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Latest News

Seven Seater SUV Comparison

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seven seater SUV comparison
Holden have debuted a seven-seater SUV that is a valid entrant in this market. How does it compare to the incumbents? SEVENTY years ago, to the very day this issue hit the stands, a nervous General Motors unveiled the first Holden, a cream 48/215 sedan. Based on a rejected wartime Chevrolet proposal out of Detroit, it was exactly what our car-starved nation craved. Of course, the ‘FX’ and every one of its 31 locally manufactured successors have since woven themse...
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Ferrari 812 Superfast, Wow!

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Ferrari 812 superfast
Ferrari have taken the fundamentals of a super GT, and added a dose of something extra THE soft pre-dawn light has gone. The dew-ridden fields are a memory, darkness expanding as we plunge further into the forest. Now the strongest illumination comes from the shift lights; red, then a bluey purple as the V12 screams towards 8900rpm. It should be glorious, though it isn’t. Wet patches lurk in the shadows, leaf litter causes the Pirellis to shudder, and there are broken branches, smas...
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New BMW 3 Series Here in March

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new BMW 3 series
Two four-cylinder models will be the trailblazers. THE FIRST examples of BMW’s lighter and more driver-focused 3 Series will arrive in Aussie showrooms this March with prices starting from $67,900. The first seventh-gen 3 Series models to be made available locally will be the 320d and 330i, both of which are powered by a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine (with the oil-burner using twin turbos), and both gain M Sport interior and exterior treatments as standard equi...
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New Porsche 911

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New Porsche 911
Porsche's icon does not change often....but when it does.... Porsche’s new 911 will arrive in Australia around April. Codenamed 992, it replaces the 991 generation of the rear-engined German icon introduced in 2012. The $265,000 S and $281,100 4S versions will lead the charge. These prices represent small increases over the current models. The 992 will bring perhaps the single greatest change in the long history of the 911. It has been engineered to accommodate a hybrid dri...
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Mercedes-Benz X-Class X250d

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Mercedes-Benz X-Class X250d
Arrives with anticipation from many............. UNTIL the arrival of the X-Class this year, the 4x4 ute segment was a mostly classless zone; a safe space free of badge-cred posturing. Owners displayed their affluence via a higher model grade, or perhaps some flash aftermarket equipment. Now, with Mercedes’ three-pointed star sitting Frisbee-sized on the bluff snout of the Spanish-built X-Class, all that has changed, and on a construction site, at least, it threatens to be as divi...
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Hot Hatches Fight It Out

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Hot Hatches fight it out
These mighty midgets are loads of fun....but can we pick a winner? ENGLAND’S immortal Mini Minor may have started the pocket-rocket phenomenon some six decades ago, but it’s France, Germany and Italy that have nurtured the class in the intervening years, with a bevy of belting superminis brandishing evocative badges like GTI, RS, ST, Ti and Turbo. And let’s not forget Japan’s Suzuki either, the unlikely survivor on the Australian hot-hatch scene, supplying an almost unin...
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New Audi Q8 Review

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New Audi Q8 Review
Another Prestige SUV Contender Lands in Australia. WHAT IS IT? Audi’s foray into large coupe-profiled SUVs. Not only is the Q8 an all-new model to join the four-ring fellowship, it accepts the mantle from the Q7 as the flagship of the SUV line-up. Audi is attempting to plug as many gaps in its high-rider range (and nomenclature) to avoid losing sales to the rapidly burgeoning portfolios on offer wearing BMW and Mercedes badges. WHY WE’RE TESTING IT In this weird...
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Subaru Forester vs 3 Rival SUVs

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Subaru Forester vs 3 Rival SUVs
New model Subaru improves the offering. YOU’RE a prospective medium-SUV buyer, lost, alone and confused in the woods, surrounded by a thicket of lookalike crossover choices. What do you do? Happily, we’re here to help, having already sorted through the good, the bad and the ugly to arrive at the cream of the crop as rivals for Subaru’s new, fifth-gen Forester, with not a dull or dreary drive in sight. The evergreen Subaru Forester has been rooted in the medium-SU...
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New Mercedes-Benz B-Class due Mid-2019

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2019 MERCEDES-BENZ B200
A more spacious B-Class enjoyed by Europeans but slow to be adopted by Australians. WHAT IS IT? A-Class with altitude. Built on the same platform as Mercedes-Benz's new small hatch, the B-Class has the same wheelbase and uses identical core technologies, drivetrains included. While the B-Class's extra height increases roominess and flexibility, its proportions provide a tough challenge for the design department....  WHY WE'RE TESTING IT The inte...
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Mercedes-Benz V6 Ute Review

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Mercedes-Benz V6 Ute
L Slovenia serves as our intoduction to Merc’s V6 crew-cab ute. WHAT IS IT? This is the X-Class many people have been waiting for. Mercedes-Benz launched its Navara-based dual-cab ute at the end of 2017, but this V6-powered version, called X350d, is the first to get a proper Mercedes-Benz drivetrain rather than a carry-over four-cylinder engine and gearbox from Nissan. And it’s a radically different vehicle as a result, not only to the Navara but to the four-pot...
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Jaguar I-Pace Electric SUV Review

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Jaguar I-Pace Electric SUV
Jaguar steals the electric march on rivals. WHAT IS IT? Jaguar’s first electric car and an all-new, all-electric luxury SUV built on a bespoke platform that places a bank of lithium-ion batteries along its floor. WHY WE’RE TESTING IT The I-Pace has just gone on sale locally and is the first all-electric SUV from a traditional luxury car maker, giving the British brand a big head start on its predominantly German rivals. Built on a ground-up electric arch...
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2019 Mercedes GLE-Class

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Mercedes GLE-Class
Merc’s all-new family all-rounder is a technological livewire WHAT IS IT? Here is Mercedes-Benz’s original – G-Class excluded – and best-selling SUV, now in its fourth-generation. What began as the M-Class in 1997 is now laden with more technology than ever before, and set to land in Oz by mid-2019 in a three-tier line-up of all-wheel-drive seven-seaters. WHY WE’RE TESTING IT The outgoing GLE has been struggling to keep its head above water against prem...
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How Does the M340i xDrive Stack Up?

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M340i xDrive
Germany's Big Three Barnstormers vs Others Fresh from its unveiling at the Paris Show, BMW’s latest G20-generation M340i looks to reassert Munich’s position as the driver’s choice in its class. In recent years that dominance has waned a little, but with a wider track, a lower centre of gravity, a chassis that’s 50 percent stiffer than before and a trick e-diff, the latest Three looks to be back and firing. We’ve yet to get behind the wheel of the M340i xDrive range toppe...
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2019 MX-5 is Even Better

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Even Better MX5
Sweeter engine dominates Mazda MX-5 Upgrade. WHAT IS IT? An update of Mazda’s 4th-generation, COTY-winning sports car, focusing on improving the 2.0-litre engine, adding safety and convenience features, and tweaking a few weak spots. WHY WE’RE DRIVING IT It’s our 2016 COTY winner, and some excellent roads in the Gold Coast hinterland beckoned. Be rude to say no. MAIN RIVALS Toyota 86, Subaru BR-Z, Abarth 124 Spider THE WHEELS REVIEW THE YELLOW ...
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VW Polo GTI vs Clio RS

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Polo GTI vs Clio RS
Mini Hot Hatch Comparison THE HOT hatch formula has always been a simple one. Take a diminutive chassis, plonk a relatively large engine under the bonnet, and let the good times roll. In recent years hot hatches have been in a renaissance, growing into brawlers with flared haunches and fire-spitting attitudes. Power has skyrocketed, with some next-gen models rumoured to be 350kW+ all-paw monsters. The physical size, and prices, of the enthusiast main stay have also become bl...
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Audi R8 Continues to Roar

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A power injection plus other niceties improve the offering.... WHAT IS IT? Audi’s mid-engined supercar gets a refresh for 2019, but no messing with the basic V10, all-wheel-drive recipe. WHY WE'RE TESTING IT It’s the last gasp of the naturally aspirated V10, and tweaks make it more powerful than ever. Can it retain its daily-driver supercar crown? MAIN RIVALS McLaren 570S, Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4, Mercedes-Benz AMG GT-R THE WHEELS REVIEW AUDI has freshened ...
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SUV Comparison – Italy v Germany v Sweden

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Can the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Tackle BMW and Volvo? “The estate car market will never be quite the same again now that the Range Rover has been introduced. It is, after all, just as much an estate car as anything else…” – LJK Setright, Car, February 1971 WHETHER you like it or not, the SUV is the modern evolution of the wagon. Resist the temptation to aerate this messenger in a hail of bullets and consider that for a moment. Buyers have voted with their wallets and wagons now sit a ...
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We Compare German Coupe Blatburgers

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German Coupe comparisons
Is Audi's latest RS5 a concern for BMW and Mercedes? AUDI can’t build a sports car. Everybody knows that. Everyone apart from the engineers who built the revolutionary ur-Quattro, the borderline genius B7 RS4, the disruptive R8 coupe and the astonishing R10 TDI racer – a diesel that dominated at Le Mans even when Ingolstadt voluntarily used the same engines in the 24-hour race as it used in practice and qualifying. So it ought to be obvious that there’s a pool of hugely talented ...
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Car vs Road – Mercedes-AMG E53 Coupe

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AMG Straight 6 E Class Delight Sea to sky with AMG's superboosted straight-six “Because it's there,” was all the justification George Mallory ever needed to climb Everest. Our aspirations are a good deal more modest than old George's – and we're banking on a more gratifying outcome - but the rationale is much the same. Why would you drive from sea level to Australia's highest coach road? We'd prefer to ask why wouldn't you, especially when that road, from Lakes Entrance on Victoria's Gippsla...
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The Suzuki Jimny Has Returned

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Suzuki Jimny is back
Welcome back many will say! Cute but tough, old-school but new, fun but infuriating… at least there’s nothing dull about Suzuki’s reborn icon. WHAT IS IT? The Suzuki Jimny first appeared on the scene in 1970, and became an instant classic with off-road enthusiasts, thanks to its small stature, and giant-killing ability off the beaten track. This all-new generation Jimny hopes to emulate its forefathers, while fostering a new love...
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7 Seat Holden Acadia

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Holden Arcadia seven seater
Acadia joins the mix in Australia's 7-seat Marketplace As the popularity of SUVs continues unabated, it is astonishing that, in a century of Australian vehicle manufacturing, Ford’s late and lamented Territory was the only one ever made here. Today, post shut-down, could the gap that the Ford’s demise has left in the Australian psyche, as well as in the seven-seater segment, be plugged by Holden. Enter the Acadia – a formidably fashioned wagon starting at a razor-sharp...
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Kia Stinger twin-turbo V6 for Queensland Police

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Qld Police buy Kia Stingers
Holden and Ford high speed vehicles to be replaced by Stingers Queensland Police and Kia Australia have announced that the 2018 Kia Stinger 330 will replace Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon pursuit cars going forward. The 272kW/510Nm twin-turbo V6 sedans will be seen more frequently from now on, with a total of 50 Stinger to join the force between now and December. Assistant commissioner of road policing Mike Keating says factors such as costs and reliability, as well as...
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Mercedes-AMG C43 Coupe Review 2019

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Mercedes-AMG C43 coupe
The C63's restrained, all-wheel-drive sibling receives a round of tech upgrades to keep it fresh WHAT IS IT? An updated version of AMG’s entry-level C-Class, now with more power from its V6 engine and lots of small, but important, changes inside and out. WHY WE’RE TESTING IT As much as we like the V8 brawn of AMG’s hugely exciting C63, its blinkered thrill-seeking isn’t easy to live with every day. The C43, however, has dialled back the extroversion to a more liveable lev...
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Chevrolet Camaro 2019 – Pricing for Australia

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Chevrolet Camaro 2019
The HSV Camaro is more expensive than the Mustang, but it will be a lot more exclusive...... THE Chevrolet Camaro will cost nearly $86K. Yep, that’s a fair bit cheaper than most estimates but let’s not lose sight of the fact that Ford’s latest Mustang GT carries a sticker price that’s $20K more affordable, at a smidge over $66K. You’re going to need to ask yourself if exclusivity and novelty is enough to bridge that gulf. Of course, HSV is bullish about the car’s prospects ...
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We Compare 7-Seat Diesel Medium SUVs

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7 seater SUV comparisons
If your tribe is expanding this is the category that could easily fit the bill. THE FUN thing about Wheels Car of the Year is that you line up 22 cars and then 21 of them lose. This, in turn, means that almost all of our readers will disagree with the final choice. Every year in the wash-up from COTY, we learn that we have lost all credibility, are liberal milquetoasts and have our heads lodged in our fundaments. But 2017 was different. We were expecting the usual online shellacki...
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2019 Cheerokee

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2019 Jeep Cherokee
Revamped style, bigger boot, and upgraded safety for this genuine off-roader says....look at me now! WHAT IS IT Cherokee is Jeep’s mid-size SUV. It sits above Renegade and Compass and below Grand Cherokee in the American brand’s SUV line-up. This is a refreshed version of the fifth-gen Cherokee that aims to right the styling wrongs of the polarising model launched here in 2014. Otherwise, it retains genuine off-road credibility and a V6 engine, which makes it unique in its class. ...
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2019 Subaru Forester: Points of Interest

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Subaru Forester points of interest
In September first shipments arrived on our shores. 1. Everything has changed But at the same time, it’s stayed the same. Forester now sits on the Subaru Global Platform that first appeared under the current Impreza and XV, and the rest of the car has been overhauled to suit. It’s a big step forward, but Subaru hasn’t thrown the baby out with the bathwater. Much of what has made the Subaru Forester appealing in the past to a legion of buyers has carried over. It may be all-new, but ...
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2019 Everest Review

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 Ranger Raptor’s turbo-diesel and other upgrades have taken Everest up a notch or Two! WHAT IS IT Ford Australia’s largest SUV has become an even more integral part of the portfolio since the demise of the much-loved Territory. Based on Ranger ute underpinnings, the Ford Everest has established a reputation as big and tough, if a little unsophisticated. Ford’s aiming to change that last point. WHY WE'RE TESTING IT With an all-new 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine that will sit above t...
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2019 Toyota Corolla

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2019 Corolla Review
2019 Corolla Review Is there anything Toyota haven't changed? WHAT IS IT Toyota's 12th-generation small hatchback WHY ARE WE TESTING IT It's the Corolla! The world's best-selling car is now back and virtually everything about it is different, and it's now in Australia. Testing this car is simply non-negotiable. MAIN RIVALS Hyundai i30, Honda Civic, Volkswagen Golf, Mazda 3, Peugeot 308, Kia Cerato, Subaru Impreza. ...
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Allegheny Steel & Ford Motor Company

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Stainless steel car
In 1935, officials at Allegheny Ludlum Steel Division and the Ford Motor Company collaborated on an experiment that would become a legacy and a tribute to one of the most dynamic metals ever developed.  Allegheny Ludlum, a pioneer producer of stainless steel, proposed the idea of creating a stainless steel car to Ford.  The idea took shape in the form of a 1936 Deluxe Sedan . That car became the centerpiece of a campaign to expose the public to the new metal and its many uses. This is the...
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