Automotive Review auto-2000.blogspot.com: 2009

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Subaru Liberty lights up with 195kW ‘Rex’ engine

SUBARU Australia’s new-generation Liberty GT due for release in September will offer performance to match the Impreza WRX sports sedan, with official specifications obtained by GoAuto showing the mid-sizer’s 2.5-litre DOHC boxer four turbo will be upgraded to 195kW. > Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Holden Cruze CDX Sedan

IT MAY look odd up front, and the rear is almost comically Honda Civic-esque, but the Holden Cruze still has its own, and compelling, value story to tell. From the moment you open the door, all traces of the old ex-Daewoo Viva vanish. Only then does it become clear that the Cruze is an inexpensive – as opposed to a cheap – compact four-door sedan. We review the expected best-selling engine and gearbox combination, the 1.8-litre six-speed automatic, to find out what is right, what is wrong and what’s going on with this vital new small car contender.> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Lexus RX450h offers more for less

LEXUS Australia will offer not just one version of its redesigned RX hybrid SUV but three, when it goes on sale in Australia from July 13. The three-variant Prestige, Sports and Sports Luxury line-up for the redesigned RX450h brings Australia’s only hybrid SUV into line with the new RX350 petrol range launched here in February, taking the number of new RX grades on offer to six – double the number previously available. > Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Nissan 370Z Coupe

ONE of the most eagerly awaited drives this year has finally arrived, in the form of the sixth-generation Nissan Z series. A quick glance at the all-new 370Z’s spec sheet is a mouth-watering proposition, revealing more performance, less weight, improved suspension, a stronger body, higher quality interior, and an increase in standard equipment, all for around the same price as its revered 350Z predecessor.> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Thursday, June 4, 2009

MERCEDES-BENZ SLK350

WITH a revised Porsche Boxster and new BMW Z4 now on sale, Mercedes-Benz has sharpened its popular SLK two-seater roadster with about 650 fresh parts, including more power and better economy for the SLK350. The result is a charming and unexpectedly involving luxury convertible with impressive road manners and a sweet drivetrain. Better still, the makeover helps the SLK seem a lot younger.> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

FERRARI CALIFORNIA

FERRARI’S all-new California coupe-convertible has landed in Australia, where more than 200 “high-net-worth customers” have signed up even before its pricetag of $472,000 was announced this week. The first in a series of customer and media events for the front-engined Ferrari was held last night in Brisbane, where 200 buyers and potential owners were presented with the first local-spec example of the California to arrive here. > Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

GM reveals Hummer buyer

GENERAL Motors has signed a preliminary agreement to sell its infamous Hummer off-road brand by September to one of China’s major privately owned engineering companies, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co. > Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Kia Soul CRDI

KIA is not the brand that you might mention in the same breath as Mini Cooper or Fiat 500, but the Korean marque is offering a largish light car with the same sort of personality and personalisation potential as the European icons, in an affordable and practical package. The Soul is one of those surprising small cars that has the ability to charm beyond the mere sum of its parts, even if the mid-range CRDi model as tested is not as cheap as the badge might lead you to suspect.> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Toyota Celica

Toyota will finally get back into the sportscar business with a sub-$50K rear-drive coupe being developed in conjunction with Subaru. The successor to Celica will be styled by Toyota and built on a new Impreza-ased platform, driving only the rear wheels and powered by a Subaru flat-four engine.> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Nissan EV

NISSAN is leading the race to bring a mass-produced zero-emissions electric vehicle to Australian new-car showrooms. The Japanese company announced it will have a plug-in EV electric family car on sale here in 2012. It will be a four or five-seater with an electric range of more than 160km.> full story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Audi A6

Audi will launch a pair of sub-7.0-litre per 100km ‘green’ models from May. With a $74,500 125kW/350Nm 2.0 TDI four-cylinder, and $84,500 140kW/400Nm 2.7-litre V6 TDI common-rail units. Eschewing AWD, both have Audi’s Multitronic CVT continuously variable transmission which sends drive to the front wheels.> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Volkswagen Passat CC TDI four door coupe

NECESSITY may be the mother of invention, but nobody needed Volkswagen to develop a sleeker and lower version of its capable but dull mid-sized Passat sedan. Yet here it is anyway, the Passat CC 'Comfort Coupe', with four doors, four seats and one of the most powerful four-cylinder turbo-diesels available in base TDI guise. The thing is, VW has priced its BMW 3 Series competitor compellingly, packing it with features while matching and even exceeding many so-called luxury rivals for comfort and dynamic capability. So the question is: Do prestige sedan or coupe buyers actually need to consider the Passat CC TDI?> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Monday, February 16, 2009

Mercedes-Benz ML280 CDI Five Door Wagon

MERCEDES-BENZ added its current entry-level ML280 CDI to the ML range in 2006 - a year after the second-generation ML range was launched. A makeover in late 2008 brought primarily cosmetic changes. Using a detuned version of the brilliant 3.0-litre turbo-diesel V6 that Mercedes uses in everything from the Vito van to the S-class, the ML280 CDI may lose out on power and torque to its $13,000 more expensive sibling, the ML320 CDI, but this entrée to the M-class is arguably the pick of the range.> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

BMW crosses over again with GT

BMW may have abandoned plans to revive its top-shelf 8 Series nameplate by creating an all-new four-door grand touring flagship based on last year’s Concept CS. However, Friday’s reveal of the slightly less exciting Concept 5 Series Gran Turismo shows the German premium car-maker’s Progressive Activity Sedan (PAS) project remains well on track.> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Thursday, January 15, 2009

VW Eos 500HP V6 Turbo

Volkswagen’s Eos is not the first car you’d think of if someone were to say the words “frighteningly fast” or “outrageously overpowered”. No, you might think of words like “I’d like it more if … ” or “flight attendant”. But if you hand over the VeeDub’s drop top to the lunatics at B&B, you’ll be saying. full story...

Source: http://www.carreview.com/

Porsche 911 Carrera S Cabriolet

PORSCHE has just widened the appeal of the iconic 911 Carrera with a brilliant new automatic transmission that is the centerpiece of a mid-life upgrade for the 997 model. All new Carrera models, including the cabrio version we test here, have been given a performance upgrade thanks to direct fuel injection and are also now available with the new dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Called PDK, the transmission changes gears in a fraction of a second and is far superior to the previous Tiptronic system which was a regular torque converter type automatic. Porsche has also made some minor styling upgrades including new front and rear lights as well as mild bumper changes. > Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Detroit City Rocked

PRECEDED by weeks of bad news about insurmountable debt, factory closures, lay offs, congressional bailouts and bankruptcy fears surrounding the Big Three, this year’s North American International Motor Show in Detroit was never going to be anything less than extraordinary. Porsche, Maserati, Nissan and others had not even bothered rocking up, so the scene was set for a couple of long, hard days.> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

Monday, January 12, 2009

Toyota Prius Powers Up

THE latest version of the Toyota Prius – the car that means “hybrid” to much of the world’s population – was introduced to an eager media at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. Toyota’s third-generation petrol-electric car, which will go on sale in Australia in the third quarter of this year, is claimed to be about 10 per cent more economical than before despite being more powerful.> Full Story

Source: http://www.goauto.com.au

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