Innehållsförteckning för March 2024 från Wheels

THE UPDATED 2024 Toyota Hilux ute has been detailed for Australia with a revised look, more cabin features, and fuel-saving 48-volt tech for some variants. Toyota Australia has confirmed that the updated Hilux will arrive at local dealers in March sporting a revised front-end design for diesel dual-cab variants. Prices for the updated Hilux have not been confirmed. As detailed here, some variants are set to remain unchanged while others will increase by between $300 and $1000. As announced in mid-2023, the update coincides with the introduction of 48-volt technology as standard for the SR5 and Rogue 4x4 dual-cab variants, and available as an option for the SR 4x4 dual-cab. The 48-volt system is paired to the Hilux’s familiar 150kW/500Nm 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine, six-speed automatic transmission and 12-volt auxiliary…

WHEN IT COMES to classic cars, time is a distinctly mutable concept. Let me explain. There are some cars whereby the passing of time has a burnishing effect. It polishes away the rough edges, leaving a perception of something jewel-like and precious. The opposite also happens. We can all name those cars that have suffered at the hands of time – rendered haggard and obsolete. The magic happens when classics transform from timeworn to treasured. BMW’s E34 M5 is currently enjoying this marvellous metamorphosis. In truth, the E34 has never been the most storied M5 generation, falling between the founder appeal of the E28 and the extremity of the V8 E39 – the last of the line with a manual gearbox. In many regards, the E34 was a transitional M…

IT’S NO SECRET that the successor to Porsche’s 718 Cayman and Boxster range – due within 18 months – will be a pure electric vehicle though, unlike the Macan, this generation of 718 will likely get one last update and be sold alongside its replacement for a couple more years. Certainly, then, the next junior Porsche sports cars will be very different beasts to the lithe and compact two-doors with mid-mounted, horizontally opposed engines we know now. But the excitement and publicity for the 718 is all found at the top: Spyder RS, GT4, and flat-six GTS are the variants people remember. What of the base car? We’ve spent a week in the Cayman Style Edition – a sticker and equipment pack added to the entry-grade 718 – to find…

WE’VE SAMPLED the Ioniq 5 N in preproduction form on ice, and on South Korean roads in production guise, but Hyundai has finally called us an hour north of Sydney for a first local taste of an Aussie-spec 5 N. Short on distance but not on bumps, the road we’re heading to (known informally as Akuna Bay) is the stuff of nightmares if you happen to be a damper, spring, or suspension bush. When engineers come to visit and ask the team at Hyundai’s Australian outpost how they tune suspension without using a proving ground, Akuna Bay is the place product development manager Tim Rodgers takes them to demonstrate our roads. It helps that it’s close to the Macquarie Park head office, and one of the roads used before final…

Aston Martin DB12 THINGS ARE A BIG improvement over Aston's recent efforts, ringing in Aston Martin's, allegedly, 'in-house' operating system, featuring dual 10.25-inch monitors, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and, thankfully, physical hard switches for many frequent functions. An 11-speaker 390W stereo is fitted as standard, with a 1170W 15-piece Bowers & Wilkins package as an option. An eSIM enables the DB12 to receive over-the-air updates, while a mobile owner's app facilitates remote lock/unlock, remote nav-point setting, and more. The boot? A mere 262 litres, or 7/8ths of an Auric Goldfinger. Ferrari Roma FERRARI DESCRIBES THE Roma as a two-plus, stopping short of actually detailing what the plus is. It sure as hell isn’t an extra adult or two with rear ‘seats’ that are as practical as a Porsche…

Audi SQ8 e-tron THE SQ8’S CABIN is a good deal more familiar. The digital array comprises a 10.5-inch central infotainment touchscreen, a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and an ancillary 8.6-inch monitor that takes care of climate-control duties and driving modes. The e-Tron’s floorpan and battery cradle are bespoke, along with much of the central body between the axles, and the glasshouse. Rear seat passengers will feel the benefit, with a flat second-row floor, plus four air vents and two extra climate zones, as well as two USB-C ports and two cupholders. Lotus Eletre S IT SOUNDS TRITE to point this out, but the reason that the Eletre doesn’t feel like a Lotus is becaue Lotus has never built an SUV. But had Hethel done so, you might have expected a…

IF FAMILIARITY breeds contempt, then maybe I haven’t spent enough time indulging in the MG 4 Excite 64 yet. Every time I walk towards it, my broad affection for what it brings to affordable EVs seems to expand infinitesimally. Bit by bit, its handy size (just 4287mm long) and handsome colour combo (metallic silver with gloss-black mirrors, window frames and tailgate garnish, black-accented 17-inch wheels and matte-black lower sections) adds a touch of egalitarian flair to Sydney’s enviro-conscious Inner West. The refined silkiness of its drivetrain constantly impresses – particularly the satisfying surge in urgency when a burst of acceleration is required – and now that I’ve switched to MG’s version of one-pedal motoring (which isn’t as extreme as the ‘i-pedal’ operation in a Hyundai-Kia EV), there’s a seamless rhythm…

CELEBRATING THE WAGON is a stereotypical carguy trope, alongside lauding weight reduction, championing the manual gearbox, and talking about polar moments of inertia without any basic understanding of physics. With that in mind, it’s with much gnashing of teeth that we announce the demise of Porsche’s prettiest long roof, the Panamera Sport Turismo. Yep, that’s right, the torpedo-shaped Sport Turismo is not returning for another generation when Porsche ushers in the third-generation ‘972’ Panamera – due here from next month if Porsche’s delivery planner is to be believed. There’s a school of thought that says that Porsche does not make a truly beautiful car. Purposeful cars, yes. Functional? Certainly. But something truly sensual? That’s a tough case to make and the Panamera Sport Turismo, with its sleek fuselage and broad…

FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED IN THE CAR WORLD THIS MONTH 1. First up, we’d like to wish the Volkswagen Golf a very happy 50th birthday. On 29 March 1974, VW officially started building the Golf. Thirty-seven million cars and eight generations later, it’s still going strong. 2. Strange comings and goings at Maranello. Ferrari’s all-new hybrid supercar has been seen in disguised form but perhaps more intriguing is the Tesla Model S Plaid that is being assessed by the Italians. Hmmm. 3. Since January 1, nearly a quarter (24.51%) of Tesla’s stock value has vanished. Without a sharp course correction, TSLA risks being booted from the S&P500. 4. January’s VFACTS were a tale of two utes. The Ford Ranger retained its #1 spot but its cousin, the VW Amarok, failed…

ASTON MARTIN has revealed its new Vantage, which it claims is the most focused version to wear the charismatic nameplate. It features the same basic AMG-sourced 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 but with extensive revisions to lift power from the old car’s 375kW to a whopping 489kW at 6000rpm – though that’s still shy of the limitedrun 515kW Vantage V12. The result is a front-engined, reardrive sports car that can sprint from rest to 100km/h in 3.5 seconds, and achieve a 325km/h top speed. Aston has confirmed the new Vantage will reach British and European customers during 2024’s second quarter but has not revealed Australian timing or pricing. Aston’s engineers haven’t just tweaked ECU settings to get more grunt. The engine has been treated to new cam profiles and larger turbos matched…

BMW only built 891 E34 M5 Tourings, of which a mere 209 featured the later 3.8-litre lump. If you want something genuinely exclusive, how about one of the 20 Elekta specials editions? Commissioned by Italian dealers, 10 Elektas are Sterling Silver, the other 10 BRG. Nobody knows how many have survived, and they feature shadowline window trim, roof rails, dual power sunroofs, and headlight washers. There’s a numbered gearknob that drives the six-speed ’box and standard LSD.…

WITH THE inexorable creep towards widespread electrification looming heavily in the minds of petrol-loving enthusiasts, being able to report on an even more hardcore, yet still affordable, performance sedan is something of a Taylor Swift moment in 2024 – a bright and shiny respite from the doom and gloom of regular newsfeeds… except that purchasing the new i30 Sedan N should be a shedload easier than expecting a Hogwarts level of wizardry from Mummy in scoring Tay-tay tickets. Anyhoo, the point is that despite all of Hyundai’s humble chest-beating about its increasingly kick-arse EVs, there’s still an unhinged turbopetrol scorcher in its line-up that has just become more aggressive, more focused, and even more desirable than its already-tantalising predecessor. Just over two years since the i30 Sedan N launched in…

THERE’S SOME debate about exactly who invented the grand touring coupé but very little about where, in national terms, it happened. The popular response to the question of what the first and defining example was is the 1951 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT. It could have been the 1948 Ferrari 166 Inter, though, or the 1947 Maserati A6 – or something pre-war, even. Wherever the credit eventually comes to rest, however, the gran turismo was definitely given life and then popularised in Italy. And, rather regrettably, it might have just been slaughtered in Warwickshire. That’s because, as far as Aston Martin is concerned, the grand tourer concept – although fine for the likes of its own DB5, Mercedes-Benz’s 300 SL, Jaguar’s E-Type and Ferrari’s Daytona – just isn’t ‘grand’ enough to…

OFF-ROADING in a Porsche hasn’t implied anything remarkable since 2002, when the former sports-car specialist wheeled out its Cayenne SUV. But in the four decades prior, the company’s signature 911 coupe had been making storied excursions away from the tarmac, dabbling with success in various World Rally Championship rounds, including the Monte Carlo Rally and ultra-tough East African Safari Rally. Porsche then developed four-wheel-drive 911s – the 953 and 959 – in the mid-1980s and claimed more successes in the Paris-Dakar desert raid. And Wheels famously took a raised 996 Carrera 4 across the Simpson Desert in 1999. Yet none of those multi-terrain competition 911s were available strictly off the shelf, which makes the new 911 Dakar properly unique in the sports car’s seven-decade lineage. The name pays homage to…

Every once in a while, I’ll shlep along to the Highball Cars and Coffee meet at Bosch’s plant in Clayton. It’s a great opportunity to see what Melbourne’s magnificent car tragics will bowl up and it’s never boring. Someone will have plumbed a Barra engine into a Porsche or decide that driving six-wheeled army surplus represents a great way of spending Sunday mornings. Figuring that some of the above might never have clapped eyes on a Mustang Mach-E, I parked the long termer next to a couple of Mustangs, who promptly left the event. Ah well. The Mach-E may have been unwelcome but on the plus side, life with it is rarely dull. Aside from finding people staring at it in befuddlement most times you return to it, there’s also…

ASTON MARTIN SEEKS NEW CEO. AGAIN Aston Martin’s CEO, Amedeo Felisa, has left the role after less than a year in tenure. The former Ferrari CEO, who oversaw the LaFerrari program, among others, and was instrumental in bringing the DB12 and Valour to market for Aston Martin, has taken his leave. Aston chairman Lawrence Stroll has apparently contacted a number of high-profile industry figures to canvass their interest in taking the reins at Gaydon. VW: NOW WITH CHATGPT Volkswagen has announced that it is integrating furture vehicles with ChatGPT functionality. At the …. Consumer Electronics Show, VW showed a pre-production version of the Mk… Golf GTI with ChatGPT. VW claims that the ChatGPT module works hand-in-hand with its proprietary voice-assistant software, with ChatGPT answering general questions and the IDA system…

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, Instagram or Twitter (search for Wheels Australia) “The little CX-5 is rated to tow more than the bigger CX-60! Should it be this hard?” A MAZDA CX-60 for towing our 1.6-tonne single-axle caravan with 190kg tow-ball mass (TBM) looked ideal to replace our ageing Ford Territory. But the PHEV with the 2.5 NA was not strong enough for long-haul towing – maybe if it had a turbo. Suspicions were raised when the specs showed the diesel’s 2000kg tow rating vs the petrol’s 2500kg. CX-60 release came, finances prepped for the 3.3 petrol, scoured the fine print – only to find the CX-60 TBM is only…

WITH THE proliferation of SUVs and electric cars, you’d think car manufacturers might’ve given up on small combustion-engined hatches. Yet Volkswagen is launching a heavily revised Mark 8.5 Golf this year, and Honda’s excellent new-generation Civic has been lauded for its chassis poise and grown-up cabin. Subaru hasn’t been quite as ambitious developing the new Impreza. This sixth-generation hatch shares its engine and Subaru Global Platform with its predecessor – though it’s 10 percent stiffer thanks to more structural adhesive. There’s no more sedan, either, so even in the US, an Impreza hatchback is your only choice. Still, the Japanese-built Impreza is a handsome car – more so than before. It sports new bumpers with a broader front intake and neater lower valance. Subaru has tidied up the side profile…

IT'S ALL ABOUT DOWNSIZING, right? By common consent, we have the technological know-how to be able to do the work of a big engine with a small one. And so it proves in this instance. Here we have a 4.0-litre V8 in the DB12, a 3.9-litre V8 in the Ferrari and a 3.0-litre V6 in the Granturismo, all aided and abetted by two huffers apiece. The Aston, the car with the largest engine here, develops 126kW per litre, the Ferrari 118kW per litre and the Maserati, the car with by far the smallest engine, a hale 135kW per litre. These numbers only tell part of the story though. A great GT car should be effortless, and that's why the DB12, with its 800Nm torque figure, has the best GT engine…

The Eletre S is priced at $269,000 in Australia. For that you get 450kW and a 112kWh battery The editorial meeting is a bit like an AA meeting: we petrolheads are still struggling a bit with withdrawal problems. We find it hard to accept that a Lotus doesn’t handle much better than the rest. By all rights it should, but that’s just what we’ve been conditioned to believe. Maybe everyone apparently wants to say goodbye to the old, beloved Lotus in their own way. We know that times are different. But secretly, as an enthusiast, you still hope that the Eletre SUV is special. It owes that to its brand, even if its mission is that of moneymaker. So we brainstorm on the perfect comparison for the Lotus, which is…

Regular man-made drainage mounds are waiting to give the Dakar a bloody nose if it arrives at ambitious speed INSPIRED BY ITS 1981 911 Cabriolet 4x4 concept and no doubt noting the Group B success of Audi’s Ur Quattro, Porsche adopted all-wheel drive for a 1984 assault on Africa’s already-legendary long-distance off-road race. Since the Paris-Dakar’s 1978 debut, the race – which kicked off in France - had hitherto been dominated almost exclusively by proper off-roaders. Three 911 Carrera 3.2 4x4 Paris Dakar cars, codenamed the 953, were entered with dune-friendly features including 270mm of wheel travel, reinforced suspension, and a new AWD system with a manually locking centre diff. After nearly three weeks and more than 10,000km, one finished 26th and another had to fight back from a cable…

PRICE Recommended retail figure at time of publication (asterisk indicates driveaway price) ENGINE TYPE L, in-line; V, vee; F, flat. Number of cylinders. T, turbo; S, supercharged; D, diesel; H, hybrid; E, electric SIZE Litres or kWh POWER kW TORQUE Nm TRANSMISSIONM, manual; A, auto; D, dual-clutch; C, CVT WEIGHT Kerb, kg 0-100 km/h, acceleration in seconds (Wheels as-tested figures in italics) FUEL CONS Consumption in litres, or kWh, per 100km RON Octane of fuel required, as numbered, or D for diesel RESALE percent, 3-year resale in Glass’s ISSUE TESTED month/year DRIVE A, all-wheel; F, front; R, rear. Any figure in bold is our own estimate.…