Ford Australia has had a hole in its product line-up since October 2016. A 4.89-metre hole to be exact, and it went by the name of Territory. There’s been the Everest, of course, but ute-based SUVs still don’t drive like a car-based SUV, and the Ranger-derived Everest is notably more expensive than the Territory was...
The notion of comparing the oddly matched couple of new Lotus Evora GT410 Sport with the latest Porsche 911 GT3 Touring might seem preposterous enough that I’d be lucky to even capture just one person’s interest. But one person’s curiosity counts, right? Even if that person is yours truly? The impetus for this match-up is the Evora in newly arrived GT410 Sport form...
Going off-road is great fun. Something off-road capable can open up a lot of doors to places you were otherwise unable to visit. It changes a vehicle from being a conduit between A and B, into a ticket to adventure. But, having a proper 4WD does come with compromises. Take it from me: while great off-road, my own 4WD is abhorrent to park, loud and noisy, and is eons away from being a capable commuter...
While we’ve said goodbye to the Commodore and Falcon, the muscle car war hasn’t died off completely. For the first time, it’s the traditional US rivals that square off Down Under, with the 2018 Chevrolet Camaro 2SS now on sale (albeit in limited numbers) alongside the 2018 Ford Mustang GT...
The fact that Mercedes-Benz has taken the time and effort to join the ever-growing fray of 4WD utes available in Australia tells you how important and potentially lucrative this competitive segment is. It’s a landscape that is changing at breakneck speed, and moving away from those humble working origins into something more of a segment defined by lifestyle, prestige and an outdoorsy intent...
The Kia Cerato small hatchback and sedan family has been the driving force behind the company’s charge up the sales charts over the past few years – a time frame that has seen it overtake the likes of Nissan, Volkswagen and Honda. Much of the appeal has been an unbeatable value-for-money equation, led by a base model retailing for less than $20,000 drive-away, and backed by an unbeatable seven-year warranty and capped-price servicing...
Believe it or not, I’m pretty excited at the prospect of this 2019 Toyota Corolla range review. Not so long ago, you’d have thought I was mad for making that statement, but stay with me for a minute… The Corolla looks better than it has for a long time, it’s more accomplished than it’s ever been in an engineering sense, and there is more than one engine variant worth considering – one an excellent hybrid drive system...
Renault and Volkswagen engineers had the great minds to think alike in 1976. Each group took their respective manufacturer’s humble three-door hatchback and beefed up it with go-faster components – creating a whole new breed of affordable performance car for enthusiasts...
People-movers are pretty passé, which explains the continual success of seven-seat crossover SUVs like the group tested here. We’ve assembled what we consider to be six of the best, with the added bonus that all are either new models or at least recently upgraded...
I like the idea of new things, new technologies, and new possibilities. But when reality sinks in, I still tend to prefer the experience of old things. That’s not always true, of course. I’m much happier spreading store-bought butter on pre-baked bread than I am churning my own milk and kneading the dough myself. I have to draw the line somewhere...
It’s a great Did You Know factoid that AMG wasn’t involved in the first express-spec E-Class. When Mercedes decided five years was long enough for the original (1985) M5 to have had its own way in the mid-range sports sedan arena – longer if you count the M535i – the Stuttgart brand sought the help of close-neighbour Porsche to create a muscled-up, V8-powered version of the W124 sedan...
Is there a more vibrant and diverse segment on the market right now than that labelled 'hot hatch'? In fact, is it technically a segment at all, but rather a broad net cast wide enough to include a $25K compact-sized Suzuki Swift Sport at one extreme and larger, circa-$80K Audi RS3s and Merc-AMG A45s at the other? And that’s just hatchbacks...
You don't need to spend a ton of cash to have fun on four wheels, nor do you need maximum power. Sometimes cars with lower performance ceilings, driven near their ragged edge, are the most fun of all. Cases in point, the two you see here. The just-launched Suzuki Swift Sport from Japan and the just-updated Renault Clio RS200 Cup from France, both pocket rockets par excellence...
If you've got $60,000 to spend on a hot hatch, you really need to have these two at the very top of your list. They are the 2018 BMW M140i and the 2018 Volkswagen Golf R. BMW recently dropped the price of the M140i to $59,990 (plus on-road costs), meaning that it's now within earshot of the kitted-out Golf R, which is priced from $53,490 (plus on-road costs)...
Front-wheel drive has been part of the classic hot-hatch formula since the genre was ignited in the 1970s. The layout would dominate any all-time-greats list for the category, featuring the likes of the Peugeot 205 GTI, Renault Megane RS, and of course Volkswagen Golf GTI (Marks III and IV excepted!). Yet, there have long been exceptions, of course...
The 4 Series Gran Coupe and S5 Sportback both offer a four-door look blending coupe styling with sporty, six-cylinder performance, but which is the better mid-sized German gran turismo? You either blame or thank Mercedes-Benz, depending on your perspective, for cars like the Audi S5 Sportback and BMW 440i Gran Coupe...
SUVs are such a widely accepted part of the automotive landscape these days that few batted an eyelid when Jaguar, after 80-odd years of racing cars, and manufacturing sporty coupes and sports sedans, released the F-Pace soft-roader in 2016. (And this, after years of denying it would tread on sister company Land Rover’s toes, of course...
Despite making a fashionably late arrival to the small crossover market, the 2018 Hyundai Kona has certainly made a grand entrance on appearances alone. Funky? You bet. Even against the hot sellers and mover’n’shakers – CX-3, ASX, XV, HR-V – largely responsible for skyrocketing the popularity of form and fashion over pure family-friendly functionality, the Kona appears, literally, to lob into trendy leading edge of style...
