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Powerflaw: Outlander PHEV
Technology is a wonderful thing, especially when it goes hand in hand with common sense. It’s when something simple is overlooked, not designed well or just plain forgotten that technology bites. Hybrid cars are a great example; use a battery pack and electric engine or two to power the car along, use a petrol engine to back it up and charge the battery when required. Plug it in overnight….except, with the Outlander 
PHEV (Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle), it’s potentially impossible for over 90% of Australian homes. You see, Mitsubishi provides the PHEV with a charging cable suitable for 15 amp power sockets; however, where the car is expected to reside, Aussie homes, this idea immediately hits a bump as virtually all homes have 10 amp sockets… 
This immediately reduces the potential this car is expected to have by a massive factor, as the idea of a hybrid drivetrain is to try and reduce fuel consumption. But if you can’t charge 
the car overnight by a cable then you’re solely reliant on the 2.0L petrol engine fitted to be the battery’s generator, which uses fuel. The Outlander PHEV gives you the option of running the petrol engine as a charge unit or allowing it to kick in and out, almost seamlessly, when required. Given that there’s little charge in the battery without the plug in bit,
guess which other option uses more fuel? Mitsubishi’s official ADR figures quote 1.9L per 100 kilometres, from a reduced in size 45L tank. In the space of four days, including pickup from the dealership to home (say 70km) and including a return run to Canberra and back, over a tank and a half of fuel was used, with a worst figure seen of over 12L/100km. The expected range from a full charge is said to be 50 to 60 kilometres, so you can see the lack of a suitable for most Australian homes charging cable really hurt.
A Wheel Thing was handed the key to the Outlander Aspire PHEV, complete with satnav, electric seats and sunroof. Like all Outlanders of the current design, there’s plenty of room for the front seat passengers and easily two on the back seat, it’s mostly ergonomically well thought out, 
with dials and buttons pretty much where you’d expect to find them. Of note, at least in this household, was the placement of the interior door handles to open the door. Almost every instinctive reach would result in a look to see where it was, feeling as if it’s an inch too low. There’s adjustable height seatbelts, with the plastic shroud on the test car provided vibrating and rattling. Plastics are of good quality although the shade of grey on the doors is unusual. The dash 
display is modified to show the drives in operation, fuel usage and expected range from battery and petrol, accessed via a button on the dash just above the driver’s right knee. Instead of a tacho or rev counter, there’s a dial that gives an idea of being in economical or charge mode. The petrol engine itself is barely noticeable when on charge mode but becomes quite buzzy when utilised for acceleration. It’s no rocket engine, with maximum power and torque, 87kW and 187Nm, both coming at 4500 rpm, whilst generator power is 70kW. Ride quality is decent although there’s a definite sensation of mass at 1800 kilos (kerb weight), with the the suspension (McPherson strut front, multilink rear) absorbing most bumps well, although the short throw travel of the front is noticeable at low speeds over bigger speed bumps. 
Rubber is 225/18/55s wrapping some very tidy looking alloys. Of some concern is the electric tailgate; there’s a button on the keyfob to raise the tailgate but it failed to activate in around 80% of attempts. Of more concern is the fact that the ‘gate also failed top open at the press of the normal rubber pad in half of the attempts, requiring a lock and unlock of the doors to reset.
The drive system is a combination of two electric motors, with 60kW and 162Nm each, mounted front and rear (the PHEV is still off road capable) along with the aforementioned petrol engine. Transmission is a single, fixed gear automatic, with acceleration under full throttle being leisurely yet linear. The Outlander PHEV is fitted with a 
regenerative braking system, with energy being fed back to the battery under braking or rolling downhill, with the amount of brake adjustable via two paddle shifts; in this case they adjust the “grab” from zero to quite a bit and each step can be felt on the press of the up or down paddle. The actual engagement of the drive system is simple: foot on brake, hit start, move the fighter jet joystick to the right to select Drive or Reverse, go. Just ahead of the selector is a 
Park button, push that and push the stop button and your journey is done. As usual there’s Mitsubishi’s safety suite, including collision avoidance, driver’s knee airbag, hill start control and reverse camera. The satnav is seen on a 7 inch capacitive touchscreen, which folds out to access the CD drive, plus there’s Bluetooth and USB media. The driver’s seat is oddly uncomfortable, even though fully adjustable it never seemed to be in the right spot and the squab has the driver sitting on, not in, the cushion.
The Aspire, in its own right, is a decent car with plenty of luxury style spec, as one would expect for a price in the mid $40K range, normally (Aspire diesel $46K). It’s around the $53K bracket in PHEV specification; it drives well enough, looks a bit better after a mid model freshen up but the lack of a 10 amp charge cable (Holden’s Volt comes with one standard) severely and seriously restricts its flexibility and therefore its useability.
For PHEV info:http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com.au/vehicles/outlander-phev/faqs .
For pricing options contact www.privatefleet.com.au 
and for A Wheel Thing TV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvJ4SXWrZ3g&feature=youtu.be
Gran Turismo Falcon: Ford Unleashes the 351kW GT-F.
Ford Australia stayed with its tried and true “drip feed” teaser campaign in the lead up to today’s (June 10, 2014) release of the GT-F from Ford Performance Vehicles. Looking remarkably like anything from the V8 range in the FPV stables, it’s the thing filling the gap between front wheels and bonnet that has followers of the blue oval all excited. The supercharged 5.0L beast is said to have 351 kilowatts, in reference and homage to the iconic 5.8L V8 found in Falcons of the 1970s. Rumours already fly in regards to the true output, with some sources quoting over 400kW with what Ford calls an overboost function. Torque is sizable with 569 Newton metres available, allowing a sub five second zero to 100 kmh time.
Externally, Ford offers this: in what’s claimed to be a direct salute to the Falcon GTs of old, the GT F features bonnet, roof and rear deck black-outs that FPV says are “unique” to the model. The GT F is also gifted a “distinctive ‘stealth’ exterior striping package” as well as gloss-black accents on the ‘raccoon eyes’, grille, applique, rear diffuser, door handles and mirrors. This, says Ford, ensures “the GT F is unlike anything that has come before it”. The interior has also had a bit of a wand wave, with an enhanced infotainment system featuring a G sensor, uprated seats with the logo embroidered in and GT Orange highlights on the dials, seat stitching and badging.
Such is the attraction of the 351 numerals, virtually all of the 500 cars built for Australia (50 for New Zealand) were presold, with one dealership, Sunshine Ford on Queensland’s Gold Coast being lucky enough to be allocated build number 351 in a Ford ballot, subsequently bought by a loyal customer. This particular customer, a long standing client, has gone to the trouble of securing Queensland registration with the numbers 351 on the plates.
Engineering wise, apart from the semi-tame atomic bomb under the bonnet, there’s retuned springs and shock absorbers, wider wheels, reinforced real lower control arms, stiffer upper control arm bushes and suspension strut mounts at the front . These come from the firecracker RSpec sedan so it’s a well proven package and should ensure a crisp, sporting ride. For those that are able to enjoy race circuit track days, Ford have also engineered in rear camber bolt adjustment. Transmissions are six speeds in both auto and manual.
At $77990 plus ORCs, it may not be cheap but the sheer amount of torque and ponies will see it well placed to take on more expensive competition plus annoy the “other” big hitting Aussie brand, HSV. With the cars largely being bought by investors, their return is sure to be positive.
Czech Mate: Skoda Octavia Ambition Plus sedan.
Octavia: younger sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus. Skoda: younger sister of the automotive giant, Volkswagen. Together they’ve come up with a surprisingly capable vehicle with a definite Ambition to be seen. A Wheel Thing says hello to the Czech based manufacturer for the first time and likes the first impressions of the Ambition Plus sedan.
Physically it is a decent sized vehicle, it’s just shy of 4.7 metres in length with a 1.8m width and stands just under a metre and a half tall. 
Under the test car’s bonnet is a seemingly small 1.4L turbocharged petrol engine, 
with 103kW and 250 Newton metres of torque. It’s this figure that comes into play with a weight of just 1340 kilos (dry) to move. Putting that grunt down to the front wheels (225/45/17) is the job of a seven speed DSG; the close ratios have the Octavia motivating quickly, especially once the stutters of first and second are out of the way. A good prod of the go pedal sees the numbers change quicker than a blink, with the DSG ‘box sliding home gear after gear seamlessly, providing a wave of get up and go, belying the size of the engine. It’s that torque, available from 1500 revs through to 3500, with the tacho flicking up then down on changes, through to the peak power point of 5000rpm keeping things bubbling. Being front wheel drivem it’s partial to the occasional snort of the tyres when provoked yet torque steer is noticeably absent.
The exterior is familiar yet new, with Skoda’s design team stamping their own mark on the VW based chassis. Audi-esque tail lights bookend a smart looking front end, with a chin mounted grille framed by driving lights
underneath the moustachioed main intake grille and slimline, slef adjusting headlights. There’s (in the case of the Ambition Plus) a radar sensor smack bang in the lower middle grille; get too close to a vehicle in front without you using your brakes and wham! the Ambition Plus will take you by surprise and brakes itself. Hard. It’s a smooth, clean sheetmetal with the Octavia, with a well balanced profile and a single crease line at the bottom of the doors. There’s a kickup on the rear seat passenger windows whilst the wheels are trim and tidy looking five spoke alloys.
The interior mix is an oddity; it’s a feeling of mod-tech and 1970s hotel; 
there’s the presence sensing touchscreen for entertainment and engine/gearbox setting changes, parking assistance and sensors butting up against a somewhat dated plastics look on the dash and door trims (piano black and dull, lustreless very dark grey) with the dash itself the old style block design, with no real amalgamation into the doors and a “beige” look to the seat trimmings, being a mix of black and patterned cloth. The seats themselves were comfortable without being spectacular, fully manual in adjustment and had the odd feeling of being seated higher than they looked. The position certainly provides good all round vision, except the wing mirrors are too small for true safety. Cargo space is huge, with the liftback providing both easy access and a cavernous amount of room at well over 500 litres.
There’s a neutral feel through the tiller, with enough subtle feedback to provide road information to the driver, with the steering ratio just a couple of turns or so lock to lock. On the road the suspension is initially compliant, absorbing most smaller ripples and undulations and there’s a definite sensation of tautness underneath, allowing the Octavia to be thrown around without feeling perturbed. On tarmac it feels planted but did seem somewhat twitchy in a cross breeze and coming into an unsealed surface road it understeered dramatically and braking did not really help. The brakes themselves have a good bite, early in pedal travel without feeling grabby and provided a good level of confidence. In profile the Ambition seems to sit high with the 17 inch wheels not looking as if the wheelarches are filled but there’s little noticeable body roll regardless. Acceleration, as mentioned, is rapid once the turbo has spooled up bhowever the DSG ‘box did tend to hold fourth in certain driving conditions and was somewhat buzzy while doing so. Economy is quoted at around 5.9L/100km and A Wheel Thing saw little that would dispute that claim.
Skoda offers capped price servicing, with service intervals 12 months or 15000 kilometres, whichever comes first, complementing the sharp pricing. The range starts at just under $23000 with the Ambition Plus kicking off at $26790 driveaway (at the time of writing) plus $475 for metallic paint. The supplied car came with the optional Tech Pack (push button stop/start, cruise control and more) taking the price to a lick over $31K.
It’s a good car but suffers from being largely unseen on Aussie roads; that’s a shame because it’s roomy enough for the average family, drives well enough for the average punter and is keenly priced with a decent amount of equipment. Go here for more information: http://www.skoda.com.au/models/octavia/
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Holden On For Australia
It’s history now that Holden, Ford and Toyota have declared they’re closing up shop manufacturing wise from now until 2017. Today Holden unveiled some of its plans for the future, including keeping possession of its iconic handling and proving ground, Lang Lang, south east of Melbourne. Originally, talk was of Holden looking for buyers, yet the value was only of a few million allegedly so it makes more long term sense for Holden to keep it and use it to tweak the cars it will import to suit Australian roads.
The announcement also covered that Opel will return to Australia and once again will wear a Holden badge. Reading between the lines, however, it seems somewhat “co-incidental” that Opel closed its operations with Holden then announcing it would cease local manufacturing. There’s three cars; the Insignia, Astra (GTC and VXR) hatches and Cascada convertible. There’s still some Holden in the Insignia, however, with a turbocharged 2.8L V6 under the shapely bonnet.
The announcement was done at Holden’s Melbourne office, complete with high power attendees in the form of Stefan Jacoby, General Motors Executive Vice President and President, GM International Operations and Holden Chairman Gerry Dorizas. It’s a reaffirmation of the committment that the name, at least, will stay in Australia, at the expense, some will say, of the history and the livelihoods of the engine plant and assembly workers.
There is more to come, so stay tuned…
Level 2, 9 Help Street