design, and Audi reckons A4 buyers love its understated three-box shape. But don’t be fooled. Under that conservative sheetmetal, a quiet, deeply more impressive revolution has taken…

YEARS ago, a mate loaned me a book about smart investing. I was much impressed by the wisdom and promise within, almost all of which I’d forgotten by the time I gave it back. The one thing that did stick with me was the author’s definition of assets and liabilities. An asset is something that puts money in your pocket; a liability is something that takes it out. By that measure, pretty much every “asset” I have – car, motorcycles, my collection of human brains kept artificially alive by computer-controlled perfusion – is actually a liability. Who knew? The numerate among you may have noticed an amendment to the “price as tested” at the head of this page: the small matter of about $30,000 added. This was not the fruit…

AT THE risk of revealing too much about my inner self, sometimes I wish I was a girl. They might think it’s a man’s world, but I reckon they have it made, or at least they did until they went down the road of equality and discovered it perhaps wasn’t everything they’d expected. When it comes to cars, it seems that looks and colour are often the major factors women consider when choosing a new vehicle. Yes, I realise I’m generalising horribly here and owe an apology to the many female revheads reading this, but seriously, how many times have we blokes poured through mountains of research only for our better halves to decide they want a particular model because “it’s just so cute” or that it doesn’t matter “so…

FORD has finally added the reversing camera that really should have been standard on the entry-level Mondeo Ambiente when it (finally) arrived earlier this year. But it doesn’t come for nothing, with the price up $400 to reflect the addition of the new gear. That adds to the price premium the Mondeo already suffers over key rivals such as the Toyota Camry and Mazda 6, both of which comfortably outsell the Mondeo. For an indication of how much the market has changed – and how much Ford is struggling to adapt – combined sales of the Falcon and Mondeo are now below that of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Now that’s gotta hurt……

1 LAMBORGHINI AVENTADOR LP750-4 SUPERVELOCE 362kW/tonne With 552kW from its 6.5-litre V12 the LP 750-4 earns its place at the top with muscle, upping the ante from 515kW in the regular (and heavier) Aventador. 2 McLAREN 650S COUPE 359kW/tonne It’s about lack of weight rather than outright power with the 650S. At just 1330kg, the twin-turbo 3.8-litre V8 (the only turbo in this list) can hit hard. Racier 675LT version raises the bar. 3 FERRARI 458 SPECIALE 331kW/tonne Last of the atmo Ferrari V8s still delivers thanks to 441 purebred kilowatts, especially mated to the stripped-out Speciale body. Coming 488 ups the ratio to 341kW/tonne. 4 FERRARI F12 327kW/tonne Ferrari’s most powerful model musters 541kW from its screaming 6.3-litre V12. Now, where’s that autobahn… 5 LAMBORGHINI HURACAN 305kW/tonne What it…