Category: Road Test

Road Test Review

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HYUNDAI SANTA FE XRT HYBRID

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I still remember the launch of the first Hyundai Santa Fe back in the year 2000, the year that was going to change everything. Twenty-five years later and now in its fifth generation, the latest version of the family-sized SUV has come a long way since those early days. The first version was okay, the fourth was pretty damn good and this one is something special, the winner of numerous awards and a wagon that boxes way above its weight. Hyundai describes the boxy newcomer as “open for more”, a… Read more

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AUDI SQ7 SWIFT RECALL OF UNFORGETTABLE CROSSING

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Ah! That takes me back. Almost two decades ago I was a member of the media that helped launch the new Audi Q7 in Australia in a transcontinental relay from east to west. My section of the trek began in Birdsville and ended up at Uluru. An assortment of ‘scribblers’, me included, had scaled Big Red, the iconic Simpson Desert sand dune west of Birdsville (because we could), in a string of Q7s, the premium seven-seater which went on to become the mainstay of the brand’s SUV lineup, before setting… Read more

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MAZDA NUMBERS GAME IN PLAY FOR SUV BUYERS

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Mazda’s march upmarket with its reworked range of CX large sports utility vehicles, the new CX-80 only leads to a plethora of choices for potential buyers. But does it all add up? Mathematically, maybe but matching models with nomenclature could lead to confusion. In fact, Mazda admits there will be some subtle ‘nudging’ between the CX-60, CX-70, CX-90 and now by the CX-80 but is confident customers will have the nous to deal with the situation. Aping the three powertrains offered by its smaller CX-60 twin – an inline-six petrol,… Read more

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MG4 64 ESSENCE TICKS ALL THE BOXES

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MG has come a long way since its early, cheap and cheerful days. Well, more cheap than cheerful and we are not talking about the lamented British sports car. Rather we’re referring to the now Chinese-owned make of the same name which has begun pumping out EVs and hybrids. MG sold more than 50,000 vehicles in Australia last year, with the small MG3 its biggest-selling model. Released in 2022, its first EV, the fully-electric MG4, has become its second most successful model, with almost 7000 sales. The wedge-shaped five-door hatch… Read more

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PATHFINDER HEADS OFF TRUMP TROUBLE

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There I was doing a stint of push-mower Pilates (grass cutting) in the back yard when it struck me how clever the people at Nissan had been coming up with a cut-price large wagon at this time. With large SUV prices pushing through six figures the new ST-L Pathfinder has lopped more than $12,000 off the previous entry-level model – this trip down the road less travelled all the more prescient at a time when tariff tyrant Donald Trump is upping the ante on the cost of motoring around the… Read more

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MG3 HYBRID+ ESSENCE

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It was just six months ago that we tested the “new” MG3 hatch. It was yellow of course. For a while there, they all seemed to be finished in yellow which it turns out comes at no extra cost. That was the petrol model, but we looked forward to driving the hybrid version with its promise of more power and better fuel economy. Here it is and it’s blue not yellow, but it was certainly worth the wait — whether the extra $4000 they’re asking for the hybrid is worth… Read more

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‘UNWORLDLY’ DEBUT FOR JAECOO SUPER HYBRID

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By Jupiter, that was good! Cruising the open road (motorway) in the newly-minted Jaecoo J7 SHS plug-in hybrid I had just enjoyed the Planets’ Suite, by Gustav Holst, on the car radio. On sale in Australia from this week <subs: May 1>, the question is, does the rest of this Chinese plug-in hybrid – the SHS (for Super Hybrid System) – stack up against Holst’s classical Phil Spector-like ‘wall of sound’? With an appealing price point, striking looks, upper-end EV and combined driving range there’s plenty to like about this… Read more

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KIA SORENTO PHEV GT-LINE

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It’s becoming harder to tell internal combustion from electric vehicles, and even more difficult to identify the in-betweeners — the hybrids and plug-in hybrids that combine technologies. The new Product Enhanced Sorento takes its styling cues from the fully-electric EV9 and sees changes to the exterior and interior design, comfort and convenience technology, with additional safety features thrown in. New Sorento offers a range of drivetrains including hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants, both of which arrive in top-spec GT-Line guise only, adding to the price of the technology — or… Read more

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CHERY TIGGO 7 PRO SE+

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We’re all familiar with the old adage that “if something seems too good to be true then it probably is”. Well, that’s not the case with the Chery Tiggo 7 Pro SUV that we’ve just tested where its price has dropped by $10,000 with only a minimal reduction in equipment levels. Just over a year ago we reviewed the original Tiggo 7 Pro. Three variants were offered, Urban, Elite and Ultimate priced from $39,990 to $45,990 driveaway respectively. The first two were two-wheel drive and the third all-wheel drive These… Read more

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KIA K4 SPORT+ SEDAN

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The futuristic-looking K4 is a replacement for the Kia Cerato. But, for the time being at least, both are offered for sale by the South Korean car manufacturer. At this stage we get the sedan but not the hatch which will probably turn up later in the year. Kia says the change of name brings the K4 into line with the rest of the world, where it has already adopted the same naming strategy: K3 (Kia Rio), K5 (Optima) and K8 (Cadenza) and K9 (K900). Only the tiny Picanto remains…. Read more