Subaru Advice

Cars with a manual gearbox are becoming a rare breed on our roads as vehicles equipped with automatic transmissions now dominate the market. But, fear not my gearbox-loving friend, for there are still new cars with manual transmissions for sale in Australia. What is a manual car? Here's a super-simplified explanation. A manual car is a vehicle that has a manual gearbox, not an automatic transmission. A manual car has three pedals - from the driver’s point of view, left to right, a clutch, brake and accelerator. The clutch must be physically engaged/depressed by the driver (that is, left foot flat to the floor on the clutch pedal) before the gear stick can be moved in order to change gears and then the clutch must be disengaged/released in order for the car to then move forwards, via first, second, third gear etc, or backwards in reverse. A vehicle with an automatic transmission has two pedals. From the driver’s point of view, brake on the left, accelerator on the right. There is no clutch in a car with an automatic transmission because the auto does all of that aforementioned engaging/disengaging for the driver. However, the auto shifter needs to be moved to the ‘D’ (Drive), ’N’ (Neutral), ’R’ (Reverse), or ‘P’ (Park) position. Are they still popular in Australia? Yes, there are still new manual cars in Australia but they’re much less popular than in years gone by when manual cars dominated the roads, way back in those sweet pre-internet days… Are manual gearbox cars still being made? Yes, but there are fewer of them being made and cars with manual gearboxes are generally small, cheap cars or workhorse vans or high-performance sports cars. What has changed in the trends of manual car sales in recent years? When it comes time to decide manual or auto, people have increasingly favoured auto transmissions because these tech-advanced transmissions are generally smarter at selecting the correct gear ratios than the drivers themselves. What should you look for when buying a new manual car? Apart from any usual signs of misuse, damage or lack of maintenance of the vehicle itself, take the car for a test-drive and note any clunking or grinding noises emanating from the gearbox or if it slips out of gear, or if there are strong burning smells (transmission is overheating, low fluid level), obvious leaks (worn-out seals or gaskets) and/or the ‘check engine’ light comes on. Here are the top five manual cars available in Australia as new or, in the case of one particular vehicle listed here, near new. Read on. This all-wheel drive Rexxy has a 2.4-litre turbocharged, horizontally-opposed direct-injection 'boxer' four-cylinder, petrol engine (202kW at 5600rpm and 350Nm at 2000-5200rpm) and a six-speed manual gearbox. Punchy off the mark and gutsy on the move, this is a driver’s car, through and through, with the added bonus of Recaro front seats, Brembo brakes (with ventilated and drilled brake discs) and 19-inch matt-grey alloy wheels. The WRX made this list because what’s not to like about this Subie? Price: From $67,540 (MSRP) Small manual cars are still popular as they’re at the cheaper end of the market and so more budget-friendly than their automatic stablemates or rivals. This Hyundai has a punchy 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine (206kW and 392Nm) and six-speed manual. This neat all-rounder offers plenty of driver enjoyment in a modest package. This compact car made the list because of its bang-for-buck appeal. Price: From $50,000 (MSRP) This range of traditional workhorses retain its appeal – and its manual gearbox options across WorkMate, SR and SR5 variants. Manual utes are still popular in Australia, as is a manual 4x4 or manual 4WD or manual SUV. An SR5 with a six-speed manual gearbox and a 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine (150kW and 420Nm) is a solid mid-range choice in the HiLux line-up. This ute made the list because it’s a manual labour legend. Price: From $60,670 (MSRP) Manual hybrid cars offer a great compromise between driving an EV and driving an internal combustion engine vehicle; you get the self-satisfied smugness of knowing you’re helping to prevent the world from turning into even more of a natural disaster-riddled hothouse than it already is, and you can drive around without any EV-related range anxiety. The cheapest Suzuki Swift Hybrid variant is this one, with a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated three-cylinder petrol engine (with 12-volt mild-hybrid assistance; 60kW and 110Nm) and a five-speed manual gearbox. This Zook made the list because it’s an impressive little all-rounder in a hybrid package. Price: From $24,490, drive-away Sure, it was technically released last year, but how could we not include the Ford Mustang Dark Horse? This wild beast of a car is a driver’s dream; it’s like driving a go-kart which has ingested a heavy dose of some kind of illicit substance. With a 5.0-litre V8 petrol engine (345kW and 550Nm) and a super-slick six-speed manual gearbox, the Mustang in Dark Horse is a barrel of laughs to steer around. The Mustang made this list because it’s a shedload of fun. Price: $98,017 (MSRP)

There are some states where the very existence of unmarked police cars seems almost as illogical as it is cruel, while in others, like Victoria, it’s a surprise that every second vehicle isn’t a cop car in disguise.

What is the fastest P-plate legal car in Australia? There’s no hard and fast winner when it comes to what is the fastest legal p-plate car, as each state has differing rules about what is allowed.

If you want to get your hands on a car that was never sold new in Australia by the manufacturer, there is only one way to get it: you have to import it.

What is the average width of a car? The average width of a car is 1.94 metres. That figure comes from averaging the width of popular vehicle types spanning the Australian new car market. The average width of a small/compact SUV is about 1800mm, the average width of a medium SUV is about 1840mm, the average width of a large SUV is about 1860mm, the average width of an upper large SUV is about 1980mm, the average width of a ute is about 1870mm, and the average width of a US pick-up is about 2300mm. One of the most crucial factors you must take into account when buying a car is whether it will fit in the allocated place in which you plan to park it when it’s not being used – whether that be a resident-only car park, your driveway, garage, car port, etc. And, of course, a vehicle’s width is part of this. So, how wide are cars? Whether you’re buying a hatchback, a sedan, a wagon or a full-size US pick-up, you must know the dimensions of your potential purchase in order to ensure you’re able to safely house it at your home. Car widths differ depending on the vehicle type, for instance a Hyundai i30 (1795mm) is not anywhere near as wide as a Ram 1500 pick-up (2465mm). Note: for the purposes of this yarn, we’re focussing on commercially available mainstream passenger vehicles. So, what is the average width of a car? As the old saying goes: how long’s a piece of string? Read on. The width of different vehicle models within the same realm – hatchbacks, sedans, wagons, SUVs, utes, pick-ups, etc – does not vary as greatly as length may. By its very nature, a motor car has to accommodate at least two seated people across its width. How much do vehicles differ? Not a whole lot, really. Models that occupy the same section of the market will be within 150mm of each other in terms of width. A small urban car, perhaps well suited to a couple or a couple and their labradoodle, will need less people- and cargo-space than a gargantuan, bush-based, horse-trailer-towing US pick-up that regularly carries five people (and two dogs in the tub). So, it’s logical the city runabout vehicle will take up less physical space – and so offer less room – than something like an outback load-lugger. But generally speaking, cars within the same realm – hatchbacks, sedans, wagons, SUVs, utes, pick-ups – will have similar measurements. And remember, a carmaker’s listed vehicle specifications will often include two width measurements: without the wing mirrors extended (which we will use throughout this yarn), and with the wing mirrors extended. Of course there is, and which one you prefer – wider or narrower – mostly boils down to your lifestyle and specific vehicular needs. The main advantage of having a narrow(er) car (hatchback, etc) is its ease of parking in urban areas. For your reference, the minimum dimensions of a small car parking space in Australia (as per the Australian Standard AS 2890) is listed as 2.3 metres wide by 5.0m long. So, there’s that… The main advantage of having a wider car (wagon, van, ute) is the fact that its extra width translates into more interior room and cargo space, meaning (hopefully) more comfort and greater people- and/or cargo-carrying ability. How much do car widths differ by within the same category? Well, I reckon there’s about a maximum 150mm difference between the narrowest and widest in each vehicle type. Reckon I’m incorrect? Good for you. Feel free to push back in the comments section. In Australia we use the metric system of measurement. In this feature, we’ll refer to a car width in millimetres, which is a standard specification measurement in the vehicular world, rather than listing a car width in metres or an average car width in cm or, god forbid, feet. The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) defines selected vehicle types on their footprint (defined as length - mm x width - mm, rounded). This is a more considered way of calculating how much space a vehicle occupies, rather than merely thinking about only its width or length. First up, micro, light or small cars* – we’re talking about vehicles such as Kia Picanto, Suzuki Ignis, Toyota Yaris, Hyundai Kona and the like. (* Micro: “Hatch, sedan or wagon with a footprint < 6300mm”; Light: “Hatch, sedan or wagon with a footprint range 6301-7500mm”; or Small: “Hatch, sedan or wagon with a footprint range 7501-8300mm”, according to the FCAI.) The narrow Picanto is listed as “from 1595mm” across, according to our dimension experts here at carsguide.com.au. The wide-for-a-small-car VW Polo is listed as having a width “from 1751mm”, by the CG mob. CarsGuide has listed the Subaru Impreza width as “from 1775mm” wide, and the Ford Focus is listed as “from 1825mm" wide. The average width of a small SUV (with a length - mm x width - mm less than 8100mm) in this part of the vehicular market, according to CarsGuide measurement experts, falls somewhere between 1760mm wide (Kia Stonic) and 1819mm wide (Volkswagen T-Roc). Let’s jump to medium SUVs – (with a FCAI-defined footprint of 8101mm-8800mm) – which includes vehicles such as Kia Sportage, Mazda CX-5, Mitsubishi Outlander, Toyota RAV4, Nissan X-Trail, Volkswagen Tiguan, etc. These vehicles are referred to as “medium” or “mid-size” and may have five or seven seats. The average width of a medium SUV falls somewhere between 1800mm (Mitsubishi Outlander, as listed by CarsGuide) and 1883mm wide (Ford Escape, as listed by CarsGuide). Large SUVs can carry up to seven people; upper large SUVs are able to carry up to eight passengers. The average width of a large SUV (with an FCAI-listed footprint of between 8801mm and 9800mm) such as Toyota Prado, Land Rover Discovery and their ilk, falls somewhere between 1815mm (Mitsubishi Pajero Sport, as noted by CarsGuide) and 2008mm (Land Rover Defender, as noted by CarsGuide). Upper large SUVs have a FCAI-defined footprint bigger than 9801mm. Think 300 Series LandCruiser (“from 1970mm wide”), Hyundai Palisade (“from 1975mm wide”), and Nissan Patrol (“from 1995mm” wide). Utes are classified as light trucks, which are “vehicles designed principally for commercial but may include designs intended for non-commercial applications." They’re available as two-wheel drive (4x2) or four-wheel drive (4x4) vehicles, and as a cab chassis or with a tub at the rear. These vehicles can legally carry up to five people in the cabin, depending on the body type, and have a FCAI-defined footprint of between 9001mm and 9501mm. The average width of a ute available in Australia falls somewhere between 1815mm (Mitsubishi Triton, as listed by CarsGuide) and 1954mm (VW Amarok, as listed by CarsGuide). Pick-ups are like utes on steroids and the availability of these US 'trucks' is no longer restricted to Australia's grey imports market. Pick-ups – we’re talking about the likes of the Ram 1500, the Ram 2500, the Chevrolet Silverado, the Ford F-150, etc – are now available via mainstream distributors.  The average width of these vehicles falls somewhere between 2063mm wide (Chevrolet Silverado, as listed by CarsGuide) and 2630mm wide (Ram 3500, as listed by CarsGuide). If you’re reading this yarn on the CarsGuide website – and not on some dodgy website that’s pilfered our content and is pretending it’s their own – then look up at the menu bar at the top of the page and tap ‘Pricing and Specs’. That will take you, yes, to the ‘Pricing and Specs’ section.  Also, feel free to visit the appropriate car-maker’s website and download any specification sheets that are relevant to your particular choice of vehicle. Make sure you look at the correct make-model-variant details.

Subaru offers a capped-price servicing plan for all of its current models, and it falls under the company’s ownership program known as the Subaru Capped Price Servicing Program.

No doubt, you’ve heard the term JDM. And you’re possibly vaguely aware that it has something to do with Japanese cars. But what does JDM mean in car terms?

Defining what constitutes a ‘sports car’ is a reliably easy way of starting an argument. Some, slightly simplistic folk will insist that it means anything with wheels that’s painted red. Others that having a roof that’s convertible makes the grade. But the simplest definition is that it’s any car that values performance and the thrill of driving over whether or not you have ample space to fit your

Study shows top sellers are not always the most affordable cars to own. One of Australia's cheapest cars is also the most affordable to own and operate -- even though it must use premium unleaded petrol which can cost up to 20 cents a litre more than regular fuel.   The Suzuki Alto hatchback, which starts from just

It looks like we're going to be stuck on our island continent for a little while. Not that it's really a problem because between the exceptional beauty of places like the Victorian High Country and the remote paradises of northern Australia, we have pretty much everything we need for a great escape right here.