Adventure Reviews

It's as simple as the same problem with humans - overpopulation.Last year, 54 million vehicles left global factories. That adds to the estimated 600 million vehicles on the roads. Even with attrition, the vehicle population is trending steeply upwards. Cars dominate cities. It is estimated that many large cities have about one-third of their area dedicated to carparks.How do those cars get to those carparks? By new roadways. And as roads become more effective at moving traffic, carmakers make more cars and citizens buy the cars because the roads are so good. Well, for a while.Car makers are acutely aware of the need to offer efficient cars. They stretch every conceiveable law of physics to make new cars that are more fuel efficient, less polluting and safer than their previous model.More power is sought from smaller engines, more high-tech fabrics and materials are employed to reduce weight and more cunning tricks are devised to avoid accidents and protect car occupants and even pedestrians.Even manufacturing techniques have been honed to deliver more cars in less time and factories have spread to outposts - in fact, of the 196 countries, 37 now have car plants.So think about this. How is the planet physically accommodating an exctra 54 milion vehicles that reach our roads each year? How long did it take you to get to work this morning compared with five years ago?The issue is that car makers won't reduce the number of cars they make. They have a business and they're more interested in maintaining profits that getting you to work 10 minutes quicker.Integration is the key to reducing congestion but there are social and economic stumbling blocks. The car has become a status symbol as third world countries expand in population and wealth. Trouble could brew if governments suddenly reject the notion that citizens - who have yearned and possibly scrimped for a car - are legally allowed to buy a car.Car plants are typically in densely populated areas, both to provide a ready sales market and supply a labour force. Reduce the output of cars and unemployment, with all its downsides attached, could change the economy of the country.   The answer is self policing. If it becomes to hard to drive to work, too difficult to find parking and too expensive to refuel the car, then options are sought. The over population of vehicles can be an easier problem to solve than the over population of humans.

"We like football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars.'' Those of a certain age might recall this ad jingle of the 1970s. Enduringly irritating though it is, it also has undeniable sociological significance. It bespeaks a long vanished era when football never meant a round ball, takeaway cusine was somewhat limited, Skippy was still on in the arvo and the foreign car makers who'd set up shop here could flog their wares behind a vast rampart of tarriffs. Much has changed. Ford and Holden have long since ceased to leave quality control to their customers and the Australian car market is the world's most over populated and competitive with some 230 models on sales. Which is why forking over $275 million of taxpayer money for Holden to keep producing its cars here is a gambit that's wide open to question. As Australian-made cars are outsold by those from not only Japan, but also Korea and Thailand, it's incumbent upon the two American and one Japanese carmaker still present to make cars that are world's best practice. Sorry, but they don't. Ford kind of gets a pass. The obituaries for the Falcon and the Terrritory are ready to run when Detroit pulls the plug on Broadmeadows in the next few years.The Blue Oval will then follow the path of Mitsubishi to being a successful full importer.Sufficiently incentivised, as I read someone in the business pages say, Toyota has agreed to keep bolting Camrys together in Melbourne. The hybrid version is a sound family car, though hardly compelling. Which brings us to General Motors Holden.We can ignore the Commodore because you do and it's surely going to be replaced by some generic GM-derived world car. It's from such as these that the rest of the Holden's family car line-up is derived and none of them are anywhere near the top of their respective segments. The best of them is the Cruze, which has been adapted for, and is bolted together in, Australia. It is a thoroughly decent device, but tellingly, in today's edition of Carsguide, it is omitted from a comparison of the leading small cars. As worthy as it is in some versions, there are still four or five better small cars than the Cruze. Yet it's for the production of this car that Holden are subsidised by you and I. Whatever your position on local carmaking, surely our $275 million should buy a class leading car. Will the next Holdens make that grade? I'd like to hope so, but on Holden's current form, I very much doubt it.

Pure Profile Research polled 2500 drivers in January for NRMA Insurance and found one in three Australian drivers used their mobile phone illegally, with an increasing number using the phone to update their Facebook or Twitter status.NRMA Insurance spokesperson Adele Buhagiar says the results are concerning, as they show drivers are still putting themselves at increased risk of a collision, despite the safety warnings."The research shows that our appetite for technology extends to while we are driving, with one in four admitting that they are updating their status or tweeting while at the wheel," she says. "This is up from one in 10 last year.Of those who admitted to illegally using their mobile phone while driving, the study found the majority (85 per cent) are making phone calls.It also found 69 per cent send or read texts and emails; 35 per cent use applications for checking the weather forecast or news headlines; and 38 per cent take photos with their phones."We were surprised to see that people are even risking taking photos while driving. Losing focus while behind the wheel, even if it is only for a split second, may cause the worst to happen," says Ms Buhagiar.It is illegal to drive a vehicle while using a hand-held mobile phone for any purpose, with fines in each state of several hundred dollars and three demerit points.Ms Buhagiar urges drivers to be alert on the roads and to pull over if they needed to make a call or send a message.The study found that of people driving, there are:88 per cent making phone calls68 per cent texting and reading emails40 per cent using applications – e.g. checking the weather or news38 per cent taking photos25 per cent using social media

Destroy everything in your path - that’s the main aim of Ridge Racer Unbounded, judging by the exhilarating video game trailer.Following on from the previous Ridge Racer games, Unbounded encourages players to crash their cars into opponents - or really, into everything.Crashing through the scenery opens up new shortcuts through the game, and … well, just looks like fun. Ridge Racer Unbounded was set to be released earlier this month, but publishers Namco Bandai announced it was delaying the release until later this year.The deadline extension is to allow the developers more time to add extra features that “will truly make the game sing”. The game will be launched for PS3, Xbox 360 and as the first game for the Microsoft Windows platform.The Entertainment Software Rating Board has given it a Teen rating, meaning it is recommended for ages 13 and over.Titles in this category may contain violence, suggestive themes, crude humour, minimal blood, simulated gambling, and/or infrequent use of strong language, the ESRB says.You have been warned. Check out some of the game’s destructible environments in the video trailer.

Got to look on the bright side though and there has been a silver lining in a lousy week to use Sydney's rank, inadequate road system.(And ain't it great to see Bob Carr - who did so much to make this happen - back in government?) It's this: The absence of cyclists. This staggers me.According to the Lycra lovers of the cycle lobby and treadly spruikers such as Clover Moore (whose inept chunk of social engineering - that cycle track - is never used in any weather), Sydney is the coming city of the cycle.Never mind that Moore's notion of Sydney extends no further west than Annandale. To hear this crowd propagandise, the lot of us are throwing a leg over and pedalling like happy little burghers of Copenhagen (which Moore fondly imagines Sydney to be).So where the bloody hell were you all week? Three guesses: On trains, in buses and driving. In other words, making like any sensible Sydneysider at any time.We're told ad nauseam by the spokesmen, "Two wheels good, four wheels bad''; that those with bums on saddles and feet on pedals are truly the righteous and those who use motorised means to get about this fevered city are agents of Satan.Yet all it's taken to make the hi-vis vest fundamentalists fade from view is the mild displeasure of the very Mother Nature at whose breast this crowd claims to suckle.You can laugh at these self-righteous tossers for living on another planet (as if, on a bicycle, you can get kids to separate schools and self to work, then to shops before after-care closes).But, really, how weak are they cowering from a spot of drizzle? Why aren't they out there causing their usual chaos with the sense of entitlement that enables them to flout road rules, hog transit lanes and force  busloads of commuters  to travel at their pace? Cyclists, welcome to the real world.

Not from everyone, you understand. Not even from most of you. It is, after all, our very purpose in life to shine clarity on these murky waters, to be a pillar of logic in what is the biggest purchasing decision most of us make, after our home.It is a privilege and a pleasure to help. If our reviews somehow leave you in any doubt, feel free to call for more advice any time during business hours. So what am I on about? I'm on about the minority for whom this question is rhetorical, those who will ask: ''What do you think of BRAND X?'' when what they mean is: ''Clearly I've already bought this box of spanners; now tell me how great it is and/or how hot I look in it.''After a few years you learn to spot this sort of thing coming and deflect the demand with a mild ''I'd really rather not say''. Or ''Please, not while there are children present,'' or ''Look! Over there!'' and execute the quiet sneak. (This works more often than you might imagine.)The fact of it is people don't want to hear bad stuff about their cars. They take it incredibly badly. They take it, not altogether unreasonably, as a personal slight.Well, too bloody bad. That is, may I repeat, what we're here for. That said, I do kind of get it when owners of Lancers with continuously variable transmissions complain about me comparing the CVT drone to the voice of Eric ''Oz Car Affair'' Abetz.In retrospect this was a cruel thing to say about a very sound car that I've personally recommended to several readers.Of course, there are some people who simply can't be helped. According to the FCAI, three people bought Saabs in February.Not even the new but stupidly overpriced 9-5 but the rattly relic chunk of nineties-stalgia, the 9-3. I'd love them to ask what I think.

Tata has unveiled the tiny Megapixel technology concept at Geneva motor show.Based on the Pixel concept that starred for the Indian carmaker at Geneva last year, the Megapixel is a pointer to the brand’s future styling and a speculator of future technology features.The 3.5-metre microcar is powered by four independent electric motors – one in each wheel – which combine to give a very muscular 369 Nm of torque, but doesn’t get it much past 100km/h.The quad motor set allows the wheels to steer and turn separately when parking, so you can spin the car in its own footprint. Tata calls the function the Zero Turn, saying the Megapixel can execute a 2.8-metre radius.The motors are powered by a 13kWh lithium-ion phosphate battery pack, which recharges through a wireless induction system - you park the car over the charging mat and walk away.A full charge gives you 85km of driving, but a petrol-fuelled generator onboard recharge on the move to extend the range to 900km – with a claimed fuel economy of 1.0-litre per 100km and an astonishing emissions count of just 22g/km (about a quarter of the Toyota Prius).The dashboard features a smartphone dock linked to a touchscreen interface that also controls airconditioning, audio and other features. The four doors swing and slide out of the way along the car body to wipe out parking lot pressure instead of the next-door car’s paintwork, and with no central pillar there’s easy access for even a man-sized body into the Megapixel’s micro body.Will it go into production? Unlikely. But what’s on the cards is seeing some of those features developed on future cars as congestion and emissions pressure increases.

Smartphones and other electronic assistants have moved beyond being merely ubiquitous and are now firmly into the 'necessity of life' category.In fact, a scientifically-conducted poll of people aged under 30 in the Carsguide office revealed that 68.7 per cent of them would rather lose a kidney than their mobile device, 37.4 per cent would happily rather lose a lung, and 22.3 per cent would rather lose both lungs.We may have made those figures up, but you get the picture about how attached we are to our mobile connections. Mercedes-Benz gets the picture too, so they're introducing technology to ensure that the devices can be fully linked into the car's infotainment system.The first mobile to get the treatment is the Apple iPhone, which Mercedes-Benz has now "integrated comprehensively into the user experience concept of the new A-Class" - or in non-market speak, has linked the iPhone to the car's systems.A "Digital DriveStyle App' and Drive Kit Plus hardware are the key, and mean drivers can access all their iPhones through the in-vehicle display, 'mousing' through with controller on the centre armrest.Operating through cloud-based software, the features include advanced navigation functions, personalised internet radio, the ability to post and share updates and music with text-to-speech.The star technology is Siri 'intelligent' voice recognition - which presumably can hold its own in conversations about the fourth state of matter, the possible existence of god and the location of the nearest Starbucks.There is also a Car Finder that stores the car's location. Which sounds useful for those caffeine-withdrawal days when you wander dazed in the carpark with an outstretched keyfob... clicking... clicking... clicking.But what we really wanted in the car was a Phone Finder that will store the mobile's location. Now that's what we call a feature!

Reports of the big Australian-built car’s death are – as Twain quipped – an exaggeration, or at least grossly premature.But there’s no denying the patient has gone from just looking a bit poorly to possibly needing palliative care.Read full story

It’s highly annoying when recounting a tale of woe, pouring your heart out and shaking your fist, only to hear an unsympathetic someone crow: "That’s nothing, mate … blah, blah, blah … my neck’s bigger than yours."So when I hear Australians complaining about how other Australians drive, I tend just to nod my head rather than thicken my neck.I tend not to mention the past 10 years sharing asphalt with the Italians, for whom the speed of light is considered conservative, in the wet, in reverse, in their driveways.That’s not to suggest I haven’t seen daredevil tactics in Oz. Despite the recent ‘good news’ about 2011 registering the lowest number of road deaths since 1946, we still have our share of hoons, road rage and drink-driving are still a problem, and if I had a dollar for every P-plater I saw texting while driving…It’s as though they think you can steer with a smartphone. Perhaps one day you’ll be able to, if Darwinism extends to gadgets. Compared with what I have seen – and somehow survived – overseas, however, Aussie motorists must be the most considerate on the planet. After a decade of dodgems in Europe, I find myself wanting to hug them for their ability to share a street, to indicate their intentions, to stop at traffic lights, to honk horns as a last resort rather than at the first hint of inconvenience. It feels nice to be overcome rather than overtaken.Driving in Italy, on the other hand, should be sponsored by Red Bull. I’ve flown aerobatic aircraft, sky-dived, white-water rafted and been to the dentist, but by far the most frightening thing I’ve ever done is drive a car in Italy.The first time I attempted this extreme sport was in Palermo – the chaotic capital of Sicily. If the average Sydneysider could spend five seconds driving in Palermo they would never complain about the M5 or King Georges Road again, presuming they lived to compare.I swerved rather than drove through Palermo. Cars were five abreast on what would have been a three-lane road if anyone had bothered to paint lines on it. STOP signs were suggestions, red lights as optional as milk in coffee, and zebra crossings less an aid for pedestrians than for emergency crews in search of their bodies.And that was on a Sunday morning! Most mortals were in church, which is where I headed afterwards to confess to being scared of these good Catholics but bad drivers.While Palermo is particularly perilous, it is indicative of much of a country that loses about 5000 people a year on its bloodstained bitumen. Why so many? Let’s start with STOP signs, which, unfortunately, many Italians do without giving way to anything other than their inner Schumacher. In southern Italy, STOP signs referee many intersections. Some are so faded it is only their octagonal shape which reminds of their disciplinary role. They are like mistletoe – an optional obligation to be observed or ignored depending on advantage. Unfortunately, too many motorists chose the latter, often resulting in a metallic sound.Zebra crossings are a waste of perfectly good white paint. Most are faded and ignored, much like the pedestrians who brave them. At a crossing in Australia you can pretty much count on traffic stopping and allowing you safe passage. In Italy you can pretty much count on being overlooked until you die of old age.A great way to diet would be to place a chocolate cake on the far end of an Italian zebra crossing. Try as you might, you will NEVER eat the cake. I once stopped for an elderly woman at an Italian pedestrian crossing and she was so gobsmacked she curtsied and blew me a kiss. I hope she wasn’t trying to diet.Apart from a few multi-lane labyrinths, roundabouts in Australia are relatively uncomplicated. In Europe, however, they can be terrifying and were well portrayed in National Lampoon’s European Vacation, when Chevy Chase and his frustrated family spent almost an entire day in the grips of one. "Look, kids – Big Ben, Houses of Parliament. Look, kids – Big Ben, Houses of parliament…".That was London – things are still pretty straightforward there. But cross to The Continent and it is survival of the fittest, and often the fastest, though "survival" is a poor choice of word when 39,000 people died on European roads in 2008 alone.Despite our own road toll, low but still tragically high, Australian roads are safer than those of many overseas countries thanks – on the whole – to our respect for other motorists and for speed limits.This extends to taxi drivers. I often hear Australians complain about cabbies but until you’ve had a white-knuckle ride in a cab in Cairo, Mumbai or Rio de Janeiro, you can let go of that door handle.A taxi driver in New York once offered me a joint! I didn’t inhale. In fact I didn’t breathe at all until we somehow arrived at JFK. I think the plane back to Europe travelled more slowly than that taxi.Back in Italy, if you do manage to make an accident-free trip from A to B, the danger isn’t over until you’ve parked at C. Italians own more cars a head of population than any other country in Europe. Their love of the automobile is famous, less so their squabbles over parking them all in a country that has more cathedrals than car parks.A man in Naples murdered his neighbour over a parking dispute. While in Sicily two 70-year-old men bit each other’s ears off over who was entitled to 3m of asphalt. Apparently they took the matter to court but couldn’t hear the judge deliver his verdict.Everyone’s grievances are relevant to their environment and complaining about bad driving in Australia is often justified. Yet compared with many overseas countries, as in a variety of departments, in my experience Australia is streets ahead.Chris Harrison writes a regular humour column for News Limited. And so far has managed to survive that.