Category: Road Test

Road Test Review

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‘HOBBY HORSE’ POWERS INTO LEXUS LEXICON

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The birth of the Lexus GS F was something of a cloak-and-dagger affair with team leader, engineering boss Yukihiko Yaguchi, bypassing official channels to begin work on what was to become the Lexus IS F V8 sedan. Those after-hours sessions led to Yaguchi-san being involved in the RC F coupe and LFA supercar. Now comes the GS F four-door sedan. Yaguchi is still there, this time as emeritus chief engineer on the project. Heart of the GS F is a 351 kW 5.0-litre V8 mated with an eight-speed transmission driving… Read more

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2016 MERCEDES-BENZ C 200 COUPE REVIEW

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Yet another model has been added to the huge Mercedes-Benz range, this time a coupe version of the latest C-Class. It joins the existing four-door sedan, the vehicle that took out the award for World Car of the Year in 2015. Crammed full of safety and infotainment technology the new C-Class coupe is larger yet lighter, stronger and quieter than the model it replaces. Advanced lightweight construction with a higher proportion of aluminium is the secret. Light-alloy components include the front guards, bonnet and bootlid. The stiffer body not only… Read more

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MAZDA BT-50: LATE SCRATCHING AN UNAVOIDABLE HANDICAP

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A day at the races – Melbourne Cup, Magic Millions or Cox Plate – usually involves putting on appropriate clobber and catching a short ride, probably in a limo, to the track. That is unless it’s the Birdsville Races. The idea was to pick up Mazda BT-50 utilities at Leigh Creek and drive them ??? kilometres up the Birdsville Track to the famous races recently. However, Mother Nature intervened by dumping an ocean of rain in the area, leaving the south-west Queensland town an island of disappointment to members of… Read more

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2016 BMW M3 COMPETITION REVIEW

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For those drivers who feel that lots of performance isn’t quite enough BMW Australia is now importing the BMW M3 Competition sedan, and M4 Competition coupe and convertible. Our test week in the hottest BMW M3 sedan was an extremely enjoyable one. M3 Competition has even stronger engine performance, recalibrated steering, suspension and stability settings than the standard M3. Its springs are 15 per cent stiffer and the Adaptive M suspension has firmer damper settings across Comfort, Sport and Sport+ modes. Anti-roll bars and bushings are also changed to suit…. Read more

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BIG BMW X5; CLEAN – AND QUICK

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BMW already has the cleanest range of cars in Australia when measured on grams of CO2 produced per kilometre travelled. Far from being content with this, the German marque has just introduced a petrol-electric, plug-in hybrid model to the X5 range. BMW X5 xDrive40e; the ‘e’ obviously indicates ‘electric’; the important part of the name, though, is the ’40’. Because the eDrive has similar performance to the ’40’ performance models in the BMW range; that is those with mid-sized V8 engines or turbocharged sixes. STYLING The BMW X5 has a… Read more

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COROLLA TURNS ON HYBRID EFFICIENCY

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While other automobile manufacturers take varying roads to low emissions, Toyota is steadfastly sticking to the petrol / electric hybrid route with its new addition to the genre, the Corolla Hybrid. With official fuel consumption put at 4.1 litres per 100 kilometres on the combined urban / highway cycle, this is good enough to give the vehicle a range of almost 1100 km depending on driving style. The fifth hybrid in Toyota’s Australian line-up, joining Camry, Prius, Prius c and Prius v, the hybrid version of the popular Corolla arrives… Read more

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CITROEN C4 CACTUS – VIVE LE DIFFERENCE

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During our regular testing of new cars it’s surprisingly rare for a car to attract more than passing attention from the general public. Outside of supercars such as Ferrari and the like it generally only happens when so-called ‘retro’ cars emerge such as the New Beetle, Nuova Fiat 500 and Chrysler PT Cruiser. We’ve just spent a couple of weeks travelling around in the newly-released Citroen C4 Cactus and it has certainly turned plenty of heads. Aside from the predictable chuckle about the car’s name the biggest attraction were the… Read more

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2016 MERCEDES-AMG C 63 S SEDAN REVIEW

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Australians make no bones about the fact that they love to drive, and if their budgets are up to it many will go for the high-performance models in any range. We are the biggest buyers of Mercedes-AMG models in the world when taken as a percentage of all Mercedes-Benz sales. We have just spent a very enjoyable week in a Mercedes-AMG C 63 S sedan, just the thing for a family man or woman in a hurry. That’s as a follow-up to our track day testing of the coupe version… Read more

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BMW COUPE CONJURES UP COMFORT IN THE FAST LANE

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Sports cars generally fall into two camps. On the one hand, performance edge can be dulled by the desire for comfort; on the other, comfort may be sacrificed at the altar of pure power. There is, however, the odd exception to this rule: the BMW M2. Building on the success of the limited edition BMW 1 Series M coupe brought Down Under in 2011, the new BMW M2 coupe is available in two variants – M2 Pure ($89,900) and M2 ($98,900) – both featuring a 272 kW / 465 Nm… Read more

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MINI CONVERTIBLE UNCOVERS CLASSIC WORLD OF MOTORING

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Like a family of overachievers, the Mini continues to throw pups of outstanding pedigree. The latest offspring to plough a precocious furrow through the automotive paddock is the convertible. The third generation Mini convertible takes the place of the cabriolet and comes in Cooper and Cooper S specification, priced from $37,900 and $45,400, plus on-road costs, respectively. That’s $4800 less for Cooper and $5750 for Cooper S compared with the superseded cabrio. Our test vehicle came with Convenience and Multimedia Pro packages, hoicking the price to $56,030, plus on-roads. STYLING… Read more