Articles by Brendan Quirk

If a minor collision sets off all 12 airbags in a 7 Series BMW it could well be written off.Not because of the crash damage but because of the cost of replacing the airbag and seatbelt systems.An Airbag Mobile Reset Service spokesman said the cost of replacing the airbags, the damaged trim and replacing the pre-tension seatbelts on a 7 Series could easily amount between $30,000 and $40,000. “I know of BMWs in Sydney that have been written off because of this cost,” the spokesman said.Airbags are in the news as Australian road-safety campaigns are expanded, but British road safety group, the Guild of Experienced Motorists (GEM), says many people had no idea what happens when airbags deploy or the dangers the bags pose if occupants are unaware of their presence or operation.GEM Motoring Assist says the airbag is a great safety feature and used in conjunction with a seatbelt can often prevent serious injury. But GEM boss David Williams says unless people have experience of the quick-inflating devices, drivers and passengers could panic in a crash.GEM member Matt Day described his first experience of an airbag deploying when he and his wife were involved in a crash.“We were thankful for the extremely fast deployment of the airbags,” Day said. “They seem to have deflated again before I realised they had inflated. What's more, the seatbelts did their job and we didn't get thrown forward.”Day said that when the airbags inflated his car filled with smoke from the mini-explosion, which was necessary to deploy them.“I could sense the car filling rapidly with smoke and my initial reaction was to get out. I screamed at my wife to get out, too.”Day's reaction is typical but based on a lack of knowledge.The airbags are inflated by a small explosion and white smoke or fine powder often fills the car because the airbags have a big hole in the base to allow gases to escape.“The airbag has inflated and is already letting the air out of the big hole usually before the driver or passenger has hit them,” the AMRS spokesman says. “At the same time in most modern cars an explosive charge has gone off down by the seat where the seatbelt is mounted at the base of the seat. This pulls the seatbelt tight. So there can be lots of noise and the smell of burning which often frightens people.”Airbag Mobile Reset Service website warns of airbag dangers.“Airbags inflate in a fraction of a second and with great force. This means if the front-seat occupants of the car are not properly seated and strapped in with seatbelts or are obstructing an airbag compartment with part of their body, they may be injured. There have been reports in the US of children sitting in the front seat or lying in a rear-facing child restraint mounted in the front seat being crushed to death by airbags in low-speed accidents, which they might have otherwise survived."“According to the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority, it is common practice to carry small children in the front seat in the US and Europe. In Australia they're generally in the back because our child restraints usually can't be fitted in the front seat. As long as this doesn't change we shouldn't have the same problem with children being injured."“However, Australian adults still need to be cautious — there have been reports in the US of airbags causing bruises, broken arms, eye damage and adult fatalities."“But they do save lives. Despite the occasional problems, airbags in most cases do prevent serious injury and save lives. For example, General Motors Holden says there has been a 'dramatic' reduction in facial, head and chest injuries to occupants of airbag-equipped Commodores involved in accidents.“The US-based Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has also compared driver deaths in airbag-equipped cars with cars without airbags. The research found there were 23 per cent fewer deaths in airbag-equipped cars involved in frontal and front-angled crashes.”Have you had any problems with your airbags? Let us know by filling out the bottom field. 

Denigrators of the Porsche Boxster S will be inclined to ask how the big Beetle goes.They refer to the fact Germany's Ferdinand Porsche designed the original Volkswagen, or “people's car,” for Hitler before moving on to less controversial pastures, postwar, when Porsche cars became noticeable on German autobahns.It is true the first Porsche cars looked very much like a tarted-up VW Beetle and both the Boxsters and 911s still display their genetic base in their looks.But the Boxster S is to a VW Beetle as an FA-18 is to a Cessna 150.The S is a bit of a worry for a road tester. At the redline, 7000rpm, in third gear with three more to go, it is going fast enough to get you an instant off-the-road dangerous driving ticket. And it sticks to the road, even in the wet, like a limpet on a rock.In other words if you want to find its limits, or anything near them, you will have to take it on to a racetrack or find a deserted road out the back of Nerang. As if you were on a racetrack. There are any number of cars in similar vein but the Porsche Boxster S, with its transverse engine situated just behind you, howls to be let loose. In fact it howls when it is let loose and you get all that induction noise and exhaust beat in your ear.And the moment you get in, the game is given away by the optional sports wheel.Here is a device used solely for its original purpose, to steer the car. There are no stereo controls, no cruise controls, no shift paddles. Just a steering wheel.Then the placement of the pedals also tells a story. The accelerator is set high enough off the floor for easy heel-and-toeing as you come, post haste, into a corner with the ball of the foot on the brake pedal and the heel on the accelerator.But that is not to say this car is purely a racetrack machine. The variable induction manifold combined with the variable valve timing and lift means at low revs, 1200rpm or so, the flat-six is still very tractable. It pulls well, almost irrespective of the gear selected, and unless you have redlined it a couple of times you have no idea just what a snarling tiger resides behind your shoulder.The seats reinforce the impression of a performance car. As one passenger said, you feel like you're going fast just sitting in the stationary car with backside only millimetres from the ground and stiff bolsters planting you firmly in the middle of the seat.Porsche clearly had in mind lithe, agile, youthful, contortionists rather than fat old geezers when they designed the car. Seatbelts can be almost impossible to find without dislocating the spine, and sliding down into the driver's seat with the top up is a far easier proposition than squeezing in with it down.The soft top flies in the face of trendier hard top convertibles but it works well. Release the locking lever above the rear vision mirror and, providing you are not doing more than 50km/h, the top comes up or goes down in about 20 seconds with a touch of the button in the central divider. And it is the massive, low-profile run-flat tyres that generate the vast majority of the cabin noise rather than any wind noise coming from, or through, the soft top. The Boxster S gains from the fact it was designed as a convertible and the body was suitably stiff right from the start rather than ending up as a reinforced chassis chasing torsional stiffness.Turbulence in the cabin, with the top down, is almost negligible thanks to a reasonably high windscreen, low seats and a glass partition between the built-in roll bars.Brakes, at first, are less than impressive. A fair amount of pedal pressure is needed but as speeds and use increases they come into their own. The clutch pedal is on the heavy rather than light side but, given the power and torque being transmitted, that is hardly surprising.Dash is mainly analogue apart from some digital displays including a handy large size readout of current speed which is hard to determine from the smallish speedo which reads up to 300km/h.Dominating the dash is a large analogue rev counter. Once again, given the nature of the beast, it's not unexpected.Cabin is black soft plastic dash and carpets with black leather seats, and aluminium bits and bobs. Pedals are alloy-faced, gear lever knob is large and solid, and the six-speed gearbox can only be described as a delight to use.The steering is power assisted but heavy and is not keen to self-centre after full-lock turns.While it is heavy, this becomes reassuring as speeds increase.The most annoying thing about the S was the Porsche sound system with Bose speakers. The system has intelligent volume control. It is supposed to lift the volume as cabin noise increases and lower it as speed and noise decreases.But it could not make up its mind, often boosting volume as the car came to a halt at traffic lights.Driver and passenger are surrounded by airbags (head, side, thorax and front).In keeping with the best German tradition you can virtually double the price of your Boxster with an all-encompassing list of options, not least of which is ceramic disc brakes and fully electric seats.Comfort is a bit subjective in this car. Rough roads will give you a rough ride and those 40 per cent profile run flats are as unforgiving as a spurned wife.But then who buys a Porsche Boxster S for comfort? Performance is what it is about and that's what the S delivers.The price of a standard Boxster S is $134,600.Options fitted to the Test Car were:19-inch Carrera Sport alloy wheels $6340; aluminium finish for gear knob and handbrake $2790; Bose high-end sound system $1990; metallic paint $1890; sports seats $1690; Porsche Park Assist $1090.Price as tested: $150,390.   PORSCHE BOXSTER SPrice: $150,390 (as tested)Engine: A masterpiece. Tractable and with good torque down low and a delight to hear when at 7000rpm.Transmission: Clutch is a little on the heavy side but manageable and six-speed box is a slick changer.Economy: Not its strong point but it can be driven with conservation in mind. Flog it and you'll pay at the bowserHandling: Exemplary. A little understeer or oversteer can be provoked even with the PSM system in an overseer role but it corners tenaciously even when the surface is wet.Safety: It has all the electronic whizz-bangs such as ABS and stability control as well as airbags all over the shop.Ride: Harsh and unforgiving but that's the other side of the excellent handling coin.Brakes: The harder they are worked the better they like it.Value: Two-year-old standard S models sell for about $115,000 so retained value appears to be reasonable.Body: Soft-top convertible, two-door, two-seat roadster; aluminium hardtop available as an option.Engine: 3387cc flat six-cylinder aluminium engine with four overhead camshafts; four valves a cylinder; variable valve timing and lift, switching intake manifold; electronic engine management for ignition and fuel injection; sequential multipoint fuel injection, bore x stroke (mm): 96 x 78; compression 11.1:1Power: 217kW @ 6250 rpm.Torque: 340Nm @ 4400-6000rpm.Fuel: 64 litres, PULP 98 octane, city 15.3L/100km, rural 7.8L/100km; combined 10.6L/100km (claimed); 11.8L/100km (as tested).Transmission: six-speed manual.Suspension: Front and rear axle with spring struts (optimised by Porsche) with spring strut-guided wheels suspended independently on track control and longitudinal arms; spring struts with inner damper; twin-sleeve gas pressure dampers.Brakes: Twin-circuit brake system with one circuit on the front; one circuit on the rear wheels; four-piston aluminium monobloc brake calipers; cross-drilled, inner-vented brake discs measuring 318mm x 28 mm (front) 299 x 24 mm (rear).Safety: Porsche Stability Management including ABS, EBD etc.Wheels and tyres: front 8J x 19, 235/40 ZR 19, rear 9 J x 19 265/40 ZR 19.Weight: 1355kg.Dimensions (mm): 4329 (l) 1801 (w) 1292 (h) 2415 (w'base).Top speed: 272km/h 0-100km/h 5.4sec; 0-160km/h 11.8sec.CO2 emissions: 254g/km.Verdict:For: Exhilarating performance, tenacious handling.Against: Insuring it, getting in and out.Boxster history1996 The first Boxster (986) was built in late 1996 as a 1997 model, the first year they were sold. It had a naturally aspirated 2.5-litre flat six-cylinder engine producing 150kW.2000 The first Boxster S appeared with a 3.2-litre engine.2005 A restyled Boxster (987) appears.2007 Boxster and Boxster S get new powerplants originally used in the Cayman series. Boxster engine out to 2.7 litres and S engine grows to 3.4 litres. Engine powering the S now produces 220kW.The Porsche Boxster name derives from its “box”er engine, an engine in which the pistons travel horizontally rather than vertically and road”ster,” the name given to a two-door convertible.

Kia Motors, revelling in a 12.7 per cent year-on-year increase in global sales, is set to attack the Australian market in the next year with several new vehicles.

IT IS hard to be over critical of a Toyota.The Japanese car maker turns out well-made, highly reliable, moderately priced motorcars designed primarily as urban or rural family transport. You have only to look at Toyota sales figures to realise they are very good at what they do.Perhaps the most strident criticism of Toyotas in the past could be that on average, they were staid, unexciting and did not particularly like being pushed out of their comfort zones. But bear in mind most of them are staid because they are family cars and the vast majority of them are never, and will never be, pushed outside the zone.Excitement while driving is the last thing on Dad's mind. So staid is as much a compliment as it is a criticism.A car for the family — certainly. A car for the enthusiast — not usually.But there is now an Australian-made Toyota on the road that does not deserve the staid handle.In fact anyone who described it as staid clearly wouldn't know what they were talking about. It is the 241kw, 400Nm Toyota Aurion TRD, TRD standing for Toyota Racing Development.Basically TRD have taken a family car that was already producing respectable power, bolted on a supercharger, some big wheels and tyres, adjusted the suspension and brakes and added a few mild body kit bits. The result is the most powerful front-wheel-drive production car in the world.Toyota insist this is not a muscle car in the vein of the R8 Clubsport HSV Commodore or Ford equivalent. It is a more subtle refined package a la Mazda6 MPS.But when it is all boiled down this is a supercharged, go-fast car despite what Toyota say about it not being all about performance but rather the overall package. Toyota Racing Development engineered it, after all, and any car that gets from standstill to 100km/h in near enough to six seconds is a high-performance machine.As tested, the SL TRD with moonroof and sat nav tipped the scales at $67,452. Now that is a reasonable amount out of anyone's wallet, especially when you consider you can get a V8 Berlina for $45,290, a V8 Calais for $59,290, a Ford FPV 5.4 GT for $62,460 or an HSV Clubsport R8 for $64,890.If sat nav and a moonroof is not your cup of tea you can get the SL for $61,500 or the S with no leather seats, no dual climate control air conditioning and with a few less bells and whistles for $56,990.So on the basis of those prices for those cars, with similar (or better) performance, it is hard to make a value-for-money case for the Aurion TRD. True, you do get Toyota finish and quality which can be hard to beat.And yes the TRD is far more refined and subtle as a performance package. Inside, it is impossible to hear any exhaust note or any supercharger whine. There is just this feeling of being thrust back forcefully in your seat.Feeding all that torque through the front wheels has to eventually make itself felt through the steering wheel. If it is wet, or the car is making a left turn up hill from a standing start, for instance, and the loud pedal is getting a flogging, the wheel will buck a little in the driver's hands. But it is not overpowering and many less powerful cars have much more torque steer than the TRD.Those 235 Dunlop Sportmaxx low-profile tyres do a pretty good job of hanging on but with all the power and most of the braking reaching the tarmac through the front wheels, tyre life would have to be minimal.In fact it requires a light right foot to get the TRD off the mark without any chirping or slipping from the front.The brakes are nothing short of superb, at least on the road and in the wet; smooth powerful and progressive with no disconcerting grab at initial application.The six-speed transmission is seamless and smooth and has no trouble coping with the 400Nm of torque. It is not trying to second guess the driver and sequential changes can be made (backwards and forwards) with the gear selector in Sport mode. The electrically adjustable leather seats are comfortable with good side support given the high centrifugal forces created if the driving is spirited.The dash is simple yet appealing, there is keyless ignition yet no dash light adjustment. The sat nav screen, like that in the recently tested RAV4, is a work of art, swivelling down to allow access to the CD player and slot for the sat nav compact disc.Everything fits well and the vast majority of noise in the cabin comes from the 35 per cent low-profile tyres as differing road surfaces can attest.The ride is a little stiff and unforgiving but most of that appears to be a side effect of the low-profile tyres as much as stiff suspension.TRD have done a good job of turning the Aurion into a wolf in sheep's clothing.Perhaps the major question is whether the cost of the trick comes a little high.The other question is why those exhaust ports in the rear diffuser that get filthy thanks to exhaust pipes which finish 80cm further back?Ford XR6 drivers, those behind the wheel of Commodore SV6s and even Ford and Holden V8 drivers will consider it a surprising, even if not cheap, trick if they come up against one in the traffic light drags.

Toyota's Rav4 has been regarded as a more than serviceable compact SUV for a number of years.It has been endowed with most of the Toyota virtues including excellent finish and good reliability.But it has never been regarded as a little flier, or as an SUV not to be taken lightly at the traffic lights.That is until now.Toyota, in their infinite wisdom, decided to re-invent the RAV4 by shoe-horning the 3.5 litre, 201kW, V6 engine from various other products including the Aurion and Kluger, into the RAV4's engine bay.Needless to say the addition of 75 more kilowatts to the RAV's get up and go department has transformed the SUV, a bit like an intensive course of steroids.The vehicle on test was the ZR6, the top-of-the-range RAV with leather heated seats, dual climate control airconditioning and most of the top-end features such as sat nav that you would expect to find in a top of the range Toyota. But on this subject it was more than a little bit strange to find it did not have any trip computer.Fuel usage, range and so on was not available. Could this possibly be due to the fact the 3.5 litre Toyota engine has a voracious thirst for unleaded petrol? That's probably going too far and it could easily be that there simply is not enough room in the engine bay and on the dash for an item standard on even bottom-of-the-range cars from many brands.Fuel consumption claimed by Toyota is 10.5l/100km on a combined cycle. The test vehicle used 13.3l/100km over 400 or so kilometres. It got an occasional flogging but most of the driving was steady stop/start stuff around town with a fair proportion of freeway motoring. If you are a lead foot, prepare for 15l/100km and to get anything like Toyota's 10.5 claim you will have to be a fairyfoot.When it comes to sticking the boot in, a RAV4 V6 driver will be amply rewarded. A top speed of 210km/h, and that appears to be a little conservative, a 0-100km/h time of 7.4sec, which is good for a performance car never mind an SUV, and a 0-400m time of 15.3sec should get you to the beach on time.In these days of escalating fuel prices the question of why, and whether it is a good idea, to make a V6 RAV4 springs to mind. Leaving aside the question of a guilty green conscience, there is ample evidence that Australians love high-performance vehicles, compact SUVs or other types, and that Toyota was perhaps missing out on that top-of-the-range market share.And after all, Toyota does make the hybrid Prius so beloved by greenies which helps to balance the carbon equation somewhat.Flooring the throttle results in instant take off, the all-wheel-drive system working faultlessly so there is negligible torque reaction from the front wheels which also refuse to spin.Torque is spread among the four wheels for the best possible result. Seamless, progressive acceleration, with an increasing amount of induction noise, until the five-speed auto changes up at just below 6000rpm and the whole process starts again.The auto, although not tiptronic or paddle actuated, can be used as a manual by the driver moving the gear stick around any of the five notches devoted to individual gears.While this RAV4 never left the pavement, despite having diff lock and downhill descent assist, the manual function of the transmission would be a boon off-road.On road, there is little to complain about. The ride can be a little choppy but that's the price for compromise suspension, which is capable both on and off the road. There is little body roll and tyres start to protest audibly if the driver forgets this is an SUV and indulges in some overly spirited cornering.The back seat testers suggested the middle position was not one to be coveted if a long haul was contemplated; but there was ample back seat leg room, a fair amount of luggage space including a covered well where the spare wheel would have been; had it not adorned the rear door.Age and crankiness of this tester apart, it is difficult to understand how some sat nav systems, notably BMW, appear well thought out and others require hours of instruction manual study to master even the simplest of calculations.It took forever to find out how to stop the nameless female telling me where to go after someone touched something on the touch screen which activated a previous address, somewhere in Sydney, I think.At $49,990, the ZR6 is no cheapie but you do get a fair amount of kit for your dollar.If RAV4s are your fetish and you are sick of mediocre performance, the ZR6 will not disappoint.  2007 Toyota RAV4 V6 ZR6Price: $49,990Body: monocoque 5-door wagonEngine: 3456cc, all-alloy, quad-cam, dual-VVT-i, 60-degree V6, 4 valves a cylinder, cast-aluminium block, Bore x stroke (mm): 94 x 83, Compression: 10.8:1Power: 201kW @ 6200rpmTorque: 333Nm @ 4700rpmFuel system: Sequential multi-point electronic port fuel injection. 91 RON ULP, capacity 60 litres, economy 10.5l/100km claimedCO2: 246g/kmRating: Euro 4Performacne: Max. speed, 210km/h; 0-100km/h, 7.4sec; 0-400m 15.3secTransmission: Electronically controlled, five-speed intelligent automatic with lock-up torque converter, part-timeAWD steering: Rack and pinion, electric power-assistedTurning circle: 10.6mSuspension: Front and rear: Independent, barrel-shaped coil springs, low-pressure nitrogen-filled dampers, multi-leaf linear control damper valves Front MacPherson struts, wide-based L-shaped lower arms. Rear, trailing-type double wishboneBrakes: front, ventilated discs, 296mm, rear, solid discs, 281mmSafety features: ABS with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist (BA), Traction Control (TRC), Vehicle Stability Control (VSC), Hill-start Assist.Wheels: Alloy 7.0J x 17 Tyres 225/65R17 101H, full size spareDimensions (MM): 4600 (l), 1855 (w), 1730 (h), 2660 (W'base), 1560 (Front and rear track), ground clearance 200Angles: Approach 30 degrees, departure 26, break over/ramp over 20Weights/loads: Kerb weight, 1655kg; gross vehicle mass, 2170kg; cargo capacity, 540kg with seats up; 90-litre under-floor storageTowing: braked: 1900kg; unbraked 750kg 

It had appeared to be a good idea at the time.A couple of days away from the computer's big square eye so why not take a Toyota Kluger off the beaten trail and see what it can do in terms of off-road work.Nothing too strenuous. After all, it does not have a low range gearbox, no diff locks and it is impossible to turn the computer controlled stability control program off. It has only computer controlled all-wheel drive and hill descent assist.But there was time to spare so a romp through some forests near Dayboro should do the trick.All was going perfectly until the Kluger reached a section of track about which my 16-year-old navigator said; “Do you realise this part of the track is marked in red?”The "red” section consisted of a series of very steep descents with built-in steps. And on the other side of the “great divide” a similar section heading skyward again."What have I done?”There is no room to turn around and the Range Rover ahead of us has gone on and will shortly disappear from sight and the chance to render assistance."How am I going to explain to Toyota that their Kluger can be returned if it can be winched by helicopter out of the state forest.”"Does The Courier-Mail's insurance policy cover stupid actions by dopey testers?”They were just some of the thoughts running through this driver's mind.Nothing for it but to give it a go.Lock the auto into first and hit the hill descent assist button then hold the breath.The KX-S sports Kluger required just steering. Any attempts to use brake or accelerator while the hill descent button was engaged resulted in free fall. But left to its own devices the Kluger went down over the steps faultlessly. No skidding, no getting caught on the steps, no crabbing or sliding — just a slow controlled descent into the chasm."Wow. Amazing. But what about getting up the other side?”Keep it in first and give it gentle but well timed throttle. The 3.5-litre, 201kW, V6 performed faultlessly. Accelerate gently up the hill, ease off over the 'step' and repeat for the next half dozen steps.The all-wheel-drive system worked faultlessly. With no wheelspin or drama of any other sort the Kluger took the stairway to heaven in its stride. Up and over, up and over until the going was once again maintained forestry track.This SUV had already impressed with its road manners; very little body roll, impressive acceleration with the five-speed auto doing its job unobtrusively and a quiet cabin.The 3.5-litre V6, as used in a range of Toyotas including the Aurion, is a willing worker with a smooth, seamless power delivery and goodly amounts of torque spread at low to mid engine revs.The version of the Kluger on test was an all-wheel drive and a seven seater. It can be had, at a cheaper price, as two-wheel drive only and five-seater.The seven-seat arrangement was easy to use with the extra bench portion used in the second row to make it a three-person bench being stowed in the centre console between the driver and front passenger.Perhaps the biggest criticism of the Kluger is that the claimed fuel consumption of 11l/100km is hard to achieve on the open road never mind combining it with round town toottling. The test vehicle was returning around 13-14litres/100km if any of the ample performance was being used.And if you give it a flogging the amount of fuel used will make you think there is a V8 under the bonnet.But all in all this version of the Kluger is a delight to drive.It is only when you start sticking it into corners at sport sedan speeds that it cries enough and in the bush it will take some real rough country before it cries enough.But the traction and stability control cannot be turned off which, while being a boon in the boondocks, may turn out to be a setback in the sand. Snapshot Toyota Kluger KX-SPrice: $54,490Engine: 3456cc, DOHC, 24-valve, fuel injected V6 bore x stroke: 94 x 83mm, compression: 10.8:1Power: 201kW @ 6200rpmTorque: 337Nm @ 4700rpmAcceleration: 0-100km/h in 8secTransmission: AWD, 5-speed automatic, electronically controlled with sequential shift and flex lock-up torque converterDifferantial ratio: 3.478:1Fuel: ULP, 72-litre tankEconomy: 11L/100kmCO2 Emissions: 259g/km, Euro IVTurning circle: 11.8mBrakes: ventilated discs, twin-piston calipers (front), solid discs, single-piston calipers (rear); ABS with electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assist, traction control, stability control and hill holder systemSuspension: independent, MacPherson struts, L-arms, coil springs, gas dampers and ball joint-mounted stabiliser bar (front); independent, MacPherson struts, coil spring/damper units, dual lower transverse links, lower trailing arm, gas dampers and ball joint-mounted anti-roll bar (rear)Wheels: 17 x 7.5J alloysTyres: 245/65R17Dimensions (MM): 4785 (L), 1910 (W), 1730 (H), 2790 (Wheelbase), 206 (Clearance)Track: 1630mm (front), 1640mm (rear)Angles (DEGREES): 29 (approach), 24 (departure), 17 (breakover)Kerb weight: 1920-2020kgTowing: 2000kg (braked), 700kg (unbraked) 

It may seem like a strange comparison. A BMW 120i up against a Mini Cooper S Chilli. From a historical perspective, it's a small German luxury vehicle against a utilitarian British car for the masses, albeit the performance variant. But as with any number of instances in the car world these days, history has little to do with the reality of the present.True, the British Leyland Mini of the 1960s was a no-frills car. It came with the bare essentials, including a four-cylinder 850cc engine and four-speed manual gearbox.And, at the same time, in this neck of the woods (Australia) anything with the spinning propeller badge was considered luxury, even if it was merely as a result of exchange rates that had BMWs priced at least 150 per cent above most other cars.But how times (and exchange rates) have changed. Both the BMW120i and the Mini S Chilli now come from the same family, the BMW group. These days, neither would be considered as a true luxury vehicle.And since both appeared in the carsguide garage recently, both are around the $50,000 mark, why not a comparison?Today's Mini is to all intents and purposes designed and built by BMW. Bits of it come from various parts of Europe but it is a German car masquerading as a British vehicle.You get two doors, in the “S,” a highly sophisticated 1600cc turbocharged engine, and, in the test car, an equally sophisticated six-speed automatic gearbox. The interior, and for that matter the external appearance, is about as far from utilitarian as it's possible to get, especially in this “Chilli,” which came with heated leather seats, six airbags, floor mats, interior lighting package (colour adjustable), climate control, cruise control, 10-speaker sound system, sports seats and stainless steel pedals and footrest.Automatic transmission ($2200), Dynamic Stability Control ($840), chrome line interior ($250), glass roof with sliding and tilting function ($1840) and seat heating ($560) brought the total cost to $49,190.The BMW 120i five-door hatch (with executive package) tipped the scales at $52,850, thanks to options such as metallic paint ($1300), executive package of leather, USB interface and preparation for Bluetooth mobile interface ($1700), BMW navigation system ($3500), luggage compartment separation net ($150), electric glass sunroof ($2200) and voice recognition system ($700).Options excluded, the Beemer was $43,300 and the Mini $43,500.So for the same money you could have either vehicle. On the one hand a quick turbocharged 1600cc engine putting out 128kW and 240Nm of torque from as low as 1600rpm. An engine at the cutting edge, both frugal and powerful. On the other hand, another four, 2000cc, naturally aspirated, putting out 115kW and 200Nm of torque but at 3600rpm. Also a sophisticated engine, a revver in the best BMW tradition.The Mini wins the power contest both on paper and on the road, where the generous torque figure so low in the rev range means the Mini can be described as quick, while the BMW performance is moderate to good.True, there is only a 1.3 second advantage to the Mini in the 0-100km/h time if both cars are redlined, but real-world driving means the “grunt” of the Mini gives it much stronger legs in all conditions.In handling and roadholding stakes, the Mini takes the honours but not by as much of a margin as might be imagined.You can still provoke considerable understeer in the Mini and there is also noticeable torque steer if you gas it up with the wheels turned.In the ride/comfort stakes the BMW wins hands down.Both the 120i and the Chilli S use run flat tyres with hard sidewalls. The tyres do neither car any favours when it comes to passenger comfort, but it is the Mini which thumps and bangs over potholes rather than the Beemer.Both have stability control, which lets the driver push hard but stops the same driver from overdoing things.Interior set-up is much of a muchness in terms of switches and gadgets and dials.The Mini is more “funky” with aeronautical toggle switches both overhead (a la Boeing aircraft) and on the centre console. It also has an adjustable interior light colour scheme tooling through blue to red. The BMW is more traditional, the baby 120 having a cabin much like its bigger brother, understated if anything. The Mini is brashly youthful.If you want to go fast and be noticed, it's the blue Mini with the white bonnet stripes and twin chromed exhausts. If comfort and prestige float your boat, go for the BMW. However, $50,000 is more than a reasonable amount to pay for a motor car and neither the blue-and-white badge of the baby BMW or the “S” logo of the Mini present a watertight case of best value for money. If the budget is around $50,000, both the Mini and BMW have plenty of competition not restricted to Ford Focus XR5 ($37,000), VW Golf GTI ($40,000), VW Passat 2.0 turbo FSI ($45,000), and Mazda3 MPS ($40,000) for the Mini; and Mercedes 200 Turbo Avant ($48,300), Mercedes B-Class 200 ($48,500), Volvo S60 2.4LE ($50,000), Audi A3 TFSI ($43,000), and Audi A4 2.0 sedan ($50,000) for the BMW.The choice available these days is truly all encompassing and figuring out how much you are paying for the badge rather than the abilities and appointments you want is a tough task. 

Subaru's Liberty GT tuned by STi is nothing if not a handsome machine.The STi 18-inch alloy wheels cannot hide the 316mm front discs and the four-piston Brembo calipers, not to mention the orange calipers on the 290mm discs at the rear.The high gloss "obsidian" black paint job, aggressive body kit, tinted rear windows and that air scoop on the bonnet for the intercooler, along with the STi monogrammed quadruple exhaust pipes, set the Liberty off perfectly.And that's before any of the STi (Subaru Technica international) work to the powertrain is taken into account.The STi Liberty in the CARSguide garage was one of just 300 Liberty STis coming to Australia. It is basically a Liberty GT spec B, a potent machine in its own right, that STi have “tarted-up” though tarted-up hardly does the car justice.The 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged horizontally opposed engine now puts out 194kW @ 6000rpm and 350Nm of torque @ 2800rpm thanks to an upgraded engine management unit. That compares with the Spec B GT at 184/6000 and 339/3600, the Impreza WRX STi 206/5600, 392/4000 and the WRX Impreza at 169/5600, 320/3600.So apart from the STi Impreza, this Liberty is the most potent car Subaru produces. But thanks to their Intelligent Drive system, those behind the wheel might never know that, unless they selected “Sport Sharp”, the engine and gearbox mapping option that allows full power to be developed and the automatic gearbox to take full advantage of it.The other two modes are Power, which allows full power to be developed but keeps the gearbox restrained, and Intelligent, which not only has the gearbox short shifting, or changing up early, but which also cuts maximum power and torque by around 25 per cent.Quick changes up through the gearbox and a distinct reduction in power can, along with a light foot, return something like 20 per cent better fuel consumption.However, there seems to be little point in owning an STi tuned Liberty GT if fuel economy is what you're after.Inside, the car is typical Subaru — high quality finish and ergonomically close to perfect. In the test STi everything was in black set off with red (apart from the head lining). Black seats with red stitching, a black dashboard with red lighting, black dials with white numbers and red needles (which perform a little dance each time the ignition is turned on) and polished metal trim.The whole feel was definitely one of luxury rather than performance.The driver's seat has eight way electric adjustment with two memories, there is a 14-speaker McIntosh sound system with a six stacker in dash CD/MP3/WMA player, and a factory fitted sunroof.The test car was fitted with a five speed auto gearbox which could be left in auto to fend for itself, which it did with aplomb and alacrity, or changed manually by paddles on the steering column or sequentially using the gear shift lever.The only time the gearbox was anything but well mannered was when the Liberty was in full auto and copping a flogging in Sport. It sometimes held on to gears long after social responsibility had dictated enough right foot was enough.But then again it might well have been programmed to take into account the driver may have been on a race track or at a hill climb and wanting to hang on to the gear while slowing slightly for a corner before hammering it again.While there is no traction control as such, Subaru's all wheel drive system does a more than fair imitation of such a system. It is hard to get the STi out of shape and the drive is being sent just where it is needed.The Liberty handles beautifully, turning precisely and predictably with the Pirelli P-Zero Rosso tyres simply refusing to relinquish grip even when pushed on wet roads.The other side of that coin is that while the interior of the car may feel “luxury”, the ride is definitely “sporty”.The Bilstein dampers and short travel stiff springs on the STi keep the car in the right direction but tend to “juggle” the passengers a bit over anything that is not newly surfaced freeway.That is exaccerbated by the run-flat low profile tyres which have little or no give in the sidewalls.The front air dam of the body kit touches far too easily in this country which delights in putting humps and bumps everywhere and where kerbs and driveways seem to be designed 10mm higher than the lowest bit of the kit.The 215/45 low-profile tyres also put the graceful STi rims very close to the ground where any debris is in a perfect position to damage them.Verdict For: Fast and sporty.Against: Stiff ride, thirsty if pushed.* * * 1/2A bit of a wolf in sheep's clothing.