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SUBARU BRZ 2012 – 2016

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2012 Subaru BRZ

Subaru BRZ is a small rear-drive Japanese sports coupe selling for a pretty reasonable price, particularly when compared with the cost of the typical European equivalents. The Subaru’s closest competitor is the Mazda MX-5. The BRZ is a full-on sportscar that’s simply delightful to drive, with true RWD handling, excellent throttle control and steering that talks to you. Just perfect for early morning Sunday drives on your favourite bits of road. It’s even fine as a daily commuter thanks to the precise gearshift and light clutch. The Subaru is offered… Read more

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HOLDEN BARINA 2005 – 2016

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2005 Holden Barina

Holden Barina is a small car that’s generally tough in its build and put together to a good standard. It has a good reputation for being simple to drive and park and long lasting if driven and serviced correctly. It was the smallest car sold in Australia by Holden for many years, an even smaller model, called Barina Spark and later just plain Spark was sold from 2010, but isn’t the model being surveyed here. The first Barinas were made by Japanese Suzuki and introduced here in 1989, then from… Read more

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2017 HOLDEN COLORADO 4X4 REVIEW

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The Australian love affair with dual-cab utes shows no sign of losing that fresh flush of romance with the vehicle’s ability to service both work and family commitments a major drawcard. The segment is highly competitive filled with all manner of temptations including utes that look like utes but drives like cars (well, almost), utes that have such a premium feel you couldn’t imagine getting it dusty, utes that are better off-road, those that are better on road, utes that can haul heavy trailers, others that would battle with an… Read more

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SUBARU WRX AND STI UPGRADED

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Subaru WRX STI Spec R

Subaru WRX and WRX STI have both been upgraded for the 2018 season. Most changes are visual and some additional spec has been added to the lower cost models. Biggest news is the introduction of a new range topping model – the WRX STI spec.R, featuring Recaro seats amongst other items. There have been no mechanical changes as the already full-on engines and transmissions have proven more than adequate in the opinion of many owners. However, there’s an old saying that, “you can never have too much power” so perhaps… Read more

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FIRST DRIVE: HONDA CR-V FIFTH GENERATION

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Honda was one of the earliest players in the family SUV business and has an excellent reputation amongst existing owners. Many of them have remained loyal and moved to each new generation as they’ve been launched. This is likely to be the case with the just introduced fifth generation Honda CR-V. This CR-V moves up in size and is offered here for the first time with third row seats. One interesting feature is that ground clearance has been increased to 208 millimetres from the 170 mm of the just superseded… Read more

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TVR GRIFFITH

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The TVR Griffith is, in many ways, similar to the Porsche Boxster. Whilst it was not the steel-bodied sophisticate, with monocoque body powered by a multi-valve, mid-engined marvel of German engineering this automobile from Blackpool made up in force what it lacked in technology. It had a tubular chassis with a body of plastic and many recognised that the final car was quite phenomenal. The Griffith was the first of a new generation of TVRs and the one that did more than any other to advance the image from one… Read more

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QUEENSLAND’S ELECTRIC SUPER HIGHWAY

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Australia’s electric vehicle industry has welcomed the launch of the Queensland Electric Super Highway. The State’s energy minister Mark Bailey unveiled the first of many fast-charging electric vehicle stations in Cairns. Stations will eventually be rolled out at various locations down the Queensland coast to the Gold Coast. Mr Bailey said, “This fast-charging station is the first of many proposed throughout the state which will be announced by the Palaszczuk Government in coming months, making it possible to drive an electric vehicle from the state’s southern border to the Far… Read more

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GREAT WALL STEED – A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE

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Few would deny how far utility vehicles have come in the past two decades. Any doubts can be quickly dismissed by getting behind the wheel of the latest Great Wall Motors Steed. The Dual Cab is so last century. While there are some positives about the latest version of the pickup – toughness, reliability, and most of all, price (from $24,990 driveaway) – there are question marks against the Steed’s safety. Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s what independent vehicle safety advocate, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program,… Read more

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2017 HOLDEN TAKES US TO THE FUTURE OF SUVS

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Holden Equinox has a semi-sleek visual appearance at the rear that hides what is a large cargo compartment

There’s no secret that Australians steadily lost interest in large family sedans and station wagons over the past five to ten years. To the extent that slow sales meant the closing of the Ford Australia factory and the impending shutdown of GM-Holden and Toyota factories over the next few months. Buyers deserting traditional family sixes in favour of various types of SUVs meant that Holden began to look closely at various alternatives. Everything from small front-drive tall hatches to full on 4WDs. We’ve just spent a delightful day in the… Read more

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2018 COMMODORE VXR REVEALED

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Late last year Holden released initial details of the fully-imported NG (Next Generation) Commodore ahead of its Australian launch in early 2018. In an interesting move, journalists have been provided with an extensive array of details much of them under strict embargo. It comes as no surprise that the big emphasis of the latest release is on the hot Commodore VXR flagship. It will come with a V6 engine putting out 235 kilowatts of power and 381 Newton metres of torque through a nine-speed automatic transmission to an all-wheel-drive system…. Read more