Articles by Craig Duff

The recall notice is for 16,181 Series 1 Captivas built between February 11, 2008, and January 2, 2011, after a fault was found in the fuel feed hose. It also affects 2724 Epicas made between February 1, 2008, and June 20, 2011, and 6512 Series 1 Cruze vehicles built between November 4, 2008, and July 20, 2010. Holden's senior production communications manager Kate Lonsdale said yesterday the fault was within the fuel feed hose which can leak diesel fuel. She added there had been some complaints of fuel smell or a leak, but Holden had received no reports of fires. "This is a different recall to the March 2010 recall on the fuel feed hose - that was the 1.8-litre petrol engine,'' Lonsdale said. Holden replaced the 2.0-litre turbodiesel with a more efficient 2.2-litre unit when it launched the Series II Captiva in March this year. The vehicles will be inspected and repaired free of charge and Lonsadle said the process will take up to 90 minutes. Holden is contacting owners of affected vehicles by mail but anyone with concerns should contact Holden directly on 1800 632 826.  It is the fifth major recall for Holden this year as listed on the government's recalls.gov.au website. In July it contacted 1951 Hummer H3 owners to advise the dashboard indicator lights might not show that a bulb had blown when towing a trailer. In June 6509 Holden USB Jackaroo and Monterey vehicles built from 1998-2002 were recalled to fix a faulty earth connection on the main wiring loom that could cause the engine to idle too quickly. Potentially unsafe rear seatbelt anchors led to letters being sent to 4236 JG Cruzes owners in May and in February the sun wasn't shining on 14,612 vehicles built from 2002-2006 when Holden advised the sunroof's glass panel could separate from the frame while the cars were moving.

... based on the latest testing from the NSW Road and Maritime Service's Crashlab. The Crashlab has started evaluating helmets beyond the AS/NZS1698 standard required to be sold in Australia and the results so far have the $550 Shark Evoline and $330 RJays SP2 heading the list.  More expensive and/or well-known brands - from Arai to Shoei and AGV - earn "above average" scores but can't match the above duo's "good" protection rating. The Crashlab research is being supported by Victoria's Transport Accident Commission and the NRMA insurance group.  And the value of a good helemt is the ability to save your life, swears Carsguide journalist Mark Hinchliffe, who crashed during a motorcycle test ride last year. "Try riding a 250kg motorcycle, plus 80kg rider over your helmet," Hinchliffe says. "That’s a real-world test you won't replicate in any lab. Unfortunately, I was the crash-test dummy. I’d fallen off my bike on a dirt trail in the Victorian Alps and the following rider chewing my dust ran into me. "My helmet was a Shoei Hornet DS which has the highest safety rating in the dual-sport category and I can vouch for that. Despite copping the front tyre and full weight of the bike and rider over the top of my helmet after hitting the deck at about 70km/h, the helmet is largely in tact. Although the peak and visor were torn off, there is no crack in the shell and, more importantly, no cracks in my head. "You should never wear a helmet that has been crashed and despite the absence of a shell fracture, it now permanently lives in my office as a reminder to always wear top-quality protective gear when riding. The helmet costs $799.95, which is money well spent," he says. Until now there has been no objective way of choosing the "best" helmet. All motorbike helmets sold in Australia must meet the AS/NZS 1698 standard, which is acknowledged as one of the most stringent in the world. The TAC's road safety manager Samantha Cockfield says the research is about giving motorcyclists a chance to evaluate what is true value for money. "Every helmet on the shelves is going to meet the Australian standard, but we're saying you can do better than that," she says.  And it's not just protection. Cockfield says the strongest helmet is still useless if it doesn't fit properly, which is why the Crashlab testing also assesses how well the helmets hang on to your head and how comfortable they are to wear. "The idea is riders should be able to find a helmet that fits and is within their price range, based on the Crashlab results," she notes. Helmet makers build models specifically to satisfy the standard of the country they are sold in, which is one of the reasons why the Australian testing results from those overseas.  It also means the cheaper (but DOT or Snell-approved) helmets available online aren't legal here. Riders who buy one and crash will have no recourse against the relevant local importer if they are hurt in a collision. To date the Crashlab has tested 31 helmets, based on sales popularity. The aim is to test the top 25 to 30 helmets each year. For more information go to www.crash.org.au or www.spokes.com.au.  

Instead of being loaded into landfills, around 10 tonnes of paint sludge a month from Ford's Broadmeadows factory is being shipping to a processing plant where it is converted into fuel to power cement kilns. The project began in August and extends Ford's association with the cement industry - its Geelong foundry provides about 50 tonnes of sand a week to be used in making cement and the company's waste polystyrene is shredded into particles that are used as filler in concrete pavers. The paint sludge is used by Melbourne-based waste processing company Geocycle to substitute up to 10 per cent of the coal traditionally used to power cement kilns. Geocycle is a subsidiary of Cement Australia and company managing director Chris Leon says the offshoot provides an efficient and environmentally responsible way for corporations to minimise their waste. "We're reducing the volume of waste going into landfill and in the process cutting down on the amount of fossil fuel that is being used,"he says. The first shipment of sludge was sent to Geocycle's processing facility in Dandenong, Melbourne in August. Ford says 56 per cent of the Broadmeadows site's solid waste is already recycled.

Toyota Yaris and Skoda Fabia go head-to-head in this comparative review.

More than 24,000 cars sold in Australia are potentially at risk of a power steering failure, with two cases already reported. Cars covered by the recall, all built in 2004 and 2005, will have the crankshaft pulley on the front of their engine replaced. "The Avalon and Camry V6 were built at our Altona factory but it is  not a manufacturing fault," Toyota spokeswoman Laura Hill said."The crankshaft pulley was supplied by a Japanese component provider and we  will be replacing that part on the affected cars. It takes about 90 minutes for the service staff to complete the job."She said Toyota has identified the problem as insufficient glue being applied to the outer ring of the crankshaft pulley, which could allow movement that would dislodge the drive belt for the power steering.The fault can cause noises from the engine bay and the charging system warning light to illuminate and, in the worst-case scenario, the driver would need much more force than normal to turn the steering. Hill said there have been no reports of steering failure in Australia."We've had one case of a Kluger owner noticing the charge light came on and a Lexus owner has reported the same issue," she said. Toyota Australia said the safety recall was a preventative action and customers can continue to drive their vehicles.The announcement continues a horror year for the world's biggest carmaker, which will lose its place at the top of the global sales charts to Volkswagen and could even slip to third behind General Motors. It has also recently withdrawn its earning forecast.Toyota's production was savaged by the March earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan and that was compounded by recent floods in Thailand that are still affecting vehicle production.Toyota's renowned reputation for reliability has been hammered in the past two years by a succession of recalls related to "unintended   acceleration". More than three million vehicles were returned to Toyota dealerships in the US to fix accelerator pedals that stuck or could potentially be caught in floor mats.In Australia, more than 4800 Lexus IS250s were recalled in February to remedy a potential fuel leak due to a fuel pressure sensor that could work loose and there was an earlier recall for computer tweaks to overcome a braking problem in the Prius hybrid.Recall vehicle numbers: 24,222Toyota Camry V6: 11,235Toyota Avalon: 3591Toyota Kluger: 6966Lexus ES300: 365Lexus RX330: 2065

Do you drink your good red out of the nearest jam jar or do you insist on crystal stemware?

If you are looking for wind-in-your-hair motoring this summer and you've got your eye on the Mercedes-Benz SLK, keep looking. The two-seat roadster is a classy car on a sunny day but it has been engineered to keep all but a light breeze out of the interior. Hit the go pedal and the new 3.5-litre V6 will still ruffle your feathers, though.VALUEThe two-seat hardtop plays on the same street as the Porsche Boxster, Audi TTRS and BMW Z4. At $118,900 it sits mid-pack in terms of pricing and performance: it can’t match the Boxster’s back road prowess and isn’t as practical as the TT for everyday transport but is the pick of the crop in terms of comfort. The four-cylinder SLK200 is a relative bargain at $82,900, though that's still $6000 over the entry level BMW Z4 20i.DESIGNCloning the look of the SLS AMG gives the SLK presence inside and out. That wide single-bar grille defines the front end and gives an instant expectation that this car will go hard. The dash is dominated by the aircraft-style chrome air vents, giving the cabin an open feel with the roof up or down.  Boot space is 335 litres with the roof up or 225 when it's down, enough for a pair of mid-sized suitcases packed on their sides.TECHNOLOGYSunroofs on convertibles make as much sense as underground solar panels but the SLK350 has two versions, a regular panoramic model and the "Magic Sky control" version. The "magic" system uses crystals embedded in the sunroof that react to an electric current to adjust the amount of light entering the cabin. Here's a tip: fold the roof down. A pair of clear wind deflectors behind the rollover bars can be manually moved to block draughts depending on the angle of the wind. Simple but it works, especially in combination with the Airscrarf vents build into the headrests.SAFETYThe SLK hasn't been officially crash-tested but a five-star rating will be the only acceptable outcome for Benz. An Attention Assist system alerts drivers if the software detects their concentration is waning and the Pre-Safe software automatically pre-tensions seatbelts and closes the windows if it detects a crash is imminent. If you do hit, no less than six airbags will deploy to protect the occupants.DRIVINGThe SLK is a stealth missile. It sidles up to Aussie-built V8s at the lights, whose drivers dismiss it as a hairdressers' car ... right up to the point where the lights go green and the SLK goes feral. The smooth mechanical purr from direct-injection 3.5-litre V6 pitches into a meaty howl as the seven-speed automatic launches from rest to 100km/h in 5.6 seconds. With the top down, you even get to appreciate it (the hardtop does a credible job of muting outside noise). Fuel use is a low 8.3 litres/100km with CO2 emissions at 194g/km. Steering feel is vague at low speed or in a straight line but the response and weight pick up with pace and turn-in angle. The only thing stopping it from being an outrig ht sports car is our roads, with the top down the Merc faithfully transfers the impact from scarred bitumen into the cabin. It still hangs on with the tenacity of a two-year old, but respect for the passenger should see the pace lowered a little off the freeways.VERDICTThe SLK350 doesn't have the poise to match its pace, but it's not designed to. If you need to corner like Michael Schumacher, buy the C63. If you want to look good, be looked at and enjoy a cruise without setting speed records, sit in the SLK.RATINGMERCEDES-BENZ SLK350Price: $118,900Warranty: Three years/100,000kmResale: 53 per cent after three years (Glass's Guide)Safety: Six airbags, Attention Assist, Pre-Safe, stability and traction control, ABS with brake assist and brakeforce distributionEngine: 3.5-litre V6, 225kW/370NmTransmission: Seven-speed automatic, rear-wheel driveEconomy: 8.3 litres/100km, 194g/km CO2.

Nissan Australia CEO Dan Thompson repeatedly used the Pulsar nameplate when referring to the brand's next small car, though official confirmation isn't expected until the Tokyo Motor Show late this month. Thompson said last year he expects the Pulsar to be a top-three contender in the small car class and account for 10 per cent of sales. It will be bolstered with both sedan and hatch styles  and could even pick up a Renault-sourced diesel engine. "Pulsar has a very special place in our plans and I think in Aussies' hearts and minds," he says. "We have massive ambitions with Pulsar hatch and sedan." Next year will be a busy one for Nissan with the arrival of the electric-powered Leaf and the Micra-based light sedan, the Almera, along with the Dualis diesel and new Patrol. Thomspon says the new models will revitalise showrooms but admits the Patrol will lack a diesel engine at launch. Part of the that reason is Australia had to foot the bill to pay for the right drive conversion, and would have to dig into its pocket again for an oilburner. "There isn't a market outside Australia (for a diesel)," Thompson confirms. The Mid-East and America are the other Patrol markets and they want petrol engines." Thompson also confirms the sporty Juke light SUV won't be added to the portfolio in Australia despite going on sale in New Zealand. "We've looked at it a few times and it just doesn't fit into the model plan here," he says. PULSAR HISTORY The Pulsar name began in Australia in 1978 under the Datsun badge and was then then locally built until 1992, when the Nissan plant at Clayton, Victoria closed. The Pulsar continued as a popular imported model until it was replaced by the Tiida in 2006. The Tiida's year-to-date sales of 2593 cars give it a 1.5 per cent market share. The Pulsar sold 17,643 units for an 8.2 per cent share of the segment in its last full year of sales in 2005. The Tiida sold 13,756 cars for a  6.2 per cent share in its first year-long sales in 2007.

Compact SUVs are the family wagons to be seen in. The segment account for just under half of all soft-roader sales - and that number continues to grow. Four-wheel drive associations report more compact SUV owners are calling to see if their vehicle is capable of doing an off-road course and some courses are now targeted specifically at women.It's the old story: women listen to instructions better than men and usually learn more. Nissan tops the sales in this segment with its X-Trail/Dualis duo. The Dual is is strictly a high-riding wagon, but the four-wheel drive X-Trails have reasonable off-bitumen capability. The boxy wagon is as practical as families looking for a weekend escape vehicle can aspire to.Money talks in this market and the leading players are generally within a few hundred dollars of each other. The base 2.5-litre petrol X-Trail ST all-wheel drive starts at $32,490 -- the same price as the Hyundai i35 and Mitsubishi ASX and climbs to $44,490 for the Ti model.The 2-litre turbodiesel TS is $35,990 stepping up to $42,990 for the TL. The base price is equal to the Hyundai i35 and Mitsubishi ASX and includes cruise control, Bluetooth phone connectivity and alloys wheels.A big part of the X-Trail's appeal is the number of clever storage areas, from the heated/chilled glovebox to the slide-out drawers in the boot. The boxy shape is softened by the curved tailgate and the rear seats fold flat to give it serious cargo capacity.Parents with kids in capsules will appreciate the seat height and wide-opening doors and the durable plastics and interior trim. It's not class leading, but the dirt and dust from a weekend in the bush is easily wiped or swept off.The all-wheel drive system in the X-Trail is known is controlled by a rotary dial with 2WD, Auto and Lock settings. It is as capable on gravel as any of the electronic AWD systems and also uses hill start assist and descent control to keep things tidy on slopes. There's the option of a continuously variable transmission on the petrol models or a six-speed auto on the diesels.The X-Trail crashes with four stars, according to the Euro NCAP authorities. It packs the expected front, side and curtain airbags, along with stability and traction control and ABS with brake assist and emergency brakeforce distribution. It didn't make five stars because the frontal offset collision test found that neck support for the driver was weak and front seat leg protection was marginal.The X-Trail has one of the best suspensions in the class. It irons out ruts on road and softens the big hits when negotiating a rocky track without wallowing like a pregnant hippo. The steering is accurate but set up so there's a bit of play before it responds to inputs and feedback through the wheel is reasonably ordinary.The diesel engine is the pick for off-road duties -- the 360Nm give the car enough grunt to scrabble up most slopes, or to poke its way through a river crossing. Drivers will usually find they run out of ground clearance (212mm) before the AWD system starts to struggle.On road it is a competent vehicle for shopping duties or interstate runs, though like most compact SUVs, pushing hard will create body roll and upset the passengers. Fuel use is about average with a claimed 9.3 litres for the 2.5-litre petrol engine with the manual transmission and 7.4 for the 2-litre diesel manual.The X-Trail is one of the more reassuring SUVs on dirt without affecting its on-road manners. It just pips the Forester for off-road action thanks to the diesel/auto drivetrain and as such, is the car to choose if you aim to be more adventurous than most compact SUV owners.

Mazda 2 Genki and Kia Rio SLi go head-to-head in this comparative review.