MPV. SUV. LCV. Three acronyms. Three different styles of vehicle designed to shift large families. The Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) camp is represented by the Kia Carnival that accounts for about half of all people-mover sales in Australia. Released in 2015 in third-generation form, the Korean eight-seater has been given an update for 2018...
Medium-sized passenger cars, like many other ‘traditional’ segments, are on the nose with Aussie buyers as SUVs continue to star in the sales charts. That makes buyers of cars like the Ford Mondeo and Mazda 6 real winners, with once humdrum medium sedans pushing into near-premium territory as a play to gain buyer attention...
A mainstream mid-sized SUV versus a premium compact sports utility vehicle… Well, who said cross-shopping is always about comparing direct rivals? This comparison between the 2018 Mazda CX-5 Akera and new Volvo XC40 T5 R-Design stems from a CarAdvice reader’s request – yes, we listen to you! – and it throws up some tantalising questions we also wanted to answer...
Do you hate being stuck in traffic jams? Yeah, me too. But, if you're going to be driving a small hatchback, why suffer in an entry-level model? This is where moving up in the model range changes a traffic jam from a chore to a treat. So, if you have around $35,000 burning a hole in your pocket, which premium hatchback should you go for? We lined up the 2018 Honda Civic VTi-LX and the 2018 Mazda 3 SP25 Astina to see which one deserves your hard-earned cash...
What’s the difference between a medium and large wagon? More in size than price if you use the Mazda 6 and Holden Commodore cargo-haulers as examples. While the new, German-sourced Commodore stretches nearly 19cm beyond the Japanese 6, their respective RS and Touring variants are split by just $900...
Not everyone wants the cheapest city car they can afford. To find out which small car is worth spending (relatively) big money on, we pitch the new Volkswagen Polo 85TSI Comfortline against the flagship Mazda 2 GT. If the Volkswagen Polo hasn’t been the biggest vehicle in the city car segment, it has always been one of the most grown-up...
Compact cars – not the most exciting segment in the motoring world is it? If you agreed with that statement, you’d be overlooking the fact that there is currently more value for money than ever before in this highly competitive city car segment...
Dual-cab utes are expected to be more versatile today than ever before. Rough and tough is not enough. The flagship versions must be comfortable inside, safe, and look the part because people want show ponies as well as workhorses. Consider, for a moment, that the eight most popular dual-cab models managed 193,000 sales in Australia last year, which equals 16 per cent of the entire new vehicle market...
They’re more likely to carry dirty nappies and road bikes than a bale of hay, but all eight of the cars on our 2018 dual-cab mega test are, you know, dual-cab utes. That means they still need to be fit for hard work. Has the transition to a life of luxury undermined the inherent practicality of these one-time work vehicles? Here’s a look at how the tray on each stacks up...
In such a competitive segment, there can be a lot to take in when purchasing your next ute. As a result, Bluetooth user-friendliness and quality often gets overlooked, but generally, it is one of the most used features for drivers - especially tradies - as a lot of business calls are conducted while on the move...
Holden thinks it finally has a convincing mid-sized SUV, addressing a major gap in its range. The model is called the Equinox, and the company calls it “Australia’s most user-friendly SUV”. But if the now full-importer brand wants to make a splash in one of the market’s key segments, it’ll need to stack up against the top-seller – Mazda’s CX-5, itself relatively recently into its second generation...
