Índice para January 2020 em Wheels

THE HOLDEN Commodore is dead. While it will still be on sale until next year, from the moment Holden announced it was ‘retiring’ the nameplate, it became the vehicular equivalent of a dead man walking. Sales of the ZB version have fallen off a cliff, the 309 registrations Holden managed in November 2019 representing less than half the sales of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class (696). It was apparent even before the ‘billion dollar baby’ VE launched that Holden could be in a spot. Sales of big sedans were down 20 percent year-on-year leading to the VE’s unveiling. Motoring commentator Will Hagon appeared on ABC’s PM program in July 2006 with a prescient note: “If this [the VE] completely failed, not only Holden – but Ford, Toyota, and the supply industry in…

“THE SHOW WAS AN ABSOLUTE MIND-BLOWER – HUUUGE!!” WINNER OF OUR TOKYO MOTOR SHOW COMPETITION PROVES TRAVELLING TO JAPAN IS EVEN BETTER WHEN IT’S FREE! A HUGE THANK YOU to Wheels for my wonderful prize trip to the Tokyo Motor Show. It was amazing! Juliet and I had a great time. The show was an absolute mind-blower – HUUUUGE!! Very futuristic, with most of the manufacturers displaying concept EVs moreso than ‘ordinary’ vehicles. Being a truckie myself, I had to take a shot of the new Isuzu prime mover which, unfortunately, wouldn’t require my skills – it’s autonomous. I even managed to coerce one of the locals into taking a shot of me at the entrance (not the most photogenic dude in town) holding my Wheels magazine, of course! The…

One of the highlights of the M Festival was to chat with Flasch about BMW’s very first factory M car, the little-known 530 MLE. Built at the Rosslyn plant in South Africa in 1976, this car, chassis #100, has been restored to concours condition by the same four technicians who originally built it. Designed by Jochen Neerpasch as a homologation special, the 147kW/277Nm factory lightweight gained the Flasch seal of approval. “It’s just beautiful,” he said. “This is something very special.”…

Model Corolla Ascent Sport Hybrid Engine 1798cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v + motor Max power 90kW @ 5200rpm Max torque 142Nm @ 3600rpm Transmission CVT Weight 1385kg 0-100km/h 10.5sec (claimed) Economy 3.5L/100km Price $26,335 On sale Now JUST ABOUT everyone has a Corolla story. If you haven’t owned or driven one to have your own tale, there’s a high probability you’ll know someone who has, given some 47 million units have been sold since its inception in 1966. That’s one Corolla sold globally every 20 seconds. So well honed is the Corolla formula that Toyota has rarely dared to be different. That changed in generation 12 as the hatch debuted with TNGA underpinnings, Lexus-like design elements and a more tech-heavy cabin. Now the sedan gains the same treatment and, for once,…

Model BMW M135i Engine 1998cc 4cyl, dohc, 16v, tturbo Max power 225k W @ 4500-6250rpm Max torque 450Nm @ 1750-5000rpm Transmission 8-speed automatic Weight 1525kg 0-100km/h 4.8sec (claimed) Economy 7.5L/100km Price $63,990 On sale Now NICHES ARE rife. They tend to generate cars that appeal to certain people – and those buyers often become enthusiasts. The problem is niches generally don’t garner volume sales. And that’s an issue for the bean counters. Growing profit margins leaves little room for heartstrings and tradition. Enter the third-gen F40 1 Series in its hottest guise, the M135i. Gone are the 3.0-litre turbo in-line six and the rear-drive chassis; in their place a boosted 2.0-litre four with 225kW/450Nm and xDrive all-wheel drive. With a claimed 0-100km/h sprint of 4.8 seconds, performance hasn’t suffered. And…

Pagani – both the man and company – are inextricably linked to one of the greatest racing drivers in history, Juan Manuel Fangio. A fellow Argentinian, Fangio became friends with Pagani after the designer wrote a letter to his hero – with Fangio eventually giving the recommendation that would land Pagani a job in Italy. The pair’s friendship continued, with Fangio opening discussions with Mercedes-Benz that would allow Pagani’s supercars to utilise AMG V12 engines. The project, which would become the Zonda, was initially slated to be called the Fangio, in honour of the racing legend. However, following the death of the motorsport icon in 1995, Pagani changed the name out of respect for his friend’s family.…

THE NUMBERS are impossible to ignore. Launched in Australia when Kevin Rudd was our PM the first time around, the ASX’s popularity knows no limits. A decade in, its gap ahead of the second-placed Mazda CX-3 is wider than ever. The Lancer-based crossover has increased sales when most of the rest are falling. Such success needs to be acknowledged, not least because nobody – including us – has given the ASX much slack. We cannot recall any other vehicle that has become more popular after so many years with so little change. That’s a glowing testimony to the fundamental strength of the concept right there. Respect. The ASX’s appeal is obvious. Clearly, the looks resonate; perhaps more than ever with the recent, muscular makeover. It’s better than any late-stage facelift…

THE VITARA NAMEPLATE goes back to 1988 when Suzuki introduced a more road-friendly, coil-sprung alternative to its popular SJ40 Jimny, known in Australia then as the Sierra or Holden-badged Drover. It was handy off-road, but proved popular with young urban drivers who liked its high-riding style and ability to provide the odd weekend adventure. Fast-forward 30 years, and the new Jimny is almost identical in terms of its size, off-road capability and rudimentary on-road dynamics. The Vitara – now in its fourth generation and a small monocoque – has embraced its polished, city-slicker lifestyle but, as our test showed, it’s not averse to leaving bitumen either. With the six-speed automatic gearbox, the front-drive base-spec Vitara 1.6 sells for $24,490, making it the cheapest of our contenders. But it punches above…

THE HR-V HAS some pretty impressive stats under its rising beltline. Slotting beneath the CR-V mid-sizer and based on Honda’s global supermini platform, the 1998 original arguably set the modern small-SUV template. Its GK Jazz-derived successor of 2014 has been a consistent global top-10 smash. Five years on and with only a minor update, the series remains at the pointy end of the popularity stakes. There are a variety of reasons behind the HR-V’s success – including brand trust, elegant design, unique packaging, sharp pricing and driving ease. Plus, the near-invisible nip-and-tuck of 2018 brought a worthwhile round of engineering improvements, including standard AEB and a revised CVT with stepped ratios for that reduced droning sensation. That’s progress, but in the face of newer rivals, is it enough to keep…

MAZDA 3 G20 EVOLVE Price as tested: $27,690 This month: 1563km @ 8.6L/100km WHEN YOU BUY AN A-to-B hatchback, you aren’t expecting layers of dynamic talent. It simply has to do what it says on the box – no surprises, and fuss-free motoring. This mentality has, traditionally, allowed the Toyota Corolla to thrive. However, Mazda changed the game with the 3, injecting driver enjoyment into an often mundane segment. Private buyers lapped it up. Yet after some 5000km in ‘my’ Mazda 3 G20 Evolve hatch, I can’t help but wonder if Mazda’s focused a little too much on the ‘Zoom Zoom’ over the daily gloom. With ZZG107 returning, mostly, to city duties this month, some cracks have started to appear. The ride quality, with 18-inch wheels wrapped in 215/45 rubber,…

Volvo offers the V60 in a generous range of 13 colours, although we use the term ‘colour’ rather loosely. The solid Black Stone and Ice White are of no cost. The rest of the metallics/ pearls comprise different shades of grey, except for Fusion Red, Denim Blue, Maple Brown and the hue of our V60, Birch Light – the only four that would be considered proper colours. A paint upgrade will set you back $1500. If I had to choose, Onyx Black would be very tempting, but I can’t go past Crystal White with the tinted rear windows. Baller.…

THE TOUGH TRUCK is about to get a big hit of American muscle. Ford is secretly readying a high-performance Ranger super ute complete with V8 power. The brand that sells more 4x4 utes than any other is gearing up to shift the goalposts of load-lugging performance by replacing the four-cylinder diesel engine fitted to the Ranger Raptor with a Mustang-spec 5.0-litre V8. Rather than a global initiative, the top-secret V8 Raptor project has been sanctioned by Ford Australia and will be the result of a local engineering effort. But instead of utilising the 1000-strong local workforce that helped create the T6 architecture that underpins the Ranger and Everest, the project is being farmed out to an external engineering firm. The latest in a growing list of low-volume local engineering solutions…

QUESTIONS ARE again being raised about the viability of Holden following the announcement the Commodore would be killed off. By the end of 2020, Holden will be without a large car, something that has defined the brand since it produced the first Australian-made car in 1948. Speak to industry experts and analysts, and many quietly say it’s only a matter of time until the lion brand is killed off altogether. If it is, it would be the latest in a long list of brands shelved by parent company General Motors. They include Oldsmobile, Hummer, Pontiac, Saab and Saturn. Social commentator and the principal of The Strategy Planning Group, David Chalke, says it all comes down to product. “At the moment they don’t have anything in their range that anybody really…

If you can look past the slightly saccharine acronym, Continental’s CARE (Connected, Autonomous, Reliable, Electrified) tyre showcases some intriguing technology and eliminates a reason to pull in at the servo. While tyre-pressure monitoring systems are now commonplace in modern vehicles, the German tech giant’s latest concept takes the principle to a new level with a package that looks after its own pressure. Housed within the wheel itself, a centrifugal compressor stores a small amount of pressurised air in a receiver. If the tyre’s pressure should decrease, the required amount of air is pumped back in from the self-contained tank, all without the driver’s knowledge or intervention. The set-up can reduce pressures too. In very hot weather or for loose surfaces, the CARE system can release air from the tyre and…

MERCEDES-BENZ EQC 400 Model Mercedes-Benz EQC 400 Motors 2 x asynchronous Battery 80kW lithium-ion Max power 300kW Max torque 760Nm Transmission Single-speed reduction gear Weight 2480kg 0-100km/h 4.7sec (tested) Economy 21.4kWh/100km Price $137,900 On sale Now CAUTIOUS? OR CLEVER? They’re the two central themes that need to be probed when considering Mercedes’ first-ever mainstream EV. The ‘cautious’ question is unavoidable, given the company’s decision to not build the EQC on a bespoke EV architecture, thus missing out on potential packaging advantages. Instead, this car is, in essence, a GLC with dual electric motors and an 80kWh hour battery. So there’s no frunk, for example, and the second-row floor is still split by what was the transmission tunnel. But on the flip side, taking this path has allowed Mercedes to build…

01 Volkswagen ID.3 WHAT IS IT? The opening EV salvo from an automotive giant that’s betting the farm on electrification. This Golf-sized five seater is the first vehicle to be built on VW’s new MEB architecture, which will underpin at least five all-new EVs to be rolled out over the next few years. The ID.3 is rear-drive, thanks to its aft-mount motor that produces 150kW/310Nm, and globally, the car will be offered with three battery sizes: 45, 58 and 77kW/h. Locally, the talk is of a sub-$50K tag when it eventually goes on sale here. WHY WE’RE EXCITED If the senior brass at VW can be believed, (no Dieselgate quips please…) the ID.3 will have exterior dimensions as compact as a Golf, interior space closer to a Passat, and deliver…

MERCEDES-AMG A35 Price as tested: $76,792 This month: 1003km @ 8.3L/100km WELL, THIS IS suddenly a lot more serious, isn’t it? Having spent the last three months bobbling around in a comparatively subtle A250 long-termer, I’ve moved up in the world and will see out our extended test of the A-Class range by driving one fettled by the mad hatters at AMG. It’s likely you’re already quite familiar with the AMG A35, given Wheels dedicated an entire feature to driving one on some of Europe’s best and twistiest Alpine passes in our August issue. But whereas that car was painted in the kind of dreary hue that only accountants and cement salesmen find exciting, and forwent the optional AMG aero package to appear so visually subtle that it looked painfully…

IN MID-OCTOBER 2019, Lamborghini reported a production milestone: Huracan number 14,022. That seemingly random figure brought the Huracan, in just five years, level with its predecessor Gallardo’s total production over 10 years – and made the Huracan the most successful model in Automobili Lamborghini’s 56-year history. That figure is also roughly equal to all the Lamborghinis built from 1963 up to the Gallardo’s introduction in 2003. Back in the day, it didn’t take much to be a Lamborghini production record holder. Consider the Countach, ubiquitous on bedroom walls around the world – yet just 2049 built, over 26 years. And before that, the Espada, a runaway sales success with a measly 1227 examples over 10 years. Introduced at the 1968 Geneva Salon and named for a bullfighter’s sword, the Espada…

ESPADAS BUILT, A LAMBO RECORD UNTIL COUNTACH (2049) 1227 187 S1 CARS BUILT (VERSUS 575 x S2 AND 465 x S3) A$ PRICE GUIDE FOR ’77 S3, CLASSIC THROTTLE SHOP, OCTOBER 2019 235,000 100 MM LONGER THAN THE 400 GT 2+2 YET A PROPER FOUR SEATER POWER PLAY Ferrari defector Giotto Bizzarrini designed Lambo’s V12, an all-alloy, 60-degree, quad-cam with six Weber carbs. Capacity hit 3929cc for Espada, and high-compression S2 raised power to 260kW at 7500rpm/393Nm at 5500rpm. Wishbone and coil suspension; four discs behind 15-inch Campagnolo alloys. Three-speed Chrysler auto option arrived in ’74. CUTTING A DASH The early Espada dash was a Marzal-esque mangle, improved in S2, more so in ‘wrap-around cockpit’ S3 (pictured). Tall transmission tunnel allowed four-adult comfort in the leather-trimmed interior, with Ford-sourced vents…

TOP THREE DICK JOHNSON EDITION MUSTANG We’ve put together the ultimate road-going Mustang with Herrod Performance. It pumps out about 150kW more than our Supercars. Every part is specially selected for the job – the pistons are even etched with the car’s build number. It’s everything I’d want in a car. RIVIERA BELIZE 66 DAYBRIDGE I love getting out on the water, and this would be my ultimate dream boat. Plenty of room to head out with Jillie and the family for a few days to get away from it all. Cruise out to my favourite fishing spot and pull up, with all the luxuries of home right there. Perfect. TRU-BLU XD FALCON This is the one that got away, and the one that I dearly wish I’d never had…

TOYOTA WOULD REALLY prefer it if you weren’t looking at these images right now. That’s because they show the brand-new GR Yaris completly bereft of camoflauge, ahead of its official reveal at Tokyo Auto Salon later this month. The GR Yaris is a production-car tribute to the championship-winning WRC racer of the same lineage, and is another reminder that the higher-ups at Toyota are in the midst of a performance-car barrage. At the time of writing, the fine detail of what is under the two-door hatch’s skin remained mostly a mystery. What we do know is bloody exciting, though. A turbocharged four-cylinder engine, likely a 1.6-litre to mimic the WRC racer it pays homage to, is mated to an all-wheel-drive powertrain. The plumped guards aren’t for show, with the GR…

The death of the Commodore is the latest example of Holden misreading the market. From the outset the company was intent on ramming home why the Opel-made Commodore was better than the Aussie one that ended manufacturing in November 2017. We were told of how the optional all-wheel-drive system improved performance and handling and how the base four-cylinder was faster than the V6 it replaced. But while trying to shove the imported Commodore into an Australian hole it was never going to fit snugly into, Holden ignored the real potential: stealing sales from the Camry and using the wagon bodystyle to tempt fence-sitting families out of SUVs. The ZB Commodore was a tough sell from day one. Things only got tougher.…

DUE FEB MAZDA CX-30 If you deem the CX-3 a bit small and the CX-5 too big, the CX-30 from Hiroshima could be for you. There are eight variants and two powertrains (atmo 2.0-litre and 2.5-litre four-cylinders), with prices starting at $29,990. It gains an upmarket interior and the choice of front- or all-wheel drive. DUE Q1 BMW M8 COMPETITION Want to merge a luxury GT with the performance of M? Like a best mate, the M8 has you covered. The 460kW/750Nm twin-turbo 4.4-litre V8 does the go-fast bit, while the 8 Series cabin takes care of the pampering – and all for $352,900. With AWD, it’ll get to 100km/h in a claimed 3.2sec. DUE FEB FERRARI F8 TRIBUTO As the successor to the 488 GTB, the F8 Tributo packs…

Model Mercedes-AMG GT C Engine 3982cc V8 (90°), dohc, 32v, twin-turbo Max power 410kW @ 5750-6750rpm Max torque 680Nm @ 2100-5500rpm Transmission 7-speed dual-clutch Weight 1625kg Economy 11.5L/100km 0-100km/h 3.7sec (claimed) Price $329,843 On sale Now TRANGE WHAT POPS into your mind when you’re at max attack in a supercar worth upwards of $330K. The road is narrow, undulating and peppered with well-sighted sweepers and tight on-camber curves. And the AMG GT is demolishing it. This isn’t a car that flows gracefully from corner to corner. There’s accuracy here, and real talent, and that sense that this is a car only just in charge of the fury that lurks within. Which brings me to that thought: how would a 911 – surely the GT’s most obvious rival – feel on…

LEONARDO DA VINCI is the original Renaissance man, mastering a number of different fields and propelling all into a new era of thinking and innovation. Men like da Vinci don’t come around very often, not once in a decade, but perhaps once every century, if we are lucky. When it comes to the art of making automobiles they are few and far between. Sure, there are designers who can pen lines worthy of wall space in the Louvre, and there are engineers capable of building technical marvels that bend physics to their will. But both attributes in the same person, that’s truly rare. It could be argued that Horacio Pagani fits the description. His eponymous car company is able to entice customers from across the globe, each willing to pay…

AS NEW-CAR sales suffer double-digit slides in Australia, for the most part, SUVs are standing firm, continuing a decade-long trend that soon might even see their total domination of all vehicle segments under $30,000. Holy lifestyle, Batman! Leading the pack – in terms of sales at least – is Mitsubishi’s evergreen ASX, a model that seems to defy age and criticism by actually growing market share despite the adverse economic conditions. Until this year, the reasons seemed obvious, with most rivals being either considerably smaller (Mazda CX-3) or more expensive (Toyota C-HR) than the Diamond Badge phenomenon. But that was before. Things are now changing big time, with Korean brands Hyundai and Kia bursting onto the arena with a pair of intriguing contenders bookending the class – the perky little…

CONSIDERING WE’RE presenting each small SUV contender in ascending order by score, you’re probably surprised to be reading about the Kona so soon. Especially as the cheaper – and dinkier – Venue must obviously be rated more highly as a result. Strong points first. Based on the existing i30 hatch architecture, the $25,500 compact crossover has enough going for it at the lower end of the range to justify its increasing popularity, including contemporary, standout styling. Nothing else looks like it on the road. The modern, attractive cabin, meanwhile, offers comfortable cushions front and rear, a handsome dash featuring crystal-clear instruments and an excellent infotainment system, plenty of important standard kit like AEB and a reversing camera, as well as a sporty steering wheel. Space in the back is a…

AUTHENTICITY. SOME PEOPLE have it, and some don’t. Small SUVs are similar. These jacked-up hatches with ‘look at me, I can go off-road’ body cladding usually fall into the latter category by trying to be something they’re not. The stance and rugged addenda lure you into thinking ‘fun’, but ‘humdrum’ is often what presents itself through the lightly veiled smoke and mirrors. The Hyundai Venue isn’t one of those SUVs. Once you’ve finished chuckling at the name, the Euro i20 supermini-based contender from Korea is a good bit of kit. And, unlike some of its competition here, the Venue hasn’t had a personality bypass. Just look at our two-tone tester, with its greeny-yellow hue and contrasting black roof. It sports a confident, oversized grille with square-shaped LEDs, squinty eyes and…

THOUGH KIA WAS an early player on the fledgling small-SUV scene with the original Sportage of 1997, that was a crude, old (Mazda E-Series) van-based oddity that completely missed the mark. By the mid-2000s only the name carried through, onto a mid-sized SUV of much larger proportions. Thus, Kia was forced to idly sit by as small-SUV sales in Australia soared, unable to access suitable models offered elsewhere in the maker’s vast portfolio because no powertrain was large enough for Aussie tastes. Until now. Welcome to the Seltos. Not an antacid or a men’s cheap cologne, but a big, boxy and imposing small SUV approaching Nissan’s Qashqai in size. Based on the compact Hyundai Kona, the Kia is bigger than its cousin and brings a longer wheelbase that affords occupants…

GENESIS G70 ULTIMATE SPORT Price as tested: $79,950 This month: 1896km @ 11.1L/100km I FELT A GREEN flush of envy when the email pinged in my inbox. ‘Fido Fridays!’ said the subject line. The note from Wheels’ publisher went on to say that the last day of the working week would now be a dog-friendly one, acknowledging the benefits to staff morale when there’s a couple of happy woofers waggling around the workplace. (Plus the endless humour, surely, from discreetly tipping a glass of water next to a pot plant then suggesting to the dog’s owner that they should mop that up.) My jealousy of this new initiative was two-fold. Firstly, it was for the Melbourne head office, whereas I’m the Sydney-based solo operative. Further, I didn’t own a ‘Friday…

VOLVO V60 T5 INSCRIPTION Price as tested: $72,390 This month: 933km @11.2L/100km IT’S A WELL-DOCUMENTED fact that the crew at Wheels are avid fans of wagons. The now mostly ignored shape still gets us excited when a manufacturer is brave enough to bring one out to Australia. And excitement is exactly what we felt when Volvo offered the team a V60 for our garage. The Scandinavian manufacturer’s recent track record speaks for itself. With back-to-back Wheels Car of the Year awards, the XC60 and XC40 have truly set the SUV benchmark. It’s also left us with high expectations for the new V60, which recently launched in Australia. In T5 Inscription guise, the V60 is powered by the same 2.0-litre turbo found in the XC40, making 187kW and a healthy 350Nm…