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Toyota is looking for a gap in the small SUV segment. Based on the underpinnings of the C-HR small SUV, the FT-4X amps up the off-road ability and chunky design with an FJ Cruiser-inspired look, right down to the nose that eschews the Toyota stylised badge for one that spells out the brand across the badge. Created following weeks of interviews with “outdoorsy millennials” from the San Francisco Bay area, the FT-4X has low-range gearing and a mechanical four-wheel drive system (inste...
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Shanghai Motor Show reveals an all new style. Concept A is an appetiser for the A-Class sedan expected to join the MFA family as part of the platform's second-gen roll-out, which will start with the updated A-Class hatch later this year. Its deliberately minimal styling approach features a side profile notably free of the tucked and folded body lines seen on other Benz models, following the example set by the recently launched E-Class Coupe. “The time of creases is over,” said...
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  Would you consider an "almost" M3 to save $$$$$s? It’s a quandary. After all, the M3 is a highly-accomplished and incredibly focused sports sedan, but that’s perhaps its greatest issue. To some, it may be too focused. So, could a roided-up BMW 340i M  step in as a more street-friendly (and budget-friendly) package? BMW’s M Performance catalogue may provide the answer. WHAT IS IT? A regular ol’ BMW 340i sedan, except enhanced with a range of dealer-fit go-fast products from BMW’s ...
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 Mazda MX5 Retractable Fastback A classier, more universally appealing version of Mazda’s revered and accessible sports car manages to keep the faith. WHAT IS IT? Mazda’s brilliant ragtop roadster range has diversified and grown to include the Mazda MX-5 Retractable Fastback (RF), Mazda’s second attempt at a folding hard-top for its iconic sports car, but with a greater focus on coupe aesthetics and maturity. WHY WE’RE TESTING IT Mazda worked off the flab and went back to basics with it...
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German built GM Opel for Australia The next-generation Commodore will be built in Germany on GM’s E2XX platform, and based around a European engineered and designed Opel Insignia mid-size car. The idea of a European model replacing the Aussie built version isn’t a new one: the first signs that the next Commodore would not have ground-up local design and development emerged in early 2014 as Holden started planning its replacement for the current car’s Zeta-based, Aussie engineered and deve...
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A Starting Price of $210k.....WOW! Revved up: The top-spec Maserati Quattroporte GTS is now split into two variants, the GranSport and GranLusso. MASERATI has revealed Australian pricing and specification for its large luxury Quattroporte sedan, with the range kicking off from $210,000 before on-roads for the base level Turbo Diesel model and topping out at $349,990 BOCs for the twin-turbo V8 GTS GranLusso. The mid-life refresh for the model released in 2014 also introduces two new trim lev...
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  2018 Mercedes-Benz X Class Concept Utes Revealed The Worksite Will Never be the Same MERCEDES-Benz has pulled the covers off a pair of exciting concept vehicles in Stockholm, Sweden, that give the first clues to what its forthcoming entry into the popular one-tonne ute class will look like. To be known as the X Class, the new ute, or pick-up depending on your preference, will go into production late in 2017 for an Australian launch in the first quarter of 2018. Australia has b...
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  MX-5 Brother Has The Goods STYLING is such an impossibly subjective element of a car that it is often not worth dwelling on for a review, but in the case of the new Abarth 124 Spider its looks are the first key point of differentiation from the Mazda MX-5 with which it shares much of its construction. Beauty is, without doubt, in the eye of the beholder, but there are a number of observations one can make here without fear of conflict, including the Abarth’s traditional approach, whi...
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We Thought this car was going to be Expensive! Not so! Fiat today confirmed the Abarth will start at $41,990, with sharp introductory pricing meaning you could buy the turbocharged two-seater for $43,500 driveaway, in six-speed manual spec. That’s thousands less than early speculation had suggested for the Mazda-built Abarth – but also thousands more than the most affordable MX-5s, including the 1.5-litre base model ($31,990) and the entry-level 2.0-litre ($34,490). The most expensiv...
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Is This Bigger Tiguan a Medium SUV Class Topper? WHAT IS IT? Arguably the most important car Volkswagen will launch in Australia this year. It's the second-generation Volkswagen Tiguan, which is all-new and lands in SUV-mad Australia spoiling for a fight with the Mazda CX-5 and Hyundai Tucson sales juggernauts. WHY WE'RE DRIVING IT Because when we say all-new, we really mean it. Tiguan is the first SUV built on VW's excellent MQB platform, shared by cars including the Golf VII, s...
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 Kodiaq SUV 7 Seater Spaciousness is paramount for Skoda SUVs as 2017 looms large. At a media breakfast in Sydney yesterday, Skoda Australia’s Managing Director, Michael Irmer, confirmed the brand’s SUV focus in the coming years, beginning with the Kodiaq’s Aussie launch in July 2017, followed by an all-new, much-larger Skoda Yeti SUV scheduled for a 2018 arrival locally. Irmer also confirmed that the completion date for “rebuilding our network in its entirety” would be the end of 2017 ...
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 Holden moving exclusively to imports! The car that has deservedly been an icon in Australia embarks on a massive marketing campaign designed to re position the brand that currently has its lowest market share in 68 years. The quintessentially Australian brand is set to go through the biggest change in its history as it transitions from Australia’s first and most influential car maker to one that from 2018 simply falls into line with the 60-odd import-only brands fighting for a slice of 1....
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Limited Edition of 200 Grand Cherokee hints at Update JEEP is celebrating its diamond anniversary with a 75th Anniversary limited edition of its Grand Cherokee large SUV, but the special version also gives customers an early glimpse of the full range update that will arrive in Australia in the last quarter of the year. The Grand Cherokee 75th Anniversary is one of four models to which Jeep has applied a light aesthetic tweak and is based on a choice of either petrol- or diesel-powered Limi...
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The Wraps Come Off Official pictures of the new Civic Hatch reveal a handsome alternative in it's class. The lift-back will form the basis of the cut-throat Civic Type-R, which is also due to arrive on our shores next year. “Like the Civic sedan, the Honda Civic Hatch will be a very important car in the Honda line-up in Australia,” Honda Australia Director, Mr. Stephen Collins said. “In the small car segment in Australia, hatches reign so we expect the Honda Civic Hatch...
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Next Year a new twin-turbo four-cylinder diesel entry model will be introduced. The Range Rover Sport will be the JLR platform to introduce the new 2.0-litre Ingenium four cylinder turbo diesel when the 2017 model year update lands here early next year. Never before has the Range Rover Sport been offered with less than six cylinders. The addition of the Ingenium diesel four-pot, which produces 177kW/500Nm and drinks 6.2L/100km, is the biggest mechanical change we’ll see in the ...
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Volkswagen SUVs to Number 5 over the next Two Years Seven Seats for the Tiguan, and a new Touareg are the Trail Blazers for Australia. VOLKSWAGEN will introduce five all-new SUVs to Australia before the end of 2018 – starting with the crucial all-new Volkswagen Tiguan in September. VW’s admitted that its proportion of SUV sales is much lower than most competitors, carried by two ageing models (the about-to-die original Tiguan and the second-gen Touareg launched five years ago), but th...
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 Nismo fine tunes Nissan GT-R NISSAN’s in-house tuning division has tweaked the facelifted 2017 GT-R, wringing more power from the engine, shedding weight and enhancing driving dynamics to deliver what is likely the first Nismo model to land on Australian shores. Although timing for a local debut is yet to be confirmed, last year Nissan announced its intention to bring the high-performance Nismo brand Down Under in 2016 and, while other models are currently offered in overseas markets in...
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Minor Update and price reductions for Tarago TOYOTA has treated its stalwart Tarago people carrier to an update that enhances equipment levels and reduces prices by as much as $1716. However, a facelift that has already gone on sale in the model’s native Japan does not accompany the refreshed version in Australia. The Japanese car-maker’s little bus is the epitome of ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, and while the Tarago will never be a volume seller for the company, it has managed con...
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A backroads blast in the last and best Holden It’s a bittersweet day as we belt Holden’s greatest-ever V8 sports sedan from Fishermans Bend back to its birthplace at Lang Lang. Spoiler alert – this may end in tears… THERE’S a problem with this car; a huge one. Only days before we collect this VF Series II – the final Commodore engineered and built in Australia – General Motors’ VP Stefan Jacoby dropped a bombshell. Not only will this be the final Australian-built car – something we alrea...
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Lexus mid-sized luxury offering presents a 2.0-litre turbo engine for its top-selling IS range. WHAT IS IT? The latest update for the IS, Lexus's most affordable rear-drive model and a car that is still the brand's top seller. The Lexus IS200t is the biggest news in this refresh, adopting the new 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo engine that's weaving its way through the Japanese luxury brand's line-up. WHY WE’RE TESTING IT While the luxury world continues to go SUV mad, the mid-sized sedan ca...
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  There’s “more to come” with the much-rumoured BMW M2 CSL, according to BMW Australia chief Marc Werner. Speaking at the launch of the BMW M3 and M4 Competition models – each with a 14kW power boost to 331kW – the local managing director gave the strongest hint yet that the M2 CSL is coming soon. The CSL – or “coupe sport lightweight” – version is expected to mimic the limited edition BMW M3 CSL released in 2004 in having motorsport-inspired lightweight panels and material...
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