Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Lexus IS 200t F-Sport
2015 saw Lexus and A Wheel Thing join forces for the first time, with the new to Australia (in late ’15) IS 200t finding its way to the garage for two weeks and including a return trip to the nation’s capital. How does it cope with highway and suburban driving? Let’s take a look, with the Lexus IS200t F-Sport (mid spec) spending Christmas and New Year’s at A Wheel Thing’s garage.
Under the bonnet is the raison d’etre for this car’s existence; a twin scroll, turbocharged and intercooled, 2.0L petrol engine, driving the rear wheels, with a maximum power output of 180 kW with peak power coming at 5800 rpm. 
That’s bolted up to an eight speed auto, with well spaced ratios, and possibly one of the smoothest, non intrusive, changes around. Torque is (what seems to be an industry standard) 350 Nm, at a slightly lower than normal 1650 revs.
Recommended fuel is 95 RON at a minimum, which was sipped at a best figure of 6.4L/100 km (on the Hume Highway) from the 66L tank. This was under cruise control conditions, set at 115 kmh and the tacho dead on 2000 revs. Lexus quotes a combined figure of 7.5L per 100 kays. Suburban driving saw an average of 8.9L/100 km, good for somewhere around 700 kilometres, if driven gently. And therein lies the rub…
Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Kia Sorento Platinum
Kia’s had a good 2015 in the Australia car market, with both the Carnival and Sorento winning gongs from drive.com.au and Behind The Wheel, plus the Sorento was awarded a prize in the Good Design‘s “Transportation” category.
A Wheel Thing back to backed two Kia diesels, the family perfect Carnival and the impressive Sorento Platinum, both powered by the grunty 2.2L diesel.
The test vehicle provided was covered in the optional (and pretty) Snow White Pearl. At $595 it’s not a deal breaker, on top of the RRP of $55990. The exterior recently copped a makeover, softening some of the harder edges and, in A Wheel Thing’s opinion, makes it more feminine friendly, as the previous look definitely had a masculine attraction. It still manages to take up a reasonable amount of real estate, with a length of 4790 mm, 1890 in width and a surprising 1690 mm in height. Surprising, as it looks taller.
Donk wise, the 2.2L diesel provides 441 Nm between 1750 to 2750 rpm, with the somewhat annoying lightswitch “bam” onces it reaches around 1600. Although the Platinum is an AWD version, it’s predominantly FWD oriented with a lock mode for some off-roading, meaning the front will grip and then send torque through to the rear, with the accompanying slamming back into the seats of the passengers if launched moderately hard. Under gentle prodding, it’s a smooth and quiet progression.
Eight Christmas Wishes For Drivers Everywhere
I told you we had to follow the star – this camel might have great 4×4 ability but it hasn’t got GPS.
Well, this is the last post from me for 2015, as I’m going to be getting some well-earned R&R time with the family over the Christmas & New Year period. I hope all Private Fleet’s readers will be doing the same. It can be a bit hectic in the lead-up to the silly season, so here’s to beating stress on the road and off it, and to a great Christmas for all of us.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Jaguar F-Type S Coupe Manual
Some car brands evoke emotional responses in people. That brand will say that’s exactly what they’re looking for as it’s a major consideration in the purchase of a car. There’s also a loyalty factor to consider and then there’s the sheer want or lust… Jaguar’s F-Type, released two years ago in Australia, in convertible and automatic gearbox form only, is one of those cars.
A Wheel Thing was fortunate enough to attend the launch in late 2013 and sample the three variants, being the two supercharged V6 engines and the brawny V8. Recently, Jaguar released the manual gearbox version for the V6 powerplants and Jaguar Australia lobbed the keys of a Stormtrooper white and black 280 kW rear wheel drive F-Type S coupe into the A Wheel Thing office.
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