Articles by Bruce McMahon

Maserati's GranCabrio is the first roof-down four-seater from the Italian maker. And, as to be expected, a fine piece of automotive art.It has a long, head-turning profile, best appreciated with the cloth top down. It is packed with leather and luxury, down to a stereo system that self-adjusts tones depending on roof position. It has 323kW of sporting V8 up front, mated to a clever six-speed transmission. All in all, it’s a most impressive, albeit expensive, package of poise and performance.Maserati has a fair heritage of open top sports cars, back to the beautiful Frua Spyder of 1950. But this is their first four-seater convertible. And the GranCabrio more than lives up to the heritage. It is a practical, elegant convertible with comfort and performance. It is capable of being caught in peak hour traffic without a grumble, capable of offering a spirited run through the mountains and happy to loaf down long motorway stretches in quiet comfort.Perhaps the boot is a bit small (but will take a set of golf clubs) and perhaps the back seat is no place for the tall with the roof up (though these seats reportedly accommodate 62.5 per cent of people).Here the GranCabrio, at $338,000, joins the GranTurismo and the Quattroporte to give Maserati a trio of prestige machines covering some high-flying territory. (The four-door Quattroporte is the best-selling Maserati of all times and the marque's brand awareness has risen 10 per cent in the past decade plus there's a new 'medium' sedan is somewhere around the corner to keep the flag flying.)The time was right for a little more Italian fashion, a little more look-at-me in the style of an open-top tourer. And 27 Australians and Kiwis have already signed up for this year's allocation of 45 of these machines.The payback is spirited performance, chassis balance and ride comfort (though there is sometimes a little chattering feedback from the front wheels). Plus the exclusive charm of a four-seat Italian convertible; said to be longest, roomiest in this class of exotic convertible.The 65kg roof can drop, when the weather's clear, in 28 seconds at up to 30 km/h.  Without the roof, top speed drops from 293km/h to 274km/h and the weight distribution changes from 49 per cent front and 51 per cent rear to 48 per cent front, 52 per cent rear.Top up or down the Maserati is a well-balanced car. There is nice weight to the steering and, for a fairly big car weighing in at 1980kg, the GranCabrio is easy to place on a tight mountain road. Handy here is the rear grip and the eagerness of the 4.7 litre V8 to work up to its 323kW and 490Nm of torque at 4750rpm through the six-speed auto transmission.There are steering-wheel column mounted paddles for shifting through sports ratios, handy for down changing, whether out for a harder run or just impressing city pedestrians. The Italian's aurals are as sweet as anything out there and a Sport buton rempas gearbox, engine and suspension details for even harder growl and go.The cabin is, naturally, packed with convenience, comfort, luxury and safety... right down to integrated pop-up roll bars (with sharp pin to break the rear glass) in the event of a major accident.There is all the best in navigation systems, information and entertainment systems. There are choices galore in leather trim colours and highlights, there is an airconditioning system which quietly adjusts a pre-set temperatures to a closed or open cabin.For maximum effect the Maserati's top will be down, listening to that V8... and watching the watchers.Check out Keith Didham's review of the Maserati GranCabrio.

There was no love at first sight. The HiLux looked a bit soft, the driveline — auto transmission and V6 — sounded harsh, the driver's seat was a touch too high for a taller driver and that bloody seatbelt warning chime was fired up by the least amount of movement.Maybe it was after years of jumping in and out of diesel-engined utes — once rattling loud but these days quite smooth and reassuring — that the Toyota's V6 felt coarse.  Maybe the HiLux's style, inside and out, had gone too fancy-dancy for a work truck; there's even LED sparkles for parking lights. And the single cab-chassis ute looked a little low at the front.But a week, and a tonne of gravel later, this four-wheel drive SR Toyota had become a handy home-away-from-home. For all the car-like qualities, the HiLux remains a faithful worker, down the highway and across the paddocks.The HiLuxes were the first of the latest generation utes; smarter and more comfortable and bigger than the last lot. To date Toyota, Nissan (Navara) and Mitsubishi (Triton) have moved on with the Ford/Mazda, Isuzu and Colorado still to follow.Today the HiLux, two and four-wheel drive, remains the country's best-selling ute although there is a fair whack of commercial business compared with private business in those sales.  This seventh generation Toyota ute arrived in 2005 and kept the HiLux name (now 30 years old in this country) moving forward, since then there's been little updates to both style and mechanicals.By October last year there were 32 variants of HiLux with two and four-wheel drive versions, three cabin styles, three engines, manual and automatic transmissions plus three grades of equipment.  The single cab-chassis, four-wheel drive SR HiLux with auto and V6 we tested sits somewhere around the middle of the pack.Fit-out and equipmentComfort features range from power windows to a stereo with USB port and Bluetooth compatibility, SR grade also scores a most comfortable four-spoke steering wheel with audio controls.  A bonus in the cabin is a couple of dashboard cubby holes for storage. And outside this one arrived with a decent factory dropside tray with wooden floor.DrivingSo off to the gravel shed, load up with a tonne of 20mm stones and head out of town. This settles the ute down. Settles it down quite a lot, plenty of grip at the rear but a little less steering feel up front.Steady as it goes then and the HiLux, at around 90km/h, is comfortable with the workload. The big hills need some respect, maybe a drop down from fifth and a little more throttle.But now the driveline no longer sounds rough around the edges. With a job to be done the ute feels and sounds happier. Only the warm smell of brakes on the other side of the big hills confirms there is real work here.Into four-wheel drive, slow and easy across the creek without a bump or scrape. Up a damp dirt hillside track with a little momentum and time for a beer. The hard work was next day, shovelling off a tonne of rock.  By the time the HiLux was headed for home, there was affection for the machine.Unladen it steered, braked and rode with decent manners. The engine and transmission no longer felt coarse, the back end well-behaved and the HiLux loped along at an easy highway pace.  All this cost close on 14 litres per 100km, quite acceptable for the roads and the load.And so the adventure ended with a little more love... apart from that bleeping seatbelt chime (most annoying when working in the paddock). The HiLux is a pretty decent machine, albeit at a pretty decent price.Toyota HiLux SRPrice: from $38,140Body: Single cab chassisEngine: 4-litre V6Power: 126 KW/3600rpmTorque: 343 Nm/1400rpmTransmission: Five-speed auto, four-wheel driveMax rear axle capacity: 1600kgMax towing: 2250kg

It is - this handcrafted British road machine - a fabulous collection of mechanicals, style and luxury. It is a most enticing grand tourer, a head-turning coupe of some pace and grace. With a sweet balance to the chassis and brakes thatd stop a bull elephant in its tracks. It will, says the factory, jump from 0 to 100km/h in 4.2 seconds and run out to better than 300km/h. Easy to believe. For this is an explosive package, a big-engined yet lithe two-seater with ability to take on misty morning mountain roads, sweeping stretches of highway or Monday morning traffic.HISTORYBut pause to praise the Lord for the mighty farm tractor. For the history of modern sports machinery, including this Aston, is littered with famous plough-lugging marques. Lamborghini was first a tractor maker. Porsche built tractors from 1934 to the early 1960s to keep sports cars coming. Irishman Harry Ferguson made little grey Fergies before developing a four-wheel-drive system used by the Jensen FF. And tractor maker David Brown (an early partner of Ferguson) went on to buy Aston Martin in 1947; that's where the DB range of Astons comes in.PRICE AND PACKAGEToday the Vantage line of Astons sits below today's DB9, DBS and Rapide in size and sometimes in price. V8 Vantages can be had with six-speed manual or Sportshift, coupe or roadster. The V12 Vantage comes only as a manual coupe, priced at $379,251 which puts it among the DB line-up in price.But this Vantage is a different kettle of fish _ a compact, pretty light, two-door coupe with a six-litre V12 shoehorned into a tight spot and producing many smiles per mile.That means the V8s handsome bonnet here has a bulge plus a clutter of carbonfibre vents for airflow; these, if necessary, look a little vulgar on this hunkered-down, hip-high machine with a sculpted long nose and short tail.While the V12 engine weighs 100kg more than the V8, this Vantage, with a fair chunk of aluminium aboard, is only some 40kg heavier at 1680kg. This is a serious piece of sports machinery, more power to weight than the average Fergie.Carbonfibre is used from front to rear splitter and across the leather-clad cabin. Inside is a place of comfort and purpose with two seats, a large parcel shelf and decent sized boot nestled under that rear hatch.The cabin carries the usual line-up of convenience features from air conditioning to powerful sound system, trip computer and navigation aid.There are carbonfibre, one-piece seats which hold driver and co-driver in fine form. There are exquisitely machined pedals, the tachometer swings counter clockwise and the analogue speedometer (hard to read) is complemented by a digital readout for road speed. Watch that space.DRIVINGThe Vantage V12 is fired up with an Emotional Control Unit, a push-in starter plug which wakes up 12 cylinders with a polite whirring of mechanicals and hint of menace from twin exhausts. These are best appreciated barking from outside. From inside a bloke could swear this was a rear-engined machine for there is a sweet symphony of sounds from behind the driver's head.Snick that polished gearstick into first of six speeds, a little throttle, out with the clutch and.nothing much, just steady progress into the traffic. For the Vantage can be as docile as the family Commodore, as easy to shift through the traffic as a Corolla. Visibility, despite low seat and high window sills, is pretty good.Major and minor controls are intuitive and mechanicals well behaved. No need to slip the clutch, blip throttles or panic for another gear. The ride is firm, not intrusive. This all changes out on open roads where the Aston can be one fast and furious machine.Best on a wet and mucky day to keep full traction control on and leave the Sport (go-faster) button off. The Sport button remaps engine tuning for sharper throttle response; it delivers an extra nudge in the back when engaged at road speed, a wilder take-off and a little too much extra verve on a wet track.The traction control has three stages _ on, half-on and off. The last is really for good and brave drivers. Even half-on was a bit whooaa on a greasy road; full traction control is far more sensible and quite sociable, allowing a little slip and correcting with discretion rather than violence.There is all this power to be had and enjoyed as the Aston sweeps hard toward the next bend. But here, on the approach and through the turn, the Vantage shows off more to appreciate.The steering is well-weighted, and you'll always know where those 19-inch front wheels are pointed. The big disc brakes pull speed down with confidence, whether chasing a little slow down or a major stop.The transmission and gear gate offers positive shifts. And now the Aston's balance comes to the fore as the car moves through the turn. It does this with finesse and confidence, speed and smiles. Wet roads and traffic muted any foolhardy manoeuvres this time around. But this Aston Martin Vantage V12 appears, as expected, a fine piece of powerful machinery.It is expensive, powerful and well-built. It is also a most comfortable and stylish sports tourer which deals with day-to-day motoring while offering dynamic performance when prodded.ASTON MARTIN V12 VANTAGEPrice: $379,251Body: 2-door coupeEngine: 6-litre V12Power: 380kW @ 6500rpmTorque: 570Nm @ 5750rpmTransmission: 6-speed manual, rear driveDimensions (mm): 4380 (l), 1865 (w), 1241 (h)Weight: 1680kg

The collection of alcohol-fuelled machinery — some capable of more than 400km/h — is to be sold off by the Public Trustee at Ipswich, timed to coincide with the Winternationals meeting at the Willowbank strip.  For now the race machines, stripped of sponsorship decals, are parked in a non-descript workshop in Brisbane's north.The four doorslammer sedans, four bikes, alcohol funny car, burnout ute and one body shell were seized from former drag racing champion Brett Stevens last year in a crime civil case after a major Queensland Police, Crime and Misconduct Commission and Australian Crime Commission investigation.Stevens, 45, was one of 77 arrests and was charged with drug manufacturing and trafficking offences but has not yet been tried.   But his racing machinery — which he had been advertising for $250,000 each — was confiscated and other assets frozen under proceeds of crime laws.The Public Trustee will hold the June 10 auction proceeds until the state's civil case against Stevens is resolved.  Stevens' wife, Kath, said she was not allowed to comment on the particulars of the case but did not understand how the vehicles could be sold without a conviction."It's been our whole life.  We have a real emotional attachment with those vehicles,'' she said.  "We would love to buy them back, but we're financially ruined.''  Auctioneer Simon O'Kelly yesterday said the vehicles' worth was still being appraised and no reserves yet set."This is a very special auction, it's an opportunity to buy top-line drag cars that's not going to happen again in the near future,'' Mr O'Kelly said.  Public Trustee Peter Carne expects strong interest from Australian and overseas drag racers here for the Winternationals.“I have no doubt that these highly specialised drag racing vehicles will be snapped up by one of the many national and international teams in town,” Mr Carne said.  This is also a great opportunity for drag racing fans to see these cars and bikes up close with the chance to view the vehicles prior to the auction.”The vehicles will be on display for inspection on Tuesday, June 8 and Wednesday, June 9 prior to the auction, starting at 11am on Thursday, June 10 at the Workshops Rail Museum, North Ipswich.  In Queensland, assets confiscated under ‘proceeds of crime’ laws can be sold and the money held for the owner, unless the owner denies the application for sale and presents proof of how the purchase of the assets was funded.

Now a three-door Suzuki Vitara is not for all. It is a smallish four-seater with limited luggage space if all seats are used.It may not be the first choice for covering long distances week in, week out.But at $25,000 the short Vitara is worth a long look as a daily commuter _ inexpensive to run, easy to park and still capable of a beach or bush weekend.For the Suzuki has a long and honourable four-wheel drive pedigree. It is built by a company with a long and honourable history in bolting together reliable machines.Exterior Current Vitaras are quite handsome vehicles. There are hints of a family heritage dating back to Suzuki's first Vitara in 1988.So the three-door is familiar yet manages to look fresh (even while this latest crop of Vitaras are largely style and mechanical updates to the 2005 versions).It is a no-nonsense, practical shape with just a polite hint of muscle that won’t scare the grannies. It is a sensible style _ if a little sexier than the five-door version _ that's practical in the scrub, tidy enough for town.Interior That line follows through to the cabin with decent ergonomics, sound system and air conditioning; instruments and controls are easily followed and there's good room for two up front, reasonable room (and access) for two behind.With the back seats up there's not a deal of space left in this short wheelbase machine, plenty for a day at the beach but maybe not for a week away for four. It is a compact compact.These rear seats do fold up and toward the front with ease, leaving a deal of cargo space. The spare wheel sits pretty on the tailgate.DrivetrainWhile there are some minor style change, including a flash new grille, it is the addition of a 2.4 litre, four-cylinder engine to the range that makes the biggest impact with the latest three-door Vitara.Allied to the five-speed manual gearbox, the 122kW motor is much handier than previous offerings. It is helped by variable valve timing and forever keen to have a go.All the while fuel consumption is averaging out around 9 litres per 100km. This will climb a little with sustained hard slogging _ up a soft sand track or through a boggy bush byway _ but this engine is generally quite thrifty.And the Vitara package is quite handy when road turns to track. The transmission runs all day in four-wheel drive but there is a four-high lock with centre differential locked, then a four-low range lock for more serious work.DrivingSuzukis are always willing little off-roaders, made handier here with the three-doors smaller body, shorter wheelbase plus better ramp-over and departure angles compared with bigger wagons.It is a nimble machine, whether dodging boulders or bollards; the three-doors advantage runs from tight parking spots to narrow bush tracks.It steers, rides and handles quite well. It is quieter than previous Vitaras, a little less edgy in the ride quality although for regular long trips the longer wheelbase five-door version would be a more comfortable option.It may not turn in, corner or hang on as deftly as a Suzuki Swift but the Vitara does not disgrace itself in the traffic. It is, with that 2.4 litre engine stirred, quite a decent point-to-point vehicle on a back road.So as a weekday run-around and weekend adventurer (for two) it is hard to ignore the three-door Vitara at this price. It is a value proposition with a good mix of on-road cred and off-road ability.Score: 71/100

Maybe there should be more attention to fuel efficiency than fuel economy. Too many self-righteous bystanders do not understand there is more than one simple answer to consumption and environmental concerns and there may be more than one saviour.Among all this there is the whole of life — from manufacture to scrapping — question of a vehicle to consider; in this case some would suggest an old, refurbished diesel car or truck may be less harmful to the environment than the pollutant cost of building a flash new machine (which would include the mining of fresh materials).And while on sidetracks, how about authorities playing a part?Stop-start traffic harms fuel consumption and new roads cannot always be the answer. Why are new shopping and residential centres automatically granted sets of lights for access, disrupting arterial traffic? Why must be there full, red light stops on pedestrian crossings?Most motor vehicles run cheapest with optimum engine revolutions per minute. Allowing a car to lug costs fuel, as does acceleration and deceleration; smooth driving and traffic flows save fuel.And, okay, hybrid vehicles with a combination of electric and petrol engines save fuel. Yet not necessarily any more than a decent (and most of them are these days) diesel engine.But what happens when there is a family, and holiday luggage, to cart a decent distance?Now it becomes a matter of fuel efficiency versus fuel economy.A hybrid may make sense around town for two (although something like a small European diesel or Hyundai's i30 would make more sense) but when it comes to carrying say four adults and gear in comfort and safety on a long highway drive a larger sedan, even petrol-powered, can be as efficient in overall running costs.(As Audi decided recently there was no point in petrol-electric cars in their range until hybrid technology becomes more efficient; instead the German company will concentrate on lighter cars and even better diesels.) It is, as said in the west, horses for courses and hybrids are, by and large, still the ponies of the business.And all that is a long way into the business of dual-cab utilities, four-wheel drive and two-wheel drive.But with the business in recent seasons of dressing up these dual cabs, extending their appeal with sports bars and alloy wheels and fancy cabins, comes sniping from the footpath.One bloke around here is disgusted by what he terms muscle trucks and cannot see that these machines are more useful than a Commodore or Falcon and, most often with diesel engines, more economical. In other words these dual cab utes, with space for four adults and capacity for a half tonne of sand in the back are among the more efficient — fuel used divided by jobs done — on today's market.Holden's latest effort is the Colorado, a rebadged and revised Rodeo. Top of the pile in this line-up is the four-wheel drive, dual cab LT-R with all manner of goodies from blue-tooth phone connectivity to reversing sensors plus some extra chrome.It’s offered more as a flash family truck but underneath it retains all the tough bits for slogging through mud heaps or crawling up rocky mountains.Driving It is comfortable enough and very competent, if not quite having the ride and handling credentials of some rivals.Now with the petrol V6 and manual transmission the LT-R is supposed to run at 12.6 litres per 100 kilometres but with a deal of Christmas run-arounds and some paddock work this ran out closer to 14 litres per 100 kilometres.Some of the problem could be the V6s lack of meaningful torque at the bottom end. There is supposed to be 313Nm at 2800rpm but it takes a fair boot to get the show on the road; this engine was a little raucous too when pushed through the five-speed transmission yet quiet enough at cruising speeds.Those fuel figures may perturb some but its not far off real road figures for many large V6 sedans (without the same capabilities). And with the Colorado's turbocharged diesel option that should be closer to 10 litres per 100km (the factory claims 8.4 litres per 100km) for mixed duties.So call them muscle trucks if you must but the dual cab utility — petrol or diesel — remain a sensible option when talk turns to fuel efficiency and saving the planet. Holden Colorado LT-R PRICE: $43,990BODY: dual cab utilityENGINE: 3.6 litre petrol V6POWER: 157kW @ 5300rpmTORQUE: 313Nm @ 2800rpmTRANSMISSION: 5-speed manualDIMENSIONS: (mm) 4995 (l), 1553 (w), 175 (h)KERB WEIGHT: 1922kgTOWING: 2500kg 

The Range Rover Vogue, flagship of the Land Rover fleet, glides into El Questro trailing red dust and miles of memories. Memories of dust hovering in billowing clouds, of stones flicking up and spitting sideways as Goodyear Wranglers pounded down the Gibb River Road.Our convoy of eight Land Rovers is heading to a well-earned break at the Kimberley resort.The Range Rover Vogue and Sport, the Freelander, three Discoverys, Defender wagon and ute have been comfortable, reliable and capable on this long, dry run from the Alice up through the Tanami Desert.Through corrugations and bulldust, chill desert mornings and gold-red sunsets, the Land Rovers have run easy through a rugged and remote piece of the continent.At the end of the trek, as we head for our first shower in five days, there are few more suitable — and suited — vehicles than a Vogue to roll into the greens of the El Questro oasis.Here, in this stunning part of Western Australia, gateway to a land of geographical treasures, the Vogue and all its comforts and conveniences makes a driver feel extra-special.Inside is soft and quiet, apart from unintelligible Olympic commentators fading in and out on the radio. The Vogue ignores rough, nasty patches of ancient landscape passing beneath.Its mighty turbocharged diesel V8 powers on, its six-speed sequential transmission slurring through the changes, rounding up 50m roadtrains or pushing on through the talcum-soft bog of bulldust.This year, the Range Rover Vogue has benefited from minor changes including a four-zone air conditioning option and Bluetooth connectivity.But the basics remain the same in a majestic off-road machine that sails through this wild country with supreme comfort.The Vogue and its Land Rover mates have crossed the Simpson Desert from Birdsville, then on to Alice Springs. The next leg — Alice to El Questro — was a further 1700km.During this epic drive to mark Land Rover's 60th anniversary, there has not been a single drama aside from the odd flat tyre.And, thanks to the attention paid to build quality under BMW and Ford's ownership of the famous British brand, the fleet is pleasantly free of rattles and loose bits.All of them prove to be great touring and rough-track machines on this run across Australia (despite outback tales of certain Japanese makes being the only means of travel out here).The Vogue is — surprise, surprise — the pick of the Land Rover bunch: elegant and effortless.The Range Rover Sport is very good but, for desert tours, the Discovery wagon is probably a better bet. The Sport is quite capable but with a bias towards on-road handling, while the Discovery sits on a longer wheelbase.If the Vogue is the flagship of the fleet, the acclaimed Discovery is the battleship and the Defender the minesweeper: a tough wagon to send out if the going turns really gnarly and some forward scouting is needed. This square-jawed, 2.4-litre machine is hard to stop, and dings and scratches will only enhance its character.Where the Defender loses out is in cabin ergonomics, ride comfort and noise levels on rough, corrugated roads.The wagon, priced from $48,990, is acceptable if the sweet spot can be found — up the Tanami Track, that was around 90 km/h.That leaves the surprise packet of the convoy, the Freelander. This is the patrol boat, quick and game for anything.Unlike the Range Rover or the Discovery, the Freelander has no low-range gearing or suspension height adjustment (the bigger wagons have air suspension that adjusts the ride height according to the terrain).But the diesel Freelander, with its six-speed transmission and clever four-wheel-drive system, is forever willing to tackle both high-speed runs down dirt roads or off-road crawls.Like its bigger mates, the Freelander has Land Rover's All Terrain System, which sets engine and transmission parameters to suit the work involved — more torque and lower gearing for rocks, more power and quicker changes for sand.On all Land Rovers (aside from the Defender) this system is best proved by setting the centre console dial to the wrong spot.Try to slip through sand and mud with the rocky road setting, and the vehicle bogs down. Try to climb a rock-strewn hill with the sand setting, and it bounces around with too much ground speed.The system does help the Freelander (from $49,990 in petrol form, $52,490 for the diesel) get further than may be imagined; this is arguably the best of the premium compact SUVs for combining good road manners and some rough paddock ability with a fair degree of comfort.It's also a fun machine on a soft dirt road, stability control turned down to allow more tail slides, driver's arms crossed in rally style.All the while, the Freelander's 2.2-litre diesel is returning better than 10 litres per 100km through the scrub. The big Vogue can achieve close on 10 litres on a run down the track, out to a reasonable 13 litres when it's needed to work harder down a bush track.These machines allowed a disparate group of travellers to explore some of Australia's most desolate country, then the magnificent Kimberleys.There are many vehicles capable of such a trip, but this fleet of Land Rovers added extra style and comfort to the journey.For, despite some hiccups over the past 60 years, the British maker (now owned by India's Tata) has been doing it with a passion for the brand and the adventure — characteristics not always seen among the Johnny-come-latelys of the four-wheel-drive business. 

Those Londoners are a strange mob of cattle, many important people rushing from some place to some place else.Much of life is lived underground, popping up from rail tunnels to discover another ancient monument and kilometres upon kilometres of fancy shops. The inner-city is all summer sparkling clean yet without the buzz of previous decades. The ring of suburbs beyond is tumble-down and grubby.Among the city's confusions is that cars drive on the left, as at home, while escalator riders are asked to stand right. Simple enough perhaps but this creates footpath confusion amid the madding crowds.Best then to head countryside, to Stratford-upon-Avon and down to Abergavenny in Wales to rediscover old work places and such.For this jaunt the all-new Citroen C5 is a recommended travelling partner, a most sensible European machine with airs of distinction.The deep red sedan was a C5 2.0 HDi VTR+ with six-speed automatic transmission, 101kW of diesel power and the only car with five stars for adult occupant protection in recent Euro NCAP crash tests.It ran for 450 kilometres over a week of motorways (at speed), B-roads (with care and suspension set to sport) and down rough and narrow lanes (with Hydractive suspension set on high and parking sensors going berserk, must have been the badgers in the hedgerow).All the while the C5 was a most comfortable conveyance, albeit one with a dearth of cupholders but many buttons for adjusting all manner of things from stereo to airconditioning and an automatic park brake (applies itself when parked, releases with a prod of the throttle).The centre boss of the steering wheel is fixed, allowing for some of these buttons to stay still.During the week, the handsome C5 averaged 50km/h and 6.3 litres/100km, much appreciated with English diesel about $3 a litre.The latest Citroen turns heads with a boldness that includes concave rear windscreen, subtle strips of chrome and stand-out wheels. It has a solid feel in style and substance, down to electronic stability control with traction control for the front wheels for positive take-offs and confidence on damp back roads. It is also most spacious — plenty of head and leg room — for four adults plus luggage and runs everywhere with only the sounds of a quite decent stereo to disturb the serenity.The ride, as expected from a mid-sized Citroen, is excellent though there was some crash-thump from the 17-inch wheels in larger potholes.The suspension's sports setting allows for a flatter ride, a little less float over the standard mode, but the C5 is never a sharp sports sedan.Rather, with communicative steering, reassuring brakes and a willing engine (in particular with the transmission in sports mode), the Citroen C5 is a most sensible, safe and smart touring machine with great comfort and a decent amount of individualism over the likes of Ford's Mondeo and other Euro-rivals.PS: In Britain this model is priced at about $42,000. Australians should see the new C5 — with two-litre petrol, two-litre and V6 diesel options — in September with prices starting in the low $40,000s.

The Australian ute has long been a mate to a diverse collection of characters. From farmers to tradesfolk, delivery firms to families, the concept of a sedan-like cabin with working tray out back has offered a range of services and transport needs across the country.Among owners there has always been a number who bestowed extra love on the ute, well back to the scrub-running days of HD Holdens with aftermarket mag wheels, four-on-the-floor gearbox shifts and triple SU carburettors added to the milieu. These were sports machines for many, extensions of the drivers' fantasies.So along the way the manufacturers saw the sense in building special utes, playhorse as much as workhorse machines.The current crop of these spirited chariots include Holden and Falcon V8 machines, some with extra-special attention to detail.And among these cheerleaders is the FG version of the XR8, a machine of some merit. Style changes over its predecessor may be subtle but are most effective (especially in freddo-green). The new Ford ute has some nice muscle to the metal.The cabin is all Ford XR with sports seats and sophisticated dash stacked with the best of today's conveniences — from decent six-stacker CD player to traction control switch. There is as well a host of steering wheel controls to consider.Visibility to the sides and out back — here with roll bar and spoiler on the optional tonneau cover — is not great. The other quibble is a steering wheel that needs more height adjustment to allow more room between seat and the bottom of the wheel.These are details left behind as 290kW fires up with a little rock 'n' roll rumble through the seats as the V8 sits impatient at idle.The ute jumps and scrabbles off the line. Maybe Ford's turbocharged XR6 utes provide more performance but the controlled fire and fury of a big V8 is hard to beat. It ran here through the six-speed sequential auto transmission to highway speeds with fluency.There was always, at any road speed, enough power and torque on hand to fill traffic gaps.And there was always enough grunt to have the rear swing out for that old-fashioned fun before traction control intervened.There are some road and mechanical noises filtering through to the cabin, reminders that behind the driver is a load-carrying tray sitting on leaf springs.There is, too, some bump-thump and very firm ride when the XR8 is sitting on the optional 19-inch wheels.But the steering is sharp and the rear well-behaved, the XR perhaps more easily balanced on the throttle than the coil-spring Holden SS.Only when thrown (and quick steering allows this) into a tight, slowish corner does the front of the Ford kneel a little more than expected.So on to the faster, flowing turns, snug down in the sports seats, music from the mechanicals and exhaust as the driver works up and down the gearbox.The Falcon XR8 is a fine machine for a little fun, just as it is, with a 540kg payload, for work.It does not have the refinement or the ultimate ability of an XR8 sedan but it does have a deal of style and versatility.

The silent Toyota Camry Hybrid starts with a slight judder, the electric motor maybe deciding if it needs help to get away.