Articles by James Cleary

Audi has refreshed its full-size A6 luxury sedan to try and temp BMW 5 Series and Merc E-Class loyalists over to the four rings

Okay, full disclosure. I've owned several Mercedes-Benzes, with a couple sitting in the Cleary family garage right now.

It’s wild, winged, and never turned a wheel in anger, but the sheer scale and scope of the Mercedes-Benz T 80 world record prototype is enough to turn your brain inside out.Designed and built in the late 1930s, this bizarre beast was set to shatter the absolute world land speed record before a certain global conflict got in the way.The brainchild of Grand Prix driver Hans Stuck, and designed by none other than Ferdinand Porsche, the T 80 measures a mammoth 8.24m long, 3.2m wide (including side fins), sits 1.27m high, and weighs in at 2.8 tonnes.Configured as a 6x4, with drive going to both rear (swing) axles, each if its six equal-size wire spoke wheels measures 1.17m in diameter. Turning circle is 32 metres!Powered by a Daimler-Benz DB 603 44.5-litre fuel-injected V12 aero engine producing 2574kW (3500hp) its maximum velocity was calculated at 650km/h, scheduled to be achieved on the autobahn near Dessau in north-east Germany in February 1940.Fuel mix to develop maximum horsepower was 86 per cent methanol, 8.8 per cent acetone, 4.4 per cent nitrobenzene, and 0.8 per cent ether. Bang!A scale model was tested in the Zeppelin company wind tunnel in Friedrichshafen to determine the optimum level of downforce: enough for maximum power down, but not enough to overload the custom Continental tyres. Overall Cd figure is an amazing 0.18.If you’re thinking why don’t they just light this bewinged candle and get that monster V12 cranking, it’s a no-go. The engine currently installed in the car (which resides in the Mercedes-Benz collection) is a cut-away display version, the original was handed over to the German Ministry of Aviation and lost during the war.Hans Stuck’s son, former F1 and touring car ace Hans-Joachim Stuck, has often joked that he’s pleased the record attempt didn’t go ahead because he suspects his father wouldn’t have been around to conceive him.The T 80’s body and chassis, the latter complete with reconstructed spaceframe (made from original drawings, of course) are on display separately at the Mercedes-Benz museum in Stuttgart.

The Panamera is Porsche's large luxury sedan, that's actually a liftback. The Panamera GTS crosses the divide between comfort and performance. And the Panamera GTS Sport Turismo adds the flexibility of a wagon. How does the combination stack up?

Mercedes-AMG loves power, speed and dynamic response and all three have been rolled into its compact powerhouse, the new, second-generation A 45 S hatch.

The new, second-generation Mercedes-AMG CLA 45 S is a coupe-style compact sedan with classic looks and a wicked sting in its high-tech tail.

The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is an evergreen performer for the three-pointed star in Australia. And the entry-level C 200's hybrid heart has given it a fresh lease of life.

The design of latest Mazda3 hatch has polarised opinion, but a new sedan version has arrived to calm the debate, with more traditional lines and a huge boot.

The Mercedes-AMG is the third developed-from-the-ground-up model from the boffins in Affalterbach. It's a four-door jet with the afterburners lit.

BMW Australia has confirmed the arrival of a Touring wagon version of its current generation 3 Series, launching in a single 330i model guise early in the fourth quarter of this year.Like the existing 330i sedan, the new Touring model will be powered by a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine producing 140kW/400Nm, sending drive to the rear wheels via an eight-speed automatic transmission.Compared to its predecessor, the new Touring has grown to 4709mm long (+76mm), 1827mm wide (+16mm), and 1470mm tall (+8.0mm). The wheelbase is also longer at 2851mm (+41mm).Cargo capacity is up 5.0 litres to 500 litres with all seats up, expanding to 1510 litres with the 40/20/40 split-folding rear seat down.Arriving at the same time are three new 3 Series models, the entry-level 320i, plug-in hybrid 330e, and performance-focused M340i xDrive, bringing the local 3-Series line-up to five variants including the current 320d and 330i.The 320i is powered by a 135kW/300Nm version of the 2.0-litre turbo four, while the 330e combines the 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric drive unit to generate system output of up to 215kW when the newly developed ‘XtraBoost’ mode is engaged. Claimed maximum electric-only range is 66km.Powered by an in-line, six-cylinder, (single) turbo-petrol engine producing 275kW/500Nm, the M340i xDrive features intelligent all-wheel drive and a specific M Sport suspension tune (lowering ride height by 10mm), serving as the 3 Series performance flagship until the new M3’s expected global reveal in early 2020.BMW says pricing and specification details for the new models will be confirmed closer to launch.