EUROPE’S crash safety authority has savaged a new breed of electric vehicles sweeping the market, accusing their makers of skimping on the high levels of safety commonly found in regular cars.

The European New Car Assessment Program (EuroNCAP) overnight released the crash test ratings for four “heavy quadricycle” vehicles – the name given to the likes of the Renault Twizy four-wheeled electric car – and slammed them for a lack of safety as the vehicle’s makers take advantage of engineering loopholes.

The Renault Twizy 80, Club Car Villager 2+2 LSV, the Tazzari ZERO and the Ligier IXO J LINE all showed what EuroNCAP said were “serious safety problems” related to their small sizes and inadequate structures and restraint systems.

According to EuroNCAP, the Twizy – the only quadricycle tested to have a driver’s airbag fitted as standard, and potentially slated for sale in Australia – scored the best, but its stiff structure and seat-belt system resulted in some dangerously high crash-test dummy readings.

Others fared even less well.

The upper seatbelt connection in the Ligier pulled out of its mount, exposing the dummy to a high risk of injury, while in the Tazzari, the driver’s seatbelt broke and the driver’s head hit the steering wheel “with a force that indicated a high risk of serious or fatal injury”.

Meanwhile, the structure of the Club Car “virtually collapsed” after its front-on crash test.

“It’s worrying to find that, because crash safety tests are not required by law, quadricycles show a level of safety that is way below that of cars,” Euro NCAP secretary general Michiel van Ratingen said.

“Even though they meet legislative standards, these vehicles lack the minimum safety equipment which has become commonplace on passenger cars sold in Europe.”

Renault revealed earlier this year that it was considering bringing a Twizy to Australia to evaluate the vehicle for local sale.

Renault Australia corporate communications manager Emily Fadeyev said the EuroNCAP result had not changed the car maker’s plans to bring one of the electric cars here.

“I think what you have to bear in mind is that the Twizy is a quadricycle and not a car, and it is meant to replace vehicles such as scooters,” she said.

Ms Fadeyev said the possibility of bringing the Twizy here was still “a long way down the road”, with Australia missing the key piece of legislation that makes the vehicles road-legal in Europe.

She said the French car maker had been in talks with the Australian government regarding making quadricycles legal on our roads.

In Europe, the Twizy costs about the same as a high-end Vespa motor scooter, suggesting the small electric vehicle could sneak into the Australian market priced below $10,000.

SUBARU has smashed its own record for a hot lap at the Isle of Man TT motorcycle race, although it is still well off the pace of the two-wheeled lap record set last year.

The Japanese car maker this week pointed a semi-production version of its 221kW/407Nm turbocharged 2.5-litre WRX STI at the street-based 60km-long Mountain Course, punting it around in a tidy 19min 26sec, flogging the record set in the previous-generation STI in 2011 by just over half a minute.

British rally champion and Isle of Man local Mark Higgins piloted the firebrand Scooby around the track to post an average speed of 116mph (187km/h), and a top speed of more than 160mph (257km/h).

However, that’s still well shy of the two-wheeled record of 17min 11.6sec set last year by John McGuinness riding a Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade. Despite having less rubber on the road, McGuinness’ average speed was significantly higher (131.7mph, 212km/h) than Higgins’.

Modifications made to the WRX STI included springs and dampers that were modified to minimise damage from the big bumps and jumps that make up the circuit, a rollcage and racing harness, fire extinguisher and more sticky ultra-high performance road tyres.

MIDDLE-AGE spread has finally caught up with Mini, with the iconic hatchback brand announcing its first-ever five-door Cooper.

Looking exactly like you’d imagine if Mini just stretched its existing three-door Cooper and patched on a couple of extra doors, the Clubman-replacing five-door Cooper adds 72mm to rear-seat legroom to make it a much more practical five-seater than the hatch versions.

The less swept profile of the longer roofline also adds 15mm more head room, and rear-seat passengers also gain an extra 61mm of width when sitting shoulder-to-shoulder.

Another positive is boot space, which grows by 61 litres over the hatchback to 278L, or about the same as a Ford Fiesta hatchback.

The five-door Cooper is expected to launch internationally later this year ahead of an Australian launch in about February.

At 3982mm long (4005mm for the Cooper S and SD), overall length is extended by up to 161mm compared with the three-door version, and falls only a handspan short of the larger Mini Countryman, the hatchback that took the title as the brand’s first five-door model.

The Cooper five-door’s width of 1727mm matches that of the current third-generation Mini, but height is increased by 11mm to 1425mm.

However, Mini claims the extra length has done little to alter the brand’s core; its go kart-like handling.

While the German-owned Brit uses the same suspension set-up as the three-door version, it has been tuned specifically for the extra 107kg in weight that the 1192kg car carries over its less family friendly sibling.

The entry-level Cooper five-door will use a 100kW/220Nm 1.4-litre three-cylinder engine shared with the three-door version, with fuel use on the European cycle rated at about 4.8 litres per 100 kilometres compared with the smaller car’s official Australian average of 4.7L/100km.

Likewise, the Cooper S version will use a turbocharged 2.0-litre unit producing 141kW/280Nm and with an official fuel figure of about 6.0L/100km. The extra weight slows the 0-100km/h sprint by 0.1sec to 6.9sec.

Diesel versions slated for Europe will kick off with a turbocharged three-cylinder 1.5-litre oil-burner rated at 85kW/270Nm and sipping a European average of about 3.7L/100km.

However, of more interest to the Australian market is the higher-rated Cooper SD, featuring a 2.0-litre four-pot diesel producing 125kW and 360Nm, while averaging about 4.3L/100km.

Under the skin, the Mini five-door closely resembles the BMW 2 Series Active Tourer hatchback due in Australia in November.

The 2 Series Active Tourer will use the Mini’s front-wheel-drive layout – a first for the brand, despite the German luxury car maker’s history of repeatedly saying it would never build a front-drive car with a BMW badge.

BMW Australia says the five-door Mini – a vehicle developed in response to consumer feedback and changing market trends – is more than likely to carry a premium over its three-door sibling, with more precise pricing expected ahead of the car’s Australian launch early next year.

MERCEDES-Benz has flagged that it may run out of its best-selling model as the German luxury brand nudged into Australia’s monthly top 10 bestsellers’ list for the first time.

Sales of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class range, currently in run-out ahead of the all-new version’s introduction in a few months’ time, helped push the German luxury marque onto Australia’s most popular cars’ leaderboard and into the history books.

The German luxury car marque snared the bottom spot from regular top 10 goalsneak Honda, helped by strong sales of the compact A-Class hatchback.

According to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries’ latest VFACTS data for May, released today, Mercedes-Benz grew its monthly market share by 0.3 per cent compared with April, to take 2.8 per cent of the Australian market – enough to push it over the line and onto the bestseller list.

The car maker is now almost a small-car specialist, with 633 C-Class sedans, wagons and coupes, and 475 A-Class hatchbacks making up the bulk of its 2611 sales during May.

Mercedes-Benz Australia public relations and product communications manager Jerry Stamoulis said May had been a “cracking month” for the brand.

“C-Class did extremely well to lead its segment and it’s looking like we’ll run out of existing C-Class before the new car is launched in August,” he said.

The new C-Class will launch in August as a sedan, with a wagon version joining the line-up later in the year to help round out the mainstream four-door range.

Stamoulis said the year-old A-Class had also had a big month as the A250 Sport continued to prove popular with luxury-car buyers, with more potentially in store.

“We’re not surprised by how well it’s going; it’s doing what we expected it to do,” he said.

“Stock is starting to come in – it’s been just over 12 months since the launch so stock is now where we want it to be.”

Also boosting the count is the new-generation S-Class limousine, launched in November last year. So far this year, 126 of the technology-laden limos have rolled out of Benz showrooms, with the V8 accounting for most sales.

Toyota once again topped the best-selling brand list with 17,248 sales, while its Corolla small hatch and sedan range topped the model top 10, with 3871 sales. The Toyota HiLux trade ute (3313 sales) ran in a close second.

Mazda’s still-fresh 3 hatchback and sedan took the number-three spot with 3291 sales, jumping almost eight per cent for the month, while a second Mazda model, the CX-5 small soft-roader, filled ninth spot with 1715 sales.

Holden’s locally made Commodore continues its rise in popularity, snaring 2648 sales for the month – more than 60 percent up on the previous month, and enough to place fourth. It almost doubled the sales of Holden’s other locally made model, the Cruze hatch and sedan, which continues to soften.

Falcon sales, meanwhile, appear to have bottomed out, with just 703 leaving showrooms during May as the countdown starts for a heavily refreshed version of the car due in November. Ford’s other locally built product, the Territory mid-size SUV, had a softer month with 887 sales.

A surprise top 10 entrant for the month is Jeep’s US-made Grand Cherokee, which claimed the title as the 10th best-selling model, with 1694 sales, squeezing out a top 10 stalwart, Toyota’s RAV4 small SUV, which still enjoyed a pretty good month despite its slide down the ranks.

At the bottom end of the market, Chinese marque Chery added a whopping 20 percent to its year-to-date tally by selling 56 cars during May alone.

Fiat’s decision to introduce cheaper price-leading models late last year is still paying dividends for the brand, with the city-smart 500 hatchback (236 sales) leading the charge. Its sales have quadrupled last year’s year-to-date tally, although off a very low benchmark.

While Mercedes-Benz has a clear year-to-date sales lead with 2611 units moved, Audi (1576) is starting to creep up on BMW (1834) in the fight for the number-two luxury brand spot.

Lexus has been resting on its strong-selling IS range, but this month adds a new compact SUV it hopes will seriously bolster its sales (603 in May). Infiniti, meanwhile, is still yet to find its feet (41 sales).

Nissan bounced back with a strong month after a very ordinary start to the year. Its fresh-faced third-generation X-Trail (1448) was the Japanese brand’s second strongest seller for the month, behind the Navara trade ute range (1541).

Porsche’s decision last year to introduce wholesale price cuts to everything not wearing a Panamera badge is paying dividends, with 264 Stuttgart rockets heading out the showroom doors in May, a whopping 82 percent jump over May last year.

However, sales have thinned for the Cayenne as buyers show a preference for jacked-up SUVs rather than low-slung sports cars. The Macan small SUV was launched locally last month but is yet to add significant sales to the tally.

TOP 10 MARQUES FOR MAY

TOP 10 CARS FOR MAY

SOURCE: VFACTS

AS FORD Australia works on the last updates to the locally made Falcon and Territory range, a small group of computer hackers has been quietly working away under the bonnet.

However, rather than hack the lines of computer code hidden away inside the cars in the name of evil, the group has been working away at developing a series of helpful in-car apps that will blur the line between car and smartphone.

When it rolls out across Ford-badged vehicles in August, the locally coded software will plug into Ford’s Sync system as AppLink apps. These will will push to an in-car screen and function like smartphone applications, allowing drivers to control functions using their voice rather than pushing a button.

Ford is remaining coy as to exactly what Australian-flavoured apps will be available in its cars when the software appears, but a recent hackfest in Melbourne, where Ford Australia challenged software developers to write an app in a single day, gives some clues.

Ford Australia brand communications associate Martin Gunsberg told Wheels that the work of local hackers would feature on the in-car screens.

“We have been working with local developers and we will have Australian-designed and developed apps available from launch,” Mr Gunsberg said.

“We will announce our local app partners as part of the local AppLink launch in the third quarter of this year.”

Apps developed at Ford’s Australian hackathon held over a 24-hour period in December include a Russian dash-cam style app that records on-road incidents, and a fuel-finding app that can sense a car’s location and point the driver to the cheapest petrol station.

Ford Australia plans to hold a second Dipped in Blue day (the name for its showcase that gives clues as to the direction its technology will turn) in August to reveal the apps, and the Australian development teams behind them.

A Ford Australia spokesman said the locally made apps that would feature in its cars skewed towards assisting the driver rather than making driving more fun.

A less feature-packed version of Sync is already available in Ford-badged cars including the Fiesta city car and the closely related EcoSport SUV, as well as the small-sized Focus and its closely related Kuga SUV.

It will reach the locally made Falcon and Territory line-up from November, ahead of the car maker’s October 2017 deadline to quit Australian manufacturing, and will feature in the all-new Mondeo mid-sizer due in January next year.

The software will be added to vehicles already fitted with the Sync software as a running change to the models.

Ford’s Broadmeadows and You Yangs-based research and development arm is one of four of the car maker’s development hubs worldwide.

In their latest video campaign Turtle Wax Australia teams up with professional drifter Mad Mike Whiddett. Watch Mad Mike put his Mazda BT-50 through its paces!

HYUNDAI has revealed a mid-engined version of its Veloster coupe at the Busan International Motor Show in South Korea.

Called the Veloster Midship – internally known as ‘RM’ for ‘Rear Mid’ – the concept car is powered by a 220kW 2.0-litre turbocharged engine positioned in the middle of the car.

Sitting just behind the front seats and within the wheelbase, Hyundai says the position of the engine offers “ideal weight distribution and handling balance through corners”.

The car, based on the Hyundai Veloster coupe, was developed by Hyundai’s High Performance Team, which was also responsible for the company’s i20 World Rally Championship car.

The development team ditched the rear seats to make room for the engine, fitted the car with lightweight aluminium suspension and stiffened the chassis.

Hyundai says it has no plans to put the concept into production, but plans to use it to “explore possibilities for the Veloster chassis”

LEXUS will unleash its new IS-based coupe in Australia later this year, including an all-new fire-breathing RC F-badged flagship model.

While a smaller V6 engine will open the two-car line-up for the BMW 4 Series-rivalling Lexus, there is no mention of another Lexus staple – a fuel-sipping petrol-electric hybrid version – in the RC mix.

It’s therefore up to the big V8 to carry the environmental baton, thanks to some clever technology under the bonnet. According to Lexus, the RC F’s 5.0-litre V8 can swap between the regular, acceleration-friendly Otto cycle to a fuel-sipping Atkinson one as needed.

It won’t be a shrinking violet, though, with the normally aspirated RC F’s V8 – shared with the IS F sedan, but with even higher outputs – to spit out more than 330kW and 520Nm, delivered to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.

The entry-level 3.5-litre V6-engined RC350, meanwhile, will produce a more exact 234kW and 380Nm.

The four-seat RC F features a similar level of engineering enhancements as its sedan-based cousin, including a number of chassis, suspension and aerodynamic tweaks. Chunkier rocker panels and a front lower brace combine with stickier glues, laser-screw welding and more spot welding to create a more rigid frame.

Up front, the RC F features larger side air intakes than the RC350, while at the rear, it uses the same stacked quad exhaust pipes as the older IS F, although it is not known if the upper ones are just decorative like they are on the IS F.

Lexus says pricing will be released closer to the car’s launch late this year.

The current IS F – still on sale despite being based on the last-generation IS platform – is priced from $125,945, while the equivalent IS350 is priced from $65,000.

OUR first drive of the Porsche Macan confirms that it is the sportiest mid-size SUV around, though Porsche’s assertion that it is as much a sports car as an SUV should be dismissed as marketing spin.

The Macan is based on the same architecture as the Audi Q5, but Porsche engineers made extensive revisions in order to give it a sporty edge.

Wheels drove all three variants this week and the diesel shapes as the pick of the bunch, not just because it is the cheapest – priced from $84,900 – but because the engine’s torquey nature best suits the car.

Make no mistake, the Macan S Diesel is not an underpowered entry-level car.

Shared with Volkswagen Group models, this 3.0-litre V6 single-turbo engine produces a healthy 190kW and 580Nm.

The twin-turbo 3.0-litre petrol V6 fitted to the $87,200 S model produces 250kW and 460Nm, so it is no slouch, but it needs to be worked harder. It has a sportier engine note, but tis hardly spine-tingling.

The considerably quicker flagship Turbo model, priced from $122,900, has a twin-turbo 3.6-litre petrol V6 and its 294kW and 550Nm means it can dash from 0-100km/h in just 4.8 seconds (the petrol S does it in 5.4sec and the diesel S in 6.3sec).

That sounds great (as does the engine), but this not a sports car and that much power really does seem like overkill in a heavy high-riding vehicle like the Macan.

Consider the fuel economy and the base diesel – which returns 6.3 litres per 100km compared with 9.0L/100km for the petrol S and 9.2L/100km for the Turbo – strengthens as the most sensible choice.

PORSCHE has already sold 600 Macan compact SUVs in Australia – three weeks before it is officially launched here.

To put that in perspective, it takes around 17 months to sell the same number of 911s.

The demand for the Macan is even stronger than this sales figure suggests given that a six-month wait worked against it.

Porsche Cars Australia managing director Sam Curtis said several customers came in to buy a Macan, but opted for the larger Cayenne instead to avoid the wait.

The Macan is the cheapest model Porsche has offered for decades, with prices starting at $84,900, more than $15,000 less than the base Cayenne.

An even more affordable four-cylinder turbo Macan is expected to drive the entry price down even lower when it inevitably joins the range locally.

Curtis will not say how many Macans PCA expects to sell locally, but insists the company will not chase volume and force the market.