NEW HOLDEN ASTRAS ON THEIR WAY

Factory workers in Poland proudly show off the first new Astra that’s coming to Australia

Keen to show that shutting down the Holden factories in Australia doesn’t mean the company is leaving the country, GM-Holden is keeping us in touch with progress on European imports. Pictures of the factory workers in Gliwice, Poland proudly showing off the first Australian Astra have been released to the media. There are also details of the car and its pricing, which starts as $21,990. Deliveries will start in a date in December 2016 that’s yet to be finalised. Holden’s director of vehicle performance, Ian Butler, said Holden and Opel… Read more

INFINITI QX30 – NEW UPMARKET CROSSOVER

Upmarket Japanese car maker Infiniti has joined one the most heavily populated areas of the car market, that of the small medium crossover. A vehicle that’s part five-door hatchback, part SUV, maybe even with a touch of coupe in its shape. The new Infiniti QX30 being reviewed here is based on the recently introduced Q30 but sits 35 mm higher and has a more aggressive appearance. Jean-Philippe Roux, the managing director of Infiniti Cars Australia spoke to us at the QX30‘s media launch, saying, “The QX30 mixes standout styling, agile… Read more

ABARTH 124 SPIDER IS ONE ITS WAY.

Abarth is to Fiat what HSV is to Holden and AMG to Mercedes; an organisation that takes standard cars and turns them into hot sports and/or racing machines. The latest one to come to Australia, the Abarth 124 Spider, is now on a ship downunder and goes on sale on Friday, October 7th. Carlo Abarth already had a strong background of building racing cars before he set up is own company in Bologna, Italy in 1949. His star sign was Scorpio and he chose a scorpion based badge for his… Read more

INFINITI Q50 RANGE EXPANDED

The Infiniti Q50 sports sedan for the 2016 season comes with two new turbo-petrol engines that are supported by a range of new chassis technologies. The 3.7-litre naturally aspirated V6 engine has been replaced by a new 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine that’s offered in two stages of tune. In the Q50 3.0tt Sport Premium it delivers 224 kW at 6400 rpm and 400 Nm of torque between 1600 and 5200 revs. In the range-topping Infiniti Q50 3.0tt Red Sport it produces 298 kW at 6400 rpm. Torque is rated… Read more

AUDI PREVIEWS ITS ALL-NEW Q2 COMPACT SUV

A couple of months ago we were able to attend the global launch of Audi’s all-new Q2 compact SUV in Switzerland. Although its Australian release is still around five months away Audi has brought out a display model. We in the local motoring media have just viewed it and members of the eastern states public will be able to see Q2 at a travelling Pop-Up Roadshow over the next month. Audi is keen to attract younger buyers to its brand and the booming compact SUV segment is a logical target… Read more

FAVOURITES FEATURE IN LEVORG BLOODLINE

The Subaru Levorg is a hybrid of sorts; not in petrol-electric power terms but in character. Its part sports machine, part sensible family station wagon. A combination that’s likely to appeal to many who enjoy their driving. Levorg is powered by the 197 kW four-cylinder turbocharged engine found in the sporty WRX and in practicality and size is a descendent of the Liberty GT wagon. Available exclusively with Subaru’s Lineartronic continuously variable transmission, it comes basically in two variants – 2.0GT and 2.0GT-S. In Australia, however, a third version –… Read more

TALENTED MAZDA6 IN SOFT-SHOE SHUFFLE ONTO MARKET

The Mazda6 origins go back almost 30 years to the Mazda 626 medium-size sedan. A nomenclature change to its present form accompanied its repositioning as the company’s flagship in 2002. Lately midsize SUVs have been assailing the sales charts like mountain goats at the expense of conventional sedans and wagons. The exception is the Mazda6, which has maintained a firm foothold in the market, making it the most popular midsize car import under $60,000. With the latest update, Mazda expects to sell 380 units a month through continued evolution of… Read more

2017 SUBARU IMPREZA PREVIEW

By EWAN KENNEDY in Tokyo Subaru flew selected Australian motoring journalists to Japan for an advanced look at the all-new fifth generation Impreza; due in Australia in December. Subaru Australia’s chief, Nick Senior Senior says he is proud of the fact that Impreza is about 95 per cent new. Shaking his head and saying the words ‘all-new’ tend to be seriously misused in car marketing, often relating to cars that contain less than 50 per cent new parts. New Impreza is built on an all-new modular platform that Subaru will… Read more

HOLDEN’S BIGGEST SUV GETS AN UPGRADE AND A NEW NAME

Holden has given its largest SUV an upgrade and changed its name from Colorado 7 to Trailblazer. We never quite understood Holden’s logic when it launched the big SUV in 2013 with the same name as its Colorado utility, albeit it with a ‘7’ on the end to indicate its seating capacity, especially when the Trailblazer name was being used in other markets, including the United States. Sales of the Colorado 7 have been poor and it sits in the bottom third of the Large SUV market segment, well behind… Read more

PORSCHE MACAN PERFORMANCE PACKAGE

Porsche has introduced a Performance Package to its compact SUV, the stylish Macan Turbo. It has a newly developed brake system, lowered body, controlled sports chassis, Sport Chrono Package and sports exhaust system. The Package includes 21-inch wheels in the 911 Turbo design with lateral spokes painted in high-gloss black, LED headlights with PDLS Plus and stealth black elements. Black continues into the leather interior with Alcantara elements. Porsche’s twin-turbo 3.6-litre V6 engine has been upgraded to deliver 440 hp (324 kW) of power, a handy 10 per cent up… Read more