Articles by Craig Duff

The smart was so far ahead of the curve that it missed the ballgame when it launched here in 2003. Australians at that time weren't prepared to consider a micro car and it didn't emulate its European success, where the Merc-built model was a popular city commuter. Fast forward to 2011 and small cars are increasingly in vogue. So, is the two-seat runabout a smart choice now?VALUEA $19,990 sticker price doesn't look like a smart buy in a market where the Holden Barina Spark, Suzuki Alto and Nissan Micra all undercut it by $7000 or more. And they have back seats and a boot. What the Smart does have is rear-wheel drive and the best fuel use of a conventional-engined car at 4.4 litres/100km and CO2 emissions of 100g/km. The limited  edition "night orange" model seen here was a sellout, despite costing an extra $2800. In the UK, Aston Martin can't make enough of their Toyota iQ-based Cygnets, even at $55,000, so the re's definitely a market for upmarket city cars.DESIGNThe fortwo is all about packaging. The 999cc three-cylinder engine is mounted directly above the rear wheels so the 200-litre boot is up front. The dash plastics are as good as anything in the class and the overall cabin quality feels better than its rivals, but so it should. The exterior shape is three years old but still edgier than anything else in this market and is a big part of the reason the Smart appeals to young Europeans, according to Mercedes.TECHNOLOGYThe micro car concept is the gamechanger here. Mercedes had no competition when it launched this car in 1998. The design was widened and centre of gravity lowered when the Smart infamously failed a simulated rollover "moose test". It is the only car in this segment using an automated manual transmission but the five-speeder shifts slower than a politician in front of the cameras.SAFETYThere's not much room for crumple zones in the fortwo. Instead, Mercedes developed the tridion safety cell, the black or silver bit that runs from the A pillar to the bottom on the doors. It is a triple-layered steel cell with sliding beams front and rear to absorb small impacts without damaging the cell itself. There are also four airbags and safety software you expect in small cars. EuroNCAP gave it four stars.DRIVINGThe Smart is great fun driving around town and acceptable on the freeway runs that connect the city to the 'burbs. Cross winds will push it around, but it is no worse than a high-riding SUV. What does hurt is the auto transmission. It's slow shifts exaggerate the car's habit of pitching forwards under a gearchange and then backwards as the drive engages.  It is without peer in inner-city laneways  and the tightest parking spot is yours for the taking, with little fear of door and/or panel damage.VERDICTThe car that started the popular micro car trend is overpriced but a more engaging drive than some of its rivals. It was made for CBD owners and is an ideal city runabout. That's why VW is launching the Up .SMART FORTWOPrice: $19,990Warranty: Three years/unlimited kmResale: 55 per centService intervals: 20,000kmEconomy: 4.4 litres/100km (95 RON), 100g/km CO2Equipment: Four airbags, ABS with EBD, traction control, hill start assist Crash rating: Four starsEngine: 1.0-litre triple-cylinder, 52kW/92NmTransmission: Give-speed automated manualBody: Two-door hatchDimensions: 2695mm (L), 1559mm (W), 1542mm (H), 1867mm (WB)Weight: 750kg

It’s all at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (CEATEC), Japan's largest IT and electronics exhibition and conference. The annual event provides a platform for companies and organizations from all over the world to showcase their cutting-edge products, services and technologies. Nissan is showing its vision of what we’ll be living in soon. Houses powered by cars. The Nissan Smart House 2012 uses the Leaf to home charging system to supplement power from the solar panels and the energy saving appliances can be remotely operated. Nissan says the high floor adopts the style of ancient Japanese housing design and the polyhedral structure copies an aircraft in the outer shell being a structural item. A fully charged Leaf should power the average Japanese home for two days in an emergency, though Australians higher average power used would trim that back to 30-odd hours. Still beats sitting in the dark, but you are housebound until the Leaf recharges. The mutant Mimi Car sports a pair of terrifyingly huge ears (mimi is Japanese for ‘ear’) that can record sound, and is being used as a promotional tool to canvas event participants for their opinions about the ideal car for the future. Meanwhile the Murata Manufacturing Company is presenting the cyclist of the future in the form of a small bicycle-riding robot "Murata Seisaku-kun" – perfect for courier duties in small CBD alleys. Also creating a buzz this year is the prospect of a handy 10-minute charge for mobile phones, with NTT DoCoMo and NEC displaying a prototype in the form of an external lithium ion battery sleeve. Place it on your phone, and it will juice it up as swiftly as a high-speed charger, the companies claim. Another attention-grabber is Mitsubishi’s massive “Diamond Vision OLED”, a 2.7m semi-spherical screen, consisting of 696 organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels. Jutting out of a wall, the display makes the most of the material’s flexibility and lightness. The first appearance by chip giant Intel focuses on how their technology is used in robotics, and communications. Their “Intel Girl’s Inside” digital display, a woman wearing a box on her head demonstrates Intel's augmented reality digital system, with her reflection showing the head of a panda, owl, koala and other creatures. The technology combines a real-video content with the computer-generated image in real time that can transform the image of the box into another computer generated graphic on a monitor.

Value and economy are pretty good hooks to hang a car on. When that car is a Renault Megane diesel and it's taking on everything from the Ford Focus to the Hyundai i30, it needs more than that to make a mark. The Renault has plenty of cache and the Megane is priced and positioned to carve out a bigger niche than the 60-odd cars it is now selling month.VALUERenault Australia boss Justin Hocevar has fought the good fight to get the base model Megane in at $27,490 and right into the small-car fight. It comes with a 1.5-litre turbodiesel matched to a competent dual-clutch automated manual transmission. That gives it an edge against the six-speed manual in the Mazda3 diesel for $27,360, $28,990 for the Golf Bluemotion and $30,500 for the Ford Focus Trend, both in manual guise. Hyundai's i30cw SX undercuts them all at $23,090 for the five-speed manual . but the auto is a four-speeder and costs $2000.DESIGNThe Megane is different enough to stand out in the carpark for all the right reasons. As yet Renault is still not a common sight and the hatch has been cut from a more stylish French cloth than the utilitarian shape of the VW Golf or the i30. Exterior style isn't matched with interior space, though. The glovebox won't  stow anything bigger than a clutch purse and the centre bin will struggle to do that. The hand-held TomTom satnav controller chews up one of the front drink holders and the door poc kets are slim. On the positive side the materials and plastics feel better than most in this class and there's a decent boot.TECHNOLOGYThe dual-clutch automated manual transmission is the news. It's a dry clutch unit which cuts down on weight and frictional losses and operates as well as VW's DSG unit off the line. It isn't far off when underway but can occasionally be caught hunting for a gear under light acceleration or braking. Teamed with the 1.5-litre turbodiesel the transmission helps the Megane to an official fuel use of 4.5 litres/100km and CO2 emissions of 117g/km.SAFETYThe Megane hasn't yet been rated but the previous model was a five-star NCAP car and it's hard to see the French brand going backwards. This is a mainstream vehicle in Europe from a mainstream company and the structural integrity, six airbags and stability control have all been designed to give it a top rating.DRIVINGThe Megane's performance is admirable - a decent spread of torque makes it feel bigger than a 1.5-litre oilburner - without being close to class-leading. In terms of ride and passenger comfort, though, only the Focus and Golf will match it. A succession of unavoidable ruts and potholes tested the suspension and while the bumps were felt, they didn't unsettle the car. The same can't be said for the silica-loaded rubber on the base Dynamique. They understeered well before the suspension was under pressure and, surprisingly, weren't as compliant as the rubber on the 17-inch r immed Privilege.VERDICTAll Renault Australia's Justin Hocevar wants is for the Megane to earn a spot on shopping lists. A solid car at a competitive price with a five-year warranty and free servicing for the first three years should give him that. It's a refined entry in a cut-throat segment with the looks and handling to convert test drives to buyers.

Price cuts of up to $2500 and a midlife makeover should see the Mazda 3 end the Holden Commodore's 15-year reign as Australia's favourite car.Mazda Australia managing director Doug Dickson launched the revised range last week and, while happy to acknowledge the Mazda3 is better value, rejects suggestions the "Zoom Zoom" company wants to zoom to the top of the charts.Dickson also points out that a major fleet deal will push the Commodore back to the front in terms of sales, but won't necessarily add much to the bottom line, which is part of the reason Mazda won't chase the title."It is honestly not that important to us," he says. "If it happens, great, but if we are (the best-selling car) it won't be because we chased it. We don't want volume for the sake of it, that's not how you grow a business.""Our main thrust is to be the car buyer of choice for the private buyer and the business buyer who behaves like a private buyer. If in doing so, one of our cars becomes top seller, so be it, but that's not the main game."August sales figures show the Mazda3 heads the Commodore by about 500 units, with both selling more than 28,000 vehicles to date this year. The Mazda3 is already the most popular car with private buyers and accounts for a third of the company's Australian sales, which will be close to 87,000 vehicles this year.Dickson expects the final three months of the year to be a sales war as companies such as Toyota look to recoup sales they lost when the tsunami limited car production in Japan."There will be a lot of deals out there before the end of the year but we're comfortable with where the Mazda3 sits."Part of the reason is the refreshed range has more gear and lower prices, with the base Neo now starting at $20,330. The star of the new Mazda3 line-up is the Skyactiv engine and transmission fitted to the SP20 model.Despite having the same 2.0-litre capacity as the conventional engine in the Mazda3 Neo and Sport Maxx, the SP20 uses 25 per cent less fuel yet still cranks out marginally more power and torque.Even so, Mazda expects the Skyactiv will only account for about 15 per cent of Mazda3 sales.

The Mazda 3 has been the quiet achiever of the Australian private car fleet. It’s driven in the Holden Commodore’s wheel ruts as Australia’s favourite car for the past seven years.

An unconventional take on the traditional large luxury sedan sums up Volvo's Concept You. The car is a celebration of all things Scandanavian, from the polished timber floors to the Kasthall carpets, seat back fabrics designed by Oscar Jacobson to look like business suits, to the Georg Jensen-inspired wheel and grille details and Hasselblad camera on the back seat. "Concept You gives a good indication of what you can expect from our next large sedan. The blend of contemporary Scandinavian design, exquisite craftsmanship and intuitive technology will appeal to luxury car buyers all over the world," Volvo CEO Stefan Jacoby says. The You is also a symbol of Volvo's renaissance: the takeover by Geely last year gave the company cash and conviction that is translating into a 21 per cent sales rise so far this year. The concept car is the successor to the Concept Universe sedan shown at this year's Shanghai Motor Show. The fastback design is a popular look with all carmakers right now and the size and shape will have the Volvo lining up against Audi's A7 and the XJ Jaguar. Volvo's vice-president of design, Peter Horbury says the Concept You's design language is indicative of future Volvo models says customer reaction will ultimately determine which of the two cars will make it into production. "The fastback profile mirrors a strong trend among European buyers. With growing signs that Chinese "taste buds" are moving rapidly in the same direction, our main aim is to explore how daring our next large sedan should be in order to be a global success," he says. Volvo has dared to be different on the inside, too. The hi-tech cockpit uses hand gestures, facial recognition and voice commands to navigate through the car's functions. "We use a number of touch-screens to replace buttons and controls in order to make the driver totally connected. The technology also helps us to create a refreshingly uncluttered interior," Horbury says. The sound system was developed in association with Alpine and uses a "Fresh Air" subwoofer that weighs 1.4kg but has the performance of a conventional 15kg unit. The system also helps to contain the sound within the car.

The long-awaited Suzuki Swift Sport should come to Australia later next year.The second generation of the Swift was launched earlier this year and Sport will be the halo model, with a 1.6-litre engine punching out 100kW and 160Nm.The transmission, suspension and body kit are all specific to the Swift Sport. The six-speed manual gearbox has been matched to the engine's torque outputs and helps the hot hatch achieve fuel use of 6.4 litres/100km and CO2 emissions of 147g/km.The suspension has been upgraded with stiffer spring rates, a stiffer rear torsion beam with harder bushes to improve lateral rigidity and larger wheel bearings all designed to help stability while cornering at speed.The body kit looks good and Suzuki says it improves airflow over the car to boost downforce at speed. Other Sport highlights include 17-inch alloy wheels, xenon headlights and seven airbags.

The Ford Focus ST will replace the XR5 in Australia and its 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo engine is more powerful and uses less fuel than the XR5's Volvo-sourced 2.5-litre five-cylinder donk.The hatch is a guaranteed starter but Ford Australia will have to assess the wagon before giving it a tick, given the extra space could put it in competition with the four-cylinder Ford Falcon which will use the same engine, though tuned for economy rather than outright go.Outputs are 180kW/360Nm and will be delivered to the front wheels via a six-speed manual gearbox. A claimed 0-100km/h time of 6.5 seconds puts the car in direct contention with the Renault Megane RS and Golf GTI."The Focus ST is our first global performance Ford -- the company DNA is evident in the design and the overall philosophy," Ford's chief technical officer Paul Mascarenas says.A Fiesta ST also joined its big brothers on the stand. Ford released little detail on the Fiesta but said the 1.6-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder is good for 132kW/240Nm.Like the Focus, the Fiesta ST will use a manual gearbox and CO2 emissions are "under 140g/km", Mascarenas says.

The i30 was the car that announced to the world that Hyundai had "made it". The design, ride and build quality were a quantum leap over previous models and saw a surge of buyers heading to Hyundai showrooms. Now it's take two, with the second-generation i30 launched in Frankfurt this week ahead of a global rollout in 2012. Hyundai says the new i30 is the next evolution of the company's "fluidic sculpture" design and its been benchmarked against cars such as the Mazda3 and Volkswagen Golf for performance and quality. The vehicle will go on sale in Europe with a choice of two petrol and two diesel engines, six-speed manual and automatic transmissions and CO2 emissions as low as 100g/km. The i30 also launches into a growing market -- Hyundai says the C segment it competes in is expected to grow by seven per cent over the next three years. The interior boasts a seven-inch touch screen, dual-zone climate control airconditioning and improved feel in the plastics. The vehicle is larger than the original i30 at 4.3m long, 1.78m wide and 1.47m long. Cargo capacity is 378 litres, up 10 per cent.

The vehicle embodies Audi's view of an electric-powered city runabout, with a one+one seating configuration, a mass of just 480kg and a range of around 70km. Designers were given the brief "How much car is necessary to deliver driving pleasure and urban mobility in an entirely new way?" and responded with the urban concept study. It rolls on 21-inch wheels offset from the body like an open-top race car and the roof slides for entry and exit _ or it can be left open to enjoy the weather. Audi says the battery recharges in around 20 minutes with a 400-volt three-phase system, or in about one hour with a 230-volt household power outlet. It is also capable of induction recharging. Drivers will park the vehicle above a plate embedded in a garage or parking bay. The presence of the car activates the coil in the plate, which then generates an alternating current to top up the 90kg lithium-ion batteries. Power is provided by two electric motors that drive the rear wheels with 15kW/47Nm. Audi says the 0-100km/h time is 16.9 seconds _and the concept is limited to that speed. Carbon fibre reinforced plastic is used for the exterior and parts of the passenger cell, helping to keep the weight low. The vehicle is 3.2m longs, 1.7m wide and 1.2m tall. Safety was another key criteria and the concept has front and rear crumple zones, two airbags and a collision avoidance system.