Articles by Ewan Kennedy

Jeep are treating customers to an all new model line up of the popular Grand Cherokee, with a varied range of price tags and drive trains to suit all different budgets and requirements.The five-seat Grand Cherokee comes in three specification levels: Laredo, Limited and Overland. Our test vehicle had the Overland spec. The entry level Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo 3.6-litre V6 petrol starts at $45,000, while the top of the range Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland 3.0-litre turbo-diesel is priced at $69,000. All models are available in automatic only.Overland has adaptive cruise control, hill descent control, hill start assist, automatic high beam, park assist, and a reversing camera that includes a warning when a vehicle crosses the vehicle's path when reversing.The 2012 model also has a new design 3.6-litre V6 engine, as we recently tested in a Jeep Wrangler. While it is an improvement in both performance and economy, it is still no fuel saint. Other engine choices are a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel and a 5.7-litre Hemi V8 with 259 kW of power and 520 Nm of torque. We tested the latter.The big V8 is linked to a six-speed automatic with a manual flick-across shifter. On paper and in reality there's not a lot of difference between the 3.6-litre petrol V6 and the V8. Where it does matter is in towing where the V8 (and the 3.0-litre diesel) will haul up to 3500 kg while the V6 is just 2268 kg. Be warned though the V8 will be thirsty with a load on the back in addition to around 2.4 tonne of vehicle.The engine has an Eco mode and the transmission is smooth through the shifts. Grand Cherokee is fitted with Jeep's Quadra-Drive II active, full-time 4WD system with low range transfer and electronic limited slip differential for the rear axle.The latest Jeep Grand Cherokee’s lines are smooth and athletic and of course there's a seven bar chrome vertical grille announcing the Jeep DNA. It sits on 20-inch painted alloy wheels that set off that rugged athleticism. Late last year the Grand Cherokee was given an overhaul for the 2012 season. It had a below par interior and a 3.8-litre petrol V6 that slurped fuel.Now, the interior sets a new standard for this, Jeep's flagship. The dash sets the tone with stitched leather and the way it seems to naturally interact with the door trim to create a great cabin effect. The seats are supportive, maybe a little too firm, and have a lumbar adjustment. We also liked the colour scheme of black upholstery with ivory roof liner than also ventured down the a-pillar with the other roof supports kept in black.If we have a dislike it's the size of the steering wheel rim which is designed to fit the mit of a Sumo wrestler. Small people might find it simply too broad. We liked the word ‘Overland' in traditional Willys style embossed into the front seat uprights.The rear seat is also firm but comfortable. Being leather they will wear in. Storage areas abound and the rear seat passengers now have improved leg room. There's a fold down centre armrest when two occupy the second row. Head and shoulder room is good. The rear seats have heating while the front seats have heating and cooling.Changes to the Grand Cherokee are small but important: the doors open wider and the passengers have more knee and leg room. Cargo space is up by 11 per cent to 782 litres with the seats up and 1554 with the rear seat folded.The Grand Cherokee Overland is well up in the safety stakes and comes standard with ABS brakes, traction and stability control, forward collision warning, front and side airbags, side curtain airbags, driver's knee airbag and active front head restraints.The Quadra-Drive II system is brought back to the basics for ease of use giving the driver a simple series of dial in terrain choices via a centre console selector: Snow, Sport, Auto, Sand/Mud and Rock.In addition, for off-road work, you can hit the Quadra-lift button to raise the body out of harm’s way, with the maximum height of 271 mm. Despite the classy makeover, the 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee is still true to its roots as a highly capable get-down-and-dirty off-roader. The ability to substantially lift the body means in most situations off-road the Grand Cherokee will remain grand without the underbody bumps and hits a 4WD might normally accumulate.However, we suspect most Grand Cherokees will rarely see the dirt and rocks and will be used as urban vehicles that double up as a tow vehicle, given the 3.5-tonne capability. On road the Grand Cherokee is a refined piece of kit that offers a ride as good as any SUV and handles particularly well for a vehicle that tips the scales at almost 2.5 tonne (with passengers) and is capable of tackling the most serious of off-road terrain. Jeep has done well to balance out the crossover without compromise.Much as we like the rumble of the big American-style V8 engine, if we were forking out our own hard-earned on the Grand Cherokee we would take the 3.0-litre diesel ahead of it.

Taking advantage of the slow-moving car market in Europe, as well as the strength of the Australian dollar against the eurodollar, the local Volkswagen importer has further improved the value offered by the Passat. Volkswagen has almost doubled its overall sales in Australia in the past three years thanks to a very strong marketing push and managing director, Anke Koeckler, is determined to keep the ball rolling. Hence the increased value in the Passat range with, may we speculate, similar movements to follow on other vehicles in the range. During a lunchtime briefing with Ms Koeckler she said the big push in the next 12 months will be on the all-new Golf, now into its seventh generation. We have been invited to the global launch of new Golf in October this year and will be able to supply details and a full driving review immediately afterwards. But back to the Passat. Every model will now come standard with satellite navigation. The Volkswagen RNS510 system has a high-resolution touch screen display in the increasingly popular 16:9 format. It offers the choice between 2D, topographical and 3D map views. There is voice control for the sat nav, as well as telephone and radio functions. The RNS510 has a 30 Gb hard drive for storing music and navigation data and can accept inputs via a SD card slot, a single DVD drive and MP3. Another standard feature is a rear view camera that will assist by providing static and dynamic guidance lines on the satellite navigation. The convenience of powered opening and closing of the tailgate now is part of the standard equipment on all Passat station wagons. The recently added ‘Tip-to-Run’ function means the tailgate switches to automatic operation when someone tries to close it manually. Standard steering wheel gearshift paddles in both the sedan and wagon make gear choice simpler in the Volkswagen Passat V6 FSI.  The 2013 spec Passats come with the option of a Driver Assistance and Visibility Package that now incorporates the Side Assist lane change assistant which advises the driver if a vehicle is in the so-called blind spot. A warning light in the exterior mirror warns whenever a lane change would be dangerous. Despite this added equipment, valued at several thousand dollars, prices for the 2013 Volkswagen Passat remain unchanged as the Volkswagen importer is keen to lure buyers away from station wagons made by Japanese competitors. The complete 2013 Volkswagen Passat range is:               

In an interesting move Mitsubishi has given its ASX crossover vehicle a softer look that it says will appeal to hatchback buyers more so than those on the hunt for an SUV. The new ASX was showcased at the New York Auto Show earlier this year displaying a slight facelift and new grille and rolled into Mitsubishi Australian showrooms this month. Mitsubishi hopes the new look will boost ASX sales, which lag far behind its rivals the Hyundai ix35 and Nissan Dualis.VALUEThe importer has used the rising value of the Aussie dollar to trim prices and at the same time increase equipment levels. The range now starts at just $25,990 (plus on roads) for the Mitsubishi ASX with a five-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive.That’s a mouth watering tag for a vehicle with Japanese build quality and out of the ordinary styling. As well as the reduced prices it also has the added assurance of Mitsubishi’s five-year / 130,000-km warranty.The newly introduced Mitsubishi ASX Aspire 2WD has 17-inch alloy wheels, chrome exhaust, front foglamps, leather seat trim with heated front seats and power driver’s seat along with leather-look door trim and privacy glass.DESIGNThe ASX still has the large grille look and seems sure to remain a major player in the small SUV market in Australia, the fastest growing of all areas in the sales race.Modifications to the shape include new bumpers front and rear as well as changes to the foglight surrounds and a revised shape to the so-called jetfighter grille.Inside, there are chromed accents and a new-design steering wheel with easier to use controls. Audio systems have been upgraded on all models. Even the entry level has iPod / iPhone compatibility. That in the 2WD and 4WD Aspire models has a 6.1-inch full colour touch screen and a rear view camera with parking reference lines.There’s good interior space with plenty of rear leg and headroom. The boot is a good size with a volume of 426 litres when the rear seatback is upright and 1193 litres with the backs folded.SAFETYAutomatic lights and wipers add to the safety of a vehicle that’s already well equipped in this way. Safety features across the entire ASX range include ABS brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assist, stability and traction control and front, side, curtain and driver’s knee airbags.TECHNOLOGYThe Mitsubishi ASX (for Active Sports Crossover) is either a compact SUV or a crossover depending on its mechanical specifications. Mitsubishi ASX comes with the choice of two engines, a 2.0-litre petrol unit and a sophisticated 1.8-litre direct-injection turbo-diesel.The front-wheel drive Mitsubishi ASX has the option of either five-speed manual or CVT automatic. The 4WD petrol is only available with CVT while the diesel only comes with six-speed manual.Mechanical upgrades see fuel consumption and carbon output cut by about three to five per cent. The diesel engine is now best in class for official fuel efficiency, at 5.7 litres per 100 kilometres. The petrol unit runs at 7.7 litres per hundred kilometres on the combined cycle.DRIVINGMitsubishi has changed the settings of the continuously variable transmission (CVT) to make it sound and feel a little more like a conventional automatic transmission.This may make it slightly less efficient, but on our introductory test drive organised by Mitsubishi out of Brisbane we must say we did prefer the new sounds to the somewhat frantic ones that can make other CVTs sound odd when worked hard. When it comes with 2WD it’s a hatchback with good interior space and better than average ground clearance. Add 4WD and you get some reasonable ability off sealed surfaces.

Designed for the European market at Hyundai’s Technical Centre in Russelsheim, Germany, the new i30 takes on the South Korean company’s ‘fluid sculpture’ style which, it says, is inspired by nature and modern architecture. More practically, it gives the vehicle a slippery co-efficient of friction of Cd 0.30, a cornerstone of fuel economy.Since its launch Downunder the new Hyundai i30 has picked up the SUNA Traffic Channel, a digital information service that broadcasts detailed information about traffic congestion and other road conditions directly to compatible in-car satellite navigation devices. SUNA is standard in Elite and Premium models. The handy traffic avoiding service is now available in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and on the Gold Coast.The new Hyundai i30 satellite navigation is a first for Hyundai vehicles in Australia and features a 7-inch touch screen, motorway junction views, lane guidance, speed warnings, 3D landmarks, multi-route planning (fast, short, eco), ‘easy access to parking’ location function, traffic information through Traffic Message Channel, detour function and address input with intelligent keyboard.The usual connectivity is on hand with AUX, USB and iPod/iPhone input and Bluetooth with hands-free phone and audio streaming. One glaring omission is stop/start engine technology, increasingly being found in vehicles today, a further aid to fuel economy. The Hyundai i30 Premium 1.6 turbo-diesel six-speed automatic sells for $32,590, plus on-roads.The 1.6-litre CRDi diesel engine has been updated to produce 10.6 per cent more power (94 kW) over the previous i30 and 3.4 per cent reduction in combined highway/urban fuel consumption, with the six-speed automatic transmission adding to the economy equation by running a tall top gear.Hyundai i30 gets straight to the point in the styling stakes, with Hyundai’s signature hexagonal radiator grille (chrome in the Premium test car we have sampled for the past week), flanked by the latest design HID xenon headlamps. Sleek lines, offset by sculpted wheel arches housing 17-inch alloy wheels, continue down the side of the vehicle, ending in a rear that emphasises the vehicle’s wide stance.The roof in the i30 Premium incorporates a two-piece panoramic sun roof, the light from which adds a feeling of space inside the cabin. A spoiler is positioned where the roof meets the rear window. The Hyundai emblem houses a reversing camera which improves the limited rear view through a small back window. With room for five people – if they are not overly wide – the Premium i30‘s cabin lives up to the model moniker with a modern mix of quality hard and soft surfaces. The driver enjoys a 10-way power seat, plus heating with two functions.The Hyundai i30, which comes in Active, Elite and Premium variants, has also been recognised as ‘one of the safest in the small-car category’ by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program, with the new-generation Hyundai being awarded the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating.This second-generation Hyundai i30 received good results across the five tests – frontal offset, side impact, pole, whiplash, and pedestrian protection – to receive the maximum rating, an improvement in overall score compared to the first-generation five-star rated i30, up from 32.54 points to 35.69.Seven airbags and rear parking sensors standard across the range, plus a full suite of standard active safety technology including ESC, TCS, ABS, EBD and BAS ensure the i30 is on a par with the best, and more expensive, passenger vehicles around.Instruments are made easy to read with sports-style layout and blue back lighting. The Hyundai engine fires up via a start/stop button, while an electronic park brake gets the vehicle under way with a minimum of fuss. The four-spoke steering wheel incorporates a variety of controls, including cruise control, audio and air-con. The driver can dial up one of three steering modes with Flex Steer – another new feature from Hyundai.Flex Steer’s ‘Normal’ provides a balance between steering input and feedback, making it ideal for the majority of roads; ‘Comfort’ reduces the weight of steering, allowing for effortless manoeuvring and more relaxed driving; ‘Sport’ increases steering weight and feedback for maximum driver involvement. At motorway speeds the test i30 CRDi had fuel consumption of 5.2 litres per 100km, increasing to about eight litres per 100km in hard stop-start traffic motoring.The suspension and steering have been especially tuned for Australian conditions, which only adds to the i30’s appeal.

Revheads will love this review, but if you don’t fall into that category (poor things!) you may care to skip it…The French police have used the hotshot Renault Megane RS250 hatch as their pursuit vehicle for many years, and loved it. But when calling for tenders for the next group of highway pursuit machines they complained that their previous 250 horsepower Renault Megane didn’t have enough performance. So they demanded more, and the result was the RenaultSport 265 with – you guessed it – 265 horsepower.Keep in mind this is a pursuit car, not a track beast, so it could be involved in long and unpredictable chases of bad guys where maximum braking may be needed at any moment.Having said that, the French police, true to a longtime desire of revheads, insisted the Megane RS265 be tested at one of the most famous of all European road circuits – the green hell that is the Nurburgring long track. There the new machine slashed the previous record for front-wheel-drive production cars by an amazing 11 seconds, to just 8:08 minutes – more about that number in a moment.Needless to say, the French police immediately pushed aside all the other competitors in the performance test and signed up for the Megane RenaultSport 265.Now Australian drivers can sign up for one as well. The local importer finds itself more and more often being regarded as a retailer of high-performance hatches so has put us down to receive not one, but four, variants of the latest Megane RS265. These are the RS265 Cup, RS265 Trophy and RS265 Trophy+.These models will remain on sale indefinitely while the fourth, a special limited edition called the RS265 808 (so named for the 8:08 minute record set at the Nurburgring) is also on sale now. Only 100 will be imported to Australia, we anticipate these 808s being sold out quickly so it might be worth getting onto your Renault dealer as soon as possible.RANGEThe RenaultSport Megane range starts from $42,640 for the RS265 Cup and tops out at the  RS265 Trophy+ priced from $51,640. There's also the RS265 Trophy (from $47,140) and the limited edition Trophy 808 (from $49,990).TECHNOLOGYThe French don’t talk about kilowatts, which is surprising considering that they invented the metric system, but in Australian terms the latest redhot Renault Megane puts out 195 kW of power. Torque is a towering 360 Newton metres thanks to the installation of a turbocharger in this 2.0-litre petrol four-cylinder unit. That torque peak is maintained all the way from 3000 revs to 5000. Even better, there’s good pulling power from 1900 rpm upwards.RenaultSport (which is what the ‘RS’ stands for) has long been a master of putting big torque through the front wheels and has developed a mechanical differential and a complex front suspension system for the 265. The Megane RS265 engineers feel this makes more sense than taming wheelspin on one of the front wheels by using the ABS system. Thus avoiding heating up the brake discs by the ABS system dabbing one of them on to cut wheelspin.DRIVINGWe had a tremendous day’s driving out of Brisbane and into the mountains north of the city as part of the media launch of the new Renault RS265. This car has acceleration that sees it jump to 100 km/h in just six seconds. Even better it has linear acceleration that just keeps coming due to the effects of the electronically controlled turbocharger and throttle systems.The driver can dial up everything from modest running to full-on track performance – only at a track please if you do buy one of these machines – including the ability to turn off all of the electronic stability aids. This is not a machine for those who don’t know what they are doing when behind the controls…Brakes are huge and have the power to haul speed down very quickly. The steering is fast and responsive with a pleasingly tight lock-to-lock movements. Ride is firm but not overly so and noise levels don’t rise over much when on Australian coarse-chip road surfaces.VERDICTThe latest hotrod Renault Megane impresses with full-on track performance and fast and responsive steering. Escaping the French road police is no longer an option.Renault Megane RS 265Price: from $42,640
Warranty: 3 years/unlimited km
Service interval: 12 months/10,000km
Safety rating: not tested
Spare: space saver
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged 4cylinder; 195kW/360Nm.
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Body: 2-door coupe
Weight: 1374kg
Thirst: 8.2L/100km, 190g/km CO2

Though a disappointingly large number of Australians are taking the head-in-the-sand approach to climate change, Europeans are treating the problem seriously and are looking to buy cars that maximise fuel efficiency. Volkswagen is by far the biggest automotive maker in Europe and the local Australian importer has just completed a major media event in Canberra to demonstrate the fuel saving features of its latest models. Running under the tag of Blue Efficiency, Volkswagen’s extreme fuel savers have numerous technical devices to trim carbon emissions and at the same time reduce their fuel usage. Let’s analyse them before going into details of the greatest fuel saving method of all. Stop-Start systems turn off the engine when it’s not required and fire it up again almost instantly when needed. Volkswagen has it on both manual and automatic versions of its Blue Efficiency range. The system can be turned off by the driver. Engineers say the car has to be stationary for about 15 to 20 seconds to justify stopping it because some extra fuel is required to fire the engine up again. If traffic is crawling along fitfully the driver can turn off the stop-start system. Fuel Cutout stops fuel going into the engine when it’s not needed, typically when the car is slowing down or running down a hill. If you set the onboard computer to show the instantaneous fuel consumption you can have the satisfying experienced of it reading 0.00 litres per hundred kilometres. Brake Energy Recuperation. Rather than taking power from the engine to charge up the battery all the time, this system charges the car’s battery when the brakes are used or the car is running downhill. If the electronics sense the battery is getting too low and the engine is still working hard then it automatically switches over to the ‘always charging’ system currently used on most cars. Gear Recommendation is used in Volkswagen Blue Efficiency models with manual gearboxes. Quite simply, it suggests the correct gear to the driver from moment to moment for best efficiency (not necessarily lowest consumption). If it senses the car is being driven gently and then recommends up changes at lower revs. If the car is climbing a hill and/or being driven in a spirited fashion Gear Recommendation will suggest holding onto lower gears longer. Coasting is the most interesting of the new Volkswagen fuel saving systems to our way of thinking. Remember when dear old dad would put the gearbox into neutral when going downhill to cut fuel use? The Volkswagen system does just that, but only in models with DSG automatic transmissions. It keeps the engine running so you still have normal braking and power assistance to the steering. Intelligent Thermal Management is currently only used on the Volkswagen Touareg turbo-diesel models as part of their Blue Efficiency package. This cuts engine cooling to a minimum until the powerplant has reached its correct operation temperature. The system will make its way down into the smaller-engined models in the near feature. Earlier we mentioned “the greatest fuel saving method of all”. What is it? Quite simply the person behind the steering wheel. Correct driving can easily trim fuel usage by 10 per cent, and savings of 25 per cent are there if you manage to tame a wild driver. Volkswagen Australia offers every customer a booklet full of economy driving tips and it has received a lot of praise from those who were perhaps not aware of the best ways to reduce their fuel costs. Volkswagen Australia, well aware of the competitive nature of the typical Aussie motoring journalist, then ran an economy drive for us to test the cars’ features and our own (real or imagined) driving skills. All the Blue Efficiency vehicles had turbo-diesel engines and comprised two cars; Golf and CC, and two SUVs: Tiguan and Touareg. Two courses were set, and both were real doozies. Starting at the top of the hill on which the Mount Stromlo Observatory is perched the Golf and CC were taken through a fairly torturous suburban run then a hard climb back up the mountain. The Tiguan and Touareg run was even tougher, incorporating some pretty serious off road sections with some slopes that required second gear up long steep inclines. Yours truly managed an (imaginary) gold medal in the Tiguan economy event and felt quite pleased with himself. But my fuel usage was typically five per cent higher than that of Australian rally champion Ed Ordynski who set the course for us. It’s fascinating to note that high-performance drivers can be more economical than day-to-day ones when the conditions demand it.  

The Mercedes B-Class is an exceptionally practical vehicle built on a stretched version of the Mercedes A-Class platform. The release of an all-new model in March 2012 has generated added interest to those on the used-car market.A taller than average five-door hatchback, the B-Class has a huge amount of interior space, with almost as much legroom in the rear as in the big S-Class Mercedes. The B-Class’s front seats are large and well shaped and provide good support. There's plenty of space for two big Aussie males in the rear and three children will have stretch out room.The boot is bigger and more useable than that of many much larger cars. Not only is it huge, the luggage area is very versatile, and you can even create an almost van-like interior by removing every seat but the driver’s. The removable seats are an extra-cost option so may not be fitted to the one you’re examining.We wouldn’t go as far as to call the B-Class a ‘sports tourer’, as Mercedes has tagged it at times, but it does have a reasonably sleek style in its class.Petrol, turbo-petrol and turbo-diesel engines are all on offer, with the turbo-petrol units providing performance that can be called sporting without using too much imagination.The manual gearbox comes as a five or six-speed unit, but isn’t particularly common. Mercedes also gives you the choice of a continuously variable transmission that has seven manually-selectable preset ratios for use in specific driving conditions.There's a solid, quiet, refined feel in the new Benz B-Class that belies it size. It’s not quite as quiet and smooth to ride in as the larger Merc sedans, but it comes impressively close.Handling in the B-Class is very good for a mid-sized front-wheel-drive car, with decent balance, and minimal understeer at normal speeds. Backed up by Mercedes' inbuilt electronic stability program, this is one of the safest cars in its class size.These aren't cheap cars in absolute terms, but you do get some excellent engineering and there are a host of luxury and safety features. Of course, you do pay several thousand extra dollars for the privilege of sitting behind that three-pointed star, but many think it’s worth the money.Mercedes-Benz is well represented in almost all areas of areas of Australia, even in the far outback as diesel Mercedes have been a favourite with Aussie farmers for generations.This isn’t really the sort of car you should attempt to work on yourself, though a good home handyperson can do some of the routine service work. It’s common for owners to get all their work done at authorised Mercedes-Benz dealerships and these cars generally fetch higher prices than cars serviced elsewhere. You may pay more in the first place, but recoup your cash when it comes time to trade in your ‘serviced by Mercedes’ car.WHAT TO LOOK FORA correctly driven and maintained Mercedes B-Class is unlikely to have any faults, but it’s still best to have one inspected by a senior engineer at your motoring club.Take a good walk around the car checking for signs of damage to the bumper corners, the wheel rims (the front left is the one that generally suffers at the hands of poor parkers), and the door panels at their widest sections.If you find what appears to have been major repairs to the body either pass it up altogether or book it in for an after-crash inspection at a reputable panel repairer.Check the interior, particularly the rear seats and the boot for evidence of harsh use.Before going for your test drive try and arrange for the engine to be completely cold, after an overnight stop is ideal. Make sure the engine starts easily and idles smoothly within a few seconds of kicking over.Check the engine pulls easily and strongly even on hills and with a load on board. And that it never shows any signs of hesitation.CAR BUYING TIPCars with prestigious badges can be driven just as badly as those from the lowliest on the image stakes. Don’t fall for the fancy badge, have it fully inspected.

At the same time as it introduced the new Falcon GT R-Spec sedan in Melbourne, Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) also displayed the most limited of all limited-edition utes it has ever built.Only available in Silhouette (a very black black) with Vixen stripes and accents, the FPV Pursuit ute will be limited to just 75 units. The latest FPV Pursuit Ute has a GT colour-coded front bumper and eight-inch alloy wheels in the same design as the nine-inch units fitted to the GT R-Spec.The Pursuit has the standard features of the current GS ute, to which have been added a Pursuit badge across the tailgate and a GT colour-coded bumper that ties in nicely with the decal pack featuring FPV’s ‘C’ stripe. The rear end treatment finishes with black painted exhaust tips.This eye-catching colour scheme, together with the special decals, lifts the looks of the already good FPV body modifications. The result is a true Aussie designed and built ute that really stands out on the road or at the owner’s favourite hangout.Inside, the latest FPV ute has Shadow leather sports seats, a stylish piano black interior finish around the ICC unit, the tissue box and the door spears. The gear lever on the manual has a new badge design. Entertainment is provided by Ford’s Premium Sound system. Suna traffic control makes life easier.The limited edition Pursuit Ute is powered by the FPV modified all-aluminium 315 kW 5.0-litre Harrop-supercharged V8 engine producing 545 Nm of torque between 2000 and 5500 rpm. The engine is based on the Boss unit built for the Ford Mustang in the United States, but gets quite a few modifications after it hits the Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) workshop in Melbourne.As well as the standard six-speed manual gearbox, the FPV Pursuit Ute has the option of a six-speed automatic transmission with sequential sports shifts. The recommended manufacturer's list price for the limited edition FPV Pursuit ute is $57,990, on-road and governments charges have to be added. The Pursuit ute is sold only at participating FPV dealers. 

White Motors Corporation (WMC) imports JAC trucks, as well as other Chinese vehicles, to Australia and is very serious about the success of the new brand. On staff it has senior executives with extensive experience in the Australian truck industry, usually gained while working with what are now competitors to JAC.WMC has appointed major dealer groups, including AHG, CMC, Adorns and Macquarie, to sell the JAC trucks, and tell us more are at various stages of negotiating agreements.VALUELet’s begin our first local review of Chinese-made JAC trucks in Australia by talking about their prices. Because that’s going to be their big selling point. With recommended retails typically around 15 to 20 per cent lower than those for the current major players in the light commercial field JAC trucks will immediately appeal to those chasing a bargain.We also write about the prices at the start of this news story because the low dollar numbers may help dull some of the upcoming criticisms of the JACs you’re about to read. JAC prices begin at just $36,389 for the entry level J45 4.5-tonne model. On-road costs have to be added but you get a lot of vehicle for under forty grand in a market segment that typically starts in the high forties.JAC is proud of what it says will be exceptionally strong aftersales service in Australia. It also boasts its spare parts pricing will be lower than those for others in the industry. The warranty on JAC trucks is for two years for the complete vehicle, with the driveline being warranted for up to five years. The distance limit on the latter is an impressive 500,000 kilometres.TECHNOLOGYOne reason for the big warranty is that JAC trucks use a Cummins ISF diesel engine. This is a brand new design and uses the latest Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology to enable it to meet Euro 5 emission standard.These dedicated truck engines have capacities of 2.8 or 3.8 litres. The former used in the J45, the latter in the J65 and J75 (the numbers represent the GVM of the trucks). Power output is 110 kW in the 2.8 and 105 kW in the 3.8, the apparently odd numbers reflecting the smaller engine is aimed at the car-licence vehicle. Torque tells the full story, with the 2.8 engine producing 360 Nm, and the 3.8 having a very useful 450 Newton metres.The 2.8-litre engine sits in front of a five-speed ZF manual gearbox, the 3.8 gets six forward ratios. An automatic is in the pipeline for the JAC J45 and will help sales with those more used to driving cars than trucks. Standard on all JAC light-duty trucks being imported to Australia are air conditioning, power windows, a radio/CD/mp3 audio system and central locking.The JAC importer says its J65 and J75 models are the only vehicles in its class to have full air brake systems.DRIVINGOur initial test drives were done only in JAC J75s. Our first impression was a serious likeness to an old Isuzu light-duty truck of 10 or so years back. The fit and finish on the Chinese vehicles was quite good, though one of them later developed a squeaking noise from somewhere under the dashboard on the driver’s side. So something wasn’t fastened in correctly.The Cummins ISF 3.8-litre engine is a delight to sit behind and by far the best feature of the trucks. It pulls effortlessly from anywhere over 1000 revs and is willing to use its torque to hold only high gears for long periods. The trucks were loaded to about 80 per cent and we did a fair bit of driving in heavy traffic in the suburbs of Brisbane, as well as in hilly country areas on a roundabout trip south to the Gold Coast.The ZF six-speed gearbox was generally OK, but did tend to bind at times, requiring quite forceful changes on several occasions. Steering was on the vague side and even a highly experienced truck driver I shared vehicles with found it hard to keep on the straight and narrow at times.Despite the compact overall dimensions of the J75 it has a large turning circle that makes manoeuvring in tight spots very difficult at times.Ride comfort isn’t too bad for a light truck, with the suspension coping with most Australian back roads. Tyre and road noise were higher than we liked and would be tiring over extended periods behind the wheel.VERDICTThere’s room for improvement in the JAC light commercials. The local importers are well aware of this and are sending information back to China on a constant basis. If these improvements can be incorporated without any significant increase in prices then light trucks seem assured of success in Australia.RANGEJ45 2.8-litre 4995 kg GVM: from $37,389J65 3.8-litre 6995 kg GVM: from $39,589J75 3.8-litre 7995 kg GVM: from $40,689 J75Price: from $40,689Engine: 3.8L Cummins ISFe5 engine, 105kW/450NmGearbox : six-speed manual  

This stunning little Italian hotshot, with a name that’s almost as long as the car – Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari – is something right out of the ordinary. A brand new Ferrari-badged car for under $70,000 - amazing isn’t it?Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari is a tribute to two of the great Italian marques. Ferrari needs no explanation, but Carlo Abarth’s name probably does. In today’s lingo Carlo Abarth was a ‘tuner’, taking standard cars and improving them with high-performance engines and suspensions.A reasonably successful racing car driver in the late 1940s and into the ‘50s Carlo Abarth worked chiefly on Fiats but also dabbled in Ferraris and Lancias. In time Abarth became the high-performance division of Fiat – in the manner of HSV for Holden, and AMG with Mercedes-Benz.Fiat has controlled Abarth since 1971 and the name faded for a number of years, until it was revived in 2007 as part of a plan to lift the Italian marque’s image on the sporting front. Abarth builds several hot models these days, the best known being the Abarth Esseesse (try saying SS with an Italian accent and it suddenly makes sense!).DESIGNNow engineers from Abarth, Ferrari and Fiat have teamed up to build the stunning little Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari. The complete car has received a well engineered makeover and the stylists have had a field day in lifting the appearance of a car that started off as a Fiat 500.The 17-inch alloy wheels look huge on a car of this size and the similarity in design to those on larger Ferraris add to the tough-as-big-brother look. Inside, is a pair of “Abarth Corsa by Sabelt” racing seats, finished in black leather and Alcantara, that we found held us nicely against lateral and longitudinal forces. The black leather steering wheel has red stitching.The instrument panel is by Jaeger, and Abarth Australia tells us it’s inspired by typical Ferrari instrumentation. Carbon fibre is used across the dashboard and around the paddles for the MTA gearbox. On the floor are neat looking aluminium racing pedals with Abarth’s Scorpion logo. The special car even has a plate bearing the vehicle series number.TECHNOLOGYThe 1.4-litre turbocharged engine has been taken out to a whopping 180 horsepower (132 kilowatts) and can top 225 km/h where conditions permit. More realistically it can get from a standstill to 100 km/h in under seven seconds. OK, so the Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari’s big brothers can accelerate almost twice as fast, but they cost six to ten times as much - and may not put the same sort of grin on your face as this miniature pocket rocket.DRIVINGThe sound of the engine is magnificent, perhaps not as good as a V12 on full noise, but there’s a sporting note that will please lovers of real performance cars. Taking all that power to the front wheels is a five-speed automated manual gearbox controlled by paddle shifters behind the steering wheel.Like all of its type this gearbox can be a bit harsh at low speeds, but somehow that adds charm to this little semi-race beastie. Suspension changes see the Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari with a firmer ride than the standard car, but we have felt worse - and read again the remarks about the charm provided. This car is hugely enjoyable to drive, with the sort of personality only a small, Italian sportscar can provide.VERDICTWould I buy one? Only if I had a lot of money to spare for my automotive toys. In which case I would be hard pressed to decide whether to have ‘my’ Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari in Modena Red or Modena Yellow.Abarth 695 Tributo FerrariPrice: $69,990Warranty: 3 years roadside assistWeight: 1077kgEngine: 1.4-litre 4-cylinder, 132kW/230NmTransmission: 5-speed seq manual auto-single clutch, front wheel driveThirst: 6.5L/100Km, 151g/km C02