Category: Road Test

Road Test Review

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COROLLA AT ‘CROSS’ ROADS

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With the automotive industry increasingly switching on to electric power, getting into a new Corolla was like putting on a comfy cardigan. Not that the Toyota favourite that has been around since 1966 was at all moth-eaten and had seen better days. Far from it, the latest iteration, the Corolla Cross SUV, unlike back in the day, does not run on fossil fuel (petrol) alone. With the latest Toyota hybrid system on hand, there are a few electrons whizzing down the wire here too. The ‘Cross’ is Toyota’s way of… Read more

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DEEPAL’S S07 – IS IT THE CHINESE ANSWER TO CITROEN?

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The Deepal S07 has to be one of the weirdest cars we’ve driven in years. Apart from anything else, it’s got no dashboard. That is no instrument panel to tell you what’s going on. It teleported us back to the turn of the century and the debut of the ill-fated Toyota Echo with its then unusual, centre-mounted digital speedometer. The difference being that although the Deepal EV has a large centrally-mounted, free-standing touchscreen, which swivels to welcome the driver — there’s still no instrument cluster and that means no speedometer…. Read more

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HAVAL H7 VANTA HEV

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Haval has gone for a rugged, almost retro-look with its new the mid-sized H7 Hybrid, emphasised by bolt-on mudguard flares. Well, they look like they bolt on, but despite the rugged exterior it is actually front- wheel drive and shares its underpinnings with the softer H6 plug-in hybrid that we tested recently — though you can’t plug this one in. Which is kinda funny, we had planned to grab a charge spot across the road from the Orpheum Theatre in crowded Cremorne — until we discovered it doesn’t have a… Read more

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CR-V DRIVING TO THE LETTER

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The folk at Honda, it seems, have long memories. Back in 1995 the Japanese company developed one of the first compact sports utility vehicles on the market – the Comfortable Runabout Vehicle, or CR-V, as we know it. Landing Down Under in 1997, in the 30 years since, the CR-V has sold almost a quarter of a million units here and won numerous awards, including Australian Car of the Year in 2023. Why wouldn’t anyone wish to continue to bask in the glow of such storied ancestry? Welcome to the… Read more

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MAZDA CX-60 IN MARKET FOR SUCCESS

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You have to hand it to Mazda, the Japanese automobile manufacturer never gives up in its quest to please . . . and thus, sell more product. With some early wobbles with its new-generation CX-60 family SUV, Mazda has pared back the powerplant and pricing while ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ in lifestyle stuff. With the 2.5 litre Skyactiv-G four-cylinder G25 petrol unit joining the CX-60 big boys in Pure, Evolve and Touring trim levels, the entry-level Pure price is $44,240, plus on-road costs, the Evolve and Touring (on test)… Read more

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FURTHER BONUS FOR FRESH-FACED IONIQ 5

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The Ioniq 5 burst onto the local electric vehicle scene more than three years ago like the greyhound favourite out of a trap at the Dapto Dogs. The Dapto dish-lickers have since gone to the dogs, with the track winding up, but the Hyundai-built Ioniq 5 crossover SUV has continued to live a storied life, which has included being named the 2022 World Car of the Year. Now the MY25 Ioniq 5 five-seat SUV locally has won styling updates, new features and technology, and two new battery sizes delivering up… Read more

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GWM HAVAL H6 ULTRA PHEV – THE STARS ARE STARTING TO ALIGN

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Great Wall’s Haval H6 PHEV is the third plug-in hybrid that we have driven in as many weeks. Dating back to 2011, the third generation H6 made its debut at the 2020 Chengdu Motor Show. And, all jokes aside, it’s the first Haval to sit on the ‘Lemon’ platform – we kid you not. H6 is GWM’s all-time, best-selling model, with more than 4 million sales globally. The plug-in version was added in 2021, with a new-look front and available in petrol, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid form. “Every inch of… Read more

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GEELY STARRAY EM-I INSPIRE PHEV

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The Geely Starray EM-i sounds like something out of an old sci-fi movie. But it’s not and if you think that name is quirky, what if it had been the Geely Galaxy Starship 7 as it is sold in other markets. Beam me up, Scotty. The medium-sized five-seat Starray is the plug-in, petrol-electric counterpart of the fully-electric EX5 that we tested earlier this year with which it shares a platform. In fact, it’s the first vehicle in Geely’s “Starship” series and the first to get the second generation NordThor EM-i… Read more

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IONIQ 9 CALLIGRAPHY A CRUISE-LINER ON DRY LAND

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Hyundai Heavy Industries is the largest shipbuilding company in the world, pumping out bulk carriers, street-length oil and gas tankers and Lego-like Leviathan container ships, so it’s not out of the question that its skills should translate to producing road-going vehicles of prodigious dimensions. Take, for example, the Korean company’s flagship Ioniq 9, a three-row all electric sports utility vehicle that delivers prestigious lounge-like space and comfort, plus a range of up to 600 kilometres on a single battery charge. At the pinnacle of EV technology, the Ioniq 9 is… Read more

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BYD SEALION 6 ESSENTIAL PHEV … IMPRESSIVE

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BYD’s Sealion 6 is one of the new breed of super hybrids. So called because they are plug-in hybrids with larger batteries that deliver greater electric only range. These PHEVs are starting to gain traction in the market, with a 136 per cent increase in sales in recent months. Fully charged, with a range that exceeds 100km in some cases, they can be used in electric-only mode for the weekday commute. For longer trips, their combined petrol and electric range exceeds 1000km, removing any lingering fear of being stranded with… Read more