Buy A New Car
Duelling Turbos: Kia Pro_Cee'd GT and Fia 500C Abarth Esseesse
Two households, both alike in dignity…..the opening line to Shakespeare’s evergreen “Romeo and Juliet” applies equally to two wonderful turbocharged vehicles A Wheel Thing squired for a week: the mental Fiat 500 Abarth Esseesse and Kia’s sublimely potent Pro_Cee’d GT.
Engine wise there’s not much in it size wise, 1.4L under the Abarth’s pert bonnet and 1.6L for the Kia’s scalloped cover. The compact Fiat finds 118kw and a healthy 230Nm of torque while Kia throws out 150kW and a more than useful 265Nm. Impressively, that figure is on tap from 1750 to 4500 revs, meaning even in sixth gear (manual only at this stage, a smart move to attract proper drivers), a gentle (well, maybe 
not so gentle nudge) of the loud pedal at freeway speeds sees the inside of a jail cell in seconds. The test car from Fiat came with a five speed auto, with a somewhat counterintuitive push button gear selector (1 for the actual drive, R for reverse, N for neutral and A/M for the box or you to do the work via the flappy paddles) and an excessively jerky change. Under full acceleration, the Abart slingshots forward with alacrity, with a measure of torque steer pulling the tiny car off to the left. 
There is a system 
called Torque Transfer Control which minimises this and it works pretty well. There’s joy to be had by driving the Abarth hard; the sound. Oh dear deity, the sound. A combination of banshee, lion roar and porn film, the quad tipped exhaust emits noise of the most beautiful kind for such a car in its class. There’s a rasp, a braaaaarp! as the gears change (shaking the passengers back and forth as it does so) and when in fifth, 
takes a deep breath before farting fire and and brimstone when the loud (and in this case most definitely loud) pedal is given its instructions. 
Punt it into corners, there’s a growl from the exhaust as the transmision changes down bt the slightly higher seating position leaves the body’s COG (centre of gravity) higher than in the lower slung Kia, with the brain wondering at extra angle in a turn. The Kia, on the other hand, is more restrained in the aural department but manages to break the laws of physics as the horizon suddenly appears in your lap. 
With the dash display a switchable TFT screen, displaying either a normal speedometer or a digital readout with torque and boost pressure, numbers 
change quicker than a farmer slams a beer on a hot day. The slick gear lever, a perfectly weighted clutch pedal, a free spinning engine and that mountain of torque form a perfect storm, launching the Pro-Cee’d GT cleanly off the line, a muted yet sprited buzz from the 1.6L, with more noise from the wind flow over the driver’s outside mirror than anything, the 
short throw change snapping delightfully through the gate as zero to oh myyyyyyyyyyyyy arrives in an eyeblink, even in top gear. There’s the barest tug at the tiller from torque steer as the suspension firms up (sometimes being a touch too jiggly, needing a little more initial compliance) abosrbing most of the imperfections on the road. In contrast, the Fiat’s short suspension and rubber band thick tyres find a five cent piece and enlarge it to a football. Steering in both is sharp, precise, with the 500’s communicating harder bumps with more definition, thanks to the super short travel 
suspension and tyres. There’s a surprising lack of wind noise in the Abarth, over the cloth roof, but naturally is noticeable when semi retracted. The good thing here is being able to listen to that burbling exhaust, all snap crackle pop of it.
Both share a common body shape, a three door hatch configuration, although in vastly different proportions. The Abarth is a short, squat, rounded, almost eggshell profile; the Pro_Cee’d, the very first of its lineage in Australia, is perhaps more of the traditional hatch style. There’s a long bonnet flowing into a steeply angled windscreen before terminating in a taut and pert bum. Fiat throws in a full retracting cloth roof for the Abarth, programmed in a three or four stop routine whilst the Pro_Cee’d came sans sunroof.
The only hard edges on the Abarth are on the shutlines; it’s near impossible to find a 
straight line apart from the doors and bonnet. The GT is much the same, even the swage line from hawkeye headlight to protuberant tail light is soft edged. The Abarth has warpaint that clearly identifies its intent, displayed on both flanks plus a couple of vents in the front bumper. The Kia has the new quad LED driving lights and two cornering lamps, bright to start then fade as the car straightens. Looks cool but the real worth is questionable. The petite Fiat rides 12 spoke, 17 inch, cast aluminuim wheels, painted white and wrapped in Michelin rubber. Each vehicle gets red brake calipers and both haul down with alacrity when the non-go pedal is needed. The Kia gets grippy Michelins also, 225/40s on 18s that look fantastic in grey and machined alloy.
Interiors on both are subtle and understated; sports seats (GT printed on the Kia’s), comfortable, cloth and leather; grippy steering wheels 
with piano black on the GT’s matching the plastic surrounding the dials 
(the GT’s needs to be thicker), the Sport button mounted dash top in the Fiat (leave it on, Normal mode is MUCH less fun with no overboost), a perhaps somewhat restrained console look for the Kia with cleanly marked controls, with the Abarth retaining the signature circular look of the 500. An oddity in the Kia with the dual zone climate control, to me, if a light is lit on a button I would think it means both zones are controlled via one dial. In this case it means the zones are separate and that’s counter intuitive. Room in the Kia is good, with two kids, two adults and reasonable cargo space (380L seats up); not unexpectedly, the Fiat struggles in cargo space and back seat room, with barely enough leg room for two kids. The GT has wide opening doors however the lower seating position makes it somewhat harder to lever a body from the superb sports seat. The lack 
of extra glass topside does make 
the GT a little claustrophobic with its all black interior while the Fiat’s folding roof takes getting topless to a new level. Neither were fitted with satnav, with the Slovakian buit Kia (yes, they do build outside of Korea) not having an Australian compatible setup. Soundwise the Fiat was fitted with that well known (cough) Interscope setup whilst the Korean came with a bespoke installation; quality in the Abarth was surprisingly good, with decent bass, even with the roof down. 
The Kia’s didn’t get a huge workout but did sound mostly ok. What was notable about the view from the Kia’s seat was how reflective the inside of the windscreen is; even with a largely matt black interior it was reflected and was definitely distracting. A non reflective coating for the inside would be MOST handy.
Quite frankly, there is a market for both cars and there’s appeal from each. The Abarth Esseesse has that wonderful, snarly exhaust; the Pro_Cee’d GT has immense driveability. Economy from the small Italian is touted as 6.5L/100km…it’s a small tank, not much bigger than a 
can of soft drink at 35L and “proper driving” saw closer to over 8L/100. Kia lobs a 53L tank into the GT, with a claimed 7.4L/100 combined. A Wheel Thing saw that but only on a long freeway run. On a day to day basis though, the GT takes the Abarth to town; a fluid gear change, the interior room, 
the immense useability of the engine score the goals. For A Wheel Thing, the Kia takes the points however the the Fiat is by no means disgraced. Price wise….the Fiat suffers from a near $40K price point with the GT landing near $10K cheaper. Dollar for dollar the Kia is a clear leader and that, combined with its overall friendliness, hands the Duel of Turbo crown to the Koreans.
Head to www.fiat.com.au and www.kia.com.au for info and pricing for your area (RRP at time of writing is approx$30 K for the Kia and $39K for the Fiat plus ORCs)
Suburban Hy-Ryder: Hyundai ix35.
The SUV market in Australia has exploded in recent years, with small, medium and large variants available. The looks have improved, build quality has skyrocketd and the feature lists have grown. Hyundai has had fingers in the SUV pie for a while now, starting off with the Santa Fe and Tucson, which has morphed into the ix35. I take the series 2 version with the Elite specification out for a week.
Sitting right in the middle of the pack, above the Active and below the Highlander (cue Christopher Lambert jokes…) the ix35 Elite comes with a direct injection 2.4L petrol engine, six speed automatic and centre locking differential. It’s 136 kilowatts at 6000 revs and a handy 240 torques at 4000 rpm, with a smooth, linear delivery to that point. It’s a little buzzy past there but it’s rare that, in a normal driving situation, the six speed auto will take you that far. It’s a quick shifter, slick however the gate design is unneccesary, being a convoluted throwback to the “J gate” days. Performance from the ix35 is adequate, with the zip somewhat muted by the near 1600 kilo kerb weight, requiring a firmer than anticipated press from the right foot to get things happening. Brakes are a touch grabby at the top however move into a well modulated setup, requiring only a modicum of pressure initially before squeezing into a smooth stop.
The drive itself is through an “on demand” all wheel drive setup; a torque sensor splits drive between front and rear as required while the locking diff makes it a 50/50 split. It makes a difference as the tyres fitted to the test car (Kumho Solus 225/60s on sweet looking 17 inch alloys) lack sufficient front end grip under normal circumstances when pushed, going wide and squealing badly in roundabouts and normal sweeping bends. When locked the nose tucks in tighter and forces the rear end to follow a better line. The McPherson strut/multilink suspension does a decent job of ironing out the road but I did find the Elite quite jiggly and a little harsh over some ruts and bumps, with a sharp rebound rather than a subtle absorption, a touch disappointing given the Aussie input to the suspension.
The exterior is an evolution, not a revolution, with only minimal changes being made, possibly most noticeably (for trainspotters) 
to the front end; the headlight assembly has the main light cover going square and the driving light surrounds have been modified. 
The interior seems barely touched yet is a comfortable place to be, with a mix of quality look and feel plastics, cloth and leather, a seven inch touchscreen navitainment system dominating the centre dash, (with reverse camera) looking somewhat like, when viewed front on, a helmet from a sci-fi soldier. Music is catered for by radio and Auxiliary/USB inputs
(located at the bottom of the centre console) plus there’s a slot for CD and DVD. Sound is solid, with clearly defined midrange but bass is a touch lacking in punch. Switchgear is sensible, basic, uncomplicated and simplistically easy to use plus entry/egress is via wide opening doors. The front seatbelts are adjustable for height, however there’s a slight buzz from the plastic shroud at 
certain speeds on the freeway. The Elite comes with keyless entry and push button start/stop plus a swag of safety features including curtain airbags and safety windows, which will lower if pressure from a body part such as an arm is sensed on an upward movement. Seating is, as expected, comfortable with some side support, vital when throwing the ix35 into turns. A split fold rear seat, cargo blind and ample cargo space add to the package.
Alongside its sister car, the Kia Sportage, with competition from SsangYong, Holden, Ford, Mitsubishi, VW and Nissan, just to mention a few, the ix35 really is up against it. Given the quality of small to medium SUVs nowadays, with pricing exceptionally competitive, this is really a judgement call for a buyer. With the range starting at $26990 plus ORCs (check www.hyundai.com.au for offers though!) and the Elite 2.4L from $36990 plus ORCs it’s good value.
Urban Legend: Toyota's Landcruiser.
In Australia, Toyota is seen as a “cardigan car” brand, with capable if unexciting vehicles such as the Aurion and Camry. The Corolla is consistently a high seller but, behind the scenes, is Toyota’s legendary Landcruiser. First released to an unsuspecting world in 1951, it’s grown and evolved and diverged into different models. I run into the 200 series GX and takes a look at where this classic nameplate is today
It’s a four model range: GX, GXL, VX and Sahara. The GX as tested comes with a planet rotation stopping twin turbo, 650Nm diesel V8, at 4.5L capacity. That torque is available at just 1600 revs with peak power a not unreasonable 190kW at 3400rpm. The iron block, alloy head engine 
sips just over 10L per 100 kilometres, incredible given the ‘Cruiser’s kerb weight of a lick over two and a half tonnes. The main tank is 93 litres in capacity with the auxiliary at 45L, providing a potential range of well over 1000 kms. There’s the characteristic diesel chatter under way, with the six speed auto calibrated to turn the engine over at 
1600/1700 rpm for freeway velocity whilst the exhaust emits a muted V8 burble.
On the road the Landcruiser is relaxed, unstressed, that massive amount of torque easily motivating the mass along; sink the right foot and the transmission quietly drops two spots, the engine takes a deep breath and sends the speedo spinning. There’s a palpable shove in the back and the horizon appears to increase in size rapidly. Given the drag co-efficient of the Landcruiser is akin to a kite in a stiff breeze, it’s a truly remarkable sensation to experience. Ride 
quality is niggly jiggly; the high profile dual purpose spec tyres (285/65s on 17 inch rims) do an admirable job of soaking up most bumps however the suspension (double wishbone front and live rear combination) is a bit touchy, with smaller and repetitive bumps being transmitted. Although there’s a squeal from the tyres coming into some bends, there’s never a true feeling of losing contact; the vehicle supplied was tested during some of Sydney’s wettest summer days and it was more of the pucker factor than anything when it came to handling. Under brakes, a well modulated pedal, with consistent travel, hauls the ‘Cruiser up with nary a blink, the near fourteen inch wide discs throwing out the anchors equally and without fuss each time.
As one would expect off road, it’s a sure footed machine, with plenty of torque to power through foot deep puddles in a clay basin; in fact, the wading depth is set at a maximum of 700 millimetres. On a tech level, there’s a centre diff lock, a transfer case for low range crawling and a dial for hill descent speed. With the front wheels being pushed more to the front bumper, approach angle is rated at a high thirty degrees with departure a tad less, at twenty. With an overall length of near as dammit five metres and a wheelbase of 2.85 metres, with a track of close to 1.8 metres, it presents a formidable footprint.
The interior is one of function over form; being a base model and consequently devoid 
of suburban fripperies, it’s a dirt friendly floor covering combination of rubber and vinyl. Get dirty, hose it out is the motto, with a simple cloth covering for the five seats, including the 60/40 split fold rear. There’s a basic set of steering wheel controls, including Bluetooth, single CD AM/FM radio with USB and auxiliary inputs, no parking sensors or reverse camera, which, initially seems a terrible omission. In hindsight, it brought back the driver training I received at a time where sensors and cameras for cars were a thing of science fiction; nowadays they’re there for people that haven’t been taught to drive. Aircon controls where minimalist also and, as such, a thing of engineering perfection, being a set of clearly identified buttons,
for their individual purpose.
Driver’s instrumentation is also simple; tacho and oil temperature in one dial, speed and battery charge in the other, bisected by fuel and water temperature atop the gear indicator. The gear lever itself is mounted in a gated design, with a Sportshift option, unused in the week, as the bountiful torque was available at the crack of a right foot.
Naturally, for such a physically big vehicle (overall width and height is equal at 1970mm) there’s plenty of cargo space, with a massive 1431 litres available. As is the wont of manufacturers nowadays, there’s a plethora of cup holders, ideal for the farmer’s early morning coffee or a coldie at the end of the day.
The exterior of the GX provided was the basic white, with colour coded bumpers contrasting with the plain black of the driver’s side mounted snorkel intake. It’s an evolution, looks wise, of the 100 series released in the late ’90s, 
with a solid and bluff look. A double lamp headlight cluster and a simple, compact taillight assembly bookend the big machine.
Toyota’s GX Landcruiser is part of a legendary family; in it’s own right, for what its design objctives and true intended market are, it’s virtually ideal. There’s nothing excessive, it’s fitted out internally to suit the target usage, it is more than capable off road and in muddy environs and is decently economical. Price, though, is not for the faint of heart, clocking in at around 83 large. However, for the life of the car and for its sheer overall usefullness, it’s really not that much. Legend, writ large. Head here: http://www.toyota.com.au/landcruiser-200/specifications/gx-turbo-diesel?WT.ac=VH_LC200_RangeSpecs_GXL_Specs for more.
Optimal Appeal For Kia's Big Car
Charles Darwin espoused “The Theory of Evolution”; it certainly applies to the world of automotive transport and Kia’s Optima is a brilliant case in point. Starting off as a somewhat ugly duckling, it’s now a classy swan. With a profile not unlike Jaguar’s gorgeous XF, it cuts a sharp figure on the road, but is everything else up to the task? I check out the entry level Si Optima…
The Driven Heart
It’s well and truly a common engine size at 2.4L and churns out a respectable 148 kilowatts, albeit at a high 6300 revs. Peak torque is 250 Newton metres at a revvy 4250rpm, with the engine drinking from a 70 litre tank. Economy is quoted as being 7.9L per 100 kilometres on a combined cycle, with the weak spot being the urban figure, a tick over 11.2L. A Wheel Thing averaged, over a week, a tick under 10L/100kms in a predominantly urban driving program. Tagged as GDI, for gasoline direct injection, it’s a freespirited, if slightly buzzy, piece of engineering, revving freely when asked and quietly tootling around when not.
The Clothing Store
Lithe, angular, curvaceous where it counts, the Optima has a sense of presence on the road. The vehicle provided came clad in 
Platinum Graphite, a metallic grey which looks superb on the sharp panels. A gloss black grille, swept back and wrap around style headlights give the Optima an arrow head front end, moving to a high belt line and sweeping back into a coupe 
style rear roof line, endcapped by an angular taillight cluster. It’s cohesive and balanced. The Si misses out on the LED running lights as featured on the SLi and Platinum. At 4845mm in length, 1830mm wide and under 1500mm in height, it’s a trim and taut looking beast however it’s a touch porky at nearly 1600kg.
The Office Space
Base model it might be but the seats provided some of the best support and least stuffing around to get a comfortable seating 
position I’ve had in weeks. A mixture of manufactured leather and cloth, 
the wrap around of the wings and what feels like just the right amount of padding go, immediately, a long way to starting a journey comfortably. An efficient dash layout, sensibly laid out switchgear, paddle shifts, wide opening doors, a 500 odd litre cargo space are let down somewhat by a cheapish looking and feeling steering wheel. 
Although symmetrically laid out, there’s a touch too many buttons to look at plus there’s an Eco button hanging off the bottom right which could have been better located elsewhere.
The audio system screen is the tried and proven red dot matrix design, it sounds good but the menu system to adjust the sound becomes nonintuitive after the first two steps. The Si has an old tech foot operated park brake as well, somewhat out of tune with the rest of the tech, such as reverse camera (shown in the rear vision mirror), traction control and Hill Start Assist.
On The Road
The lack of torque is an issue at times, initially off the line and when required to make an overtaking move. It’s geared to be around 2000-2200 revs at freeway speeds, requiring either a bit of preplanning and a deft right foot or a hefty thump on the go pedal, sending the tacho surging past 4000 revs and the six speed auto back to fourth, sometimes third. The brake is beautifully 
pressured, wonderfully modulated, reading the driver’s desire to squeeze down to a stop as equally well as a momentary dab or a full emergency brake. The suspension is the well proven combination of McPherson strut front/multilink rear, providing a sublime ride on smooth surfaces and ironing out the niggles all too often found, aided by the 215/55 section rubber, wrapped around 17 inch alloys with a five spoke tuning fork design. Turn in is precise however it feels more weight on centre and lightens up left and right, feeling, oddly, as if the steering is activating the wheels from the top rather than from inside the hubs.
The Wrap
Time, money, research, result. Time and money well spent on research and the result is the Optima. The test car is priced at $31990 + ORCs and metallic paint is $595. Click here: http://www.kia.com.au/showroom/optima for more.
Level 2, 9 Help Street