As seen on:

SMH Logo News Logo

Call 1300 303 181

Australia’s Best New Car News, Reviews and Buying Advice

Archive for March, 2017

Q1 2017 – When One Door Closes, Another Opens

We review all the major news events in the automotive industry from the first quarter of 2017.

Manufacturing

Soon to join Ford and Holden among the casualties within the local automotive scene, Toyota announced plans to close its engine casting and manufacturing facilities on October 3 this year. Australian car part manufacturers could be the beneficiaries, with local parts being touted for use in foreign diplomats cars.

On a global level, the arrival of US President Donald Trump shook things up for automakers, with some of the biggest names under scrutiny for prioritising investment outside the USA.

Despite its issues, Volkswagen claimed the mantle to become the world’s largest auto manufacturer.

 

Safety and Environment

In what is another troubling case, authorities seized over 500,000 fake and counterfeit car parts in Abu Dhabi that were destined for Australia. The issue continues to be one proving troublesome for the industry. In an announcement to combat the problem, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries will implement a new system designed to stop fake parts at the border.

In recent days, the AAA has played a flat bat to the Federal Government’s assertion that motorists would save fuel with the introduction of stricter emissions standards. The remarks come as 17 out of 30 vehicles tested on Australian roads exceeded fuel consumption figures by an average of 25%.

Overseas, and Norway took the radical step to temporarily ban diesel cars in Oslo to reduce pollution. The nation’s measures seem to be working though, with the proportion of EV sales to new cars upwards of 50% this year. The UK has also seen record numbers for registration of EVs.

A large spate of Australian recalls closed out the quarter, with 14 separate announcements made by the ACCC in the first fortnight of March.

 

Technology

Self-driving vehicles received a shot in the arm via an announced partnership between GM and Lyft that will include the largest autonomous test set for next year. In Australia, the South Australian Government committed support to 7 driverless programs. Intel announced a $20bn acquisition of autonomous vehicle technology firm Mobileye, indicating it may well want a piece of the automotive supplier landscape. Germany meanwhile, approved a draft law to allow the technology onto roads.

In disappointing news for technologists and environmentalists, local sales figures showed a huge slump for electric vehicles in 2016 despite the year being a record for new car sales. BMW Australia pinned this on the Federal Government, arguing a lack of incentives has failed to convince motorists to buy electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Federal Government has committed to invest $55m into technology designed to improve traffic flow and alleviate congestion on our roads.

Another technological highlight saw Mazda propose the removal of spark plugs in favour of a new, world-first fuel technology destined for local drivers.

 

Legal and Regulatory Issues

Formally, Volkswagen pled guilty in a US court over its Dieselgate saga, with fines exceeding US$4bn. This hasn’t closed off all cases however, with numerous other lawsuits in progress. Also looking to put a line under its own saga, Takata agreed to pay $1.2bn in a US court,

Meanwhile, with a local class action in progress, the CEO of Choice called on Volkswagen to offer compensation to local motorists, and the ACCC took exception to reports of waivers from the automaker absolving responsibility. The ACCC also commenced action against Audi for alleged misleading conduct regarding diesel emissions, but the matter has not yet progressed with any further detail.

In a separate matter, the consumer watchdog has indicated it will ban flex commissions for car salesmen.

Renault and Fiat also drew the attention of prosecutors and regulators for diesel emissions cheating concerns. A slew of other manufacturers like Toyota, Peugeot, Citroen, Ford are also rumoured to be subject to investigation, suggesting the industry issue is far from over.

Also before the courts, Tesla was cleared of responsibility in a fatal crash involving one of its autonomous vehicles last year. The decision could have thrown a spanner into the works for a multitude of companies currently betting driverless vehicles will be the way of the future. Lastly, in another autonomous vehicle dispute, one of Google’s subsidiaries and Uber remain locked in a legal battle regarding intellectual property theft.

  http://credit-n.ru/oformit-kredit-online.html

Six Myths About Electric And Hybrid Cars

#1: Electric Vehicles Put A Huge Drain On The National Grid

OK, there’s no denying that if you’re plugging in an electric car to recharge its batteries, you’re going to use electricity, which means that someone has to generate it.  It’s also true that if there’s too much demand on the national grid all at once, then there’ll be problems with “brown-outs” (signalled by lights dipping and flickering when the new load comes on the scene – those who have lived in off-the-grid houses will know all about this).  Notice those key words “all at once”?  The amount of power demanded by electric vehicles – at least at this stage – is peanuts compared to the demand of air conditioning in summer in the middle of the day, especially during a super-hot summer like the one we’ve been having.  In the USA, electric vehicles only account for 10% of the electricity demand. If everybody tried to (a) turn on their air-conditioning in the home and (b) charge their vehicles all at the same time, then yes, this would put too much of a load on the national grid.  The answer?  Charge your vehicle during off-peak times in the evenings and overnight when industry isn’t calling for as much power and air-conditioning systems aren’t working so hard.

#2: Electric Vehicles Haven’t Got Much Range

Some people are reluctant to purchase an electric vehicle because they have mental images of being stranded in the middle of nowhere with a dead battery and no way to recharge it.  It’s true that if you regularly drove long expanses of open road in the middle of nowhere, you could get yourself in a mess.  However, most of us aren’t driving around the Outback or around the farm on a regular daily basis: most of us are driving around the city. Most electric cars have a decent range of at least 100 km and some have a lot more.  The typical city commute tends to be shorter than this – a lot shorter.  Even if you live in a dormitory suburb.  On top of this, the 100-km range is at the lower end of battery life and ranges for electric cars these days.  The technology is improving as well, and some of the big names in electric vehicles (Tesla, Chevrolet and Nissan) are scheduled to release EVs that can get well over 300 km per charge.

#3: Electric Vehicles Are Expensive Luxury Items

This one is not quite a myth and not quite the truth.  Yes, electric vehicles have a certain cachet and the early examples had quite a large price ticket.  Some still do, especially the fully electric vehicles (as opposed to hybrids, which are on a pricewise par with their petrol and diesel fuelled equivalents).  However, there’s a pattern that economists and sustainable energy boffins have noticed that happens with every new green technology – and even some that aren’t quite so green per se.  The pattern goes like this: (a) A new technology comes on the scene.  It’s hot, it’s new and it’s sexy, and everyone is drooling and excited about it.  (b) The well-heeled jump on board and the new technology becomes a status symbol. (c) The manufacturers start introducing cheaper versions for the mass market (which, incidentally, are improvements over the older versions).  (d) Everybody’s got one and the wealthy are looking for the next hot item.  You’ve possibly already seen this happen in your lifetime with other technologies: think of cell phones.  Some readers will remember back in the 1980s and 1990s with those brick mobile phones.  They were one heck of a status symbol.  Now it seems that the majority of teenagers have a phone that makes the old status-symbol bricks of the 1990s look pathetic.   The same has happened with heaps of automotive technology, too, where what was once a luxury item is now standard: this has happened to seat belts, automatic transmissions, car stereos, cruise control, ABS brakes and airbags.  Heck, even the car itself was once a luxury toy for the wealthy.  The same is starting to happen with EVs and hybrids.  They’re beginning to head mass-market.  Given the desire for cleaner, greener technologies by many governments giving things an extra push and we’ll soon see the price tag of new EVs come down, as has already happened with hybrids.

#4: EVs and Hybrid Vehicles Are Dinky Little Hatchbacks

I wouldn’t call the Nissan Pathfinder a dinky little hatchback.  Nor the Mitsubishi Outlander .  These both come in hybrid variants.  What about electric vehicles?  Well, Audi Australia has an all-electric SUV planned for release by 2020, and that’s just one company.  Yes, you can get small electric and hybrid hatchbacks.  You can also get hybrid sedans and stationwagons.  Land Rover has even put out some hybrid 4x4s (some of which did the rather rugged Silk Road in a publicity stunt a couple of years back).  Electric 4x4s won’t be too far behind, especially as battery range improves.

#5: Hybrid and EV batteries Have Short Lives

One of the big worries about hybrids and EVs is that they would cause environmental headaches thanks to the batteries running out and needing to be disposed of – and batteries can be a disposal nightmare.  However, if you keep the battery nicely topped up and don’t drain it completely out of charge all the time, it has a nice long lifespan and won’t need to be $$$replaced$$$$.

#6: There’s A Conspiracy To Get Rid Of Electric Vehicles

No.  In spite of the documentary that came out in 2006 entitled Who Killed The Electric Car?, there isn’t some petrodollar-backed conspiracy to shut down production of electric cars.  Yes, GM recalled its EV1 back in the 1990s and ceased production.  However, you just have to look around you and look at any good car review site (ours, for example!) to see that there are plenty of hybrids and EVs out there, with more set to enter the market. http://credit-n.ru/zaymyi-next.html

2017 Toyota Corolla Hybrid Hatch: A Private Fleet Car Review.

Toyota adds another arrow to its Hybrid quiver with the release of the Corolla Hybrid Hatch, alongside the Camry Hybrid and Prius. It’s priced sharply, from $26990 plus ORCs and packs great value into the car thanks to borrowing features from the top of the range ZR. A Wheel Thing checks out the 2017 Toyota Corolla Hybrid Hatch.Visually, there’s no way to pick the Hybrid from its siblings, until you note the discreet Hybrid badging on the forward flanks and tailgate. It’s otherwise standard Corolla hatch, with a pedestrian friendly bonnet that almost straight line joins the windscreen. The broad swept tail lights have a sharply defined shelf in their diamond shape and are a defining feature of the rear of the car. Joining the front wheel arch and headlights is a swooping bifurcated line that joins to become one at the rear and draws the eyes to the privacy glass for the rear section.Wheels are ten spoke alloys at 16 inches in diameter clad in 205/55 Michelin Energy rubber. The Hybrid also pinches LED DRLs and auto levelling headlights from the ZR.
There’s further ZR touches inside with dual zone airconditioning, Suna traffic updates and satnav, Toyota Link (using a paired smartphone to provide data for onboard apps), and a 4.2 inch full colour LCD display for the driver that provides information including how the energy and drive is approportioned.The Hybrid Hatch is geared towards a better driving experience, with a double wishbone rear suspension, an electronically controlled brake system (that feeds regenerative energy back into the engine system), bigger 296 mm x 28 mm discs at the front as part of that energy recovery. The drive system itself consists of an Atkinson Cycle four cylinder petrol powered engine and a nickel metal hydride battery charged from the regenerative system and the petrol engine. Transmission is what Toyota describes as an E-CVT, an Electronically controlled Constant Variable Transmission.

At 5200 rpm the petrol engine delivers 73 kW and will give 142 torques at 4000 rpm. The specified fuel is 95RON and Toyota quotes 4.1L/3.9L/4.1L per 100 kilometres from the 45 litre tank (combined/urban/highway). In theory, that allows the Corolla Hybrid Hatch to travel somewhere close to 1000 kilometres. Considering a dry weight of 1365 kg and a gross weight of just over 1800 kilos, that seems like a pretty decent range.
The real world begs, however, to disagree.The system is programed for three drive modes: EV, Eco, and Power. Select EV, after getting in, strapping in, and pressing the blue hued Start/Stop button, then move the somewhat counter intuitive drive selector to D (it’s sprung so it will return to a central position by itself), and gently press the accelerator as the Hybrid silently moves off. Unfortunately, no matter how gently you move off, the programming activates the petrol engine at 30 kmh and flashes a warning on the dash screen to say so.
In real terms this effectively neuters the point of having an electically operated system, as from hereon in, the petrol engine is shown to either be directing power to the front wheels or momentarility topping up the battery. Once off the accelerator, the display will show the car is in Eco but still showing the petrol engine as involved. There is a B option on the selector, with that further engaging the brakes for regenerative energy and charges the battery located under a rear pew.Essentially, the petrol engine is constantly supplying a form of power to the drivetrain, rather than allowing the electrical engine to do more work. Yes, you do get kinetic energy fed back into the system but that restriction on where the petrol engine cuts in and continues to partner with the electrical is obvious with the fuel gauge showing a final figure of a quarter full, the trip meter shows 609 kilometres covered, consumption of 5.0L/100 kilometres and the bulk of the travel has been with a sole occupant…When driven with a light right foot, forward motion is…leisurely. A little bit more pressure does increade rapidity whilst a hard launch will get the Corolla to freeway speeds reasonably quickly but, again, at the expense of fuel consumption. What you’ll also get is a very good ride quality, with plenty of comfort, fluency, absorption, with the typical short travel crash and thump from shopping centre car parks, most likely the Corolla’s second most common habitat. On the highway it’s a smooth, mostly quiet ride, with bare hints of wind noise and tarmac rumble.Turn in from the steering is tight, with a ratio that promises just 2.7 turns lock to lock. There’s some numbness in regards to telling the driver about the road and coupled with tyres that never seemed to offer 100% confidence in grip in, admittedly, almost monsoonal conditions at times, there was a seat of the pants feeling of needing to back off a bit more than one would expect would be needed. It’d be interesting to drive the Hybrid in dry conditions to see what the grip level via the seat of the pants really is.In other aspects, the Hybrid Corolla is the same as any other Toyota. It’s loaded with safety features, has the same 3 year or 100,000 kilometre warranty, some very comfortable if basic looking cloth seats front (manually adjusted, by the way) and rear, a dullish looking plastic plate running across the dash, and retro style air vents left and right. The touchscreen itself is typically good Toyota in layout and usage, plus has apps which require a smartphone to be added in order to access.At The End Of The Drive.
From one point of view, it’s a curious thing that Toyota have added a hybrid to its biggest selling range considering there’s three Prius variants to choose from. BUT, the Corolla Hybrid looks like a Corolla and it IS one of the biggest selling cars going. From A Wheel Thing’s point of view, it’s got the green credentials to appeal, especially with that final fuel consumption figure, but lacks the driveability and variety it should have due to the programming restriction of being predominantly petrol, not electrically, motorvated.
To make up your own mind head over to the Toyota website and follow the links under new cars. http://credit-n.ru

Utes are Great

What makes a good ute?

The word “ute” has its roots in Australian slang vocabulary and is a short word that describes a utility vehicle.  Utes can be single or double cabs; the single cab has just the two seats or a bench seat to cater for the driver and front passenger/s, though the bench seat is less common these days.  The added practicality of having an extra three seats in the rear of the double cab ute is often the reason why people prefer the double cab over the single cab.  The single cab with a large tray allows you to throw all your tools in the back, and a spacious double cab ensures the whole family can come along for the ride.

Practicality is probably the number one reason many people buy themselves a ute.  Being able to throw some rubbish, posts or firewood onto the deck is really easy when you have yourself a ute.  The tray out the back is capable of carrying way more than you ever could in your sedan, hatchback or wagon and you’re often in hot demand when your mates are shifting house.  You can often buy 2WD or 4WD models – as is the case with many of the utes you’ll find on sale.  Nissan Navara, Toyota Hilux, Great Wall, Mitsubishi Triton are just some of the utes you’ll find on sale that can provide you with 2WD or 4WD alternatives.

Utes are also built tougher than your usual sedans and wagons.  Designed and built to work hard reliably, the chassis has been built tough to withstand heavier loads and provide strong towing capabilities.  Obviously, the 4WD option will be offering a little more protection under the ute, mud plug tyres and a raised ride height – many 4WD utes can end up going some pretty way-out-there places.  It’s very common to see a 4×4 ute towing the boat to the lake or a trailer full of kayacks.  4WD traction means that getting the boat down to the water and away again in slippery conditions is a breeze.

Many people opt for the dual cab ute because it can double as a work and family vehicle.  Having the extra seats for the kids at school or on holidays is always going to be handy.  A couple of decades ago, the ute was pretty basic and they had interiors that you could clean out using a bucket and a broom.  Land Rover’s Defender still has this ability, and even some of the bog standard Japanes utes are rugged enough to be able to handle a slosh of water from the bucket and a broom to clean out the muddy interior.  Most modern utes, whilst relatively tough on the inside, are actually very comfortable to drive and offer many luxuries and plenty of electronic gadgets like leather seats, fancy audio systems, satellite navigation and Bluetooth communications.  Come cleaning time, these modern higher spec models need a little more care than just a slosh with a bucket of water and a broom!

I also see the ute as an asset in the safety arena.  The modern ute is well equipped with safety equipment – some makes are better than others – but most provide airbags, ESC and ABS.  Having a higher ride height – particularly in the 4×4 utes – is also advantageous.

The best utes are built tough while continuing to be comfortable to drive.  It’s hard to go past a new Nissan Navara, Toyota Hilux, Volkswagen Amarok or Ford Ranger, as these are some of the best in the business when it comes to ruggedness and comfort.

Having plenty of torque under the hood to tow some heavy metal is a big plus.  Holden’s Colorado, Ford’s Ranger and Nissan’s Navara are plenty powerful.

Choosing a new ute isn’t always an easy decision to make.  In many ways, it’s tougher than picking out your average, everyday car.  Not only do ute buyers want something big enough to carry their livestock, weekend gear or tools, they’re after a vehicle that’s reliable and functional enough to keep up with weighty lifestyle demands of work and play.  Farmers and tradies will place a lot of trust in their utes –they are after all a workhorse.

The new Ford Ranger, Holden Colorado, Isuzu D-Max, Mazda BT-50, Mitsubishi Triton, Nissan Navara, Toyota HiLux and Volkswagen Amarok are the main rivals vying for top spot.  Foton, Great Wall and Mahindra are also handy utes worth considering.  Ford’s Falcon ute and Holden’s Commodore ute are immensely comfortable and powerful low profile RWD utes with a car-like drive for the long haul.

http://credit-n.ru/potreb-kredit.html