It’s been fifteen years since Subaru last sold a two-wheel-drive product in Australia, but the rear-drive BRZ coupe has now been officially confirmed for our local market next year.
When the BRZ was unveiled in Tokyo last month, journalists pestered Subaru Australia MD, Nick Senior, to import its Toyota 86-twin coupe. Senior responded by peering under the front wheelarch of the BRZ and commenting “ahh, no front driveshaft”. The implication was that without drive going to all corners, the BRZ simply wouldn’t fit with the hugely successful ‘symmetrical all-wheel-drive’ marketing strategy that Subaru Australia has employed since 1997.
“The decision to import the BRZ wasn’t taken lightly,” announced Senior this morning. However the man running Subaru’s local arm cited three reasons why the decision to import the BRZ was made. “The passion and persuasion of the FHI engineers involved in the project was telling. They have poured their DNA into this car, so it drives like a Subaru. And because it is built in our spiritual home in Gunma prefecture, it has to be a Subaru.
“Secondly, the testing and development we have undertaken for the Australian market has left me in no doubt that this is a Subaru specifically for our unique Australian conditions.
“Thirdly, we have been overwhelmed by the response to the BRZ since its unveiling in Tokyo. People have been pleading for us to bring the BRZ into the country. Dealers have been astonished at the level of interest.”
How Subaru prices the BRZ against its identical-twin Toyota 86 remains to be seen. Toyota is on record saying it hopes to bring its 86 to Australia with a sub-$40K sticker. For Subaru, that is bang-on turbo-four, all-drive WRX money…
A mobility scooter isn’t the most likely choice of vehicle to modify, and neither is an intended transformation into a pink Rolls-Royce.
But 74-year-old grandfather, Barry Vann, has turned his mobility aid into Lady Penelope’s Roller from the hit 1960s TV series, Thunderbirds.
As Christmas draws near, it’s pens down in the Wheels office, and time to grab the keys to our favourite festive-season rides. (At least for a few days. We haven’t finished our Car of the Year Finals issue yet!.)
Heading the hot stuff for the hot season (or not so much if you’re a Sydney-sider) is the Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG sedan, now powered by a 5.5-litre twin-turbo V8 engine channelling its 410kW/800Nm (in PP guise) to the rear wheels through a seven-speed automatic. Merc’s PR manager gave us the option of a E250 Coupe, gently suggesting the AMG product may too-easily whittle away our licence points over the ‘double demerits’ period, but at least one staffer (his name starts with ‘A’ and ends in ‘Westerman’) is prepared to live on the wild side.
A one-size-smaller V8 sedan comes courtesy of Lexus and its IS F. Recently revised for the third time in as many years, the burly compact rear-driver now gets wider front tyres and new dampers that promise much-improved ride quality; they’re tuned by ze Germans … or at least the German company Sachs. It may not rival the brilliant M3 and C63 AMG, but the $126,800 IS F offers its own unique character. A great-sounding 5.0-litre, terrifically-tuned Sport ESC, and balanced rear-drive chassis offers enough, our Dan argues, to offset the dozy eight-speed (it’s fine in manual mode – DD) and harsh ride quality (ahh, but do the Sachs mean it no longer sucks? – DD).
Lining up in our deputy editor’s driveway is the Audi TT 2.0 quattro. While the original TT made a name for itself as a hairdresser’s car, the new model leaves that tag on the salon floor, meaning that shiny-topped Taylor is now free to jump aboard. With the superb 147kW 2.0-litre turbo pushing only 1305kg of sports coupe, and all-drive traction ably getting the grunt to the ground, this swift two-door is one of the more enticing packages for $75K.
But is it the most enticing? Our sub-editor, Chris Gable, disagrees, choosing to steer the substantially heavier but cheaper ($52K) Golf R five-door over the holidays. To offset the 170kg of extra lard over the Audi, the VW gets a wicked-up 188kW version of the same turbo-four, plus loads of extra practicality to boot.
More disagreement comes from our art director, Sonia Blaskovic, whose priorities lie firstly with getting a summer tan, then with sports performance. Her pick? The $86,000 BMW 135i Convertible. The 225kW 3.0-litre turbo remains an absolute delight, and teamed with a six-speed dual-clutch gearbox that pops on full-throttle upshifts, top-down motoring is as sweet-sounding as it is swift.
So, a disparate yet hugely talented group of cars for our all-too-brief Christmas/New Year sojourn. If it all sounds a bit lofty, don’t worry; on January 9, testing begins for our mid-sized megatest, centred around the new-generation Camry, just before our Car of the Year is announced on January 18.
From all the Wheels team, thanks for your loyalty and support in 2011, all the best for the festive season, and we look forward to bringing you more from the world of motoring in the new year.
Ford Australia has announced that Falcon and Territory will receive an investment package of $103 million to keep the cars alive until at least the end of 2016.
The news was announced yesterday at the Detroit motor show by Ford Australia boss Bob Graziano, Ford Asia Pacific and Africa President Joe Hinrichs, and the Federal Minister for Manufacturing, Kim Carr. The boost includes $34 million from within the existing New Car Plan fund and additional support from the Victorian State Government, the rest being made up by increased investment from Ford HQ in Dearborn.
“Ford Australia’s $103m investment in the design, engineering and manufacture of Falcon and Territory from 2014 continues our focus on providing vehicles with enhanced environmental performance in every segment in which we compete,” said Graziano. “There’s no doubt the large car segment is challenging, but it can remain viable if we continue to provide buyers with what they want – fuel efficiency, design excellence, and features that enhance safety and driving experience.”
Falcon will be launched next year with a four-cylinder Ecoboost engine, and further enhancements to aerodynamics, tyres and transmission will also help improve the car’s level of efficiency going forward.
“It’s good news for jobs,” said Graziano, “as it will provide direct employment for around 300 people during the design and engineering stages – as well as supporting jobs and investment across our supply chain.”
Falcon sales in 2011 were the lowest on record, with fewer than 20,000 finding homes. Production at the Broadmeadows plant in Geelong fell to 45,000 last year – Falcon, Territory and Ute combined – which is seen as unsustainable as a business model without government support. Around 3,500 people are employed by Ford in Victoria, jobs that would be under direct threat if the car and engine manufacturing facilities were shut down.
Plans for beyond 2016 have not been disclosed.
Sebastien Loeb will be aiming for an unprecedented ninth World Rally Championship title when the 2012 season begins with the return of the Monte Carlo event.
After three years on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge circuit, the Monte Carlo leg is back in the WRC and set to provide a spectacle with seven world champions and five former winners of the race in the field.
Loeb heads the lineup in his Citroen DS3 and is the overwhelming favourite for the season’s curtain-raiser, having recorded five victories in seven attempts in the principality, and the Frenchman was delighted to see the event return to the WRC.
“For me, it’s a no-brainer – the Rally Monte Carlo has to be in the World Championship,” Loeb insisted.
“It is the world’s most famous rally. You just can’t have a world championship without it!
“It’s also a rally where I have always done well,” he added.
The Frenchman is not the only driver to have triumphed in Monte Carlo, however, with Francois Delecour, Sebastien Ogier, Mikko Hirvonen and Bryan Bouffier also having celebrated victories in the event.
New Citroen recruit Hirvonen, winner of the 2010 edition when it was part of the IRC circuit, admitted the unpredictable winter conditions that are a staple of the opening rally make it one of the toughest on the calendar.
“Monte Carlo has such a long tradition and the championship has to start from Monte Carlo but I have a kind of love and hate relationship with the rally,” Hirvonen said.
“I mean I love it when I’m not there but, when you’re up in the mountains with the wrong tyres doing icy downhill with the slick tyre, then I hate it.
“But it’s a real challenge and I’m very happy to start the season over there and really excited to be in the Citroen,” the Finn, a new team-mate of Loeb, added.
The course includes 430 kilometres of timed sections over 18 stages, with drivers departing from Valence and passing through the Ardeche, Haute-Loire, Vercors and Alpes-Maritimes regions before arriving in Monaco on Sunday.
The future of the sport was thrown into disarray when the International Automobile Federation (FIA) cancelled its contract with promoters North One Sport earlier in the month, but the Automobile Club de Monaco confirmed that Eurosport had agreed to step in and provide coverage for the season-opening event.
Frenchmen Stephane Peterhansel and Cyril Despres won the Dakar Rally on Sunday, completing the final stage two weeks after the race began in Argentina. Peterhansel won Dakar for a record-10th time and Despres added his fourth title.
“This is without a shadow of a doubt the toughest Dakar I’ve ever raced in,” Despres said.
“It was difficult physically, but even more psychologically. Challenging yourself every morning and fighting on the course takes its toll on your mind.”
The final special stage was only 29 kilometres long and both leaders took it easy on the last day.
Peterhansel in the cars category and Despres in the motorbikes almost wrapped up the title on Saturday, needing only to avoid a major catastrophe to climb the podium.
Despres saluted fellow Frenchman Peterhansel.
“There’s only one Stephane Peterhansel in the world,” Despres said.
The 46-year-old Peterhansel has won Dakar six times on motorbikes, and now four times in the car category. His last victory was in 2007 in cars and he has been racing Dakar since 1988.
Despres was unsure about making his own switch.
“I don’t know if I’m good at driving cars – I’ve never tried,” Despres said.
This is the fourth straight year the Dakar has been run in South America.
The past three years, it was run in a loop course from Buenos Aires to Chile, and back to the Argentine capital.
This time, the rally began in Mar del Plata in Argentina, skipped Buenos Aires, and worked it way across Argentina, crossed the Andes to Chile, and then headed north through the Atacama desert into Peru.
American Robby Gordon in a Hummer won the final stage with Peterhansel in a Mini finishing off the pace – three minutes, 12 seconds behind.
In the overall standings, Peterhansel wrapped up the rally by finishing 41:56 ahead of Mini team-mate Joan Roma of Spain, and 1:13:45 in front of Giniel Devilliers of South Africa in a Toyota.
In motorbikes, Pal Anders Ullevalseter of Norway won the final stage. Despres was 3:51 behind and, like Peterhansel, needed only to play it safe to guarantee victory.
Despres finished 53:20 ahead of KTM team-mate Marc Coma of Spain in the overall. Helder Rodrigues of Portugal, riding a Yamaha, was third – 1:11:17 behind the Frenchman.
Your 40th birthday is often a time of deep self-examination and significant change, but obviously the Honda Civic sedan is pretty satisfied with itself.
Generation nine arrives at the start of the Civic’s anniversary year offering significant price cuts up to $4300 and a range that has been pared back a few models, but otherwise a high degree of familiarity when compared to its predecessor, which made it to the second stage of Wheels COTY judging back in 2006.
The 1.8-litre and 2.0-litre petrol i-VTEC engines in the VTi-L and Sport models offer very similar outputs, transmissions continue to be five-speeds, dimensions measure up much the same and suspension fundamentals are identical. The body and interior are new, but evolutionary
The Hybrid bucks the trend with a larger 1.5-litre petrol engine, electric motor and 21st century Li-ion battery pack that combine to produce slightly less power and slightly more torque than the old car, slightly better official fuel economy at 4.4L/100km and a price rise of $1500 to $35,990.
With the VTi dropped and the VTi-L now the entry model, pricing kicks off at a very competitive $20,990, with the auto option adding $2300. But it is the $27,990 Sport that is the sweet spot in the range, offering a more responsive engine and a better resolution of the ride-handling compromise.
While age doesn’t deliver much change to Civic, it does add responsibility. After four years of tumbling sales Honda Australia is calling this car its “line in the sand” as it looks to double sales to 60,000 in three years.
That plan will be helped significantly when Honda’s flooded Thai plant gets back on line in April (initial Civic supply is from Japan), the British-sourced Civic hatch arrives in July and a new CR-V in Q4.
Bless Volvo. Beyond bubble-wrapping passengers, they’re now cushioning pedestrians too.
The Swedish car maker is poised to unveil a world-first exterior airbag for its new V40 hatchback.
Designed to protect the head of pedestrians from further injury after an initial impact, the new airbag is positioned in front of the car’s windscreen and will cover the whole front section of the vehicle.
When the car detects an impact at the front bumper, a U shaped airbag will be deployed, covering the bonnet, windscreen and windscreen pillars.
It’s an innovative move that ensures Volvo remains at the forefront of vehicle safety, as well as retaining a top score under the new EuroNCAP safety test scoring system, which has revised criteria placing increased importance on pedestrian safety.
Hakan Abrahamsson, program manager for the V40, told smh.com.au:
“With this class-leading safety package, including enhanced focus on pedestrian protection, the all-new V40 aims for a full star rating in the new, sharpened 2012 Euro NCAP safety tests.”
The pedestrian airbag will come standard when the Volvo V40 arrives in Australia in 2013, and it will be officially revealed at the Geneva motor show in March.
189 pedestrians were killed on Australian roads last year, making up 15 percent of the national’s total road toll.
Volkswagen has unveiled the world’s first-ever Golf GTI Cabriolet. The new model produces 154kW, making it the most powerful Golf Cabriolet ever. It will be revealed in full at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show next week.
Volkswagen has ensured all the visual GTI trademarks are in evidence. The red-framed radiator grille gets a honeycomb structure and an offset ‘GTI’ badge, while there’s a GTI front bumper with more of that honeycomb mesh and the characteristic vertical fog lights.
Inside, Volkswagen covers the sports seats in the classic Golf GTI tartan ‘Jacky’ seat trim, and finishes the pedals and gearlever in aluminium. The steering wheel also becomes a GTI sports-style rim, with red stitching to match the handbrake and gearlever.
The 2.0-litre TSI engine produces 154kW, which helps the Golf GTI Cabriolet accelerate from 0-100km/h in 7.3 seconds. It has a top speed of 235km/h. The new Golf GTI Cabriolet can also average 6.3L/100km and emits 177g/km CO2.
The fabric soft-top roof can be lowered in 9.5 seconds – and, if even that isn’t fast enough to raise or lower it at the traffic lights, it can also be operated while driving, at speeds of up to 30km/h.
Ferrari has announced the replacement to the 599 GTB Fiorano. It is called the F12 berlinetta and employs a new V12 engine to make it the fastest Ferrari road car ever – as well as one of the company’s ‘greenest’ models thanks to improvements in engine, aerodynamics, tyres and weight technology.
Like the 599, the F12 is a front-engine, rear-wheel drive, two-seat GT supercar. It will be unveiled at next week’s Geneva Motor Show.
The F12’s 6.2-litre, naturally aspirated V12 engine generates 552kW at 8,500rpm and 936Nm of torque, 80% of which comes in at 2,500rpm and reaches a peak at 6,000rpm.
The sprint from 0-100km/h takes 3.1 seconds with a top speed of over 340km/h possible. As a mark of the engine’s flexibility, the F12 will scream to 200km/h in 8.5 seconds and has completed a lap of Ferrari’s Fiorano test track in 1:23, faster than any other Ferrari road car.
