HOLDEN has recalled 42,000 VF Commodores – almost every car since the new model went on sale in May last year – due to a fault with the front seatbelts.

And Hyundai has recalled all 32,525 examples of the ix35 – Australia’s biggest-selling small SUV – sold in the past three years due to a problem with the front airbag.

The Holden issue affects 2014-model Commodores and Caprices, and relates to the seatbelt pre-tensioning harness, which could fail to deploy in an accident.

“A condition has been identified where the pre-tensioner wiring harness on certain MY14 VF Commodore and WN Caprice vehicles may make contact with a bolt at the base of the seatbelt buckle assembly,” said an official Holden statement.

“In this circumstance, if the pre-tensioner wiring harness develops wear as a result of contacting the bolt, the airbag warning light may illuminate on the instrument cluster and there is a risk that the pre-tensioner may not deploy in the event of an accident.”

Holden says no instances of the fault have been reported, but all owners are encouraged to contact their dealer for an inspection.

Hyundai’s recall impacts all ix35s built between January 2011 and December 2013.

The South Korean company says an incorrectly tightened bolt in the steering wheel could cause the driver-side front airbag to malfunction and affect the operation of the horn.

Again, Hyundai says there have been no reported instances of the fault.

“It will not cause the airbag to deploy unintentionally,” said Hyundai Australia in an official statement. “(But) the effectiveness of the airbag could be reduced if the bolt is not tightened properly.”

THE bump and following so-slight dip are not visible to the eye. On the outside of the track, at the point immediately above the tunnel that connects Pista di Fiorano with the road to the world, the bump – the only one on the super-smooth circuit, test ground to generations of Ferrari F1 and road cars – is now, suddenly, an issue. In previous models, even those as fast as the Enzo, the bump was no more than a trivial touch, felt momentarily and ignored.

Not in LaFerrari. Slide out of the sweeping right-hand hairpin, power nailed in second, tacho fleetingly hitting the 9250rpm cut-out, snatch third on the uphill climb, belting to 160km/h at 8000rpm-plus, Ferrari’s extraordinary new supercar lifts over the tiny rise. Momentarily elevated above the road, it flies. The kick, so quick, the time too rapid for the revs to soar further and the rear wheels to spin up, I begin to doubt my perception. No time for analysis before the next right-hander looms large.

They told me later, smiling, “Yes, you are right”. Seems that, if you’re on the right line, you now really do feel the bump and, if you are going fast enough, the car lifts, maybe just 20mm clear of the track, but off the ground.

At the end of a great day, I’d wanted three more fast laps. The French TV crew was finished and there was time enough before the track was closed.

As I was strapped in, I worried that too often it’s at times like this, late in the afternoon, confidence high after plenty of wheel time, that mistakes are made and people crash on the indulgence laps. Caution ignored, I went out and found that bump.

LaFerrari redefines speed, even by Ferrari’s lofty standards (though I’ve not driven a Porsche 918 or McLaren P1).

Some simple numbers perfectly illustrate the staggering upsurge in performance: 0-200km/h in 7.0 seconds, 2.5sec quicker than the Enzo; braking from 200km/h to zero is cut to 116 metres, 30m shorter; and a Fiorano lap time of 1min19sec, a truly incredible 6.3seconds faster than Maranello’s previous supercar. The LF makes the F1 McLaren, my previous benchmark, look somehow slow.

Believe me, LaFerrari is terrifyingly quick, a missile. Yet it’s also useable and amazingly easy to meander among the Fiats in suburban Maranello, dual-clutch transmission in auto.

On the pace, though, everything shifts to fast-forward and you wonder if Ferrari should teach all 499 buyers (Ferrari boss Luca Montezemolo swears they could sell twice that number) how to drive the thing properly. Tap its vast potential and it demands a huge level of skill and immense car control that’s way beyond my ability.

Ferrari shot a video of F1 racer Kimi Raikkonen at Fiorano, the LaFerrari looking out of control, sliding on every corner, flames spitting out of the exhaust pipes, until the inevitable spin on to the grass.

Matteo Lanzavecchia, who’s in charge of vehicle performance, likes to compare the car to the Enzo: “If you drive an Enzo and you drive LaFerrari, if you are in the same gear, you will have double the level of acceleration. And you will reach it in one-third the time when you go on the throttle. You will feel how safe it is and it needs 45 percent less steering input than the Enzo, which makes it much easier to control coming out of corners.”

LaFerrari displays a welcome rethink of the conventional supercar layout. Franco Cimatti, the creative engineer behind the LaFerrari concept, planned the car’s architecture around its seating position. His original idea was to lay the driver down into an almost F1-like recline, but he found that 32 degrees is as far as you can recline before the front neck muscles compress and breathing becomes difficult.

The driver sits 60mm lower than in the Enzo and the centre of gravity – one key to the car’s stability – is a massive 75mm lower. “If you get the physics right, everything else falls into place,” Cimatti says. “A low centre of gravity is key.”

The cabin has only the space needed for a driver and passenger; no more, no less. This permits a far narrower glasshouse (for less frontal area) and room for the aerodynamics and the demands of cooling the powertrain – a 6.3-litre V12, plus electric and the batteries and gearbox – along the flanks.

Cutaway sills, way inboard of the car’s flanks, make ingress/egress brilliantly easy and leave the front wheels exposed, as if they are separate from the body.

The scissor-style doors open like wings. “Our doors are hinged from above, and we have no conventional door posts to get in the way,” Cimatti says.

The result is a surprisingly large aperture. The doors are easy to open, despite sitting so low. Initially you push outwards using the elbows, and then up.

The radical driving position means you sit in a padded area of the carbon tub, not in a separate, adjustable seat because that can flex and disturb the driver-machine connection.

Instead, the pedal box moves on a sprung handle and the steering wheel is adjustable for height and reach. Owners get tailor-made padding.

The steering wheel is standard Ferrari 458, but oddly quadrate in shape and with too many controls. The dash readouts are all new, full TFT and riddled with information.

Twist the red key, push the red start button on the wheel and the 6.3-litre V12 instantly ignites. Foot on brake, pull the right-side carbon-fibre paddle, foot on throttle, and it moves easily, fluently. There’s no sound insulation, only the intoxicating rrrraaappp of the V12, with no hint of the electric hybrid drivetrain.

My first stint at the wheel is on Fiorano, the ideal way to learn such a powerful car. Building speed and confidence, the LF feels utterly relentless, instantly responsive, the hybrid system adding more low-end torque so that throttle responses, on and off, are instant, almost brutal.

While you don’t hear any of the aero elements moving under the sound of the engine, you certainly feel their effects, whether under braking – the pedal travel so short yet so linear and progressive – or in corners.

As well as mechanical grip, this car also has aero grip and up to eight-tenths it’s a dream drive. The steering is light, accurate and linear, yet lacking true feel, and it’s surprisingly low-geared, despite just 1.9 turns lock to lock.

Even in Race, the recommended mode, the car’s attitude is adjustable on the throttle. Turning off the electronic safety net transforms the car into a tyre-shredding oversteerer covered by a haze of blue smoke. It’s fun for the camera, adrenaline at the redline, but ultimately not as fast or as satisfying as Race mode, with the electronic traction helpers controlling the dynamics.

The car stays flat, even on rough surfaces. Select ‘bumpy road’ mode and the ride is astonishingly good on the street.

This car is a work of genius – beautiful, efficient, fast beyond belief, a sensory experience.

OH, TO be a copper in Italy. Forget using Falcons and Commodores; in Italy the rozzers have tastier home-grown cop cars.

Like the brand new Lamborghini Huracan.

Yep, Lamborghini has donated this specially modified 325km/h LP 610-4 Huracan to the Polizia to use for general duties – things we imagine involve traffic stops, special events and keeping Italy’s other homegrown supercars in check.

Power comes from the same 449kW/560Nm 5.2-litre V10 as a regular Huracan, meaning a 0-100km/h sprint of 3.2 sec, but this Polizia edition also boasts a number of additional features.

Video cameras are fitted to the windscreens to record high-speed chases, there are gun holsters and the usual plethora of police radios and lights.

As well as police work, the Huracan will be called on for medical emergencies, meaning it has an on-board defibrillator and even a special refrigerated compartment in the front trunk should it be needed to transport organs.

This isn’t the first time the Italian police force has used Lamborghini power. They were first given a Gallardo back in 2004, and again in 2008, although one did meet a rather crashy end in 2009.

THE upcoming Porsche 911 GTS, snapped here testing on Germany’s Nurburgring by Automedia, will be one of the last naturally aspirated 911s, the other being the 911 GT3.

Changes on the way at Porsche will result in all but these two current-generation 911 models being powered by turbocharged engines.

The 911 GTS will be powered by a revised and detuned version of the 3.8-litre naturally aspirated engine used in the 911 GT3.

This places the GTS below the 911 Turbo and above the imminent turbocharged 911 Carrera S in the Porsche power pecking order.

Automedia says the changes in the engine line-up will be the biggest shift since Porsche switched from air-cooled engines to water-cooled in 1998.

“The reasons, however, are the same: reduction of fuel consumption,” reports our snoop pic supplier.

SOMEONE stole Mum’s mobility scooter. Stole a mobility scooter from a widow who can’t walk anywhere thanks to a debilitating post-polio condition. What else do these people do? Punch puppies in the face?

I know from experience that mobility scooters don’t do tricks, they don’t corner very well and wheelies are almost impossible. People don’t own them for fun. They own them because they need them.

I hope hell is real and that a particularly unpleasant part of it is reserved for these people. I imagine it will be dark, shoes will be disallowed and thousands of random Lego pieces will be spread all over the ground.

Sharing this special place with Mum’s scooter thief/oxygen thief will be the person who recently crashed into my wife’s parked XR5 and scarpered, leaving us with a $1400 bill. Even with insurance, we’ll likely end up paying as much thanks to the excess and premium increases.

Nearby, a bloke was trying to fix his rooted old Mirage. He saw what happened and identified the man as an “Indian with big glasses in a 4WD”, which is not particularly helpful. Unfortunately, when it came to information that might actually be of use, like, I don’t know, THE BLOODY REGO NUMBER, he drew a blank.

Now, the damage was not Mirage Man’s fault, he didn’t hit our car (I checked his car for marks) and he had his own troubles that day. But I don’t get why he didn’t even write down the rego.

I know that if I stole some old lady’s handbag worth a fraction of $1400, chances are I would be chased or at least identified and would ultimately end up in a cell with a large man called Bubba.

So, do your bit and take down the rego of anyone who damages someone else’s vehicle. Do it because it is the right thing to do, but also because one day it might be you returning to a mangled car.

DODGE has revealed its new top-spec Challenger in the form of the SRT Hellcat, which will be the most powerful Challenger available when it goes on sale in the US later this year.

Bringing the fight to its contemporary muscle-car peers, Dodge has fitted the 2015 Challenger SRT Hellcat with a supercharged 6.2-litre Hemi V8.

Power figures are yet to be confirmed, but expect the Hellcat to make well over 600 horsepower (450kW), making it the most potent V8 engine Dodge has produced.

Drive is fed to the rear wheels through either a reinforced six-speed manual, or a new eight-speed automatic, while stopping power is provided by massive 15.4-inch discs and Brembo six-piston calipers.

The Hellcat is easy to differentiate from the standard Challenger SRT thanks to a gaping front bonnet scoop, inspired by the first-generation Dodge Viper, flanked by two functional air extractors that suck hot air out of the engine bay.

Unfortunately, the Hellcat is being produced in left-hand drive only, so it won’t officially imported, but Chrysler Australia corporate communications director Karla Leach told us there is hope for the future.

“The only option for us to take it as RHD would be in the next generation of the Challenger, which is about 18 months to two years away, so it’s a medium-term proposition for us,” she said.

“Given the change in the Australian market, if we could get it at a reasonable price and a good spec, we’ll definitely want to take it.”

Production on the Challenger SRT Hellcat is set to commence in the latter half of 2014.

SEPTEMBER’S launch of the new C-Class Estate in Europe will be a major moment for Mercedes-Benz. The wagon is the model chosen to begin the rollout of the Mercedes Connect Me package of services.

Using a module with its own SIM card, the system will connect owners with their vehicles via a smartphone app, to remotely operate some functions and to monitor stuff like fuel level. Other offerings will include breakdown, servicing and accident management services.

However, Connect Me only works in Europe for now, so for the rest of us, the news is really about the wagon’s more prosaic attributes.

The Estate uses the same adaptable MRA platform as the new Mercedes Benz C-Class sedan, meaning it’s both larger and lighter. Length, width and wheelbase all grow, but extensive use of aluminium in the enlarged body shell means total vehicle weight is down by as much as 65kg compared with equivalent models from the previous generation.

Most of the extra interior space has been spent on a 45mm increase in rear-seat legroom in the classy cabin. Cargo capacity behind the rear seats has grown by just five litres, to 490 litres, while maximum capacity is up 10 litres, to a very useful 1510 litres.

But the big improvement is in cargo compartment flexibility. A new 40:20:40-split rear bench replaces the previous 60:40 design. And the new three-piece backrest can be unlocked and folded electrically, at the push of a button.

The global line-up of drivetrains is extensive: four petrol-burning fours and a V6, a collection of turbo-diesel fours plus a turbo-diesel/electric hybrid, with a plug-in petrol-electric hybrid coming later. And, presumably, an AMG version with the new twin-turbo 4.0-litre V8.

Mercedes will also offer Airmatic suspension for the first time in a C-Class wagon, as an alternative to standard and sporty steel spring set-ups.

Like the W205 sedan, which made a hugely positive first impression at its international launch back in March, the wagon will be equipped with S-Class trickle-down tech, and a good dose of its interior ambience and quality.

With or without Connect Me, the new Mercedes C-Class Estate looks set to become the most desirable wagon in the compact premium segment.

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THE 2014 Subaru WRX has launched quickly off the line, selling a record 500 units in April, plus an additional 141 units of the high-performance STI model.

Surprisingly, more than 50 per cent of buyers have opted for the WRX with an automatic transmission.

Traditionally, the WRX is equipped with a manual gearbox, but the latest ‘Rex’ is the first to be offered with an auto – in this case the continuously variable transmission (CVT) used in the Subaru Forester XT.

Subaru Australia spokesman Jeremy Kazanis said that having an automatic option for the first time has had a positive effect on sales.

“The additional transmission has opened the WRX up to a different market which maybe wouldn’t have considered it before, so it’s been very successful,” he said.

“From an STI perspective, the big price drop – over $10,000 – had opened up an opportunity to attract performance car purists.”

The price of the WRX also dropped, by $1000, when launched in late March.

The best previous sales month for the rally-bred performance sedan was 469 units by the first-generation model in its launch year of 1999.

Kazanis said the biggest factor in maintaining sales momentum will be stock levels, but “things are very positive here at the moment”.

Super sophisticated and devastatingly fast, the new Nissan Skyline GT -R has just broken cover overnight, Tokyo has itself a new performance hero. The brutal-looking R34 Skyline GT-R, Nissan has raised the game all round.

Engine, 18in lightweight alloys wearing 245/40ZR transmission, suspension, brakes, body, interior, aerodynamics – it’s a whole new package although wheel arch extensions has double the torsional the 2.6 litre twin turbo, all-wheel drive coupe again stays resolutely true to legend.

Yes, Godzilla is even faster than before, both on more or less unchanged, Nissan has shortened the straight and through the curvy bits. Nissan officially is quoting 13.8sec for 0-400m, compared to 14.1sec for the R33, but both times are surely conservative. With more grunt and grip, the new Godzilla is on line to do 13.5sec, say Japanese media who know, while it also has the ability to lap the Nurburgring Nordschleilfe 30 seconds quicker than the R33 – the first production car to break eight minutes, despite having ostensibly the same power and weight.The starting point is the thundering RB26DETT 2.6 litre 24-valve twin turbo straight six which still produces the same published 211kW at 6800rpm as before. But torque now bumps up 24.5Nm to a monster wide peak of 392Nm at 4400rpm. Each turbo’s main shaft spins on low-friction roller-bearings for sharper boost-up to improve throttle response. Redline hovers at around 8000rpm.Next comes a new close-ratio Getrag six-speed manual box. To put all this power and torque down the road, the R34 GT-R rolls on new 18in lightweight alloys wearing 245/40ZR Bridgestone RE040s while the muscular two-door 4600mm body with those outrageous wheel arch extensions has double the torsional rigidity of the R33.Although kerb weight of 1540-1560kg stays more or less unchanged, Nissan has shortened Godzilla by 75mm to make it more manoeuvrable and the compact 2665mm platform is 55mm shorter than R33’s; width creeps up 5mm to 1785mm. Height stays at 1360mm.Alas, the bluff front end of the new GT-R will not go down as one of the more graceful in the business. Nissan, on the other hand, has spent a lot of time improving aerodynamics both over and under the car. On the top-spec edition called V Spec, you get twin underbody diffusers (front and rear). Race technology has also been applied to the GT-R’s twin, variable-blade rear spoiler to improve high-speed stability.Inside, the R34 GT -R is totally businesslike with simple dashboard and a set of conventional analogue instruments.Exports, if they happen, will likely go in very limited numbers to the UK and Oz.

Okay, we’ll tell you exactly how it feels: it feels like you’re driving a car that’s been dropped nose-first from an aeroplane. Engine revs screaming, wind and rubber shrilling, accelerative forces swatting you against your seat; in less than 15 seconds you must remind yourself to breathe again.

Dogfighting on the track, you are reeling like a fly clenched in a child’s fist. Your immediate environment is comfortable and familiar, but larger forces are at work around you; forces like 300 horsepower or more, enough rubber to confound gravity and the weight of the best chassis and suspension-sorting brains available.The BMW M3, Holden Special Vehicles’ GTS-R and Nissan’s Skyline GT-R V-spec are the ultimate expressions of their kinds. No other BMW 3 Series, no Holden Commodore and no other Nissan Skyline carries the same degree of engineering sophistication, attention to detail or, of course, performance potential. They are masterworks first, performance cars second.Anybody who questions the need for performance cars has no appreciation of the skills both applied to, and gained from, the stretching of the automotive envelope. Motor racing and performance cars reside at its outer extremities.Multivalve cylinder heads, fuel injection and variable camshaft timing weren’t developed for fuel mileage marathons. Multilink rear suspensions with passive toe control didn’t emerge in the quest for a better station wagon. They may end up there, but they came from performance cars.These three may share their intent, but they end up different because they started out that way. A performance car can be cooked up from a number of key ingredients: a larger engine, a lighter car improved engine breathing, turbocharging, suspension tweaks, maybe active rear-steer, perhaps 4wd. Or maybe, in extremis, all of the above…BMW’s $131,750 front-engined, rear-drive M3 draws equally from the highly modern yet quite conventional E36 3 Series coupe, and from the motor racing experience of BMW’s Motorsport annexe. It uses an outrageously efficient 3.2 litre, 24v six-cylinder atmospheric engine, installed in a relatively small, light and highly sophisticated rear-drive chassis.Of course, you might not need a scalpel if a lump of four-by-two will do. The HSV GTS-R bolts a bigger everything onto a very traditional, mass-market family sedan. The cast-iron, pushrod ohv V8 gets more cubes and more pubes – 5.7 litres developing 475Nm and 215kW, plus another 15 to 20kW after optional ($10,500) blueprinting. A trick diff, fat tyres and a coffee table bolted to the boot are the $75,000/$85,500 GTS-R’s major concessions to improving grip and handling.Conversely, virtually every performance techno-gadget that can go into a car has gone into Nissan’s GT -R, on the foundation of a rear-drive, sports-luxury coupe. A 2.6 litre, in-line six develops equivalent power to the others, thanks to 24 valves, twin (ceramic) turbochargers and intercooling.The GT -R delivers its power through a five-speed box (against the others’ six-speeders), computerised 4wd and limited-slip diff, and Nissan’s HICAS four-wheel steering. Remember, the old GT -R was so good they could only kill it by changing an entire touring car category. This one, while 100kg heavier (at 1540kg), is better.Nissan Australia reckons this GT -R – the only one in the country (and temporarily, at that) – would be worth $200,000 landed here. This, along with the hundreds of necessary, niggling ADR changes, means there are no plans to import even limited numbers. This car is on its way to an owner in New Zealand, where it’ll also be unique.Our Kiwi connoisseur will put up with a few missing luxury items. The GT-R matches the two rear-drivers in having 17in alloy wheels, ABS brakes (with four-piston calipers up front), climate-control, central locking and power windows. However, the Nissan lacks the others’ seat height adjustment, remote locking, cruise control and (in the BMW’s case), leather.On paper, the car with the most toys underneath should win. But the term ‘performance’ isn’t so straight or narrow as a drag-strip.Still, it’s a good enough place to start…In a straight line, technology wins. Requiring some technique to get a cleanly boosted launch off the line, the Skyline’s 2.6 litre turbomotor propels it to 60km/h in 2.5sec and 100km/h in 5.6sec. In a subtle symphony of sandpapery engine growl, whistling turbos and phutting wastegates, the GT -R streaks past the 400m mark after just 13.8sec, already travelling at 165km/h. For its complete absence of wheelspin, drivetrain jolts, transmission snags and control heaviness, the GT -R could have been a Pulsar making an 18sec quarter. Except that a Pulsar doesn’t leave your temples throbbing.From just 2.6 litres, the Skyline makes 220kW at 6800rpm (on its way to an 8000rpm redline!) and 368Nm at 4400rpm. Sure, it’s nowhere near as tractable at low rpm as the HSV’s fat V8; in fact, it has more of a low-end lag, big-boosty top end feel than the previous GT-R (easily fixed by keeping it beyond 5000rpm). People who say there’s no substitute for cubic inches must be talking about the vacant space between their ears, because this is certainly one.The BMW M3 is another. The 3.2 you’ll only pick from the 3.0 by its different wheels, clear indicator lenses and 12 percent more power. Along with the capacity increase comes double- V anos variable camshaft timing (now on the exhaust cam as well as the inlet), a higher compression ratio, new electronics and a six-speed transmission with tighter 1-2-3 ratios.The result is probably the most powerful car here, allowing for Australia’s 95 octane premium unleaded and HSV’s uncertain guarantee of what a $10,500 blueprint actually buys you.With 236kW at 7400rpm (slightly more than the magic 100bhp per litre) and 350Nm at 3250rpm, the M3 is more than adequately equipped to haul its 1440kg mass.Make that ass. The M3 grabs the road and grunts like a baby bull to 100km/h in just under 6.0sec, sprinting past the 400m in 14.3 (at 157km/h) and on to 160 in 15.2. The only hitch in its seamless, surging delivery is a slightly snagging gearshift action under pressure (in fact, Skyline’s shift is the nicest of this bunch).Equally important, however, is the BMW’s in-gear performance. It beats or meets the GT -R turbo in every increment up to our national highway limit, and is dead-equal with the GTS-R’s torque-monster V8 for flexibility. No turbo lag, no V8 thirst. In fact, its combined AS2877 city Ihighway figure of 9.4 L/100km is exactly the same as a Commodore 3.8.Speaking of which, you won’t see any other Commodore – or any other Australian car – this side of 15sec over 400m.The GTS-R banana-blaster is the pick ofHSV’s bunch, its 215 (plus?) kW at 4S00rpm and torque of 507Nm at 3600rpm betraying its big-bellied brutality.HSV’s own figures give the ‘stock’ six-speed GTS-R a 14Asec quarter and the blueprinted version O.4sec quicker. Two-up, and with full fuel, we managed only to dip into a 14 to record a two-way average of 15sec neat, at 14Skm/h. The old imperial ton came up in 16.7sec, after a few plunges of the heavyish, long-travel clutch and lengthy gear lever throw. Like we said, its in-gear times were equal-best with the BMW M3.Agreed, neither of the nancy-boy techno cars sounds remotely like the big VS. Actually, it didn’t really sound like a VS either, having more the bellowing blast of a huge, high-pressure water rilains. Could have been all that fuel going through the lines…And yeah, it does make a difference. In virtually identical running which included performance testing at Eastern Creek and a handful of hot laps at Oran Park, the slurpy Skyline and juicy GTS-R sucked up 16.3 and 16.9 litres per 100km, respectively. The miserly M3 managed all of the above on just 12.9 L/lOOkm.Flashback to Oran Park. Two of these cars are road cars being tested on a racetrack. The other was a racing car that was driven there on the road.Many elements of the Skyline GT -R – its hollow, lagging bottom-end power, its belly-jiggling suspension and savagely tramlining steering, its hard, low seating and its metal-on-metal brake feel – leave it less pleasant than the others on the road. On a smooth, sinewy circuit, it all comes together better than any roadable car has a right to.Out in suburbia, the GT -R tracks surely over backstreet minefields and takes tight corners the way Mr Magoo just drives right up the side of a building, but its around-town suppleness relies largely on the size of your butt. It probably didn’t help that the car we were in was the top-shelf ‘V-spec’, with stiffer spring and damper rates and a 10mm lowered ride height.All that NASA-on-acid underneath the GT -R makes it a car to make you look good. With a crisp and firm turn-in (albeit, after overcoming the rock-hard brakes and the arm-wrestling wheel), the GT-R just sorta skates out into a dead-flat and predictable mild oversteering attitude.Where one normally plays with the car’s cornering balance at about this point, the Skyline seems only to alter its cornering attitude by slipping around on a horizontal plane. It’s like an oversized, indoor go-karting buzz.“Well, is that where you wanna go? Over there? So, what are you waiting for?” Your foot already to the floor, the tyres shrilling and subtly slipping, the GT -R holds its slight tail-out stance as it fires out of corners like a golf ball off the tee. It’s an eye-opening, bum-puckering perftnnance.By comparison, GTS-R and M3 at the racetrack are merely great – for earthlings. The Holden feels almost as big as it is, rolling with authority into corners, its weight over the outside rear. It’s a roll-oversteerer, and doesn’t have quite the rear-end grip to cope with full-wood exits. When the tail steps out, it means it.The M3 is crisper, flatter, and more responsive. Its steering also follows surface contours, more than the GTS-R but lots less than the Skyline, while it hauls down under the most progressive, grippiest braking of the bunch. It’s less tail-happy than the Holden and certainly less prone to wheelspin; even in the wet, the M3 gets its power down unimaginably well.On badly off-camber corners, it will hold a neutral-to-understeering attitude while the Commodore’s tail wants to flop into the grass. The four-wheel-everything Skyline, meantime, ‘rests its hand on its hip while you sink the boot in, scrabbling up the camber.But the Skyline isn’t the most enjoyable on the road. It’s too hard, too fast, too… good. The M3 delights not only with its guitar-string-taut throttle and almighty torque, but its whole package of poise, grip, responsiveness and ride.You point the Skyline and hang onto it; you drive the BMW and enjoy the rewards. On the road, these three cars well illustrate the comfort vs handling balance: over there is comfort, this one is handling, and the baby-blue Bimmer is balance. The M3 has its limits but is loved for its willingness to try anything. It’s eminently well controlled and, beyond, eminently controllable.In concert with the M3’s excellent chassis, the aggressive Michelin Pilots simply defy common sense in sheeting rain, carving through vast puddles and begging for firmer and earlier throttle coming out of corners.While the HSV’s Bridgestone Expedia S-015 contribute a lot to the car’s grip but are less progressive in their slip, the Skyline’s Expedia S-07s are progressive but prone to slip sooner. The HSV’s tyres compensate for its chassis; the Nissan’s chassis compensates for its tyres; the BMW has the perfect marriage.In any other company, the HSV GTS-R would feel firmly suspended, tight and well controlled. But here it’s up against a surgically sharp slotcar and a well-practised Wagnerian symphony.There’s not the same palpable body stiffness or roll control, not the telepathic communication between the GTS-R’s tyres and the driver’s seat, nor the confidence for direction changes of truly female-brain suddenness.Mind you, the big Holden steers really nicely, very nearly matching the turn-in precision of the other two but with none of the aggression through the wheel. Despite its size and weight, the HSV also has the second-best brakes (after the BMW) in tenns of progressiveness and feel for road use. Only the Holden’s tallish tail hints at tippy-toeyness under a big ask. I zinkfor sure anozzer sree degrees’ rear wing…The Holden’s weight actually helps it towards having almost the best ride quality, behind – shock me – the M3 again. Where the Skyline’s rock-solid (and strut-braced) body tends to rumble and shoulder its way over ripples, the HSV-banana soaks them up with only a mild, directional squirming.The BMW masks its seriousness with an initial compliance for which German suspensions are often noted. It’s taut, comfortable and controlled.Likewise the M3 has to win for cabin comfort. It has easily the best seats and driving position adjustment. Its pedal spacing doesn’t quite equal the Nissan’s, but a nice touch (as in other 3 Series) are the extensions behind clutch and brake pedal rubbers to stop shoe soles snagging.The Skyline’s seats are virtually racing buckets with backrest angle adjustment but no cushion height variability. They work just great on the circuit but lack padding and lumbar support for road use. The HSV’s seats boast the most generous range of adjustment, with cushion height and lumbar support added, along with height and reach adjustment for the steering column. Even so, they are a little too plush and the cushion is too steeply angled when combined with short legs and a long-travel clutch pedal.The BMW and Nissan are, of course, clearly better designed, built and finished than the HSV GTS-R. As they bloody ought to be, at very nearly twice and thrice the price, respectively.WouId we have a single BMW M3 in preference to a pair of GTS-Rs? Probably! A single GT -R over an M3 and a GTS-R? Nope – but it’s the M3 that seals the deal.The differences between these cars are more fundamental than their price, quality and finish. It’s a thematic thing. The HSV GTS-R is a mass-market sedan whipped and worked into a high-performance sports sedan. You’d compliment your next-door neighbour on buying one.The Skyline GT -R really is a racing animal which has sustained minimal compromise in becoming a hyper-performance road car. You’d have a totally filthy affair with it – for about a year.And the BMW you could live with all the time. Competent on the racetrack and complete on the road, in the brilliant M3 you’re never merely wingin’ it.