And so we bid farewell to one of the most enigmatic racers in Supercars history. The sport will absolutely be poorer for his departure.

Born in Auckland, New Zealand in 1989, Shane van Gisbergen lobbed into V8 Supercars aboard a Kiwi-backed Ford Falcon in 2007, finishing 19th on debut at the now defunct Oran Park Raceway in Sydney.

Tall, gangly and painfully shy, van Gisbergen is the epitome of letting actions speak louder than words. It’s not that he has nothing to say; he just says it with his right foot.

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His racing in an era still dominated by names like Mark Skaife and Craig Lowndes developed steadily, under the tutelage of legendary team owners Ross and Jimmy Stone.

The brothers, themselves quietly spoken and as intolerant of bullshit as their young charge, put their faith in van Gisbergen to help rebuild the team’s fortunes after the heady years of Marcos Ambrose and Russell Ingall – and SVG repaid them with a win at home in New Zealand in 2012.

However, it was at the end of this season that van Gisbergen’s quiet nature clashed head-on with his raw racing ambitions.

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After finding a buyer for their eponymous team in billionaire Betty Klimenko in 2012, the Stones were set to wind out of the sport on a high.

However, van Gisbergen – rightly as it turned out – was concerned that the team’s new owners, combined with a well-intentioned but ultimately misguided switch to Mercedes-AMG V8 Supercars, would be a recipe for disaster.

He would announce his retirement and his plans to move back to New Zealand to reset to a shocked racing community, who rallied behind the youngster as the season wore on.

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Unfortunately, van Gisbergen allowed the narrative to get away from him.

The unconvincing retirement story ultimately blew up in the young man’s face, as he sensationally joined rookie outfit Tekno Autosports for the following season, racing under a legal cloud that would last almost two years.

Van Gisbergen would later profess to wishing he had handled the situation better, realising a moment of self-growth that many in the sport could learn from.

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The rest, as they say, is history, as SVG parlayed the Tekno drive into a berth at Supercars powerhouse Triple Eight Racing in 2016, claiming his first of three titles in his first year.

His palmares of 80 wins, 46 poles and three Bathurst 1000 crowns puts him fourth on the all-time leaderboard; not to mention his success in numerous extra-curricular activities in disciplines as diverse as gravel rallying, speedway, GT3, open wheelers, endurance racing and even Aussie Racing cars and Hyundai Excels.

SVG doesn’t just have a racing brain; he has a supercomputer whirring away quietly inside his Bell helmet, working the angles, crunching the numbers and weighing up the odds in the heat of battle, way ahead of even the best of his on-track foes.

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He takes what he’s got, maximises it absolutely and is relentlessly consistent, lap after lap after lap.

His use of on-board tech to get the absolute best from his car set standards around the world, too.

Take, for example, his use of the brake bias tool. Shane pioneered the practice of changing the proportion of brake pressure front to rear on multiple occasions in a single lap, in order to get the very best tyre performance he can get from the car he has underneath him.

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His uncanny ability to simultaneously get the maximum performance from a tyre while also prolonging its useful life, too, also put him in the box seat for well-planned wins across a variety of circuits.

Some will say his driving style verges on the aggressive side, but in reality, it’s a ‘take no prisoners’ approach that puts the defending driver in a no-win situation. If SVG is in your mirrors, you’re in for a hard afternoon, and he knows it.

For me, though, van Gisbergen’s win on debut this year in NASCAR’s street race debut in Chicago sums up the Kiwi charger best. New track? Sure. New car? No problem. Rain? Sure, why not.

His calm, measured and joyful approach to the weekend, joining forces with a relatively rookie team with a heart the size of Phar Lap, summed up the coming of age of one of the world’s most versatile race car drivers, as he put on a race driver’s clinic ahead of some of the planet’s best-paid race car stars.

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The 2023 season hasn’t been especially kind to the Giz… though I wonder if the lustre of Supercars had worn off long before his busman’s holiday in Illinois.

Unceremoniously – and in my personal view, unfairly – rubbed out of title contention in round one after a technical DQ, the SVG of old only emerged in the back half of the season, as he finally came to grips with a car he’s described in less than glowing terms on a number of occasions.

He’ll enter his final weekend of Supercars competition with a mathematical shot at title number four, but I get the feeling he’d rather see his mate Brodie Kostecki go on with his stellar 2023 season and lift the championship trophy.

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Shane will head to the US in December with his partner Jess, their dog and a 16-year Supercars career in his rear-view mirror, as he tackles the next challenge in his racing career.

Will he return to Supercars? My guess is that it would have to be the right drive at the right time – and that, honestly, may never come again.

Kia ora, SVG. You were bloody spectacular.

In the world of vehicle customisation, headlights have evolved from mere functional components to canvases of personal expression and technological innovation.

Gone are the days when headlights were only about lighting the path ahead; today, they are about making a statement, turning heads, and pushing the boundaries of design and technology.

From patriotic displays to futuristic projections, the world of custom headlights is dazzling.

So let’s delve into the craziest custom headlights we’ve seen, showcasing the creative genius and technological prowess that transform ordinary vehicles into rolling masterpieces of light and colour.

While these creative marvels skate past the edge of legality, they are still undeniably cool.

Angry Eyes

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These custom “Angry Eye” headlight kits take the personality of your vehicle to the next level. These kits often feature running RGB lights that create an animated effect, making it look like your car is glaring down the road with an aggressive stare.

Suffice it to say, if I saw a LandCruiser with these headlights in my rearview mirror there’s a high chance I’d start praying and repenting for my sins.

DIY Magic

For the hands-on enthusiast, DIY animated turn signal kits offer a chance to truly personalise a vehicle. These custom-built signals can display dynamic, flowing light patterns, adding a touch of elegance and high-tech flair to any turn signal. It’s a fun and creative way to enhance a vehicle’s functionality and style.

Lucas Builds Stuff on YouTube developed his panel-style headlights using a 3D scanner and printer to fit colour-changing headlights to his Chevrolet Silverado in time for a car show. The results are mesmerising.

Controlled via a smartphone app, the driver can select and customise their light display.

Beauty is in the detail

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One of the most detail driven headlight designs we’ve seen comes from Azc Car Style in Turkey who rebuilt his Ford Focus custom headlights by hand.

The attention to detail is unmatched and watching through the video shows the sheer amount of work put into this build.

If you’ve got the time and energy, a project like this could take up quite a few hours over the holidays.

From computer imaging, cutting, welding, heating, glueing, drawing, shaving, spraying and all the electrical work involved, there’s not a lot of craft that hasn’t been put into these custom pieces of art

Angel Eyes

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Halo ring headlights, also known as “Angel Eyes,” are a type of automotive lighting that adds a distinctive ring of light around the main headlight beam.

They were first introduced by BMW in the late 1990s and have since become popular in car customisation for their stylish and modern appearance.

Angel eyes are available in various colours and can be installed as an aftermarket customisation to give vehicles a unique and eye-catching look.

For those in Queensland, Dan’s Custom Car Lights can install your custom halo ring headlights and more. If you’re not in the state, you can have them shipped to your door, along with a range of custom light options like door lights and underbody lighting.

(Note that under ADR regulations, all these options are actually illegal for road use, but we can still appreciate them anyways.)

This week, the BBC cancelled its long-running Top Gear TV series after host Freddie Flintoff’s disastrous crash sent the government-funded network into a spin over safety concerns.

As fans of the iconic British TV series process the news, it seems the perfect time to look back at the episodes that have made this series a staple in the world of automotive entertainment.

The show’s specials, in particular, are a treasure trove of exhilarating road trips, daunting challenges, and the camaraderie of its hosts – especially back in the Clarkson, Hammond and May days. (It probably says something that none of our all-time faves include any of the new hosts…)

Let’s journey back to some of its most memorable moments and take a quick look at some favourite specials from over the years!

Bolivia

Series 14, Episode 6

This special features a gruelling journey through South America, starting in Bolivia and ending at the Pacific Ocean in Chile.

Africa

Series 19, Episodes 6-7

Each armed with a used estate car bought in the UK for less than £1500, the team trek to Uganda for an African adventure.

Botswana

Series 10, Episode 4

With £1500 each, the trio set off to buy a vehicle in Africa that isn’t allowed to be 4WD or built to go off-road – and then proceed to, you guessed it, go off-road.

USA

Series 9, Episode 3

The lads head stateside with the challenge of buying a car each for less than $1000, or what it would cost to hire a car for a fortnight.

Vietnam

Series 12, Episode 8

Tasked with buying a motorcycle each for less than 15 million Vietnamese dong (approximately $950 AUD), Clarkson, Hammond and May take their two-wheelers on a hilarious journey through Vietnam.

How to watch Top Gear in Australia

Seasons of Top Gear are available to watch across Prime Video, Stan and Apple+, although the seasons available vary between providers.

A new BMW 5 Series used to be a Big Deal.

We’d publish spy shots of the next-gen version, speculate at length about performance and specifications, attend the international first drives and then pitch the car into a comparo against an E-Class or an A6 when it arrived in Australia.

Last year, on these shores, the 5 Series shifted 457 units. Yes, that still represented the biggest share in its sector, but it’s not a lot of cars. In bald terms, each BMW dealer in Australia will sell one 5 Series per quarter.

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Therefore, it’s understandable if the launch of the latest 5 Series, dubbed the G60 generation, has slipped under your radar.

The make up of the range is unusual too. Here in Australia, we get a sole entry-level 520i, powered by an unspectacular 147kW 2.0-litre turbo four, and a pair of electric i5 variants. Not wishing to issue any spoilers, but these are quite hilariously superior to the one with a tailpipe, which we’ll ignore for the time being.

You’ll need deep pockets though. When the last G30 5 Series launched in 2017, there were a couple of sub-$100k options and the range-topper – at least until the M5 arrived – was the $136,900 540i.

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That won’t even buy you the entry-level i5 today. For that privilege, you’ll need to set aside $155,900 before you start ticking boxes. It does buy you a very special car though.

The BMW i5 eDrive40 is a single-motor, rear-drive sedan that develops 250kW and 430Nm, which, coincidentally, is virtually lineball with the previous-gen 540i. It draws charge from an 84kWh battery pack (81.2kWh net) and features a driving range of up to 550km. Flog it from standstill and it’ll reach 100km/h in 6.0 seconds. Quick then, but not one of these EVs that threatens to detach your retinas when you mat the right-hand pedal.

Should you feel that retinas are largely superfluous addenda, budget $215,900 for the erstwhile range-topper, the i5 M60 xDrive. If you’re fluent in BMW-speak, you’ll realise that this is a dual-motor, all-wheel drive confection, in this case generating a vast 442kW and 880Nm, and will smash its way to 100km/h in a vanishing 3.8 seconds.

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The range dips somewhat to 506km, due to the fact that you have an increased draw from the same-sized 84kWh suite of lithium-ion modules. Pesky physics/chemistry.

The i5 is a big car. For those of you who measure things in terms of Chris Bangle-era cars, it’s the size of his aesthetically challenging E65 7 series sold from 2002 to 2008. For those who don’t, it’s 5060mm long, which is 97mm longer than its G30 5 Series predecessor.

Unfortunately that length doesn’t translate fully to cabin space, as rear leg room increases by 5mm. Width is up 32mm, height rises by 36mm and wheelbase by 20mm.

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It’s also – to this eye at least – a fairly handsome thing. That extra length lends the i5 a certain sleekness, with a clean and deft blend of trapezoids and Beziers to its detailing.

The grille is nowhere near as prominent as on certain other BMW models, which the more conservative 5 Series clientele will doubtless approve of. Should you feel the subtler grille is starving you of attention, you’l be reassured to hear that it features the Iconic Glow function from the 7 Series. Yes, it’s illuminated.

Step inside and the cabin is similarly slick. There’s a lot of materials, textures and depth of design to take in. Compared to something like a Tesla, it feels as if the investment into the cabin is from another dimension and the materials quality is superb.

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February 2024: i5 Touring pricing

BMW’s gone and revealed an electric wagon – and it’s coming to Australia. Get all the details at the featured story linked below.

Story continues…

It’s a shame that BMW saw fit to install possibly the ugliest speaker grille cum air vent in automotive history right atop the dash, a hideous riot of circles and bisecting angles which reflects in the windscreen.

Ergonomically, things are good. There’s a dual wireless phone charger, plenty of storage, a hugely adjustable steering column and the main 12.3” digital dial pack is hugely configurable.

BMW’s latest Operating System 8.5 features Youtube video streaming on the big 14.9” centre screen as well as a feature the kids will absolutely adore – AirConsole in-car gaming where you can use smartphones as wireless controller. This utilises local wifi and the latency when playing is reassuringly low.

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I’d prefer it if the driver’s seat could be set a little lower, but otherwise, it’s a solid cabin.

Our test i5 40 was fitted with BMW’s optional $5700 Comfort Package, which seems a bit of a no-brainer, adding a heated steering wheel, roller sunblinds, ventilated Comfort seats up front, seat heating in the back, and four-zone air conditioning.

It also introduces BMW CraftedClarity Glass, which sounds esoteric, but which replaces many of the plastic touchpoints on the centre stack with Swarovski cut glass. The glass rotary controller for the infotainment feels beautiful in the hand and its damped detents are reminiscent of boutique hi-fi hardware.

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Those numbers make the electric Five seem about as sporting as dynamiting fish in a barrel.

The equipment list is extensive and all i5s include a 17-speaker, 655-watt Bowers and Wilkins stereo, adaptive matrix LED headlights, a panoramic glass roof, Parking Assistant Professional,BMW Connected drive functionality, head-up display, Driving Assistant Professional pack and M High Gloss Shadowline body styling.

BMW claims that this generation Five offers the luxury and comfort of a 7 Series and the sportiness of a 3 Series. It comes closer to the former, but the latter claim’s a bit of a stretch when the i5 eDrive 40 tips the scales at 2205kg and the M60 is a hefty 2380kg. Those numbers make the electric Five seem about as sporting as dynamiting fish in a barrel.

We get to drive the eDrive 40 first. Throttle tip-in is silky, the steering office a pleasant little vibe through the rim, but is otherwise accurate but somewhat inert, an elastic steering gear mount mopping up the lion’s share of undesirable feedback such as electric motor ripple.

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The brakes deliver an excellent handover between re-gen and friction retardation.

It’s a genuinely well-calibrated package. Ride quality is good too, the i5 riding on an air-suspended rear end with adaptive dampers. Agility is helped by Integral Active Steering, or four-wheel steering, which turns up to 2.5 degrees.

The variance between the different drive modes are surprisingly subtle, and the 20-inch Pirelli P Zero tyres offer far more tenacious grip and reassuring response than the Conti EcoContact 6 disasters we’d tried on the 520i. It’s punchy enough to feel as if the torque is somewhat neutralising the impression of weight, but it pays to remember that this is a big sedan and judge it accordingly.

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Plant the throttle and it sounds agreeably exciting.

No, it’s not a six-pot howl, but the Hans Zimmer-designed Iconic Sound Electric delivers a rising whoosh as you accelerate that’s neither irritating nor offensively gratuitous. Exceed the speed limit and there’s an ultra-subtle double buzz applied to the steering that’s helpful and not overly intrusive.

Step into the i5 M60 xDrive and it all feels a bit more serious. That sweet balance of the 40 gets somewhat sledgehammered by the sheer torque of this powertrain. 820Nm will do that for you. It’s an addictive experience just to zip down on-ramps, but I have to wonder how soon that novelty would pall and leave you wondering whether it was entirely wise to cross your BMW dealer’s palm with another $60K.

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The heavier M60 does get a few items missing from the M60, aside from another 6-phase electric motor.

The Comfort Package is fitted as standard, as is Adaptive M Suspension and Active Roll Stabilisation. Twenty-inch wheels are fitted as standard and will eke the most out of that claimed 506km range, but it’s likely that most customers will choose the no-cost option of 21s.

Talking of range, the i5 features a neat function called Max Range Function. Should you arrive at a public charger which is out of order or busy, this function then disables all extraneous draws on the battery and increases range by up to 25 percent in order to get you to the next available charger.

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The DC charging rate of all i5s is a maximum of 205kW, with 22kW AC onboard.

A battery pre-conditioning function is fitted to help you get the max speed out of your charger, and BMW claims a 10-80 percent charging time of 30 minutes, with a 10 minute charge adding 156km.

Range is helped by an ultra-aggressive aero figure from just 0.23Cd, helped by a flat floor, active vents, air curtains in the wheelarches and aerodynamic alloy wheel designs.

There’s also an Efficiency Trainer in the iDrive system which will offer tips on eco driving, if you feel you’re not getting the best from the car’s range. A five-year Chargefox subscription is included, and BMW also offers a Gen 3 wallbox for fitting at home that will run you $1199 including GST.

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The i5 feels a mature product, following on from the excellent iX1, i4 and i7 electric vehicles.

Drive one back to back with an ICE 5 Series and it feels as if this car is just better suited to battery power, leaning into the luxury, refinement and smooth step-off required of an executive sedan. What’s more, BMW doesn’t make a great song and dance about its electrification and that will doubtless appeal to a certain class of buyer.

Sit inside and there’s no particular learning curve to shin up. It all just works. The i5 eDrive40 feels like a more cohesive and better value package than the range-topping M60 xDrive, but the latter deserves credit for not trying to be an electric M5.

As good as the i5 is, it’ll likely remain a rare sight on our roads. The price and form factor will see to that. BMW seems undeterred. It has 12 battery electric vehicles on its books and will have 15 by mid 2024. Quietly and unobtrusively, BMW is pushing for genuine market authority in this space.

Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) executives have revealed that the booming popularity of American pick-up trucks has put them in the crash-testing body’s sights for 2025.

It’s not like the popular one-tonne utes such as the Toyota HiLux and Isuzu D-Max aren’t a safety concern for motorists, but as the biggest sellers now carry five-star safety ratings and myriad driver-assistance features to avoid crashes, they’re a lot safer these days.

The vehicles at the heart of the large pick-up concern are the Ram 1500, Chevrolet Silverado, Toyota Tundra and Ford F-150 – the predominant pick-ups of North America that are making their way to Australia in increasing numbers. Sales are up to 8808 by the end of October – more than were sold in the whole of 2022, with F-150 and Tundra deliveries yet to commence.

We’re working out at the moment what that plan will look like – it’ll definitely involve ADAS testing

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The worry isn’t so much the safety of the vehicle occupants, but rather how these circa-2500kg body-on-frame vehicles interface with smaller cars, motorcyclists, and pedestrians.

“Some of them have some of the safety systems we’d expect to see in terms of ADAS [advanced driver-assistance systems], some of them don’t necessarily. They’re in urban areas, they’re mixing with other road users and there are definitely concerns from the community about the size of the vehicles. So our considerations are: what information can we provide about these vehicles?” ANCAP CEO Carla Hoorweg told Wheels at a 30th-anniversary media event this week.

“We’re working out at the moment what that plan will look like – it’ll definitely involve ADAS testing. What more we do starts to become a trade-off as they’re very expensive vehicles, so it’s a question of: What are you going to learn and what information you’re going to be able to provide through the different tests that we’ve got available to us and where the best value is going to be in terms of being able to provide comparable safety information for people”, said Hoorweg.

“For [vehicles] that are coming out of the United States, there’s not the same focus on pedestrian [safety] in the US either, so we just don’t really have any intel about whether these systems are working in those vehicles and that’s the kind of information that we can provide.”

Carla is talking about autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems, but also blind-spot monitoring and other assistance technologies. American safety testing bodies such as the NHTSA and IIHS do not evaluate the detection of vulnerable road users to the same depth as ANCAP and Euro NCAP protocols.

Destructive crash testing isn’t out of the question because, while utes are typically safer for onboard occupants, vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility plays a larger role in five-star ratings from 2023.

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“Where [utes] might get advantages they also get penalised more heavily from 2023 with compatibility in the MPDB [frontal offset] test. That’s where the penalties increased from this year. So if you are causing more significant damage to the barrier when you impact it, you’re going to get a bigger penalty which reduces your score for adult occupant protection.”

ANCAP chief technical officer Mark Terrell explained what’s known as the ‘fork effect’, where the frame rails of a ute – if not adequately insulated by a front crash structure – can penetrate another vehicle and cause severe harm to both those in and out of the vehicle.

“These vehicles largely will be eligible for the star ratings program”, said Carla noting that the independent body could spend money putting each ute through the full star rating program.

“Maybe the manufacturers want to front up for this one; we’re having those conversations with them. We’ve got limited resources in terms of what we can spend on testing each year and we’ve got to make that deliver the best result for that”, she added.

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It all comes down to balancing cost outlay against public benefit. So, like the commercial van program, ANCAP is likely to provide Gold, Silver and Bronze active safety scores, and not recommended awards depending on performance.

“We want to create something where you can see ‘this is what’s good, this is what’s performing really well, and this is where improvements are needed’. So how [ANCAP] designs the protocols for that and what we choose to test is a significant part of that conversation”, said Carla.

Prior to the focus on full-size pick-ups – with a publish date of early 2025 likely – ANCAP is planning to investigate the safety of light delivery trucks (3.5-5 tonnes) and collaborate closely with Euro NCAP on safety for heavy goods vehicles and prime movers.

The statistics make for grim reading and only tell one story: Australia’s roads are becoming deadlier.

Victoria’s year-to-date tally for lives lost shows an increase of 19.4 percent. The figures in New South Wales are even more alarming, with 321 people having died in road crashes to midnight last night. That’s a spike of 29.4 percent.

Mercifully, Queensland’s tally is down 4.7 percent but it’s backing up from its worst year of road fatalities in 13 years in 2022. Nationally the road toll is up 6.5 percent year-on-year.

South Australia, meanwhile, is enduring a horror run. Its annual figures show 102 people have died in 2023 which compares to 61 to the same period last year. That’s a 67.2 percent increase.

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Tragically, SA’s figures include the recent death of 18-year old Charlie Stevens — the son of South Australia’s police commissioner Grant Stevens — who was killed in an alleged hit and run last week.

As you’d expect, the situation has sparked calls to implement drastic changes in order to arrest the rising toll. Controversial tweaks to licensing, rewards for good behaviour, better training, more police patrols and more speed cameras have all been suggested.

So what’s the answer? Do the fresh suggestions stack up? And how does Australia’s road tolls compare internationally?

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The current system is broken

Despite 2023’s eye-opening stats, it’s important to remember Australia was once a world-leader when it came to road safety.

Victoria was the first state in the world to make seatbelts mandatory in 1970, for example, and Australia was also at the forefront of random breath testing around the same time.

Both measures saw huge improvements in the number of road deaths and the general trend ever since has been positive. In 1970, the worst year ever for traffic fatalities, 3798 people lost their lives on our roads. In 2022, 1194 people died.

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We’ve already eclipsed that figure in 2023, however, with 1247 deaths. So why, at a time when cars are becoming increasingly safer, do we seem to be going backwards?

A blase attitude towards seatbelts could be to blame, according to Victoria Police’s assistant commissioner Glenn Weir. Mr Weir told the ABC earlier this year that: “We’ve got a significant number of people now not wearing seatbelts involved in road trauma.

I think there’s a bit of in-built arrogance that seems prevalent in a lot of people… whether it’s a reaction to lockdowns and COVID-19 restrictions, I don’t know.

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Driver distraction and using mobile phones while driving is another rising factor.

Drivers are 10 times more likely to crash if they are using their phone, according to Victoria’s Transport Accident Commission and one third of Aussie drivers admit to using their phones illegally. We suspect the actual figure is much higher.

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In the US around 3000 people die every year due to distracted driving.

Speaking of America, the rise in popularity of full-size US pick-up trucks like the Ford F-150, RAM 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado may also be a contributor. Aussie sales of these larger utes, which can measure more than six metres long and two metres tall, are up 42 percent to the end of September.

Data out of the US shows large vehicles like these that have a bonnet height taller than 101cm are 45 percent more likely to result in a fatality if they hit a pedestrian.

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Could controversial changes work?

Ideas on how to improve our road toll range tend to range from sensible to controversial. Some of the more recent suggestions include:

Rewarding drivers who do the right thing

This is the brainchild of Russell White from the Australian Road Safety Foundation who suggested a change to Australia’s licensing system during an interview on The Project last week.

Mr White believes there “needs to be an increase in the level of visible police cars actually enforcing the law” and that Aussie drivers should understand getting their licence is just the beginning of learning how to be a good driver, not the end.

He also floated the concept of rewarding drivers who do the right thing by giving tax deductions, cheaper tolls and fuel discounts to those with zero demerit points. “So that a clean licence actually has a financial value as well as the points value as well.”

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A refresher driving test

Queensland is exploring the idea of forcing millions of drivers to resit an online test when the time comes to renew their licence. The test would likely include a video or an information booklet as well as a “range of questions” that cover recent road rule changes.

QLD also introduced steep fine increases for common offences last year, with one example seeing the penalty for phone use jumping from $413 to $1078.

Banning licences for males under 21

Late last year, the Australasian College of Road Safety, floated the controversial idea of banning licences for males until they turn 21. According to the ACRS, 15 percent of road users in NSW were less than 25 years old yet they accounted for 25 percent of all car crashes.

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How we compare globally

While there’s no doubt Australia’s recent road statistics are sobering, viewing them through a broader context only reinforces the need for change. This data lags slightly behind our current road-toll, with the most recent figures taken from 2020.

Even so, Australia’s rate of road fatalities per 100,000 population was 4.26 which ranked 20th out of 36 countries that form the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

The nations with the best fatality figures were Norway, Sweden and Iceland who scored 1.73, 1.98 and 2.2 respectively.

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The statistics show Australia trails behind the United Kingdom (2.26), Japan (2.72), Germany (3.27), France (3.9) and Italy (4.02) for road fatalities per 100,000 population.

Interestingly, New Zealand’s figure is worse than Australia at 6.01 while the United States has the worst road fatality rate at 12.45 per 100,000 people.

As the festive season rolls in, days are filled with the hustle of celebrations and the hit of holiday expenses. The last thing anyone wants during this bustling period is the unwelcome surprise of a hefty fine.

Recently, Victoria Police ramped up efforts to target unsafe vehicles in Melbourne’s South East, issuing defect notices for cars that fail to meet roadworthiness requirements and registration standards over a two-day blitz.

To dodge the unwanted gift of a defect notice and ensure your holiday travels are smooth and safe, here’s a rundown of five crucial checks you can perform on your vehicle. By following these tips, you can help improve your chances of enjoying your end-of-year journeys without any unexpected bumps on the road.

What is a defect notice?

A defect notice, issued by traffic or road safety authorities, is a formal notification given to a vehicle owner when their vehicle is found not to meet certain roadworthiness requirements or registration standards.

This notice typically indicates that the vehicle has been inspected and found to have deficiencies or faults that could make it unsafe or unsuitable for use on public roads. Essentially, the car is not roadworthy.

You’ll be given a date that the vehicle defects must be fixed. If not obliged you can be given a hefty fine, and in some cases even have your registration cancelled.

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Wheels and tyres

Wheelie good times should not be compromised by dodgy wheels.

Your wheels should be free from cracks, damage, or imbalance, with spare wheels securely retained if carried. Replacement wheels must also comply with specific standards of your state.

While you’re down there, it’s important to inspect your tyres thoroughly, ensuring all have a minimum tread depth of 1.5mm in principal grooves and check for uneven wear (except at the tread wear indicators). Tyres must match the rim sizes and be free from deep cuts, cracks, bulges, or other defects.

Brakes

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Make sure all your brake components are working properly, are firmly attached and correctly positioned, and free from any damage that could cause them to fail or wear unevenly beyond the manufacturer’s guidelines. if you can’t assess that alone, it’s best to check in with a mechanic.

The brake hoses and pipes must also meet safety standards. For brake linings, the material should not be worn down to the wear indicators.

If there aren’t indicators, the lining material should not be thinner than the manufacturer’s recommended minimum thickness, or less than 1.0mm if no recommendation is provided.

Lights

Ensure all car lights (headlamps, stop lamps, position lamps, number plate lamps, turn signals, hazard warning lights etc.) are functional, emit the correct colour and are securely mounted.

This isn’t Bizzaro World. No red light should be visible at the front of your car or white light at the rear while driving (with the exception of a reversing light, of course).

All lamps should meet registration standards and ADRs, have glare-preventing, colour-correct, clean, and undamaged lenses, and headlamp reflectors should be in good condition.

Lamp defects can sometimes be a quick fix, so this should be an easier one to keep an eye on.

Glass

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When it comes to your windscreen, take a look for any damage that would impair the drivers vision and have it fixed. A windscreen should be replaced if it’s badly scratched, fractured, or has cracks penetrating more than one layer of glass.

Side windows with extensive damage impairing the driver’s vision should also be replaced.

While you’re inspecting your windows, check out the laws in your local state to make sure they are within the legal tint limit percentages.

Registration

While rushing around buying gifts for loved ones it’s easy to miss that registration reminder e-mail in your inbox.

Whether you’re paying your registration yearly, bi-yearly or quarterly, it’s best to take a look and confirm your car is registered over the silly season.

If your vehicle is unregistered, there are several legal and practical implications including significant fines and penalties. Your car will be illegal to drive, may be seized, and it will actually be likely no longer covered by your insurance. This is something you most certainly don’t want to be caught out by.

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In states like NSW, you can also receive defect notices if your car:

• Emits excessive noise, leaks oil, or produces too much smoke
• Features a bull bar that fails to comply with safety standards or regulations, such as having pointed corners or sharp edges.
• Includes accessories that are improperly installed, like fishing rod holders, spotlight mounts, or winches.

If you’re off on a long journey and have some concerns, you can have a mechanic take a look at your vehicle, or jump onto your local state government transportation departments website for more details.

Remember, these checks not only contribute to avoiding fines but are crucial for your safety and that of others on the road.

Safe travels and happy holidays!

Safety organisation Euro NCAP has said it expected more real-world development from carmakers implementing lane-keep assist systems.

“When we started to develop these tests [for lane-keep assist] our understanding was that vehicle manufacturers would not bring these systems in if they would upset their customers”, Euro NCAP secretary general Michiel van Ratingen told Wheels at an Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) media event this week.

Yet with lane support systems – such as lane-departure warning, emergency lane-keep assist and lane-trace assist – now necessary for a five-star safety rating, Euro NCAP and ANCAP are updating their protocols to include real-world testing.

Van Ratingen was asked about a few recent five-star models – including the Chery Omoda 5, Isuzu D-Max and MG 4 – that have aggressive emergency lane-keep inputs designed to ace the program’s lab tests with little attention paid to real-world functionality.

We are kind of upset that the vehicle manufacturers answer questions from you guys to say that Euro NCAP is forcing them [to implement LSS]

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“I think we should not generalise the whole ADAS [Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems]. There are different elements within the ADAS family and some of them are very effective, other ones I would certainly agree have issues in the implementation in the vehicle; how the vehicle manufacturer has put the systems into the car”, said Michiel.

He conceded that lane-keep assist functions are often turned off by drivers and – in some instances – can be dangerous.

“When we started to develop these tests, our understanding was that vehicle manufacturers would not bring these systems in if they would upset their customers. So we focused on evaluating whether – in critical scenarios where the system should actually intervene – they will actually do a good job; that’s what we test actually in Euro NCAP and ANCAP.

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“So we really focus on: ‘Let’s imagine a crash is about to happen, how can the system effectively intervene’, and we replicate that on the track, and that’s the basis on which we give the five stars”, he explains before saying that Euro NCAP has had tough discussions with automakers about this exact issue.

“As it turned out, many vehicle manufacturers basically used that [test] as a blueprint for the system, which was never the intention for us. So [some manufacturers] basically said: ‘Okay, if I meet the test, that’s fine. That’s enough.’

“And because of the development times getting shorter, and shorter and shorter – now they are basically back to two years – what we see happening is that they are not properly evaluated in the real world”, he added.

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“We are kind of upset that the vehicle manufacturers answer questions from you guys to say that Euro NCAP is forcing them [to implement LSS]. We never forced them to do that, we actually assumed that they would actually have the ethical courage to actually implement a good system. And if they could not deliver that, they wouldn’t go for it. But they went for it just to get the points”, said a despondent van Ratingen.

“So now it’s back to our action to actually adapt the test procedure and to include real-world testing”, he explains, with Euro NCAP – and by extension ANCAP – upgrading the test procedure to “really force [manufacturers] to include driver intention much more than what they had done before”.

Michiel says he’s “of the opinion that this is not Euro NCAP’s job”, believing strongly it’s up to manufacturers to ensure these systems are helpful and don’t give false positives. “Already for next year, we have reduced the torque requirements”, he says, suggesting that second-gen systems emerging over the next two to three years should be much improved.

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Euro NCAP and ANCAP have signed a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) on ANCAP’s 30th anniversary, updating the agreement first signed in 1999.

The two independent crash-testing bodies will continue to work closely on future safety incentives, including evaluating light trucks and heavy goods vehicles, with the Australian body looking into testing full-size American pick-ups that are growing in popularity locally.

The facelifted 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA small SUV is now available to order in Australia.

Mirroring the updated A-Class launched in mid-2023, design changes include redesigned headlight internals, modified tail-lights, and new alloy wheel designs.

Inside, it features an AMG twin-spoke steering wheel, a simplified centre console with the touchpad removed and repositioned controls, along with an additional USB-C port.

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While the current 10.25-inch MBUX infotainment system remains, it has been revised with new features, including wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a higher-resolution 360-degree camera.

There are also newly designed display styles, machine learning, and the ability to speak to the voice assistant without saying ‘Hey, Mercedes’ first in some instances.

A fingerprint sensor on the centre console to identify and authenticate the driver is not available in Australia.

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The GLA 35 receives the round AMG emblem to replace the Mercedes star with a laurel wreath that remains fixed to the bonnet on non-AMG variants.

Under the bonnet, all petrol engines – including the AMG 35 – are fitted with a 48-volt mild-hybrid system for the belt-driven starter generator.

This system brings an additional 10kW with faster acceleration, added refinement with low-noise engine starting and reduced vibration, and regenerative braking.

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While the GLA 35 has unchanged outputs at 225kW and 400Nm, it has a new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, replacing the current seven-speed unit.

The updated AMG GLA 45 S revealed in Europe last month will not feature in the current line-up. Mercedes-Benz Australia has not confirmed if it will return to our market at a later date.

Pricing for the GLA 200 has increased by $5700, while the GLA 250 AWD is up $1600. The AMG GLA 35 has decreased by $900 compared to the pre-facelift version.

JUMP AHEAD

• 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA pricing
• 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA features
• Options
• Colours
• Engine, drivetrain, and fuel economy
• Safety
• Dimensions
• Warranty and servicing
• Availability

2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA pricing

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2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA features

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2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 features

2024 Mercedes-AMG GLA 35 features

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Options

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Engine, drivetrain, and fuel economy

The GLA 200 features a 1.3-litre turbocharged mild-hybrid four-cylinder petrol engine producing 120kW and 270Nm. It is matched to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, sending power to the front wheels.

Mercedes-Benz claims an 8.9-second 0-100km/h sprint time.

The GLA 250 has a 2.0-litre mild-hybrid turbo-petrol four, with 165kW and 350Nm, all-wheel-drive, a 6.8-second 0-100km/h sprint time, and a new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

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In the AMG GLA 35, the 2.0-litre turbo is uprated to 225kW and 400Nm, with a revised front radiator for improved cooling.

It has a 5.2-second 0-100km/h sprint time.

Front-wheel drive variants have a torsion-beam rear suspension and 43-litre fuel tank, while all-wheel drive models sport multi-link independent rear suspension and a larger 51-litre fuel tank.

GLA 200 and GLA 250 require premium unleaded (95 RON or higher), while AMG variants require 98RON.

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Safety

The Mercedes-Benz GLA is covered by a five-star ANCAP safety rating, based on testing conducted in 2019.

It scored 96 per cent for adult occupant protection, 92 per cent for child occupant protection, 79 per cent for vulnerable road user protection, and 77 per cent for safety assistance.

Nine airbags (dual front, rear head, front and rear side, and front knee) are fitted as standard.

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Dimensions

The Mercedes-Benz GLA measures 4410 millimetres long, 1834mm wide and 1611mm tall, with a 2729mm wheelbase.

2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA boot space

The Mercedes-Benz GLA has a 435-litre boot, extending to 1420L with the second-row folded.

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Warranty and servicing

The Mercedes-Benz GLA is covered by the brand’s five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty.

A complimentary roadside assistance program during the vehicle’s warranty period. The program can be extended for $149.60 per year.

Service pricing can be pre-purchased, consisting of three-, four- or five-year packages with 12-month/25,000km intervals.

2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA service plan pricing

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Availability

The updated 2024 Mercedes-Benz GLA is on sale now.

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The 2024 Genesis G70 has arrived in Australia with more technology and fewer variants.

Genesis Australia has dropped the entry-level G70 Sport turbo-four sedan and made the Luxury Pack standard-fit, leaving two identically-specced variants – the 2.0-turbo Shooting Brake Sport Line Luxury or 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 Sport Luxury sedan.

As such, the entry price has climbed $18,000 – or $25,000 for the sedan – with increases between $3676 and $4273 for carryover variants, now fitted with the luxury package as standard.

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The latest G70 – heavily related to the now-axed Kia Stinger sedan – features updated emblems and alloy wheel designs, new exterior colours, a 6.0-inch touch-type climate control panel, and “new generation” electronic control suspension.

Genesis says the updated suspension improves the G70’s “roadholding, comfort and driver engagement” with reduced damping lag, increased damping force resolution, improved control logic and functions, and a wider damping force window.

It also adds intelligent speed limit assist, Genesis Connected Services with a complimentary five-year subscription, over-the-air updates, a frameless rear-view mirror, and dual rear USB-A ports.

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However, while left-hand-drive examples of the G70 have switched to the newer 224kW/422Nm 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo, the Australian-spec model retains the existing 179kW/353Nm 2.0-litre turbo, which is now exclusive to the Shooting Brake variant.

The 274kW/510Nm 3.3-litre twin-turbo V6 in the Sport Luxury sedan remains unchanged.

2024 Genesis G70 pricing

Prices exclude on-road costs.

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2024 Genesis G70 features

2024 Genesis G70 3.3 Sport Luxury features