REVIEWS
Review: Volvo V40 XC
When the words ‘cross country’ appear on a vehicle, there’s an immediate issue in managing expectations. Volvo’s new V40 derivative suffers from just such a challenge.
Review: Kia Cerato hatch
Stone motherless last. Not a position you really want to find yourself, unless, say, you’re a guest of the Americans in Guantanamo Bay and there’s a lengthy cue for a go on the water board.
2013 Holden Trax Review
The world has gone small-SUV mad. In markets all over the globe, the satchel-sized Sport Utility Vehicle has become the hottest thing since sleeve tattoos and manufacturers can’t keep up with demand.
2013 Alfa Romeo 4C Review
This is a slightly sad, mildly embarrassing thing to admit, but sometimes – very rarely – the unveiling of a car can make all the hair on my body stand up and dance.
Volvo’s twin-charged future
Why not both?
2013 Range Rover Autobiography Review
The day when cars can assess your mood as you’re driving and react accordingly – playing Gregorian chants, or birdsong when you’re stressed, sending mild electric shocks to your crotch when you’re sleepy – is fast approaching, but I didn’t realise it was already here.
2013 Holden Commodore SS-V Redline Review
So many performance Commodores over the last 20 years haven’t cut it as track cars. But those days are over.
2013 Lotus Exige S Review
If you like it hardcore, you’ll see the light
2013 Range Rover Sport Review
Find something it can’t do. Go on, try…
2013 Hyundai i30 SR Review
In Hyundai-speak, it’s the “Local Model Expansion Strategy.” For us, the first result of a more adaptable product-development approach is the i30 SR, a warm hatch that is (for the moment) unique to Australia.
First drive: Range Rover Sport
Forget hyperbole. The temptation after just driving the flagship supercharged petrol V8 version of Land Rover’s new Range Rover Sport is to switch straight to hyper-hyperbole. It’s that good.
Review: Mercedes A250
It’s not like Mercedes-Benz to get left behind, but there’s no denying the Aussie branch of the world’s oldest car maker has stood idly while BMW and Audi raked in the cash, and the entry-level buyers, with their 1 Series and A1 respectively.
Review: Mitsubishi Mirage
Since the closure of the Tonsley Park assembly plant in 2008, Mitsubishi Motors Australia has struggled to come to terms with both its past and future. Staff have come and gone, managing directors have been rotated like Aussie fast bowlers, and the GFC strangled the vital supply of new product from Japan.
Review: BMW X1
WITH Audi’s Q3 premium compact and smart, affordable crossover alternatives such as Kia’s Sportage, Mitsubishi’s Outlander and Subaru’s XV stealing customers, BMW is fighting back with a wide-ranging mid-life upgrade of its X1.
Review: Honda CRV
The new, Thai-built fourth-generation is easily the best CR-V in the model’s 17-year history.
Review: Porsche Cayman
Poor man’s 911? Don’t believe it. In fact, until the 991 911 range is filled out with the superstar Turbo and GT models, the second-generation Cayman S is the most focused and fun car Porsche currently makes.
Review: Audi RS4 Avant
Who says the fast life has to stop when you start a family?
Review: Opel OPC range
The odd thing about pushing this car really hard is that you know exactly when you think the car will start understeering, and steering-wheel tugging, but it just doesn’t.
Review: Mazda 6
If the new Mazda 6 was just 50 cents longer, it would be as big as a Commodore.
Review: McLaren MP4-12C Spider
TALK about a car of the moment. Right now, the 12C Spider is crucial to the evolution of McLaren Automotive, the brand. No one has ever been in any doubt that the 12C can deliver the goods dynamically, where it counts.
Review: Lexus LS600h F Sport
The big Lexus slipped into EV mode and rolled silently to a halt behind a black HSV GTS. As I waited for the lights to change, the 325 badge on the rump of the GTS caught my eye.
Review: Porsche Cayenne S Diesel
THE BOXSTER is extolled and the 911 drowns in a sea of purple prose, but it’s the Cayenne SUV that keeps Porsche viable, by accounting for 50 percent of all sales globally.
Review: Jaguar XJ V6
Starting now, Jaguar intends to broaden the choice with an all-new supercharged V6 that’s so good it replaces the previous normally aspirated V8.
Wheels Review: BMW Active Hybrid 7
Is the $222,000 BMW Active Hybrid 7 more about polishing owners’ neighbourhood environmental credentials or BMW’s?
