Articles by Joshua Dowling

The secret is out: supercar power is coming to the homegrown Commodore to create fastest Holden of all time.

Take $10,000 off the price of limited edition sedans as the LS3 V8 gets one last blast

Great Wall Motors' luxury brand promised its latest model would score five stars for safety, but it has fallen short say authorities.

This is a call for calm in the excitement over autonomous cars.All the big brands have cars that can drive themselves from Sydney to Melbourne today.But, wisely, none are prepared to release them to the public yet because the technology still has a long way to go.The radar units can get tricked by steel guard rails. The cameras can get blinded by bright sunlight, fog and heavy rain.And sometimes the system just wigs out, like it did to me testing a Mercedes with an automatic overtaking function. We nearly crashed it into a concrete barrier at 100kmh when it didn't detect the surroundings properly.Had I binned it, that would have been deemed my fault. And rightly so. The driver should always be in control of the car. Just like a pilot is always in control of a plane, even in autopilot mode.And that's how police and insurance companies will continue to assign fault, no matter what promises car companies make about their future technology.Being able to summon a car to pick you up from the shop, or be driven to work while reading a paper is still decades away -- if authorities will allow it. For now it's science fiction.What we are witnessing is the gradual automation of the automobile.The term “autonomous car” is being over-used, and wrongly used.In fact, you could argue it started with old fashioned cruise control -- set the speed and the driver doesn't need to touch the accelerator pedal.Then we got radar cruise control. It maintains a gap between the car in front -- and matches its speed, up or down, as the lane ahead clears.In that scenario, the driver no longer needs to touch the brake or the accelerator.Now we are starting to see traffic jam assistance -- press a button and the car will inch forward and apply the brakes automatically in stop-start conditions. That was first seen on Benzes and BMWs and now it's on certain Hyundai, Honda and Nissan cars.Following “lane wander alert” (a camera in the windscreen can detect when you move from your lane without indicating) we now have “lane-keeping”. The car will steer itself straight. You can get that on the luxury version of the Ford Ranger ute, as well as prestige cars.Coming soon to Australian roads is a Mercedes that will allow you to take your hands off the wheel for up to 60 seconds (up from 10 seconds) providing there are lane markings and the corner is not too tight.But all of the above prompts the question: will this reduce crashes or increase them, as motorists become more reliant on technology -- and more complacent behind the wheel?

The Audi RS3 is the fastest hot hatch we've tested. The BMW M2 brings backs the company's mojo. But which is the best buy?

Ford is patting itself on the back because it has queues stretching around the block for its new Mustang and the most expensive versions of its new Ranger Wildtrak.But this newfound popularity is a double-edged sword. How many customers is Ford losing because they're not prepared to wait a year for a Mustang and six months for a ute?Ford has been telling us breathlessly it is finally listening to the customer. It might also want to look at how it got its forecasts so massively wrong.Ford thought only 1000 Aussies would take a Mustang in its first year.At last count, the order bank stretches beyond 6000.It expected only 4 per cent of Ranger demand to be the $60,000-plus Wildtrak model.True demand is running at 15-20 per cent.The lesson for buyers: if you sign for an in-demand car, you should get in writing the likely delivery time.Then amend the contract or insert a clause — "deal is null and void and deposit is refunded in full if the car is not delivered by (date)" — and get the dealer principal or most senior person on the floor to countersign.Otherwise you could be left hanging indefinitely.Here's a case study: my mate, a lifelong, second-generation Ford fan, was prepared to wait six months for a Wildtrak — only to have the delivery date moved back. Ford hadn't ordered the car from the factory until seven weeks after he put down his deposit. So he walked into a Toyota showroom and ordered a HiLux SR5 with the lot. He picks it up this week, six days after signing the deal.He'll get his deposit back but it'll be a long time before he's in a Ford showroom again.There could be many other customers like him. The predicament worsens if they're uncertain as to when their car will arrive and whether they're entitled to get their deposit back.

Joshua Dowling road tests and reviews the new Honda Civic VTi, VTi-S, VTi-L, RS and VTi-LX with specs, fuel consumption and verdict at its Australian launch.

It’s not quite like selling ice to eskimos, but it’s close. A little known company in Australia has taken on the global car industry with the most advanced wheels in the world.A Geelong start-up company has won a multi-million dollar contract to export lightweight wheels for the fastest and most expensive Ford supercar ever made. Ford GT

Only a fraction of the 1.2 million cars on Australia roads with airbags that can spray shrapnel have been fixed, new figures show.

Joshua Dowling track tests the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Sydney Motorsport Park.