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BMW 5 SERIES 2000 – 2016

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2011 BMW 5 Series Touring

BMW 5 Series is a quality midsize sedan or wagon that leans in the sporting direction in the endless compromise between sports and luxury. Handling is brilliant due to the near-perfect weight distribution that’s the result of rear-wheel drive and the positioning of the engine well back under the bonnet. Yet this handling is achieved without upsetting comfort to any extent. Some bad roads may sometimes catch it out, but it generally makes light work of rough surfaces. This makes it a quality grand tourer in the true sense of… Read more

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DAIHATSU SIRION 1998 – 2005

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2004 Daihatsu Sirion Sports

Daihatsu Sirion is a stylish well-built Japanese hatchback with an excellent reputation for reliability and low running costs. It wasn’t as successful as big brother Daihatsu Charade on the new-car market, but it’s a tough little critter and there are still plenty on the roads today. They can be kept on the road with a minimum of expense if you choose a good one, drive it properly and keep the maintenance schedule up to date. The new Daihatsu Sirion, released here in April 2002, was substantially bigger than the first-generation… Read more

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2016 MAZDA CX-3 MAXX REVIEW

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Small SUVs are all the rage at present and Mazda’s stylish new CX-3 is sitting high on the popularity list. Interestingly, both 2WD (front drive) and 4WD CX-3s are coming to us downunder. Mazda Australia feels some owners will want the added traction of all-wheel-drive for use in slippery conditions, such as in snowfields. Perhaps even in gentle off-road running when exploring forestry trails and the like. Two familiar Mazda model names, Neo and Maxx, are used for the CX-3, but are joined by two new ones; the upper-middle CX-3… Read more

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NEW SUBARU LEVORG IS A SPORTY GRAND TOURER

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Subaru Levorg is a sports wagon that’s has been on sale in Japan since June 2014. It was originally intended as a Japanese only speciality model but received such glowing reports by Subaru enthusiast who visited Japan and published information online that the decision was made for Levorg to go global. Late last year we travelled to Japan as guests of Subaru Australia to attend technical presentations and test drives on a closed road course of the Levorg in the mountains around Isu City. Now the Levorg is finally in… Read more

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VOLVO P1800

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1964 Volvo P1800

The Volvo P1800 was shown publicly for the first time at the Brussels Salon in January 1960. Although nobody was surprised that Volvo had once more decided to produce a sports car, the `un-Swedish’ lines were something of a surprise. One of the most popular accessories were the spoked wheels which were fitted using the ordinary wheel nuts and looked the real thing. A new 75 kW B18B engine gave the car excellent performance and proved to be an extremely hard wearing sports car engine. Volvo was careful to point… Read more

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JEEP GRAND CHEROKEE IS A VERSATILE LARGE SUV

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The Grand Cherokee is the biggest and best-selling vehicle in the Jeep range, accounting for around half of total sales since the release of the current model back in 2013. Grand Cherokee now comes, for the first time, with a two-wheel drive (2WD) option. It’s only available in a single variant – the entry-level petrol Laredo. The latter also comes with 4WD as do all of the higher-specced variants – Limited, Overland, Summit and SRT8. Styling is less angular than other Jeeps and the big SUV has a neat and… Read more

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2016 BMW 330e HYBRID REVIEW

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BMW 330e is a petrol-electric hybrid that leans more in the direction of performance than economy. Which comes as no surprise given that the sporting German marque has long pushed its designs in the direction of handling and powertrain dynamics. To emphasise the point, this 3 Series hybrid has been introduced as the latest member of the BMW iPerformance range. Note that the BMW X5 xDrive 40e petrol-electric, which arrived only a matter of weeks before the 330e, is also listed as an iPerformance model. The X5 and 3 Series… Read more

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KIA CARNIVAL AND GRAND CARNIVAL 1999 – 2015

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2006 Kia Carnival

Kia Carnival is a South Korean seven- or eight-seat people mover that’s been on sale in Australia since September 1999. Well priced and strongly built it has been a big seller in its class for many years. The older models are getting on in years so we suggest buying one from the new series from January 2006 as it’s significantly better than the model it superseded. Despite the low price, even the entry-level Kia Carnival models usually have features like dual climate-control air conditioning, central locking, a decent audio system,… Read more

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JEEP SPREADS WINGS WITH HIGH-FLYING TRAILHAWK

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The new Jeep Renegade Trailhawk lives up to its name by not fitting in with rival compact sports utility vehicles. Designed to desert the bitumen for some stiff off-road stuff, there’s nothing namby-pamby about this little Jeep. On the other hand, it’s no utilitarian bare bones transportation, owing little to Wells Fargo or Cobb and Co in the comfort and convenience department. Designed in the United States and put together by Fiat in Italy, it calls on high level automotive technology coupled with European style. In a bid by Fiat… Read more

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MAZDA FLAGSHIP FLOATS INTO SAFER HARBOUR

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Australia’s most popular mid-sized imported car, the Mazda6, has just ducked under 50 grand. As a bonus safety features have been added to the 6 Sport, Touring and GT models at no extra cost, while the range topping Atenza receives a price cut in view of the safety equipment added to the GT. The Atenza with the 2.5-litre petrol engine drops by $1030, while the 2.2-litre diesel alternative is down by $1380, making the entire Mazda 6 range now available for less than $50,000, without on-road costs. Mazda6 is available… Read more