Facts

Front Wheel Drive in a BMW - Fear Not 8.5/10Score SCORE BREAKDOWN Things we like Great chassis Strong engine It’s heaps of fun Not so much Lack of active cruise odd Tight rear seat Some options expensive If you don’t think we’re living in a golden age of small hot hatches, let me give you a quick rundown of what you can buy today – the new Golf GTI Mk8, the Ford Focus ST, the Renault Megane RS, the Honda...
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The much anticipated Porsche EV graces our shores. If you were taking bets on which manufacturer would not just dip a toe but dive headfirst into the world of electric vehicles then you would have got long odds with Porsche, but here we are with the first Australian drive of the Porsche Taycan 4S. It provides the first real competition to Tesla in the zero-emissions luxury performance market, claiming to offer rocketship acceleration, equally brisk charging times, a long battery ra...
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Details for Porsche’s new limousine After a little bit of teasing and a Nurburgring lap record claim, the new 2021 Porsche Panamera has finally been revealed in all its limousine glory. With a broad launch model range, the new Panamera builds upon the previous model with extensive updates, upgrades, and facelifts. Porsche has no less than 12 variants of the new Panamera from launch, accounting for different drivetrains and body styles, from the base ‘Panamera’ model thou...
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These days you could be well advised to ignore brand loyalty and you’ll see that some dual-cab utes are worthy of your attention. Despite significant challenges, this year is quickly becoming the best opportunity to buy a brand new car at a cut-rate price we've seen in a long time. If you’re interested in getting the most bang for your hard-earned bucks in the dual-cab 4x4 space, it pays to look past the industry’s top-ranked pairing of Ford’s Ranger and the Toyota HiLux. ...
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Twice in a month that a Tesla driver has crashed while using the Autopilot autonomous driving feature. It seems like there’s no end to the number of drivers taking Tesla’s Autopilot at its word, with two drivers crashing in the space of a month in the US while using the semi-autonomous driving software. The most recent crash involved a driver watching a movie while driving, who subsequently drove straight into a highway patrol car that was stationary on the side of a North Carolina...
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BMW believe Australia's not ready yet..... Plug-in hybrid is the strategy for now. Once seen as something of a halfway house en route to pure electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid (PHEV) technology is not only ‘right’ for the current market, but in demand with buyers. Speaking with Wheels at BMW Welt in Munich, Dr Heinz Treseler, who forms part of the powertrain team for the X5 PHEV, said that while EVs might be the future, they account for a tiny percentage of overall sales...
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The 3 Series 6 cylinder - welcome back - you've been missed... What’s in the garage? We’re rubbish at suspense so, yes, it’s a BMW M340i xDrive. The Wheels garage has moved, albeit temporarily. The roller door we’re sliding up today is located in Gauteng province, South Africa. Or, to be more exact, the Kyalami Grand Prix circuit. This is wholly apt. BMW won its last F1 world title at this very circuit in 1983, Nelson Piquet just pipping Alain Prost to the driver’s crown in his Bra...
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Late 2020 marks the demise of Nissan’s luxury brand in this country. Infiniti is on borrowed time. Infiniti will no longer sell cars in Australia following a shock announcement released today. The luxury offshoot of Nissan has struggled with sales in recent years, and will wind down its operations before withdrawing from the Australian market completely in late 2020. An official company press release states that withd...
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Was it what we were waiting for? Overall Rating Plus & Minus  Plus - Powertrain strength and refinement; EV range; Capable of 250kW DC charging; service costs  Minus - Rear seat packaging; austere cabin ambiance; fit and finish; weight in hard driving The Wheels Verdict: The most affordable of Tesla’s now three-model-strong lineup demands you abandon preconceptions of how you interact with a car. The lack of conventional instruments, a purely screen-based use...
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The new Defender will be more mainstream ... no longer a 'farmers' vehicle Land Rover says that the new Defender will speak to a new audience, though remain a capable four-wheel-drive. Softer new Defender no longer a ‘farmer’s vehicle’ What is Land Rover’s DNA? For many, it’s an automotive helix spun around the farmer’s truck; a four-wheel-drive that was more comfortable in the paddocks than posing down High Street - even though la...
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Lusting after an all-electric 911? Good luck! HERE’S some news sure to please sports car enthusiasts the world over: Porsche has no plans to build an all-electric 911. That might sound a little obvious, given how sacrosanct the 911’s iconic recipe is, but nothing is a ‘sure thing’ in this modern, electrified age. Audi, for example, has confirmed the next TT and R8 will both be fully electric. And Jaguar is rumoured to be going full EV with the next F-Type. Plus, Porsche is somethin...
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Sedan and wagon, value pricing and performance.... Volvo says that its new sedan and wagon duo will deliver a knockout punch in the premium mid-size market. We know what you’re thinking - of course they’d say that. But we did drive it last month in Sweden and first impressions are that this is no Scandinavian to give the flick. What’s better is that the expected volume seller we drove is more affordable than first thought. Both the S60 sedan and V60 completes a generational up...
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