Selling almost 60,000 units in Australia in 2024 and with its 2025 numbers already up 13.8 per cent over this time last year, the current-generation Toyota RAV4 has been a big success for its maker. Despite its potential wait list and the fact many rivals offer newer models, the RAV4 still does big sales numbers and it’s clear to see why: it’s an excellent all-rounder that’s also very fuel efficient.

What will the new Toyota RAV4 look like?

Like the current Camry, which is a heavily revised version of the old model, we expect the body of the new RAV4 to largely stay the same as the current shape car and use the same ‘TNGA-K’ platform as well. While the front and rear ends will likely be different and use the brand’s latest design language, the general shape will be largely identical with unchanged window shapes to avoid spending big money.

As with the new Camry, the new RAV4’s interior will be given a thorough work-over with new tech,
higher quality materials and more equipment. We could see a larger touchscreen fitted, as well as
more leather trim around the cabin. Given that its size won’t increase, there likely won’t be more
space on offer but given that the current model is one of the most practical in the mid-size SUV
segment, that’s unlikely to be an issue.

Given the need for the new RAV4 to be a five-star safety-rated car, we also expect the brand’s
latest ‘Safety Sense 3.0’ or newer to be fitted across the range with new features like active driver
monitoring, as well as a front central airbag.

What will power the new Toyota RAV4?

As with the current model, which became a hybrid-only line-up locally in 2024, it’s expected that the
new RAV4 will follow suit – in Australia, at least. The new Camry upgraded to the brand’s latest fifth-generation hybrid when it launched with newer battery tech, a move that we expect the RAV4 to follow. Both front- and all-wheel drive variants will be offered again.

But judging from public comments made by the brand’s local arm, we could also see the plug-in
hybrid RAV4 offered locally for the first time as well. Toyota has offered a powerful 224kW RAV4
PHEV overseas for this generation, but Australia’s slow-until-now PHEV uptake meant that it missed
the boat. Thanks to new emissions regulations and advancements in battery tech for more than
100km of electric driving range, the RAV4 PHEV could be sold locally for the first time.

How much will the new Toyota RAV4 cost?

Of course, pricing and specifications for the new RAV4 are yet to be revealed but given the price
increases with the latest Camry when it launched, we can expect a reasonable increase to the current model’s $42,260 plus on-road costs price, marking a dramatic increase to when the current shape launched here in 2019 priced from just $30,990 +ORC.

Given the likely inclusion of a plug-in hybrid drivetrain, the current model’s top-spec Edge’s $58,360 +ORC asking price is also likely to increase. Could we see the first $70,000+ RAV4 in Australia? Potentially.

When will the new Toyota RAV4 debut?

While Toyota is yet to confirm a debut for the new RAV4, we’re likely to see it for the first time in the
second half of 2025, pointing to an Australian release date sometime in 2026.

Given the continued popularity of the current model and incoming emissions regulations, Toyota
Australia will want to get it here as soon as possible to continue sales momentum and help.

Meanwhile, plenty of excited online car sites are using AI programs to take a stab at what the new RAV4 will look like, including this effort from Youtube site MVP Auto below.

In a bid to reduce emissions and comply with new government-mandated standards, automakers are continuing to embrace a mix of electrification and hybrid technology in their new vehicles.

While electric vehicles (EVs) went through an initial boom period, the lack of charging infrastructure and, in a lot of cases, high purchase price mean sales have softened. They’re also not suited to everybody.

EVs represented just 4.9 per cent of total sales reported to FCAI in March 2025, compared with 9.5 per cent in March 2024. Ahead of the removal of the government’s FBT tax exemption for Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHEV) on April 1, sales rose 380 per cent versus the same period last year as consumers rushed to secure their vehicle.

For many people, hybrids are their way into new car technology: they’re often less expensive to buy and eradicate range anxiety because they aren’t relying on charging.

But what is a hybrid, automotively speaking. In simplest terms it’s combination of both an internal combustion engine (ICE) and an electric motor to provide propulsion. Both Toyota and Honda were the pioneers of hybrid tech in the 1990s with the original Prius and Insight shocking new car buyers with low fuel use. Now there are more different types of hybrids than ever before and it can be tricky to work our which is best for you. Here’s WhichCar‘s guide to the different types of hybrid cars.

Hybrid

By far the most popular type of hybrid is a regular hybrid, sometimes referred to as a ‘series
parallel’ or ‘self-charging’ hybrid. Of the 108,606 vehicles registered in Australia until the end of
March 2025, almost 17,000 of them were hybrids. That number is a 34.8 per cent increase on
this time in 2024.

While they can never be truly zero emissions vehicles – unlike an EV or PHEV – they can cut your fuel bill significantly and only add up to $5000 to the purchase price of the car.

Combining a petrol engine and an electric motor to provide propulsion and increase fuel efficiency
and performance, hybrid models are expanding thanks to their efficiency. As an example, the Toyota RAV4’s claimed 4.7L/100km combined fuel consumption rating is excellent for a mid-size SUV and thanks to the clever tech, easy to achieve in the real world.

So hybrid buyers benefit from less fuel use, less emissions being pumped into the air and less pain
to their wallet, but they also benefit from not suffering from the range anxiety that EV owners can
be familiar with as they don’t need to be charged. What adds to the battery? Well, it depends on
the manufacturer but generally either regenerative braking or – depending on the environment – the
engine.

The regenerative braking process sees a hybrid vehicle convert the energy created by deceleration into electrical energy which is then used to recharge the battery. The engine can also supply the battery with power while in motion or idling as part of the vehicle’s self-charging capacity.

Once the battery gets full enough, it will then power the electric motor – and depending on the
speed and throttle load, that could be able to power the car by itself. Most hybrids let the electric
motor do the heavy lifting setting off from a start, which is where engines can be at their least
efficient. Once at speed, then the petrol engine kicks in to assist. While it seems like a complicated
process, the fuel efficiency results speak for themselves.

Popular examples: Toyota RAV4, Hyundai Kona, MG ZS Hybrid+, Toyota Camry

Mild hybrid

Mild hybrids (MHEVs), as their name suggests, offer a moderated version of the regular hybrid set-up. Most MHEV systems act like an extended start-stop system and can’t actually power the car alone, but are able to switch the engine off when coasting or braking for added fuel efficiency. This means that their fuel savings are significantly less than a regular hybrid. In addition, however, the jump in price from a regular ICE car up to a mild hybrid is significantly less than the increase to a hybrid. Expect more MHEVs to be offered locally as car makers look to comply further with incoming New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) emissions targets, when every gram of CO2 shaved will help.

Popular examples: Hyundai i30 N Line hatchback, Mazda CX-60, BMW X3

Range-extender hybrid

A range-extender hybrid is a hybrid which uses a combustion engine as a generator to power the electric motor. This set-up has no mechanical link to the wheels, and can be a plug-in hybrid like the BMW i3 REx and Leapmotor C10 REEV. However, Nissan’s e-Power hybrid system can also be considered a range-extender as it uses its engine to power only the electric motor, which then powers the wheels.  

While the Nissan e-Powers aren’t quite as efficient as their Toyota rivals – 6.1L/100km for an X-Trail
versus 4.8L/100km for an AWD RAV4 hybrid – they are smoother to drive because the wheels
aren’t powered by different sources: the electric motor always drives them.

Popular examples: Nissan X-Trail e-Power, BMW i3 REx, Leapmotor C10 REEV

Plug-in hybrid

Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) are often seen as the best stepping stone to electric vehicle purchasing
thanks to their potential for zero emissions motoring. Using a larger battery than a normal hybrid, a
PHEV will – depending on the battery size – give owners at least 40-50km of electric driving. Newer PHEVs like the Haval H6GT PHEV and incoming Skoda Kodiaq provide over 100km of EV
driving ability.

So while PHEVs do need to be charged from the grid, they also eliminate range anxiety because
once the battery is depleted, the ICE engine kicks in and it runs as a hybrid – albeit less efficiently
because of the battery’s extra weight. In fact, some PHEVs can be less efficient than regular ICE
cars in the real world if they aren’t charged.

Popular examples: Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, BYD Sealion 6, BMW 330e

Due to launch locally late this year in the new-generation Palisade large SUV, Hyundai has revealed further details about its new hybrid system that will also be incorporated into Genesis and Kia products in the future.

Using either a 1.6-litre or 2.5-litre capacity, the new hybrid system promises improved performance and fuel efficiency from multiple configurations. The new hybrid system features a new dual-clutch transmission with two integrated electric motors: one for starting, energy generation and propulsion, while the other will also handle propulsion and regenerative braking.

Hyundai says the combination of two motors is better than one because it “improves power,
performance, and fuel efficiency while achieving smooth shifting and reduced noise and vibrations
for a more refined driving experience”.

Multiple power outputs will be offered with the new drivetrains, ranging from around 100hp (75kW)
to the mid-300hp range (224kW and upwards) to cater for the whole Hyundai Kia and Genesis
range, from small hatchbacks to luxury sedans.

In the new Palisade, the 2.5-litre drivetrain develops 245kW of power and 460Nm of torque, which
is 19 per cent more powerful and 9 per cent torquier than the non-hybrid 2.5-litre turbo engine. Yet,
according to Hyundai, the hybrid is over 45 per cent more powerful than the petrol-only engine.

The company also showed off a new e-AWD system, which – like Toyota’s equivalent – uses an
electric motor to power the rear axle for greater performance and efficiency.

Which products the new hybrids will be offered in is unknown at this stage, but it’s likely to be the
vast majority of the three companies’ ranges in order to comply with ever-tightening global
emissions standards.

Offering hybrid models will likely fix the biggest issue with current Genesis models: thirst. For
example, a 3.5-litre turbocharged V6 petrol GV70 mid-size SUV’s combined fuel consumption
rating is more than 3L/100km more than the BMW X3 M50, despite the BMW being more powerful
(11.3L/100km versus 8.2L/100km).

Not much else is known about Hyundai’s hybrid expansion, though we’re likely to have more
details soon.

If Toyota’s entry into Supercars was one of the best-kept secrets in the automotive sphere, Ford’s plans to build a plug-in hybrid Ranger was possibly one of the worst.

At the local launch event in July 2022, we asked Ford’s engineers about the possibility of a hybridised version and they were quite happy to share with us that this P703 Ranger platform was built to be electrified.

The previous PX Ranger was on sale for 11 years and with the P703 likely to be in market for almost that long, it was clear that some capacity for electrification was required.

Ford chose the 2024 IAA Transportation Show in Hanover, Germany, to debut the new Ranger PHEV, due on sale here in the middle of 2025. The plug-in hybrid powertrain is set to be offered with Wildtrak, Sport and XLT variants within the Ranger line-up – as well as an all-new Stormtrak launch edition that’s a PHEV exclusive.

The Stormtrak is painted in a new Chill Grey hue and comes equipped with a Flexible Rack System, Matrix LED headlamps, Pro Trailer Backup Assist, and a 360-degree camera as standard. It also sports 18-inch alloy wheels, a honeycomb grille, front guard vents, decals, and a B&O stereo.

The PHEV powertrain pairs a 2.3-litre turbocharged four-cylinder EcoBoost petrol engine with a 75kW electric motor and 11.8kWh battery which can be charged externally, by the petrol engine in EV Charge mode, or via regenerative braking. The PHEV can be fully charged overnight using a standard household plug, and it has a range of more than 45km in electric-only mode.

A modular hybrid transmission (MHT) – consisting of the e-motor and separator clutch – has been integrated into the driveline between the engine and 10-speed automatic, and it’s this separator clutch that allows the two systems – EV and ICE – to either co-operate or decouple and work individually.

“The MHT is the key ingredient in ensuring Ranger PHEV delivers the capability we know our owners expect from a truck with a Ranger badge, along with enhanced versatility, impressive low-end torque, and an overall faster responding powertrain which means improved performance compared to regular Ranger,” said Rob Sharples, chief engineer of the Ranger Plug-in Hybrid at Ford.

“In high-demand situations, like overtaking, the combined power and torque of the petrol engine and e-motor can be sent to all four wheels,” added Sharples.

The Ranger PHEV features four self-explanatory battery modes: Auto EV, EV Now (provides all-electric drive), EV Later (stores a portion of charge for later use), and EV Charge (recharges the battery while driving). When the battery is nearly depleted, the system automatically reverts to Auto EV mode to optimise fuel efficiency.

In tandem with these EV modes, the Ranger PHEV’s Terrain Management System utilises the following selectable drive modes: Normal, Eco, Sport, Slippery, Tow/Haul, Mud/Ruts and Sand. The PHEV also gets the Sport mode from the Ranger Raptor, which enhances throttle response and holds lower gears for longer.

In addition, Ford says its newest Ranger will not lose any of the combustion-powered Ranger’s towing and off-road ability, with its towing capacity remaining at 3500kg. The implementation of Ford’s Advanced 4WD system, a dual-range transfer case, rear differential lock, and selectable drive modes means it will remain proficient off-road.

“The Ranger PHEV delivers all the versatility and capability people expect from a Ranger,” explains Sharples. “It can tackle tough terrain, tow a trailer with ease, be driven in town as an EV or, thanks to Pro Power Onboard, it can be used as a mobile power plant when you’re off grid.”

Pro Power Onboard tech enables owners to power tools, run a fridge at a campsite and keep devices charged while camping. It offers a maximum of 6.9kW, with a total of three power outlets throughout the vehicle – one in the cabin and two in the ute bed.

Unlike most Australian Rangers which are Thai-built, the Ranger PHEV is to be manufactured in Silverton, South Africa.

There’s no word on pricing or even a firm on-sale date as yet, but if Ford can nail the value proposition, the Ranger PHEV has the potential to convert many cynics to the benefits of electrification.

This article originally appeared in Wheels magazine.

Australians got their first glimpse of the IM Presented by MG Motor concept – the brand’s new foray into the luxury end of the market – at the recent Melbourne Motor Show.

One part of an ambitious roll-out of new models this year, the IM5 sedan and IM6 SUV shape as two of the most interesting both because of the tech capabilities of the cars but also the repositioning of MG as merely a ‘budget’ brand in Australia.

A joint venture between Chinese automobile manufacturer SAIC Motor and Chinese technology companies including Alibaba Group, IM stands for ‘Intelligence in Motion’, making vehicles with premium finishes, high performance and innovative technology.  The vehicles are already sold in China, the IM5 known as the IM L6 sedan and the IM6 badged as the IM LS6 SUV.

Both are expected to arrive into Australian dealerships before the end of 2025.

WhichCar recently spoke with Giles Belcher, Chief Operating Office, and Kevin Kou, Product Planning Manager, of MG Motor Australia, about the IM vehicles after their debut in Melbourne.

This is a significant step for MG in Australia – what more can you tell us about the IM cars?

Giles Belcher: They will be the most advanced cars on the Australian market when they launch. I got a chance to drive one for a day about a month ago now and I was just blown away by the technology in that car.

What are the expectations for these IM cars when they launch here – modest? Bullish?

GB: We’ll do our best to educate the dealers and the market about the cars. As always, the market decides whether they’re accepted or not. But we’re confident in coming into it. I’m super bullish because, like I said, they do things that other cars just cannot do. And they do them in a really kind of refined, prestige way as well.

You look back maybe 18 months ago now, the Model Y was doing insane numbers. Has that time gone in the EV market? There’s a lot more different products available now. It’s a lot more dispersed, the volume across different brands but I think the IM is good enough to do something extraordinary.

What sort of technical things are we talking about in terms of what the cars can do?

Kevin Kou: The vehicle may have had these certain elements that you might have seen in other cars in the past, but you need to take in the IM as a whole feature. One of the key foundations is the AI component.

We have what’s called an AI chauffeur or one-touch AID.  And it has four key components that utilizes some of the key technology from the chassis. One of them is auto park – auto parking for parallel parking and 90-degree parking. And what we call one-touch pullout, which is basically when you’re ready to come out of a parking spot, it will allow you to get into the car and it’s ready to be driven off. 

There’s also one-touch reverse. So if you’re going down a narrow alley and get stuck and you cannot get out, with one touch the car will reverse all the way back out and trace exactly the way you drove in, up to 100 metres.

From a platform point of view, there’s also some key technology around what we call the digital chassis. We have what’s called VMC – vehicle motion control, as well as CDC – continuous dampening control. These allow for the car to perform amazing in situations, high speeds, etc. 

The IM5, for example, has the on-road capability of performing a moose test at over 90km/h, a world record.

CDC and VMC is primarily to ensure that the driver and passenger are safe because these cars do have a lot of power – the IM5 does 0 to 100 in 2.74 seconds. These systems make sure that the driver can achieve the driving experience within safe conditions. 

GB: These cars are also nearly 5m long yet they’ve got the turning circle of a Mini Cooper because they do some clever things with the wheels.

KK: The SUV and the sedan have four-wheel steering. This allows it, as Giles says, not to have a turning circle of a 4.9m car.

There are really three key pillars with these cars – technology, performance and also luxury. Inside the vehicle there are beautiful trimmings, rosewood metal, 20 speakers and beautiful soft leather to give you a very luxurious, high-end premium experience.

You can talk to the car and it will respond via those 20 speakers, from activating a playlist to opening a window.

Any details on pricing as yet? Can we expect a value-for-money offering as per other MG vehicles?

GB: We haven’t finalized pricing yet but the sedan and the SUV will be launched at the same time. (Laughs) And always, always value for money.

Australians want dual-cabs and they want them with all the fruit. High-spec and flagship variants are disproportionately popular as the ute continues to transition from workhorse to a more everyday proposition.

The Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux continue to duke it out for sales supremacy so here’s a breakdown of how two of the higher-spec variants compare.

Jump ahead

• Pricing and Features
• Dimensions
• Powertrains
• Chassis and Towing
• Off Road
• Safety

Pricing and Features

The Hilux GR Sport sits at the very top of Toyota’s dual-cab tree at $74,310 plus on-road costs, a roughly $11,000 premium over the volume-selling SR5 automatic.

This puts it almost lineball with the Ford Ranger Wildtrak V6 at $74,480 (+ORCs), though a four-cylinder variant is also available at $69,690 (+ORCs).

Being the flagship variant at launch – since usurped by the Platinum – means the Wildtrak possesses plenty of toys, including 18-inch alloys, LED lighting all ’round, leather-accented upholstery, heated and eight-way power-adjustable front seats, dual-zone climate control, wireless charging and plenty more.

Infotainment is handled by a 12.0-inch portrait touch screen with wireless smartphone mirroring, DAB+ radio, FordPass Connect app integration, in-built sat-nav with one complimentary year of connected navigation services and a six-speaker stereo.

Over in the Toyota land the Hilux GR Sport boasts its unique exterior styling, 18-inch wheels, LED headlights, GR Sport steering wheel with paddle shifters, dual-zone climate control, air-conditioned front cooler box, heated front seats with suede and leather accents (driver’s powered, passenger’s manual) and wireless charging.

There’s an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment display with smartphone mirroring, DAB+ radio, sat-nav, Toyota Connected Services and a nine-speaker JBL stereo.

The 4.2-inch digital instrument display is literally half the size of the Ford’s (8.0-inch), though even the latter feels a bit small if you’ve seen the full-width version in the Platinum, Raptor or F-150.

Colour is the only option on the GR Sport, whereas the Wildtrak can be specced with the $2000 Premium Pack that adds an auxiliary switch bank, Matrix LED headlights, cargo management system and 10-speaker B&O stereo.

Ford offers a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and roadside assistance that extends 12 months at each service up to seven years. A prepaid servicing plan costs $1516 which covers the first five visits, due every 12 months or 15,000km.

Toyota’s warranty coverage is also five years/unlimited kilometres but adds a further two years for the driveline. Servicing is required every six months or 10,000km and it’s expensive.

The first six visits are capped at $305 apiece but over the same five years (or 100,000km) the extra visits and higher pricing means you’ll need $4074.98. Roadside assistance is also not included, being either $99 or $139/year depending on the level of cover.

Dimensions

Adding some extra muscle to the Hilux frame means the GR Sport now virtually matches the typically larger Ranger in all dimensions bar wheelbase. It’s give and take when it comes to the tray, with the Toyota’s being longer and wider, the Ford’s being deeper with more than 100mm extra between the wheelarches.

The Ranger also boasts a drop-in bedliner with lighting, a 400W power inverter, adjustable aluminium tie down rails, side steps and a powered roller tonneau, though this latter feature does eat into the load space substantially. The Hilux offers a bedliner and multiple tie down points, but that’s it.

Powertrains

Like most other variants, the Toyota Hilux GR Sport uses the 1GD-FTV 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel engine, with a six-speed automatic the only available transmission.

There are a couple of key differences, however, including extra grunt and the lack of the 48v mild-hybrid system. Outputs are 165kW at 3000rpm (+15kW) and 550Nm from 1600-2800rpm (+50Nm).

Fuel economy suffers slightly, with a combined claim of 8.1L/100km compared to 7.8L/100km for the similarly flared mild-hybrid Rogue and 7.2L/100km for the SR5.

The standard engine in the Ranger Wildtrak is a 2.0-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder diesel producing 154kW at 3750rpm and 500Nm from 1750-2000rpm. Optionally available is a 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel with 184kW at 3250rpm and 600Nm from 1750-2250rpm.

A 10-speed automatic is the only gearbox and claimed combined fuel consumption is 7.2L/100km for the four-cylinder and 8.4L/100km for the V6.

The Hilux and four-cylinder Ranger only offer rear-wheel drive and high- and low-range four-wheel drive, whereas the V6 Ranger also has full-time all-wheel drive.

Chassis and Towing

While both vehicles are capable of legally towing a maximum of 3500kg, it’s the Ranger that has the clear upper hand when hauling heavy. The table below shows that the Hilux’s lower Gross Vehicle Mass and, in particular, its lower Gross Combined Mass give it payload limitations.

Otherwise, the two are fairly similar in their chassis setups, beingladder frame utes with double-wishbone front suspension and leaf sprung, live axle rears, though unlike lesser variants the GR Sport matches the Ranger with four-wheel disc brakes.

It is worth noting that the Ford has plenty of modern towing tricks up its sleeve the Toyota lacks, such as the ability to check the Ranger’s lights remotely, Towing Mode and Pro Trailer Back-Up Assist. Nothing that experienced towers will need, necessarily, but handy nonetheless.

Off-road

Both these machines are towards the top of the dual-cab class when it comes to getting down and dirty. The Ranger’s case is helped by standard all terrain tyres on its 18-inch alloys, which when combined with multiple drive modes, excellent traction control and a locking rear diff means clearance will be the only obstacle to the Wildtrak getting to where you want it to go.

No such dramas with the Hilux GR Sport. At 265mm it has a whopping 49mm more ground clearance than an SR5 and even on highway-spec tyres it is ridiculously capable for a standard vehicle thanks to Toyota’s benchmark traction control system. Add a set of suitable rubber and it’s about as good as production 4x4s get.

Safety

The Ford Ranger is one of the safest utes on the market, with a five-star ANCAP rating from 2022 with scores of 84 per cent for adult occupant protection, 93 per cent for child occupant protection, 74 per cent for vulnerable road user protection and 83 per cent for safety assist.

This is courtesy of nine airbags and a comprehensive suite of safety assists including autonomous emergency braking, lane-keep assist and departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, active cruise control with stop&go, traffic sign recognition and a 360-degree camera.

Despite being a much older vehicle, dating back to 2015, continual updates have kept the Toyota Hilux much more current than you might expect in terms of safety. Seven airbags are standard as well as Toyota’s Safety Sense active driver aids.

This includes lane departure alert, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian and daytime cyclist detection, speed sign assist, active cruise control, blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and trailer sway control.

A panoramic view monitor, reversing camera and rear sensors help handle parking duties.

Kinglake is still recovering from Black Saturday. Some 16 years after a wall of flame devastated the town, accounting for 40 of the 173 fatalities on that terrible February day, the community has done its best to bounce back. More than half the population left in the wake of the fires which – given that 630 of the 760 houses were destroyed – is a testament to the resilience of those that stayed and rebuilt.

I’ve just arrived in the Corvette E-Ray, awaiting photographer Ellen Dewar. It’s still early but the day is shaping up to be a scorcher, with the mercury set to soar into the 40s. Thankfully it’s not going to be windy. At this hour, it feels as if the town is barely ticking over. The Songbird Cafe is still closed, but even at 8am there’s already an oppressive thickness to the still air, tradies arriving at the supermarket with sweat stains down their backs.

“What’s that then, a Ferrari?” ventures one, as he catches sight of the white coupe, with its obviously mid-engined shape. When told that it’s a new hybrid Corvette with all-wheel drive, he struggles to take in that little lot. It’s easy to understand why. The Vette made its name on the basis of rugged simplicity. You got a glass-fibre body, a big engine up front and drive went to a fat pair of rear treads. The right stuff. That was about it. Anything beyond that was almost sacrilegious.

The C8 version changed all that. In truth, the formula had probably about run its course. In order to level with the world’s better junior supercars, an engine at the front and power going to the other end has its limitations. The E-Ray uses its technology in an interesting fashion. Unlike many of its new hybrid siblings, it doesn’t wield its electrically-assisted powertrain to game emissions regulations. It does so in order to make the car faster and more exciting. Whether that’s an enduring strategy is something to chew over at another time, but it’s certainly effective.

Dewar arrives and we leave Kinglake, heading east towards Castella. The forests have recovered, but the outskirts of town still have empty plots like missing teeth that have never been built upon. Perhaps in some places the bushfire risk is still too high. One local I spoke to claimed that the understory of vegetation was thicker than it was on Black Saturday. “It’s a case of when, not if,” he says, referring to the likelihood of another town-threatening blaze. “The difference now is that we know how bad it can be and we’ll get out fast.”

As we transit out of the woods and into the more open terrain up towards Murrindindi, it’s clear quite how dry the summer has been. The paddocks and rolling hills are a sullen dun colour, cattle scratching at the dust. The Vette’s a good companion on these loping sections. I’ve taken to switching the car into its customisable ‘Zora’ mode, which gives instant access to steering, suspension, engine, exhaust, braking and stability control sliders.

The magnetorheological dampers are in their lazy-boy setting right now and although there’s little they can do to dampen the thwack of the massive 345/25 ZR21 rear Michelins on surface imperfections, at least they’re ironing out a lot of the high-frequency chatter. If there was a bit more interior storage space, this could work as a long-legged GT car. With 345 litres between the front and rear luggage bays, it’s even halfway practical. It’s not hugely economical, but a little indicator light on the dash illuminates when the cylinder deactivation mode kicks in, whereupon you’re driving a 3.1-litre V4. Best not to dwell too long on that. It’s just weird.

Accommodation inside is good. I’m 194cm tall and I’m not too bad a fit, my hair just tickling the Alcantara headlining. The driver’s seat has electrically adjustable side bolsters, but the passenger doesn’t. I think the E-Ray dislikes its passenger. They get no storage for anything, not even a little pouch or net. Even the central bin is side-hinged to open towards the driver and, for the passenger, the cup holders are a reach over the faintly ridiculous 20-button HVAC central spar. Some of the ergonomics are decidedly odd. I search in vain for a way to kill the lane-keep assist, only to consult the manual and realise it’s on the header rail above the rear-view mirror. I hold the button to switch it out, only for an angry bloke in a Hilux to razz me up, thinking I was giving him the bird.

Murrindindi is a quiet location for some photography, but even here with sparse smallholdings dotted way back from the road, you’re aware of quite how loud the E-Ray is when you open the taps. I snuck away from my house in Stealth Mode at 6am that morning, the 19.kWh battery netting you an optimistic-sounding six kilometres of front-wheel drive silent running. Well, that’s the theory at least. Should you do anything vaguely morning-like, such as try to switch on the air conditioning, give the screen a wipe or just look at it funny, it’ll fire the 6.2-litre V8 up with a sharp bark. Didn’t that just wipe the smug right off my face. Mind you, the transition sound from electric to internal combustion is very cool, almost like a Le Mans hypercar pulling out of its pit box on electric power with the engine firing in hard.

The E-Ray likes to flex its vocal cords here and there. It never rises to anything operatic like a flat-plane Ferrari V8, but it bellows convincingly, in an appealingly old-school overhead-valve fashion. That’s if you’ve taken control of the carbon-fibre paddle shifters yourself. Leave the computer to take care of things and all too often you find that it’s plugged you into far too high a gear and you’re trying to wrangle throttle authority mid-corner with the engine barely ticking over, even in the racier drive modes. That needs work for the facelift. Keep on top of things yourself and you’re golden.

It’s crushingly rapid too. We saw an easy and repeatable 0-100km/h in 2.5 seconds at Sandown race track on our first encounter with the E-Ray, helped by the burnout mode which allows you to temporarily deactivate the front axle to spin up the rears and net some tyre temperature. Out on public roads it’s easy for the devil to become very comfortable on your shoulder. The small matter of 488KW and a massive 806Nm will do that for you. Compare that to the 475kW and 550Nm of its LT6-powered circuit warrior sibling, the Z06, and you get some idea of the E-Ray’s potency. You become slightly lulled due to the massive amount of grip at your disposal, and as a result it’s easy to find yourself covering ground at inadvisable speeds. Fortunately there’s a great head-up display that emblazons any potentially licence-losing velocity front and centre.

Find a legal location and 0-400m will disappear in 10.4 seconds, which is lineball with a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, a McLaren 720S or a Ferrari 812 Superfast: genuine supercar royalty right there. So you’ll never be found wanting for outright go. At this point it’s worth considering the asking price too. At an RRP of $275,000, the E-Ray carries an $85,000 premium over the Stingray 3LT coupe, but that’s money well spent.

The hybrid drivetrain is, as you might hope from General Motors, rugged and relatively simple. The internal combustion engine takes care of the rear wheels, its 369kW/637Nm being fed through a Tremec TR-9080 eight-speed dual clutch transmission. The electric motor looks after the front treads. The compact battery pack is housed in the central tunnel and feeds the 119kW/169Nm permanent magnet synchronous motor. Clever software balances the way the E-Ray ladles out power to front and rear. Burnout mode aside, the only way to deliver a full rear-wheel drive experience is to travel faster than 250km/h.

As well as the hybrid drivetrain, the styling is transformed for the better too. Remember the slightly underwhelming look of the Stingray’s rear end, almost as if it needed some wheel spacers? The E-Ray shares the Z06’s wide body, with broad gaping side intakes giving it a far more aggressive stance. Once you see the way the fuel filler cap, the intake and the curved haunch visually interact though, you’ll forever be reminded of a happy salmon. At the back are a set of interchangeable fixed flics for the rear spoiler. GMSV also supply a smaller set if you’d prefer a more low-key look.

That asking price also includes the track-ready ZER pack, huge carbon-ceramic brakes, a carbon-fibre and leather trimmed steering wheel, and a beefier wheel and tyre set. Unlike the last Stingray we drove, this E-Ray has been beautifully specified too. The stormtrooper white with black details gets just a pop of colour from the matching yellow brake calipers and seatbelts. Hat tip to whoever was driving the configurator for BSM404.

Photo duties at Murrindindi over, we head towards the charmingly named Break Oday Road at Glenburn. We pause for a moment at the junction with the Melba Highway to kick around in the old parking lot of the ill-starred Glenburn Hotel. This was owned by F1 racer Alan Jones back in the early 1980s but it was another victim of the terrible fires of February 2009. Owners Ronnie and Howard Batterham then had such a protracted insurance wrangle with Lloyds of London that by the time they were in a position to rebuild, council rezoning rules had changed and the plot has stood empty ever since. The water tank is the sole surviving remnant of this once-thriving country pub.

Break Oday Road meanders lazily along towards Flowerdale at the headwaters of the Goulburn River. It’s cow country out here, but right now all the cattle is being fed from hayricks, the impoverished paddocks in desperate need of rain. I try to take stock of what I like about this Corvette, which is a lot, and those parts I don’t. Of the latter, the excessive HVAC strip is one, but that’s rumoured to be due for the chop with the next C8 facelift. The front lift kit is fast, effective and quite noisy, but the button is right next to the ESC off button, which could be problematic if you fat-finger the wrong one. I’d also like the steering to be a little more communicative. When you switch it into a more aggressive drive mode, the response can become a bit gluey. The silent e-mode is unable to be selected if the engine is running – a bit of a missed opportunity.

Above all, I’m just blown away by this car’s sheer depth of capability. Were your pockets adequately deep, you could happily daily drive this. Heck, you could throw a roofbox on it, chuck your skis inside and take it to the snow, were you so minded. It would be just one more driving scenario the E-Ray would happily just shrug and get on with. As I ponder this prospect, it dawns on me that we haven’t stopped for lunch. Flowerdale isn’t delivering on that front, because everything seems to be closed. We tool on to Strath Creek, where everything is also closed. Pro tip: if you come out this way, BYO refreshments, otherwise you could be faced with a hangry photographer.

Just out of Strath Creek is a stretch of road that’s indelibly etched into Wheels’ road testing history. The ‘Broadford Bends’ climb sharply up a scarp slope to Murchison Lookout and have featured in road tests going back decades. Virtually every road tester has a story to tell about some escapade or other at this challenging series of corners, and the battered guardrails bear testament to those with an excess of enthusiasm and a shortfall of talent.

Punting the E-Ray up the sharp gradient puts a heavy demand on the powertrain and the e-motor up front starts a high-pitched keening. It’s like a supercharger whine, and it’s reminiscent of an old Jaguar XKR, which is certainly no bad thing. So consistent was the sound signature though, that I began to wonder whether this was a symposed sound being piped through the speakers. Turns out it was. How ironic it would have been if the electric part of this car gave it the aural drama that the internal combustion engine lacks in its upper registers. Nice story, not supported by facts, unfortunately.

Grip on turn-in is mighty, and you start to take liberties with just how early you can feed in throttle. There’s a small but reassuring measure of roll in the chassis that communicates clearly where the limit of grip resides. In a bid to upset the car, I come into one tightening radius corner and lift sharply. The nose tucks in, and the stability control light gives a flicker, but that’s the extent of the drama. As I start to ease out the stability control assistance in Zora mode, the car gets progressively livelier, but never exhibits the sort of spikiness you might expect from something foursquare, mid-engined and rolling on serious rubber. It’s all very malleable but you need accurate hands and, as I mentioned earlier, the steering doesn’t always deliver the most articulate clues.

No complaints about the braking power though. The huge carbon ceramic discs (398mm up front and 391mm at the rear) shuck off the 1776kg kerb weight with ease, and the handover from friction braking to re-gen is well handled. The pedal feel is odd, with a gentle initial travel, firming sharply from there. Modulating the brake takes a little getting used to, but once your muscle memory has hard-wired the short pedal travel, it’s no great issue. The bright yellow six-pot Brembo front stoppers look the goods too, peeking through the black alloys.

Perhaps the trickiest thing about the E-Ray is keying into its personality. There’s no doubting its capability, but it diverges so far from the traditional Corvette template that you find yourself transposing the feel of other cars onto it. At times it’s reminiscent of the ‘new’ NC-gen Honda NSX, another mid-engined all-wheel drive hybrid designed with the US market front of mind. At others, it’s a discount Lamborghini Temerario.

Track time. We roll through the gates of the State Motorcycle Sports Complex near Broadford, a fierce little circuit that ought to be a test for the power-down of this otherwise unflappable coupe. Dial the stability control down to zero and you feel a torque response from the front axle as the e-motor ramps quickly to full power. It’s not the feel of torque steer or a bitey diff, it’s something strange and different, almost as if the tyres are tramlining. Trail brake in and it’ll swing the rear controllably. It’s a well-sorted thing, but only when you start flinging it about a bit do you feel its weight. Best of all, it gives you options. It’s easy to get the car moving around, but the drive from the front axle always gives you the get-out-of-jail-free card to pull you out of what seems like unrecoverable yaw gain.

One particularly cool feature is the Performance Data Recorder. Even if you’re not given to driving on track, the PDR can act as an inbuilt high-definition dashcam, recording to an SD card. It’s on track that it really comes into its own though. As well as recording video of your lap, there’s an in-car microphone, GPS telemetry recorder, and because it’s hardwired you get all sorts of data such as throttle position, braking pressure, steering angle and so on.

The E-Ray emerges as a better road car than the angrier Z06. In fact, it’s comfortably the best roadgoing Corvette ever. If you were worried that the addition of electrification would neuter the Vette in some way, think again. It has managed to add several layers of additional talent to the basic Stingray package and does so with a blue-collar common sense that’s somehow very Corvette in its application.

While we’re not about to pretend that $275k is small change, in terms of the ability that the E-Ray delivers and how exploitable it is in accessing those reserves of talent, it’s a bargain. Given that the RRP for a 389kW/610Nm Porsche 911 Carrera 4 GTS t-hybrid coupe is in excess of $400k, the Corvette E-Ray becomes very difficult to look past.

Nobody is looking past it in Broadford, that’s for sure. The local kids are almost hyperventilating when it pulls up outside a cafe. In this quiet country town, it looks like something that has beamed in from another planet, but there’s an approachability that’d likely elude some blue-blooded Euro missile.

Yes, it is strong value for money in the wider concept, but don’t take that as a condescending pat on the head. The E-Ray absolutely stands up on its own right. Perhaps it’s time to retire the old stereotypes about American sports cars that are all firepower and no finesse. As Dewar packs her gear and heads back to Melbourne, there’s no hesitation. I’m retracing my steps. The long and winding route home has rarely looked so appealing.

A glance at the sales figures shows Australians have cooled on choosing electric power when purchasing a new vehicle but their advantages remain clear: fuel-free (from the tailpipe) emissions, stronger performance, reduced running costs and in some cases, a similar purchase price.

But not everybody has access to effective charging infrastructure and for that reason, plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) can be a great option to lessen emissions and not rely on EV chargers. GWM is the latest to launch a new PHEV locally with the Haval H6GT.

The regular H6 and coupe-styled H6GT mid-size SUVs feature a big cabin, lots of equipment and a low starting price: a RAV4-sized car for just $30,990 drive away has strong appeal. The coupe H6GT is priced from $44,990 drive away – more expensive than the wagon H6 but better equipped and quite unique in the segment.

The new plug-in hybrid is priced from $53,990 drive away and uses a turbocharged 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine and electric dual-motor all-wheel drive system for massive outputs, or more than double that of the regular H6. We’ve not seen those sort of numbers for such a reasonable price since the VF Holden Commodore SS, immediately giving the H6GT some appeal to power-hungry Australian motorists.

Standard equipment in the H6GT PHEV is generous with 19-inch alloy wheels, multiple driving modes, launch control, automatic all-LED lighting, a panoramic sunroof, an electric tailgate, electric front seats with heating and ventilation, suede and leather upholstery, a 10.25-inch digital driver’s display, a 12.3-inch touchscreen and a head-up display. Safety kit includes a front centre airbag, AEB, adaptive cruise, blind-spot monitoring and a 360-degree camera. So far, so good.

The cabin of the H6GT PHEV makes a positive impression with solid build quality, exotic materials like suede trim and a long list of equipment. The fake carbon trim is a bit gaudy, but it otherwise feels appropriately sporty to match the performance, unlike the petrol H6GT.

The 12.3-inch touchscreen needs a revamp, however, offering confusing menus, dark lighting and small fonts that make it difficult to see on bright days. It also lacks wireless smartphone mirroring and live services – so you can access the charging from your phone – but otherwise features sat-nav and digital radio.

Practicality is excellent with ample storage space in the front cabin and plenty of leg- and headroom for taller occupants in the rear seat. The 392-litre bootspace is well proportioned and opens up a healthy 1,390L with the seats folded, though the boot lip is quite high so loading in heavy luggage can be frustrating.

On the road, things are mixed for the H6GT PHEV. Its 395kg weight gain over the regular H6GT can be felt through the suspension – it doesn’t react to bumps quite as quickly and it’s stiff, likely to accommodate for the extra weight. Dynamically, the H6GT is not that fun to drive and the PHEV’s extra weight dulls the fun factor further: it’s far more impressive in a straight line. The steering is quick but offers little feel, and we think that GWM’s incoming Australian suspension tuning program will do wonders for its range.

The drivetrain offers more satisfaction. Combining a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine with dual electric motors for 321kW/762Nm total outputs means that it’s fast with a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of just 4.9 seconds. But it’s also capable of a claimed 180km of electric-only range and can be DC fast charged at up to 48kW for a 30 to 80 per cent charge in as little as 26 minutes. We found the EV range to be fairly accurate in the real world as well, though it’s not that efficient in either electric or hybrid modes, returning around 25kWh/100km and 6.5L/100km respectively.

There’s definite appeal in the H6GT PHEV. It’s still fairly unique – especially for the price – and rivals like the BYD Sealion 6 and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV are significantly slower. While its dynamics could be improved and the touchscreen is cumbersome, it’s still quick, practical and great value for money. Importantly, it also offers the best of both worlds for some buyers wanting to go green(er): EV driving range and no range anxiety.

As recently as 10 years ago, in-car technology in most vehicles consisted of a radio, Bluetooth and, perhaps, an after-market sat-nav device.

Now, something resembling an automotive arms race is underway to install ever larger, sharper, more sophisticated and feature-rich digital touchscreens on car dashboards, with manufacturers spending billions annually to improve their offering.

But what differentiates the good systems from the bad, and are they becoming too complicated? Here’s WhichCar’s starter guide to what makes a good infotainment display.

User-friendliness, including physical shortcut buttons

A good screen layout with accompanying shortcut buttons is the answer and companies like Hyundai – which use an easy touchscreen layout and also place a row of shortcut buttons underneath the touchscreen so you can easily access features like the map, radio and settings – are very good at this.

We recently tested a Deepal S07 and aside from the window controls and a few buttons on the steering wheel, every single feature in the car was controlled through the touchscreen, which uses a complicated layout that’s initially difficult to learn. Controlling basic car functions like the headlights was buried in a menu, which is frustrating enough when you’re stopped, let alone at speed.

Worse still, the Deepal’s infuriating safety systems also require a minimum three-button press to alter or switch off, which is distracting and ultimately dangerous. Many car makers are making heating and ventilation controls only accessible through the touchscreen too, without a separate button for adjustment, which is also potentially dangerous.

Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

Considering that many people are glued to their smartphones, it’s no surprise to see the inclusion of smartphone mirroring tech included on this list. But why have your phone screen on your car’s screen? Because you’re already familiar with phone’s software, so why learn the car’s as well? Smartphone mirroring ultimately makes driving safer by allowing us to access the phone apps we know and love.

More and more, wireless connection to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto is preferable. Even just a few years ago, most cars’ smartphone mirroring was via cable only, but today a lot of cars include wireless tech as standard. There are still some offenders, and some cars feature wireless CarPlay but wired Android Auto (or vice versa), but generally speaking, over-the-air updates are making cable connection part of yesteryear. It’s very convenient to just hop in the car and your phone pairs automatically.

The vast majority of new cars include this tech, but some car makers – like Tesla and some newer General Motors products in the USA – choose not to. Why? According to them, their infotainment systems are already intuitive and feature-packed, apparently rendering smartphone mirroring useless but we think that cars with these features are easier to navigate.

Screen quality and graphics

Like televisions, car screens have in recent years grown not only larger but of better quality so that many in-car screens are like watching the latest OLED TV. The latest ‘iSmart’ infotainment system in the MG HS features some of the best screen quality in class, making it easy to read while driving and ultimately safer. Many car makers like Mercedes-Benz and Hyundai also excel at including a high-quality camera system, which is very important in seeing objects while you’re manoeuvring the car.

Also important are the icons used on the screen so that drivers can quickly differentiate features while driving. Mercedes-Benz’s MBUX system is an excellent example, with icons that are clear and well differentiated from one another. It’s quick to use with no lag and the screen quality is excellent.

One you can touch… or gesture at

Most infotainment systems these days are touchscreens, but some can also be controlled by a controller wheel like BMW’s iDrive that debuted way back in 2001. Some are touch only like the latest MBUX software and some, like the latest BMW system, can be controlled by both, whereas some Mazda models can only be controlled with the controller wheel unless you’re stopped and using only Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

Safety while driving is Mazda’s reasoning behind this, but it’s still frustrating trying to use smartphone mirroring and entering destinations with a wheel when touching it would be so much easier. Worse still, some Mazdas like the CX-30 allow drivers to touch the screen for smartphone mirroring at any speed – but the CX-60 can frustratingly only do this when parked. 

Some car makers like BMW, Deepal and the Volkswagen Group also feature gesture control on some products as another way of controlling the infotainment system. The idea behind the tech is that you can wave your hand in front of the screen to – for example – change the song you’re listening to and not actually touch the screen. Gesture control can be hit and miss but it can be quite helpful in keeping your eyes on the road.

Live services

While privacy remains an issue with cars that feature live services, the ability to download apps, get the latest software version over the air and in some markets, allow cars to receive information about traffic and accidents on the road ahead and divert are features that buyers increasingly require from their new car.

Tech like this is often hailed as the future of motoring and some car makers are throwing as many features as they can at cars in an effort to stand out. Want to watch YouTube to pass the time while your EV is charging? Volvo and Polestar gives you that option. Or connect your Google Maps account with the car? Many car makers – Honda most recently in Australia – allow you to do that, which is quite handy as you can search for a location before leaving and hop in the car and have it set as your destination.

As the car industry heads more towards heavier tech integration, the needs from consumers are obvious: a simple menu structure with shortcut buttons, good screen quality, features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and live services so that cars can keep updated and drivers can download apps like navigational tools if they wish. Designing an effective and safe infotainment system is not difficult, and many leave room for improvement.

“This is the next Commodore, and under that new nose is a Nissan 6 – after 39 years of Aussie-built power.”

Peter Robinson’s hard-earned scoop in the December 1985 issue of Wheels almost cost him his house. Holden took his reveal that the new VL Commodore would feature Nissan’s RB30E engine rather badly, and it was largely due to the wiles of Australian Consolidated Press’ in-house lawyer, one Malcolm Turnbull (yes, him), that Robbo wriggled out of a sticky legal bind. But that’s Peter’s story to tell, not mine.

As the last of a series that had been in production since the 1978 VB, the VL was a car that needed to show customers something new. Holden had learned a painful lesson when the Commodore VC morphed into the VH in 1981 that visual differentiation was key to sales. Although the VL rode on the same 2881mm (105 inches, in old money) wheelbase as that ‘78 VB, there was no doubt that it was a marked diversion in terms of modernity and ambition.

Designer Phil Zmood certainly hadn’t rolled the arm. The bonnet was more aggressively raked, leading to a low-profile nose. The Calais model got a unique nose cone with sleep-eyed semi-retractable covers over the rectangular front lights. Move round to the rear and the flat bootlid kicked up into an inbuilt spoiler and there was a more modern lighting panel. The glasshouse was largely a carry-over from the VK, which introduced the more complex Senator-style side window profile, but every panel ahead of the A-pillars was new.

Inside, the driver was greeted by a new dash with round clocks replacing square ones, a repositioning of much of the ancillary switchgear, and the fitment of a two-spoke steering wheel on the SL and Berlina models, with the Calais getting a single-spoke item.

Most importantly, the VL bought Holden time. Despite being a millimetre longer than its erstwhile rival, the Ford Falcon XF, the VL Commodore was some 138mm narrower, which meant that in terms of categorisation, Holden was putting a midsize sedan up against a full-sized item. Holden knew that this would be remedied when its successor, the far heftier VN, would arrive in 1988, so it needed something fresh-looking to tide it over for the two years from 1986 to 1988.

It’s usually the case that these ‘last of the line’ cars are well engineered but conservative. The VL was an odd mix, but it worked. The basic formula prevailed: relatively short wheelbase, a long bonnet capable of housing a straight-six engine and the now familiar struts up front and live axle with Panhard rod rear suspension design, but the key ingredient thrown into the mix for this generation was Australian Design Rule 37, the Federal Government’s decision to ditch leaded fuels and the introduction of 91-octane unleaded fuel on January 1, 1986.

Holden had seen this coming for some time and realised that the old 202ci/3298cc ‘Black’ six – available in the VK Commodore in both carburettored and Bosch LE2 Jetronic fuel injection guises – wasn’t going to cut it without soaking up a stack of engineering budget. The old Iron Lion V8 was similarly hobbled. It cast around for a technical partner and came to an agreement with Nissan for supply of the RB30E, an engine which was smaller, lighter, more powerful and more fuel efficient than Holden’s prior entry-level V8.

The VL had a considerable task on its hands. The ageing platform was up against not only the Falcon, but the reigning Wheels Car of the Year, the wide bodied Mitsubishi Magna. While Ford and Holden locked horns, the Mitsubishi slid in almost unnoticed and aced both of the Aussies in terms of mechanical reliability, refinement and equipment provision.

Put to the test

Wheels ran its first VL comparison in June 1986, pitting a six-pot VL Commodore Executive ($15,160 – and effectively a special edition version of the SL trim) up against a $15,513 Falcon GL and a $16,270 Magna SE, all three fitted with automatic gearboxes. Road tester Mike McCarthy was impressed by the sheer verve of the Holden’s engine. With 300kg less to lug about than the doughty 4.1-litre nat-asp Ford, and a 17kW power advantage to boot, it was always going to feel lively.

“The Commodore’s engine and performance are in utter contrast to the Ford’s,” he wrote. “A real rev-head, the injected three-litre is tractable but gives its best when working in the middle to high end of the rev scale. Its revs and performance prove that this is a sports engine par excellence.”

McCarthy was less impressed by the VL’s ride and handling. “The Commodore’s ride and handling leave something to be desired,” he noted. “Changes to the new model’s suspension succeed in eliminating the former roll-oversteer bogey, but at the cost of increased understeer, reduced responsiveness, more body roll and obvious front tyre scrub. Hard cornering soon reveals that despite its impressive extra speed and acceleration, the new model has lost a bit more of that spirit and balance that once made it the driver’s favourite. Now even the ride is wrong: compliantly comfortable in easy conditions, it is bouncily adrift when rough roads make demands on the damping and axle location. RTS (Radial Tuned Suspension) ain’t what it used to be.”

When summing up, the verdict went to the Magna, with the Commodore in second and the Falcon bringing up the rear. The VL even had the word ‘improved’ couched in quotes. What was clear was that there were the bones of a good car in here, but it was hamstrung by a few issues. Materials quality wasn’t what it should have been. Some of the interior plastics were shockingly cheap, panel fit was often irregular and paint finishes were poor. Then there was the ride and handling.

Holden even managed to offend Nissan Australia with its advertising, dubbing the motor ‘Commodore’s all-new 6-cylinder Powertech 6Ei engine’, which Nissan took as Holden claiming credit for their work. In rebuttal, Nissan Australia ran some snarky advertisements which said, in not so many words, that if you thought the engine was good in a Commodore, why not try it in the car for which it was designed.

Timely turbo

When negotiating with Nissan for the rights to use the RB30E, Holden also secured exclusive rights to a turbocharged version of that engine, which would be dubbed the RB30ET. It was this engine, more than any other, that built the VL’s contemporary reputation, and Holden knew that for keen drivers it would easily eclipse the revised V8 it was working on.

The cover for the August 1986 issue of Wheels ran an “Off the clock” headline, showing the speedometer needle of a VL Turbo pegged way past 200km/h on Lang Lang’s high-speed bowl. Holden claimed to have routinely hit 217km/h on the banked circle and the numbers seemed conservative.

Both Nissan and Holden had worked on the engine. The Japanese had done the lion’s share of the engineering work, with Holden responsible for the in-car calibration. The turbo installation was deeply impressive, the Garrett blower installed inside a water-cooled housing. Refinement was excellent and response was silky-smooth and flexible. Maximum boost was achieved at just 2400rpm, with meaningful pressure building from just 1500rpm. With 150kW at 5600rpm and 296Nm from 3200rpm, it boasted almost 32 per cent more power and nearly 20 per cent more torque than its normally aspirated sibling.

Other changes included new pistons, which lowered the compression ratio from 9:1 to 7.8:1, and a higher lift camshaft with optimised timing for less overlap. It achieved this while adhering to GM’s edict that the engine be ‘non-interference’, in effect meaning that the valves and pistons could not contact each other in the event of a drive belt breaking. The intake, the exhaust, the engine management and the gearbox were also changed for the turbo car. The latter involved a lower ratio for the first three gears, a tougher four-pinion differential.

Holden also made an attempt to rectify the handling issues that had marred the launch of the atmo VL. The FE2 suspension setup included new springs, revised dampers and smaller anti-roll bars (234mm front and 16mm rear, both 2mm less than standard) served to beef up the ride and body control. The brakes were also worthy of mention, with 298mm front discs with local company Girlock supplying the finned alloy calipers, also seen at the time on the C4 Corvette. These necessitated the fitment of 15-inch wheels.

The VL Turbo’s impact is hard to underestimate. Here was a car with a power-to-weight ratio of 120kW/tonne where its Ford Falcon counterpart developed a mere 66. Its acceleration was in an entirely different bracket. Holden claimed an eight-second 0-100km/h time, but that was conservative. Many outlets saw figures more like 7.6 seconds from their independent performance testing.

With power like that, it was perhaps unsurprising that police forces the length and breadth of the country pricked up their ears. The police-spec highway pursuit cars, coded BT-1, were based on the entry-level SL trim (the turbocharged engine was offered as an option on all VL trims), but they got the FE2 suspension, multi-slot steel wheels and some were fitted with long-range fuel tanks. White and pale blue were taken up by some forces, but Absinthe Yellow was by far the most popular choice.

Or, if you didn’t want a six, how about that V8? In September of 1986, Holden reintroduced the ‘great Aussie V8’ re-engineering it to develop 122kW at 4400rpm and 323Nm at 3200. The ads spruiked that ‘Only Holden V8 torques your language’ and rather than positioning the vehicle as the sporting flagship, instead claiming that it was “the best engine for towing trailers, boats, horse floats and caravans”.

Even Holden themselves admitted that such was the superiority of the blown six, positioning the V8 as any sort of driver’s choice “would have been marketing suicide”. That was understandable given that it persevered with the ancient Tri-Matic three-speed auto rather than the VL’s much more advanced Nissan four-speed auto. You could even specify it with an optional V5W ‘Country Pack’ suspension option,
which lifted ride height by 25mm, a Dakar-spec before it’s time, if you like.

The Brock effect

That was far from it for the V8. Those who had clamoured for its return in the VL were utterly unsatisfied that it had morphed from angry bastard in VK Group A spec to geriatric spec in the VL. Peter Brock was rumoured to be working on a deal to fit the cracking Borg-Warner T5 manual ‘box to his HDT-improved cars.

At that time Brocky and GM-H were in the thick of a back-and-forth over the controversial (read useless) Energy Polarizer, Australia’s favourite piece of automotive pseudoscience. That’s why you won’t find the racer’s name on many of the original HDT VL SS Group A cars. Holden’s take? “We see no technical merit in the polariser and therefore can’t endorse its use.”

The first 500 homologation cars were all finished in Permanent Red paintwork and assembled at Holden’s Dandenong plant before being fettled at HDT’s Port Melbourne location, the official launch coming in November 1986.

When Wheels put the $29,600 SS Group A up against the $28,366 Calais Turbo back in February 1987, not only were they both fairly evenly matched on price, but they were virtually impossible to separate with a stopwatch. Over 400m, the V8 stopped the timer at 15.41 seconds and the six a mere hundredth later at 15.42 seconds. The massive gulf between the two cars was evident when it came to ride and handling, the V8 better able to deploy its 137kW/245Nm, with more progressive on-limit behaviour, superior body control and more communicative steering.

Most will know the history behind this car and how Brock was subsequently disassociated from Holden, the company rightly feeling that his unscientific beliefs were a threat to their credibility. In the end it proved a useful device, for Holden at least, who were able to cut loose the increasingly maverick HDT business and exercise greater corporate control via its own Holden Special Vehicles outfit.

This bore fruits with the VL SS group A SV – the famous Walky/Plastic Pig/Batmobile. Built in 1988 and available solely in Panorama Silver, this 180kW special was badged as a Holden to satisfy Group A requirements. A run of 500 were built, with another 250 subsequently offered to a public who were a bit slow on the uptake. The controversial styling kit, said to reduce drag by 25 per cent compared with its predecessor, was part of the reason, as was buyer realisation that a brand-new VN-generation Commodore was also arriving in 1988, despite the fact that the SS Group A version wouldn’t appear until 1990.

In most regards, the VL Commodore was a notable success. It sold well, comfortably better than any of the prior ‘compact’ Commodores, scoring 151,801 sales in the 30 months that it was on dealer floors. One thing it could never quite manage was to outsell the overweight and ageing XF Ford Falcon. It seems the Aussie public loved leaf springs, recirculating ball steering and three-speed autos. But Ford’s marketing for this car was clever, with around 70 per cent going to fleet buyers, whereas the VL was more geared towards private customers.

Running a VL today is a reminder that much has changed since the late 1980s. By today’s standards, even the Turbo isn’t a particularly quick car and its dynamics are distinctly period. Even when new there was evidence of significant cost-cutting, largely because between the time when the contract was signed with Nissan for engine supply and the time that engines were delivered and had to be paid for, the pendulum had swung the wrong way for Holden in terms of Aussie dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rates. Therefore, costs had to be taken out of other aspects of the car, such as the single-stage acrylic paint finishes or the flimsy rear end.

On the plus side, both the six and the V8 engines are tough and many of the worst excesses of the VL’s handling are reduced by quality modern tyres. Pay attention to cooling and modify sensibly. There’s a huge resource out there if you want a 1000hp VL Turbo for the drag strips, but please remember that big boost will make these cars a misery to drive on the road.

The VL Holden Commodore marked a specific moment in time. By 1988 the bigger VN generation had arrived, and the costly but lovely Nissan six was ditched for the less delightful Buick-sourced LN3 3.8-litre powerplant. A generation of Aussie youth was inspired by the mighty VL Turbo and, as such, these cars are in exceptionally strong demand by late Millennials and Gen Xers. Tidy cars like the one you see here can change hands into six figures, with SS Group As going up to around $300,000.

You’d do well to get a tenth of that sum for any Ford XF Falcon, so in terms of the longer game, the VL Commodore has emerged victorious. For a car that was expected to upset the true-blue Aussie Holden lovers, that’s quite some achievement.

This article first appeared in the April 2025 issue of Wheels magazine.