Buy A New Car
Tyred Out Yet?
They’re the four pieces of rubber that are the most important part of your car as they are the only part of the vehicle that touches the road. Tyres, a criminally underrated part of your chosen chariot, are also responsible for confusion and angst. There’s numbers on the side and people hear about different…things about compounds. Here’s the skinny on what they’re all about.
The numbers: On the sidewall of a tyre will be information about the tyre, with the simplest being something looking like 
this: “225/60/17”. Tyres are, naturally, wrapped around wheels. The wheels will have a diameter and in a metric age are still listed by inches. Smaller cars will generally have wheel diameters of 14 to 16 inches, medium cars generally up to 17 whilst large cars can be up to 19 as standard and certain cars can be fitted with up to 22 inch diameter wheels. The tyres then will have that info and will be showing the diameter as the last number. The other two work hand in hand, with the biggest number being the width across the tread of the tyre in millimetres (225) and the sidewall height or profile, from the rim of the wheel to the tread, expressed as a percentage of the tread width. This means that our 225/60 tyres will have a sidewall being equalling 60 percent of the width of the tread.
Tossed into that set of numbers could be something like this: 225/60VR/17.
For over 40 years, tyres have been constructed in a radial design (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radial_tire) and have speed rating applied to them for certain intended purposes. A V rating permits that tyre to be run up to 240km/h with the R denoting a Radial construction. Although Australia, for example has a maximum permitted road speed of 110 km/h, there are places where a car can be travelling above that limit, such as a race track plus, in a world market, other countries have higher permissable speeds.
Rolling diameter: this is nothing more complicated than how to mix and match tyre and wheel sizes to give, effectively, the same size circle. Let’s use 205/65/15 tyres for a mid 1990s Commodore. The OVERALL diameter is about 647mm. The driver decides to fit some 19 inch diameter wheels; if they were to fit the same PROFILE (65) tyres the overall diameter would be well over 700mm. This is both currently illegal and in real and serious danger of the rubber fouling the inside of the wheel arches plus can give a false reading to the speedometer. Therefore a LOWER profile tyre needs to be used. By using 35 profile tyres (height is 35% of the width of the tyre) the overall diameter is brought back to 647mm. Of note is how a profile can affect the perceived ride of a car; a higher profile tyre will have more sidewall “give” than a lower; think of a well padded cushion versus a slim one of the same material. The tyre and wheel increase can also be known as “plus one/two etc”.
Compounds: rubber can be soft, it can be hard and anywhere in between. Followers of motorsport will be aware of hard/soft/medium compounds being bandied around as easy as we talk about the weather and really, that’s pretty much all this means. Soft tyre compounds will give more grip overall however may wear quicker due to the extra grip, whereas hard compound may not grip quite so well, will last longer and may not give a softer ride. However, there’s a little bit more to it such as where the tyres will be used as weather conditions on a ongoing basis.
Tyre pressures: these can be read as PSI (pounds per square inch) or kilopascals.
Most companies use PSI and it’s and indication of how much pressure is required to stop excessive wear of the tyre balanced against the expected load the tyres will carry (car, passengers and cargo). This information for each car can be found on a placard attached to the car and also on the tyre sidewall. It’s important to have correctly pressure tyres to stop wear either on the centre of the tyre (over inflated) or on the edges (underinflated) plus ride quality and handling can be severely affected
Run flat/spacesaver tyres: run flats are intended to give some measure of sidewall support should the tyre have deflated past its normal recommended pressure for any reason and will allow the vehicle to be driven, to a point, where the tyre can be replaced. Comfort levels are not included as part of the design. Space savers are becoming more and more common, partly to save weight but primarily 
to, as the name implies, save space, generally in the boot of the car. They are NOT intended to be used for anything other than to temporarily replace a normal tyre and are an emergency item.
Brands: there are heaps to choose from, such as Bridgestone, Dunlop, Kumho, Firestone, just to name a few; the actual construction quality will be of a higher standard in the better known brands and independent testing tends to show better overall grip and performance levels.
Tread patterns: there’s a couple of terms, such as asymmetric and directional, that catch people. Most “normal” tyres are symmetrical, in that the tread looks the same on the left and right of the tyre and are generally for everyday use. Asymmetrical tyres, generally for performance applications, will have an unbalanced look, for example with an unbroken groove or two one one side and a broken up tread pattern on the other. Directional tyres are akin to an arrowhead patter, with grooves leading from the outside to the centre at an angle and intended to give 
maximum water dispersion.
Any reputable tyre fitment centre such as Bob Jane’s or Jax can assist in explaining these in more detail. The humble tyre, more important than you think.
A two door car with a huge boot: it's goodbye to the ute.
News released on the 27th October comes as a bitter blow for those that like their two door cars with a huge boot; Holden has decided, along with Ford, that the humble yet much loved ute will cease to be from 2016. To blame are a number of factors but chief amongst them appears to be our free trade agreement with Thailand, where the majority of our traybacked vehicles are sourced from.
The “coupe utility” was born right here in Australia; the well worn story has it that Ford designer Lew Bandt developed the vehicle in response to a request to Ford Oz HQ, asking for a vehicle that could take the wife to church on Sunday and the pigs to market on a Monday. This was in 1934, well before any American based designs and ahead of Holden, which released its own ute in 1951, on the 48-215 chassis. The ute has been a staple part of the Aussie carscape ever since, in two and four form and in two or four wheel drive configuration. Both Ford and Holden tried the high rise look, to limited but cultish success, 
but it’s been a slow decline for the ute.
As one in five new vehicles sold in Australia are sourced from Thailand, with under one in ten vehicles delivered sourced from an Australian manufacturer, the numbers simply no longer stack up for Holden and Ford (Toyota and Mitsubishi never built a ute but Chrysler did) and with the mooted change to a front wheel drive large car for both, there’s no plans for a ute. As it stands, the Holden Commodore ute is down by a frightening 31 percent in year to date figures whilst the VF sedan and wagon are up by 15 percent with the irony being the ute is effectively based on the wagon design….Since the beginning of the year there’s been over 100, 000 Thailand sourced 4WD utes compared to 4100 Holden and 3500 Ford utes.
The situation Australia faces can be said to be dire when it comes to local manufacturing; 
the Button car plan is seen as the root cause now for the decline of our car industry and with manufacturers outside of Australia utilising a zero percent tariff costbase in Thailand, there’s been no real protection for Ford and Holden. Come 2016 it will be a sad goodbye to our two door car with a huge boot, the ute.
Bumpy Trax: Holden's new baby SUV
Holden’s had a shot before at a small SUV; last time around it was the Suzuki Ignis based Cruze (yes there was a Cruze before the Cruze…confused?). This time around they’ve ‘roided up the Korean sourced Barina and called it Trax. I back to back the entry level LS and top spec LTZ.
The Driven Heart
Anyone that’s driven the Holden Cruze (the new one, not the old one) with the original 1.8L petrol engine will be instantly familiar with the heart of the Trax. It never received good reviews and won’t here. It’s underpowered, undertorqued and should be six feet under. There’s just 103kW at 6300rpm and 175 torques at 3800 rpm. With the option of manual and auto for the LS and auto only in the LTZ (auto supplied), the slow revver just fails to deliver pizzaz, pop and pow. The automatic transmission is fitted with six ratios which, at least, use what’s available (60kmh equals 2000rpm….) and the driver has the choice of allowing the ‘box to do its own thing or manually changing via the oddly sited switch (ala Malibu) on the top right hand side of the lever. There’s no real advantage to using the manual shift (slow, ergonomically awkward) nor does it make any sense (unless to NOT encourage people to use it) to place the manual selector switch where it is. Left to its own devices, the transmission offers an odd mix of short/sharp or hold and delay changes. One would hope that the 1.4iTi and 1.6iTi plants plus the diesels available overseas will make their way into the range, sooner rather than later. It’s coarse, thrashy, unrefined, even the 1.8L in the Camira sounded smoother.
The Sheetmetal
As you’d expect there’s a strong family resemblance to big brother 
Captiva. The haunches are bulbous and rounded, the proportional profile is not unlike the Captiva (moreso 7 than 5) whilst the front end, signed off by the international consortium as using the Australian nose design, which in its own right has a resemblance to the Malibu, is a shocker. Is it pretty? Hell no. The headlight cluster design is myopic, bland (black trim in the LTZ would 
have helped differentiate) whilst the actual nose is blunt, bluff and upright with the chin of the bumper given more depth than what looks nice, plus scrapes easily on the road coming off a driveway kerb. The rear is better integrated and the saving grace along with a sensible looking window line plus the LS gets full black plastic as opposed to the LTZ’s alloy insert. Overall look reminds me of the Suzuki SX4 or the original Cruze.
The Office
Straight up, what greets the driver’s view gives no doubt as 
to the vehicle’s roots; the dash display is an almost cut and paste from the Barina, with the same motorcycle style look plus a couple of tweaks to the colour. The centre dash console is clean, simple, well designed and comes complete with a seven inch touchscreen entertainment and MyLink system, complete with the Pandora, TuneIn and Stitcher and 
more apps accessible via a compatible smartphone, once they’ve been 
downloaded into the phone though. The USB port is hidden inside a small storage locker just in front of the passenger seat and there’s a centrally mounted spot high up in the centre of the dash for, presumably, sunglasses. Just to the sides of the screen are two holes where one would expect aircon vents would go, circled in brushed aluminuim plastic while the centre console doesn’t have a raised storage section but does have a power point (and FOUR drinks holders!!!!), only suitable for an overseas (non Australian)plug. If it’s not suitable for us, why bother fitting it?
It’s spacious enough inside, with room for four comfortably and plenty of head/shoulder room in the front while the rear seat squabs fold out and up to provide a flat load space with the uprights folded. The seats themselves are comfortable enough but aren’t outstanding either, lacking support to the thighs and around the thorax and the print is a simple square motif spread throughout the fabric in the LT while the LTZ gets the faux leather 
look and heating as well. Boot space is decent for the size of the vehicle and the load height is just about spot on. The actual dash structure mimics the Malibu with the double flying buttress design and doesn’t look all that bad, terminating in retro style airvents either side but the plastic itself is that old style hard crocodile print style. An interesting side point is the headlight switch, which on Auto, in the LS and LTZ, has a set of driving lights activated and based in the cluster as they’re not in the bottom corners of the bumper in the LS but you do get the normal bumper mounted lights in the LTZ. Simple yet smart. There is a reverse camera as standard but for navigation you need to download an app….huh?
On The Road
Quick steering, a supple ride, a lack of road noise, a lack of crash thump from speed humps add up to be the surprise part of the Trax. It’s fingertip light in the steering, not requiring too much effort at all plus the ratio is fast, with what feels like a half turn lock to lock. It’s a lovely, smooth ride and the suspension is a delight, isolating speedbumps and helped, somewhat, from the Continental tyres at 205/70/16 in size (LS with 215/55/18s on the LTZ and five spoke alloys), with 
the sidewall height adding a measure of smoothness and, I suspect, the grip when punched hard 
into tight turns with a minimum of squealing. Although, ostensibly, a SUV, the LS is front drive only with no 4WD mechanism at all, not that it could with such a deep front dam anyway. Acceleration is leisurely, as mentioned, with the gear change slurry on the up shift whilst coming down a hill and under brakes, it will downshift and hold the gear which does aid in braking, to a point. Under full welly, the motorbike look speedo shows numbers changing marginally quicker than what it feels via seat of the pants, oddly enough, but with the aforementioned cacophony from up front dulling the aural experience the overall presentation is, as they say, meh. There’s a compass thrown in, for good measure, on the LTZ but in the simple old style LCD font only. It’s a strange mix, with a feeling of something good and something a bit confused.
The Wrap
If history is any guide, the Trax won’t sell well, based on looks; having said that, the old phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” may have something to do with it. Ford and Mitsubishi found out the hard way that a physically average looking car hurts sales. For me, the Trax’s biggest issue is the front end and primarily the headlight cluster; it’s just ugly and simply does nothing, in my eyes, to help present the car to those that want a decent overall package. Sure, it’ll be bought by those that want a point to point carriage, much like those that think a certain small car from Japan is the bastion of high tech. The tight handling and above expectations ride will mean nothing to those willing to overlook the “take no prisoners” bluffness of the front end with its Clarence the Cross Eyed Lion headlights and the archaic performance of the 1.8L. Priced at (depending on where you live) around the $27K mark including ORCs for the LS manual and near nigh $30K for the auto with premium paint, with the LTZ over $32K, it needs a sharper set of numbers to be a serious temptation, considering the better Captiva 5 and 7 offers at the time of writing, with the 5 at $25K driveaway and the SX 7 at $28600 driveaway as well.
To find out more: http://www.holden.com.au/cars/trax
Tail's Still Wagon.
It’s pretty much accepted that Australian ingenuity created the “ute”; what’s forgotten is the country’s love affair with the humble station wagon. It’s also overlooked at how many are still available.
First and foremost is the Holden Commodore Sportwagon. The Commodore has had a wagon for every model since the range was released wayyyyy back in 1978. With the release a couple of months ago of the VF, Holden took the somewhat unusual step of releasing all models at once, whereas previously the wagon was shown later. Unfortunately, there wasn’t funds to redevelop the wagon and ute rear.
Ford had a wagon version of the Falcon pretty much from the start; the Territory effectively killed that much to many fleet buyers annoyance whilst Toyota canned their Camry wagon when they released the Aurion whilst Mitsubishi never released a wagon version of the 380, the car that superseded the Magna. 
BUT, Ford has the Mondeo wagon, Toyota may yet re-release a Corolla wagon for Australia (shown overseas) and Mitsubishi had a Lancer wagon until 2007. Other brands have wagons too with various names such as Tourer, Estate or Shooting Brake, with BMW, Audi, Chrysler, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Mazda, Hyundai, Volvo, Volkswagen, Skoda and even Jaguar with their XF Sportbrake.
There’s always been benefits of having a non-SUV load carrier, with the extra space for day to day tasks such as shopping but room for kids stuff like prams, bikes, even the humble family pooch. The exterior design has varied from blocky, to what looks like an add-on to the very stylish.
Unfortunately, with the rise of the SUV the demand for a low riding wagon is slowly dropping off here in Australia and in the US whilst remaining steady in the UK and European region. They’re useful, practical, better for many people than a SUV or sedan so consider that when next you go looking for something with practicality and room.
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