No comments

TOYOTA YARIS 2005 – 2016

  By ,
2008 Toyota Yaris hatch

Toyota Yaris is a smaller brother to the big selling Toyota Corolla but is still a reasonable size and may well be all you need if you only ever need to carry one or two people. Indeed, a Yaris can be used as a family car when the kids are small. It was introduced to Australia in November 2005 and over 200,000 have been sold to date. As are plenty on sale at any one time smart buyers can take their time and hunt down the best ones. Yaris replaced… Read more

No comments

BMW COUPE CONJURES UP COMFORT IN THE FAST LANE

  By ,

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

No comments

MAJOR CHANGES TO HOLDEN COLORADO

  By ,

Holden’s latest Colorado is a sure sign the company is moving in the right direction. Times change – and those who don’t change with them can get left badly behind. Holden stops making cars in Australia at a date yet to be announced in 2017. Simply shutting the doors in the factory and carrying on with sales of imported cars is not enough. The mindset of all in the company, as well as the Holden dealers, has to move with the times. New Colorado does just that; starting with a… Read more

No comments

ROVER 2000

  By

Besides its highly successful Land Rover, the Rover company was well known after World War II for building a range of medium-sized and larger quality cars. With the coming of the 1960s, however, Rover needed a new image if it was to maintain its position as a car manufacturer in a more competitive world. Rover’s engineers realised it was no good trying to modify the existing medium-sized cars in their range as these cars dated back to the 1940s, looked totally outdated and were above all, extremely heavy. Even the… Read more

No comments

MINI CONVERTIBLE UNCOVERS CLASSIC WORLD OF MOTORING

  By ,

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

No comments

2017 PORSCHE 911 REVIEW

  By ,

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

No comments

MAZDA2 2002 – 2016

  By ,

While Mazda3 and CX-3 have been grabbing all the headlines in the sales race, the smallest model of all, the little Mazda2 hatchback has been quietly working away in the background and keeping its end up. Mazda2 is quite spacious for a small car because its relatively tall body allows good headroom. It can work as a small family car if you are downsizing and the kids are in their preteen years, though it mostly sells to singles and couples. The great majority of Mazda2 bodies in Australia are five-door… Read more

No comments

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

  By ,

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

No comments

FORD PINTO

  By ,

In 1970 the Ford Motor Company in the US decided it was time that it produced a sub-compact car in an earnest attempt to stem the growth of Japanese imports. Choosing a wheelbase of 2.3 metres and a choice of either a 1.6-litre or 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine the Pinto looked like a winner when it was first introduced to the market. However, although it seemed like it was suited to the task, the engine and transmission of the Pinto were not a good match and the car had serious flaws…. Read more

No comments

SUBARU LIBERTY AND OUTBACK 2003 – 2016

  By ,

Subaru Liberty is a no nonsense sedan or station wagon with a reputation for toughness and reliability. The Subaru Outback, launched in 1996 is based on the Liberty wagon and has increased suspension height, meaning it sits about midway between a conventional wagon and a 4WD. Outback is one of the earliest of the so-called crossover vehicles that have been increasingly popular over the last decade. As more and more SUVs are really just 2WD vehicles with a taller body, Subaru Outback is standing out from the crowd. In its… Read more