Porsche’s new Panamera Turbo is coming to frighten VN Commodores at the lights near you soon – it is, after all, able to knock out 100km/h in just 3.6sec. We cover off the 10 things that make it great.

1. PORSCHE DOES A V8 Two twin-scroll turbos live in the vee of new 4.0-litre, 90-degree V8 – less plumbing makes for better response. Despite less than 4.5psi boost, still good for a potent 404kW and 770Nm. Centrally-mounted injectors improve fuel burn and efficiency

2. ’BAHN BURNER The Turbo will hit 100km/h in a launch control-assisted 3.6sec, 200km/h in 12.7sec on its way to a 306km/h top speed. The claimed combined 9.4L/100km fuel consumption might blow out a bit, though

3. GROWING BOY Second-gen Panamera is 34mm longer, 6mm wider and 5mm taller. A 30mm longer wheelbase absorbed with a shorter front overhang – much easier on the eyes

4. LIGHT SHOW Prismatic “3D” tail-light design not as cool as the optional Matrix headlights. With 109 LEDs each, high beam can track cars ahead and turn off individual LEDs, putting them in a little box of shade to avoid blinding them. Not new tech, but still clever

5. ANTI-GRUNT A big car with big power needs big brakes: optional Porsche Ceramic Composite Brakes measure 420mm front with 10-piston (!) calipers, 390mm rear with four-piston calipers. Available as a $20,890 option on all models, it’s a big price, too

7. NEXT 911? Analogue tacho flanked by two 7-inch screens – fully digital speedo on the left, infotainment on the right – hint at what next-gen 911 drivers will be seeing. Can include Night Vision, too – a first for Porsche

8. TITILLATING TILLER Pursuit of economy and the need to integrate systems like rear-axle steering and air suspension sadly meant replacing the super-sweet hydraulic steering with a new electric system. Fortunately it’s fixed rate, though the weighting is variable

9. TEUTONIC TECH Porsche has done its best tablet computer impression with an enormous 12.3-inch centre touchscreen, handling the new generation Porsche Communication Management, controlling sat-nav, phone and audio

10. HEADS UP It’s the most technologically complex Porsche ever, but gadget fans must wait a little longer for fashionable gear like heads-up display and semi-autonomous cruise control

IT WOULD be easy to dismiss the original XR6 as a fluke that took.

Like a nick-name from your youth that stuck or a reputation for a one-off incident (you touch one goat, for example) the XR6 seemed like a half-baked experiment at the time, yet it worked so well, the badge has stuck around for almost half the Falcon’s lifespan.

Even the original name of the model was Falcon S XR6, as if Ford was admitting that if it didn’t associate the XR6 tag with the S badge, nobody would get the gag.

And if you think Ford would risk muddying the water in that particular puddle for the sake of a toe-in-the-water six-banger, you’d be dead wrong. Nope, the XR6 was always part of the long-term plan, it’s just that back in 1992, the XR6 was still feeling its way a bit.

Of course, so was the organisation overseeing its development. Tickford Vehicle Engineering was newly minted and had been set-up as a counter-point to Holden’s HSV. So the XR6 got the Tickford treatment including alloy wheels and some small trim touches but, crucially, a modified cylinder head and different camshaft that saw the 4.0-litre SOHC Ford six sprout an extra 13kW for a total of 161, an unheard-of figure for an Aussie six at that point.

And when you got up it, that old six fairly took off. The extra kilowatts could actually be felt, yet the torque of the thing meant you didn’t need to rev it hard, and the popular automatic option was truly viable. In fact, with shorter overall gearing (thanks to a shorter diff) than the XR8, the six was a tad quicker to 100km/h although, after that, the V8 reeled it in. Still, as a real-world package, the point had been made.

When you think about it, a hotted up six-cylinder family car was a no-brainer. Consider the success Holden had with its GTR and XU1 Toranas that included winning Bathurst and giving its whole range an aspirational tune up.

IN DETAIL Engine: 3984cc 6cyl, SOHC, 12v Outputs: 161kW/365Nm Weight: 1539kg Price: $30,906

What’s our fave Falcon? Check out MOTOR’s take on the top 10 Fast Ford Falcons ever made here.

If you haven’t had a chance to catch up on all the big automotive news this week, here are some cheat notes to help you cram for all the car talk that may dominate conversation wherever you may end up this weekend.

Holden released its first big new import as it transitions from a manufacturer to negative contributor to the country’s balance of trade. Curiously, the ANCAP figures for the new Opel built Astra only apply to two of its three variants, with the entry-level Astra R not being rated. But is it unsafe? Nah, but Holden salespeople may sweat in their microfiber suits when they try to explain it all to potential customers.

One car the Astra will be up against is the all-new Volkswagen Golf, which is coming to showrooms later next year with new driver aids, a new ‘Evo’ engine, and advanced infotainment systems with available gesture control. There will also be more powerful GTi models.

Diesel engines in small cars are not popular in Australia, but they are effective at keeping overall costs down.

Hyundai i30 Active CRDI

The i30 CRDi’s 1.6-litre turbo-diesel engine is the Gold Star equivalent of bringing a sawn-off to a knife fight – its 4.9L/100km economy gives it the upper hand against the petrol Cerato (7.1L/100km) but it’s actually fair game as there’s no oil-burning alternative in the Kia showroom.

You’re paying a premium for the oiler in the base Active’s $26,350 price, while the extra on the upper-spec Cerato S Premium all goes into extra equipment. So what will it be, niceties or frugality? Given a substantial early lead on the fuel-saving front, this category was the Hyundai i30’s to lose. But the brand’s five-year warranty keeps it in the hunt with Kia, while smashing the Civic’s three-year cover. Similarly, the 12-month service interval is equal best. The i30’s annual insurance bill is within $4 of the category-cheapest Cerato, and it does well to equal the Honda’s 56 percent three-year resale to carry its lead over the line.

Kia Cerato S Premium

Honda Civic VTi-S

MORE GOLD STAR COVERAGE

How’s this for injustice: the world’s biggest automotive expo, the SEMA automotive show, is held annually in Las Vegas – AKA Party Central, USA – and features hundreds of the hottest show cars and booths catering to all aspects of vehicular customisation.

And you Regular Joes and Josephinas can’t attend.

That’s right. Not only is the SEMA show an invite-only event, you can only get on the door list if you’re involved in the automotive aftermarket industry or are a member of the motoring media.

But SEMA is a trade-only show. There no public days, so unless you work in the car-building or car-modifying business, or are very good friends with someone who does, you’re unlikely to experience it. So you’ll just have to take out word for it: SEMA rocks.

Then there was the Dodge Durango Shaker concept, a Mopar-muscled SUV configured to seat six in individual Viper bucket seats while showing a Porsche Cayenne Turbo how the Americans put the ‘hard’ into softroader.

And that’s just a taste on what was on offer at SEMA this year; check the video for a quick walk-around some of the other eye-catching attractions.

IN AN illustrated glossary of automotive terms, the word ‘recall’ would surely carry a picture of a Jeep Grand Cherokee. The WK model, specifically, introduced in Australia in 2014. This vehicle has been impacted by 14 recalls, a figure previously unheard of in the car business. Not surprisingly, sales have tanked, as owners don’t trade into a fresh one, and as negative publicity erodes customer confidence. Jeep sales for the first half of this year were down 51 percent.

One man only too aware of this crisis is Pietro Gorlier, an FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automotive, the parent company of Jeep) board member who carries the dual titles of Head of Parts and Service (Mopar), and Chief Operating Officer, Components, FCA Global. We sat down for chat recently at SEMA in Las Vegas, and heard details of Gorlier’s strategy now in place to address some of the customer service issues that have impacted the brand.

We listened as both Gorlier, and Australian director of corporate communications, Lucy McLellan, detailed precisely the changes that have been put in place to win back customer trust.

“It’s true, we could have done certain things better,” admitted Gorlier. “Our service level in Australia was not our best. We had to fix it. You are never done with customer service; customers’ needs and expectations grow all the time. Our most important role is to support the dealers. The service manager is the guy the customer deals with face to face, so it’s our job to empower him [to] resolve any maintenance or repair situation.” Gorlier was reluctant to be drawn into discussion regarding the underlying reasons so many recalls were needed in the first place, only admitting that the software developed to run many of the car’s systems was clearly not to the standard required.

Keep in mind, though, that with 73 percent USA-based production, Jeep is subject to some of the toughest automotive regulations in the world. Sources we spoke to suggested Jeep faced recalls for relatively minor issues where other manufacturers, depending on the regulatory body they are governed by, may have been able to resolve the fault with a service notification.

But recalls have been only one part of the Jeep customer service issue. The other relates to the time spent in the workshop.

“Yes, there were instances of customers were waiting [a long time] for parts for their cars,” McLellan concedes.

But she explains that significant operational changes were implemented with Gorlier’s visit to Australia earlier last year.

“Around 90-92 percent is considered the industry benchmark. We have a 95 percent fill rate. There’s now a greater inventory of all consumables. We also introduced faster transportation to parts around Australia. We have a Mopar truck that takes parts from our Port Melbourne warehouse [which now runs 24 hours a day during the working week, and business hours over the weekend] and ships parts direct to Brisbane and Sydney, overnight, giving us full coverage of the eastern seaboard.

“If a dealer doesn’t have a part, he should be able to have it in 24 hours, meaning a much higher likelihood of the customer’s car being fixed in one visit,” McLellan says.

“We’ve also implanted a coaching program where external coaches and consultants spend up to three months in dealerships training dealers and service personnel to deliver a better customer experience. Among other areas, it looks at efficiencies that can be implemented to speed up service operations to return the car quicker to the customer.”

Then there’s the reduction in the cost of Jeep consumables, as well as a new online customer feedback program where the customer is directed to a feedback form, and that information goes live to the dealer principal. “If someone is dissatisfied, their issue can be addressed immediately and hopefully resolved quickly,” explains McLellan.

Will it be enough to resurrect Jeep sales in Australia? FCA Australia is counting on it.

Porsche Australia has announced prices of $210,000 and $220,400 for the new base rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive versions of the four-door – respective lifts of $5800 and $4000 over the outgoing originals.

The Panamera and Panamera 4 borrow a 3.0-litre turbocharged V6 from the Audi S4/S5 range to bring both improved power – up 15kW to 243kW – and economy – down 1.0L/100km to 7.6 litres per 100km (S 7.8L/100km).

Standard features include plenty of highlights, such as adaptive air suspension, four-zone climate control, radar-controlled cruise, 14-way electric front seats, Porsche Communications Management, panoramic sunroof, and Apple CarPlay.

The base Porsche Panamera is due in the second quarter of 2017, along with a $312,100 4S Diesel. The Panamera S is scheduled for the following quarter.

The first of the new Panameras to land in Australia will be the $304,000 4S and $376,000, 404kW Turbo, in Q1.

Q3 will see the addition of the S plus the $242,600 4 E-Hybrid that provides official combine fuel consumption of just 2.1L/100km.

Porsche will also unveil four longer-wheelbase Executive variants alongside the new V6s at the upcoming 2016 Los Angeles motor show, none of which will be offered in Australia.

The Executive models add 150mm to the Panamera’s standard 3100mm wheelbase to generate extra rear legroom for chauffeur-oriented markets such as China and North America.

They are available with a latest-generation, tablet-style Rear Seat Entertainment system, which also won’t be available locally as an option “until a later stage when the features are developed for the local market”.

Porsche Australia says it already has 40 confirmed orders for the new Panamera – almost matching the 42 units it has sold so far in 2016, to the end of October.

If you can get past the striking image of Geogia May Jagger in Opel’s 2017 calendar, you’ll notice the partially exposed front end of a 2018 Opel Insignia.

The October page features Jagger showing some leg through a classic medieval-style gown while Opel’s big car sits behind her, revealing part of its front end, which until now has been hidden beneath heavy camouflage. The Opel will be arriving here as the new Commodore.

1

The take out from the teaser is the Insignia appears to have a grille similar to the Buick Avista concept, which actually looks a little like the trapezoid grille found across the Ford range.

The picture also confirms the installation the latest version of GM’s IntelliLux matrix LED headlights, which feature 32 LED lights, twice the number in the unit being fitted to the new Astra.

Opel says it can light up the road 400 metres in front and adapt to multiple driving situations and road conditions.

1

The award-winning lighting technology turns off individual LEDs to suit conditions. For example it will adjust the number needed to maintain optimal lighting on the road without dazzling other drivers when it senses oncoming traffic. It will also increases LED segments according to the steering wheel direction to help see around curves.

The 2018 Opel Insignia/Commodore will be fully revealed at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show in March.

In this hotly contested category it pays to have an economic edge.

Kia Cerato S

It is the least costly to insure among the top three, at $570 per year. But the quality that helps the Cerato pip rivals in this hard-fought category is the fact that after three years, when the Peugeot’s warranty has expired, the Kia’s seven-year warranty has that much and more remaining, while having two more years on the second-placed Hyundai i30. If something ever goes wrong, that has a dollar value.

Hyundai i30 Active

Peugeot 308 Access

MORE GOLD STAR COVERAGE

Mid-range light cars come with creature comforts that initially cost more but help retain value.

Mazda 2 Maxx

The Mazda 2, like its podium mates, sticks closely to the lower limit of the category at $17,690, and one of the things the extra $2700 buys is a slightly more powerful version of the 1.5-litre four-cylinder engine that actually makes the 2 slightly more economical.

A 52 percent Glass’s three-year retained value figure supports our theory that a specced-up hatch will be easier to move for a good price than a boggo special, at a percentage point better than the Mazda 2 Neo in the sub-$17K Light category.

So the Mazda 2 Maxx matches its less-costly sibling on many counts, uses less fuel, and counters its higher price with marginally superior resale – and you’ll enjoy it more along the way. Sounds like a winner to us.

Suzuki Swift GL Navigator

Kia Rio S Premium

MORE GOLD STAR COVERAGE