Articles by James Cleary

Volvo Australia has bucked the local new car market's recent decline, recording its 13th consecutive month of sales growth in February, 2019.

Mazda Australia has confirmed local pricing and specification for the much-anticipated, all-new fourth-generation Mazda3, with the hatch scheduled to arrive in April, and the sedan version following mid-year.

Mazda Australia has confirmed the Japanese brand’s breakthrough ‘Skyactiv-X’ engine technology will be available locally before the end of 2019 in the soon-to-be-launched, fourth-generation Mazda3.Long thought to be the unachievable holy grail of combustion engine design, combining the best attributes of diesel and petrol engine technology, Mazda says Skyactiv-X will be, “the world’s first commercial gasoline engine to run on compression ignition.”Announced at the 2017 Tokyo motor show, Skyactiv-X uses a combustion method Mazda calls ‘Spark Controlled Compression Ignition’ (SPCCI) designed to marry the strong low-end torque of a diesel, with the linear response and free-revving nature of a petrol engine.Still generating an initial fireball with a spark plug Mazda says the technology, “realises a seamless transition between compression ignition and spark ignition, maximising the zone in which compression ignition is possible.”Mazda also claims the SPCCI process “improves engine efficiency by up to 20-30 per cent over current Skyactiv-G engines.”When asked about the local sales potential of a Skyactiv-X-equipped Mazda3, Mazda Australia marketing director, Alastair Doak said, “We’ve haven’t made a volume call yet, I guess we’ll save that until closer to the time. But we think it will appeal to people who love tech for a start. There is a bunch of those higher involvement people who want the latest and greatest.”“But beyond that, the actual performance of the car is great. It feels very lively. It’s a 2.0-litre engine but you can gear the whole car down. It has much shorter gear ratios than those we have today and it feels incredibly fast,” he said.Mr Doak confirmed the Skyactive-X engine won’t replace the new Mazda3’s ‘conventional’ 2.0- or 2.5-litre Skyactiv-G engines and that it would likely be offered on higher grades with a cost premium reflecting the complexity of the new technology’s development.

Mazda Australia says the safety technology incorporated in its soon-to-arrive, fourth generation Mazda3, “establishes a new norm for Mazda and a new safety norm for the small car segment.”The all-new Mazda3 is scheduled to arrive in hatch form in April, with the sedan version following mid-year, and Mazda says safety is a key purchase motivator for its customers.Standard active safety tech across the six model range includes ABS, EBA and EBD, front and rear ‘Smart Brake Support’ (Mazda-speak for AEB), blind spot monitoring, ‘Driver Attention Alert’ (DAA), ‘Forward Obstruction Warning’ (FOW), lane departure warning, lane-keep assist, radar cruise control (with ‘Stop & Go’ function), rear parking sensors, rear-cross traffic alert, reverse camera, traffic sign recognition, a tyre pressure monitoring system.On the passive side the airbag count has increased from six (driver and front passenger, side front, and curtain) to seven with the addition of a driver’s knee bag.The top-spec Astina also picks up the ‘Vision Technology’ safety pack, optionally available for $1500 on all other models.The package includes, a 360-degree view monitor, adaptive LED headlights, ‘Cruising & Traffic Support’ (semi-autonomous accelerator, brake and steering support up to 60km/h), driver monitoring (using in-cabin cameras), front cross-traffic alert, front parking sensors and Smart Brake Support (Rear Crossing).Several safety features are firsts for Mazda, including ‘Driver Monitoring’ which uses an infrared camera and infrared LED mounted in the instrument bezel to analyse the driver’s condition.The system measures how wide open the driver’s eyes are, the number of times they blink, as well as the angle of the mouth and face to determine levels of drowsiness or fatigue, day or night.Mazda says the set-up isn’t affected by hand movements or operation of the steering wheel, checking the driver’s line of sight and eye movement only to determine inattentiveness.If it senses a dangerous situation the system sounds an alert, working with the AEB (Mazda calls it ‘Smart Brake Support’), to shorten the time required for the brake warning to sound.‘Cruising & Traffic Support’ assists accelerator, brake and steering functions up to 60km/h, setting a proper trailing distance when following a vehicle ahead in heavy traffic, and supplementing steering torque to help maintain lane position.‘Front cross-traffic alert’ uses front-side radars to detect other vehicles approaching from blind spots to the front left or right of the vehicle when pulling away from a standing start.‘Intelligent speed assist’ recognises road signs (via traffic sign recognition) to adjust speed, flashing a graphic alert display if the vehicle exceeds the speed limit, for example down a steep hill.‘Adaptive LED headlights’ use an LED array divided into 20 blocks that can be turned on and off individually to adjust their illumination pattern depending on the car’s speed, and adjust for optimum visibility in cornering.Use of ultra-high-tensile steel has risen from three to 30 per cent, to now include the framework, bumper beam, B-pillars and side sills. And although the new Mazda3 is yet to be assessed by ANCAP or Euro NCAP, Mazda is confident its new small car will do well.Mazda Australia marketing director, Alastair Doak told CarsGuide, “I assume it will be done in Europe, given we have the same car here that Europe has. Obviously, the way it’s specced we believe it will get five stars, and Mazda Corporation believes it will get five.”“But I think you can see how much standard safety is in the car. And we haven’t just done the ANCAP menu and ticked the box like some others have. We’ve gone beyond that. It’s about doing the best thing for our customers,” he said.

Rebooted after more than two decades, the Alpine brand has kicked off its new era with a cracking mid/rear-engine sports car, the A110.

A Jaguar wearing a Sport badge is a combination guaranteed to raise an enthusiast driver's heart rate. So, does the mid-size XE 300 Sport deliver an appropriate adrenaline dose?

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Mercedes-AMG has confirmed six of its GT3 sports racing cars will be on the grid for this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour sports endurance event (31 January – 3 February, 2019).

Mazda's CX-5 is the country's best-selling SUV and the introduction of a new 2.5-litre turbo-petrol version is designed to help keep it on the top of the heap. It's dearer and faster, but is it better?