HYUNDAI is considering more efficient turbocharged engines for its Genesis luxury sedan.

But work has not begun on them yet, suggesting the earliest they could arrive is 2017.

Speaking to Wheels at the launch of the $60,000-plus Genesis, Hyundai Australia chief executive Charlie Kim said there was a chance the large rear-drive sedan could get a choice of more affordable four-cylinder engines.

“We are reviewing some of our engines,” Kim said.

“It is not finalised yet, but we are starting [to look at] a turbo,” he said. “We are thinking [that], but there is no plan.”

It’s unclear whether a turbo would be a four-cylinder, with another option being a turbocharged version of the regular Genesis V6 – either the 3.3-litre available overseas or the 3.8-litre available locally.

Kim also said a diesel engine was being evaluated for the Genesis.

“Same thing [with the diesel],” he said. “But it is not finalised yet.”

Kim said the viability of new engines for the Genesis would depend on demand.

In particular, it’s understood that if Australian volumes aren’t high – sales are tipped to be “up to 1000” a year – the chances of engineering a diesel engine for right-hand-drive markets is slim.

While the 3.8-litre petrol in the Genesis is powerful enough – it produces 232kW and 397Nm, pushing the near-two-tonne limousine to 100km/h in 6.5 seconds – it’s also thirsty.

Claimed fuel use is 11.2 litres per 100km, which is more than the smaller, lighter Grandeur that Hyundai sold from 2006.

That also makes the Genesis thirstier than all of its luxury rivals, including the locally produced large cars that have been criticised for high fuel use.

FORMULA ONE: Title to be decided in Abu Dhabi

THE Formula One World Championship for 2014 will be decided at the final double-points round in Abu Dhabi after Nico Rosberg defied Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton’s challenge to win the Brazilian Grand Prix this morning.

The German’s win from pole cut the points margin to Hamilton to 17, but the Briton retains the upper hand going to the decider – he can seal his second world title with another second-place finish.

The dominant pace of the Mercedes cars this year suggests this is more than possible.

Australian Daniel Ricciardo’s consistent 15-race pointscoring run ended in Brazil when he retired his Red Bull Renault with suspension failure after 40 laps.

“When I went into Turn One, the car went to the right and I knew there was a problem,” Ricciardo said afterwards. “I came into the pits and the team told me it was suspension failure and we retired.

“It had been a bit of a boring race We were close to everyone but not close enough to have many fights; I would have liked to have had a bit more fun, but it didn’t really happen.

“It’s a shame, but I had a pretty good run until now, so I can’t be too greedy. It would be good to finish on the podium at the final race of the season.”

In front of his home crowd, Felipe Massa took his Williams to third, ahead of world champions Jenson Button (McLaren) and Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull).

MOTO3: Miller wins battle; loses war

SO NEAR, yet so far. That was the story for Queensland’s Jack Miller in the Moto3 championship decider at Valencia at the weekend.

Miller had the huge task of pulling back an 11-point deficit to title leader Alex Marquez; in essence, he needed to win on his KTM with Honda rider Marquez off the podium.

He very nearly pulled it off.

On Saturday afternoon Niccolo Antonelli took pole, with Miller and Marquez joining him on the front row.

At the start, Miller took off, with Marquez more cautious, moving between fourth and third and then, later, up to second.

What became obvious was that Miller was fighting a lone hand, his KTM colleagues not really in the mix, while Marquez had help from his Honda team-mate Alex Rins, who was slicing and dicing throughout a race that had no shortage of fairing bashing and cut-throat overtaking, mainly from Miller.

Into the last lap, Miller held sway from Isaac Vinales, with Danny Kent closing on third-placed Marquez. For a few seconds there was hope, but Kent made a mistake and with it went Miller’s chances of the world title.

Just two points made the difference, leaving Miller to rue a couple of poor races in the second half of the season.

Marquez won three GPs to Miller’s six, but the Spaniard was more consistent.

So history was made, with Alex joining Marc as the first brothers to win world championships in motorcycle racing.

In other news over the weekend, Wayne Gardner’s teenage son Remy has secured a full-time seat in Moto3 next season after signing with the CIP Mahindra squad.

Remy, 16, will join the French-based team alongside Japanese rider Tatsuki Suzuki.

The second-generation rider made three Moto3 starts this year, scoring a world championship point for 15th spot in Malaysia.

Jack Miller departs to MotoGP next year, but Gardner’s new gig means a continuation of Australian representation and another good reason to keep watching an always-exciting series.

GT CHAMPIONSHIP: Muscat bags Aussie GT title

EREBUS Motorsport driver Richard Muscat won the 2014 Australian GT Championship in style on Saturday, beating V8 Supercars gun Garth Tander to win both races of the final round at Highlands Motorsport Park in New Zealand.

It’s the glamour track ironically owned by his championship rival Tony Quinn, the title runner-up in an Aston Martin.

The leader of the championship since round one in March, Muscat was consistent throughout the year in the Erebus Motorsport #36 SLS AMG GT3, finishing the championship 53 points ahead of Quinn.

Muscat finished on the podium in all but one race this year, collecting seven race wins over the six rounds.

“It’s been a fantastic year of racing,” said Muscat, “and this weekend we’ve had a great time at Highlands. To have the title go down to the last race of the year, it was a fairy tale ending.”

With a 30-point lead at the start of the day but with 50 points up for grabs in each 40-minute heat, the championship was far from resolved, especially when Tander, Quinn’s co-driver, took pole.

But Muscat fought hard in both races to collect the maximum 100 points on offer and seal the title.

Quinn and Tander took a remarkable victory in Sunday’s Highlands 101 feature enduro after Muscat’s Merc ran out of fuel on the final lap while leading.

Sharing the SLS by Craig Baird, Muscat was heading for a weekend clean sweep when he slowed in the closing stages to conserve fuel.

As the Mercedes crawled and then stopped, Tander flew by to take the win.

Rod Salmon/Nathan Antunes (Audi) and Justin McMillan/Steven Richards (Lamborghini) took the other podium places.

WORLD RALLY: Molly set for Wales Rally GB

AUSTRALIAN rally driver Molly Taylor is intent on finishing a roller-coaster 2014 season with a flourish next weekend at the final round of the World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB.

One of her favourite events of the elite 13-round WRC series, it’s the 2014 grand final for the world’s top rally drivers, including in the junior category of the WRC.

Taylor has been running a Citroen DS3 R3T through D-Max Racing in selected rounds, after winning the inaugural Ladies Trophy in last year’s European Rally Championship.

The 26-year-old Sydneysider, daughter of multiple Australian champion navigator Coral, has been door-knocking in both Australia and Europe for the last two months, chasing a budget to fund her drive.

Now over the disappointment of being forced to miss her home event, Rally Australia, she’s fired up to do well in North Wales, where conditions vary alarmingly and are very different from NSW.

Her goal is to win a stage at Rally GB.

“We have been close in previous events and finished on the podium at Rally Finland earlier this year, so it is within my reach,” she said.

Taylor, who is now officially ranked as the world’s number one female rally driver, moved to Europe in 2009 to build her rally career after winning several class championships in Australia.

In 2011, she was one of six young drivers to win a scholarship in an international shootout between 18 drivers from around the world.

SPEEDWAY: Another iconic track to go

IT’S where the great names had capacity crowds in their thrall. Bob Tattersall, Satan Brewer, Merle Bettenhausen, Sleepy Tripp, Barry Butterworth, Larry Rice, George Tatnell, Steve Kinser, Rich Vogler, AJ Foyt, Mel Kenyon…

After protracted battle for survival, Auckland’s suburban Western Springs Speedway – scene of so many wonderful international motorcycle, midget car and sprintcar races for decades – will soon become just another part of dirt-track history.

Writing in the NZ Herald, Bernard Orsman reports that Auckland Council has voted for a $12 million upgrade to the stadium to create a new test cricket and concert venue.

The upgrade of Western Springs is part of a broader stadium strategy that involves relocating speedway racing to Mt Smart Stadium, the Warriors rugby league side moving from Mt Smart to QBE Stadium at Albany, and international cricket being played at Eden Park for one-day and 20/20 matches and at Western Springs for tests.

Critics have slammed the decision, suggesting that Auckland has two other international cricket grounds and that cricket attracts poor crowds anyway.

Western Springs Speedway was built in the depression and opened in 1929. By the start of World War 2, it was a massive attraction, Aucklanders drawn to the heady mix of bikes and midgets, with big stars from the US and Australia making it to the stadium every summer.

Watch a video history of Western Springs on YouTube: Part 1 & Part 2.

SPEEDWAY: Sydney track salutes its founder

SYDNEY sprintcar racer Sam Walsh stormed to his first career victory at Valvoline Raceway on Saturday, taking out the Sid Hopping Shootout 30-lap main event named after the track founder.

Walsh led home Trevor Green, birthday boy Danny Reidy, Marty Perovich and Max Dumesny.

Watching on at Valvoline Raceway (the former Parramatta City Raceway) was Sid Hopping, the special guest on the night and rightly honoured as the man who designed and built the venue in the late 1970s.

Sid’s vision, energy and unwavering desire to create a permanent home for sprintcars in Sydney led to the transformation from the old Granville showground into an enduring clay-track speed Mecca known around the country as the ‘speedway by the freeway’.

The efforts of Hopping and his equally committed family were recalled on Saturday, with some pointing out that his legacy extends beyond the construction of the purpose-built home for sprintcars. Many family members remain actively involved as competitors, administrators and officials.

On Saturday night, the contributions of Sid and his original business partner, the late Bert Wilder, were acknowledged with a large turnout of sprintcar teams from Northern Territory, South Australia, the ACT and Queensland in addition to the usual local members of the “Parramatta Posse”.

I’VE PLUNGED headlong into the amber-fuelled effervescence at Flemington on Melbourne Cup Days, and endured the whopper Wednesday hangovers to prove it.

So, when I heard about the Birdsville Races, I wanted to see how the denizens of the desert bring their unique character and humour to their quintessentially Australian Outback version. I figured on bringing a little city-slicker style to the Simpson Desert soiree, with a dungaree twist.

For the car, I had the perfect solution. BMW launched a diesel 7 Series earlier in the year priced at $198,800. The 730d’s 3.0-litre turbo-diesel engine’s 180kW and V8-rivalling 540Nm would be adequate, and its claimed 7.2L/100km would give it the legs, we figured, to leap long outback distances.

The 7 Series is also long on luxury: electrically adjustable leather seats (with massage function), tri-zone climate control, integrated entertainment system with TV and sat-nav, iPod connectivity and an abundance of top-notch speakers.

Weaknesses? Grip and ground clearance. The rocky conditions could be tricky, and the Simpson is full of sand, apparently. But the Birdsville Track is graded semi-regularly so the BMW should be fine. Even so, I roped in an Audi Q5 3.0TDI – both for support and as a pack-horse to take some of the burden off the nearly two-tonne 730d. Wheels regular and ex-Queenslander Stu Orford jumped behind the wheel and had my partner Jenny as co-driver.

Like many BMWs, ours wears run-flat tyres, and BMW says they can be driven deflated for up to 200km. But where we’re headed, there’s often nothing but sand and loneliness for 200 clicks, let alone a servo with replacement run-flats for a city limo. So we’ve packed a full-size spare for both cars.

The plan was to drive long and hard and break the back of the journey on the first day. So, the cars packed with swags, clothes, camping gear, food and people, we leave Melbourne early Wednesday morning and hit Ballarat for fuel and breakfast. The BMW has just about run dry after covering 1050km on one tank since I’d collected it in Sydney earlier in the week and driven it to Melbourne.

With people and cars refuelled, it’s west towards the Grampians town of Horsham before pointing northwest to Dimboola and the Vic/SA border-town of… Bordertown. Then north, through Pinnaroo to the Murray River at Cadell. Trees disappear from the surrounding landscape as sandy, hummock grass-covered hills take over.

It’s easy to settle into big-drive mode in the 7. Its supple ride isolates you from the road’s roughness and the body does the same to outside noises. Wind noise is barely present at freeway speeds, and the robust diesel is a silent force at 1600rpm in sixth.

Our weary convoy eventually pulls into Peterborough, happy because we’ve put 1000km under our wheels while managing to dodge the Playstation nightmare of kangaroos, emus and (most of the) rabbits we’d encountered from dusk onwards. The grand buildings and murals give us a glimpse of the town’s boom-time, where it grew fat off the railway from Silverton and Broken Hill and once boasted the Southern Hemisphere’s largest railway roundhouse. Now it looks worn-out and sleepy, just like us.

We gather in the bar of the Railway Hotel and look over the map while chowing down on microwave chicken parma and chips. We’re halfway to Birdsville and 420km short of the Birdsville Track. The bitumen will run out in 300km, at Lyndhurst. Tomorrow is Thursday, the day before the races. I still have hopes of covering the 940km to Birdsville in a day. Unrealistic? Oh, ye of little faith…

Next morning we awake before Peterborough does and leave. As we drive towards Hawker we watch the Flinders Ranges, South Australia’s biggest mountain range, grow from the earth alongside us, its folded and canted layers of sedimentary rock gleaming red in the morning sun.

There’s an old pub where the Flinders Ranges road returns to the highway at Parachilna. It’s been almost a decade since my last visit, and I’m looking forward to what could be my last home-cooked meal for a week. My companions’ faces remind me of the roos caught in our headlights the night before. I can only assume I have the same effect on them. The food, however, is great. Brunelli’s Roadkill Burger is big and juicy, my Coat-of-Arms pizza has plenty of roo and emu on a crispy base, and Stu’s T-bone barely fits on the plate.

Back on the road, the Flinders fall behind and the flatlands return, punctuated by mining slag heaps. Stubby trees and saltbush dot the plains, hiding the hot sand and stone that carpets the terrain. We hit the smooth dirt at Lyndhurst, and the 730d lopes along comfortably towards the dust-covered, old railhead town of Marree.

Until now (after 1400km and one-and-a-half days’ driving) our Birdsville Races goal has been an abstract concept: words and lines on a map. But it’s now starting to feel real. My mind races ahead to that first beer at the Birdsville Pub, but part of me knows that’s still a long way off, and the real journey has only just begun.

The first 20km out of Marree is hard-packed dirt so I dial up 90km/h and watch the scenery change. Imagine a landscape as desolate as Mars covered in fist-sized red rocks baking under the hot sun. Now imagine a track about four dozer blades wide, discernible only by the slight build-up of rocks into a verge on either side. This is our tenuous lifeline to civilisation.

Our pace slows to about 40km/h as I adapt to the new terrain. The speedo creeps up as I get better at picking lines around and across the rubble but never tops 80km/h. The smooth ride is gone, replaced by a constant jitter as the rocks tax the BMW’s once-supple suspension. We won’t make Birdsville this day. If we slow much more we may not make the second – and last – day either.

The BMW soldiers on stoically, loping across the easier stretches, scrabbling and slewing – gracefully, of course – over the stonier sections. At times the wheel ruts deepen and we ride the crests to increase ground clearance. The pings and clangs of stones hitting the underbody make me cringe and I lift myself in the seat as if somehow the whole car will rise with me.

With the sun nearing the horizon, we make camp next to a dry creek bed. Walking back to camp with an armload of wood, the scene strikes me as surreal. BMW’s finest sits in the middle of an uninhabited wasteland, its metallic paint glowing in the soft desert sunset, surrounded by canvas swags and a tent, and with Stu determinedly building a campfire nearby.

I doubt any of the seven billion other people on earth have ever seen such a sight. Looking over the map later that night we discover that our bone-dry creek bed is the Cooper Creek of Burke and Wills fame. In 1861 Burke, Wills, King and co hit Cooper Creek about 250km northeast, near the Dig Tree before forging on alone to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The staging party was told to wait 13 weeks before returning to Melbourne. They waited 18 and left … just nine hours before the exhausted Burke, Wills and King returned. In the end both Burke and Wills perished out here. And here we are, swanning around in a luxury sedan. It seems disrespectful.

We still have almost 400km to cover tomorrow before Birdsville and, based on our average speed today, I figure we’ll arrive in time for sundowners at the Birdsville Pub, and hit the track for Day Two. Plan forged, I bank the campfire and crawl into my swag under the desert stars.

About 90km up the track next day we hit Mungerannie Homestead, where there’s accommodation and a pub run by a true outback Aussie, Phil. His dusty boots and stubbies, stained hat and faded singlet look as old as him. His unkempt grey beard jiggles and his piercing blue eyes light up when he talks. Most days Phil pulls the beers, fixes flat tyres, fills your car, and flips burgers. Today he’s also handing out free character assessments.

While I’m wandering around the bar looking at the dozens of hats stapled to the ceiling, Phil is discussing road conditions with Stu, whom he doesn’t realise is part of our crew. “Well, [the Audi is] not exactly a good car for the conditions out here,” he says, “but at least you’re better off than whichever dickheads are driving that BMW.”

Unperturbed, we mount up and rejoin the track. By now I’m feeling pretty chuffed. We’ve covered over half the Birdsville Track, traversed rocky sections, even waded impromptu streams. Then I have a Dick Johnson moment and meet my rock.

It happens so quickly. We’re approaching a dip and I instinctively hit the brakes. The dip looks harmless so I lift off and guide the BMW through at about 60km/h. As usual, the suspension compresses as the downhill slope transitions to the ascent out. Just then there’s a loud bang like a bull kicking a cattle truck and the whole car shudders. Then the flat-tyre warning goes off.

I look in the rear-view mirror to see a baseball-sized rock bounding down the road after us. I stop at the top of a small rise. The run-flats look fine, so I drop to the road and peer under the car. Liquid is running from a hole where the transmission sits. I jump back in, to move the car off the track, but the electronic auto won’t play ball. Every time I move it from Park to Drive it moves back to Park. So I kill the engine.

Just like that, after two and a half days and 1600km, the dream is over, the BMW mortally wounded. All I want to do is rewind time five minutes and have another go. This time I’d dodge the rock, or slow down more, or carry the bloody car over the dip.

The desert’s smothering menace steps up a notch, and depression sets in. The nearest homestead is 90km south, three days’ walk. Birdsville is 210km north. We hadn’t passed a car all morning because the smart people are already in Birdsville.

What now? Abandon the BMW and continue to Birdsville in the Q5? Ditch the 7 Series and head back to Mungerannie Phil’s smug smile? I can’t leave such a valuable corpse to desert scavengers, so I stay with the broken BMW as the Audi disappears into the shimmering desert towards Mungerannie. When Stu returns three long hours later, he says Phil has leapt to our aid and arranged a retrieval vehicle from Birdsville. Four hours later a flat-bed truck rescues the BMW.

We don’t follow the truck into town. Instead, we set up camp and spend our second night in the desert. It’s a sombre mood around the campfire but Stu says it could be worse. We could be walking like Burke and Wills.

The next morning we head for Birdsville. After about 80km, the track loses its rocky venom and we ride on firmly-packed sand. If the 730d hadn’t met that one rock, it surely would have got us there.

When we get into Birdsville we find the BMW in a shipping yard out the back of town. It sits forlornly on an earthen loading ramp among graders, slag heaps and unhitched trailers. We tow it to the Birdsville Pub and, in a suit jacket and stubbies, push it into position for the photo to prove the BMW 730d made it to Birdsville.

Then we hit the races. And, since I have nothing to drive on the way home, I set out to enjoy myself.

Birdsville doesn’t believe in half measures. The whole town goes into party mode as tent hotels take over town commons, fast-food caravans set up on the roadside and every available patch of dirt along the Diamantina River becomes a campsite for 8000 revellers. The bakery will sell 7000 pies and sausage rolls on race weekend, and the two petrol stations will pump 200,000 litres of fuel practically non-stop into 3000 thirsty 4WDs.

Speaking of thirsty, Birdsville Pub publican John Hanna says his staff of 20 will open a can for a swilling patron every three seconds on the busiest day, Saturday. Most of the empties are simply dropped where they’re drained, and the street outside becomes a sea of crushed aluminium as revellers see who can build the highest mound at their feet.

Next to the pub sits Birdsville’s airstrip, which usually sees a handful of flights a week. During race week more than 100 planes will park on the apron, including two impressive Lear jets, their passengers rolling out swags and tents under the wings.

Opposite the pub is carnival city. Fred Brophy’s travelling troupe of boxers will take on all comers, and there’s no shortage of men – and women – keen to test their drunken mettle against boxers like ‘the Fulla from Cunnamulla’. The biggest cheer goes up for a little bloke who weighs 60kg dripping wet. He’s the jockey who rode the favourite to an inglorious 6th, and it sounds like much of the crowd lost money on him.

There’s usually one cop in Birdsville; Neale McShane. During race week another 20 come from all over Queensland. This year’s crowd was well-behaved, the only mischief was a young Quilpie man who streaked through the pub late on Saturday night. Apparently police gave him a full 15 minutes grace before begrudgingly laying charges.

The Birdsville Racetrack is a dormant dust bowl for 363 days of the year. Then come September more than 60 horses come in from across the country, all vying for the $150K prize money spread over two six-race days. More than triple that amount will flow through the dozen bookies at the track as punters seek their fortunes.

For half the crowd, it seems the horse racing is superfluous to a good time. Diamantina Shire councillor Brian Mooney tells me that in 2007, when equine flu cancelled racing for only the second time since it began in 1882 (the other time was WWII) 4500 people still came to party. It’s here that I have an epiphany. I realise that I only have two hands, and they can either be holding a notebook and pen, or a couple of cans of XXXX. Well, when in Rome…

Next morning, the hordes begin to leave. We enjoy cream-topped coffee from a roadside vendor and reminisce. We’re convinced the 730d could have made the journey under its own power, and make a pact to prove it. But somehow I doubt that BMW will stump up a second car, which is a shame because when we got to Birdsville, word had spread about the crazy journalists who’d driven the Track in a BMW limousine. Cops, campers, passers-by, even the race-caller had heard of us.

We’d just added our own tiny chapter to the legend of the Birdsville Track.

Have you bought our media-rich iPad edition yet? Take a break before Birdsville was originally published in January, 2010.

Busy month here at MOTOR, here’s what you have to look forward to this month:

– We hit LA to sample Ford Australia’s new hero car, the all-new Mustang – The Joss Supercar is back! New funding secured for Australia’s first hypercar – Round Two of Bang for your Bucks names the best value performance car from $50-100K, as well as our overall winner – Mini’s new Cooper S lines up against the Renault Sport Clio Cup and Abarth 595 Competizione – Sampling one of Australia’s most haunted places in the sublime Rolls-Royce Wraith – Revisiting one of BMW’s greatest ever cars, the E46 M3 CSL, for our Hall of Fame series – Learning to stunt drive with the Isuzu Team D-Max Precision Driving Team – Plus first drives of the HSV GTS Maloo, MY15 Commodore, Audi S1, Bentley Continental GT3-R and Porsche Panamera Turbo S and much more!

When news broke the Civic Type R would sport a turbo, there was nail biting in worry it wouldn’t sound anywhere as good as the oldies.

Now, however, there’s hope. Honda’s new – and amazingly neat – “The Other Side” video proves the Civic Type R’s 2.0-litre turbo four might sound unruly as ever.

The video kicks off in a buy-our-friendly-Civic fashion, but then you press your keyboard’s ‘R’ button and it flicks to a parallel universe featuring the Civic Type R Concept doing very bad things, supposedly.

Watch it here.

Have a gander and come back to let us know what you think of the car, the noise, or just whatever generally irks your opinion, in the comments below.

One of the fastest Finns ever to set foot in a rally car has called time on his career.

Mikko Hirvonen, lead driver for the M-Sport World Rally Team, has decided to end his 13-year career in order to spend more time with his young family.

The 34-year-old Finn was the only driver capable of challenging Sebastien Loeb during the height of his dominance, coming within one point of taking the title in 2009 and pushing the dominant Frenchman right to the final round in 2011.

Hirvonen arrived on the World Rally scene driving a privately entered Ford Focus in 2002. He was picked up by the Ford factory team in 2003 before moving to Subaru in 2004. Despite consistent results, he was dropped for the 2005 season, but a podium placing as a privateer late in the season led to Ford re-hiring him to partner Marcus Gronholm for 2006.

He scored his first win in Australia that year, with our local roads being a happy hunting ground for Hirvonen, taking further victories in 2009 and 2011.

Following Gronholm’s retirement in 2007, Hirvonen was promoted to team leader and immediately flourished, scoring three wins and finishing second in the championship in 2008 before taking the title fight right to the wire in 2009.

A move to the all-conquering Citroen team in 2012 failed to produce the results expected, with two victories in 2012, one of which was subsequently taken away by disqualification, the highlights of his two-year tenure.

With one more rally to go in 2014, Hirvonen will tie Juha Kankkunen for fourth place on the all-time starts list with 162. He has won 15 of those (unless he wins next week’s Rally GB), while 67 podiums puts him fourth on the all-time list.

Hirvonen is expected to be replaced by Estonian young gun Ott Tanak.

To celebrate an incredible career and remember why he is one of the world’s best drivers, watch the footage above, featuring Hirvonen tackling the super-fast SS10 of Rally Finland 2013.

HISTORY suggests Hyundai’s new Genesis will be a slow seller. A very slow seller.

Predictions the new V6-powered large car – priced between $60,000 and $82,000 – could sell as many as 1000 cars annually are tempered by past performances from established and developing mainstream brands – including Hyundai – in previously tackling the brand-conscious luxury market.

Hyundai’s last attempt at a luxury car, the Grandeur – also with a 3.8-litre V6, a target of attracting “new luxury” buyers and a goal of 1000 sales per year – managed just 1033 sales over the seven years it was on sale.

Honda also had big plans for its then repositioned and reimagined Legend, only to have the 600 annual sales tally fall into a reality heap of 404 units in its first year. Over the next six full years the car has been on sale just 388 have sold.

Then there was Korean upstart Ssangyong, which in 2005 introduced its $56,990 Chairman – complete with old Mercedes-Benz mechanicals – with little success. Just 112 were sold in four years. But at least the company’s sales goals of 50 a year were initially close to the money, although a planned circa-$100k long wheelbase version never materialised.

The sales pitch is familiar – more for less.

In the case of the Genesis there’s the usual array of leather trim, heated electric front seats, sat-nav, smart key entry and rain-sensing wipers as well as things such as lane departure warning, auto high beams, auto opening bootlid, radar cruise control and autonomous emergency braking.

There’s also five years or 75,000km of free servicing, a five-year warranty and a financing program that guarantees residual values, to allay fears of poor resale.

Tempters aside, even well regarded, established European brands struggle with shifting luxury perceptions.

In 2005 Volkswagen abandoned much hyped plans to introduce its just-as-hyped Phaeton to Australia. The “imposing” limousine claimed to outgun more prestigious German rivals – it was the world’s best luxury car, according to Volkswagen.

It may well have been, but it failed in the sales race. The planned Australian launch was called off once executives realised the enormity of the task of breaking the established luxury status quo.

Without a unique brand or an artificial leg-up – such as the tariff protection for local manufacturers – no mainstream manufacturer has come close to barging into the luxury club dominated by powerhouses such as Mercedes-Benz, Audi and BMW.

Even the once favoured locally-produced Holden and Ford luxury offerings have experienced a seismic sales decline.

Back in 2000 the locally produced Ford Fairlane/LTD and Holden Statesman/Caprice used to account for the best part of 10,000 sales. Three of those models have now been killed off and the sole survivor – Holden’s Caprice – manages about 1500 annually, and could also have been culled if it wasn’t for a police vehicle export program to the US.

And large sedans are on the nose: In 1998 there were 217,000 large cars sold, accounting for 27 percent of the market. Despite overall market growth of 36 percent, 2014 is on track for 50,000 large car sales, representing just 4.5 percent of the market.

Hyundai acknowledges the Genesis has a monumental task ahead.

“We know it’s a significant challenge,” says Hyundai Australia chief operating officer John Elsworth. “We’re putting our best foot forward.”

Hyundai says the car is more about proving what the brand is capable of with the goal of changing people’s perceptions and putting Hyundai on more new-car shopping lists.

More than outright sales, the Genesis is designed to lift the Hyundai brand, which was once solely known for $12,990 city runabouts.

Hence the reason not to follow the traditional luxury business model of creating a separate brand, in the same way Toyota created Lexus and Nissan created Infiniti.

“It didn’t make a lot of sense to us as to why you wouldn’t badge it a Hyundai – this car is in our range to demonstrate just how far Hyundai has come,” says Elsworth.

“We’re proud to put a Hyundai badge on it.”

In analysing the market, Hyundai has carved the luxury segment into three broad buyer groups: traditionalists, who buy large locally-produced Fords and Holdens; badge devotees, “who see a luxury badge as a prerequisite”; and the thoughtful self-starters – or “astute thinkers” – who “believe product content and capability have far more interest and appeal that badge traditions” and “who aren’t interested in projected status or conspicuous displays of wealth”.

It’s that last group Hyundai is most actively targeting, with hopes of convincing them just because it has a value badge doesn’t mean it can’t match it with the luxury big boys.

In other words, a monumental task.

Porsche’s updated MY15 Cayenne SUV range goes on sale this month but will soon swell as more models join the local lineup.

The updated GTS performance variant will arrive in February promising more power and speed than before while offering reduced fuel consumption thanks to its brand-new engine.

From 2015 the GTS will make the switch from naturally aspirated V8 power to forced induction with two fewer cylinders. The new 3.6-litre twin-turbo V6 motor makes 323kW and 600Nm compared to the outgoing model’s outputs of 309kW and 515Nm.

The new GTS is quicker too, capable of cracking 100km/h in 5.1 seconds when you option the Sport Chrono pack or 5.2 seconds without, an improvement of 0.7sec over the V8 model. Fuel consumption has also been slashed by 0.9L/100km to 9.8L/100km combined.

Despite the GTS model’s new found turn of pace and efficiency, we doubt the V6 can match the guttural rumble of the charismatic old V8 even if that twin-turbo unit does breathe through a sports exhaust system.

The GTS comes standard with PASM adaptive dampers and air suspension that sits 20mm lower than standard for reduced body roll and improved lateral grip, which should make this one of the quickest SUVs for completing the school run in.

Stopping power is supplied by monster 390mm front and 358mm rear discs with red calipers pinched from the range-topping Cayenne Turbo.

The GTS also gets the Turbo’s front bumper, along with new side sills, wheel arch extensions and rear bumper to give a more aggressive appearance.

The Cayenne performer rides on 20-inch ‘RS Spyder’ alloy wheels, which are finished in black, as are the exhaust tips, badges, and certain elements inside the head and taillight clusters.

Inside the GTS features eight-way electrically adjustable heated leather and Alcantara sports seats with GTS branding and an electric tilt/slide sunroof as standard.

The 2015 Porsche Cayenne GTS will be available in Australia from February 2015 priced from $156,400.

The new Hyundai Genesis is the most expensive car the brand has produced but its slowest seller – with big aspirations.

WHAT IS IT A large, rear-wheel-drive V6 sedan – the sort of thing buyers have been running a mile from. Except that the Genesis is more about luxury and brand positioning than outright sales.

WHY WE’RE TESTING IT It’s just arrived has just gone on sale as the brand’s latest foray into luxury cars. The previous luxury Hyundai (the front-drive Grandeur) was a flop but Hyundai is hoping to get more people to experience its latest flagship luxury car.

MAIN RIVALS Hyundai would like to think it goes head to head with the BMW 5-Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class; it’s even leased one of each so prospective owners can do a back-to-back test drive. But the reality is it’s likely to steal more sales from the Holden Caprice and others such as the Lexus ES.

SPECS Model: Hyundai Genesis Engine: 3778cc V6, dohc, 24v Max power: 232kW @ 6000rpm Max torque: 397Nm @ 5000rpm Transmission: 8-speed auto Weight: 1890-1995kg 0-100km/h: 6.5sec (claimed) Fuel economy: 11.2L/100km Price: $60,000 (base), $71,000 (Sensory), $82,000 (Ultimate)

THE WHEELS VERDICT Spacious, quiet and comfortable, but thirsty and with the wrong badge to upset the luxury status quo. PLUS: Big inside; loaded with equipment; comfortable; a decent brand statement MINUS: V6 thirsty and could do with more torque; it’s an expensive Hyundai

THE WHEELS REVIEW OUR first Australian taste of the Hyundai Genesis is from the back seat, where there’s acres of legroom and just enough headroom for taller adults. That’s good news for the hire car operators who have already shown a keen interest in the big four-door saloon.

But it’s the quality of the interior that is the biggest surprise. Decent (real) leather and a sumptuous folding armrest make the back pews a thoroughly pleasant place to be – and well up to the expectations of luxury buyers.

It’s also serenely quiet, with the exception of some tyre roar on coarser country roads.

But the interior isn’t impeccable. Some dash plastics have old school graining that lacks the sparkle of more upmarket stitching and softer touch finishes. And the otherwise well laid out buttons and controls get the job done without the tactility and elegance of the best of the luxury set. The high gloss wood also feels dated and, as prospective owners will find out, there are few choices when it comes to trims and interior colours.

But that’s part of the deal of doing a $60,000 large luxury car. Hyundai argues it needs to reduce model complexity to keep pricing sharp – even if the most expensive variant, the Ultimate, is an $82,000 proposition.

The sales pitch is you effectively get all the fruit of a large BMW or Mercedes for half the price – a loaded 5-Series for the price of a base 3.

Indeed, the level of standard kit is impressive. As well as the usual array of electric adjustments, auto on-offs and a Lexicon sound system, the Genesis gets a decent suite of crash avoidance technologies, including radar cruise control, autonomous braking, lane departure warning and a boot that opens automatically once the key is nearby (not even a wave of the foot!).

The more expensive Sensory ($71,000) adds blind spot warning and a carbon dioxide sensor to ensure the cabin has enough oxygen to keep the driver fresh, while the Ultimate ($82,000) picks up a panoramic sunroof, heated rear seats and doors that suck themselves closed, among other goodies.

Another key part of the sales pitch – especially for the hire car set – is five years or 75,000km of servicing, and a five-year unlimited kilometre warranty. Hyundai executives point to the high servicing costs – and associated owner frustration – of many German luxury cars.

But luxury is as much about the on-road experience as the toys and trinkets. The Genesis quickly asserts itself as a comfortable and composed tourer, helped in no part by extensive Australian tuning.

The near two-tonne rear-driver feels planted when thrusting out of tighter corners and is stable through faster ones. It’ll lean when pushed but the body is generally well controlled, save for some squirming if a bump arrives mid-way through a bend.

The standard Hankook 18-inch tyres on the base and Sensory models grip well enough, with the 19-inch Dunlops reserved for the Ultimate raising the threshold slightly.

With 232kW of power the 3.8-litre V6 is a willing performer and can get to 100km/h in 6.5sec, but it needs a load of revs on board to do its best.

There’s okay torque down low, but it’s not exceptional and lacks the effortless thrust of turbocharged Euro rivals. Thankfully the eight-speed auto takes some of the load and helps mask the late-arriving 397Nm peak (at 5000rpm), although it sometimes needs a decent dose of right foot to coax it down a ratio or two.

But it’s fuel use that most cruels the Genesis’ copy book. Claimed at 11.2L/100km it’s approaching V8 levels and is almost double some European rivals; we saw low 12s during a spirited country drive.

At least it only needs regular unleaded, unlike the premium brew that adds 10 percent to the fuel bills of those Euros.

For many, though, none of that will matter. The stylised H badge on the bootlid (the only Hyundai badge on the Genesis; the rest are Aston Martin-esque Genesis ‘wings’) will be enough to turn them off what is an ambitious project to prove what the once cheap and cheerful South Korean manufacturer can do.

It’s not perfect, but they could be pleasantly surprised next time they order a hire car.

FORD Falcon sales hit a new low last month as buyers kept their wallets shut ahead of the release of the last-ever model to wear the famous nameplate.

The latest VFACTS data showing new-vehicle registrations for October, released today, reveal only 396 Falcons found their way out of showroom doors.

Buyers generally switched off, pushing sales down by 1.5 percent compared with the same month last year, and down 3.9 percent on September’s numbers.

Overall, 91,236 new vehicles were sold in October, with passenger cars slumping 8.1 percent from September, with the medium-car and SUV segments the only market sectors to show any growth for the month.

Holden’s honeymoon run with the Commodore also hit a road bump in October, with sales of the locally made large car falling by a third to 2210 as buyers wait for the release of a new model that weighs most of the improvements to the higher-priced V8-engined models.

The showroom pain for Falcon and Commodore, combined with softer sales for Ford Territory (828), Holden Cruze (1344), Toyota Camry (1908) and Toyota Aurion (405), pushed sales of Australian-made cars down by almost a third for the month to a new low of just 7679.

Toyota’s Corolla hatch and sedan fleet special has romped away in the running for the title of Australia’s best-selling vehicle, its 3819 units outpacing the nation’s best-selling car for private buyers, the Mazda 3, which only managed 2982 sales.

Commodore slipped behind Hyundai’s strong-selling i30 hatchback (2475).

The numbers prove we still love our work-on-weekdays, play-on-weekends trade utes. Taking these into account, the Toyota HiLux (3228) was Australia’s second-best selling vehicle overall behind the Corolla in October, while the Ford Ranger (2405) and Mitsubishi’s ageing Triton (1787) both featured in the top 10.

On the luxury front, Mercedes-Benz continues to crush its rivals, posting 3150 sales for the month as its new C-Class sedan (862 sales) hits showrooms, and the buyers come running with open wallets. Interestingly, one of the luxury marque’s better-performing models is the Sprinter van (229).

BMW, meanwhile, could only manage 1907 sales for the month, weighted towards its 3 Series sedan, wagon, convertible and fastback GT range (393), and the recently – and subtly – refreshed X5 SUV (366, almost as many as Falcon).

Audi was not far behind BMW with 1613 sales for the month, led by its A3 small hatch and convertible range (577) and the X5-rivalling Q5 SUV (347).

Lexus (808) had a good month, boosting sales by a quarter compared to the same month last year, led by its 3 Series-rivalling IS range (240) and all-new compact NX and mid-size RX SUVs (174 sales each).

Infiniti also improved for the month, but at 45 sales remains well out of the race.

Private buyers are still yawning every time the word hybrid is mentioned, while governments and business appear to be missing the technology’s environmental message, with sales of big, heavy SUVs in the hybrid sector running 350 percent ahead of the first 10 months of last year; smaller, lighter passenger hybrids are only 11.8 percent up.

If new-car sales continue to remain flat for the rest of the year, 2014 will fall short of becoming a record year.

The Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industries, which compiles the VFACTS data on behalf of car brands, is predicting the market will only log 1.12 million sales by the year’s end.

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