No comments

MAZDA BEEFS UP BT-50

  By ,

Mazda is in serious competition for number two spot in the Australian sales race. While Toyota is in first place by a huge margin, Mazda, Hyundai and Holden are at it hammer and tongs for the second spot on the podium. What better way to increase sales than to upgrade its BT-50, Mazda’s entrant in one of the hottest of all market segments in Australia. Though this area is apparently that of light commercial pickup trucks the big movers aren’t the working vehicles, rather dual-cabs with stacks of accessories are… Read more

No comments

AUDI RS3 IS ONE HOT PERFORMER

  By ,

A few months ago we spent an enjoyable day in Italy punting an Audi RS3 at the Vallelunga racing circuit. That’s always an interesting exercise, because some high-performance cars that feel great on normal roads falter when taken to extremes on tracks. Audi’s RS3 is certainly not one of them, it stormed around the combination of high land low speed corners without ever looking like putting a wheel out of place. Now the Audi RS3 has just landed in Australia and we spent another great day at the wheel of… Read more

No comments

ALL-NEW TOYOTA HILUX: TOUGHER THAN EVER

  By ,

Pickup trucks, particularly sporty dual-cabs models are huge sellers in Australia these days. By far the biggest player in the segment is the long running Toyota HiLux. An all-new Toyota HiLux, the eight generation, has just gone on sale, and must be seriously worrying the opposition as many thousands of potential buyers have already expressed interest. Some have even signed up to buy a HiLux before knowing the price. Why? To get to the front of what threatens to be a long queue. It’s well known that many pickup buyers… Read more

No comments

MIDDLE-OF-THE-ROAD SEDAN STEPS UP WITH A TASTE OF LEXUS LUXURY

  By ,

The ES goes back almost to the beginnings of Lexus in Australia in the early 1990s, being the second car to come here after the LS 400. Since then it has pretty much ploughed a straight, if unspectacular, furrow. Now the mid-size sedan has been given a makeover to bring it into line with the latest company thinking and offer buyers an introduction, and possible step up, to the next level of Lexus luxury. This has been done by taking cues from the company’s L-Finesse design language. The new ES… Read more

No comments

SUZUKI KIZASHI 2010 – 2015

  By ,

Suzuki’s strength in Australia for many decades was in clever small cars and excellent 4WDs. Then in January 2010, it made the interesting move into medium size cars with a new model called Kizashi. Aimed at a huge number of competitors, including the Ford Mondeo, Honda Accord Euro, Mazda6, Subaru Liberty in a market segment that wasn’t particularly strong Kizashi was less successful than the importer hoped. It’s a good looker with a powerful appearance that gives a fair touch of sportiness. In August 2010 the Suzuki Kizashi Sport arrived…. Read more

No comments

2015 MINI JCW REVIEW

  By ,

A few weeks back we enjoyed a great day at Phillip Island thrashing around in a series of brightly coloured gen-three Mini JCWs. Now we have come back to reality having road tested one for a week on our home turf on the Gold Coast – traffic, speed cameras, rough and ready roads, the full catastrophe. Given the high-tech nature of the all-new third-generation John Cooper Works (JCW) and engineering ability of BMW, which runs Mini these days, it didn’t come as a surprise that the real-world didn’t faze the… Read more

No comments

LEXUS HUNTING FOR NEW LEVEL OF LUXURY

  By ,

Lexus, not usually seen as a predator, is on the prowl. The hunting grounds are the upper reaches of the medium passenger sedan sales segment and the lower branches of the premium car market tree. A major player in the luxury car market in Australia since the early 1990s, the Japanese marque is looking to broaden its appeal and has chosen a sports sedan, the IS 200t, with a blend of performance and economy to do this. A replacement for the IS 250, sharp prices characterise the range which consists… Read more

No comments

2015 AUDI RS7

  By ,

Ingolstadt’s big fast cars don’t make headlines the way their BMW and Mercedes counterparts do. We’re not entirely sure why because Audi’s RS6 and RS7 are two of the most capable cars on the planet. Following a trip around Philip Island in the RS7 where its abilities were worked hard, we borrowed the keys for a week to live with the big coupe on the road. VALUE The Audi-RS7 kicks off at a stout $241,610, an increase of $12,500 over the Avant-only (station wagon) RS6. Your money buys you a… Read more

No comments

MERCEDES-BENZ B 250 MIXES FUN WITH FUNCTION

  By ,

The Mercedes B-Class has been on sale in Australia for almost a decade, having evolved from one of Benz’s cleverest products, the A-Class city car. The latter was one of the first little-big cars – managing to combine a small exterior with a deceptively large, strictly two-seat interior, largely through its tall body. The B-Class inherited many of these qualities but with a more conventional styling than its boxier older sibling, but nevertheless it’s still taller than the average five-door hatchback. The benefits include easy step-in access, a relatively high… Read more

No comments

FERRARI 166

  By

After a five-year break in activity because of World War II, Enzo Ferrari’s links with Alfa Romeo were severed, and he resolved to start building his own cars for the first time. His first chief engine designer was Gioacchino Colombo, who produced the classic V12 engine that was to be the mainstay of Ferrari road cars, in so many different forms, for a great many years to come. The original V12 engine was a 1500cc single overhead cam design, first seen in 1947, and cars using it were known as… Read more