Category: Road Test

Road Test Review

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LEXUS LETS LOOSE WITH HYBRID SUVS

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At the turn of the last century, Toyota, with the full electric auto era fast approaching, made a commitment to go with hybrid petrol/electric vehicles, rather than full electric product. The result was the Prius. The second modern hybrid vehicle to be sold in Australia, following on from the original Honda Insight released six months previously. While the Insight fell by the wayside, the ubiquitous Prius went on to conquer the world. Since then, the hybrid technology has been taken up by mainstream Toyotas such as the Camry, Corolla RAV4… Read more

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CHERY TIGGO 4 HYBRID ULTIMATE

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It’s cheap and it’s a hybrid, that’s what it is. In fact, Chery reckons the Tiggo 4 is Australia’s cheapest hybrid SUV as well as Chery’s best-selling SUV. It’s powered by a 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine together with the help of an electric motor, that combine to offer budget-friendly fuel consumption of 5.4L/100km. The Tiggo feels cheap . . . but let’s find out. STYLING Tiggo 4 Hybrid is available in two grades: Urban and top-of-the-range Ultimate. Urban is priced from $29,990 driveaway, the Ultimate from $34,990 – both prices… Read more

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HYUNDAI PALISADE CALLIGRAPHY 7-SEAT

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Released here in 2020, Palisade is the largest of Hyundai’s SUVs — not counting the electric Ioniq 9. Palisade is targeted at buyers of large SUVs who want a more car-like driving experience than that offered by traditional 4WDs. It’s available in seven and eight-seat configuration, with two standalone “captain’s chairs” occupying the second row in the seven-seat version. That leaves three people to squeeze in to the split-fold third row of seats, making it more of a six-seater but six-seaters have never done well in Australia. The Kia equivalent… Read more

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K4 HATCHES NEW LINE IN PASSENGER COMPACT

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After more than two decades and more than 200,000 sales in Australia the Cerato was fast running out of legs. The Kia self-styled much loved small passenger car could have kept up with design and technical developments in the segment but Kia had other ideas. The new K4 kicked down the door in sedan format with four trimlines – S, Sport, Sport+, GT-Line – and two petrol engines before later being joined by hatchback for MY26 models, aligning them with Kia’s global naming convention. Both sedan and hatches score an… Read more

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PRICES DOWN, POWER AND EQUIPMENT BOOST SUBARU SOLTERRA

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The Solterra is the first fully-electric vehicle from Subaru. It’s a mid-sized SUV that went on sale here in early-2024. If it looks familiar that’s because it’s a model-share arrangement with the Toyota bZ4X . It’s the second such Subaru / Toyota partnership following on from the two-door sports Subaru BRZ and Toyota GR86. We understand that more will follow with Toyota hybrid powertrains fitted to existing Subaru models. While Solterra and bZ4X share the same dedicated EV platform (e-TNGA), they are tuned and marketed independently to reflect their respective… Read more

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KIA EV4 REVIEW

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Kia continues to pick up its power game with what seems like a Keno card of EV numbers – the EV4 sedan being the latest in a line from EV3, EV4, EV5, RV6 and EV9. What does this newbie bring to the party? Well, there’s the company’s longest range electric vehicle at more than 600 kilometres for its top-specced twins. With a choice between standard and long-range electric power the EV4 sedan comes in three trim levels, Air, Earth, and GT-Line. Air is equipped with a Standard Range battery system… Read more

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TOYOTA YARIS CROSS IS CUTE, COMPACT AND CAPABLE

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As the name suggests, the Toyota Yaris Cross is a crossover version of the popular Yaris small hatchback bulked up to provide access to the booming compact SUV market segment Launched here in late-2020 Yaris Cross is available in four grades: GX, GXL, Urban and GR Sport. The first three models each come with the choice of two- or four-wheel drive. GR Sport is 2WD only. Originally available with the choice of petrol or hybrid powertrains, effective from the 2024 upgrade, all Yaris Cross variants are now exclusively hybrid. Prices… Read more

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TANK – BIG NEWS IN THE BIG SUV DEPARTMENT

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. It’s not so long ago that the first Hyundai topped the $70,000 mark. The 2015 Genesis was good, but would buyers be prepared to pay that much for a Korean car, everyone wondered? Fast forward and we now have GWM’s first vehicle to pass this milestone — its flagship Tank 500 Ultra PHEV seven-seat off-roader. And once again we find ourselves pondering whether buyers will stump up this sort of money to buy a Chinese vehicle this time. In its defence, the large SUV is a substantial offering with… Read more

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ICE BREAKER TACKLES OCEAN OF EVS

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While the EV hordes are laying siege to the fossil-fuelled SUV segment, the ‘clean machjnes’ are not having it all their own way. The ‘old soldiers’ are fighting a rearguard action. With service stations for refuelling the internal combustion engine (ICE) on almost every street corner, compared with shortcomings in the supply of infrastructure for public fast charging of EVs, especially out of town, range anxiety abounds. Far from throwing in the towel, the Mitsubishi Outlander, released in Australia in 2021 and the country’s fifth best-selling model last year, recently… Read more

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OMODA 9 – IT’S A LOT OF CAR FOR THE MONEY.

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  Another week, another Super Hybrid to drive — this time the Omoda 9 plug-in hybrid. Omoda, which is now a separate brand, is part of the Chinese Chery group which includes Jaecoo. In fact, Omoda and Jaecoo share the same dealerships. Some dealers also offer Chery-branded vehicles. The Omoda name represents sporty crossovers while Jaecoo is associated with more rugged SUVs. The Omoda 9 is also sold as the Exeed Yaoguang (or RX for export markets). It’s all a bit confusing. STYLING The five-seat SUV is offered in one… Read more