Articles by Brendan Quirk

The boom has been tipped after recent amendments to the luxury car tax and the introduction of new diesel fuels.The luxury car tax now has a fuel efficient car limit for cars that consume no more than seven litres of fuel per 100km. These green cars would not attract any luxury tax until a new higher threshold of $75,000.For example, the BMW X3 2.0d has dropped from $63,225 to $61,830, as it no longer attracts the luxury car tax.It is expected that the new tax threshold will encourage premium manufacturers, including Mercedes Benz and Audi, to rollout more newdiesel models, especially SUVs.Diesel vehicle sales in Australia have increased by 34 per cent since 2003.Private diesel passenger sales this year have risen 28.4 per cent to 16,376, while non-private passenger diesels are up 86.8 per cent to 12,250.SUV private diesel sales are up 24 per cent to 19,670 and non-private up 40 per cent to 24,780.Sales might have been even higher except that many of the modern frugal diesel engines are not suitable in Australia because our diesel fuel's sulphur content, until recently, could be up to an unacceptable 500 parts per million.By next year it has to be no more than 10parts per million, which is the standard to which BP Ultimate is produced.Oil companies are now starting to supply diesel fuel with the lower sulphur content and claimed improvements in performance and economy. Shell is already selling diesel restricted to less than 10 parts per million of sulphur and other suppliers will have to conform to that standard next year.BP Australia is also releasing BP Ultimate diesel after a successful trial of the fuel in Perth.The new diesel contains anti-foaming agents to stop frothing and smells when filling up. It also has less sulphur, allowing us to use the latest generation of European diesel engines.The BP Ultimate fuel was independently tested, with results showing better economy and fewer pollutants when compared with ordinary BP diesel. It was shown that with ongoing use, Ultimate diesel increased the power output of a passenger car by up to 8.3 per cent (average 2.8 per cent) compared with ordinary diesel.BMW Group Australia managing director Guenther Seemann says tax changes and the lower sulphur content will mean continued high sales of diesels and more diesel models being offered.He says they are now seriously considering bringing in the six-cylinder BMW 330d, with 180kW of power and 520Nm of torque, yet consuming only 6.8L/100km.So far this year 4055 BMW customers opted for a diesel, representing a 65 per cent increase over the same period last year. The proportion of diesel buyers has also grown from 19.6 per cent to 30.6 per cent of all BMW sales.BMW offers nine diesel models in Australia: 1 Series Hatch; 3 Series Sedan; 5 Series Sedan; X3 Sports Activity Vehicle; X5 Sports Activity Vehicle and X6 Sports Activity Coupe.Mercedes-Benz Australia president and CEO, Wolfgang Schrempp, says he expects the upward trend for diesel car sales to grow.Currently about 23 per cent of all Mercedes-Benz cars sold here are diesel and the figure is even greater for the Mercedes-Benz M-class off-roader. “The interest in diesel is not diminishing,” he says.“It's a question of the torque available in these cars. It's changing perceptions.”And Audi Australia have already said they will try to turn a provision in the increased luxury car tax to their advantage when they revamp their A6sedan and wagon range next year. Audi Australia managing director Joerg Hoffmann says they can use the “green” provision in the luxury car tax by having smaller diesel engines than offered in theA6 range: the 2.0 TDI and 2.7 TDI V6.Efficient cars, such as the A4 and A5, with the 3.0 TDI V6, are liable for the LCT only on the cost of the vehicle above $75,000.Volvo has announced that diesel fuel will continue to power its cars into the next decade despite it also having plans for more efficient petrol engines and even hybrids. 

There was a time, not so long ago, when a new car owner had to consult the manual only when they needed to change a rear light bulb or some other awkward minor task. Nowadays the owner's manual stretches to three or four times the number of pages and failure to read anything less than cover-to-cover will mean the owner is probably not using half the bells and whistles fitted to their particular model. Or worse still, is not taking advantage of some safety systems fitted. And motoring journalists are probably not helping them a great deal, especially older drivers, when referring to ABS, EBD, ESP, CVT, EGR, TC, not to mention piezzo injectors, variable nozzle turbochargers and lambda sensors. Many owners are not technically minded and just want the car to accelerate well either with a turbocharger, variable valve timing or variable intake volume. But there are some abbreviations and acronyms that all owners should understand especially when a warning lights up on the dashboard showing a flashing “ABS”. To help, Carsguide has come up with a list of the more common terms and abbreviations seen in road test and specification panels. ABS: Anti lock brake system A computer uses speed sensors on each wheel and applies and releases brakes on any particular wheel or wheels depending on the grip and whether or not that wheel, or wheels, is skidding when the brakes are applied. ABC: Active body control The suspension alters its characteristics to keep body roll to a minimum under hard cornering. ACC: Active cruise control A speed maintenance system in which the driver sets the speed he/she requires. The computer then opens the throttle to reach the set speed or applies the brakes to reduce speed to the set value. Some systems also detect other vehicles and slow the active cruise-controlled car to ensure it does not run into the back of the vehicle in front. A PILLAR The piece of steel on the side of the windscreen going from bonnet line to roof. AWD: All wheel drive A term being used by mainly car makers to show their vehicle distributes power to all four wheels, not just the front or rear pair. CNG: Compressed natural gas Gas emanating from the Earth (usually methane and CO2) compressed and used as a fuel for spark-ignition engines. B PILLAR The piece of steel running from floor to roof between the front and back doors. C PILLAR The piece of steel next to the rear window running from boot line to roof. CETANE RATING This is the “opposite” of octane rating and is used to measure a diesel fuel's ability to burn when injected into air hot from being squeezed or compressed in a very high compression diesel engine. CRUISE CONTROL A speed maintenance system where the computer opens the throttle sufficiently for the car to reach a predetermined speed. Any time the car's speed drops below that predetermined level the computer opens the throttle to reach it again. Normal cruise control does not stop the vehicle exceeding the set speed on steep downhill runs. CV Joint: Constant velocity joint A coupling that allows drive shafts not in the same plane to spin at the same speeds. A CV joint is commonly the coupling between the wheel and the drive shaft from the gearbox on front-wheel-drive cars. It is also known as a universal, the term commonly used to refer to the same device on a rear-wheel-drive car's driveshaft. CVT: Constantly variable transmission Instead of interchangeable toothed steel gears and shafts, the gearbox uses belts and pulleys that change their circumference to alter the ratio of the engine revolutions to the driveshaft revolutions. The ratio between the engine revs and the drive shaft revs then becomes constantly variable. DOHC: Double over head camshafts Camshafts that run across the top of the engine, one for the exhaust valves and one for the inlet valves that work either directly on the valves or on the valves through rocker arms. EBD: Electronic brake force distribution The computer, via wheel sensors, figures out which wheel can take most braking effort without locking up. If the inside wheels were in gravel and the outside wheels on dry tarmac it would probably direct most of the braking force to the outside wheels on the tarmac. EFI: Electronic fuel injection Instead of using a carburettor, fuel is introduced to the engine via injectors either in the inlet manifold just before the inlet valve or directly into the combustion chamber. The timing of the injection and the amount of fuel injected are controlled electronically. EGR: Exhaust gas recirculation Primarily a diesel engine device, cooled exhaust gas is channelled into the intake manifold and goes through the engine again. This cuts down on harmful gases created in the engine's combustion process. ESP: Electronic stability program The computer uses the same wheel sensors as ABS along with some others, and then cuts engine power and applies the brakes selectively in an effort to overcome understeer or oversteer. GPS: Global positioning system (satellite navigation) The GPS computer uses signals from three satellites to determine where the car is and can issue instructions on how to get to another location. DSR: Down hill speed regulation This is mainly on 4WDs. The computer applies the brakes selectively to the four wheels to keep speed below a certain level but without letting any one wheel skid or lock up. HSA: Hill start assist The computer keeps the brakes applied even when the driver has taken their foot off the brake pedal. It can operate for a time, say two seconds, or until the vehicle starts to move forward. This helps to stop rolling back on hills before starting off. BA: Brake assist The computer applies extra pressure to the brake lines having sensed there is an emergency situation. This means the brakes work more quickly and powerfully even if the driver fails to put in maximum effort on the brake pedal. LAMBDA PROBE This is a device set into an engine exhaust pipe to measure the amount of oxygen in the exhaust gas. Too much oxygen means the engine's fuel injection system is running the engine too lean which uses less fuel but creates more harmful exhaust emissions. Too little oxygen means the engine is running rich, good for power but also poor for emissions and fuel economy. LPG: Liquified petroleum gas Gases found with crude oil, mainly butane and propane but including others, which when highly compressed turn into a liquid which is then used as fuel in spark ignition engines. LSD: Limited slip differential A differential which allows one of the two driven wheels to turn only a limited amount before its stationary opposite number is also forced to turn. In a limited slip diff, both wheels will eventually turn or spin regardless of the amount of traction each wheel can achieve. In a non-limited slip diff it is possible for just one of the two wheels to spin continuously while the opposite number remains stationary. Limited slip diffs are found more commonly on high-performance cars where they give more precise control of the car. MPI/MPFI: Multi point injection/multi point fuel injection Used to describe a fuel rationing system where the fuel is injected individually into each inlet port or cylinder rather than one constant injection into a common manifold linking all cylinders. OCTANE Petrol in Australia is commonly rated 91, 95, and 98 octane. This is not a measure of the energy in a litre of petrol but is a measure of the petrol's resistance to exploding (detonating or knocking and undesirable) rather than burning (desirable) in an engine. A high-octane petrol means it resists exploding when compressed in an engine much better than a low octane petrol. But a car with a high compression ratio makes more power than a car with a low compression engine so 98 octane fuel is needed for high performance, high compression engines if they are to give their best. OVERSTEER The back of the vehicle slides out when cornering. PIEZO INJECTOR A (relatively) new type of fuel injector for engines which is almost infinitely controllable, meaning the engine management computer can vary a fuel injection cycle not only to deliver a certain amount of fuel but can spread it out over a number of “squirts” or injections. This is especially helpful for diesel engines which benefit in less noise, less emissions and more power if the fuel injection is spread over a number of mini injections. UNDERSTEER The front wheels are turned left or right but the vehicle goes straight ahead, “scrubbing” or “pushing” the front tyres across the pavement. TC/TCS: Traction control system The computer applies the brakes to individual wheels, and/or throttles back the engine, to overcome spinning wheels on slick surfaces. In 4WD vehicles it may distribute the power in varying amounts to front or back wheels or even individual wheels. TORQUE Torque is a twisting force. It is the force created by a spinning engine that tries to keep the engine spinning when other forces are trying to slow it down. Torque is the force that governs how quickly cars accelerate. HORSEPOWER/KILOWATTS: Horsepower is a measurement of the engine's ability to do work. It takes a certain amount of horsepower to move a car weighing a certain amount at a certain speed. One horsepower is the equivalent of 550 foot-pounds per second, or the energy required to lift one pound 550 feet every second or 550lbs one foot every second. In the metric system one horsepower is equivalent to 745 watts or 0.745 of a kilowatt. TURBO LAG The time between the accelerator being pushed and the exhaust gases building up enough volume and velocity to effectively spin the turbine in the turbocharger. The time taken between pushing on the accelerator and having the engine produce effective torque or power. VVT: Variable valve timing The opening and closing of the inlet and exhaust valves in relation to the position of the piston in the bore, can be changed while the engine is running. “Mild” valve timing means good cylinder filling with air and fuel at low engine revs and good smooth power while “wild” valve timing at high engine revs means more power as the engine reaches its maximum speed. Variable nozzle turbochargers Turbochargers rely on certain pressures, and amounts, of exhaust gas to work efficiently. Variable nozzle turbos can work efficiently over a much greater range of pressure and quantity than fixed nozzle turbos. A variable nozzle turbo will therefore have much less turbo lag and will start forcing air into the engine (and consequently more fuel, which equals power) at much lower engine revolutions than a fixed nozzle turbo.  

New British sportscar manufacturer Jetstream has broken into the lightweight sportscar market with its SC250. The mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive road-legal two seater SC250 is now in production after completing an extensive testing program, following the unveiling of the prototype at the Autosport International Show at Birmingham's NEC in January. Jetstream's Ricky Swan said the company is looking at having the new vehicle built in Australia under licence, but no firm arrangements had yet been made. Lurking under the engine cover of the SC250 is the same 2-litre Ecotec Turbo Twin-Cam 16-valve powerplant and six-speed transmission that appears in the Vauxhall Astra VXR, producing 186kW (250bhp) as standard. The engine can be run on either unleaded or bio-ethanol, the latter fuel increasing performance by around 10 per cent. With the SC250 weighing in at 700kg a power to weight ratio of an impressive 3.7kg/kW is achieved, propelling the car from 0-96km/h in under 4 seconds and to a maximum speed of 265km/h. A quarter of a mile run from a standing start takes just 11.8 seconds. The car's torque is also impressive, with 320Nm @ 2400rpm. A combined unleaded fuel use of 7.5L/100km also reflects the car's light weight. Computers played a massive role in the design of the Jetstream. There was extensive use of advanced CAD (Computer Aided Design) and CAS (Computer Aided Simulation) software. Then 3D modelling was used within the SolidWorks package and this was then stress analysed using the Cosmos software program. Simulation software was then used to create any driving situation Jetstream wanted and crucially was used to compare the SC250's performance against rival cars. The resulting data meant Jetstream could predict accurate reactions when the prototype was built. At the beginning of 2008, the SC250 began extensive physical testing — at venues including Donington Park and Dunsfold Park circuits — to ensure the dynamics, handling and reliability of the car were as predicted. The testing was successful and ensured the car would be ready for production. The extreme styling of the SC250 was penned originally by Brian Rossi, formerly of Ford, who was responsible for designs such as the Retro Ford Thunderbird launched in 2002. The revolutionary and functional look was created to be as aerodynamic as possible to balance grip, traction and straight-line speed. The radical hard edges and flat surfaces make the SC250 stand out strongly against its rivals. The lightweight, hand produced composite body is coupled to an aluminium monocoque chassis with steel sub-frames front and rear. Side impact safety is aided by the honeycomb monocoque side panels that also benefit the cars' rigidity by eliminating any flexing of the structure. Both front and rear suspension consist of unequal length wishbones with fixed coil over shocks supplied by Netherlands-based Intrax, the company owned by Henk Thuis who was formerly Michael Schumacher's suspension guru at Benetton F1. Stopping power comes from a Tilton twin brake system featuring balance bar bias adjustment and ventilated 285mm front discs, with 278mm rear discs and standard General Motors calipers. Lightweight 16 inch alloy wheels on the front and 17 inch on the rear from Team Dynamics are coupled with Toyo Proxes tyres. Road legal track tyres are available as an option. The engine management system is controlled by an Emerald ECU and includes two settings — Standard (general road use) and Sports (track). The 12 paint colours available, ranging from Cornish Gold to Rossi Red, are exclusive to Jetstream and are produced at MIPA's laboratory in Germany. Cars are now being built at Jetstream Sportscars' production headquarters in Cornwall and take six to eight weeks to build, with timing depending on each customer's specifications. Jetstream plans to manufacture 50 cars over the next year, with an uprated 225kW version planned for early 2009. Price is pound stg. 29,495 (about $62,000) on the road and includes among its options a gull wing style door hard top.  

The mid-engined Mastretta MXT sportscar — the first car designed and built in Mexico — is capable of 240km/h and does 0-100km/h in less than five seconds.

You can rant and rave all you like about gas-guzzling V8s and big cars.But you only have to ride in one for a week to realise why those who can afford them love them so much.Take, for instance, Holden Special Vehicle's Grange. Suspension, brakes and engine, along with a few body bits, have been targeted for work that makes the Grange only slightly less plush than a Caprice in the ride department but which turns the Grange into a real wolf in sheep's clothing.On the one hand, you have the plush leather interior, all mod cons, bells and whistles and amazing passenger space and on the other, the HSV 6.2-litre Chev V8 that becomes, if you stick your boot into it and leave the pedal to the metal, a snarling rocket ably backed up by uprated brakes and suspension. If you happen to be taking two persons of the female persuasion to the airport for a long trip with their copious amounts of luggage, don't worry. The Grange boot gobbles up almost anything you can throw at it and even allowing for a long-legged teenager in the front passenger seat, there is still enough room in the back to hold a party. Well, almost.It is not until you get in a car like the Statesman or Grange that you realise just how compact even larger European and Japanese cars really are.The Grange, with luxurious leather seats, DVD screens in the back of the front seat headrests and room to really stretch out, lends itself to back-seat passengers.In fact they can have almost as much fun as the driver.DRIVINGwhile it still has claims as a limo, the Grange is really a driver's car. Treat the throttle gently and it moves along with just the merest hint of a burble from the four exhaust pipes. And keep the suspension on plush rather than sport and you could be in a Caprice.If the red mist descends and the road ahead is winding and empty, the six-speed auto becomes a tiptronic, the magnetic ride control stiffens up the suspension and lots of throttle produces lots of acceleration and noise.While the Grange is not in the sportscar handling category, it does get round corners remarkably well, the big fat tyres hanging on and the stiffened suspension keeping the bulky car, 1.94 tonnes, on track. If you keep the ESP on, and there is no valid reason for turning it off on public roads, there will eventually be a little bit of oversteer before the electronic guardian angel decides enough is enough and pulls the pin on a few cylinders.Those dirty big brakes also come to the party. Given they have to deal with more than two tonnes if there are a couple of people on board, they perform predictably with good progressive pedal feel. Perhaps a race track may stress them more but in normal road work they performed faultlessly.When it comes to getting from corner to corner, 6.2-litres of Chevrolet V8 does the job as well as anything, as you might expect when 317kW (440bhp) is put to work, work that will eventually see it hit 250km/h if you can find a track with a decent straight.Between induction noise and exhaust burble, you know you are making those cubic inches earn their keep. In fact, that V8 symphony is a bit of a tease and the urge to hear it can often overcome the urge to keep a clean licence.The Chevrolet symphony should only be played when those in the car are the only ones listening to it.What about finish and fit?Is it as good as the European efforts? By and large yes. There is precious little noise in the cabin and most of that is from the tyres and varies with the road surface. The biggest indictment of the test car cabin was perhaps that the front passenger's glovebox popped open under some particularly vigorous cornering on a rough surface.That, of course, may well have been due to the fact it was not shut firmly in the first place.GM claims a combined (urban/highway) fuel consumption figure of 15litres/100km.On the open road at a steady cruising speed the big US donk sipped anything between 8-11 litres/100km depending on the surface and gradient and if you booted it around town the figures became little short of frightening.Anyone keen to equal or better the claimed figure would need a light foot and disdain for that delightful Chevrolet symphony.Apart from the HSV go fast bits, the Caprice already comes with almost everything designed to pamper, including: fixed-front seats cup holders and rear seat pop out cup holders, airconditioning with individual climate control for each front occupant and a rear seat climate control, power windows front and back, speed proportional power steering, four-wheel ABS, electronic traction control via ABS and engine management, a 10-speaker Bose stereo system, DVD/VCD with display screens on dash (only when stationary) and backs of front seats, cruise control, trip computer displaying average speed, average fuel consumption, instantaneous fuel consumption and range for remaining fuel, smart key, including central locking, memory seat adjustments and radio settings, just to mention a few.HSV WM GrangePRICE: $84,690ENGINE: 6.2-litre LS3 aluminium alloy 90 degree OHV V8, cross-flow heads, twin knock control sensors compression 10.9:1.103.2 mm bore, 92.0 mm stroke,POWER: 317kW @ 6000rpmTORQUE: 550Nm @ 4600rpmFUEL: PULP, 73 litres 14.5 litres/100km (claimed combined) Using 95RON (PULP) or lower will not cause any problems, but will result in slightly less engine performance and economy.BRAKES: Front: 365mm ventilated discs. Four piston calipers Rear: 350mm ventilated discs. Four piston calipersTRANSMISSION: 6-speed Automatic Transmission with active select Limited Slip Differential with HSV specific ratio Sports Suspension with MRC Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Brake force Distribution (EBD), Electronic Brake Assist (EBA), Traction Control System (TCS)WHEELS/TYRES: 19" x 8" front alloy wheel with 245/40 R19 98Y full size spare 19" x 9.5" rear alloy wheel with 275/35 R19 96Y

Mazda has started public road trials of its advanced safety vehicle, the Mazda ASV-4, as many of the world's major car manufacturers work towards eliminating life-threatening incidents on the roads. The new system uses vehicle-to-vehicle communications in a program to alert drivers of the presence of oncoming vehicles at blind intersections or being driven on twisting roads where visibility is limited. By reducing driver error, the company hopes the new technology can lessen the severity of — or even eliminate — two-vehicle collisions at blind intersections, rear-end collisions and accidents when a vehicle is turning right. Testing of the two-vehicle blind collision avoidance system has already started. Also, road trials of the right-turn and rear-end collision avoidance systems will begin later this year. The trials, now into their fourth phase, are based on the Japanese Government's Advanced Safety Vehicle promotion plan, a program which has been designed to promote the development, practical application and wider use of ASV technologies to reduce the number of traffic accidents. The ASV project was launched by the Japanese government in 1991 as part of a drive to make the nation's roads safer. The initiative was then expanded to include all domestic motor vehicles. Test results from phase one to phase three have already resulted in the successful development by Mazda of various advanced safety technologies. These include a rear vehicle monitoring system which can detect vehicles approaching from behind at highway speeds, and Mazda's Pre-crash Safety System. This system uses milliwave radar to monitor the presence of oncoming obstacles. It then alerts the driver and automatically applies the brakes if necessary. The project's fourth phase started in 2006 and is due to finish in 2010.  

Reilly is in Australia for a series of meetings and had good and bad news when interviewed this week.He said the strength of the Aussie dollar meant local component suppliers were having trouble clinching export orders, something essential if Australia was to keep a viable manufacturing base.Holden's manufacturing plants were working at near-capacity with nearly 50 per cent of production being exported, but component suppliers had to have other outlets if they were to stay profitable.“We need a supply network that can provide us with competitive quotes on components,” he said.Quite a few component suppliers have gone to the wall recently.“Obviously that's a concern. The exchange rate is not helping them. If they are going to be competitive, generally speaking, they will need some export business as well.”He said as far as Australia was concerned the Commodore was here to stay, at least in the short and mid-term. HSV would continue to build big V8 performance cars although there was every chance there would be fewer of them in the future; and he admitted GM had been caught short by Toyota's successful sales push and the market's acceptance of a small hybrid Prius.In GM's case, he said, hybrids would almost certainly be first seen in large cars rather than smaller ones because it was where the biggest fuel and emission savings could be made.He said GM had not been idle when it came to alternative means of vehicle propulsion citing GM hybrid systems in buses and large SUVs, and the fact that the Volt, an all-electric GM car, will go on sale globally in 2010.Hybrids, he said, made sense environmentally but not economically, and he stressed GM was not putting all its eggs in the hybrid basket. Liquefied petroleum gas, compressed natural gas, fuels with 85 per cent ethanol and diesel all had a part to play when it came to alternatives.He said there was every chance a hybrid Commodore would appear at the same time as a diesel-powered version, though neither of those options was likely for a couple of years.He said the market segments in Australia had changed rapidly which had not helped the large car. “We are looking at offering a different portfolio (of vehicles) which we have already started to do. We don't have to change the manufacturing because we are now up to nearly 50 per cent being exported,” he said.His faith in the large car was reinforced by sales figures for Buick.“The growth in top-end large luxury cars in China is huge. We sell, now, more Buicks in China than we do in the US,” he said. “The same in India. But these markets do have segments that are emerging that are low priced. You have to be able to compete . . . and that is a change for GM.” 

The American badge’s latest offering — the ZR1 — has power to burn.

Up to five Queensland road deaths a year could be averted if European-style road signs were adopted, according to local distributors of the signposts. The sign poles, made by Lattix in Norway, are designed to break off at the base on impact from any angle. Peter Hawthorne, Lattix manager for the ASP Group, said overseas statistics demonstrated that Lattix sign poles were far safer than the traditional tubular pole. “There are more than 30,000 Lattix posts in Norway and the UK,” Mr Hawthorne said. “There have been more than 100 recorded crashes into Lattix posts and there has never been a death or serious injury.” Between 2001 and 2005, 16 people died on Queensland roads as a result of hitting some sort of post. Five died in 2004 alone. Most posts used in Queensland are “slip base” tubular poles where the pole is supposed to come away cleanly from the base. However, Mr Hawthorne said, in many cases the pole was not torn cleanly from its base plate in an accident because the bolts were too tight or the pole was hit from the wrong angle. The Lattix system was developed by Norwegian Kim Heglund and is designed to come off its base, no matter from which angle it is hit. A Main Roads Department spokesman said designs for all sign supports had to comply with the department's safety standards. Mr Hawthorne said Lattix had not submitted a tender because Main Roads stipulated it wanted slip base supports. “Lattix is not a slip base support, it is an energy-absorbent post so we hadn't even thought to (tender),” he said. “We will submit prices next time though. We may even try to get energy absorbent posts put in as a separate category to slip base posts.” Mr Hawthorne said there was probably an increase in cost when using Lattix poles over slip base poles but the increase was marginal. Overseas crash test evidence shows a steel pole will severely damage a small car driven into it at 70km/h, while a Lattix pole shears off at ground level a fraction of a second after impact, causing minimal damage to the car. There is a Lattix post system in use in Queensland, erected at the expense of the ASP Group, local distributors of the system, at Exit 142 of the Bruce Highway at Deception Bay Road. There is another at the Kilcoy exit. The European Road Assessment Program (EuroRAP) found that more than 60 per cent of road deaths in the UK occur on roads outside built-up areas, particularly on single carriageways. Last year, 300 people in the UK were killed or seriously injured in collisions with traffic signs and signal posts. The rigidity of most roadside posts in the UK means even a European five-star safety rated car cannot protect its occupants adequately. Lattix posts are designed to be forgiving when struck by vehicles at speeds of more than 80km/h.  

The Golf TDI Hybrid uses a diesel engine returning 3.35 litres/100km and 89g/km of CO2. The hybrid combines an advanced diesel engine with an electric motor and the latest generation of seven-speed DSG gearbox. Around town, the Golf TDI Hybrid reverts to purely electric mode to be emission-free. At the core of the new Golf is a highly efficient 1.2-litre three-cylinder common rail TDI diesel engine developing 100kW and 180Nm of torque. Working either in tandem with the diesel engine or, if required, on its own, is an electric motor developing 20kW and 140Nm of torque. The electric motor also replaces the conventional starter motor and alternator to save weight and improve packaging. It can also operate as a generator, recovering kinetic energy from the car during braking to charge the 220-volt, 45kg nickel metal hydride battery which has a capacity of 1.4kW hours. In practice, the electric motor powers the vehicle from standstill with the diesel engine only engaging should additional acceleration be required or at higher speeds. In these situations the diesel engine takes over with the electric motor only working if required to supplement the combustion engine – for example, during overtaking manoeuvres. When at a standstill the diesel engine shuts down completely to conserve fuel and increase efficiency. Drive on the concept car is channelled through the new seven-speed DSG twin-clutch gearbox. This features a pair of dry clutches as opposed to wet (lubricated) clutches and sets a new energy efficiency standard for automatic gearboxes. Visual changes which differentiate the Golf TDI Hybrid include a new grille design, smaller front air intakes to reduce aerodynamic drag and subtle TDI-Hybrid badging. The Golf TDI Hybrid also sits lower than the standard Golf on revised suspension and adopts the front splitter from the Golf GTI Edition 30 to help further reduce aerodynamic drag. The interior further distinguishes the Golf TDI Hybrid from the conventional vehicle. The Golf TDI Hybrid is a concept vehicle, but a version is likely to go into production in the future. This study follows the recent launch of the efficient new Golf BlueMotion. Adopting an optimised 1.9-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine linked to a revised gearbox and more efficient aerodynamics the Golf BlueMotion can achieve a combined 4.4 litres/100km, while emitting just 119g/km of CO2, meaning it will be exempt from the London Congestion Charge from October 27 onwards.