The 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is well underway with this year�??s event gathering enormous media attention with nine-time WRC champion Sebastian Loeb competing in a purpose built Peugeot 208 T16. The Peugeot team, which consists of more than 60 people, has been undertaking a massive task to ensure victory at Sunday�??s race, but to also set a record time that will remain...
The 2013 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (PPIHC) is gearing up for an amazing race this Sunday with the likes of World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb taking on current record holder Rhys Millen. CarAdvice has travelled more than 20 hours from Sydney to be in Manitou Springs in Colorado USA, a small town of 5,000 locals, situated about 90 minutes drive from Denver and just down the road from...
Holden has officially confirmed a Holden VF Commodore Ute has made a lap record attempt at Germany�??s famous Nurburgring circuit �?" nearly two months after CarAdvice reported it. Sources had revealed a time around the 21km-long circuit of �??about 8min 20sec�?� and Holden says the Ute�??s exact time was 8min 19.47sec. The local car maker has used the run primarily as the basis ...
The all-new Volkswagen Golf TDI BlueMotion has become the most fuel-efficient model in the nameplate�??s 39-year history. The German car maker claims a combined cycle fuel consumption figure of 3.2 litres per 100km for the diesel-powered Volkswagen Golf TDI BlueMotion, making it 15 per cent more efficient than the model it replaces and giving it a theoretical range of 1563km from ...
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR)� has back-flipped on an initial decision to reject the Jaguar XF Sportbrake for the Australian market. JLR Asia Pacific managing director David Blackhall said that the original decision to not introduce the wagon version of the Jaguar XF sedan here was reversed because, although the market for large wagons in this country is small, the XF Sportbrake would be an...
The 11th-generation Toyota Corolla has continued the model�??s long history of being loved locally, and is a strong contender to become the best-selling car of the year. To find out if the new hatchback�??s range-topper continues the positive traits of its cheaper siblings, we tested the Levin ZR. At $28,490 list price �?" $32,415 as tested with continuously variable transmission ($2000),...
The 12th Le Mans 24 Hour victory by Audi has been marred by the death of Allan Simonsen, after a crash that occurred only three laps into the French endurance race claimed his life. The 81st running and 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hour, will be one long not forgotten. Less than 10 minutes into the 24-hour-long race around the Circuit de la Sarthe, the Aston Martin Racing Team�??s No...
An eagle-eyed CarAdvice reader has snapped a Ford F-150 Raptor SVT in Victoria. Khoder Ahmed captured the hulking left-hand-drive truck, which is an engineering evaluation vehicle belonging to Ford Australia. Brand communications manager Neil McDonald said the 2011 F-150 Raptor was shipped to Australia more than two years ago to join Ford�??s local engineering fleet. McDonald ...
To describe Volkswagen Australia�??s past month as a challenge would be an understatement. The opportunity to put its recall headaches to one side and showcase its environmental credentials with a challenge of a different kind came as a welcome breather for the German brand intent on turning around its recently sullied public image. After addressing the elephant in the room in a 15-minute...
It�??s comparison round three for the new Holden Commodore. After proving superior to its six-cylinder arch rival in round one, and in V8 specification just beating a top-notch hot-hatch in round two, the Commodore now battles off with one of the best load-luggers in the business. The Holden Commodore Evoke Sportwagon kicks off at $36,990, or $2000 more than the sedan. In addition to compet...
With the 2013 Toyota Verso has a family van in the offer that has already been distinguished by its generous space and the good price / performance ratio. The facelift brought the hitherto rather staid Van a good portion dynamics. Toyota has in fact especially the front section assumed that now follows the new design line Toyota and the Van is not only a very individual character,...
With the 2014 New BMW 4 Series Coupe starts at a new BMW coupe era, the new middle-class coupe will be clearly different from the sedan than before.The new BMW 4 Series Coupe is the successor of the 3 Series Coupé and the first time positioned as a separate series. At first glance, the relationship is the BMW 3-series instantly recognizable, yet the styling has become more...
With two doors, all-wheel drive and a turbocharged five-cylinder engine, the Audi TT RS harks back to the company�??s famous Quattro of the 1980s. Audi named its performance division, as well as its AWD systems, in deference to that legendary road and rally car, though it wasn�??t until 2009 that Quattro developed an RS version of the iconic TT coupe. In 2013 the word Plus has been added to...
There are good reasons for putting the Holden Commodore SS up against the benchmark hot-hatch. The Holden Commodore SV6 has already fought off its ageing rear-wheel-drive rival (see here), and reduced pricing in the VF Commodore range sees the V8 grades slip below $45,000. The Holden Commodore SS can be purchased for $41,990, but the SS V we�??re driving here is $45,490. The brilliant Renault...
Holden has announced it will open dialogue with its manufacturing workforce to reduce the cost of building vehicles in Australia. At a press conference in Melbourne today, Holden Chairman and� Managing Director, Mike Devereux, admitted the discussion will be a difficult but necessary step to secure the company�??s manufacturing future in this country. �??No doubt that we are one of the...
Maserati is recalling almost $110 million worth of its luxury performance vehicles due to a rear suspension fault. Affecting 425 cars in Australia, the recall is split between 340 Maserati Quattroporte� sedans and 85 GranTurismo� coupes� �?" valued as new at more than $109.5 million combined. According to the official recall notice published on the Australian Competition and Consumer...
Officially revealed, the BMW 4 Series Coupe is longer, wider, lower, up to 45kg lighter and 60 per cent stiffer than its 3 Series Coupe predecessor. BMW reinforces the reasons for the name change, saying that the new 4 Series Coupe �??emphasises not only its stand-alone design, but equally an even greater technical differentiation from its BMW 3 Series cousins�?�. Compared with the current...
Ever since the world debut of the Bentley GT3 Concept Racer at the Paris Auto Salon in September 2012, the race-ready version of the Bentley Continental has been slowly taking shape. Bentley�??s GT3 technical partner is M-Sport Limited, which, along with a team of Bentley engineers, has been developing the Continental GT3 in preparation of the British luxury marque�??s highly anticipated...
Holden Commodore versus Ford Falcon �?" a decades-old stoush ends here. On the day of the Holden VF Commodore launch it was announced that the Ford Falcon would be killed off when the Australian manufacturing operations wind down in October 2016. This seemingly straightforward comparison test between two old foes suddenly asked for a new angle. But by the time the blue Holden VF Commodore ...
The Renault Clio GT 120� has been added to the range, aimed at plugging the gap between the regular models and the Renault Clio RS. As its base, the Renault Clio GT 120 takes the standard 88kW/190Nm 1.2-litre turbo and six-speed dual-clutch automatic model �?"� due to arrive in Australia later this year �?"� then adds the �??Sport�?? chassis identical to that in the Clio RS 200. Compared...
The first images of the facelifted Opel Insignia have been officially revealed ahead of its world premiere at September�??s Frankfurt motor show. The images revealing the Opel Insignia sedan and wagon show a sleeker front end with slimmer headlights and LED running lights, a revised grille and completely new foglights and lower air intakes in a redesigned front bumper. The rear�??s...
Volvo will reportedly be the next manufacturer to join the V8 Supercars championship, following Mercedes-Benz and Nissan in joining the traditional Holden and Ford duo this year. Although Motoring.com.au first claimed to have insider information allegedly confirming that Volvo will announce it is joining the series on June 17 �?" at the local launch of the Volvo S60 Polestar �?" Volvo Car...
More than a week after Volkswagen Australia faced media reports claiming a dangerous loss of acceleration from owners of its vehicles, the company is reportedly now in talks with Germany to initiate a recall of DSG automatic transmissions. Fairfax Media first reported that several Volkswagen owners in Australia contacted them, saying they had experienced a sudden loss of power while driving,...
If you�??ve got $23,200 and want something awfully unique as a city car, the Fiat 500 Gucci might just tick the box. Unashamedly Italian and with the unmistakable Gucci colours proudly covering the sides (hatchback) or roof (cabrio), the Fiat 500 Gucci is not likely to go out of fashion anytime soon. It�??s not just a regular paint job either, it�??s pearl glass paint which makes...
After what seemed like countless teaser and concepts, the 11th generation of the world�??s best selling car has been unveiled in sedan form. The Toyota Corolla sedan made its world debut yesterday with the design borrowing heavily from the Corolla Furia concept first seen at this year�??s Detroit auto show. Having sold almost 40 million Corollas since 1966, of which 1.2 million h...
The Audi S8 is set to reach Australian showrooms in the first half of 2014 after the local division reversed its original decision to overlook the high-performance limousine for our market. Audi Australia managing director Andrew Doyle said the local team chose not to pursue the S8 sports model when it launched internationally in mid 2012, but in hindsight admitted it...
The Skoda Octavia RS has been revealed ahead of its world debut at the next month�??s Goodwood Festival of Speed. Skoda�??s new-generation flagship sports model is set to become the quickest series-production Octavia in history, thanks largely to its adoption of the turbocharged engine from the new Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk7. Powered by the 162kW 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine (up 15kW...
The CEO of the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has welcomed views expressed in Federal Parliament on a renewed push for road safety in Australia. During a speech made last night� to the House of Representatives, the Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport, Darren Chester, made clear his concerns that more needs to be done on the issue of road safety. ...
Images purporting to reveal the design of the all-new Mazda 3 have appeared in the leaked pages of a Japanese automotive magazine. While an earlier, widely circulated rendering claiming to detail the third-generation hatchback proved to be a fake, the latest shots appear to align closely with CarAdvice�??s spy shots of the new model, suggesting the magazine shots could be the real...
Ford employees displaced by the impending closure of the company�??s Victorian manufacturing plants will benefit from an additional $25.1 million thanks to fresh support pledged by the car maker and the Federal Government. In a joint statement, Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Bill Shorten, and Minister for Skills Craig Emerson announced an...
The Renault Captur and Chevrolet Trax have both earned a maximum five-star safety rating from the European New Car Assessment Program (Euro NCAP), ahead of the new sub-compact SUVs�?? local arrival in 2014. Due to reach Australian showrooms in the first half of 2014, the Renault Captur scored 88 per cent for adult occupant protection, 79 per cent for child occupant protection, 61 ...
The Jaguar XFR-S will wear a $222,545 price tag when it lands on our shores in the final months of this year. The second model in Jaguar�??s track-ready �??R-S�?? range following the XKR-S two-door, the XFR-S becomes the fastest and most powerful sports sedan in the iconic British brand�??s history. Inherited from its XKR-S sibling, the 404kW/680Nm 5.0-litre supercharged V8 launches the...
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