Category: Road Test

Road Test Review

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KIA EV9 GT-LINE AWD

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Sounds too good to be true, but it is. EV9 is Kia’s latest and greatest wunderkind, an EV that seats seven and can travel more than 500km on a single charge. In the early days of the modern electric era, it was suggested that families would have two cars: a compact battery-electric vehicle for city use and larger, hybrid SUV for inter-urban travel. A decade later they’ve had a rethink and EVs of different shapes and sizes are becoming an increasingly common sight on our motorways, but we’ve still got… Read more

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HONDA SNEAKS IN HYBRID SUV

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Honda has electrified its most popular vehicle. And who would know? One of the world’s biggest makers of internal combustion engines has been very quiet about the coming of the CR-V e:HEV RS. The Honda CR-V has long been an SUV staple for families around the world. Some 13.5 million units have been sold globally since the nameplate launched back in 1997. Two decades on, in its sixth generation, it is still the brand’s top-selling model in Australia. A late-comer to the petrol/electric generation in Australia, the five-seater e:HEV RS… Read more

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MAZDA CX-90 G50E M HYBRID AWD AZAMI ROAD TEST

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I must be seeing double. Apart from the difference in size, the Mazda CX-60 and CX-90 could be twins. They look the same. They share the same chassis, the same engines and transmissions and their performance is very much the same. Everything is the same, same, same – or is it? STYLING At 5120mm and 2220kg CX-90 is the largest Mazda to date and is available in six- and seven-seat configuration, with a choice of petrol or diesel engines – both of them hybrids. That’s 38mm longer than the CX-60… Read more

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KONA N REFLECTS THE HYUNDAI FUTURE

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There’s nothing new about ‘influencers’, that cohort of ‘pretty’ girls and boys who lead youngsters by their credit cards to so-called desirable dressing. For years automobile manufacturers have used ‘futurists’ to try to predict what the car buyer will want in four years’ time – the average development period for a new vehicle. With EVs and hybrids rapidly accelerating up the sales charts the new Hyundai Kona, including petrol powered-only models, has been designed to look like an electric vehicle – no radiator grille – the maker claiming this is… Read more

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PEUGEOT e-2008 REVIEW

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Launched here in September 2023, the e-2008 is Peugeot’s first fully electric passenger. A compact SUV, it joins the e-Partner compact electric van as well as the Plug-In Hybrid (PHEV) versions of the 3008 SUV and 508 sedan. Future electrified models will follow in 2024 with the launch of E-208 hatchback, E-3008 mid-sized SUV, e-Expert medium van and 408 PHEV. The petrol-powered Peugeot 2008 has been on sale here since 2020. It comes in two variants, Allure and GT each with a PureTech 130 engine that generates 96 kilowatts of… Read more

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LEXUS LX600 ULTRA LUXURY LIVES UP TO ITS NAME

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Effectively an upmarket version of the Toyota LandCruiser, the Lexus LX large premium SUV has been around since the mid-1990s. The latest (fourth generation) LX arrived here at the end of 2021 shortly after the new LC300. It comes with petrol or diesel power, four equipment variants, three seating options and a host of new safety and tech features. The four variants are base LX, Sports Luxury, F Sport, and Ultra Luxury. The first three are available with either petrol or diesel engines, the Ultra Luxury is petrol only. Prices… Read more

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TOYOTA COROLLA 1.8 ZR HYBRID HATCH

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Finished in black over silver, Toyota’s ZR Corolla looks more eye-catching than ever. In the past few years the company has been able to transform the image of the car from staid and conservative into something much more sporty that has younger buyer appeal — at least that’s the plan. Flanking the hatch is the more traditional sedan for mums and dads and rally bred, three- door, all-wheel drive GR hot hatch at the other end of the scale for the boy racers (and boy racers at heart). Each grade… Read more

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MAZDA3 SEDAN

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Mazda3 has been on sale here for almost 20 years on the Australian market. Indeed, you can make that 45 years if you include the 323 that preceded. The ‘3’ has been a consistently high seller for most of its life often contesting the top spots in both its small-medium segment as well as overall sales against perennial rivals like Toyota Corolla, Kia Cerato, Nissan Pulsar and Hyundai i30. The latest, fourth generation, Mazda3 arrived here in February 2019 year in five-door hatchback form with the four-door sedan joining it… Read more

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HONDA CR-V VTi LX AWD

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It’s been a little over 12 months since we drove the previous Honda CR-V. Introduced to Australia in 1997, CR-V has grown to become Honda’s most successful model globally. Released in July last year the sixth-generation of the five- and seven-seat SUV, like its predecessors, is targeted at families. This time around the styling is more sophisticated and some might say sporty, with particular attention to the interior. As Japanese car makers fight to stave off the onslaught of increasingly better Chinese competitors, Honda was one of the first companies… Read more

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TOYOTA ADDS PERFORMANCE ENHANCEMENTS TO ITS MARKET-LEADING HILUX

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Toyota scoured the globe to find something extra for its best-selling HiLux pick-up range. With inspiration coming from the Dakar, one of the toughest off-road endurance events in the world, plus input from the company’s Australian design team in Melbourne and extensive testing here, the result is the all-terrain performance GR Sport dual cab. Seen as a replacement for the range-topping Rugged X, Toyota landed on the GR HiLux racecar that was making its presence felt in one of the world’s toughest off-road endurance events, the Dakar Rally, for inspiration,… Read more