Electronics company Bosch has opened a new €1 billion (AU$1.57billion) semi-conductor factory in Dresden, Germany, in the hopes of getting on top of the global computer chip shortage.

With 700 staff on deck, Bosch will initially start production at the factory in July with work commencing on semi-conductors for its power tool range, following which automotive production is expected to start in September.

The semi-conductor shortage has caused widespread issues across the auto industry of late, initially triggered by an unexpected rise in demand, but further complicated by blackouts at production facilities in Texas and a fire at a Japanese plant.

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Bosch’s commitment to the factory is the biggest single investment in the company’s history, signalling an intention to not only help alleviate the current shortage, but a commitment to provide stock into the future as the automotive industry adopts EV technology.

The Dresden factory will be manufacturing 300mm wafers, the base of the semi-conductor chips, which will then be sent on to other facilities in Asia to be assembled and distributed to automotive manufacturers.

Bosch say it takes around 20 weeks to make a semi-conductor chip, with over 600 steps in the wafer making facility alone.

Both Nissan and Stellantis announced last week they would be temporarily closing down their automotive plants throughout June due to a lack of stock, while Hyundai Australia confirmed it had halted plans to bring a new i30 Down Under due to the shortage.

Nissan has teamed up with gaming giant Bandai Namco to develop its future generations of in-car interaction between driver and machine.

The Group, responsible for such classics as Pac-Man and Tekken, was asked by Nissan to help develop in-cabin sounds for its range of cars, drawing on experience from years of creating video games which have an emotional connection to people.

Almost everything in a car’s interior is programmed to make some sort of noise in some scenario, such as a warning for an open door, a seatbelt reminder or parking sensors, and it’s those noises which Nissan wants Bandai Namco to reproduce.

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Nissan’s lead engineer for in-car sound, Hiroyuki Suzuki, said the sounds inside the cabin should be full of feeling and immediately recognisable as Nissan’s own unique sound.

“We wanted to make it easier to understand the information in the car and provide an emotional tone so people feel the Nissan brand,” said Mr Suzuki.

“In game development, Bandai Namco’s sound creators develop sounds that simulate players’ intuitive understanding. We collaborated to create sounds which can help drivers have a similar intuitive understanding, in addition to creating sounds which will become synonymous with Nissan global models.”

Sound director of Bandai Namco Research, Minamo Takahashi, believes sounds in video games are designed to help convey emotion while not being distracting, an ethos which carried over to the collaboration with Nissan.

“There are two types of sound in a game: one creates the world view of the story and express how it develops; the other is functional and absolutely vital for playing the game because they give you feedback or warn you of danger,” said Mr Takahashi.

“It was a very intense process; we stayed for days in this studio, had various discussions and went through trial-and-error with Nissan people from the sound engineering, product planning, design, and testing divisions to find out what kind of sound is suitable for the Nissan brand.

“When I got in a car and listened to the sound coming out, I felt the same way I felt when first playing a game I worked on. Even if the industry is different, the sense of accomplishment when you reach your goal is the same.”

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It’s not the first time Nissan has teamed up with a video game company to help develop its in-car experience – the infotainment screen and graphics for the R35 Nissan GT-R were developed by Polyphony Digital, creators of the Gran Turismo game series (the fonts and displays in the GT-R were then used in the 2010 release of Gran Turismo 5).

To utilise the sounds properly, Nissan and Bandai Namco had to create a new speaker which sits in the middle of the dash, being able to express the full range of noises designed.

Though Nissan Australia hasn’t confirmed which Australian models which feature the new sounds, the North American Rogue and Pathfinder, Japan’s Note, and the European Qashqai will have the new technology implemented from the back end of 2021.

Bugatti has taken to social media to offer a preview of a new Chiron-based hypercar, with a full reveal taking place this afternoon.

On Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the company posted a front-on shot of a white Chiron with little more than the headlights and silhouette visible. “The next hyper sports car from Molsheim is unmistakably a Bugatti ” reads the caption, which directs attention to a YouTube-based world premiere at 10:00am CEST (6:00pm AEST) today.

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The new car is likely to be a production version of the Chiron Super Sport 300+, the prototype of which debuted at the 2019 Frankfurt Motor Show. At that time, Bugatti President Stephan Winkelmann said production of just 30 cars would commence in 2021, making the timing of this reveal right for the 300+.

Powered by an 8-litre quad-turbo W16 producing 1160kW, the prototype 300+ recorded a 490.47km/h one-way run at Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien proving ground. Production versions will use the same engine and seven-speed DCT, but will be electronically limited to 440km/h – a boost on the standard Chiron’s 420km/h. The 300+ also features a tail section 10cm longer than a standard model, improving top-speed aerodynamics.

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Bugatti has a history of challenging production car speed records since the 2005 launch of Chiron’s predecessor, the Veyron. The Super Sport version hit 414.8km/h in 2010, claiming the record of fastest production car. This title was later stripped due to the record-setting car’s lack of a factory speed limiter, but reinstated in 2013 when Guinness World Records decided limiter removal was not a “fundamental” modification.

The Chiron Super Sport 300+ is set to be priced at €3.5 million ($A5.49m) before taxes.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) Australia has announced it is to take over the running of all brands under the Stellantis banner.

The organisation has revealed it will assume control of all operations for former Peugeot Société Anonyme (PSA) carmakers across Australia and New Zealand, effective immediately.

That means as well as overseeing Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Fiat, the company will also be responsible for the business operations and performance of Citroen, Peugeot and RAM.

However, there will be no distribution changes – with Citroen and Peugeot continuing to be handled by Inchcape in Australia and Armstrongs in New Zealand, and RAM by the Ateco Group in both nations. The partnering organisations will also maintain their own relationships with their dealer networks.

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Kevin Flynn, Managing Director of FCA Australia, will be in charge of all brands in Australia and New Zealand.

In January 2021, the European Commission approved the merger of two automotive powerhouses – FCA and PCA – uniting 15 brands under the one Stellantis umbrella which boasts production capabilities across Europe and the Americas.

These brands – Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroen, Dodge, DS, Fiat, Fiat Professional, Maserati, Mopar, Opel, Peugeot, RAM, SRT, Vauxhall – sold a combined 8.7 million new cars around the world in 2020, making Stellantis the world’s 6th biggest automotive company behind Volkswagen, Toyota, Renault–Nissan General Motors and Hyundai–Kia.

“With an on-going focus on strengthening the growth of each of our brands across Australia and New Zealand, we have made the strategic decision to centralise our brand operations in Australia,” said Billy Hayes, who represents Stellantis in the India and Asia Pacific Region.

“This new structure will ensure the appropriate resources are given to each of our general distributor partners as we support them for the success of our businesses combined.”

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Who represents who?

Inchcape

Citroen and Peugeot (Australia)

Armstrongs

Citroen and Peugeot (New Zealand)

Ateco Group

RAM (Australia)

Jeep, RAM, Abarth, Fiat, Fiat Professional and Alfa Romeo (New Zealand)

FCA

Jeep, Chrysler, Fiat, Abarth, Fiat Professional and Alfa Romeo (Australia)

UPDATE, December 29: Australian pricing or the updated XC40 Recharge Pure Electric range has been announced, including the addition of a more affordable single-motor offering. See our story here.

The story to here

June 8, 2021: Australian pricing has been announced for the upcoming 2021 Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric, detailing a long driving range and a rich equipment list.

Available in just one specification and priced from $76,990 before on-road costs, the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric – known in Europe as the XC40 P8 Recharge – will debut with a $12,000 premium over its plug-in hybrid sibling.

The new electric Volvo’s pricing will also see it positioned above the popular and pioneering Tesla Model 3 (around $63,000), while Hyundai’s upcoming Ioniq 5 EV is expected to debut in that $65-75k range.

For the spend, the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric (let’s go with ‘PE’ from here on out) will get a 78kWh battery pack matched to a pair of 150kW electric motors mounted one at each axle for an all-wheel drive configuration. Torque is listed at 660Nm.

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Volvo promises a driving range of up to 418 kilometres from one charge (WLTP tested), with a 0-100km/h time of 4.9 seconds – roughly in the heart of what EVs will achieve in relatively standard forms.

(The entry-level Model 3 claims a 448km WLTP-tested range and 5.6-second sprint to 100km/h, but the $77,900 variant boasts a huge 657km range and a sharper 4.4-second 0-100km/h run.)

It’s worth noting that like all EVs, the Recharge PE could show real-world driving range results in the neighbourhood of 350 kilometres, depending on outside conditions (cold weather sucks the life out of a battery) and your driving style. The latter is, of course, true of any car.

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Among the wider XC40 line-up, the Recharge PE is unique in being the first Volvo in Australia to feature the company’s new Google-developed Android infotainment system – fully integrating the popular mobile operating system rather than merely mirroring a phone-based session. Google Assistant (“Hey google”), Google Maps and the Google Play Store are all built-in.

The Recharge PE is also the only XC40 without a start/stop button – instead, the car is ready to drive as soon as you’ve buckled up.

Standard features include 20-inch alloy wheels, heated seats, Harman Kardon sound, and safety tech that includes familiar Volvo systems like City Safety sensors and autonomous braking, Collision Warning and Mitigation, and Parking Assist. A full list of equipment highlights is listed below.

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The XC40 Recharge PE will also come with a five-year / unlimited-kilometre warranty on the vehicle and eight years of warranty on the battery, along with a three-year / 100,000km wear-and-tear plan on consumables like brake discs and pads, and wiper blades.

Roadside assist is packaged for eight years.

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2022 Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric standard features

• 20-inch 5V Spoke Matt Graphite Diamond Cut Alloy Wheels
• Harman Kardon Premium Sound System
• 9-inch Centre Screen Display
• Digital radio (DAB+)
• Wireless device mirroring, Android Auto and CarPlay
• Speech function
• Inductive charging for smartphones
• City Safety
  • Collision Warning and Mitigation, Front and Rear
  • Park Assist, Front and Rear with Camera
  • Blind Spot Information System with Cross Traffic Alert
  • Adaptive Cruise Control, Pilot Assist and Lane Keeping Aid
  • 360-degree camera
  • Parking assistance, front and rear
• Hill start assist and Hill Descent Control
• Keyless Entry and Hands-Free tailgate
• Electronic Folding Exterior Mirrors
• Auto Dimming Internal and External Mirrors
• LED Headlight System
• Two-Zone Climate Control System
• Leather-accented Seating
• Heated front seats
• Heated rear seats
• Front and rear carpet mats
• Power Folding Rear Headrests

When will the Volvo XC40 Recharge Pure Electric be on sale in Australia?

Volvo has confirmed the XC40 Recharge PE will land in Australia in August 2021. If the conventional SUV look isn’t quite your style, the more coupe-like C40 electric SUV will arrive around a year later.

Buyers of the XC40 Recharge PE in NSW may also be eligible to have their stamp duty waived. You can read about that here.

“Your car is on fire, mate.” That wasn’t what I really wanted to hear while inching a Jaguar F-Type through a McDonalds drive-thru, ordering a bacon and egg McMuffin. I wondered if I’d be able to take the restaurant with me in the resultant conflagration. I hear those grease traps can flare up like an angry pack of haemorrhoids. “My car is on fire?” I felt it was important to clarify the on fire/not on fire thing. I didn’t want to be Romain Grosjean. At least he was racing semi-competently and not trying to post lightly spiced mechanically recovered meat into his mouth part. “YOUR CAR IS FIRE,” came the disembodied reply through the tinny speaker. I’ve never felt so old.

But then being of a certain age seems a bit of a prerequisite for entry into this particular club. If you’re not over the age of 40, and seconded by two people with gout or minor prolapsed discs, you probably shouldn’t bother. After all, GT coupes tend to be too compromised and too expensive for those with a full complement of hair, teeth and principles. They’re one of the few things that make ageing seem worthwhile and the cars gathered here are three of the very finest occupants of that $150-$200k netherworld just below that price point at which the Porsche 911 makes most rival efforts seem vaguely perfunctory.

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At the sensible end of this intriguing triptych is the Mercedes-AMG E53 coupe. It’s based on an E-Class sedan chassis, has functional back seats, a huge boot and comes with both a five-year warranty and the reassuring comfort blanket of all-wheel drive. It also has the most technically interesting powertrain of the bunch, a 3.0-litre straight-six with an e-motor good for 250Nm, a turbocharger and a 48v-powered electric compressor, in effect acting as a zero-lag bottom-end supercharger. It’s also the cheapest car here, retailing at $164,800 before on-roads and options.

The next most expensive is the $173,100 Jaguar F-Type R-Dynamic P380. This resides at the other extreme to the AMG, offering no back seats, a firmish ride, short-wheelbase jinkiness, a 3.0-litre V6 supercharged powerplant and an engine note to die for. Preferably not in a grease fire. It’s a car so good looking that you’ll never be able to walk away without casting a look over your shoulder. If you think that paying $100k extra for the range-topping V8 model seems smart, then Pete Evans has a COVID-curing BioCharger with your name on it.

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“Drama follows the F-Type. The theatrical flare of revs on start up will soon have you struck from your neighbours’ Christmas card list.”

Wedged into the middle of this trio is the Lexus LC500. Retailing at $194,757, this is comfortably the most powerful car here and achieves that feat with no forced aspiration whatsoever, just 4969 cubic centimetres of swept capacity, which gets compressed into eight Yamaha-designed combustion chambers. Despite all of the carbon-fibre parts on this elegant 2+2, I suspect the chassis must be made of depleted uranium or something similar to tip the scales at 1970kg. That’s almost 400kg heavier than the Jaguar, which shares an identical 178kW/tonne power-to-weight ratio.

Now before we roll the sleeves up and dive headlong into this one, can we get one thing straight? Nobody needs a $200k coupe. They’re pure indulgences and, yes, your indulgences are your business. In that regard, you probably already have firm ideas as to which of these cars are more you, so this may well be an exercise in personal confirmation bias. That’s a maybe, but stick with this because it’s not your typical three-car comparison.

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The first requirement in the morning at the proving ground is to eke some numbers out of these vehicles and that presents us with something of a challenge. There isn’t a smooth, straight stretch of bitumen long enough to accelerate the vehicles safely up to 400m and then brake them back down to zero again. We guinea-pig a couple of runs on the handling pad but it’s clear that even when starting at the far extreme, the numbers suggest that the vehicles will still be travelling at around 65km/h when they disappear off into the bushes at the other end. So we test over a 350m course instead, running the vehicles to a maximum of around 150km/h in the process, which is more than enough to give us an indication of relative speed, if not a quarter mile time. We’ll have to save that for the Heathcote strip.

We expected the AMG to be the quickest off the line, leveraging its all-wheel drive advantage and instant e-boosted torque. What we didn’t expect was that the car with the feeblest power-to-weight ratio would then never be caught. Even from 80-120km/h, where traction isn’t really an issue, the cheapest car here pipped the others. Only in the next 30km/h increment did the LC500’s sheer power tell, recording 120-150km/h in 3.09s, with the AMG a tenth back and the Jaguar a further tenth behind.

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The stock zero to 100km/h increment? The AMG will demolish the more exotic-looking rear-drivers every time. It’s worth noting that none of the cars featured a launch-control function. The Mercedes was idiot-proof off the line anyway, the Lexus was easy to chirp cleanly away, but the Jaguar required more trial and error to squeeze the best time from. Its Trac-DSC mode – a slackening of the stability and traction control settings – yielded the most regular results.

The Lexus felt most implacable under braking, the huge eight-piston front monoblocs offering the greatest swept area of its big 400mm discs, helping combat 1945kg of physics. The Mercedes’ left-hand pedal also feels reassuring but lacks the Japanese car’s pure retardation power. The Jaguar never feels quite so planted, its braking matching the drama of its power delivery. Stamp on the picks and it feels like the car’s corrugating behind you in a cartoonish fashion, as if the rear axle’s trying to climb into the cabin with you.

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Drama follows the F-Type. The theatrical flare of revs on start up will soon have you struck from your neighbours’ Christmas card list, the supercharged V6 sounding even more strident in Dynamic mode when the exhaust butterflies open. Shunt the gear lever into manual mode and chase the 6800rpm redline and it’s one of those cars that so saturates you in sound and juices your adrenal glands that after a while you’re left gritty-eyed and spent, as if you’ve been up for 48 hours and you’re on your sixth Red Bull of the morning.

I’m following the Lexus LC500 through the testing twisties of Lang Lang’s Hill Route. There’s every radius of bend here, with purposefully awful surface changes mid-corner and one corner where a carefully cultivated mud patch right at the apex sends cars into sudden and eye-widening understeer. The show car lines of the Lexus catch the light in curious ways, the wheel spokes strobing crazily in the low sun while the nearside rear lights reflect the grey kerb stones like a rheumy glaucoma eye.

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Alex Affat has figured out that the Lexus needs to be kept in manual, above 5500rpm and in its most focused Sport S+ configuration to give the impression of shucking off weight via the application of horses. The Jaguar needs no such prescription to get up onto its toes. Even in its default drive mode it feels alive, with less of an abrupt transition through its damping stroke than the Japanese coupe. The steering offers a decent facsimile of feel without getting syrupy. If you haven’t driven a Jaguar for a while, it’ll be a revelation compared to the awful fingertip-light hydraulic systems that blighted so many of the company’s sporting wares for so long.

Forget the revised front end. It’s the steering that represents the biggest change in this F-Type. It’s blessed with crisper on-centre feel and more initial effort on turn-in, with a more pronounced caster effect and there’s even a very subtly engineered vibration pathway through the column to give it the feel of being alive in your hands. It works.

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There’s also a good deal more stability when accelerating out of tighter turns. Jaguar poached Tanmay Dube from McLaren, where he’d worked as integration manager on the 720S, and his team identified an area of compounding instability in the old car’s rear suspension. By using huge die-cast aluminium rear hub carriers, beefier wheel bearings and upgraded upper ball joints, camber stiffness has increased by 37 per cent while toe stiffness elevates by 41 per cent. Being able to more precisely manage the rear tyre contact patches reduces the complexity of variables affecting the front tyres and, in turn, the steering.

I swap into the Lexus and attempt to replicate the F-Type’s speed and line through each corner, unsuccessfully. The LC500 ladles out big stabs of stability control to combat roll oversteer. Switch out the electronic nanny and the Lexus, with 250mm more in the wheelbase than the Jaguar and a creamily progressive powerplant will slide predictably and lazily. It’s probably not a habit you’ll get into, on dry bitumen at least, as the 275/35 RF21 rear Michelin Pilot Super Sports are around $500 a hoop, so you could easily chew through a grand’s worth of rubber in minutes if you get a bit overenthusiastic.

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The stability system delivers a gentler intervention than the Jag’s somewhat snitchy system with the new Active Cornering Assist providing more sophisticated braking control to the inner wheels when cornering hard, but then the electronics blot their copybook with an unacceptably slow re-authentication of any meaningful throttle request.

This current LC benefits from an update which sees around 9kg of unsprung weight shorn from the aluminium suspension structures and lighter 21-inch wheels, with that weight being reintroduced into the chassis in the form of additional rear bracing. The LC will still roll and the 2020 update to imbue the front suspension with a longer, softer stroke are thrown into stark relief by the comparative sophistication of the F-Type’s delightful front end.

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The answer to any cornering problem with the AMG is more throttle, right up to that point when it isn’t. The combination of nine-speed automatic transmission and an electro-mechanically controlled centre clutch allows for fully variable torque distribution. In other words, the E53 can be a pure rear-driver if it wants to be, in theory at least. Power out of a corner and it’s impossible to detect the diff apportioning drive from front to rear.

The engine also undertakes a baton relay, the electric motor delivering a 16kW/250Nm boost from step-off to 2500rpm. At this point, it’s in its handover phase to the 48v-energised e-turbo which gets moving at just below 2000rpm, spooling up to 70,000rpm, and delivering its services in the time it takes for another 1000rpm to register on the TFT tacho. At this point, a head of exhaust gases have spun up the old-school turbo and the AMG is shifting. With so much going on down low, it’s a bit of a shame that peak power arrives at a lowly 6100rpm, as the straight-six has the genesis of a decent howl developing.

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Riding on air, the AMG feels all of a piece up until about eight-tenths, beyond which some of the calibrations feel a little ham-fisted. That shouldn’t detract from its appeal as a pure road car, for which its ride and handling are largely well judged. Wicking the E53 into Sport+ mode stiffens the front end quite markedly and this roll resistance compromises grip somewhat, making the Mercedes the biggest handful through the dried mud understeer exercise. Leaving the transmission to figure out things for itself results in the software kicking down several gear rather clumsily on corner exit. Try shuffling cogs by using the reprofiled lug-shaped shifters and you realise that due to its low-end complexity, the E53’s lump isn’t the easiest to drive by ear and the gear indicator is so small it can only be registered by a superior brand of scanning electron microscope, and to make that task even harder, it’s hidden from view behind the steering wheel boss.

The Jaguar’s ride compromises are an acceptable trade-off for the handling accuracy delivered, but the Lexus is always both louder and firmer in its Comfort mode than is ideal as a GT cruiser. The Mercedes isn’t entirely vice-free either, with significant tyre noise and, in this example at least, at least three separate and persistent squeaks and rattles. The seats are wide and flat in both cushion and squab, but space in the rear is excellent. The cabin, with its new S-Class wheel, MBUX infotainment and bold sweep of lumber is dramatic, but is overburdened by irksome nuisance factors. These can manifest via superfluous warnings or the ultra-sensitive capacitive pads on the steering wheels that, with an errant pass of the thumb, seems to be able to trash your main dash readouts from the usual speedo and tacho to something that tells you the exchange rate of the Vietnamese dong against a basket of Micronesian currencies. I may have made that last bit up.

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Therein lies the surprise with this test. None of these three convincingly answers the call as a satisfying gran turismo. The Mercedes’ control interface is too fussy and the materials quality at this price point aren’t as resolved as we’d like. The Lexus’ recent pivot to a more dynamic focus is a bit of a head scratcher, offering neither the ride finesse to satisfy as a long-distance mile muncher nor the focus of a scalpel-sharp corner carver. Only the Jaguar nails a particular brief, but you may tire of its jostling ride and histrionics and wonder where the money’s been spent as you sit and wonder what happened to the development budget for heated seats, wireless phone charger, adaptive cruise, head-up display or any one of a number of features you’d expect on a vehicle a third of the F-Type’s price.

Viewed objectively, the Mercedes-AMG E53 coupe is easily the best car on test. It’s the most generously equipped, it’s the cheapest, it’s the fastest and it’s the most practical. You get the best warranty (five years, five years recovery, 12 years corrosion) and although the Jaguar claims a superior fuel economy figure, don’t believe it. The AMG is the only one of this trio that will return single digit l/100km numbers from without you feeling as if you’ve catastrophically missed the point of the car. That leaves the squabble for the minor positions. But not so fast. Let’s circle back to why you’d choose to buy one of these coupes. After some consideration, I’ve come to the conclusion that the defining metric of success here is in how far removed the car feels from the mainstream; how special it makes you feel. On that score, the Mercedes-AMG has to come third, struggling to shuck off the German airport taxi DNA of its E-Class underpinnings. It’s undoubtedly a lovely and worthy thing and it possesses a powertrain that borders on genius, but neither your eye nor your heart is drawn to it when either the Jaguar or Lexus is within its purview.

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Both of these cars are so good looking that you’ll get up at night and wander into your garage, coffee in hand and just gaze at them. It’s the Lexus that seems as if it has a gorgeous and magical otherworldliness about it. Some of the demented focus that was the hallmark of the LFA program suffuses the LC. The 2UR-GSE engine feels as if it ought to be crafted from the periodic table’s noble metals, with reciprocating elements of palladium, iridium and platinum rather than anything with a lowlier atomic weight like aluminium or iron. It’s something that keen drivers will adore and its appeal never wanes.

The LC500’s cabin is at the same time beautifully built and yet, on occasion, so gnawingly frustrating to use that it again feels as if it’s the work of beings who’ve made a valiant fist of understanding humans but aren’t quite there yet. The screen ought to be touch-sensitive but is built beyond arm’s length, forcing you to use the klutzy touchpad. Even faults like this feel somehow acceptable in the LC500, as if conforming to ergonomic heuristics was never particularly high on the design brief.

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It’s still by some margin the most absorbing character here. It engenders a feeling of joy and wonder that this creation, which must surely never come close to turning a profit for Lexus, even exists. It’s time here is destined to be short; the terminal supernova of the normally aspirated internal combustion engine before the whole concept collapses on itself. Get it while it’s hot.

The Jaguar muscles into second by sheer force of personality which leaves the ‘best’ car here, the AMG, cradling the wooden spoon this time round. None of this makes a great deal of sense, but then neither does paying $200k for a supercoupe. You do it to grant yourself a singular experience only a vanishing few will ever enjoy. And the Lexus LC500 understands that better than anything else here.

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PREMIUM ECONOMY

The updates to the 2021 Mercedes-AMG E53 Coupe’s cabin tickle the car smartly up to date and introduce the very powerful but deeply complex MBUX infotainment architecture. Equipment inclusions on this model comprise 20-inch alloys, the AMG Night Package, a 13-speaker Burmester surround-sound stereo, nappa leather trim and a panoramic glass sunroof. Twin 12.3-inch screens handle infotainment and the binnacle clocks, plus there’s a head-up display with virtual-image windscreen projection which is visible through polarised sunnies.

CRUNCHING NUMBERS

The 0-100KM/H stats we know. 4.49s for the AMG, 4.87s for the Jaguar and 5.12s for the Lexus. Beyond that, things start to get interesting. Because none of these three cars share the same number of gear ratios, the delta between the quickest car here, the AMG, and the other pair has a rhythmic rise and fall. The gulf between the E53 and the LC500 is greatest at 110km/h (0.82s) after which the Lexus begins clawing time back.

The Jaguar is only three-hundredths behind the AMG at 10km/h and, again, 110km/h is where it lags, standing 0.45s back from the German car. By 140km/h however, it has narrowed the gap to a mere 0.05s. In the real world, the E53 Coupe is the quickest car. If you buy your cars by quarter-mile times, it could well be the slowest of our trio.

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2021 LEXUS LC500 SPECS

Body: 2-door, 2+2 coupe

Drive: Rear-wheel

Engine: 4969cc V8, DOHC, 32v

Bore x Stroke: 94.0 x 89.5mm

Compression: 12.3:1

Power: 351kW @ 7100rpm

Torque: 540Nm @ 4800rpm

Power-to-weight: 178kW/tonne

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Weight: 1970kg

Suspension: Multi links, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll bar (f) / multi links, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll bar (r)

L/W/H: 4770/1920/1345mm

Wheelbase: 2870mm

Tracks (f/r): 1631/1636mm

Steering: Electrically assisted rack-and-pinion

Brakes: 400mm ventilated discs, 6 piston calipers (f); 358mm ventilated discs, four-piston calipers (r)

Wheels: 21.0 x 9.5-inch (f); 21 x 10.0-inch (r)

Tyres: 245/40 RF21 96Y (f); 275/35 RF21 99Y (r) Michelin Pilot Super Sport

Price: $194,757

Pros: Concept car vibe; awesome engine; quality

Cons: Odd ergonomics; weight

Rating: 8.0/10

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JAGUAR F-TYPE P380 SPECS

Body: 3-door, 2-seat coupe

Drive: Rear-wheel

Engine: 2995cc V6, DOHC, 24v supercharged

Bore x Stroke: 84.5 x 89.0mm

Compression: 10.5:1

Power: 280kW @ 6250rpm

Torque: 460Nm @ 4500-5000rpm

Power-to-weight: 178kW/tonne

Transmission: 8-speed automatic

Weight: 1572kg

Suspension: A-arms, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll bar (f) / multi links, coil springs, adaptive dampers, anti-roll bar (r)

L/W/H: 4470/1923/1311mm

Wheelbase: 2622mm

Tracks (f/r): 1584/1628mm

Steering: Electrically assisted rack-and-pinion

Brakes: 380mm ventilated discs, six-piston calipers (f); 325mm ventilated discs, four-piston calipers (r)

Wheels: 20 x 10.5-inch (f/r)

Tyres: 255/35 ZR20 (97Y) (f); 295/30 ZR20 (101Y) (r) Pirelli P Zero

Price: $173,100

Pros: Handling verve; angry soundtrack; styling

Cons: Interior dating fast; ride firmish

Rating: 8.0/10

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MERCEDES-AMG E53 SPECS

Body: 2-door, 4-seat coupe

Drive: All-wheel

Engine: 2996cc inline-6, DOHC, 24v, turbo, s/c, e-motor

Bore x Stroke: 88.0 x 82.1mm

Compression: 10.5:1

Power: 320kW @ 6100rpm

Torque: 520Nm @ 1800-5700rpm

Power-to-weight: 169kW/tonne

Transmission: 9-speed automatic

Weight: 1895kg

Suspension: Multi links, air springs, adaptive dampers (f); multi link, air springs, adaptive dampers (r)

L/W/H: 4964/1852/1449mm

Wheelbase: 2873mm

Tracks (f/r): 1628/1598mm

Steering: Electrically assisted rack-and-pinion

Brakes: 370mm ventilated discs, four-piston calipers (f); 360mm ventilated discs, single-piston calipers (r)

Wheels: 20.0 x 8.0-inch (f); 20.0 x 9.0-inch (r)

Tyres: 245/35 ZR20 95Y (f); 275/30 ZR20 97Y (r) Yokohama Advan Sport V105

Price: $164,800

Pros: Practicality; quick off the mark; clever engine

Cons: Not special enough in this company

Rating: 7.5/10

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I’m not bitter that Australia missed out on the Shelby GT350 version of the Mustang. Or the GT350R. Or the GT500. Or the GT500SE…

Okay, so I am. We’ve had more than a few cracks at fettling our own track-focused Mustangs, but until now there’s been nothing that really scratches the itch for people who want to take their Mustangs on track.

And let’s face it, if you have a rear-driver with a limited-slip diff and a V8, why the hell wouldn’t you want to slide it around to your heart’s content?

Scotty Newman’s pretty good at that sort of thing and you can read his assessment here. Mine is more of an everyman’s perspective. I’m a car guy and a journo, but as the editor of Street Machine magazine, I’m generally more concerned with chrome-bumper classics than brand new hotness.

The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1 is the exception.

It concerns me greatly.

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For folks of my ilk, whose very existence is centred around rear-drive, V8-powered passenger cars, the new-car landscape is a pretty alien place. We’ve loved and lost the Camaro, and Chrysler has drawn a line through the Hemi-powered 300 SRT.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz is fixing to replace the glorious twin-turbo bent-eight in the perennially awesome C63 with a hybrid four-banger set-up. Make no mistake; the times, they are a-changin’.

But then there’s the Mustang. It stands alone as the only affordably priced, V8-powered, rear-drive anything on the market. The last of the V8 interceptors… a piece of history. You can even have one with a manual gearbox, and in this day and age, that’s something in and of itself.

The retro angle on modern cars often comes across as contrived, but if you ask me, I reckon the Mustang pulls it off with aplomb. I’ve had the opportunity to drive both generations of Mustang GT that Ford Australia has brought to our shores, and have very much enjoyed them.

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I believe it’s how a car makes you feel that’s most important, and thus you should divorce your wife and buy a Mach 1 with the change.

That being said, while the FN model righted most of the wrongs of the FM as I saw them (namely, the slight houso vibe in the interior, wishy-washy six-speed auto and less-than-inspiring exhaust note) it remained flawed. As soon as you took it to the track, the GT would get hot under the collar, throw codes like frisbees and promptly engage limp-home mode.

For the vast majority of buyers, this is not the slightest concern. But for card-carrying bogans like myself who enjoy long walks on the beach and beating on cars like redheaded stepchildren, it presents something of an issue.

American buyers can opt for the Shelby models, but here in Oz we don’t have that luxury. That’s why the new Mach 1 is such an important car.

The Mustang Mach 1 is inspired by Ford’s ’69 factory hot rod of the same name, and they’ve certainly nailed the aesthetic. Being that the current Mustang silhouette harks tastefully back to its formative years, it wears the vintage-flavoured Mach 1 striping, badging and wheels very well indeed.

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It’s touted as the most track-focused Mustang ever sold in Australia, and is equipped with a bunch of sexy hot-up bits.

A lot of them, including the suspension tweaks, engine intake system, all-important cooling upgrades and Tremec TR-3160 six-speed manual gearbox (more on that later) were raided straight from the Shelby parts bin.

Engine output from the 5.0-litre Coyote V8 is up negligibly from 339kW in the GT to 345kW, but having driven both back-to-back on the street and on Sydney Motorsport Park’s nifty South Circuit, I believe the significant advantage the Mach 1 heralds has little to do with engine performance.

Perhaps most crucially, the Mach 1’s engine, transmission and diff coolers have rendered it entirely capable of sustained track use without it shitting the bed. And that’s a damn good thing, given that it’s an absolute hoot to drive in anger.

The Mach 1 feels more pointed than the GT, probably due to a combination of the MagneRide dampers (optional on GT), Mach 1-specific springs and GT350-sourced swaybar and subframe bushings.

Mach 1 also cops revised steering calibration, and it’s an improvement that’s evident over the GT on both road and track.

On top of the external cooler, the smooth and beautly intuitive 10-speed auto receives a Mach 1-specific torque converter and optimised calibration, but the six-speed manual is the clear winner for mine.

The Mach 1 runs an entirely new unit (the aforementioned Tremec 3160), and relative to the GT’s Getrag ‘box, its tightly-stacked ratios noticeably sharpen the Coyote’s delivery and make for a far more engaging and enjoyable drive.

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It feels faster, too. You change gears more often, but the shift action feels short, positive and wonderfully precise, so it’s not a chore.

For the hoons out there, the rev-cut permits merciless flat shifting, and the auto-blip function on downshifts makes you feel like Andre Heimgartner as you punt it around the track. That’s until the actual Andre Heimgartner takes you for a hot lap in the same car, and it becomes powerfully apparent that you’re nothing of the sort.

But I believe it’s how a car makes you feel that’s most important, and thus you should divorce your wife and buy a Mach 1 with the change.

Get a manual in Fighter Jet Grey, with the endearingly gaudy optional orange stripes and brake calipers. Only then will you know true happiness.

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Audi has announced it is to return to the rallying stage, 35 years after its last factory-backed car competed.

The German automaker is to make its return to off-road racing in the 2022 Dakar rally with a world-first hybrid machine.

The Ingolstadt carmaker hopes the move will pave the way for the sport in the future, just as the firm did in the 1980s by being the first manufacturer to competitively use four-wheel-drive in motorsport.The German automaker pulled out of the sport at the

Audi left rallying from the back end of Group B due to a string of fatalities and had one last hurrah at Pikes Peak with Walter Röhrl winning in a Quattro S1.

The hybrid vehicle will be run by Q Motorsport, utilising the DTM-developed TFSI petrol engine as a generator to charge the on-board batteries which power the three electric motors from Audi’s Formula E program, wrapped up at the end of 2020.

Two of the three electric motor-generator units (MGUs) will provide power – one on each axle – while the third will work in tandem with the petrol engine to recharge the battery.

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Audi has said the yet-to-be-named challenger will run on electric power only between stages with the combustion engine being used throughout Special Stages to keep the battery’s state of charge topped-up, according to Audi Sport’s managing director, Julius Seebach.

“The important thing is: our drivetrain is fully electric. The TFSI engine is only used to charge the batteries on the special stages,” said Mr Seebach.

“The battery has to be charged while driving, as there are currently no other options to do so in the desert.

“With the Dakar project, we at Audi remain true to our philosophy of using new technologies in motorsport for the first time that are groundbreaking for future road cars.

“In our rally history, for example, this was the Quattro drivetrain, and now we will test components for future electric drivetrains under extreme conditions at the Dakar Rally. At the same time, we offer exciting customer and fan experiences.

The car is planned to be unveiled in July 2021 with the driving roster already announced, featuring heavyweights such as two-time WRC champion and three-time Dakar winner, Carlos Sainz Sr, 14-time Dakar winner (eight in a car, six on a motorbike), Stéphane Peterhansel and two-time DTM champion, Mattias Ekström.

Dakar will take place from January 2-14, 2022 in Saudi Arabia, with Peterhansel looking to defend his title after winning the 2021 edition.

BMW is said to be on the verge of unveiling the LCI update for its popular X3/X4 medium-sized SUV and crossover, as well as the all-new second-generation 4 Series Gran Coupe.

According to BMW Blog, the LCI updates and 4 Series will be released this week.

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Teaser images posted on BMW’s social media accounts, as well as the refreshed X3 leaked in May by a Chinese Government department, show the updated models will have a raft of visual enhancements, including new LED headlights and daytime running lights, front and rear bumpers, and wheel designs.

A short clip previewing the updated X3/X4 M also reveals a new iDrive screen. However, BMW Blog reports the updated SUV and crossover won’t score BMW’s next-generation iDrive 8 infotainment system, which we’ve recently seen on new models like the all-electric i4 and iX.

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Speaking of the i4, it’s hardly surprising BMW is choosing to unveil the new 4 Series Gran Coupe just one week after the EV coupe’s release, considering the new G36 four-door coupe is based on the same CLAR architecture as the i4, and it will look quite similar.

WhichCar has reached out to BMW Australia for comment regarding the new releases, but a spokesperson for the automaker said they could not comment.

Jaguar could be about to replace its current supercharged V6 F-Type with a V8 model called the P450 here in Australia.

The new P450 has already replaced the P300 turbo four-cylinder and P380 supercharged V6 F-Types in the USA for the 2022 line-up – making the V8 P450 RWD coupe the base-model F-Type as listed on Jaguar USA’s website.

A spokesperson for Jaguar Land Rover Australia confirmed the P450 is currently being evaluated for the Australian market, but could not say whether it would serve as a direct replacement for the current P300 four-cylinder and P380 supercharged V6 as it has in the US.

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In US trim, the P450 uses a detuned version of the supercharged 5.0-litre V8 currently found in the top range F-Type R, developing 331kW (444hp, hence the name P450) and 580Nm, and US buyers can choose from convertible or coupe body styles as well as rear or all-wheel drive layouts.

The power increase for the new P450 is significant over the V6’s 280kW, and is therefore closer to the top of the range R’s 423kW.

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Jaguar claims the P450 performance figures as 0-100km/h in 4.6 seconds and a top speed of 285km/h in both AWD and RWD layouts.

The current V6 will do the same dash in 4.9 seconds with a top speed of 275km/h, while the top range R claims 3.7 seconds for 0-100km/h sprint.

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Jaguar Australia was unable to confirm an Australian launch date for the P450, saying it is not yet at a stage to finalise spec, timing or pricing.

In the US, replacing the four and six-cylinder F-Types with a base model V8 has made getting a bent-eight F-Type a whole lot easier, with prices starting at US$71,050 (AU$91,772).

That means the buy-in price for a V8 F-Type is around US$30k (AU$38,744) less than it was when the four-cylinder was the base model, so Australian buyers should be hopeful of a much cheaper way into a V8 F-Type if the P450 lands locally.

The P450 is available to order in the US now, with deliveries taking place in July, so if the V8 does come Down Under we could expect it to arrive in the next 12 months.