Subaru has officially entered the hybrid arena with petrol-electric versions of its XV crossover and Forester medium SUV slated to arrive in Australian showrooms from March.

Subaru announced the XV and Forester Hybrid e-Boxer All-Wheel Drives (AWD) while revealing it has already sold 500 of the battery-electric Foresters to fleet customers.

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Both cars have their Toyota C-HR and RAV4 hybrid counterparts in their sights, with Subaru hoping to benefit from significant interest in electrified RAV4 that has seen buyers of the top-spec Cruiser variants facing an eight-month waiting period.

Both Subaru hybrids feature a 100kW/196Nm 2.0 litre horizontally opposed Boxer with continuously variable transmission (CVT) engine linked via an electric motor driven by a high voltage lithium ion battery.

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The electric motor produces 12.3 kW of power and 66 Nm of torque, and is self-charging via kinetic energy captured by regenerative braking and coasting.

According to Subaru the XV Hybrid offers around 14 percent improvement in fuel efficiency over its equivalent petrol variant’s’ official 8.8L/100km urban fuel consumption, and is at least 7.0 percent more frugal in the combined cycle (7.0L/100km).

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The Forester Hybrid claims efficiency improvements of up to 19 percent over the 2.5-litre petrol version’s 9.3L/100km urban consumption; while the 2.5’s 7.4L/100km combined figure is bettered by about 7.0 percent.

The e-Boxer powertrain automatically adjusts the power split between petrol and electric to match driving conditions using three modes:

• Motor Assist EV driving, which depending on vehicle and battery condition can operate in fully electric mode up to 40km/h
• Motor Assist electric (EV) + petrol engine driving
• Petrol engine driving

Like the petrol versions, hybrid XV and Foresters feature X-Mode torque control that helps them better negotiate dirt roads, slippery surfaces and negotiate steep hills.

Pricing and features

Priced from $35,580, the XV Hybrid AWD will come with its own specification grade that sits between the entry-level 2.0i AWD and 2.0i-L AWD versions.

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It will come with significantly more equipment than the entry level XV however, with Eyesight advanced driver assist included as standard that includes autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assist, plus Vision assist that adds blind-spot monitoring, high-beam assist, lane-change assist, rear-cross traffic alert and reverse auto braking.

Other features over the XV 2.0i include:

• Pedestrian alert system
• Energy flow display
• Leather finish steering wheel and gear shift
• Premium cloth trim
• Charcoal seat trim colour
• Auto dimming rear view mirror
• Front LED fog lights
• Dusk-sensing auto-off headlights
• Power folding door mirrors with indicators
• Black slim roof rails

The Forester Hybrid L and Hybrid S versions are similarly equipped to their 2.5i-L and 2.5i-S counterparts, which come with EyeSight and Vision assist as standard.

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At $39,990, the Hybrid L retails costs $5300 more than 2.5i-L and, as well as the hybrid powertrain gains the energy flow display, pedestrian alert system, premium black cloth trim, blue illumination instrument cluster, front LED fog-lamps and some bespoke exterior garnish.

The Hybrid S meanwhile becomes the new Forester range topper featuring similar additions over the 2.5i-S that take the price up by $6050 to $45,990.

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The 2020 Subaru XV and Forester hybrids go on sale in March and will be covered by the brand’s five-year, unlimited kilometre warranty.

Tim Keen might be the funniest person who writes for MOTOR.

His columns are regularly passed around the office before they go to print so we can all have a cackle at the bizarre ideas he’s concocted to defeat whatever automotive peril is on his mind, whether it be speed cameras, a slowing car market, or even dating.

So, here’s his contribution to our sense of humour in 2019, enjoy the following columns he’s written for us this year.

01 – Science shows that driving makes us happy

Wheeling rodents (and the potential for a tiny rodent Summernats) is proof that we are happiest behind the wheel. The funniest column published in MOTOR in recent memory.

02 – Drag racing is an art

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Keen takes a walk on the wild side. And it is glorious.

03 – There should be a dating app based on your car

Looking at what someone else drives can give you an insight into their lives. So why not make a dating decision on that?

04 – The most terrible jobs in the motoring industry

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It’s all not glitz and glam when it comes to the business of cars.

05 – What are phone-use-detecting cameras really for?

Tim deduces that these new phone-spotting cameras serve a more sinister – or crude – purpose.

06 – How to solve Australia’s car theft problem

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Tim’s cheap solution to solving our nation’s car theft problem.

07 – Let’s find a better way to limit speeds

Hear Tim out. Speed limiters are great, just not for limiting top speeds. You know what that means…

08 – Marie Kondo should have a go at tidying the family car

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It isn’t our houses that desperately need a consultant in tidying up.

09 – Driving hand signals we should have

There is more than one way to get the message across.

10 – How to increase car sales, bring back the family road trip

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The curious case of Big Banana’s mini-golf course and the answer to reviving the car market.

11 – If the 21st Century is a person, it is living its finest hooning years

Spending on credit and living the moment, it seems the current century is going through familiar motions.

12 – It’s high time Nissan replaces the GT-R

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Following the Godzilla movie line, Tim thinks its high time Nissan stopped rebooting the franchise and make a new iteration.

13 – Becoming the ‘Cuba’ of the car world wouldn’t be a bad thing

By the way things are going, following Cuba’s car culture might be for the best.

BMW’s M5 has long stood as the benchmark executive-express sedan. But the problem, for you and me, is it has always cost as much as one.

This is where the boys from Broadmeadows stepped in back in 2009 with the Ford Performance Vehicles F6 E. Much like the badge suggested, FPV took the $66,990 FG-series F6 and applied a much sleeker exterior and interior. The result was a damn handsome jigger.

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Gone were the regular F6’s ‘raccoon eyes’ and rear spoiler, while the front grille elements were now in black. Its wheels were finished in silver, and chrome adorned the front air inlets, foggies and window trim.

Inside was similarly slick, with most of the regular F6 option boxes ticked. There were leather luxury seats, adjustable pedals, a reversing camera, floor mats and front-door courtesy lights. Woodgrain even featured on the dash.

Mechanically it was largely the same as its donor, except for Brembo brakes that were made standard on the E, with its Barra turbo inline-six (pumping out 310kW and 565Nm) driving through the brilliant six-speed ZF automatic.

As you can imagine, performance was fairly rapid. It was good for mid five-second sprints to 100km/h from rest and mid-to-high 13s down the strip. Its boost-happy engine was a lot louder than expected while its turbo whooshed and sneezed, and the exhaust bellowed on upshifts.

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Taking the F6 upmarket also put new expectations on its driving experience. The slightly laggy yet energetic power delivery lacked refinement and its handling didn’t deliver the poise you would want from a true sporting luxury sedan, although it sure was comfy enough.

But the real problem was the price. At $79K it was 12 grand above an F6, and that hurt sales. FPV only sold 85 over its whole life, making it one of FPV’s ultimate sleepers, something you’d be lucky to get your hands on today.

2009 FPV F6 E SPECS Engine: 3984cc inline-6, DOHC, 24v, turbo Power: 310kW @ 5500rpm Torque: 565Nm @ 1950-5200rpm 0-100km/h: 5.5sec (est) Price: AUD$79,740

The end of the decade has us thinking. What’s been the one car that stands out as the greatest performance car of the 2010s?

This competition has now ended – congratulations to our winner Greg B. of Victoria!

We here at MOTOR all have our own opinions on the matter, but we thought we’d give our readers the chance to voice an opinion first.

And to make that offer a little more tempting, we’re giving away up to $2000 in Continental tyres to the best answer we receive.

So, how can you enter? Below, you’ll find a link to a form in which you need to tell us what you reckon the best fast car from 2010-2019 is, and why. In 25 words or fewer, of course!

It could be the fastest, the most engaging, the best all-rounder, or just simply your favourite – but remember your answer will be judged, and competition will be strong. We know you’re all pretty clever.

Get thinking – and writing! The competition ends on January 6th 2020, and the winner is announced shortly afterwards!

For years now the Holden Commodore has been on borrowed time, though that didn’t stop a ripple of shock spreading through the Wheels office when the news finally came. “Retired” was the word Holden chose; “Dead” is what we were all thinking.

By now you’ve had some time to digest it. It’s possible you’ll still feel angry, though I’d wager that’s now given way to disappointment, or more tellingly, to acceptance. After all, the ZB wasn’t a real Commodore, was it?

Now ask yourself this: how would you feel if Holden itself pulled up stumps? If the entire brand decided to bow out with dignity and then, months later, reinvent itself as Chevrolet or simply as GM?

Angry? Disappointed? Accepting? Yeah, I reckon that’s about right.

For an issue so drowned in emotion – Holden holds a special place in my heart and in the history of this magazine – it’s difficult to look at rationally. But the facts are telling.

Just over two years into its brave new world and the Lion Brand isn’t wounded, it’s drifting, seemingly unconscious, towards an inevitable demise. Things aren’t so much dire as they are disastrous.

Dave Buttner, the well-respected car company exec lured out of retirement to transform Holden’s fortunes as its fearless leader, has left his post after 16 months due to personal reasons.

Then there are the sales. Everyone expected Holden to take a hit when manufacturing ended in late 2017, but no one predicted the hit to be so savage, or so prolonged. After a drop of 33 percent in 2018, Holden is on track to record a year-to-date slump of around 30 percent when the final numbers are tallied for 2019.

Once Australia’s most successful brand for 15 years straight (1996-2010), last month’s sales weren’t only the latest in a string of worst in the company’s history, but they saw Holden’s entire model range outsold by each of the top three (Ranger, Hilux and Triton). As for the Commodore? In the glory days, Holden could move close to 10,000 units a month. In November this year, it only sold 309.

Clearly, the current strategy isn’t working. Holden hasn’t only failed to attract new buyers, it’s eradicated any goodwill it had left with its rusted-on fans.

And as for brand values? Once such a strength, I’d now argue Holden’s rose-tinted legacy is actually a hindrance. Or, to put it another way, Holden’s legacy is killing its chances of reinventing itself in Australia.

So as much as it pains me to say it, the clearest way forward is to retire the brand. Naturally this isn’t a clear-cut course of action. Rebranding won’t be easy. The dealer network will need to be culled, and the task of establishing a new brand is notoriously difficult down under. Though for me, the potential positives outweigh the risks.

As a well-known international brand, Chevrolet already has some equity with Aussie buyers, and crucially, taking on a new name would give Holden a chance to start afresh, sans the emotional baggage currently slung around its neck like a millstone. It’ll also bring a welcome sense of coherence to the showroom floor. The Trax, Equinox and Colorado already wear Chevy badges in other markets, and Holden could campaign hard to bring the good-looking Chevrolet Blazer to our shores too. Plus, when the C8 Corvette arrives, it won’t be an expensive outlier but will fulfil its role as a flagship for the entire range. There’s also room to establish Cadillac as a premium offering above the regular Chevrolet range.

It needn’t mean the loss of jobs, either. Holden’s design studio and Proving Ground have already pivoted to work on global product, the talented crew at Lang Lang can still tune cars for Aussie conditions, and the marketing team won’t be short of work…

The big issue, of course, is the future of right-hand-drive models in GM’s product strategy. Given GM has now left Europe and South Africa, Australia is a peripheral outpost unlikely to secure top-rung product. One unlikely Hail Mary solution to retain the Holden name could be for GM to sell the Lion Brand to PSA. Established right-hand-drive models already exist (Astra, Corsa etc) and popular small SUVs like the Grandland X could be brought in. Plus, it’d give the French company an established dealer network.

Whatever Holden decides – and it must decide soon – one thing is clear: Holden as we know it is gone.

Hyundai has recalled 106,441 i30 models sold between 2007 and 2012 for a potentially dangerous fault that could see the frontal airbags and seatbelt pretensioners trigger during normal driving.

Though it’s unrelated to the on-going and far-reaching Takata airbag recall, the Hyundai i30 recall doesn’t concern the airbags themselves. Rather, the airbag control unit that tells them when to fire is the issue, with ‘improper programming’ leading to the possibility that the airbags might deploy without an impact actually being detected.

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With airbag deployment being a very violent event, with the driver’s airbag typically expanding with enough force to remove a person’s grip on the steering wheel, having an airbag inadvertently activate could lead to an accident. If that happens the front occupants would no longer have airbags to protect them either, given they would already be expended.

Hyundai will contact owners in writing to alert them to the issue, and will reprogram affected airbag control units free of charge. Owners who think they may have an affected car can check via this list of Vehicle Identification Numbers, or contact Hyundai’s customer care line on 1800 186 306.

As far as confronting images go, a pair of 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500s dangling on a trailer that has overturned would be one of the most upsetting for those of us at Wheels HQ.

Sadly, that’s exactly what happened when a car towing a trailer with some very precious (and powerful) cargo was involved in an accident near downtown Detroit.

The shunt was first reported on by Fox 2 Detroit and there is aerial footage of the aftermath, which can be viewed at the top of this story.

The sight of two brand-new Ford Mustang GT500s sitting on their sides on the highway would be enough to make a grown man shed a tear, but thankfully this story has a happy ending.

While the duo didn’t escape entirely unscathed, it’s reported that the GT500s suffered relatively minor damage for the severity of the situation, and are repairable.

Painted in Iconic Silver and Grabber Lime, the 2020 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500s were most likely en route to be delivered to customers. Side note: if anyone wants to slide a brand new GT500 under our Christmas tree, that’d be grand.

Powered by a 5.2-litre supercharged V8, the GT500 sends 567kW and 847Nm to the rear treads, which is enough to immolate even the sturdiest of rubber.

If you want one down under, you are in luck, with local outfit Mustang Motorsport saying they are willing and able to convert the ponycar halo.

Olaf Manthey has a simple credo. “I don’t put any part on the car that doesn’t increase performance.”

Start from there and the mission statement becomes very simple. Manthey Racing’s Michael Grassl is in Melbourne to launch the ‘MR’ series of upgrades for Porsche’s GT models and the company founder’s words inform every product decision.

“He (Manthey) was not interested in a fancy bumper or whatever,” says Grassl. “With our modifications, maybe the cars don’t look that super bling-bling, but form always follows function, so if we don’t need a bigger wing, we don’t put on a bigger wing just for show and shine.”

It’s hard to think of a much more perfect super sports car than the Porsche 991 GT2 RS. It demolished the field last year to carry away sister magazine MOTOR’s Performance Car of the Year and set a lap record around Tailem Bend. With Manthey Racing modifications, it also set a record at the Nurburgring, clocking a time of 6:40.33, dethroning the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ in the process. But how do you improve a GT2 RS?

“We work hand in hand with Porsche to avoid people thinking ‘Porsche didn’t do a good development’ or that we are stepping in now,” he explains. “Porsche built a really, really good base car which works in every part of the world. If a customer wants to specify it for track use, we are there to help push the frontier further.”

“You have a bigger wing and we don’t recommend going vmax with our package because of higher camber values and such. The stock car is bulletproof. We are focused on the track performance so we tell customers don’t go over 310km/h for longer periods of time.”

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Some customer questions are generally predictable. “People ask me ‘how much faster will the car be after it is with you?’” smiles Grassl. “I always tell them that in the worst case it’ll be as fast as before but you will probably do the same lap time easier. We’ve built a car that’s easy to drive. If you don’t get the feedback and you aren’t feeling safe in the car, you’ll back off.”

“And our kind of customers really drive their cars. We had one customer who did 100,000 kilometres in a GT3 RS within 16 months. Another guy, GT2 RS customer, did 2000 laps of the Nurburgring within the last two years. So he did over 40,000 kilometres just on the race track,” he says, wide-eyed. “When you look at the GT2 RS, we know of course it’s a high performance sports car, but Porsche has to think about the worst case.”

“In this worst case, somebody is taking delivery of this car in Stuttgart on the evening of the soccer World Cup final, where Germany are playing against the Netherlands and the highways are totally empty and he picks up the car in Stuttgart and goes flat out to Hamburg. You can’t do that with three degrees of camber. It’s impossible.”

“So, Porsche is running 1.2 degrees of camber because the car needs to do high speeds really well. They are running low rear wing in order to allow the car to roll. For the track you need more camber for cornering, you need more rear wing downforce, so Porsche has to build a car for anybody. We build a car for track day guys. For us it’s because we don’t serve 100 percent. We serve that percentage of freaks.”

When asked what his favourite Porsche model is, the answer is unambiguous. “GT2 RS,” he deadpans. “Because it’s the challenge. As Walter Roehrl says, a car is getting interesting if it can’t do everything flat out; if you have to lift. A GT3 RS with our package, at the ‘Ring can go flat out from Bergwerk to Mutkurve. All flat. With the GT2 RS, when the power is full and there is water in the water tank, you have to lift because it is so fast, flat doesn’t work. And that’s the challenge: that judgment on your part. If you start at the tourist entry, down in the bottom of Tiergarten-Senke, you’re already doing over 250km/h. It’s more challenging!”

“The GT3 RS is the most popular [for Manthey upgrades] though. We’re selling parts for brakes, for suspension, wheels and tyres. You can pick and choose suspension, brakes, wheels and tyres and aerodynamics – partly. Also some safety stuff. If somebody bought a GT3 without the roll cage or roll bar we offer a roll bar for the car.”

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“With the GT2 RS you can’t buy the aero package separately because it creates so much downforce that the original suspension can’t handle it. It’s mandatory to have the suspension upgrade. The whole MR package also keeps the warranty of the base car, so it’s not possible to use single items, so you need to go full in. The GT2 RS MR package is €79,911 for the whole package or we have an alternative package for €64,911 without the wheels.”

“We had some enquiries from customers saying that they had the Weissach package car so they didn’t need to go for another set of wheels. Most of the customers go for it because they need a second set of wheels for the track and secondly, the aero discs that deliver the extra downforce don’t fit on the Weissach pack wheel. They only fit on our wheels which are a little bit lighter and a little bit different in design. They’re the same manufacturer – 98 percent the same.”

“We tested the aero discs in the wind tunnel and they create real downforce. When using these, you can even back the angle of the rear wing off by two degrees as a result. What we figured out in the windtunnel is you normally have interruption of the airflow down the side of the car [caused by the wheels]. With the discs it prevents vortices at the area of the wheel, reduces pressure inside the wheel arch and guides the air more easily to the rear of the car.”

“With the GT2 RS MR, when we set that time on the Nordschleife, we needed to use the same tyres, the same driver and the same power as the standard GT2 RS, otherwise the time difference could have been due to some other thing,” he reasons. “Doing it this way, we could confirm it was about our work on suspension, aero and brakes.”

Manthey Racing today is 51 percent owned by Porsche but came about by merging Manthey and Raeder Motorsport. The latter undertook a lot of work for other manufacturers, notably Audi, and even today other car makers come to Manthey for performance development. “The Raeder brand in our company is still alive, so we’re doing parts for BMW customers, Renault customers, Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, SEAT. We also had an enquiry to do suspension in a Tesla, so we installed it and did the setup on Model 3.”

“For the moment, the [EV] performance sector is not that big. When you’re running a Tesla around the Nurburgring it will wilt at Breidscheid. The performance of it for a whole lap is not there. Their modified Model S was really fast, by the way, and that Plaid triple motor setup will be sold to customers eventually. They actually came to us for a seat. It had a standard seat in it at first and the driver was falling all over the place!”

Cameras designed to catch out drivers who operate their mobile phones while driving have caught out over 3300 motorists in their first week.

In total, 773,532 vehicle checks were completed since the cameras were sent live in a number of locations across New South Wales from December 1.

Those nabbed can count themselves lucky though, as a three-month grace period is still in place. Instead of incurring a $344 fine and losing five demerit points (10 when combined with double-demerit periods), the law-breaking motorists will receive a warning letter… at least until the end of February, when the grace period expires.

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A combination of mobile trailer cameras and fixed units were deployed in a number of locations across the state, but data shows that the Sydney Harbour Bridge, Lucas Heights and Nowra locations were the most problematic.

Minister for Roads Andrew Constance said the behaviour was “stupid” and pointed out that NSW was the first region in the world to introduce such cameras – with other countries watching the trial with close interest.

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“At 60km/h if you look at your phone while driving for just two seconds, you travel 33 metres blind – it’s dangerous,” said Mr. Constance.

“Around 500 drivers a day are getting pinged by these cameras doing the wrong thing. With double demerits starting Friday we need drivers to get the message and get off the phone, otherwise they risk killing themselves or someone innocent on our roads.

“I’d like to thank drivers doing the right thing, we have seen a reduction in the noncompliance rate by two thirds since we first trialled the technology earlier this year.”

The mobile phone detection program will progressively expand in NSW, but other states like Queensland are also set to adopt the technology in 2020.

Roughly 78,000 more cars have been added to the list of vehicles affected by potentially deadly Takata airbags, with vehicles from Audi, BMW, Toyota, Ford, Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Suzuki all affected.

The Takata recall expansion centres around the NADI 5-AT airbag, a type of airbag that was previously thought to be safe. Cars equipped with this type of airbag were built between 1996 and 2000, and while many have likely reached the end of their lifespan and been scrapped, there are concerns that there are still significant numbers of affected cars on the road.

The airbag suffers a similar fault to that of the previously known Takata ‘Alpha’ airbags, with unstable propellants exploding when the airbag is triggered in a crash, potentially sending shrapnel into the cabin and its occupants. There is also a risk that the airbags may instead under-inflate, limiting their usefulness.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says there have been at least three incidents involving these airbags ‘misdeploying’, while other incidents overseas involving affected BMW vehicles have seen two serious injuries and a fatality.

BMW and Audi have initiated recalls of vehicles fitted with NADI 5-AT airbags, and have even taken the step of buying back cars from owners due to the unavailability of replacement airbag inflators.

If you are concerned that your car may be affected, consult the table below and make contact with the manufacturer, or check the dedicated recall website here.