Indice dei contenuti per April 2020 in Wheels

INTRODUCED in 1975, the original 930 Turbo was conceived as a homologation special, with 400 units destined to be built for the 1976 racing season. The 190kW 3.0 Turbo was the first production Porsche to utilise a blower and was, upon launch, the fastest accelerating production car in the world. Louise Piëch, daughter of automotive pioneer Ferdinand Porsche, was gifted the very first example as a birthday gift – which becomes somewhat perplexing when you consider that the flagship Turbo was a challenging steer. The power band was notoriously peaky and would overpower its 225-section rear treads with ease. The 964 and 993 generations became gradually more refined, but it was the introduction of the 993 GT2 in 1993 that allowed the 911 Turbo to develop as a more cohesive…

BOLD CLAIMS are common in the automotive industry. Hyundai has stepped this up a notch by naming its sleek electric concept the ‘Prophecy’. Seems like a lot of pressure for a design exercise that is unlikely to ever see production – at least not in full. What the sleek and sexy four-door coupe does offer is an insight into how the Korean maker’s next generation of EVs and autonomous cars might look. Given that seems to be a mashup of a retro Saab and a modern 911, mark us down as interested. But don’t dismiss this as pure fantasy; some elements should make their way into production Hyundais. Expect to see details like the pixelated light clusters (front, rear and spoiler) filter through to Hyundai’s road-car range as character-defining styling…

DUE MAY BMW X5 M COMPETITION It’s another hugely powerful, heavy and expensive SUV that shouldn’t sell, but will. The figures are: 460kW, 750Nm, 2385kg and $209,900. The performance off-roader uses a 4.4-litre V8, sends its grunt to all four wheels via an eight-speed auto and will gulp 13L/100km. We drive it on page 50. DUE JUNE ISUZU D-MAX ISUZU D-MAX Heavily revised styling and a refined cabin are accompanied by updates to the 3.0-litre turbo-diesel four. Outputs are up to 140kW and 450Nm. A rear diff-lock is standard on 4x4 models, the wading depth increases to 800mm, the body is stronger/lighter and safety has improved. DUE JUNE SKODA SCALA This is, essentially, a Volkswagen Golf in different getup. A 110kW/250Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo is expected to be the sole…

Model Audi RS Q3 Engine 2480cc in-line 5cyl, dohc, 20v, turbo Max power 294kW @ 5850-7000rpm Max torque 480Nm @ 1950-5850rpm Transmission 7-speed dual-clutch Weight 1790kg Economy 8.9L/100km (claimed) 0-100km/h 4.5sec (claimed) Price $89,900 On sale Now I’VE NEVER felt cold like this before. At minus 21 Celsius, you can feel the hairs in your nose freezing. I’m in far northern Sweden and wearing so many layers I feel like a Merino wool gobstopper. In these conditions our Audi RS Q3 is as much a survival pod as it is test vehicle. Even in temperatures much lower than this – it gets to minus 40 apparently – the RS Q3 can be relied on to start, idle, run and be thrashed pitilessly without any issue whatsoever. And in some sense…

Model BMW X5 M Competition Engine 4395cc V8 (90°), dohc, 32v, twin-turbo Max power 460kW @ 6000rpm Max torque 750Nm @ 1800-5800rpm Transmission 8-speed automatic Weight 2385kg Economy 13.0L/100km 0-100km/h 3.8sec (claimed) Price $209,900 On sale May 2020 OUR GERMAN host points to a set of squiggles on a map. “We like to call this section the roller-coaster,” he says. “We would say that this is the best place to try the car.” The car in question is BMW’s mid-size SUV bruiser, the thoroughly overhauled X5 M. Due in Australia in May, only the full-fruit Competition version will be offered, at $209,900. The X5 M will face down rivals as diverse as the Porsche Cayenne and Range Rover Sport SVR, while Audi’s incoming RS Q7 will be bigger but no…

1 SUBARU FORESTER HYBRID Given the thing we like least about the otherwise excellent Subie is its slightly thrashy atmo flat-four, we hold high hopes for the potentially transformative qualities of the Hybrid. If it does what it promises – provides a crucial torque-fill to the step-off acceleration phase, as well as quelling the petrol car’s thirst – we’ll be dancin’ in the streets. Okay, maybe giving a polite little golf clap. 2 MAZDA CX-8 You know the CX-8? Yep, the one that’s like a slimline CX-9 with a diesel engine? Well it’s been updated. The three-row SUV now gets a petrol option (the 140kW atmo 2.5-litre) and the range blows out from three trim levels to no fewer than eight, with added convenience features throughout. What’s more, the entry-level…

WHEN I GROW UP…” It’s a defiant line trotted out by kids when they realise an argument has reached a stalemate and they aren’t going to win. It’s a default retort out of frustration, as if their underdeveloped minds are trying to say “I’ll show you one day”. It’s a state of play that’s only resolved through hindsight and maturity. Essentially when we grow up. The three assembled small hatches resemble that progression out of adolescence. They’re still among the tiniest tots of their respective families, but each asserts a newfound level of maturity with high spec levels and fully grown pricing. That’s especially true of the freshly updated Mazda 2. It has been stuffed with extra kit and there are styling tweaks to the front and rear bumpers as…

IMAGINE THE loading docks at the back of Holden’s Salmon Street HQ. It’s dusk, the failing sunlight only serving to enhance the sickly yellow glow of the transport truck’s halogen bulbs. A skeleton crew of Holden staff mills about, suddenly springing to action as the curvaceous purple quarter panels of Efijy appear. It’s slowly wheeled onto the transporter as the sharp wedge of the Holden Hurricane hoves into view, its impossibly gold metallic form glinting in the gloom. Behind it sits Coupe 60, the VE Monaro concept from 2008 that captured an entirely new generation of Holden fans. Transporting these cars isn’t odd in itself. Holden frequently ships its highly prized (and highly valuable) collection of a dozen concept cars around the country to display at events and motoring museums.…

IN ANCIENT ROME, there were certain fabrics so delicate and finely stitched they were called subtilis, literally ‘underwoven’. From that term came the English word ‘subtle’, the notion of qualities understated or concealed. By and large, production cars aren’t long on subtlety. In order for a complex product to communicate its appeal, it is often the case that a certain heavy-handedness is required to hammer home the sell. Take high-performance SUVs for instance. These usually benefit a sales proposition with the delicacy of an anvil. The 375kW/700Nm Mercedes-AMG GLC 63 S is a case in point. It doesn’t need to be notably clever because buyers in this market sector don’t demand anything particularly nuanced. The buyer requirements for a super-SUV are, in no particular order, the ability to look hugely…

GENESIS G70 ULTIMATE SPORT Price as tested: $79,950 This month: 1345km @ 11.4L/100km IN WHAT WAS an unsettling epiphany recently, I was alerted by a reader’s letter to the possibility that some of you are not nearly as fascinated by the minutiae of my motoring life as I am. You come to this section for car facts, dammit. Lots of pithy, irrefutable facts. So, as I pointed the G70 west towards Bathurst for a media event at Mount Panorama recently, I made a vow: I would concentrate on nothing but the finer details of the Genesis owner/driver experience, and leave out all the fascinating bits about dogs, girlfriends, bicycles and ’90s rock. Let’s start with the radar cruise. It’s mostly very good, and holds the prescribed speed within a couple…

VOLKSWAGEN is out to reclaim its hot hatch crown with a four-pronged assault that could include an electrified 300kW hyper hatch to take on the Mercedes-AMG A45. Facing stiff competition from newer rivals, such as the Hyundai i30 N and Honda Civic Type R, VW is mounting a multi-tier approach for its refreshed performance hatch line-up. Leading the charge is the all-new GTI which is set to arrive in Australia in the second quarter of 2021. VW’s EA888 turbocharged 2.0-litre remains the centrepiece under the bonnet of the new GTI, producing 180kW and 370Nm – the same outputs as the outgoing Mk7.5 GTI. The main development for the Mk8 GTI is the introduction of VW’s Vehicle Dynamics Manager system, which controls the adaptive dampers and locking front differential, promising to…

Hyundai’s popular i30 hatch is about to receive a big update, with the overall design, engine line-up and interior tech gaining significant incremental changes. The exterior gets a mid-life refresh, with a new front end featuring an enlarged, more aggressive grille and revised headlights with angular details that double as the LED daytime running lights. Its profile remains relatively unchanged apart from new wheel designs (16 to 18 inches), while the rear gets a revised bumper bar (N-Line gains a diffuser) and tail-lights as well as a palette of three new paint finishes: Dark Knight, Silk Bronze and Sunset Red. Inside, the makeover isn’t extreme, with styling remaining largely unchanged. A 10.25-inch touchscreen for the infotainment and a 7.0-inch in-dash multifunction display are the big-ticket tech additions. Wireless phone charging…

But please, 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 The look of surprise on students’ faces during the skidpan braking lessons was telling WIN! KIDS MUST LEARN HOW TO DRIVE TO SURVIVE YOUR ARTICLE ‘A heavy toll’ (Wheels, February 2020) quotes an expert saying that fatigue must be targeted along with speed, distraction and alcohol in strategies to reduce road fatalities. Yes, but let’s not forget driver training and testing. When I got my licence in 1964, the day I turned 16, I drove the testing officer from my local police station around a few local streets. He tinkered with the…

OLD ANCAP SAFETY ratings could be misleading consumers as to which cars are safest, due to changes in the independent crash test authority’s testing protocols and an increased focus on crash avoidance technologies. Five-star ratings earned up to a decade or more ago are in many cases outdated because they were awarded before the advent of crash avoidance systems that have since become commonplace in the new-car market. It’s not helped by ANCAP claims such as “the more stars, the better the vehicle performed across ANCAP tests”, even when qualified with a statement suggesting newer cars are tested to more stringent criteria. Even the NSW government’s Centre for Road Safety appears confused by the ANCAP requirements, incorrectly stating on its website that all vehicles receiving a five-star ANCAP rating “achieve…

Model Mazda CX-30 G20 Touring Engine 1998cc in-line 4cyl, dohc, 16v Max power 114kW @ 6000rpm Max torque 200Nm @ 4000rpm Transmission 6-speed automatic Weight 1339kg 0-100km/h 10.2sec Economy 6.5L/100km Price $34,990 On sale Now WHY DOES the Mazda CX-30 exist? Great question. And the answer is found within Mazda’s SUV hierarchy. Long story short, the CX-30 nestles into a gap in the Japanese marque’s range between the smaller CX-3 and larger CX-5. There are four variant grades (Pure, Evolve, Touring and Astina), two engines at launch (2.0-litre and 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrols) as well as front- and all-wheel drive. Prices range from $29,990 for the base-level G20 Pure FWD to $43,490 for the top-spec G25 Astina AWD. A SkyActiv-X unit is slated for late this year. We’ve spent time in…

THE NEWS THAT General Motors was calling time on Holden’s design and engineering facilities came as a shock. While the closure of Holden dealerships and the retiring of the badge were not entirely unforeseen, many industry insiders felt the design studios and proving ground would escape the axe, as they retained a relevance within General Motors that strecthed beyond merely Holden’s wares. Sadly, that’s not the case, and the 877-hectare Lang Lang proving ground has attracted a number of interested parties. One of the most obvious names in the frame is Lindsay Fox, who already owns the 1141-hectare vehicle assessment facility at Anglesea, 125km south-west of Melbourne. This caters for OEM development with Toyota, Rheinmetall, Bosch, Volvo Trucks and many others. Adding Lang Lang to the portfolio would not only…

MAZDA CX-30 Price as tested: $41,490 This month: 497km @ 9.7L/100km SHORT AND relatively sweet is the best way to describe my experience with the latest addition to the Wheels long-term garage. Joining the fleet this month is a Mazda CX-30. A G25 Astina FWD, to be precise. We have become well acquainted with the Mazda 3 hatch on which it’s largely based, having run one as a long-termer late last year, and now it’s time to see if this highly anticipated model can replicate the experience enjoyed by Trent. The CX-30 should retain the values that earned the Mazda 3 a top-three place at Wheels Car of the Year 2020, but there are some key differences with this model, namely the G20 specification that brings with it the smaller-capacity…

TOYOTA RAV4 GXL HYBRID Price as tested: $42,934 This month: 2998km @ 5.4L/100km Overall: 5434km @ 5.4L/100km I KNOW THE RAV4 Hybrid has generated quite a waiting list, but the sight of some chancer asking $80,000 for his was nevertheless quite an eyebrow-raiser. Good luck getting that sum, because from what I gather the waiting list is now down from a peak of eight months to only two or so. I’ve contributed to that list, having convinced two of my friends to put in an order for one. So it was a little concerning to hear that Teknikens Värld (World of Technology), a respected Swedish title that broke the original story on how the Mercedes-Benz A-Class failed the moose test, were now claiming the RAV4 Hybrid did likewise. I had…

IT’S EASY TO THINK of American cars of the 1960s as dumb land-yachts – gas-guzzlers with front-mounted V8s, rear-wheel drive and cart suspension; unimaginative reskins of the 1950s, stumbling zombie-like towards the fuel crises of the 1970s. In fact, the 1960s were a pretty bold time, and not least at General Motors. In 1962 it had released the Oldsmobile Jetfire, a groovy, hardtop coupe whose V8 engine featured the industry’s first turbocharger. Just a month later, GM turbocharged a variant of the Chevrolet Corvair, itself a complete turnaround from Motown convention in having a rear-mounted, aircooled, flat-six engine. In this context, a luxury grand-touring coupe with a 7.0-litre V8 engine and front-wheel drive didn’t look so weird. In fact, from any angle the Oldsmobile Toronado of 1966 looked pretty damn…

ON THE 45th anniversary of the Turbo badge’s introduction, Porsche ripped the covers off its new 992 911 Turbo S. Of the non-GT 911s, the Turbo has long been the biggest, baddest and most fearsome. It’s main drawcard has always been the engine, and this 992-generation is no different. The 3.8-litre twin-turbo flat-six that sits behind the rear axle is a heavily reworked version of Porsche’s EA9A2 Evo unit. Compared to the Carrera models, there is an extra 800cc, new piezo fuel injectors and a redesigned intake. The variable geometry turbos have grown too: turbine wheels are up 5mm to 55mm, while the compressor wheel has grown 3mm to 61mm. The turbos are now symmetrical, spinning in opposite directions, with electronically adjustable wastegates for even faster response times. As for firepower, the…

One of the less obvious coronavirus effects is the supply issue around automotive parts for the repair and maintenance industry. It is about to become significantly more expensive, and considerably more difficult, to repair vehicles with new parts. A solution to this looming crisis is to increase the availability and use of recycled original equipment (ROE) parts. The challenge is in converting the Australian public, insurers, mechanics and suppliers of ROE parts to the potential impacts of this surge in demand, such as avoiding the unwitting sale and installation of spare parts that has been recalled due to faulty manufacture.…

1.3% If ever you needed a stark illustration of how the Holden Commodore has fallen from grace, that figure up there is it. In February 2020, the Commodore shifted a paltry 132 units. That’s less than five per day across the eight states and territories. What’s more, it’s a mere 1.3 percent of the VT Commodore’s 10,028 sales in March 1998. Put another way, the ZB Commo would need to be on sale for six years and four months to equal the registrations the VT racked up in a heady 31 days in autumn ’98. Guten Morgan Some 84 years of tradition comes to an end this year when the last ladder-framed Morgan rolls out of Malvern Link in the UK. The final Morgan Classic will be replaced by the…

Model Porsche Boxster GTS Engine 3995cc 6cyl, dohc, 32v Power 294kW @ 7000rpm Torque 420Nm @ 5000-6500rpm Transmission 6-speed manual Weight 1405kg 0-100km/h 4.5sec (claimed) Economy 10.8L/100km Price $175,200 On sale Now CRIKEY, IT’S another six-pot Cayman/Boxster. Just months after whetting our appetite by debuting a box-fresh 4.0-litre flat-six in the Cayman GT4 and Boxster Spyder, Porsche has democratised its new donk by wedging it into the ‘regular’ 718 range. Before we get ahead of ourselves, however, a reality check: this doesn’t mean the end of the four-cylinder powerplants. “The regular Cayman and Boxster will keep the turbo engines,” says the man in charge of Porsche’s boxer engines, Markus Baumann. “There are a lot of customers that want a turbo because of the torque. They still sell very well.” Still,…

Model Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ Engine 6162cc V8 (90°), ohv, 16v Max power 313kW @ 5600rpm Max torque 624Nm @ 4100rpm Transmission 10-speed automatic Weight 2588kg 0-100km/h 5.6sec (estimated) Economy 12.3L/100km Price: $110,000 (estimated) On sale Now BRANDING something an acquired taste doesn’t have to elicit negative connotations. Everyone can’t always like everything. And in the case of those who like big, American-sourced pick-ups, the want and desire for such vehicles is strong. Hence HSV and Walkinshaw have seized the opportunity, importing and converting the large Yank dual-cabs in impressive numbers. Now there is a new player, the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ. It stands as the entry-level variant, sitting below the 2500 and 3500 offerings, but given it’s 5885mm long, don’t classify it as ‘small’. It’s just not as large…

Can a new luxury Land Rover live up to the Defender name and the 70 years of heritage behind it? IF VEHICULAR TRAVEL on the African continent conjures up images of an open-top or boxy white Land Rover bumping along muddy tracks then you might be left wondering where the British marque’s new Defender fits into the scheme of things. The Defender nameplate is, after all, the successor to the Series Land Rovers that were instrumental in exploring Africa and used by institutions such as the Red Cross, UN and other NGOs to transport their personnel through the untamed terrain of the Dark Continent. Ever since Land Rover stopped making the old utilitarian Defender in 2016, people have wondered what a new Defender could be in an era where the…

SUPERCARS IS CAUGHT in a perfect storm of events that is likely to wreak unprecedented change, if not havoc, at a time when the future has never been more uncertain. Holden’s demise was the unexpected development, with the announcement coming just as two deals critical to Supercars’ outlook were being negotiated. One is the new broadcast rights agreement that will underpin finances for the next several years, and the other is the looming sale of the business. As well, Supercars is trying to work out what the next generation of V8 racers will look like – literally and figuratively – from 2022, seeking to attract new manufacturers and institute much-needed cost reductions. With all this going on, the timing of the news that Holden will be gone by the end…

IT’S A GREY Friday morning at Melbourne’s Sandown International Raceway. Already, at 7.30am, the mowers are out trimming the lawns ahead of a coming horse race meeting. But we’re here to talk about a different kind of horsepower with Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes, two true greats of Australia’s touring car and Supercars wars. Sitting here in the famous main straight grandstand they do what motor racing people tend to do when they get together. They remember. “One of my most vivid memories of this place is when Fangio did the exhibition that time,” Skaife says. “I was standing in the pit area and he came out of turn one sideways fully gassed up. It was brilliant!” Skaife cracks that crooked smile, then laughs in that distinctive giggling way of…

MERCEDES-AMG A35 Price as tested: $76,792 This month: 760km @ 9.9L/100km Overall: 3350km @ 9.7L/100km DEFINING the Mercedes-AMG A35 can be hard. Is it a cut-price A45 with greater comfort and 90 percent of the performance for $20K less? Or a warmed-over A250 that does the same job as a Volkswagen Golf R, for significantly more? Four months and almost 3500km have provided useful insights. Firstly, this is a proper AMG product. We’ve covered the extensive chassis changes before, so won’t again, though the depth of engineering in this car ensures it feels closer to an A45 than it does a regular A250. In fact, the A35 is so steadfastly capable that I’d wager it’s surely no slower up a challenging road than a first-gen A45. It’s quick too. A…

VOLVO V60 T5 INSCRIPTION Price as tested: $72,390 This month: 1563km @ 10.4L/100km AFTER months of trying, I’ve finally managed to organise time off work for a small trip to properly test the V60’s family hauling capabilities. If you’ve been keeping up with the car’s recent escapades, you would be aware it is accomplished on long drives, as proven on the 160km journey home after Wheels Car of the Year testing at Inverloch, south-east of Melbourne. I’m not sure how everyone else goes with family trips, but for my brood just getting out the door is a stressful experience. Between the wife freaking out and the kids waging World War III against each other, sometimes I wonder why we bother. During the whole process I watch a pyramid of luggage…

TOP THREE 1959 CADILLAC SERIES 62 “It’s got power steering, power windows, power electric hood and cruise control. I always wanted one, and finally bought a mint car from, would you believe, Freddy Krueger in Mount Gambier,” Newman says. “I love driving it. It’s still amazing that GM built a two-door, 20ft car for the general public.” 1969 MUSTANG BOSS 429 Peak Mustang? You’re not going to hear too many arguments against this pick. The 7.0-litre V8 ’Stang is another car the ex-Geelong ruckman owns, in his case a Royal Maroon over black coupe. “It’s still probably the most collectible muscle car in America,” he says of the big-block Boss. 1961 JAGUAR E-TYPE COUPE “It’s still the most impressive-looking car on the road,” Newman says. “If Enzo Ferrari can say…