One of the most common questions WhichCar by Wheels gets from readers relates specifically to the amount and complexity technology in modern cars, and the likelihood of it ceasing to work as advertised. Well, wildly complex vehicles have been on the road for some time now, and the results are starting to come in.

The latest United States Vehicle Dependability Study by JD Power has illustrated that features and technology designed to make our driving lives easier might in fact be having the opposite effect. Along with a rapid advancement in the inclusion of on-board technology, there’s also been a higher than ever level of report issues with that same technology.

JD Power reported its third consecutive year of falling dependability results and in its sights as a cause is technology. Four of the top five issues reported were directly linked to mobile phone connectivity, with Android Auto/Apple CarPlay ranking as the single highest issue for the third year running. Bluetooth issues, wireless charging pads that don’t work and specific app reliability also featured highly.

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Interestingly, 40 per cent of owners surveyed reported the installation of a software update within the last 12 months of ownership, but also reported no difference of note after the update was completed.

Digging further into the findings illustrates that problems have increased across all types of electrified powertrain types, with PHEV remaining the most problematic of any type in the study.

Problems among full-electric and hybrid vehicles also increased while traditional internal-combustion vehicles improved slightly to rank as the least problematic among all powertrains.

Keeping in mind the study is US-based, Lexus came out on top followed by Buick, Mazda, Toyota and Cadillac in the top five. The results weren’t so good for Ford, Audi, Jeep, Volvo and Volkswagen however, which occupied places in the bottom 10 from 21st to 30th. Concerningly, given the price premium owners are expected to pay, luxury brands performed worse in the study, compared to more affordable mainstream rivals in regard to reliability.

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JD Power Top 10, US vehicle dependability (brand ranking – problems per 100 vehicles)

1. Lexus (151)
2. Buick (160)
3. MINI (168)
4. Cadillac (175)
5. Chevrolet (178)
6. Subaru (181)
7. Porsche (182)
8. Kia (193)
9. Nissan (194)
10. BMW (198)

When BMW’s M Division slaps a CS badge on one of its models today, it immediately shouts to the world that this car is something special, a car that sits at, or near, the top of the model’s line-up.

But if you think the Competition Sport designation has been around only since 2017 – when it first appeared on the M4 coupe – then think again.

Those two little letters first appeared way back in the early 1960s, just as BMW was pivoting from its post-war slumber into the German Economic Miracle.

BMW’s Neue Klasse set the template for the future of BMW and sprinkled amongst its range of premium sedans, a smattering of stunning coupes vied for buyers’ attention. Wearing the ‘C’ (for Coupe) designation, BMW soon found there was a case in offering sportier versions and in 1965, the BMW 2000 CS (Clubsport or Coupe Sport depending on who you believe) made its debut.

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Whatever the ‘C’ stood for in ‘CS”, then as now, the two-letter acronym meant something special, a sportier, more powerful version of BMW’s range of sporty coupes.

Which brings me neatly to the car we have here today, a car that represents the perfect distillation of what CS truly means – the 2026 BMW M2 CS.

The CS badge isn’t new to M2, the previous F87 generation benefiting from the Competition Sport treatment back in 2020. But with an all-new second generation (G87) M2 making its debut in 2023, it was inevitable that BMW M’s wizards would weave their CS magic into its small, two-door coupe.

The recipe is simple enough. Engine outputs up, weight down, CS-specific tuning for the suspension and chassis and aggressive styling that matches the show with the go.

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Having a CS badge on the boot and the grille does attract a hefty premium, no matter the M model. In the case of the BMW M2 CS, buyers’ bank accounts will be lighter to the tune of $172,900 (before on-road costs), some $45,600 more than the regular MS ($127,300). But you do get a whole lot more M2 for your money.

For starters the 3.0-litre twin-turbo inline-six might look familiar on paper but in this Competition spec it receives a significant power and torque boost, now at 390kW and 650Nm, trumping both the manual M2 (353kW/550Nm) and automatic M2 (353kW/600Nm).

It’s matched with BMW’s eight-speed Steptronic automatic transmission, sending drive to the rear wheels. There is no manual M2 CS available, and nor will there be, with M’s current six-speed manual gearbox – ZF GS6-L55TZ – rated to a maximum torque output of 600Nm. However, BMW engineers a safety margin, limiting torque to 550Nm for three-pedal M models. 

The chassis has come in for some work too, with CS-specific engine mounts, CS-tuned dampers and springs, a lower ride height by 8mm, and CS tuning across steering, brakes, the rear diff and traction control.

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The liberal use of carbon-fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) inside and out has shaved 30kg off the regular M2’s kerb weight, the CS tipping the scales at 1700kg.

The big ticket CFRP items are the boot lid – complete with an integrated ducktail spoiler that distinguishes the CS from regular M2s – and roof as well as the mirror caps and rear diffuser.

The carbon-fibre theme continues inside, the lightweight polymer liberally – and visibly – sprinkled throughout. Everything from the M bucket seats to the centre console and the dash shine with the glow of carbon weave in a cabin that blends a driver-centric sportiness with BMW’s typical premium flourishes, as do the illuminated CS logos on the seatbacks and door sills.

The carbon-fibre bucket seats – electrically adjustable – come standard and fit their hard shell firmly around your body, ideal for cutting laps on the race track but a little tiring for longer stints on the road. So too the offset pedal placement where the accelerator is positioned just a smidge too far to the right, close to the right-hand footwell needing a deviation from the ideal seating position. It’s a small thing, but when you’re blasting the MS CS around one of Australia’s most demanding race tracks, any distraction is unwelcome.

Tech heads won’t be left wanting with BMW’s large, gently-curved widescreen dominating the landscape. It incorporates a 14.9-inch infotainment display and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster inside its single frame. 

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And BMW’s commitment to physical switchgear is a welcome one, with an array of buttons, switches and dials for a variety of the car’s functions, including the ability to access and manage the CS’s many and varied drive settings.

Practicality doesn’t take a backseat – the lack of cupholders in the centre console notwithstanding – with a usable (for short trips) second row and a generous 390-litre boot.

While premium and tech-laden cabins are all well and good, the star attraction of the M2 CS is in how it performs. To find out exactly that, we spent time behind the wheel on some beguiling stretches of rural backroads near Bathurst in NSW, and then on one of the world’s most revered race tracks – Mount Panorama.

There’s a sense of occasion as you fire up the menacing straight-six under the bonnet, its bark on start-up as intoxicating as it is spine-tingling. This is a truly special engine, one which defines the current breed of M cars and which, in this, a rear-wheel drive two-door perfectly encapsulates the brand’s original philosophy.

Certainly, the new G87 generation M2 CS is quicker than the model it replaces. BMW claims a 0-100km/h time of 3.8 seconds, 0.2s quicker than the older model. But the big improvement comes as that lusty inline-six is let off the chain, BMW quoting a 0-200km/h time of 11.7 seconds, 1.2s quicker than its predecessor. Top speed? Try 302km/h. Astonishing numbers, all of them.

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The rural backroads of Sofala in NSW’s central-west are not the place to test BMW’s claims. But they do provide a decent canvas to find out how M’s smallest road-and-track brawler handles everyday life.

Certainly, the CS’s stiffer suspension setup is keenly felt, especially on the chopped up surfaces of country NSW where potholes and patchwork-quilt surfaces are the norm. And yet, despite the firm edge under wheel, the CS doesn’t feel like it’s too much for the open road. Yes, the ride is firm, but just on the right side of acceptable.

The M2 CS makes up for its uncompromising road holding with the characteristically heroic abilities of the growling straight-six under the bonnet. Punching out of corners is as effortless as the baritone rumble of the exhaust is enjoyable. Sure, its potential is largely wasted on Australian public roads, but there’s still pleasure to be found in linking a series of bends and corners together without breaking the speed limit bank.

Luckily for us, BMW also threw us the keys to the gates of Mount Panorama and it is here, unfettered by societal expectations, where the M2 CS and its distilled essence of the M badge, truly sparkles and shines.

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BMW protocol demanded that traction control was left – partially – on, but even then, the CS was more than happy to offer just a hint of tail-wagging when powering out corners. It never feels unwieldy, though. Instead, after a brief jig on its rear wheels, the M2 settles into its line with poise, purpose and plenty of power.

Full-throttle acceleration pins you back in your seat as the eight-speed automatic rockets through the gears, every shift nudging the 7200rpm redline while the S58 twin-turbo six-cylinder positively howls for its supper, relentlessly building speed even on Mount Panorama’s uphill sections such as the climb up Mountain Straight.

It’s not just about straight-line speed, of course, although there’s plenty of that to keep even the most hardened of speed junkies high on adrenaline. No, the M2 CS is so much more than a headline number. 

Throwing the deft little coupe at Mount Panorama’s series of challenging corners and bends showcases the engineering work that’s gone into the chassis. Yes, it can twitch a little powering hard out of corners, but for the most part, the CS remains remarkably composed, staying true to its line with poise and purpose.

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The confidence builds then, and each successive lap is just that little bit quicker, a choreography of the sum of its parts dancing together to flatter and reward the driver in a way few cars can.

The eight-speed automatic does a fine job of selecting the right gear at the right time, while allowing the twin-turbo six its full head of 7200rpm steam. But using the paddle-shifters to chart your own ratio destiny is more rewarding still, short-shifting vital to extracting the best out of the CS on the uphill series of bends through The Cutting.

The brakes too – optional carbon-composite ($19,000) on our test car – do a commendable job of retarding speed, whether hard on the pins for big stops such as heading into Griffins Bend or modulating gently to settle the CS before turning in to the sweeper at McPhillamy.

They copped abuse too, at the hands (or feet) of a flotilla of guest drivers from the media, and yet remained as reliably solid at day’s end as they did on the first lap.

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It’s testament to the approachability that has been engineered into the M2 CS. Having the confidence to pound out lap after lap at full tilt knowing the CS will unwaveringly do exactly what’s asked of it is so vital to being able to enjoy the driving, whether on the road or the track.

And while there might be bigger and brawnier M models in the wider catalogue, the G87-generation M2 CS captures – arguably – the very essence of the M brand in one, compact, rear-wheel drive package.

Specs

The Geely EX5 mid-size electric SUV has received its first update since launching in Australia in March 2025. Thanks to a larger new 68.39kWh battery (+8.17kWh compared with the pre-updated model), the EX5 can now travel further with a claimed WLTP range of up to 475km for the base Complete spec.

However, the extra range comes at cost as pricing is now $1000 higher, starting at $41,990 plus on-road costs.

Now using a larger 68.39kWh lithium iron phosphate battery, the EX5 is rated at up to 475km of driving range (WLTP) for the base Complete and 450km for the upper-spec Inspire, which are increases of 45km and 40km respectively.

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The EX5 continues to use a 160kW/320Nm front-mounted electric motor, and thanks to the increase in weight from the larger battery, the claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of the EX5 is now 0.5 seconds slower at 7.4 seconds for the Complete and 7.6 seconds for the Inspire.

The extra weight has also slightly increased the EX5’s claimed energy consumption, with the Complete rising from 15.8kWh/100km to 16kWh/100km, and the Inspire from 16.6kWh/100km to 16.9kWh/100km. The EX5’s peak 100kW DC fast charging speed is unchanged, however.

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Other changes to the EX5 include a standard cargo cover, a Mode 2 charging cable to charge the EX5 from a regular power socket and a new ‘Jungle Green’ colour that’s already available on the EX5’s Starray EM-i sibling.

2026 Geely EX5 pricing (plus on-road costs):

The updated Geely EX5 range is now available to order.

Mercedes-Benz Australia has launched a new limited edition of its GLC mid-size SUV, the GLC 200 4MATIC AVANTGARDE. Priced from $85,400 plus on-road costs or $89,490 driveaway nationwide until April 30, the new special edition GLC costs around $13,000 drive away less than the GLC 200 on which it’s based. A limited number of AVANTGARDE models are available.

Above the GLC 200 4MATIC on which it’s based, the AVANTGARDE adds metallic paint and new 18-inch ‘aerodynamically optimised’ wheels.

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That complements features already standard on the GLC 200 4MATIC, which include LED lighting, keyless entry and start, a panoramic sunroof, ‘Artico’ synthetic leather upholstery, electric front seat adjustment with memory, dual-zone automatic climate control and the brand’s ‘MBUX’ infotainment system with online services, satellite navigation and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Safety features include nine airbags, autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, lane keeping assistance, blind-spot monitoring, traffic sign recognition, driver attention monitoring, auto high beam, automatic parking and a 360-degree camera with a transparent bonnet view.

Metallic colour options for the GLC 200 4MATIC AVANTGARDE include ‘Verde Silver’, ‘Obsidian Black’, ‘Graphite Grey’, ‘High-Tech Silver’ and ‘Spectral Blue’, while the non-metallic ‘Polar White’ is also available. Interior colour choices include black, tan or beige.

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As with the regular GLC 200 4MATIC, the AVANTGARDE uses a turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine making 150kW of power and 320Nm of torque. A nine-speed automatic transmission is standard, as is the brand’s ‘4Matic’ all-wheel drive system.

Mercedes-Benz claims the GLC 200 4MATIC hits 100km/h in 7.8 seconds, while combined fuel consumption is rated at 7.5L/100km.

The Mercedes-Benz GLC 200 4MATIC AVANTGARDE is available to order now.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is set to impact Australian household budgets with some analysts predicting petrol prices will rise to over $2 a litre permanently.

Following last weekend’s air strikes on Iran, and the retaliatory strikes on several states in the Middle East, oil prices are expected to surge when trading opens in the US on Monday morning. Independent energy analyst, Rystard Energy, predicts that oil prices could rise by at least US$20 a barrel when the commodities market opens on Monday morning US time while other analysts are predicting an even steeper increase of up to US$40 a barrel.

The effect of the ongoing conflict between the US Israel and Iran has forced the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key channel for the world’s oil supply, with approximately 15 million barrels a day – around 20 per cent of the world’s daily oil needs – shipped through the Persian Gulf waters.

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According to energy analysts , the price per barrel could rise from its close on Friday of US$67 a barrel to over US$100. That dramatic increase will result in Australians paying around 40c per litre more for unleaded petrol, based on the widely accepted rule-of-thumb that every US$10 increase adds around 10c per litre at Australian petrol pumps.

The implications of a rise in the price of oil won’t just affect motorists at the bowser, with higher transportation costs for goods around the world likely to be passed on to the consumer, driving up inflation at a time when inflationary pressures are already being keenly felt by households.

Growing concern around Australia’s stubborn inflation rate saw the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lift the cash rate in February to 3.85 per cent. While many analysts predicting a further rate rise in May is likely, the developing situation in the Middle East could result in further rate rises as early as the RBA’s next monetary policy meeting on March 17.

Denza has added a third model to its growing Australian line-up, introducing the all-electric D9 people mover less than a month after launching its B5 and B8 plug-in hybrid off-roaders.

The seven-seat D9 will be offered in two variants, starting at $85,990 plus on-road costs for the front-wheel-drive version. An all-wheel-drive dual-motor grade is priced from $95,990 plus on-roads.

Underpinned by BYD’s e-Platform 3.0 architecture, the D9 is powered by a 103.3kWh Blade battery. The single-motor FWD model produces 230kW and 360Nm, while the AWD version increases outputs to 275kW and 470Nm.

Claimed driving range is 520km (WLTP) for the FWD and 480km for the AWD. Charging capability includes 11kW AC and up to 200kW DC fast charging, along with vehicle-to-load (V2L) functionality.

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The D9 measures 5250mm long and rides on a 3110mm wheelbase, giving it a substantial footprint in the large people-mover segment. Dual electric sliding rear doors are standard, and the vehicle features a three-row 2+2+3 seating layout.

Second-row captain’s chairs include power adjustment, ventilation, massage and extendable leg rests, while Denza claims more than 900mm of legroom in the second and third rows. Rear cargo capacity is listed at 410 litres with all seats in place, expanding to 2310 litres with the rear rows folded.

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Inside, the D9 features a 15.6-inch central infotainment display, 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster and 12-inch head-up display. Second-row occupants have access to a 5.5-inch armrest control screen. A built-in heating and cooling compartment, capable of chilling to –6°C or warming to 50°C, is also fitted.

The AWD variant gains electronically controlled dampers as part of BYD’s DiSus-C adaptive suspension system.

Pricing

Safety equipment includes eight airbags, a suite of driver assistance systems such as autonomous emergency braking and blind-spot monitoring, and a body structure integrating the battery into the chassis to improve rigidity.

The Denza D9 is on sale now in Australia.

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Troubled mega-company Stellantis might be the best example of the perils associated with the shift to full-EV, and if 2025 is any indicator, drastic action is required. The conglomerate lost a whopping A$37 billion in 2025, blaming the loss on its focus (and redirection of investment) on electric and plug-in hybrid tech, followed by an about-face and move back toward internal combustion petrol power and extended range electric vehicles.

Stellantis – a conglomerate across the United States, Italy and France – had announced a heavy loss result was imminent a few weeks back, and it’s more than just the books taking a hit. United Auto Workers will also not benefit from the profit sharing arrangement that was in play, with that scheme suspended on the back of the loss announcement. Reports suggest Ford and GM workers in the US will receive between A$9000 and A$15,000 in estimated bonuses.

Previous CEO, Carlos Tavares had pushed Stellantis to invest serious capital into electric vehicle development, a move that would have seen electric platforms for nearly all European models, as well as electric versions of US favourites RAM, Jeep and Dodge.

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That move included turning legendary sports car manufacturer Alfa Romeo fully electric, a decision that was broadly unpopular, then considered unfeasible and ultimately scrapped for the foreseeable future.

The change in direction also saw the return of the legendary Hemi V8 for RAM trucks (after a shift to inline-six turbo power), the death of the fully-electric version of the RAM 1500, and the axing of plug-in hybrid versions of Jeep and Chrysler vehicles.

It wasn’t all bad news for Stellantis, though, with sales success in markets through South America, but sales globally dropped by 2.0 percent. Maserati – which reports its sales data separately to the rest of the group – has serious ground to claw back, though, with the premium Stellantis brand dropping by a hefty 24.4 per cent in 2025.

Wards Auto reported that Stellantis will follow similar write downs over EV strategies announced by both Ford and General Motors, after accounting for a much slower than expected uptake by customers.

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Further, ‘the move away from EV production, which is a fundamental reset and refocus of the business, resulted in approximately 22.2 billion Euros (A$37B) in charges, excluded from adjusted operating income, for the second half of 2025, of which approximately 6.5 billion Euros (A$10.8B) are cash payments expected to be made over the next four years’.

Stellantis CEO, Antonio Filosa, via a company statement, remained positive. “Our 2025 full year results reflect the cost of over-estimating the pace of the energy transition and of the need to reset our business around out customers’ freedom to choose from the full range of electric, hybrid and internal combustion technologies,” Filosa said.

“In 2026, our focus will be on continuing to close the execution gaps of the past, adding further momentum to our return to profitable growth, and we see North America as the largest engine for growth in 2026.”

BYD has unveiled official images of its forthcoming Seal 07 EV, confirming key details of the all-electric sedan ahead of its expected overseas market launch in March.

Built on the brand’s latest e-Platform 3.0 Evo architecture, the Seal 07 EV promises a claimed driving range of up to 705 kilometres (CLTC), positioning it as a strong contender in China’s increasingly competitive large EV segment.

Visually, the Seal 07 EV closely mirrors the recently revealed 2026 Seal 07 DM-i plug-in hybrid. It features a smooth, closed-off front fascia typical of electric vehicles, framed by slim headlights and a trapezoidal lower air intake. Around the rear, a full-width taillight signature is accented by a chrome strip, while flush door handles and a sweeping roofline that tapers from the B-pillar enhance aerodynamic efficiency. A sunroof is also fitted as standard.

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A roof-mounted lidar unit is clearly visible in released images, signalling the availability of advanced driver assistance systems. While the Seal 07 DM-i uses BYD’s ‘God’s Eye’ DiPilot 300 system, the EV variant is expected to debut an upgraded ‘God’s Eye’ 5.0 suite, potentially to be detailed at BYD’s March 5 showcase.

Dimensionally, the Seal 07 EV measures 4995mm long, 1910mm wide and 1495mm tall, riding on a 2900mm wheelbase. It is marginally wider than its hybrid sibling and has a kerb weight of 1940kg.

Power comes from a rear-mounted electric motor producing 240kW (322hp). Energy is supplied by a 69.07kWh BYD Blade battery pack weighing just under 491kg. Official filings indicate a top speed of 200km/h and energy consumption rated at 10.8kWh per 100km.

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Inside, the cabin layout carries over from the DM-i, headlined by a 15.6-inch floating central touchscreen, digital instrument cluster and two-spoke multifunction steering wheel. The centre console incorporates wireless phone charging, cupholders, physical shortcut buttons and a rotary control dial.

Full specifications and pricing are expected to be confirmed at launch, with no indication as yet on whether Australia will feature in the vehicle’s international roll-out.

Buying your first new car can be daunting. With so much choice on offer in Australia today, the decision as to which car or SUV best serves your needs is a difficult one.

Almost daily, it seems, new car brands are arriving in Australia and setting up shop, their dealerships brimming with new models crammed with the types of features that seemed like the domain of the super-wealthy only a few short years ago – big infotainment screens, ‘leather’ seat trim, multi-zone air-conditioning, and a swag of advanced driver assist systems that, in theory at least, help keep you on the straight and narrow.

Disruptor brands from China are becoming increasingly popular (witness BYD’s climb up the sales charts, or Chery’s 176 per cent growth year-on-year), their value-for-money quotient off the Richter Scale. It’s hard not to be tempted by a car or SUV priced under $30k and filled with features and equipment usually only found in vehicles costing twice as much.

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But with such a bewildering array of choice, cutting through the noise is a difficult task, especially if you’re a first-time new car buyer. That SUV loaded to the gills might look tempting, especially if you’re coming out of a succession of 10-plus-year-old second-hand cars. But does it really represent value for money? And is there substance behind the blingy features and interior?

To help you on your first new car buying journey, we’re looking at one of the most popular segments in Australia, small (or compact) SUVs which have, in effect, replaced the humble hatchback as the go-to for first-time buyers.

Here then, is our pick of a very crowded bunch.

Under $30,000

It wasn’t that long ago that anyone looking to buy a new car for the first time, needed to budget around $20,000-$25,000. But times have changed and new cars, just like everything else we buy – from groceries, to petrol, to consumer goods, housing and clothing – prices have risen to the point where $30k is the new $20k. To be fair to carmakers, the price increases over the last decade or so have come with plenty of extra goodies, some mandatory (such as safety technologies) and some to meet the increasing demands of buyers’ expectations (infotainment, smartphone connectivity, sat-nav, et al).

That’s not to say you can’t find a brand-new SUV under that psychological $30k barrier. By our count, there are currently 22 Light and Small SUVs in today’s new car market priced from under 30 grand, although some come with sharp drive-away pricing (no more to pay) while others will creep over that 30 grand ceiling once on-road costs are factored in.

To cut through the bargain hunting noise, here are three of the best.

Chery Tiggo 4 Urban

Price: From $23,990 drive-away
Boot space: 380 litres (rear seats up); 1225 litres (rear seats folded)
Drivetrain: 1.5-litre turbo-petrol
Servicing costs: $1449 total for first five years or 75,000km

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It was Australia’s second-most popular small SUV in 2025, trailing only the Hyundai Kona on the sales charts. And it’s easy to see why.

With a starting price of just $23,990 drive-away (the most affordable Kona starts from $32,950), the Tiggo 4 offers an astounding list of standard equipment, especially on the technology front where first-time buyers will go gaga over features like a 10.25-inch infotainment screen with wireless and wired smartphone mirroring capability.

Other standard features include 17-inch alloy wheels, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, keyless entry and push-button start, heated side mirrors, dual-zone climate control with, crucially, rear seat air vents, as well as digital (DAB+) radio and three USB ports.

The Tiggo four also wears a five-star ANCAP safety rating on the back of some impressive crash testing results and a long list of advanced driver assist systems.

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The on-road experience is best described as inoffensive. Softly-sprung, the Tiggo 4 will comfortably absorb everyday road rash with ease, a perfectly amiable companion on the road from A to B. Performance is best described as merely adequate, but for a large cohort of new car buyers, that’s perfectly acceptable. Not everyone is looking to win the daily traffic light grand prix.

If you can accept that the Tiggo 4 isn’t looking to break any land speed records, and instead prefer your daily commute in comfortable surroundings with enough tech to keep you entertained during those oh-so-boring traffic snarls, then it’s hard to look past Chery’s baby SUV. 

Kia Stonic S

Price: From $28,180 plus on-road costs
Boot space: 352 litres (rear seats up); 1155 litres (rear seats folded)
Drivetrain: 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol
Servicing costs: $2464 for first five years or 50,000km

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The Korean brand’s entrant in the Light SUV class has recently benefited from a major mid-life update that brings sharp new looks and a new mild-hybrid drivetrain. Priced from $28,180 before on-road costs, the entry-level Stonic S feels like an all-new car, especially inside where new design flourishes and interior styling give the impression of an SUV costing much, much more.

Kia has backed the style with some substance with a decent list of standard equipment, even if it’s not as comprehensive as the features list of some of its rivals from China. 

But the Stonic claws back ground thanks to its on-road manners where the little Kia’s ride and handling balance translate to a charming drive experience. The 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol engine remains as characterful as ever, now helped along by a 48-volt mild-hybrid system said to deliver fuel efficiency gains as well as a slight performance boost.

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Kia doesn’t over do it on the technology front, with an 8.0-inch infotainment screen looking small compared to some of its rivals. But it’s intuitive to use, and capable of hosting your favourite brand of smartphone.

This current generation of Kia Stonic has yet to be tested by ANCAP so remains unrated by the safety authority for now. Kia’s suite of advanced driver assist and safety technologies is middling, with some key features (such as rear cross-traffic alert) only available in higher model grades.

The Stonic is also more expensive to service than some of its key rivals, the extra expense compounded by its relatively narrow 10,000km service intervals where 15,000km is par for the course in today’s new car landscape. That’s countered, however, by Kia’s seven-year, unlimited kilometre warranty bringing peace of mind to first-time new car buyers.

Mahindra XUV 3XO

Price: From $23,990 drive-away
Boot space: 364 litres (rear seats up); not quoted (rear seats folded)
Drivetrain: 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol
Servicing costs: $1595 for first five years or 75,000km

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The Mahindra XUV 3XO surprised the judges at Wheels Car of the Year testing late last year, its blend of affordability, practicality and decent driving chops belying its low cost of entry.

While the entry-level model is priced from a very competitive $23,990 drive-away, making it one of the most affordable new SUVs your money can buy in Australia, our pick would be to find the extra three grand for the $26,990 drive-away AX7L range-topper.

The extra spend brings a lot of goodies usually reserved for cars costing two or three times as much. Highlights include 17-inch alloy wheels, synthetic ‘leather’ seat trim, two-zone climate control, a 10.25-inch infotainment touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 10.25-inch digital instrument display, sunroof, a premium Harman-Kardon audio system and even a cooled glove box.

But loading it to the gills with standard equipment is one thing. The real measure comes in how the Mahindra drives. And here the news is good.

Performance is in line with what buyers at this end of the market would expect, with brisk acceleration whether from standstill or while on the move. The ride is commendable too, compliant without being too soft, and perfectly capable of dealing with Australia’s scrappy surfaced road network.

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The Mahindra misses out on some key safety technologies, such as blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, and it remains untested by ANCAP.

Mahindra warrants the XUV 3XO  for seven years or 15,000km, whichever comes first while servicing remains affordable at $1595 for the first five years or 75,000km.

Certainly, the Indian brand remains largely unknown in Australia, but as we recently wrote after the XUV 3XO won our budget SUV three-way comparison, the Mahindra surprises with its well-built quality cabin – big on space despite its diminutive stature and filled with the tech and creature comfort modern buyers expect – along with a willing powertrain and a well-sorted suspension tune that brings comfort and compliance to a segment not always known for it.

Under $35,000

The field opens up if your budget can stretch to over $30,000, with options from the more established legacy brands increasingly entering the equation. By our reckoning there are currently 30 Light and Small SUVs priced between $30,000 and $35,000 available today and it’s in this bracket where we start to see some more familiar brands, such as Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai.

But which models stand out in what is an increasingly crowded new car segment? Let’s find out.

Hyundai Kona

Price: From $33,700 plus on-road costs
Boot space: 407 litres (rear seats up); 1241 litres (rear seats folded)
Drivetrain: 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol
Servicing costs: $2053 for first five years or 75,000km

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The Kona is a striking-looking small SUV from the Korean brand that blends practicality and comfort with modern design and technology.

At this entry-level grade, power comes from a two-litre naturally-spirated four-cylinder which offers enough poke for most urban driving situations while remaining perfectly acceptable at highway cruising speeds.

Its suspension package is well-sorted and suited to Australian roads, Hyundai investing heavily in ensuring locally-delivered cars are tailored for our roads.

A four-star safety rating – largely because of some missing safety tech (it scored well in crash testing) – is a minor blot on its copybook and something that clearly hasn’t hurt sales, the Kona the number one-selling small SUV in Australia.

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Hyundai’s recently expanded seven-year warranty brings extra peace of mind while servicing costs of just over $400 a year are a little on the high side, but not unmanageable.

Certainly, buyers looking for a modern take on the small SUV formula could do well to take a closer look at the Hyundai Kona.

Toyota Yaris Cross GX

Price: From $31,790 plus on-road costs
Boot space: 390 litres (rear seats up); not quoted (rear seats folded)
Drivetrain: 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol-hybrid
Servicing costs: $1375 for first five years or 75,000km

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As Australia’s leading car brand for the last two decades or so, it’s little wonder that Toyota remains the go-to choice for buyers after a reliable and affordable car to own.

The Toyota Yaris Cross continues that philosophy, its tried-and-trusted hybrid powertrain providing the kind of fuel economy that keeps owners – and bank balances – happy.

Around since late 2020, the Yaris Cross is arguably in need of a refresh. But it’s hard to argue with an SUV that claims a fuel consumption figure of 3.8 litres per 100km, even if that is a smidge fanciful. You can expect to use around 4.5L/100km in the real world, if our ongoing testing is anything to go by.

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The interior blends practicality and comfort in typical Toyota fashion – not too flashy, but neither is it low-rent.

And with servicing costing just $275 a year for the first five years, it’s easy to see why the Yaris Cross remains one of the more popular options for those after a sensible, efficient and affordable compact SUV.

Volkswagen T-Cross Life

Price: From $34,990 plus on-road costs
Boot space: 385 litres (rear seats up); 1281 litres (rear seats folded)
Drivetrain: 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol
Servicing costs: $2799 for first five years or 75,000km

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The Volkswagen T-Cross remains a popular option for buyers after a touch of European style. Basically, a VW Polo on stilts, the T-Cross brings Volkswagen’s typically understated but refined cabin quality along with generous equipment levels.

The 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo does a good job of moving the T-Cross in a brisk fashion, never feeling under-powered for the task at hand. It’s equally as good on the highway as it is in urban enclaves. The only downside on the driving front is the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission which can, at times, prove a little hesitant when taking off from standstill.

Fuel consumption is rated at 5.4L/100km, which isn’t bad for the segment although trails the hybrid Toyota Yaris Cross by some margin, something that may sway some buyers towards its Japanese competitor.

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And the cost of maintenance could also be a deciding factor, its $2799 over five years rounding out to just under $560 annually. 

But, there’s no question the T-Cross’s European design and engineering holds appeal for plenty of buyers looking for their first new car who are after something a cut above the mainstream.

First published in the July 1978 issue of Wheels magazine, Australia’s best car mag since 1953. Subscribe here and gain access to 12 issues for $109 plus online access to every Wheels issue since 1953.

Chrysler started it in 1962, quite unwittingly of course, with the first Valiant but except for one glorious period in the early Seventies it never really understood what they were all about or how they could be used to sell the bread-and-butter cars.

Henry and The General were late arrivals but they went in boots and V8 muscle and are still fighting the good fight on race tracks around Australia. However today’s race cars are very different to the road cars and in a way that was unimaginable 10 years ago.

If the Golden Age of Supercars is over, GMH doesn’t believe it and has built the A9X Torana as undeniable proof. And it won’t end there for there are other hot cars in the pipeline from both Ford and GMH and maybe even Chrysler. No, the Supercar isn’t dead.

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When Chrysler decided to compete with the Holden and Falcon it simply started importing its American compact Valiant, the 225 cubic-inch slant six engine came as part of the package. At the time Holden’s six was only 138cid and the Falcon’s 144, so the Valiant’s ton-up performance set a startling new standard for family cars.

Ford replied with the 170 and then 200cid engines and late in 1963 GMH introduced the 149 and 179 engines and if, initially the 179 was only available in automatic form, it was soon followed by the competition oriented S4. Thus the first in a long line of limited production specials created to win the Bathurst 500/1000 came into being.

Ford countered with the Cortina GT and GT 500 while GMH, after putting its toe in the water and finding it hot, withdrew and licked its corporate wounds. Then came the XR Falcon GT and the beginning of an era. Studebaker had Lark V8s and Chrysler the Valiant V8 but these were up-market semi-luxury automatics and didn’t have any pretensions of real performance.

The GT was different. Here was a 200km/h touring car with handling and acceleration that had only ever been seen before on the very quickest European sedans or some of the better American muscle cars. But the GT was different, the damn thing even had half way decent brakes.

The rest is history. The GT won at Bathurst in 1967 and the next year GMH replied with the monster 327 Monaro while Ford tried the 302 GT. A year later they were running 350 and 351 engines and the HO was born.

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In 1970 GMH switched to the smaller, lighter XU-1 Torana and ultimately it did win the big race but it was never the long distance touring car that the GT, or even the Monaro, was. The HQ Monaro pretended to compete but didn’t, not on the race track or the road.

Then dear old Chrysler got into the act with the Charger E38, a favourite of ours, even with its three-speed gearbox and brakes which lacked power assistance. Raw in everything except the tripled Weber carburetted engine, it made all the right noises. But it was not enough and the great Phase III GT HO blasted GMH and Chrysler’s hopes into its slipstream down Conrod at Bathurst in 1971.

The Phase Ill was the ultimate Australian four-door sedan and just maybe the world’s. Then came the stillborn Torana V8, the Phase IV and the racing Charger 340 but they all died at the politicians’ knife. The rules for Bathurst were changed and an epoch finished.

The Torana V8 appeared in the LH and the L34 formed the basis for the racing cars, while Ford dropped the GT and Chrysler decided one Bathurst was quite enough and retreated to the quiet of Adelaide. The L34 produced the A9X and the HO’s most serious challenger to the title of ultimate Supercar. But that’s what our story is all about.

Even now, at the distance of eight-and-a-bit years on, it is difficult to recall for those of you who for some reason or another were not aware at the time, the fascination the super cars exerted on Australian enthusiasts in the late ’60s. Certainly, we were bound up in the October pilgrimage to The Mount; it was also the spectacle of the two giants of the motor industry diverting as much technology and money as they could afford into designing and building what were then the fastest production sedans in the world.

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There are some enthusiasts who recall with a bitterness normally reserved for Labor supporters remembering Sir John Kerr’s sacking of Gough Whitlam’s government, the spark that started the fire that led to the premature end of super cars in Australia. That spark was Evan Green’s article in the Sydney Sun-Herald that outlined the alleged 150mph new Toranas being secretly built for that year’s Bathurst. It was what is best gently described in journalistic terms as a legitimate Sunday newspaper beat-up; I am sure Evan never intended it to have the effect it did. But it came smack in the era of Naderism and on the threshold of the energy scare, and it took only a few questions in Parliament and a few panic statements by ministers to stop the Phase Four GTHO and postpone the planned V8 Torana and end the days of Bathurst as a genuine test of production sedans.

It was the end of some marvellous cars, until the A9X Torana – rare as it is – came onto the market with not a bang but a whisper. Could it be that GMH still remembered the scandal about those suicidally-dangerous monster cars being sold to the public? Of course it did; The General has a long memory about its public image.

But in 1969 the Bathurst frenzy came to its peak, because Ford had won in 1967 with the rudimentary first Falcon GT, then GM with the lumbering, clanking HK 327 Monaro in 1968; so 1969 was the first real confrontation. It was the first year of the Holden Dealer Team, The General sheltering behind the fiction of non-involvement by the factory while tipping bulk money into the end of the chute leading to Harry Firth’s wizard’s lair. It was also the first year of the GTHO. I cannot remember a Bathurst since that has had as much public interest.

The HDT ran three cars and won with Colin Bond and Tony Roberts. I drove a 350 for Boyded, a Sydney Holden dealer, and we were lying fifth when in the third hour the engine blew down Conrod.  But the race started even more sensationally when in the first lap poor Bill Brown got shoved up the bank over Skyline and rolled his Falcon, starting a multiple car pileup that brought the race to a temporary halt, outed four other cars immediately and crippled another half-dozen. I remember well coming over Skyline in the pack of Monaros and GTHOs and seeing Brown about three metres off the ground; I somehow decided to flick to the right and got through, while the other cars slithered into the debris with wheels locked.

So it was difficult to resist the suggestion that we compare a dead-original 350 Monaro, the last of the late ’60s super cars, and the A9X, arguably the best-value mass-production performance sedan in the world. It needed to be a road and track comparison, because one still remembers clearly the impact the HT350 Monaro had as a road car. The GTHO was always quicker – the Monaro would run a genuine 201km/h (125 mph) – but the Phase III, last of the HOs, would see 232km/h (144 mph). But the 350 was more nimble, more chuckable, rawer, more nakedly aggressive than the second and third GTHOs, which tended to be quieter; “softer” and a little more civilised.

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Wheels found what is probably the best 350 HT Monaro in Australia. Owned by GMH’s NSW metropolitan sales manager, Tony Connolly, it’s the first car ever nailed together for the Holden Dealer Team – the one Spencer Martin rammed through the Armco at the end of the Sandown straight in a horrifying crash one-third through the 1969 Sandown 250. That was the first race appearance of the car, and somehow the wrong disc pads were fitted. When a pad wore down prematurely it popped a brake cylinder piston and poor Spencer got the fright of his generally accident-free career. He escaped through the windscreen as the car went up in flames.

Rebuilt by GM, the car was then offered for purchase by tender. Connolly bought it, with 100 miles on the clock, at a price which now would make strong men weep and is about one-third its current market value with under 20,000 miles up. He sends it· up the odd hill-climb and drives it around when he’s not driving his company Holden or riding his Z-1 Kawasaki 900 or 360 Yamaha MX or working out how he can afford to buy an A9X as well.

I did a lot of race miles in the Boyded 350, as well as running it in and tyre and brake testing. We tested at Amaroo Park and Oran Park and raced it at Bathurst and Warwick Farm and in the Surfers. 12-hour where I had the world’s longest spin under the Dunlop Bridge at around 195km/h and later had a front wheel collapse under brakes rushing up to Lucas; the car slithered to a halt centimetres from the Armco and the long grass underneath it immediately caught fire from the red-hot discs. I had a full fuel load on, so vacated the premises fairly smartly; the fire marshals put out the fire. Then I found we didn’t have a spare or a jack, so I ran about a kilometre back to the pits in 40-degree heat to collapse.

My co-driver went out carrying a spare and a jack and got the Monaro mobile again so we could get back into the race last instead of fourth. Then they hung out the black flag and disqualified us for not having a spare. In those days the Surfers officials would have looked appropriate in jackboots …

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After Spencer Martin went through the fence and announced his retirement (he had been married not long before) all the Monaro drivers started to worry a little about the brakes on the car. Harry was good enough to tell me the secret code of the pads he was getting from Hardie-Ferodo, but somehow the privateer cars never did stop as well as the works cars, although we had as much grunt in a straight line. Harry also was very close-mouthed about his front-end settings; we found out later it was because to make the cars handle properly and get decent tyre wear you had to use just about double the handbook castor and camber figures – very illegal in those days.

Be that as it may, everyone at Bathurst gave the brake pedal a little jab between McPhillamy and Skyline, just to reassure yourself, but it always got quite exciting around the 300-metre braking marker at the end of Conrod when you were doing around 215km/h.

I remember that coming down in to Creek Corner at the Farm, when the big cars were really hauling and had to come down to – oh – around 80km/h on entry, the Monaro front end under brakes got up a real shudder, what the bikers call a “tank-slapper”.

You were never quite sure whether the car would stop in the distance you had allocated for it. This feeling lasted right up to the last 20 or 30 metres into the corner, before you actually committed the car. You were never ever bored under brakes in a 350 Monaro.

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So as I came down the 500 metre main straight at Oran Park for the first time and went for the brakes I had a flash of deja vu followed by the hot flush of recognition of the old uncertainty of Will We-Stop In Time? It was like coming home to your old school and seeing your old maths master Pussy Williams (the name of my old maths master) and finding that he hadn’t changed a scrap in 10 years except that he seemed to have shrunk.

You see, the fashion in GMH engineering in those days was for The Low Brake Pedal. All their cars had the pedal positioned close to the floor. The Wheels road test on November, 1969, explained this doubtful practice thus: “The go-pedal setup is evidently governed at present by the throttle linkage system GM employs on all its cars. Their policy is to provide a full throttle with a flat pedal for safety reasons (strain on linkages etc). This also prevents linkage reversal and means when the throttle is flat on the floor, the throttles are as wide as they’ll ever get … At present the car is fitted with a ‘low-pedal’ setup providing for a minimum ‘safe’ height from the floor of 4¾in on an adjustable arm.”

What all that meant was that GM liked a low throttle pedal and had to pull down the brake pedal height to ease the task of lifting the right foot from one pedal to the other. What it did on the race cars was to add to your awareness that you were trying to stop 1500 kilograms (3316 lbs, or around 29 cwt) of car from 210km/h with a pedal that went to within a hand’s thickness of the floor. At the bottom of Conrod the little Datsun 1000 you bombed past over the first hump would whistle past you at the 200 metre marker, laughing its head off at the purple veins standing out in your forehead.

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The first few minutes in Tony’s Monaro were enough to bring back all the old familiars. It was even the same colour – white with black-and-white houndstooth trim. The only non-standard bits on the car are 7in chrome wheels instead of 6in and two hefty and raunchy exhaust pipes out the sides. It still has the standard shockers and front-end trickery of the HDT cars – three degrees castor, 1.5 degrees camber – and you can’t bounce the front end down at all. It has the very tricky limited-slip diff that clunks and grunts, and the 3.36 final drive we all used, but somehow it got the wide-ratio M22 Saginaw gearbox instead of the M21 that came as standard, so first and second are a little taller. Apart from that it’s the same car – still with the evidence of fire charring on some of the window rubbers and the odd metal cut where the body was shortened and bent by the Sandown Armco.

All Tony has done to the (original) American 350 engine is to clean up the heads – nothing else. Blue-printed, it is as crisp and sharp as I remember it; there was a suspicion of moisture in the eyes as I first blipped the pedal. The best analogy is that of wrapping over the twist grip on a one-litre big bike; you twist, and it spins, up the scale. All engines these days – all engines – are soggy in response by comparison. Blipping the 350 Monaro is blipping a well-balanced, well-carburetted, clean-breathing engine; you can feel the unheard song of power in your inner ear. The 308 engine in the A9X is, by comparison, an uncooked crumpet against a slice of crisp brown toast.

And then you re-discover the gearshift, set back a little too far in the fake wood-grain console, and you remember that it runs through a system of very indirect reaction levers from the bottom end of the gearlever to the gearbox. It is very clunky and tends to bind up on all the pivot joints. The relative advances of technology are amply demonstrated when you try the A9X gearshift, which is also indirect; apart from a slight rubbery feeling, it is the old hot-knife-through-butter by comparison. Out on the track in the Monaro you take a long time to remember the trick of going back from third to second, because it needs an exact touch; even then the diff makes the rear tyres squawk and twitch sideways when you declutch. You forget how much you allowed for these things that long time ago.

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But it only takes a few corners to renew acquaintances with the thin steering wheel rim and the sharp spokes, still with the black marks where Tony wrapped insulating tape around the spots where your thumbs rest. In the A9X the wheel is thicker, the spokes are thicker, with slightly bevelled edges and the wheel is smaller; technology has interposed and written off eight years. It is time to go.

Both cars are on Goodyear Steels (do the sales chiefs thus obviously agree with the engineers that these are today’s best tyre?) and pressures on both are set up for oversteer, which is how you like it. But, you remind yourself, there is one very important difference. The Monaro is still in virtually the same blue-printed, special-treatment form that the Fingers Of Father Firth so masterfully applied; the A9X is a stock-as-a-rock road test car that has had at least three hard interstate trips (although you ran it in to Melbourne and back, you say, comfortingly) and is off the end of the production line as a road car, destined never to receive the homologated special bits that the race cars got at the hands of Bill Patterson Motors in Melbourne.

Put simply, I did six laps of the short Oran Park circuit with each car. I drove both at what for me would be eight-10ths (for Bond or Brock it would arguably be six-10ths) and kept to rev limits of 5500 in the Monaro and 5500 in the Torana, in deference to their respective custodians cringing at track edge, peering through crossed fingers. The Monaro ran 1:3.2, 1:1.2, 1:1.2 and 1:00.9; the Torana 59.9, 59.7, 59.9, and 1:1.4 (that last when I was experimenting with using first gear out of two corners).

Two things were significant: One, that the Monaro did around the same times we were doing in 1969 testing Klebers and XAS Michelins for Bathurst; and second that the Torana was running its extraordinarily high 2.66 final drive that was totally unsuited to track work. But the Monaro could have gone quicker, the Torana not much.

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The Torana did it all more easily, with all the advantages of eight-years-on technology, like four-wheel discs with a beautifully progressive pedal, and more steering “feel” and a quicker gearshift. But as a road car it had more roll movement, much more understeer, and was nowhere near as “nervous” as the Monaro. That was the real surprise; the Monaro was lighter in the front end and walked around the front a lot more, but gave back a lot more information and could be positively steered on the accelerator, whereas the Torana simply ploughed in with bags of roll and tyre squeal and understeered away, to the point where – as happens with road cars – the understeer stopped and the oversteer came in with a bang. The road car simply ran out of handling, even though it had better roadholding.

On the road, the technology gap is much more noticeable. Wheels has had its say about the A9X Torana. It is a superb road car, long-legged, quiet (if you bend in the window frames), marvellously quick, with very high adhesion levels. Which just shows you how much difference there is between track and road. The Monaro, on the other hand, rides a little harsher on the road, and the antiquity of gearshift design and brake pedal pressures show up much more sharply. But it’s still a lovely touring car; it’s just that you have to work at it a little harder than the Torana, which is beyond doubt the easiest touring car to drive very quickly that I have ever handled, including BMWs and Jaguars and Mercedes-Benzes.

At 41 years old Tony owns one of the classic cars of our times – two if he is able to add that A9X to his garage. He has had a few cars since he started at 17 as an apprentice with Hollands in Melbourne, who prepared the late Lex Davison’s race cars … a blown P-Type, a 3¼-bore FJ (he would that he had it now) and a few others, including a superb red 327 HK Monaro from the Melbourne Motor Show I remember very well. He will not sell the HT Monaro 350 for any money.

I know it will hurt you to remember that in October, 1969, this car cost $3995 new. It hurts me.

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But I said goodbye to the Monaro and drove the A9X back into Sydney in a peculiarly disembodied state of mind. Eventually I traced this feeling back to having been reminded so forcefully of what cars and driving were really like only eight short years ago – when The General could build cars like the 350 Monaro and go out and race them just as they were, not with thousands of dollars of weird gear on them, equipment that the ordinary motorist would never even see, let alone understand … and I then felt terribly sorry for the generation of drivers who instead of a car like the 350 Monaro or the GT Falcon or the A9X (if you can get one) are buying Celica hatchbacks or Lancer coupes or six-cylinder Ghia Cortinas or Datsun SSS 200Bs or similar and don’t know any better or that there was in fact something better, not long ago. 

But it isn’t the end. The A9X is not the Last Of The Supercars, no matter what you hear. Both GMH and Ford will be producing more good quick road cars like it, and like the 350 Monaro and the GTHO.

But inevitably, they will be depilated, androgynous, cloned, brave new world versions of what these cars were in the ’60s.

Which is why, every now and then, it is good for Wheels to take its three generations of readers (for such it has) back in the time machine to remind them that there was a day when you could build a car and race it just like it was and everyone in Australia watched in breathless wonder.

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So anyone who saw me trundling back into Sydney along the Hume Highway laughing my head off at the wheel of an A9X Torana will now know that I was recalling the words of ARDC secretary Ivan Stibbard. He said to me, not two years ago, that they couldn’t run stock production cars at Bathurst any more because today’s cars were much faster and thus there would be a safety problem.

Ivan, I have news for you. We dragged the HT 350 Monaro and the A9X Torana side-by-side over a quarter. The Monaro won by two lengths both times. Sure, the diff ratios were different. But I tell you this right now: Around Bathurst tomorrow morning, the Phase III GTHO and the 350 Monaro will be just as quick as a stock A9X. Where did those eight years go, baby? Who’s wrong?