Category: Road Test

Road Test Review

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2015 RENAULT CAPTUR TCE120 REVIEW

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Renault Captur is a stylish city car that’s virtually a Renault Clio with a taller five-door hatch body. It joins a sudden rash of small crossover SUVs that are taking Australia by storm. In fact these vehicles are a hit in global markets, particularly in Europe where parking in increasingly crowded cities is a huge problem. Note the word styling in our opening to this story, because that’s the number one reason people are giving us when we talk about their buying a Renault Captur. Interestingly, favourable responses are coming… Read more

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2016 AUDI Q3 2.0 TFSI SPORT REVIEW

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When it was launched the Q3 pretty much defined the premium-level compact SUV, catching German rival Mercedes on the hop and making BMW’s initial effort with the X1 looking a bit sad. As the current model nears the end of its life, it’s got one last update to battle BMW’s now rather more sensible second-generation X1 and Mercedes’ recent arrival, the GLA. VALUE The Q3 range opens with a front wheel drive 1.4-litre petrol turbo weighing in at $42,300, topping out at $56,900 for the 2.0 TDI Sport quattro (not… Read more

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NISSAN ON RIGHT ROAD WITH NEW NAVARA

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With the new Dual Cab pick-up launched mid-year and a tranche consisting of King Cab, Single Cab and Dual Cab Chassis to hit the market by the end of November, taking total variants to 27, Nissan could well have ticked all the boxes with its NP300 Navara range. Already Nissan’s best-selling vehicle Down Under, accounting for a third of all sales, the Japanese company appears determined to give the new NP300 Navara every chance of maintaining its lead. The pick-up went through more than 40,000 tests for proven quality and… Read more

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2015 MERCEDES-BENZ CLA SHOOTING BRAKE REVIEW

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Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake is a good looking station wagon which complements the A-Class five-door hatch and four-door sedan. Interestingly, the CLA is similar in size to the recently superseded Mercedes C-Class. The all-new C-Class has increased in size leaving space for the A-Class. It may even be large enough to make space for a smaller model. Mercedes is creatively keen on providing something foe everyone in the prestige market. Our test car the past week was the $89,510 A 45 Mercedes-AMG hotshot. It has an incredible 265 kilowatts of… Read more

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CAMRY CROWNED WITH TOUCH OF AUSSIE LARRIKIN

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The Camry, its name derived from the Japanese kan-muri meaning ‘crown’, has been coming and going in Australia since 1983, sometimes attracting the not-so regal tag of the ‘white goods’ of the automobile industry. Not any more. Led by Toyota’s North American design centre Calty, Camry’s 2015 upgrade sees a bumper-to-bumper makeover and the arrival of a dynamic sports version, the Atara SX, the latter all down to a bunch of Aussies. This dynamic SX package, conceived and put together by Toyota’s Australian-based engineers, has created the most agile and… Read more

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SUZUKI CELERIO: A LOT FOR LESS

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Suzuki has been one of the kings of the small car field globally for many years and its machines just keeps on getting better. The Japanese giant does pretty well in motorbikes as well, something that can’t be said for many other car makers. Suzuki’s all-new Celerio replaced the Alto early in 2015 and has been doing pretty well for itself in the sales race. Celerio is bigger, smoother and quieter than the Alto and does an excellent job of providing transport for four adults at a most modest price,… Read more

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BIG BENZ COUPE CARVES OUT ITS OWN NICHE

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Anybody who thinks the new Mercedes-Benz GLE Coupe is a GLE just with a slicked-up body stuck on can think again. This is a different beast altogether, molding the best of two segments, coupe with a sports utility vehicle. Having driven both models within 24 hours of each other I can attest to this. Three variants have been pencilled in for Australia. They are the GLE 350d 4Matic Coupe, selling for $121,900, plus on-road costs; the GLE 450 AMG 4Matic at $141,900 and the AMG GLE 63 S 4Matic for… Read more

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2016 AUDI A1 SPORTBACK 1.4 TFSI REVIEW

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The A1 Sportback is one of those solid performers that is probably mistaken for its bigger brother, in this case the A3. With the recent of addition of the rear doors and a base model 1.0-litre, the 1.4 is now the middle child in the A1 line-up. It is, however, probably the best of the lot with its efficient turbo, Mini-baiting pricing and finely judged specs to lift it above the rest of the shopping-trolley hatchback pack. VALUE The 1.4 TFSI Sportback starts at $29,900 for the six-speed manual, with… Read more

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PEUGEOT 308 GT IS A CLASSY ALL-ROUNDER

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The Peugeot 308 is the mid-sized model in the French marque’s Australian range. The latest, all-new, model arrived in Australia in September 2014 with the semi-performance GT variant following in February 2015. Peugeot Australia is at pains to avoid tagging the 308 GT as a hot hatch, no doubt because its high-performance big brother 308 GTi is due here early next year and looks set to shirtfront the market-leading Golf GTI. Instead the 308 GT sits around the middle of the performance band, an all-rounder aimed at those looking for… Read more

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2016 MASERATI QUATTROPORTE 330BHP

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The Quattroporte four-door sedan has been the mainstay of the Maserati range for getting on two decades, underpinning the company’s success while it sorted itself out under Fiat and Ferrari ownership. The big cruiser struggles to cut through, though – the new, smaller Ghibli arrived with a splash and next year the long-awaited Levante SUV will grab headlines and likely double Maserati’s sales in Australia. Before the onslaught, the Italian company has quietly added a new petrol-powered variant to the range and tempt a few more buyers from German brands… Read more