28 April 2021 by Byron Mathioudakis
Suzuki invented the modern compact SUV. It’s funny how quickly people forget. Yes, the pioneering Vitara of 1988 rode on a ladder-frame chassis so was not car based, but it was successful enough to show the way for others to follow. Chiefly, Toyota , with the seminal Corolla-derived first-gen RAV4...Read more
23 April 2021 by Peter Anderson
When you look at a Lexus LX, you see a distinct resemblance to a Toyota LandCruiser. That’s understandable given that, fundamentally, the Lexus LX is a comprehensively gussied-up Toyota LandCruiser. Built to put the luxury brand into the large SUV game , and taking advantage of Toyota's huge...Read more
23 April 2021 by Peter Anderson
Hyundai's Kona has already had a well-documented facelift, with a considerable amount of sleek applied to its distinctive Citroen-esque visage. The updates weren't restricted to the sheet metal, of course, with some reworking of the range itself, some mechanical changes and updates and interior...Read more
22 April 2021 by Byron Mathioudakis
Since 2007, the i30 has consistently been Hyundai’s best model. A car so focused on being an amiable Volkswagen Golf alternative, it’s even been co-developed in Germany. As such, over three distinct generations, there’s never been a dud version. This was hammered home by the sheer brilliance of...Read more
13 April 2021 by Tom White
The seven-seat SUV’s rise in popularity makes sense. SUVs are on trend, a lot of them now look fantastic, and many of them are as good around town as they are on the freeway, or when sent on some light off-roading duties. This has had a side effect of shrinking the people-mover market. Now seen as...Read more
6 April 2021 by Byron Mathioudakis
The Hyundai Venue has a direct lineage to the very first Korean car to be sold in Australia, the original Excel of 1986. Beneath that boxy body and tiny wheels is the latest overseas-market Accent , also known variously as the Verna, Super Pony and – you've guessed it – Excel in previous iterations...Read more
31 March 2021 by Peter Anderson
One must maintain several affections in one's life, I think that's fair. I don't mean that in the life-partner sense, that would get me blamed for marriage breakdowns. But then, as a motoring journalist, you do sometimes wonder if your recommendations send a few relationships over the edge. What I...Read more
19 March 2021 by Peter Anderson
People in Australia are very unkind about the Skoda brand for reasons that are mired in a history long since past. The brand has formidable backing in the VW Group, which means it has access to an astonishing range of goodies while being able to maintain a Euro-car identity with price-tags closer...Read more
11 March 2021 by Richard Berry
The Hyundai Kona is a little SUV, which might seem a perfect choice for the tight streets and microscopic parking spaces in an urban setting. So, adding a tough-looking body kit, sports suspension and a more powerful engine would mean the Kona N Line is not just the right fit but fun, too, right?...Read more
8 March 2021 by Stephen Corby
Buying a Subaru station wagon has long been definitively a good idea, but - much like buying wine from Costco or a tattoo from a man dressed as a clown - it has come with a few asterisks. Subaru has always had a few issues with design, almost as if they had a fight at a party once and just don’t...Read more
8 March 2021 by Peter Anderson
As surely as night follows day, when there's a new Kia in a new segment, we're told we probably won't be getting it. Those lucky Europeans and then some months (this time years, as it turns out) later, we find out that actually we are getting it. Not because Kia's Australian arm doesn't want the...Read more
8 March 2021 by Byron Mathioudakis
There’s an expectation that the smaller a car is, the cheaper it ought to be. This is no waterproof assumption, of course, as nobody expects an Alpine A110 – a tiny coupe that’s towered over by the related Renault Megane RS Trophy from $54K – to cost less. It’s actually twice the price. And why not...Read more
2 March 2021 by Byron Mathioudakis
For a tiny SUV, the Mazda CX-3 is big on numbers. It’s one of the few SUVs starting from under $25,000. It’s the second most-popular SUV when you combine both the Light (where it leads) and Small SUV segments . And it is currently the fifth-oldest car-based crossover on sale in Australia, after the...Read more
1 March 2021 by Tom White
Ford’s new Puma is more than just a quaint little SUV with a cool big-cat name. It’s part of a renewed push by the blue oval to be seen as more than just the Ranger and Mustang brand. If there’s any type of car that can help Ford along in its mission, it’s a light SUV . The segment is booming with...Read more
1 March 2021 by Justin Hilliard
It wasn’t that long ago that the Mazda3 small car was the best-selling passenger vehicle in Australia, so it goes without saying an SUV version would sell like hotcakes. Well, we got the CX-3 light SUV instead, with it based on the Mazda2 hatchback , and needless to say, it wasn’t quite the right...Read more
1 March 2021 by Matt Campbell
The Hyundai i30 is better known as a hatchback, but the brand has recently added a sedan variant to its ranks. That’s nothing new. For years there has been an i30-sized small sedan known as the Elantra , but now the brand gets to bundle both sales figures under one nameplate, while also allowing...Read more
24 February 2021 by Byron Mathioudakis
What is a Stonic? Is it meant to evoke Audi’s S-tronic? The Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver? Or a gin and tonic – on the rocks of course, as we’re talking about a crossover? Kidding aside, Kia’s smallest-ever SUV’s name is a portmanteau of ‘speedy’ and ‘tonic’, which begs the question: Is the Mazda CX-3...Read more
17 February 2021 by Byron Mathioudakis
FEW cars have been as complicated or controversial as this current-generation Mazda3. Launched in early 2019, it would have garnered stellar reviews if Mazda hadn’t decided to ditch the base Neo and kick things off instead with the mid-spec Pure. Consequently, the price of entry jumped by $4500,...Read more
9 February 2021 by Byron Mathioudakis
ONE of the great motoring successes of the past decade has been the Mercedes-Benz GLA, catapulting the brand to unparalleled prominence in the premium small SUV field and kicking off the posh little coupe-hatch crossover craze. Cynics might say that it is essentially a jumped-up A-Class hatchback,...Read more
9 February 2021 by Tung Nguyen
Sorry to break it to you, but Australia has fallen out of love with the humble hatchback. Instead, we’re all going gaga for SUVs, and nowhere is this more hotly contested than the small SUV space. In a sign of the times, Mazda has come out with the box-fresh CX-30 , a new model designed to appeal...Read more