Luxury Reviews

When I say this is a rare review, I’m talking about the kind of rare that means you can’t even buy the car you’re reading about. In Australia, there are only 22 Audi RS6 Avant GTs. A couple of days to live with one should reveal how special this car feels, and result in at least one example of the rarity being driven good and proper.

It takes a brave carmaker to launch a new sedan variant into the market, given Australia’s obsession with SUVs.Kudos to Audi for expanding its A3 small sedan and hatch line-up with a new grade that sits at the top of the tree, before you get into S3 and RS3 performance car territory.The key difference with this new grade - called the A3 TFSI quattro 150kW S line - is an upgrade from the 1.5-litre mild hybrid petrol unit found in the A3 35TFSI, to a punchy 150kW four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine.You also get an extra helping of standard gear, different wheel designs and more premium options.The new TFSI 150kW grade is offered in Sportback hatch guise for $62,800, before on-road costs, and the sedan we tested from $65,800.Focusing on the sedan, that price is an $8000 bump from the entry-grade 35TFSI. On the flipside, it represents a $16,000 saving compared with the spicy S3 sedan, and you get a nice dollop of performance with the 150kW engine. More on that later.If you’re considering other small premium sedans, there are really only two - the BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe in 220 M Sport guise at $63,400 and the Mercedes-Benz A250 4Matic from $75,400. However, Mercedes recently dropped the A-Class sedan from its line-up so you’d be looking at whatever’s left in dealer stock.The Audi is $2400 dearer than the BMW. Their performance figures are similar, although the Audi gets 20Nm more torque and it’s one second quicker to 100km/h. Standard gear wise they line up pretty well.Equipment highlights include 18-inch alloy wheels, S line styling, keyless entry and start, heated electric folding, auto-dimming exterior mirrors, heated front seats, power-adjustable front seats, three-zone air-con, ‘MMI navigation plus’, digital radio, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 10-speaker audio and a solid list of standard safety gear.Our test car came fitted with a panoramic sunroof ($2000), metallic paint ($1350), black exterior styling package ($1200) and the 'Premium plus package' ($1990) that adds a head-up display, privacy glass and Sonos sound system. That brings the price to $72,340.The current-generation Audi A3 landed in Australia in early 2022 but it benefited from a mid-life facelift in early 2025.Whether you opt for a sedan or hatch will depend on your own preferences and needs. I prefer the hatch design but the sedan tested here is handsome, if a little conservative. The optional black exterior styling package adds a sinister vibe. It’s sleek enough and the current Audi lighting design looks good, but it’s not breaking any rules.The A3’s interior is a mixed bag. The leather-appointed front sports seats look schmick and offer excellent support and comfort, while the three-spoke ‘S’ perforated leather steering wheel looks and feels perfect.I’m not sold on Audi’s current interior design. Angling the multimedia and central controls towards the driver is a good thing, but it creates this pointy centre element to the dash that results in a feeling of being hemmed in as a front passenger. The air vents have an appealing shape but there’s a lack of cohesion to the overall layout.The console design is functional with two cupholders, a small central bin, wireless charger and two USB-C ports, but the electronic park brake lives on a different panel to the gear shifter. BMW’s current set-up of having everything housed in the same section feels more considered.Audi gets a massive tick for keeping physical controls and buttons. The air-conditioning controls are housed conveniently just under the central screen and they are easy to use. Below that are buttons for hazard lights, the 'Drive Select' drive modes, auto parking and the idle stop function. Thank goodness you don’t have to trawl through a series of sub-menus to turn that off.The 10.1-inch multimedia screen looks small by today’s standards, but the system is mostly logical and easy to navigate. When Apple CarPlay is active, the Apple menu is displayed on the right of the screen, next to Audi’s in-house menu. It doesn’t take much to accidentally press the far right screen and end up in the wrong menu.Audi’s 12.3-inch ‘Virtual cockpit’ digital driver display is excellent and has for many years been one of the best in the business.One final gripe from the driver’s seat is the cruise control stalk on the steering column. It feels like an afterthought and it’s hard to see. Surely those controls would fit on the steering wheel?Rear-seat legroom is decent without being generous and there’s more than enough headroom for this 183cm (6.0') tall reviewer. Space across is okay but you wouldn’t want three adults back there.There are two more USB-C ports in the rear plus adjustable lower air vents and two map pockets. A fold-down centre armrest features two cupholders, while only narrow bottles will fit in the rear doors.The boot can swallow 425 litres and that increases when you lower the 40/20/40 split-fold rear seats. The boot is long but has a high floor. There’s a temporary spare wheel hiding under that floor.On the road is where the little Audi sedan shines. For the most part.The new grade is powered by VW Group’s excellent 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine delivering 150kW of power and 320Nm of torque. It’s paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch auto transmission and drives all four wheels via Audi’s 'quattro' all-wheel drive set-up.There’s a lot to like about this powertrain, including the engine note. It sounds pitch perfect when pushed.Turbo lag is evident on take off and sometimes it’s more noticeable than others. But when you accelerate already on the move, it picks up speed rapidly. It’s so responsive.Sure, it’s not as punchy as an S3 or RS3, but for a non-performance grade, this 150kW A3 is plenty quick.Steering response is excellent. The A3 changes direction without hesitation, which is something of an Audi trait.The brakes are strong and the seven-speed transmission changes gears at just the right moment, although if you switch from 'Comfort' to 'Dynamic' mode, the transmission occasionally holds gears a little too long.Dynamic mode also improves response and makes the engine note a little shoutier.The A3 150kW TFSI sedan offers loads of grip which comes in handy in corners. It remains flat in tight bends and feels infinitely chuckable.The payoff is the ride quality which is firm, meaning you feel potholes, road joins and everything in between. It’s not busy, however. And it’s not so sharp that it’s a turnoff. Simply something to be aware of if you value comfort above all else.The grippy but low-profile Nexen 225/40/R18 tyres are partly to blame for this, as is the sportier suspension tune.It’s not the quietest cabin with some exterior noise like coarse chip road surfaces making their presence felt.On the plus side, the advanced driver assist tech is unobtrusive for the most part.My final fuel economy figure according to the trip computer was 7.7 litres per 100km, which is more than the 6.6L/100km official claim. In fairness, I could’ve reduced that figure if the A3 wasn’t so much fun to drive.

The recently launched Lexus NX 450h+ Luxury PHEV is a stylish mid-size prestige SUV, but does it have the right mix of features and performance to keep the popular NX range at the head of the pack?

Like a few brands lately, Polestar made waves when it arrived in Australia, but has since struggled to capitalise on the original hype.One of its issues is that it arrived with just the one product, the Tesla Model 3-rivalling Polestar 2, which seemed inherently limited in how well it could do.But the brand has fleshed-out its range now with the sporty Polestar 3 mid-size SUV, and the car we’re looking at for this review - the Polestar 4. Does it have what it takes to keep building this premium challenger brand in an increasingly tough landscape? Let’s find out.First up, what exactly is the Polestar 4? The Swedish brand pitches this EV up as a direct rival to the new electric Porsche Macan, but one glance at the pictures and you might have noticed that this car isn’t an SUV.After driving it, I find the assertion that the Polestar 4 is some kind of ‘crossover’ even harder to believe. Really it’s a slightly pumped-up segment-bender which is definitely closer to an executive sedan than a standard mid-size SUV. Then again, its long roof and high bootline make it feel like some sort of coupe.I am all for this. SUVs are a dime a dozen, and cars like this with genuinely interesting proportions are hard to come by. Plus, as I’ll explore later, it has benefits when it comes to actually driving it.We also have to talk about the rear window. The Polestar 4 doesn’t have one, instead forcing you to rely on a digital rear vision mirror. You get used to it but it never seems to make up for the missing depth perception a real mirror provides.How much does the Polestar 4 cost? The car we're driving is my pick of the range. It’s a Long Range Single Motor with the pricey (but worth it) Plus Pack.The Long Range is, in fact, the base car, starting at $78,500 before on-roads, while the Plus pack adds a further $8000 of kit bringing the total to $86,500.Once you’ve ticked the boxes to get to this point, Polestar tries to tempt you into a Dual Motor - which doubles your power (from 200kW to 400kW) for $88,350 - but don’t go for it. Once you add the missing items, you’re at almost $100,000 and at that price this car makes a bit less sense.Having said that, the Polestar 4 impresses compared to rivals. The aforementioned Porsche Macan EV starts from a whopping $129,800 while only offering slightly more power and range. Based on the segment-bending design of the Polestar 4, I’d also consider its closest rivals to be the BMW i4 (eDrive 35 - $88,000), Mercedes-Benz EQE (300 - $136,600), or perhaps even the equally strange Hyundai Ioniq 6 in specced-up Epiq guise ($82,000). Interestingly all of those options offer similarly long driving ranges, but it certainly makes the value case for the Polestar and its 620km WLTP range evident.Standard kit at this money is fine, you get the recycled(ish) interior trim, big screens, big wheels, ambient lighting - basically the lot - but it’s worth splurging for the Plus Pack because you just get so many luxurious and convenient additions it makes it hard to say no.Sure there’s the (very good) Harmon Kardon audio system, but you also score the fancy illuminated door trims, cool-looking light grey contrast trims, high-end LED headlights, auto-dimming exterior mirrors, tri-zone climate, additional power adjustments for the front seats, a heated steering wheel and heated seats, as well as 22kW(!) AC charging capability.I mean, come on. I know they ‘get you’ with it - the Plus should have been its own trim level, but seriously, if I was already spending this much I’d be ticking that box.Maybe the real sell is this car's driving range, though. The Polestar 4 can travel ridiculously far on a single charge. It feels nearly akin to just driving a petrol car. In my time with the car covering a significant distance, I was always impressed with how much range was left every time I turned it on.I even took to charging it like I use a petrol car - just once every week or two as required. Thankfully, despite its enormous battery, it also charges relatively quickly. The maximum charging speed of 200kW should see the Polestar 4 charge from 10 to 80 per cent in around half an hour, but on the more prolific 150kW charging stations, I was seeing around 40 minutes.The 22kW AC charging rate available on the Plus Pack is a rare addition - only a handful of cars in Australia can do this. Unfortunately, there are fewer chargers that can, which makes this more of a future-proofing feature.Of the WLTP-claimed 620km range, my car was reporting closer to 590km in the real world according to my back-of-the-napkin numbers. With this much driving range you won’t notice the small deficit. I scored 16.4kWh/100km of energy consumption, which is not bad for a car this size.Here's some food for thought on the battery front though: Polestar claims to be the sustainability brand, and yet this car seems emblematic of the brand’s mission butting heads with its need to be a luxury automaker.Sure, a 100kWh battery gives it an enviable driving range, and the brand publishes a quite thorough emissions report which claims that the Polestar 4 is more carbon efficient than a combustion car or even a plug in hybrid (if you go by BMW’s similar emissions report for its 530e, for example).My issue with this is that 100kWh could be three or four plug-in hybrids instead of one Polestar 4. Which of those two options will theoretically remove more carbon from the atmosphere over 20 years? The maths kind of speaks for itself.The Polestar 4 is very nice to drive, giving off big luxury sedan vibes rather than the occasionally overbearing nature of some SUVs in this class. As you sit comparatively low in it, it hides the weight of the batteries well, and its 200kW motor provides plenty of immediate thrust while not being as overwhelming as, for example, the Tesla Model 3 Performance.So it’s a better tourer than a lot of EVs in my opinion. It’s also pretty quiet on the open road, and the attention to detail in the driver feedback and inputs is as European as they come, whether it's the sleek steering feel, or the smoothly integrated regenerative braking. Not too much, not too little.The ride is also relatively plush, offering a degree higher comfort than we’re usually used to from EVs with batteries this big. It’s not perfect though, and some terrain can catch it off-guard, making you feel the heft for a harsh moment.Still, it’s an impressive machine which manages to avoid the extremes.A final note on the ownership piece for this car. Polestar offers a five year and unlimited kilometre warranty with matching roadside assist, which is only really okay these days. However, it will cost you nothing to service the car for those first five years or 100,000km, which is pretty compelling, especially when combined with potentially ultra-low running costs from a home solar system.

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