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  More tech and safety comes with price increases for the New Hyundai Tucson Talking Points Three models – Tucson, Tucson Elite, and Tucson Highlander Big price jump at the entry level Three different drivetrains N-Line styling pack option The 2021 Hyundai Tucson range has officially gone on sale in Australia, starting from $38,338 driveaway. It’s also been confirmed the mid-size SUV will be available in three different variants from launch – the baseline Tu...
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Hybrid available in the new model range. Need to Know: Advanced safety and tech features Prices start from $47,650 Available in Australia from June The 2021 Toyota Kluger seven-seater SUV is due in Australia soon, going on sale locally in June. Built on Toyota’s versatile TNGA platform, the fourth generation of the popular family SUV offers a hybrid drivetrain for the first time, as well as a host of new tech and safety features. These new highlig...
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Kia Stonic v Mazda CX-3 v Hyundai Venue comparison - A very popular segment and these 3 are fighting hard SINCE ITS LAUNCH IN 2015, MAZDA’S CX-3 HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY PROVING ITSELF AS THE MAINSTREAM COMPACT SUV TO BEAT AND, IN ITS WHOPPING 15-VARIANT LINE-UP THERE’S SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE. WELL, MAYBE EVERYONE WHO HAPPENS TO BE LOOKING FOR A REASONABLY PRICED, WELL-BUILT, COMPACT SUV WITH GOOD ROAD MANNERS AND A DUSTING OF ALL-TERRAIN ABILITY. It might be six years old now...
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Details of the new New 2021 Lexus NX  and when it will be coming to Australia Snapshot Based on similar platform to RAV4 Three variants for Aus, one hybrid PHEV not yet confirmed locally Lexus’s most popular model is entering its next generation, with the new 2021 Lexus NX medium SUV now revealed to the world. In a presentation to local media, Lexus confirmed three models of the new SUV will initially come to Australia, with a fourth plug-in hybrid models – the br...
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Two Dual-Cab 4X4s face off Believe it or not, the grudge match between the Ford Ranger FX4 MAX and Isuzu D-Max X-Terrain – and is way more profound – than most folk realise. Nearly half a century ago, Holden began importing Isuzu’s preposterously-named Faster to fight Toyota’s (equally ironically badged) HiLux – first as the Chev LUV in 1973 and later the KB, before sticking its own branding on the butt of three subsequent (and highly successful) generations. That started ...
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Facelifted Toyota Camry range features four hybrid variants and one petrol, available from April 2021 Australian pricing and details for the updated 2021 Toyota Camry range have been announced, previewing a set of four hybrid variants and only one petrol offering ahead of an April 2021 on-sale date. Toyota says the line-up rationalisation reflects the strong appeal and sales of the previous-generation Camry Hybrid, which accounted for 70 per cent of the large sedan’s sales. A ...
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Testing Hyundai's mid-size SUV with petrol power Assumptions are fraught with danger. When presented with a one-or-the-other choice, often the option you think is a no-brainer could, in fact, garner the complete opposite response from someone else. Hence when the updated fourth generation Hyundai Santa Fe launched at the tail end of 2020 sans V6 petrol power, it didn’t present as an issue for some. That’s because, in terms of frugality and driveability at least, the 2.2-litre four-cyli...
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A little dash of sportiness  What is the Subaru Forester 2.5i Sport? Introduced in October 2020, this latest variant of Subaru’s popular all-wheel-drive SUV bridges the gap between the mid-range 2.5i Premium and range-topping 2.5i-S spec. Priced at $41,490 before on-roads, it costs $1500 more than the Premium with the extra coin bringing athletic exterior embellishments including dark metallic 18-inch alloy wheels, LED front fog lights with black surrounds, under guard...
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SUBARU has become the latest car-maker to be hit by shortages of computer chips, with part of its Yajima plant in Japan to idle output from April 10-27, reducing production to about 10,000 vehicles instead of around 30,000 units. As Subaru was warning that it was closing one of two lines in northern Japan for two weeks, Toyota Australia confirmed with GoAutoNews Premium that its hybrid models were being hit by delays in electronic parts and...
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The successor for the Elantra is the N Line configuration. How good is it? Hyundai is out to make small sedans sexy and the new i30 Sedan N Line Premium is the figurehead charged with pulling your heartstrings the hardest. With its ‘unfold macramé’ sheetmetal and achingly stylised cabin design, the regular i30 Sedan’s late-2020 arrival has already given its competent if dowdy Elantra predecessor a swift shove the way of obscurity. Foreign markets persist with old nomenclature for w...
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The new handsome exterior together with a respected and proven drive train, puts the Nissan Navara ST-X well in the frame for ute buyers. With an Australian legacy that reaches back to 1985 and the D21, Nissan’s Navara deserves recognition for its part in building the popularity of utes to the unprecedented levels you’ll find today. Go even further back though and you follow a long bloodline of pick-ups all the way to the Datsun 2225 that had its genesis in 1947. Unlike some relati...
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  Flagship Lexus does the brand proud. The Lexus LS500h Sports Luxury is the epitome of Lexus values. As the brand’s flagship, it signifies everything it knows about interior craftsmanship, engineering attention to detail and cutting-edge technology. In newly updated 2021 guise, Lexus’ engineers have left no stone unturned in their efforts to improve comfort and refinement, resulting in an interesting alternative to the German duo (Mercedes-Benz S-Class and BMW 7 Series) that dominate the...
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German brand mid-size SUVs face off. Love ‘em or loathe ‘em, today’s luxury mid-sized SUVs like the Audi Q5 45 TFSI and BMW X3 30i are now as much a part of the story of us as any homegrown Holden or Ford. It just depends on where you are in life. Here, we have the Audi Q5 vs BMW X3. Thirty-odd years ago, with Ps in hand, maybe your choice – like mine – was between a Volkswagen Golf and Nissan Pulsar. A decade on, commitments might have meant a Mazda 6 or Toyota Camry (and a ...
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Mazda 3 Skyactiv X v Focus ST-Line v i30 N-Line v Corolla ZR Small warm hatchbacks for drivers pitched against the Mazda 3 Skyactiv-X. I can sense something about this Mazda 3 is different. First, the sound. A subtle whine creeps into the cabin under acceleration and overlays the engine's zingy thrum. Then there is the peculiar power delivery. For the upper half of the rev range, which eventually signs off at the 6600rpm redline, the Mazda 3 delivers an extra helping of torque while t...
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A great driving car...but that grille.... Plastered to the front of the new Bavarian two-door, the courageous, vertiginous, Bugs Bunny intakes scream that BMW is chasing a new customer with its 4 Series, and neither of them are likely for you nor me. Yet find yourself behind the wheel and you’ll discover the engineers haven’t forgotten us. Far from it. Attempting to nab what would only be BMW’s second COTY award (after the i3’s win in 2014), the three-tiered 4 Series range fronte...
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A luxury prestige hybrid SUV that delivers what you expect? Like most SUV categories on sale in Australia, there’s no shortage of choice in the large premium SUV segment. The Lexus RX trades in this space, and while not representing the traditional German brand of luxury that many flock to for high-riding grandeur, the Lexus RX still trades punches in the sales race amongst the BMW X5, 2019 Mercedes GLE-Class and Audi Q7. It finished 2020 as the third best-seller in its se...
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The 2021 COTY is a compact SUV of real depth and ability, and largely devoid of compromises. ‘Unanimity’ can be a tricky word to say; much harder to achieve. In an increasingly divided and opinionated world, getting a disparate group of individuals to form a unilateral consensus on anything can be near-impossible. The COTY judging process is often no exception, yet for 2021, in a rare moment of great(ish) minds thinking alike, all six members of the judging panel cast their vote for the ...
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Another new model, with more to offer, and new pricing The updated Hyundai Kona range has arrived in Australia boasting new styling, advanced safety features, extra technology and more choice, though prices have risen across the board. The line-up introduces two sporty N Line and N Line Premium variants to the range in anticipation of a Kona N model arriving in the second half of 2021. The Kona electric will also rejoin the range with a facelifted design in March. The...
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A favourite served with extra sauce....... Over their various lifecycles, cars, much like people, tend to get bigger, fatter and more ungainly. But just occasionally, a model will buck the trend as if it discovered the chalice of eternal youth. That’s why the ND-generation Mazda MX-5 is one of the most astonishingly good sportscars in recent memory. Instead of piling on the pounds and inches and following the lead of the NB and NC, the ND returned to first principles and, despite...
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