If the Porsche 911 GT3 is a road-going racer, then this 911 GT3 R grabs a pen and scribbles out the road bit of the equation.

The latest 991-generation GT3 R is designed to race in GT3 championships around the world, including in Australia’s Bathurst 12 Hour enduro and GT Championship.

Sharing the GT3 RS’s 4.0-litre naturally aspirated flat-six-cylinder, power rises by 18kW to 368kW, though an air restrictor will see it go back the other way if pesky FIA Balance of Power (BoP) regulations get in the way.

Just as in the road-goer you’ll slam through gears via paddle shifters, but there are only six of them in a sequential constant-mesh gearbox. No seven-speed PDK here.

Kerb weight drops from 1430kg in the GT3 to 1220kg in the GT3 R, and that 210kg fall should make for a similar drop on the standard Porsche’s 3.5-second 0-100km/h.

Weight-saving changes include light carbonfibre composite material (CFRP) used on the roof, front bumper, wheel arches, doors and side and rear sections, while all windows are made out of polycarbonate – including the windscreen for the first time.

There are also no airbags or carpet, just a Cosworth power module, and the usual four seats have been replaced by a single carbonfibre-clad fixed bucket racing seat that sits within a rollcage.

A wing spanning 2.0 metres by 40 centimetres helps keep the 310mm-wide rear wheels (with 17-inch BBS rims) pinned to the ground, presumably as well as giving drivers somewhere to rest their lunch.

Retuned ABS/traction control work with six-piston front/four-piston rear alloy monobloc callipers and 380mm front/372mm rear ventilated and grooved steel discs.

As you’d imagine, at 429,000 Euro (or about $600K Australian, twice that of a GT3) racing doesn’t come cheap.

But when we’ve tagged already the GT3 as “race car perfection” we can’t begin to think how good the GT3 R may be on a closed circuit. Deliveries start December 2015.

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Ford’s latest GT supercar has hit the streets and it looks, well, insane.

A surprise reveal at the Detroit Motor Show earlier this year, the Blue Oval’s new supercar is now undergoing durability testing, as these shots from US outlet Motor Trend show.

The wild unpainted finish looks like urab camouflage, and more clearly displays the GT’s radically sculpted bodywork.

Essentially shrink-wrapped around the passenger cell and engine, the tight-fitting bodywork opens up enormous channels in the car’s sides, which should increase downforce massively without resorting to drag increasing wings, though the car also features active aerodynamics.

The 3.5-litre twin-turbo EcoBoost V6, based on the engine found in the Daytona prototypes, is now expected to produce in the region of 520kW, sent to a seven-speed dual-clutch transaxle.

The body is all carbonfibre to keep weight low, and the tricky pushrod-style inboard-damper suspension has high-tech features like active ride-height adjustment.

In fact, the whole car is likely to be a technological tour de force; with 50 sensors and 28 onboard microprocessors, the GT requires more lines of code to run than a Boeing 787 jet.

Unlike the last Ford GT of 2004, the new car will have numerous electronic aids, including a dial that specificies settings for wet conditions, normal roads use, sporty driving or track use.

While no price has currently been set, Ford has confirmed it expects to build no more than 250 cars each year.

It’s also believed that the new GT will form the basis for Ford’s return to Le Mans in 2016 running in the GTE class, ahead of a possible outright return.

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Normally we must await Super Bowl to reliably dish-up a bunch of clever, funny and cool car ads each year, but thanks to Turtle Wax Christmas has come a little early.

To help sell its car care products Turtle Wax has thought outside the box, hiring NZ drifter Mad Mike to slide, jump and fang a car through a gamut of filth.

The idea is simple: get the car as dirty as possible and let demon detailers Turtle Wax come to the rescue.

But this is where it gets cool.

While Mad Mike is used to drifting Mazdas, for something like this his RX-7 or wild new MX-5 just wouldn’t cut it.

To get a car truly begrimed he turned tradie-spec with a BT-50 to take on a mountain of muck.

At 0:49 he slays through some mysterious offal that looks like the kind of stuff they make frozen chicken nuggets out of.

Mad Mike is then pummelled with paintball trebuchets before hitting the brakes for something a little unexpected.

There’s more but we won’t spoil it – watch for yourself.

CARMAKERS say they have no idea yet how many Australian drivers are jumping behind the wheel of a growing list of vehicles that could be fitted with potentially fatal airbags.

Japanese car components maker Takata today doubled its recall in the US of vehicles linked to faulty decade-old airbags to 33.8 million – the equivalent of one in every seven vehicles on US roads.

The recall aims to fix potentially life-threatening problems with the Takata airbags, including bags that tear while inflating and the realisation that in some instances, the airbag can also fire a hail of shrapnel into the person it is meant to be saving.

Deaths have been linked to the latter fault in the US, while survivors have been described as looking as though they have been blasted in the face by a shotgun.

So far in Australia, only Toyota, Honda and Nissan have responded to the widening net of potentially dangerous airbags and issued recalls to replace them, with about 300,000 vehicles affected.

However, given how widespread the problem is in the US, more are now expected here – but no one can yet confidently say how many.

Wheels contacted manufacturers other than Toyota, Nissan and Honda, selling a similar make and model to those vehicles scooped up in the wider US recall.

None apart from Mitsubishi, which said it did not expect any impact from the Takata recall, could say with certainty if their Australian-delivered vehicles would also fall into the growing list of affected cars.

Mazda Australia’s Karla Leach said the carmaker was in contact with its Japanese head office, and expected to soon know more about what the US recall meant for models sold here.

“We don’t really know what it means for us yet, but we’re finding out and expect to have an answer later today,” she said.

Likewise, Subaru said it was wating on directions to come out of its Japan-based parent, Fuji Heavy Industries, before making a decision.

Wheels also approached BMW Australia to ask if any of its models were likely to be scooped up by the growing recall.

The federal Department of Infrastructure, which handles the recall process before officially asking the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to contact owners, was asked if it had any indication from manufacturers of how many vehicles had the potential to be scooped up in the recall.

Last year, the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated there were 13.3 million passenger cars on Australia’s roads.

Last year also set a record for the number of vehicles recalled in Australia, which nudged past the 1.1 million mark for the first time. It also meant that one car was recalled to fix a potential safety issue for every new vehicle sold during 2014.

The year’s record run of recalls varied from malfunctioning windscreen wipers, which had the potential to severely restrict vision while driving through rain, to engines and gearboxes falling out of cars.

Hey Charger! The legendary Charger name is set for a comeback with the stonking Hellcat flagship melting tyres Down Under – and it’s one of a fleet of Mopar muscle machines potentially headed here as HSV and the Commodore leave bleeding hearts and a gap in the market. Can Chrysler convert them? We look at the company’s Aussie plan.

We join the biggest car chase of all time, riding shotgun with the stunt drivers in the making of Mad Max: Fury Road, while Stephen Corby does his best impersonation of Ken Block on a Citroen DS3 rally car.

We pit the new Audi TT against the seductive Alfa 4C and French fave, the Peugeot RC-Z, but you’d be able to smoke them all in the new Audi RS3 – a hot hatch as quick as a super car.

There’s also a special Wheels investigation that’s kicked of the controversy surrounding ANCAP, as we look at the safety confusion – is your new car a five-star or a four-star car? Well, that depends…

Want more? Download the Wheels app, or pick up the June 2015 issue in stores 21 May.

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THE world’s first six-door station wagon is set to surface in Australia late this year or early in 2016, just weeks after its international unveiling at the Frankfurt motor show in September.

Based on the same transverse-engine, front-wheel-drive architecture that also underpins the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer and the latest-generation Mini hatchbacks, the Mini Clubman eschews its predecessor’s 2+1 clap-hand door arrangement for four conventional side doors.

As before, a pair of barn doors take the place of a tailgate.

Mini’s aim is to greatly broaden the Clubman’s appeal to families, something the outgoing version’s gimmicky set-up hindered, particularly in right-hand-drive vehicles, which necessitated rear-seat access via the road side of the car.

As our rendering highlights, the showroom model will closely mirror that of the Clubman Concept from the 2014 Geneva Motor Show (barring the oversized alloys and useless door handles), complete with Mini-first horizontal tail-lights.

Aiding practicality as well as access will be a useful leap in size, the concept car being about 250mm longer and 170mm wider than the old Clubman.

With BMW focussing hard on improving Mini’s value-for-money (prices of the latest model are up to $5000 cheaper), a similar strategy would see the next Clubman priced below $30,000 for the base 1.5-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol Cooper, stretching to more than $50,000 for the 2.0-litre turbo JCW.

The top model may also get Mini’s All4-branded all-wheel-drive system, taking the price close to $60K on the road.

Have spy pics of your own? We’d love to see them. Just email them to [email protected]

What stands out?

The Holden Barina is a low-priced light car that steers and handles reasonably well and has attractive exterior styling.The Barina Spark is a smaller model that is easy on fuel, and that was replaced in April 2016 by the Holden Spark (which is covered in a separate review).

What might bug me?

Getting to grips with the tyre-repair kit if you get a flat tyre – unless you have ordered the full-sized spare wheel, which is an extra-cost option.

What body styles are there?

Four-door sedan and five-door hatchback.All Holden Barinas drive their front wheels. The Barina is classed as a light car, and the Barina Spark is classed as a sub-light or micro car, both lower priced.

What features does every Barina have?

Every Holden Barina and Barina Spark has air-conditioning, and an MP3-compatible radio/CD system with 3.5mm auxiliary and iPod-compatible input sockets. Phone and audio controls are on the steering wheel, and there is Bluetooth hands-free connectivity for phone calls. A trip computer displays information such as the distance until the fuel tank is empty.All have wheels made from an aluminium alloy, which are usually lighter and better looking than steel wheels with plastic covers. They also have a tyre inflator kit. (A full-sized steel spare wheel is available as an option at extra cost.)There are six airbags: two directly in front of the driver and front passenger; one outside each front occupant to protect the upper body; and a curtain airbag along each side that protects the heads of front and rear occupants.There is electronic stability control, which can help the driver to control a skidding car. All new cars must have this feature.Every Barina Spark has in addition heated, power-adjustable exterior mirrors and front fog-lights.The least costly of the bigger Barinas, the Barina CD (sedan and hatchback), forgoes those two features but has significant additions of its own. They include bigger wheels (15-inch diameter, up from 14 inches on the Spark), power windows for all four occupants (rather than just those in the front), cruise control, and Bluetooth audio streaming in addition to the Spark’s phone-call only Bluetooth. There are extra steering wheel buttons for the cruise control and Bluetooth, and the headlamps turn on automatically when it gets dark.Every Holden Barina and Barina Spark carries a three-year, 100,000 kilometre warranty.

Which engine uses least fuel, and why wouldn’t I choose it?

The 1.2-litre petrol four-cylinder engine in the manual gearbox Barina Spark is the most economical in a Barina – it uses 5.2 litres/100km in the official test (city and country combined). Automatic Sparks have a slightly bigger and more powerful version of this engine and use about 10 per cent more fuel.If you want a Spark, they are your only choices. They offer just enough power to get you around town, but you will find yourself wishing for more on the highway.Two different engines are available in a Barina, and both handle country drives much more comfortably.The 1.6-litre petrol four-cylinder found in the Barina CD and CDX, the less costly of the three bigger Barinas, offers about 40 per cent more power in most driving conditions than the engines in the Spark. It uses about 6.5 litres/100km, officially.The 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol four-cylinder available only in the most expensive Barina, the sporty Barina RS, offers about 25 per cent more power again. This is the most enjoyable Barina engine. Fuel use is about the same as the 1.6 in the official test.The official figures use a government mandated laboratory test to simulate real-world conditions. Most cars use more fuel in everyday driving than the test predicts; however, 1.6 engined Barinas that WhichCar testers have driven strayed further than several alternative light cars from their official figures.Real-world driving of the Barina RS has returned a broader range of fuel figures – both lower and higher – than for other Barinas: its 1.4 turbo can be very economical in steady freeway driving, but thirsty when driven enthusiastically.The Barina Spark drives through five-speed manual or four-speed auto gearboxes. Barina CD and CDX models have five-speed manuals or six-speed autos, and the Barina RS offers a choice between a six-speed manual and a six-speed auto.

What key features do I get if I spend more?

Step past the Barina CD and spend more for a CDX sedan or hatchback and you get wheels and tyres that are bigger again at 17 inches, which look racier and provide a small increase in grip and handling precision. There are front foglights, and the six-speed automatic gearbox is standard.CDX models are nicer to sit in thanks to synthetic ‘Sportec’ seat trim, front-seat heaters, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear lever handle. Rear parking sensors give the driver an audible indication of how close objects behind are to the bumper.A 7-inch colour touchscreen is an appealing window into the MyLink infotainment system that debuts on CDX versions. MyLink offers an Eyes Free mode which gives you voice control over multimedia functions. MyLink also allows you to view movies and image slide shows, and provides integration for smartphone apps.Spend more again for the sporty Barina RS hatchback and you get the more powerful, turbocharged engine, and disc rear brakes rather than drum brakes (which will increase stopping power slightly, and respond more consistently if you work the brakes very hard). The manual gearbox returns as an option and gains a ratio, offering six speeds rather than five.The Barina RS also has leather seats, alloy sports pedals, and sporty looking exterior additions such as spoilers and side skirts.

Does any upgrade have a down side?

The 17-inch wheels and tyres on CDX and RS versions reduce low-speed ride comfort compared with the 15-inch wheels and tyres fitted to CD versions.‘Prestige’ paint comes at an additional cost of about $550. Three of the colours offered for the Barina and Barina Spark are no-cost standard colours. The other three Spark colours, and four Barina colours, attract the extra charge.

How comfortable are the Barinas?

The Barina Spark is intended as a city runabout car, and in these conditions it is acceptably comfortable. Its 14-inch tyres help low-speed ride comfort thanks to their deep sidewalls, which put more rubber and air between the wheel and the road.However, like many other sub-light cars the Spark does not weigh much and has little sound insulation and a basic suspension system. This limits its ability to absorb bumps and suppress road noise and vibration, and these limitations become more obvious on country roads where speeds are higher.The opposite is true of the bigger Barina. Australian tuning of its similarly simple suspension makes it an accomplished country tourer for a light car. The Barina offers firm damping, which controls the body better at highway speeds. This keeps its occupants quite comfortable on trips out of the city.However, the Barina’s ride is a bit less composed in the city, where sharp bumps are often felt by occupants, especially in more expensive versions fitted with the 17-inch wheels and tyres.A tilt and reach adjustable steering column makes it easier to get comfortable behind the wheel of the Barina. The Spark offers only tilt adjustment.Flat, firm front seats in all Barinas and Barina Sparks are easy to slide in and out of at either end of short trips, but are not particularly comfortable or supportive for longer hauls.

What about safety in a Holden Barina?

All Holden Barina and Barina Spark variants are rated as Very Good, thanks in large part to the standard six airbags. More expensive versions have rear parking sensors and auto headlamps. No Barina has a reversing camera, but the inclusion of such a system would have lifted some models to Excellent.(To see a full list of the safety features on any model, select the car and look under the features tab. Safety-related features are listed in red.)The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) awarded the Barina Spark four stars for safety, and assigned the bigger Barina its maximum five stars.

I like driving – will I enjoy this car?

The regular Barina’s handling is co-operative, but in CD and CDX models the enjoyment level is diluted by the engine. There is not enough power to elevate the experience from good to great.In the Barina RS, the power of the turbo engine brings extra entertainment. Nevertheless, the RS does not respond immediately enough to the accelerator to qualify as a hot hatch, and nor does the sound of the engine reward you when you spin it hard. There is sufficient power for comfortable highway overtaking, however.Any regular Barina is more fun for spirited driving than the Spark, whose most enjoyable aspects – notably, ease of parking and the infrequency of trips to the fuel bowser – arise from how small it is.

How is life in the rear seats?

The Barina has a 2525mm wheelbase, which is 150mm longer than the Spark’s. The extra length translates directly into rear leg room, which is generous in the Barina – as is room for heads, shoulders and feet – and tight in the Spark. This is not to suggest that the Spark is particularly bad among cars of its type: sub-light cars are intended to carry rear passengers only occasionally.The bigger Barina also offers a slightly elevated back seat base, which gives rear occupants a good view forward and out of the side windows.However, just as in the front, the rear seat bases and backs in all versions are too firmly cushioned for great comfort on longer trips, and under-thigh support is lacking.

How is it for carrying stuff?

The Barina Spark has a tiny boot with a capacity of just 170 litres. However, the hatchback’s maximum 568 litres of cargo volume if the rear-seat backrests are folded flat gives it good luggage flexibility.The bigger Barina offers a generous 502 litres of boot space in sedan form – that’s similar to Holden’s large car, the Commodore.The Barina hatch offers 290 litres of cargo volume, which is about average for a light car. With its 60/40 rear seatbacks folded, that figure expands to a decent 653 litres.

Where are the Barinas made?

The Holden Barina and Barina Spark are manufactured in South Korea.

What might I miss that similar cars have?

A reversing camera. This is standard in the Honda Jazz, for example.The effortless low-speed accelerator pedal response of the best turbocharged light cars, such as the Renault Clio and Volkswagen Polo, which offer turbo engines from the entry-level versions up.The latest active safety features, such as automatic emergency braking. The Mazda2, for example, offers low-speed auto braking as an extra-cost option.Several light-car alternatives – among them the Clio, the Polo, and the Mazda2 – offer a more rewarding experience to keen drivers, and more ease and comfort on extended trips.Models from other brands offer longer warranties, such as micro car the Mitsubishi Mirage (five years), and light cars the Renault Clio (five years) and Kia Rio (seven years).Other light cars worth considering include the Toyota Yaris, and good alternatives in the micro class include the Nissan Micra and Suzuki Celerio.

I like this car, but I can’t choose which version. Can you help?

Yes, certainly. The Barina CD hatch is our choice from the range. It has value in its favour, and if you want to spend more there are excellent alternatives available from other brands.

Are there plans to update the Barina soon?

The Barina is due for replacement about 2016. The next Barina is expected to be a Holden-badged version of the European Opel Corsa, which will likely be significantly better than the current model.The Barina Spark has reached the end of its model life. It was replaced in April 2016 with a version of the Chevrolet Spark/Opel Karl, which Holden has called simply the Spark. The Korean-made Holden Spark feels much better to drive, and its equipment includes a touchscreen that can display apps from your smartphone.

West Australian minister promises the government won’t sit on a mountain of cash from motorists meant to help improve road safetyTHE West Australian Government says it will start to plough tens of millions of dollars reaped from the state’s mobile and fixed speed cameras back into improving roads rather than absorb it into general revenue.

The move will be part of an overhaul of the state’s road-based organisations, including the $111 million Road Trauma Trust Account that collects all of WA’s red-light and speed camera fines, and is meant to siphon it back into improving road safety.

However, the government faced stiff criticism after the fund held onto more than $80 million last financial year, the state’s budget papers reveal, while the speed camera network is poised to reap almost $100 million in fines over the next 12 months alone, bumping the RTTA’s coffers to about $200 million.

WA’s minister for road safety, Liza Harvey, told the ABC the money would be spent on initiatives that would help the state cut its road toll.

Harvey said a record $111 million would be spent on “the various different areas that we need to focus on, which is run-off-road crashes, intersection crashes”.

“We’ve got some money in there for public education campaigns and a range of other matters,” she said.

However, Harvey said the government would not be spending the fund’s entire cash holdings in a single financial year, and would instead spread it over several years

Speed cameras and low tolerances continue to be something of a cash cow for state governments, which are largely unaccountable as to where the money from speeding fines is spent.

Victoria is expected to earn more than $370 million from speed cameras this financial year, while NSW estimates it will reap almost $350 million.

Queensland does not disclose how much it earns from speed cameras, combining its earnings in consolidated fines revenue, while South Australia expects its earnings from motorists will increase this financial year with the addition of new cameras.

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THIS is the 2016 Audi SQ7 that will take on the V8-powered versions of the BMW X5 and BMW X6 twins. While it’s not an RS version, which would make a mean rival for the 423kW BMW X5M and X6M monsters, the SQ7 turns the wick up on the regular Q7 models.

All models of this second generation of Audi Q7 – revealed at the 2015 Detroit motor show – sit on Audi’s longitudinal architecture that will underpin cars including the Bentley Bentayga and Audi Q6 that’s gunning squarely for the Tesla Model X.

For the Q7, it’s wrapped in a much stauncher look, particularly in the front end, as well as massively reduced weight – as much as 325kg – through expanded use of aluminium and high-strength steels. The Q7 still weighs 1995kg in base diesel form, but at just over five metres long and 1970mm wide, it’s slight shorter and narrower than its predecessor, which all bodes well for the performance versions of the Soccer-mum express.

For the S versions, you can see in these images the chunkier front bumper and through those mesh alloys you’ll easily spot cross-drilled brake rotors and larger calipers. There’s also quad exhausts at the back. Of course it will sit on lower, firmer suspension, but we don’t know for certain what will power the flying seven-seater. One tip from Audi tech boss Dr Ulrich Hackenberg is that it will use an electronic turbocharger, technology that was showcased by the Audi RS5 TDI Concept Wheels tested in July last year.

That concept was powered by a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel delivering 238kw and 750Nm for a 0-100km/h time in 4.0sec to bring the BMW M4 and Mercedes-AMG C63 rival into the fight; yet for the SQ7, Hackenberg has hinted at a V8 turbo-diesel along with the new electronic turbos as a replacement for the first-gen Audi Q7 V12 TDI.

The Audi Q7 range goes on sale in 2016, with the SQ7 expected to join the line-up later in the year.

MORE than half the 179 cars currently on sale and rated as having a perfect five-star safety score by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) would not maintain that rating if evaluated today, an exclusive Wheels investigation has revealed.

Yet, far from being death traps, many of the modern breed of what would now be four-star cars miss out on one or two features required for a 2015 five-star rating, some of which have little or no bearing on occupant protection or vehicle safety.

Confusion and inconsistencies surrounding the government-funded independent safety ratings have come about because of changes to the ANCAP rating system and the implementation of a “transition period” as ANCAP adopts the European ratings that once had lower standards to the local equivalent.

However, in most cases carmakers are not required to publish the year a car was tested when advertising an ANCAP five-star rating, and it is almost impossible for consumers to determine the differences between changing standards.

ANCAP admits not everything is “water-tight” in the transition period, but defends the latest results, which in some cases would have buyers warned off cars because they receive a four-star rating – yet they arguably have higher safety standards than competitors with older five-star ratings.

ANCAP points to ‘datestamping’, whereby cars tested years ago stipulate the date they were crash-tested.

With new vehicles sometimes going unchanged for a decade or longer – something of which most consumers are unaware – the ANCAP five-star ratings in some cases improperly reward older models that only had to meet the requirements when first tested.

One of the most controversial changes to the ANCAP testing criteria is the requirement for five safety assist technologies (SATs). Car companies can choose from about 40, some of which appear to have little bearing on vehicle safety, such as rear-seatbelt reminders and a hill-hold assist function, which works like an automatic handbrake.

The confusion and inconsistencies come as many industry experts question the need for a local safety authority ahead of the planned 2017 shutdown of Australian car manufacturing.

One of the founders of ANCAP in the early 1990s, Michael Griffiths, is critical of the direction the crash-test authority has taken in recent years.

Now a respected road safety consultant, Griffiths said the taxpayer-funded organisation had lost its innovative approach and was lagging other international crash-testing authorities.

“It’s a shame that a program that was world leading is now world lagging,” Griffiths told Wheels, pointing to the American Insurance Institute of Highway Safety as a leader in the field of occupant protection.

“ANCAP should be taking the same innovative route as IIHS rather than being tied to a program that has the limitation of a committee needing to represent all of Europe’s interests.”

Read Wheels‘ exclusive investigation in the June 2015 issue, on sale at newsagents Thursday (May 21).