Articles by Byron Mathioudakis

Byron Mathioudakis

Contributing Journalist

Byron Mathioudakis connected with cars right from the start.

His earliest memory is a dream of him driving an Austin A30. Soon after, Byron fell in love with movies watching Duel (1971) where a Valiant sedan takes on a murderous Peterbilt truck. Meanwhile, at Tottenham Primary, teacher Mr Chitty prised opened his world with Wheels magazines, later leading him to perform a one-person musical about the then-new Ford XD Falcon. Everyone thought he was strange.

Eager to keep his car passion separate from work, he graduated from Advertising at RMIT, but wasn’t happy in that industry, so did the ‘90s Gen X thing of back-packing, with stints in hospitality, exploring his love of music working in a record store, tending bar, acting, dancing, modelling and even being a singing telegram, thankfully in faraway Canada.

His eventual YouTube debut happened as an extra in a Violetine video of that era, You Know.

Anyway, by 28, Byron realised he wanted to write about cars and nothing else, and on the eve of his 30th, landed a job at John Mellor’s Australian Automotive Business, a predecessor to GoAuto, where he still feels he belongs after four decades, breaking through with an unsolicited road test of his mother’s Peugeot 306.

Going freelance in 1999, he worked at the long-defunct eauto.com.au (it’s still on Wayback Machine), then picked up a gig at Wheels magazine, citing 11 years of Car of the Year judging as a life-changing employment experience. Among scores of amazing people, it was there he became great friends with Peter Robinson, the editor of that first car magazine he devoured back in ’77. Do meet your heroes.

In 2020, Byron started at CarsGuide, where he is a Contributing Journalist to this day. Other regular media outlets he writes for include the RAC WA and Australian Plumbing Industry Magazine.

Note: though Byron has many old cars he loves, he has never owned an Austin A30, Valiant, XD Falcon or Peugeot 306. To paraphrase Bjork, to do so may break the charm.

You can find Byron on LinkedIn.

Education

Associate Diploma in Advertising, RMIT | 1987-1990

Awards

2024 Newspress Australia Road Tester of the Year

Featured Publications

GoAuto | 1997-2022
Wheels | 2009-2021
CarsGuide | 2020-present
RAC WA
Australian Plumbing Industry Magazine

How history is on Tank 500 HEV's side in Oz

By Byron Mathioudakis · 21 Apr 2024

The newly-released Tank 500 HEV (hybrid) going up against the Toyota Prado and LandCruiser as well as the Nissan Patrol with their rusted-on reputations for reliability and durability, how tricky is it for a relatively unknown and untested brand to break through with extremely brand-loyal 4WD-wagon buyers?

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The model gaps in car ranges need filling!

By Byron Mathioudakis · 14 Apr 2024

Some carmakers have some very conspicuous gaps in their product portfolios. There’s no rhyme or reason why, and no consistency across brands. Just the glaring holes that would surely make their lives – and not to mention their associated dealers – happier if filled with the right models. Here are the main offenders.

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Where are the Tank 500 diesel, PHEV and V6?

By Byron Mathioudakis · 13 Apr 2024

Where is the Tank 500 in diesel, plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and twin-turbo V6 petrol guises, and why has GWM launched only with a hybrid for now? Right now, only the segment-leading hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) is offered in Australia and New Zealand, powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine and electric motor combination delivering 255kW of power and 648Nm of torque.

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GWM Tank 500 Ultra 2024 review: snapshot

By Byron Mathioudakis · 06 Apr 2024

The Tank 500 Ultra is the flagship model in the entire GWM range for now.

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Nissan Navara EV electric ute update

By Byron Mathioudakis · 06 Apr 2024

Nissan has outlined what the core requirement for an all-electric vehicle (EV) Navara ute need to be, as the brand moves to reassert itself as a leader in electrification for the latter part of this decade.

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GWM Tank 500 Lux 2024 review: snapshot

By Byron Mathioudakis · 04 Apr 2024

GWM has launched the Tank 500 in two similar grades. Both are powered by the same, segment-disrupting hybrid powertrain.A 180kW/380Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine is mated to a 78kW/268Nm electric motor and battery pack, sending drive via a nine-speed automatic transmission to the rear or all four wheels, as required.The driver can select 2WD, 4WD high and 4WD low ranges, while up to nine driving modes are also fitted.GWM says the hybrid system is designed primarily to enhance performance, rather than provide outright total fuel efficiency. As such, the combined power and torque outputs are impressive – 255kW and 648Nm, respectively – while the official combined fuel consumption is 8.5L/100km. The base Lux starts from $66,490 drive-away, ushering in auto-levelling LED headlights, adaptive cruise control, a sunroof, side steps, powered and heated front seats, a 360-degree view camera set-up, electric rear diff lock, rear privacy glass, synthetic leather upholstery, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 12.3-inch digital instrumentation cluster, auto parking with reverse assist, and front and rear parking sensors.A long list of safety items includes autonomous emergency braking (AEB), blind-spot monitoring, lane-support systems and front/rear cross-traffic alert.For off-road driving, the Tank 500 brings 30 degrees of approach angle, a 22.5-degree breakover angle and 24-degree of departure angle, aided by 224mm of ground clearance and 800mm of wading depth.The GWM uses body-on-frame construction, with a double-wishbone independent coil sprung set-up up front and multi-link live axle coil sprung suspension out back. Towing capacity is 3000kg braked and 750kg unbraked.

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Nissan Kicks hints at bigger small SUV for Oz

By Byron Mathioudakis · 29 Mar 2024

Is this small crossover the next-generation replacement for the Juke in Australia? Nissan Australia isn’t saying for now, but the completely redesigned Kicks has broken cover in North America this month, shaping up to be a more globally-available proposition.

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GWM Tank 500 2024 review: Hybrid

By Byron Mathioudakis · 28 Mar 2024

Australia's first-ever hybrid seven-seat off-road wagon, GWM's Tank 500 Hybrid is something genuinely different against more expensive and conventionally powered rivals like the Toyota Prado. And it isn't just good for going bush, with decent on-road manners, a nicely presented interior, heaps of space and loads of standard kit. Sure, the GWM has some issues, but it is an impressive effort, too.

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Update on the Nissan Pathfinder Warrior

By Byron Mathioudakis · 25 Mar 2024

Do you want to see a Warrior version of the Nissan Pathfinder? With the ongoing success of Navara Warrior midsized ute as well as the very promising start experienced by the Patrol Warrior full-sized 4x4 wagon launched at the tail end of last year, Nissan Australia admits that it is now looking at – and crunching the numbers for – such an edition of its vastly-improved large seven/eight-seater SUV

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Nissan calls for rethink of child-seat ADRs

By Byron Mathioudakis · 23 Mar 2024

Nissan reckons that pulling out barriers including the child-seat tether-enforcing ADR 34 would only hasten the arrival and decrease the cost of future models.

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