Category: Road Test

Road Test Review

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CITROEN C4 CACTUS – VIVE LE DIFFERENCE

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During our regular testing of new cars it’s surprisingly rare for a car to attract more than passing attention from the general public. Outside of supercars such as Ferrari and the like it generally only happens when so-called ‘retro’ cars emerge such as the New Beetle, Nuova Fiat 500 and Chrysler PT Cruiser. We’ve just spent a couple of weeks travelling around in the newly-released Citroen C4 Cactus and it has certainly turned plenty of heads. Aside from the predictable chuckle about the car’s name the biggest attraction were the… Read more

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2016 MERCEDES-AMG C 63 S SEDAN REVIEW

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Australians make no bones about the fact that they love to drive, and if their budgets are up to it many will go for the high-performance models in any range. We are the biggest buyers of Mercedes-AMG models in the world when taken as a percentage of all Mercedes-Benz sales. We have just spent a very enjoyable week in a Mercedes-AMG C 63 S sedan, just the thing for a family man or woman in a hurry. That’s as a follow-up to our track day testing of the coupe version… Read more

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BMW COUPE CONJURES UP COMFORT IN THE FAST LANE

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Sports cars generally fall into two camps. On the one hand, performance edge can be dulled by the desire for comfort; on the other, comfort may be sacrificed at the altar of pure power. There is, however, the odd exception to this rule: the BMW M2. Building on the success of the limited edition BMW 1 Series M coupe brought Down Under in 2011, the new BMW M2 coupe is available in two variants – M2 Pure ($89,900) and M2 ($98,900) – both featuring a 272 kW / 465 Nm… Read more

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MINI CONVERTIBLE UNCOVERS CLASSIC WORLD OF MOTORING

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Like a family of overachievers, the Mini continues to throw pups of outstanding pedigree. The latest offspring to plough a precocious furrow through the automotive paddock is the convertible. The third generation Mini convertible takes the place of the cabriolet and comes in Cooper and Cooper S specification, priced from $37,900 and $45,400, plus on-road costs, respectively. That’s $4800 less for Cooper and $5750 for Cooper S compared with the superseded cabrio. Our test vehicle came with Convenience and Multimedia Pro packages, hoicking the price to $56,030, plus on-roads. STYLING… Read more

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2017 PORSCHE 911 REVIEW

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As with all the other major European marques, Porsche has been forced into the realisation that smaller capacity engines with turbochargers are the only way to keep engines clean and legal. So the iconic German sportscar company has designed a virtually all-new 3.0-litre flat-six with twin turbochargers. Downsizing the powerplant from 3.8 to 3.0 litres hasn’t been as extreme a loss in capacity as with other German makers’ engines. Our road test Porsche 911 was the Carrera S, the more powerful of the revised models. With a recommended retail price… Read more

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CITROEN’S PRICKLY PAIR DESIGNED TO GROW ON POINT OF DIFFERENCE

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It’s hard to take seriously a car that’s named after a spiky plant that lives in desolate sun-scorched, rock-strewn deserts. There again, to exist in such a harsh and lifeless environment shows a degree of strength and the ability to adapt. Maybe this is what Citroen had in mind when it thought up the moniker ‘Cactus’ for its compact hatchback. The Citroen C4 Cactus comes in two Exclusive versions featuring extensive standard equipment and reasonable pricing – $26,990 for a turbocharged PureTech petrol manual and $29,990 for a semi-automatic diesel… Read more

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2016 AUDI A4 AVANT WAGON REVIEW

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Audi station wagons – which they call Avants – are huge in Europe and particularly in their home market of Germany. Avants are easy to spot, just drive on an autobahn at high speed, but keep out of the fast lane, pretty soon one will pass you at 200+ kmh. It will probably be black and a sales rep of some sort will be at the steering wheel in a hurry to their next appointment. Sounds like heaven? It is, but sadly not in Australia. The driving, that is. The… Read more

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PEUGEOT HOT HATCH IS OUT OF AN ICONIC SLIPSTREAM

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The iconic Peugeot 205 GTI holds a stunning place in the automotive lexicon. After a decade of stellar performance, the little French machine called the ‘best hot hatchback of all time’ ended its production run in February 1994. The French automobile maker thought it time to revisit those halcyon days and has come up with the 308 1.6THP GTi. The car is available in two specifications with two levels of tuning – the 184kW 308 GTi 250 carries a recommended retail price of $44,990, while the 200kW 308 GTi 270… Read more

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KIA PICANTO IS CUTE AS A BUTTON

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Kia Picanto is a small city car that’s loaded with standard equipment and comes in at a very attractive price of just $14,990. That’s for a five-door car with automatic transmission and is driveaway. This market segment isn’t strong in Australia at present, which is a shame as these small economy cars are really all that many people need. It’s early days yet – the little Kia Picanto has only been on sale here since April – and is now neck and neck with the previously all-conquering Mitsubishi Mirage in… Read more

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2016 KIA SPORTAGE REVIEW

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An all-new Kia Sportage arrived in Australia at the start of 2016. More stylish than previous Sportages, that tended to lean in the direction of SUV rather than trendy wagon, it’s already selling well. And sales are likely to leap now that Kia has secured number one spot in the JD Power Initial Quality Study in the USA. Sportage was ranked top vehicle in the small SUV segment. New Sportage has a longer wheelbase than the outgoing model and is 40 mm longer overall (at 4480 mm), both changes are… Read more