It is time to banish a very popular but equally stupid theory on how to eliminate road toll once and for all.

The theory goes that if everyone had a metal spike attached to their steering wheel, the certainty of impalement and death following even a small collision would make us all much more careful drivers.

I understand that the idea is not meant to be taken literally and the metal spike is intended as a metaphor, but if proponents honestly think the way we are going to make roads safer is by driving unsafe cars then they certainly shouldn’t be the ones making decisions about how we drive. Unfortunately though, they often are.

I do agree that travelling around in a high-strength steel box, surrounded by nine airbags that you won’t ever need because autonomous braking will prevent you hitting anything, has the potential to make drivers desperately complacent.

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But limiting maximum speed on a freeway to 110km/h creates a false sense of security in exactly the same way. At one end of the spectrum we feel invincible; at the other, suicidal.

Unfortunately, neither ultra-safe cars nor deadly ones will reduce deaths and serious injury on our roads to zero. The idealistic and overly simplistic spike theory assumes that we are only ever impacted by the result of our own actions, good or otherwise.

Fact is, we don’t all waft around in a utopian world of instant karma. All it takes to upset the perfect harmony is for a meth user to jump behind the wheel and cause several human kebabs, not just one made from themselves.

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When you introduce a maniac into the mix, a deterrent based on mutually assured destruction will only last so long, as Vladimir Putin will most likely demonstrate before the decade is out.

You are not the only person who suffers the consequences of your own fault.

People buy large 4x4s as the family car so that in the event of a crash it’s your children that are killed and not theirs, so good luck trying to get people to buy a car that guarantees instant death for all. So if driving is dangerous why not continue lowering speed limits?

After all, we can’t be trusted to drive fast then we must all be punished by going slower, but this only exacerbates the invincibility delusion. Safer cars protect us from the bad decisions of others but hazardous cars make us more aware of our own mortality and actions.

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What we need is a virtual spike

The problem in both cases is not driving ability or skill, it all comes back to attitude and behaviour.

If we are ever going to dramatically reduce the road toll, we need to change the way people think behind the wheel.

This requires a different approach to driver education and perhaps even a change in our culture but, unfortunately, the people employed to make our roads safer through legislation are not behavioural experts, scientists nor driver training specialists. They’re politicians and therefore completely unqualified.

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Whether it’s a metal spike, or a mandatory speed limiter, or an 80km/h speed limit on a quiet six-lane freeway, you should be insulted, because all of these measures imply you are not a good enough human to make the right decision for your own safety and that of everyone else.

Maybe we’re not, but until we revolutionise the way we teach people to behave on the road, the chances of dramatically reducing road toll to zero are exactly that – zero.

On the face of it, something as outrageous as the Lamborghini Murciélago LP670-4 Super Veloce ought to be fairly hard to ignore. Just look at the thing.

Better still, key it on and listen to the last and greatest iteration of Giotto Bizzarrini’s V12, the legendary Lamborghini twelve-pot that can trace its lineage all the way back to the birth of the company, some 60 years ago. Yet this is a car that has only recently earned its due appreciation.

If you know your Lamborghini history, you’ll know that the tall V12 never actually fitted beneath the bonnet of that first and ultra-shapely Scaglione-styled 350 GTV, and that car appeared on the stand at the 1963 Turin Show with 500kg of ceramic tiles under the bonnet instead.

It wasn’t until ‘64 that the production 350GT appeared, with its markedly less aggressive front end housing the twelve-cylinder behemoth.

So we know where the engine began and where it ended up. Along the way, the Bizzarrini production powerplant increased in size by 3032cc (87 percent), in power by 284kW (136 percent) and in torque by 335Nm (103 percent). Displacing 6496cc, the aluminium alloy 60-degree V12 plumbed into the middle of the Murcielago SV is good for a heady 493kW at 8000rpm and 660Nm at 6500rpm.

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Visit the factory and you’ll realise that the car is wrapped around the engine, transmission and exhaust units in much the same way that the fuselage of an A-10 Thunderbolt jet is shrink-wrapped around its GAU-8 cannon.

The snub nose of the Murciélago means that this assembly accounts for around 75 percent of its length and the aperture required before the running gear is lifted in is cavernous.

But in these straitened times, a car that’s largely defined by its engine is something that ought to be celebrated. And what an engine it is.

On paper, it lacks the herbs of its successor, the Aventador LP700-4, but there’s an earthiness to the Bizzarrini V12 that feels as if its almost been uprooted from the clay soils of the Emilian Plain, something almost agricultural in its gutsiness that then becomes operatic in the upper registers.

By contrast, the revised firing order and shorter stroke of the successor V12 fitted to the Aventador give it a very different character: cleaner, crisper and more responsive but there’s a slight tang of Germany in its genes.

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But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. While we can trace a mid-engined bloodline for this car all the way back to the Miura of 1966, via Countach and Diablo, the Murcielago couldn’t have happened without Audi. It’s there for everyone to see, clear as day; the gulf in quality and execution between the Lamborghini-era Diablo and the Audi-directed Diablo 6.0-litre.

Emerging from the harsh but necessary cost-cutting era of Vittorio di Capua, Project 147 – as the Murciélago development program was known – kicked off in a distinctly chaotic manner.

Plans to replace the Diablo had been a long time in gestation. Back in 1995, three years before Audi became involved with the business, a super-Diablo was planned, running on a modified Diablo chassis with the most powerful V12 available.

Development was split into two competing camps. On one side was a Marcello Gandini-styled proposal; on the other a computer-designed shape, courtesy of Norihoko Harada from styling house Zagato. This featured huge air intakes atop the rear haunches, designed as a workaround because the Diablo’s radiators couldn’t be moved.

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By 1997, test cars were being snapped by spy photographers, with the car carrying the working title Canto, but the following year Ferdinand Piech decreed that the styling was too dated and too weak and tore the project to shreds.

At the last minute, he pulled the revised Canto from display at the 1999 Geneva Show and commissioned Belgian stylist Luc Donckerwolke to design something dramatically, authentically Lamborghini.

Donckerwolke solved the airflow cooling issue by introducing the Murciélago’s signature motorised rear intakes and insisted on a sleeker fly-line for the glass house. The Canto project was not entirely for naught, however, as the basics of the interior architecture were grafted into the Murciélago.

Technically, the Murciélago was a derivation of the Diablo, built around a steel tubular frame coupled with carbonfibre body panels, with aluminium used for the roof and doors.

The DOHC 48-valve engine evolved from that of the Diablo 6.0 – that car’s bore and stroke of 87 and 84mm were stroked to 86.8mm for another 200cc of swept capacity.

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It was mated to the first six-speed gearbox in Lamborghini’s history, while all roadgoing cars featured the VT all-wheel drive system. The engine saw its final increase in capacity with the facelifted LP640-4 model in 2006, rising to 6496cc thanks to bore and stroke enlargements to 88 and 89mm respectively.

The Super Veloce arrived in 2009, conveniently fitting into the 80s, 90s and 00s edict of our Modern Classic section. Over the eight years it had been in production, the soap-bar smooth styling of the Murcielago was beginning to date, despite the remedial action taken by Filippo Perini’s 2006 update.

The simple surfacing of the Lamborghini contrasted with the muscular, contoured shape of the Ferrari 458 Italia (2009), the neo-brutalism of the Mercedes-AMG SLS (2010) and the F1-inspired box-arched Ferrari Enzo (2002).

The Super Veloce left the basics alone, but added some long overdue aggression to the Murciélago’s body. The front intakes grew into huge trapezoidal maws, with sharp blade elements lending even more visual punch.

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There was the option of two different fixed rear wings, but virtually every customer opted for the big one. Ditching the motors of the LP640’s active aero saved 13kg back there, and beneath the skin, the spaceframe was updated with high-tensile steels to save 20kg, while a lighter exhaust and a revision of the gusseting and bracing in the engine bay saved an additional 33kg.

Another option that almost nobody chose was the manual gearbox. It’s believed that of the 261 Murciélago SVs that were sold, only five featured three pedals and a stick (and a mere 70 were right-hookers).

It may not have escaped your attention that the Murciélago SV was launched right into the teeth of the Global Financial Crisis. This scuppered Lamborghini’s plans for a 350-car production run. Slowish sales of a run-out model meant that SV production was wrapped up long before that target could be reached in order to rejig the production lines at Sant’Agata for the box-fresh Aventador.

Did this dent the Murciélago SV’s legacy? In the short term, maybe. It was viewed as something of a commercial flop, but the benefit of hindsight helps cement this car’s legacy as one of the all-time great Lamborghinis.

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Indeed, some argue its place as the most desirable of the lot; the final furious fling of the engine that built Lamborghini.

It’s a car that feels as if it has one foot in the past and another in the present. It’s fitted with a rudimentary traction-control system but you’ll search in vain for electronic stability control or launch control. The single-clutch automated manual isn’t the last word in sophistication, and shifts up some way short of the redline in the first three gears as if to save the engine from grenading itself.

The ride and handling package, however, are excellent. The short-travel dampers let you know what’s happening at the front contact patches, helped by a revised steering set-up that builds confidence in the front end like no Murciélago before.

Whereas even the LP640 can feel like a bit of an arm wrestle, the SV can be guided confidently into a corner, trailing the carbon-ceramic brakes, and feeling the chassis balance become neutral, feeding power gently at the apex.

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Of course, with this sort of power, weight distribution and lack of electronic nannies, the SV can and will bite if you’re injudicious, but it nevertheless feels like the driver’s car the Murciélago always promised to be.

Inlet timing, valve lift and that freer-breathing exhaust help to liberate an extra 22kW over the standard Murci’, but that’s what? Less than five percent more power? On its own you’d probably have difficulty discerning that additional thrust.

Shaving around 100kg from the standard car helps too, lifting the power-to-weight ratio from 283 to 315kW/tonne, but to get that figure you’ll need to do without niceties like air conditioning and infotainment.

Lamborghini reckoned this was enough to drop the 0-100km/h time from the LP640’s 3.4 seconds to 3.1 seconds, but with all-wheel drive and a dry strip, it’s fairly easy to beat that figure. Top speed? Well that depended on which wing you optioned. The big wing limits you to a mere 337km/h while the smaller one sees that top end eke out to a vaguely academic 342km/h.

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As much as we heap plaudits upon the soundtracks of the great V10s like the Porsche Carrera GT and the Lexus LFA, a Murciélago SV at full noise is absolutely electrifying. Knowing that there’s no stability control safety net only serves to amp up the adrenalin still further. It’s one of the very last properly hairy-chested supercars.

One question that continues to hang in the background surrounding this car is whether we can celebrate the Murciélago SV without denigrating its successor, the Aventador.

Lamborghini could argue, with some justification, that the market has already spoken on that one. Across its lifespan, the Murciélago sold 455 units per year, where the Aventador sold 1042 units per annum across its lifespan. In case you were wondering, the Diablo’s numbers are 262, the Countach is 124 and the Miura a mere 109 cars produced per year.

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The Murciélago SV appeals to a different buyer to the Aventador LP700-4. It’s the last of the artisan Lamborghinis, and its engine and spaceframe chassis tell a story, that of a lineage that can be traced from the 1960s across the decades.

The Aventador was a clean reboot, and is none the worse for that. It was required, it was executed extremely competently and it cleverly retained enough Lamborghini DNA.

The final Ultimae models will always retain a cachet as the last of the pure ICE Lamborghini V12s.

But the Murciélago SV is the special one, be in no doubt of that. As we transition towards an electric future, all of the things that we know we’re going to miss are exemplified in this car better than pretty much any other. The rawness, the charisma, the purity of bloodline, the tactility – it’s all there in the Lamborghini Murciélago SV. It just took a while for us to realise.

Richard Ferlazzo couldn’t have been more right.

The designer was assessing Ford’s box-fresh Escape at the 2021 Wheels Car of the Year, and after giving his views on its design, summarised with the pithy observation that it “may struggle to get noticed.”

Yes, the Escape was ejected in round one of the event, but the judges all loved its ride and handling, yet instinctively knew that the dynamics alone wouldn’t deliver the sort of showroom sizzle that would pitch the Escape ahead of the likes of the Toyota RAV4 or the Mazda CX-5 in the VFACTS rundown.

In fact, its sales were even more dismal than we could have likely imagined. Ford sold 1673 Escapes in 2021, where it was beaten by the Renault Koleos (1937). To offer some frame of reference, the RAV4 shifted 35,571 units.

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The Escape’s tally grew to 2179 cars in ’22, its share of market rising from 1.1 to 1.2 per cent.

But again, a clogger like the Koleos beat it, selling 2552 units. At the last published sales report of this year, its market share had swollen to, you guessed it, 1.3 percent.

At this rate, it would only take another 150 years before the Escape became the dominant player in the Medium SUV sector.

As you may have cunningly deduced from the title of this section, Ford isn’t giving it that sort of stay of execution. In fact, the very last shipment of Escape PHEVs are en route to dealers as you read this. That means you can no longer spec an Escape to order.

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If you want one, you’ll have to get your elbows out and start perusing dealer stock. The pure-ICE Escape is already done, so the only available Escapes will be those that you plug in.

But not to a DC rapid charger, note. The Escape PHEV only accepts low-speed AC charging. That might be a bit quaint, but the plus side of which is that you’ll never find one hogging a public charger.

The Escape wasn’t helped by Ford’s perpetual dithering over its mid-sized SUV offerings post-Territory. You knew exactly what you were going to get with a big ‘un like an Everest, but an Escape? Or, come to that, the even more mystifying and equally short-lived Endura?

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They just proved that Ford could build a decent product but could neither get the marketing or the messaging right to resonate with the Aussie consumer.

In November 2022, we pitched the Escape into its first comparo. Ford Australia’s first plug-in hybrid offering lost fairly convincingly to a car with eight years of plug-in backstory, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. With DC charging ability, all-wheel drive, a superior warranty and a multi-link rear end, the Japanese car notched up a convincing win.

The Ford Escape certainly struggled to get noticed. Many would say that was warranted.

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A great used buy?

The Escape struggled in the new-car market, but may represent a decent pick second time round.

Low recognition means that search volumes for the Escape are tiny, which reduces competition. We’re seeing MY21 Vignales at less than $40K with 20K on the odo, a 20 percent drop in two years in a market where mid-range SUVs cling to value. A 2021 RAV4 Hybrid, by contrast, will have lost barely any value

Wheels magazine has always had a passionate audience, with a thriving letters section. Here’s the latest from our readers.

And while we’re talking about the mag, have you subscribed?

Monsters Inc

?️ Paul Huard, Gungahlin, ACT

On finishing the article on the possible return of General Motors to Australia I had to check the date of the magazine. It was with horror that I realised this was not your April first edition.

This is just what every pedestrian, cyclist and sedan owner has been waiting for; more monster (stop using full-size to describe these) trucks occupying our streets. Existing examples can’t be entered without the obligatory side step addition just so normal sized individuals can get behind the wheel.

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“Oh the humanity!”

You can’t put tools, equipment or even household rubbish in the back without opening the flaps on either side of the ute tray to lower the height you have to lift said item to clear the high gloss paintwork.

Let’s assume that all owners of these vehicles take advantage of their supposed towing capacity. Can you imagine the chaos of a combined mass of over 6000kg meandering along our local roads. As the commentator said of the ‘Hindenburg’ air disaster, “Oh the humanity!”

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McLambo

?️ Andrew Coleman, Taupo, NZ

You asked the question ‘Has Lamborghini nailed its crucial new halo car?

Personally I think it looks great, however, within a split second of seeing the article I immediately thought of my favourite supercar brand, McLaren.

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Firstly, the air intakes above the lights are so McLaren as is the other end of the car with the sunken in exhaust pipes set against a black background. Then thirdly, maybe a marketing oversight by Lamborghini, why would you roll out a near Papaya Orange version when that colour rightfully screams McLaren? It would have looked better in white perhaps.

The modern version of the Countach LPI 800-4 still takes some beating. I would have liked to have seen the new halo car take more styling cues it look more like that. So, to answer your question, not for me.

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Impeccable taste

?️ Ashton Gale, Naracoorte, SA

As a 13-year old, one of my favourite articles in Wheels is the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS with the Honda Civic Type R comparison (Wheels July 01).

The Porsche is one of my favourite cars with the Aston Martin DB5, Lancia Integrale rally car and my all time favourite car the Porsche 911 GT3 RS: its power, looks and it being one of the favourite cars of Top Gear and The Grand Tour presenter Richard Hammond’s, what’s more to like!

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The problem is though, I don’t think I will be able to own any of these cars.

The Aston will be an antique, same with the Lancia and the Porsche will probably be dead. But there is still hope!

So thanks to a great article I have found out that I can technically own one of my favourite cars! So thank you Wheels, it’s been a pleasure to write to you guys and I love what you do.

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Every day’s a school day

?️ Mark Anderson via email

In your latest article on luxury SUVs you state:

“…while others will be perturbed by the inexplicable lack of touchscreen Apple CarPlay (forcing you to use the hand controller, even though the infotainment screen is within easy reach).”

I have commented many times that the CX-60 and CX-90 do act as a touchscreen for both CarPlay and AA.

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Unsafe at any speed

?️ Martin Geoghegan,Thirroul, NSW

Just picked up the December issue of Wheels and was intrigued to read Andy Enright’s editor’s letter at the start.

This obsession with building useless and often distracting ‘safety’ features into cars has been making modern cars less and less pleasant to drive. I’m glad somebody’s had the balls to take a stand against it.

I noticed that only this week, Euro NCAP has come out against manufacturers who seem to be deliberately rolling the arm by including lane-keep assist features that just don’t work in the real world. I’m glad that the protocols are now being updated to include real-world testing because some of these features are making vehicles borderline undriveable.

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Forza Honda

?️ Mark Stevens, Port Noarlunga

Thanks for all the Honda stories (FN2 Type R, Honda at 60, new CR-V) slotted into the December issue. I often feel that Honda, as a company, doesn’t get the recognition it deserves.

For me it’s right up with Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche in terms of quality of engineering. Sure, we have to put up with some ideas that don’t really hit the mark, (I’m looking at you, second-gen NSX) but it’s worth tolerating the near-misses to be treated to the best that the company can produce.

I’m beyond excited to hear that after much dithering, Honda will continue its engagement with F1. Here’s to bigger and better things.

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The Wheels question to you

What’s the single worst feature you’ve seen on a new car and why?

Want to have your say? Keep it tight (no more than 200 words) and include your suburb if via email: [email protected]. You can also chime in on Facebook & Instagram.

The ties between Mazda and Toyota continues to strengthen, with the former confirming it will use the latter’s ‘in-vehicle systems’ for its upcoming EVs.

What’s an ‘in-vehicle’ system’? It’s an industry term to describe the combined operating system (OS), electronic control units (ECU), and wiring harnesses – more or less the electronic portion of an EV, with the main electrical components being the batteries and motors.

This system controls the various functions of the EV, such as driver assistance, safety, heating, ventilation and cooling (HVAC), and infotainment, as well as linking the various functions to the user interface (UI) – that is, one or more touch screens, and perhaps a few hard switches.

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Just like a phone or desktop computer, in-vehicle systems are complex, and therefore expensive to develop and produce. It’s been reported that some major automakers and parts suppliers spend up to $2 billion a year on software development alone.

Mazda is a relatively small manufacturer and the cost of developing its own in-vehicle systems would be prohibitive and unstainable.

Adopting Toyota’s Arene OS will significantly reduce the cost of developing in-vehicle systems for Mazda EVs, compared to creating a system for EV models on its own. Mazda expects that its systems will be 90% identical to Toyota’s by 2027, lowering development costs by 70-80%.

Mazda, Toyota and Denso Corporation (Denso) formed the likeably Japanese-sounding EV C.A. Spirit Co Ltd in 2017 with the objective of developing basic structural technologies for electric vehicles for greater efficiency.

Shared in-vehicle systems is one example of this partnership bearing fruit.

The partnership was also intended to leverage “Mazda’s bundled product planning and prowess in computer modelling-based development, Denso’s electronics technologies, and the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) platform”, so these systems could be just the start.

Will future Mazdas feature TNGA technology, functionality, and production engineering? Time will tell.

For its part, Toyota is already behind the ball on the move to EVs, having spent years insisting electric cars wouldn’t suit the market for a long time to come – until it very recently revealed it would now pour its considerable resources into catching up with critical improvements to its EV technology suite.

Hey, we get it. With dozens of news and review stories published each week, it can be hard to keep up with all the latest in the automotive world.

Obviously we reckon every story we run is a banger, but if you’re looking for the highlights reel, this is it. Read on and click away!

Which electric sedan is best?

Is the BYD Seal’s low price too good to be true? We find out by pitting it against two key four-door rivals.

REVIEW: New Hyundai Kona EV

This is the one: Hyundai’s best chance yet at continuing its growth not only in petrol and diesel, but also in the new electrified world – where ‘affordable small EV’ has been all but surrendered to China.

All the new Volvo models coming soon

This year, Volvo’s Australian line-up will welcome two very important models on the brand’s march towards full electrification.

Every new GWM SUV, ute and SUV on the horizon

Chinese car-maker GWM has a host of exciting new models planned for 2024, including boxy off-roaders, an updated dual-cab and fresh electric cars.

New Hybrids Coming in 2024

Your guide to the combustion-electric hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and 48V-tech cars, SUVs and utes heading to Australian showrooms in 2024.

The New Old School: Rear-Drive Sports Cars compared

In an era of ‘zero-emissions mobility solutions’ there’s still a place for great engines and rear-wheel drive goodness. But which of this gang of four is the go?

Updated Ford Ranger and Everest announced

Minor update for Ford Ranger and Everest brings a new towing assist borrowed from the F-150 – and reduced line-ups.

Tesla Model 3 EV deliveries paused due to compliance issue

Deliveries of the facelifted Tesla Model 3 EV have been paused – and a recall is likely – after the brand removed a flap to access the rear-centre top-tether point required under the Australian Design Rules.

Mazda 3 2.5 Turbo concept headlines Spirit Racing launch

House-tuned fast Mazdas set to make a comeback in Japan, will Australia follow?

Mazda 6 future in doubt

Plans for the future of the Mazda 6 will be announced at “an appropriate later date”, as reports claim production will soon end in Japan.

Were you to believe everything you read on the internet, you’d know that this is the worst Civic Type R that Honda ever built.

The FN2 has no diff, no torque and no independent rear suspension. It’s around 100kg heavier than its predecessor, the breadvan-shaped EP3, with no added power. “It just doesn’t feel that quick,” said Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear, adding “all the poise and controllability that you used to get in the old car is just sort of… gone”.

Wheels threw the FN2 Type R into two big sports car tests. It came last at the 2008 Handling Olympics and was slowest around Haunted Hills in a hot hatch megatest in March 2011.

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So what went wrong? And why is this car even here when it’s clearly the runt of the CTR litter? Hindsight and perspective – those two luxuries we are now afforded – frame this Civic in a very different light.

It’s the last of the normally aspirated screamers, which explains why it was slower around Haunted Hills (the clue is in the name) than its torque-rich turbocharged brethren.

So while its 193Nm is less than you’d get in your holiday hire Hyundai i30 (and less than half the quota of a current Civic Type R), there are a number of compensations that we once took for granted. Things that we dearly miss today.

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Try finding a modern hot hatch with a characterful engine (a barrage of manufactured exhaust pops or dual-clutch tromboning doesn’t count).

Once you’ve done that, refine your search further by finding one with a beautiful manual gearbox. I’ll save you some time. That car doesn’t exist. Granted, a pair of what some may view as anachronisms don’t confer worthiness in and of themselves, but there’s more to the Civic.

When we take a look at its rivals in that 2011 review, almost all have been replaced by incrementally better versions of their ilk. You can buy something from the same marque that’s cut from ostensibly the same cloth that’s newer and better.

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Why buy a MkVI Golf GTI when the MkVII is a big improvement? Same goes for the Megane RS 250. Buy a 265 or a 275 instead. You’ll have more fun. But the Civic? It changed. Tester Jimmy Whitbourn found it old hat in that company. Probably rightly so.

“At launch in mid-1997, the Type R looked futuristic but the look – inside and out – has dated, along with its approach to performance,” he noted. “Volkswagen’s benchmark for hot hatch liveability – the Golf GTI – delivers its performance effortlessly; in the Civic you really have to work for it.”

In the interim, we’ve become accustomed to EVs that can accelerate to 100km/h in two seconds and change. Instant gratification is available on demand, with the result that we now treasure those cars that sing like the Civic. It’s part of the reason why the 911 GT3 has become so revered.

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It’s a delightful gearbox – maybe not S2000 slick, but probably the equal of any manual shift offered today

We just couldn’t have anticipated that in 2011, when turbocharging appeared the answer to every question.

To that end, a naturally aspirated Civic Type R has only seen its stock rise in recent years, and this FN2 model was the last of that particular line. That’s why a car that finished flat last in those big comparison tests is now starting to pique the interest of collectors.

The true anoraks among you will know that while we got the British-built FN2 hatch, in Japan there existed a very different beast, sold for the same 2007-2011 period.

The FD2 was a four-door sedan, riding on an 80mm-longer wheelbase and featuring more grunt (165kW/215Nm versus 148kW/193Nm), a Torsen diff and independent rear suspension. It’s a superior car, but it’s not the Type R many of us grew up with.

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The FN2 certainly came as a shock when it was unveiled at the 2005 Frankfurt Show.

Toshiyuki Okumoto’s design was 35mm shorter and 35mm lower than its immediate predecessor, but it offered a 30mm longer wheelbase and was 65mm wider.

Its compact torsion-beam rear suspension allowed for proper fold-flat rear seats, while space in the rear was helped by relocating the fuel tank to a position beneath the driver’s seat.

Although the Civic clearly benefited from these packaging developments, they didn’t bode well from an enthusiast’s perspective. Indeed, the minimum seat height for the driver didn’t feel particularly sporty, especially when compared to its predecessor, the EP3.

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Moving the wheels to each corner also had another effect which wasn’t fully appreciated at the time. The bonnet was shorter and more steeply angled.

In order to comply with pedestrian crash legislation, this limited the available real estate for the front strut assemblies, something we’ll come back to later.

The FN2 Type R launched in 2007 priced at $39,990, Honda quoting a very optimistic 6.6-second 0-100km/h time and a top speed of 235km/h. We took it to the dragstrip on a number of occasions and never managed to dip into the sevens, which means that you won’t choose one of these cars if you’re intent on winning stop-light grands prix.

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Supply was initially fairly strangled, with no more than 100 cars a month making landfall in Australia, largely due to an engine production bottleneck in Japan.

At the time, Honda Australia put the power difference between the Australian and JDM versions down to a difference in fuel, but there were significant differences between the engines – the Japanese car featuring revised cams, an RRC intake manifold, higher compression ratio, no balancer shafts and a larger throttle body.

We were offered a colour palette of red, silver or black, and all cars featured red and black cabins with tombstone seats which, annoyingly on a three-door, wouldn’t return to their original position once you’d folded them forward to access the rear. Much has been spoken of the futuristic dash layout, which we all expected to date very quickly.

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Compared to a Golf MkVI, it looks fresher today, to these eyes at least, but the materials quality inside was probably a notch or two below the vault-like Volkswagen’s.

You’d rather rely on Honda mechanicals though. The engine spins freely up to 5500rpm, which is where the note begins to harden and the VTEC system engages through to the 8000rpm redline. Unlike the EP3, the FN2 is equipped with an OBDII port, which helps with remapping.

A common modification is to bring down the VTEC switchover to somewhere just north of 4000rpm, which some claim improves driveability (see breakout below).

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Big power is hard to achieve without either a swap to a 2.4-litre lump or the relatively simple fitment of a Roots-type supercharger. Install either and you’ll also need a limited-slip differential.

But what of that torsion-beam rear suspension? Ah yes, a beam at the back – the hardware choice of notably awful-handling hot hatches such as the Peugeot 308 GTi, Renault Megane RS 275, the Clio 182 Trophy and the Ford Fiesta ST. Note obvious sarcasm.

The torsion beam in the rear of the FN2 certainly did create a significant noise pathway into the one-box passenger cell. The FN2 Type R is undeniably uncouth on coarse-chip surfaces.

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There is another characteristic of the FN2’s handling and that is transient understeer.

Many have attributed this to the torsion-beam rear end, which is nonsense. The culprit is a lack of travel in the front suspension, which results in not only a stiff ride but poor front wheel control, especially on challenging surfaces. Many aftermarket damper options exist (Sachs offers a decent solution) that will fix this particular shortcoming.

Replacing the linear-rate front springs with progressive Eibach items and checking geo will also help. We don’t recommend that you ever increase the wheel size of the FN2 Type R, though. In some markets a 19-inch wheel option was offered, but this changes the ride from merely hard to absolutely wince-inducing.

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This implementation of a torsion beam does affect handling in extremis. Drive an FN2 back to back with an EP3 down a challenging road and you’ll realise that the older car offers you more options in terms of how you exploit the chassis balance.

You’ll also notice that the lauded EP3 steers considerably more vaguely than the FN2. There’s a decent weighting to the newer car’s electrically assisted rack, even if it’s not the chattiest in terms of detailed feedback.

The lack of a limited-slip differential does make itself apparent when accelerating out of tighter corners or in the wet, when the Type R can bleed torque from its unweighted inside tyre. In 2009, Honda Australia finally offered the FN2 with a helical limited-slip differential, allowing for some superior traction when punching out of a second-gear corner.

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The manual gearshift is excellent, which is fairly surprising given that it’s a cable-shift, which often feel a little more lax than a rod-type set-up. The brakes are respectable for road use, although if you’re planning to track your FN2 you may well want to upgrade.

There’s a decent amount of room in the cabin, although taller drivers will curse the high-mounted seats and shorter drivers will realise that the rear spoiler makes it hard to spot the local constabulary who’ll be attracted to the sound of limiter-bashing, even if flat-chat in second does only translate to 86km/h in this infamously short-geared hatch.

Ownership is generally undramatic. There are a few issues that commonly crop up, such as leaking tailgates, creaking dashboards and soft paint. Worn seat bolsters are a recurrent FN2 issue.

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Mechanically, the Type R is robust, but 2007MY cars suffered third-gear synchro issues, which could result in the car jumping out of gear. Squeaking clutch pedals are usually rectified with a squirt of chain lube on the entrance to the clutch master cylinder.

The K20 engine is as near bulletproof as it’s possible to get, and certainly shrugs off hard use and higher miles better than anything you’d find from Renault. Valve clearance need to be checked every 40,000km or so and while the engine uses a rugged timing chain rather than a belt, don’t let that fact lull you into believing that this is not a maintenance part.

Get a gauge on the previous seller by asking about their oil maintenance routine for the car. If they gaze at you blankly, walk away. There’s choice in this market.

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Some owners have taken to fitting 17-inch wheels with 225/45 tyres, often sourcing the wheels from a Mitsubishi Evo (generations 5 to 9 inclusive) to give a little more sidewall compliance.

Others swear by the 15mm spacer kit offered by Eibach to ease the wheels out from beneath the arches a little for a more pugnacious, foursquare stance.

By now you’ll have probably figured out that an FN2 Honda Civic Type R is a car that may well have been misunderstood. It’s also one that rewards a bit of well-informed tinkering. Get one right – you can pick up a very tidy example for somewhere south of $20K – and you’ll have a performance bargain on your hands.

Time has smiled on this hot hatch in a way that initial reviews never did. That can be to your gain. One things’s an absolute certainty. They’re never going to make one quite like this again.

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Can there ever be such a thing as too many safety features? I’m beginning to wonder.

We rail against the weight, cost and complexity of modern cars, but is the desire for more safety equipment partly responsible?

The reason I ask is that over the past few years, I’ve driven quite a few cars where some of the safety gear appears largely counterproductive.

You probably know the sort of thing I’m talking about. Intrusive lane departure alert that’s distracting and which requires hunting through on-screen menus to disable. Lane-keep that bunts you into the pot-hole you were looking to skirt past.

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Gimcrack parking radars that beep so frantically as soon as you activate them that you immediately ignore the warnings.

Adaptive cruise control that accelerates wildly when you pull out to follow a passing car and then rams the anchors on sharply, catching following drivers off-guard.

Car manufacturers are often bound by legislation on these features. I find the lane-keep systems on Hyundai and Kia products maddeningly unsubtle, but European safety legislation actually dictates that such a system can’t be disabled with a simple button press. It needs to be a menu choice or a long hold to disable.

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The electronic nagging will only increase next year, when the EU mandates that all vehicles have an eye-tracking system fitted that’ll alert you if it thinks your attention has wandered.

I was recently driving an old E30 BMW 3 Series and it had none of these features. Heck, it didn’t even have anti-lock brakes. If I’d have crashed it, it would have undoubtedly folded up like balsa compared to a modern 3 Series, but it made me a less passive, more keenly engaged driver.

The thin A-pillars meant that visibility out of the car was excellent. It felt light and agile, its chassis communicating exactly what it was doing, letting you know with perfect articulation when you were approaching its limits.

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In short, I never felt minded to drive it, as if I was enveloped in some sort of impervious safety shield.

While it’s clear that my feelings are of little consequence if I’m T-boned by some tired and distracted school-run mum or dad in a Kluger, it got me wondering whether safety was becoming an alley from which legislators and manufacturers couldn’t return.

Are we going to recommend a car that doesn’t achieve a five-star Euro NCAP/ANCAP rating? The answer to that is, surprisingly, yes.

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Porsche doesn’t submit its sports cars for safety testing, and I can’t think of too many 911 buyers who demur due to that fact. But a five-star fail? That’s different.

That subtlety’s not lost on MG. In August, it stated that it wasn’t pursuing a five-star ANCAP rating for its MG5 sedan, largely because its target customers would prefer lower prices – perhaps reasoning that a current three-star-rated car was likely safer than the old five-star car they were replacing.

MG’s Aussie CEO, Peter Ciao, said: “I know my business strategy has risk. But I am prepared, and I’m ready to accept the consequences… We can provide any model at five stars, but that means money.”

So would you be happy to pay less for a car if it wasn’t fitted with attention assist or traffic-sign recognition or rear cross-traffic alert and was denied a five-star safety rating? I suspect the response from a significant constituency of Wheels readers may be yes.

Gina Lollobrigida and Brigitte Bardot may have had to farewell their film-star looks, but at 57 years young the Alfa Romeo 105/115-series Spider is now even sexier than the day it first bemused onlookers at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show.

Hard to imagine, but the Pininfarina-penned and produced Spider, quickly nicknamed osso di sepia (“cuttlefish bone”) was initially dismissed by the Italian press as an unworthy sister to its donor 105-series Giulia Berlina sedan.

‘Lollobrigida’ and ‘Bardot’ were in fact among the 140,000 entries in a 1966 competition to name the new 1600 Spider. Most popular was ‘Pinin’ – Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina had died within days of the car’s launch – but ‘Duetto’ was selected, until the maker of an Italian chocolate snack enforced its copyright after just 190 cars had been built.

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Soon enough, the 1600 Spider would be a movie star in its own right, carrying Dustin Hoffman in 1967’s The Graduate.

The Spider’s shape was inspired by a series of four Pininfarina Superflow concept cars between 1955-’60, based on an Alfa sports-racer platform. The production Spider platform and drivetrain would come from the acclaimed 105-series Giulia, on a wheelbase 10mm shorter than the iconic coupe.

The twin cam four was initially fitted in 1.6-litre guise and soon joined by the ‘1750’ (actually 1779cc) and a low-cost, sub-tax 1300 Junior. However, even the latter entry version came with twin Weber carbs, a five-speed manual ’box and four-wheel disc brakes.

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Despite a price not far shy of a Jaguar E-Type’s, the Spider delighted drivers with its light weight and quick handling.

It was most directly comparable with the Lotus Elan, both these cars in a class above mainstream British roadsters like the MGB and Triumph TR4 and indeed, the also Pininfarina-sourced Fiat 124 Spider that came later in 1966.

The Alfa underwent its most obvious revision in 1970 with the Kamm-tailed Series 2 coda tronca body, its squared-off tail further benefiting an already surprisingly useful luggage capacity. Later Series 3 ‘Aerodinamica’ cars (1983-’89) were corrupted to meet US 5mph bumper requirements, and finally Series 4 (1990) brought a sympathetic updating of the Spider’s nose and tail.

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La Dolce Duetto

Alfa’s all-alloy, four-cylinder twin cam is an industry legend, launching in the 1954 Giulietta and remaining in production, with modifications including fuel injection and twin-spark cylinder head, for 40 years.

The 1600 Spider made 81kW and 139Nm; modest figures, but helped by a 990kg kerb weight. Later engine choices comprised the ‘1750’ (1967), 1.3 (1968) and ‘Veloce’ 2.0 (1971).

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New recall notices have been issued, affecting Tesla, Volkswagen, Ford and Mercedes-Benz vehicles.

The details of each recall, as published, are posted below.

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• Contact phone: 1800 504 076
• Contact website: volkswagen.com.au/app/locals/find-dealer [↗]
• Contact email: [email protected] [↗]

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• What is a recall?
• What to do if your car is recalled
• Why a car recall isn’t all bad news
• What is a vehicle identification number (VIN)?
• All ANCAP & vehicle safety stories