Articles by Alistair Kennedy

Alistair Kennedy road tests and reviews the Kia Rio Si with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Alistair Kennedy road tests and reviews the Peugeot 508 at its Australian launch.

Hyundai gave its family-sized Santa Fe SUV an upgrade late in 2014 just in time to chalk up a third straight win in its category of the Australia's Best Car awards. Unfortunately for Hyundai Santa Fe sales for 2014 didn't match the opinion of the judges with it sitting in sixth place in sales in its category. Styling

Regular readers will be aware that one of our constant gripes is that Australian governments of all persuasions are making little or no attempt to encourage us to switch to low-emission vehicles. So the cancellation, in mid-2014, of the previous $2000 federal government grant on private-use LPG vehicles – including this week's test car, the Ford Falcon EcoLPi – while disappointing, should come as no surprise.The change means that buyers must now pay the full $2500 surcharge if they opt for the cleaner burning LPG fuel over the equivalent petrol-fuelled Falcon. Based on previous calculations by Ford Australia it will take about two and a half years to recoup this amount. In the unlikely event of the current low petrol prices continuing for any length of time then it will take even longer.Unless Ford changes its mind and follows the lead of Holden, who have decided to retain the Commodore name post-local production, then this will be the final generation of the Ford Falcon. And a sad day it will be with more than 3.5 million Falcons being sold since its debut in 1960.The EcoLPi is now available in the entry level Falcon and XR6 models with both sedan, cab-chassis and Styleside ute bodies. Our test was in the XR6 sedan.RELATED: 2015 FG X Ford Falcon six-cylinder vs EcoBoostMORE: 2015 FG X Ford Falcon XR8 review | first driveALSO: 2015 Ford Falcon FG X | the story behind the story The most obvious exterior change is the new global Ford signature trapezoidal grille, which to my eyes doesn't work anywhere near as well in the big Falcon as it does in the smaller Fords. There's also a new chiselled headlight treatment and smoother, wraparound tail-lamps with LED technology on high-end models. The EcoLPi XR6 gets daytime running lights where the standard Falcon doesn't.There's little to distinguish it from the petrol XR6The first thing that you'll notice when you get into the EcoLPi Falcon is a delay of a second or so between pressing the start button and the engine firing up. Indeed, apart from the screw-in fuel cap and a slightly smaller boot (down 71 litres to 464 litres) there's little to distinguish it from the petrol XR6. That boot space is helped by the absence of any sort of spare tyre. A repair kit is supplied.The EcoLPi six-cylinder engine generates 198kW and 409Nm at 3250 rpm, marginally higher (by 3kW and 18Nm) than the same engine when operating on 95RON unleaded petrol. EcoLPi's power peaks at 5000 rpm, 1000 revs lower than the petrol, and so can run out of steam a bit early.Fuel consumption from the Ford Falcon EcoLPi is about 25 per cent higher than that for the equivalent six-cylinder petrol model. The 120-litre gas cylinder can only be filled to about 93 litres as space must be left for expansion of the liquid into gas form. In country running the fuel range can be over 700 kilometres, around town this will drop to about 400-500km.The EcoLPi shares a five-star ANCAP safety rating with the whole FG X Falcon range.Official ADR 81/02 testing with EcoLPi on the combined urban/highway cycle produced figures of 12.6L/100km on the EcoLPi XR6. On a 400km round trip to the NSW South Coast we averaged an acceptable 13.6L/100 km.Similarly, CO2 emissions from the EcoLPi are 204g/km compared with 225g/km from the petrol XR6.In addition to the standard safety features both Falcon EcoLPi models get a driver fatigue warning system; reversing camera; front and rear parking sensors; front seat side-thorax airbags; and with its dynamic stability control recalibrated to match the Ford EcoLPi engine, transmission and suspension.The EcoLPi shares a five-star ANCAP safety rating with the whole FG X Falcon range.We found Bluetooth pairing to be frustratingly complex to such an extent that we almost went to the last resort and consulted the owner's handbook!While such things are an annoyance to motoring journos who change cars every week they will easily become second nature to 'real' buyers and Ford's Microsoft-based Sync2 system certainly offers plenty of leading edge technology including emergency assistance and voice commands to control telephone, music, radio, air conditioning and satellite navigation (package option in XR6).The system is accessed through a high-resolution 8-inch colour touch screen with four large colour-coded quadrants. It's easy to use with minimum distraction time.The driving dynamics so much better than any of the SUVsThere's also digital radio, that is if you live in a city.Coming off a succession of SUV road tests we found Falcon slightly more cramped on entry with the steering wheel needing to be set high and the seat low to avoid knee-scraping. Once underway all that was forgotten with the driving dynamics so much better than any of the SUVs. But that's the practicality vs performance trade-off battle that SUVs are clearly winning and contributing to the Falcon's demise.Out on the open road Falcon EcoLPi XR6 is indistinguishable from its petrol-fuelled partner. Its quiet and comfortable when cruising and with excellent turn-in, plenty of rear grip and minimal body roll even under hard cornering.Unlike other alternative fuels, LPG is readily available right across Australia

Alistair Kennedy road tests and reviews the BMW M3 with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Aiden Taylor road tests and reviews the 2015 Kia Sportage Si Premium with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Honda City sits into the space between the Jazz and Civic hatches and acts as a sedan option for both, City has never been a particularly big seller since arriving here in 2009. A $20,000 price tag for that first model certainly didn't help and $4000 was eventually cut to bring to a more realistic price.The latest (second generation) model City, launched here in mid-2014, comes with a range of new features including continuously variable transmission (CVT), a more fuel-efficient engine and a smartphone-based multimedia system; all in a larger but sleeker body.The new City delivers excellent value for money through fuel economy and top-line specification levels, the latter the result of the Japanese manufacturer trawling the world to discover how owners use their vehicles, what they like and dislike, how they live and what are their future plans.A common theme emerged: their reliance on smartphones, which travel with them constantly, hence the truly integrated experience on offer with the new City.The car comes powered by Honda's upgraded 1.5-litre i-VTEC petrol engine in three versions – VTi manual and automatic and VTi-L automatic – coming to market from $15,990 to $21,885, plus on-road costs.The City follows fashion with the sedan curving front to back in a way that copies coupe shapes. The nose-down front emphasises the vehicle width with an aero-style bumper and incorporated air inlets.A strong so-called character line connects front and rear and is distinguishable, says the maker, equally in bright sunlight or cloudy conditions. Flared rear wheel arches add substance to the profile, while the rear lamp clusters are brought together by a chrome licence plate surround.While keeping within the confines of smaller sized sedan models, the City has expanded internally with an extended wheelbase. The spacious interior can seat five adults in relative comfort with significant increases in head, leg and shoulder room over the previous model.At the rear, the already huge boot has got even bigger in size, up 30 litres to a whopping 536-litre capacity. Honda rates it at four in the golf bag scale.Central to the Honda Display Audio system is the seven-inch colour touch screen, centrally located on the dashboard in easy reach of the driver and front-seat passenger.It enables Bluetooth connectivity for Apple and Android smartphones, including audio streaming, plus HDMI audio and video playback, the latter with the vehicle at a standstill and the handbrake on.Display Audio also integrates Apple's Siri reducing the time the driver needs to take eyes off the road. Compatible iPhone users, via Bluetooth, can operate Siri with voice command by holding down the Talk button on the steering wheel.By downloading an app, satellite navigation can be stored on a smartphone as opposed to the hardware of an in-car system. This sets the user free to have a navigation system in the car or elsewhere, providing more mobility.A roomy cabin put occupants at easeThe 1.5-litre SOHC four-cylinder petrol engine carries over from the previous City with power and torque unchanged at 88kW and 145Nm respectively. However, new lightweight technologies and the use of the CVT reduce fuel consumption to a combined city/highway figure of 5.7L/100km.An Eco Assist function helps the driver keep fuel consumption to a minimum by monitoring driving style using the outer ring of the speedometer. A blue light changes to green as fuel efficiency is increased by the driving mode.Further help comes in the shape of an Econ system which is connected at the push of a button. This remaps the drive-by-wire throttle system to maximise fuel economy.Active safety is covered by ABS braking, electronic brake-force distribution, emergency braking, vehicle stability assist with traction control and hill start assist. An emergency stop signal flashes the rear lights under hard braking, warning following drivers.Honda's long established ACE (Advanced Compatibility Engineering) body structure provides occupant protection in a variety of crash conditions, along with six airbags and front seat whiplash mitigating head restraints.A reversing camera is standard in all models and includes three modes: normal, wide, and top-down. Rear parking sensors are a $450 option.It has an impressive list of standard features, many of which are rare in a car of this classA roomy cabin put occupants at ease for the test vehicle take-off, which was smooth enough in Normal mode. However, the engine struggled in Econ under hard acceleration. Up to speed the engine appeared to be holding back, which, of course, it was in a bid to save fuel.Under test the City recorded fuel consumption of 4.5L/100km on the motorway, 10.0L/100km around town. In Econ consumption was 6.8 in the suburbs and, again 4.5 on the open road, so the Econ mode certainly works well.According to Honda, at 536 litres, the new City boot is larger than that of the preceding model (506 litres) and is larger than many large sedans including the Holden Commodore. While that's big enough to take large objects, the boot opening however is not, which makes loading and unloading some objects awkward.When open, the hatch leaves its lower edge in a horizontal position just above eye level. More than once on test the lid was given a nudge by the noggin while dropping stuff into the boot.

Alistair Kennedy road tests and reviews the Jeep Cherokee with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Ewan Kennedy road tests and reviews the 2014 Mitsubishi Lancer ES Sport with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Alistair Kennedy road tests and reviews the BMW i3 at its Australian launch