Articles by Karla Pincott

Koons is better known for sculptures of himself making love to his former wife (Italian politician and porn queen Ilona Staller), Michael Jackson and Bubbles the Chimp and the giant flowering Puppy topiary that graced Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art in 1995. As the 18th BMW Art Car creator, he has transformed the surface of a M3 GTS with a colourful coat of paint representing an explosion.  Like most of the preceding Art Cars, this one will hit the track – competing the in the Le Mans 24-hour race on June 12. BMW Art Cars  

Its adventurous nature is signalled by cues like the black wheel arch mouldings, roof rails and taller ground clearance – 30mm higher than the standard Imprezas. It also gets a revised grille, rear spoiler, 16-in alloy wheels, exhaust cover and sports bucket seats with ‘mocha accents to distinguish it from other variants’ – and possibly also because it’s a great colour to disguise when you’ve brought some of that adventurous outdoors back into the cabin.  The fit-out includes Bluetooth, iPod-compatible 10-speaker audio system and leather trim to steering wheel, handbrake and gearstick. Priced from $27,490 – with a $2000 premium to add a four-speed automatic transmission – the XV is powered by the 2.0-litre boxer engine carried by the Impreza R, RX and RS, mated to a five-speed manual with Subaru’s symmetrical all-wheel drive. The XV is designed to “carry on the spirit of the previous Sportswagon and RV, but with some youthful styling cues that we are confident will add a new dimension to our small car range,” says Subaru Australia managing director Nick Senior. He says the carmaker expects the newcomer to add 100 sales per month to Impreza’s tally.

There are a lot of reasons why you would buy the Subaru Forester 2.0 diesel, and really only a single one that might prevent you.  The hurdle is the six-speed manual transmission, which is noticeably notchy when you first shake hands with it and – while it becomes more pleasant on further acquaintance – is hard to warm to. Engine But that out of the way, one of the first reasons to put the Forester on your compact SUV list is the new engine. It’s the four-cylinder turbo-diesel boxer (flat) unit from the Outback, which claims a combined fuel economy of 6.4L/100km, dropping to 5.7L on the highway and still maintaining a creditable 7.5L around town. That frugal thirst results in emissions of just 168g/km of CO2 (151g/km highway), which puts it well in range of many mid-sized passenger cars. But it’s no wimp, developing 108kW of power at 3600 revs and 350Nm of torque from 1800-2400 revs – with just 10Nm less at a very low 1600 revs. That helps it to a 1600kg braked towing capacity, which is 200kg more muscle than its naturally aspirated petrol siblings.  And that torque is going to all four wheels with Subaru’s signature all-wheel drive system. Package and safety The Forester is roomy for its size, with plenty of legroom front and rear, and ample cargo space for a few suitcases even before you think of putting the rear seat down. The cabin is comfortable and well-designed, with the only downsides being the flattish seats, and Subaru’s insistence on a satin metalised dash insert that stands out loudly from what is otherwise a well-shaped sweep of dash.  The SUV’s extra ground clearance makes for a high-ish load level into the back, but its easily manageable. A five-star ANCAP crash rating has been given to the strengthened and reinforced body and its battery of safety technology, including stability and traction control, active headrests, anti-lock brakes with brake assist and brake force distribution, plus dual front/side/curtain airbags. Price and equipment The standard Forester is priced from $35,990 and kitted out 17-in alloy wheels, self-levelling suspension, DataDot security, roof rails and a four-speaker CD/audio player system. The $39,990 Premium level adds 17-in alloys, electric sunroof, leather upholstery, tinted glass, a CD six-stacker, eight-way power adjustment on the driver’s seat, and self-levelling xenon headlights with pop-up washers. Driving Over the past few years we’ve become fairly used to the voice of diesel engines – some have even started to sound enjoyable. The Forester’s turbo-diesel isn’t yet one of them, but only because it’s let down by some clatter appearing at lower revs. This becomes muted once you get further under way, and wasn’t noticeable at all until we turned the stereo off. But the sound is secondary to the substance. And this engine steps up to the plate. It’s strong and tractable, with more torque than we could soak up on the test drive through hilly roads both on and off the blacktop.  The steering was responsive, although it felt oddly light over the dirt roads. And while we were pleased with the Forester’s ride and well-balanced manners on the sealed surfaces, it was on the sections of potholed and corrugated dirt that it really proved its strengths.  These are the kind of washboard stretches that could have lesser vehicles skittering around like marbles on a vibraplate, but the Forester handled it all capably. You could feel the surfaces, no question, despite the best efforts of the suspension. But there was never any hint that they would unsettle the little SUV’s composure, and we zoomed over them in perfect confidence. Subaru originally launched the Forester as ‘the city car for dirty weekends’. We’re not sure about the city life with that manual gearbox, but there’s no doubt that for anybody who wants to get beyond the urban boundaries – fishing in secret spots or heading down little-used tracks to remote beaches – this is a vehicle to consider. Subaru Forester 2.0 diesel Price: from $35,990 Engine: 2.0-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder Transmission: six-speed manual

The engineering organisation asked Australians to suggest things they’d like to see invented, with the prospect that the winning idea will be ‘made so’.  Close to 7000 people have sent in suggestions – of which nearly 500 were related to cars and transport – and one will be selected to be built in the near future. And there were some novel viewpoints about how the task of getting from A to B could be improved.  A few people are hanging on for showrooms to fill with flying cars, personal jetpacks and even teleporters, but only one contributor suggested building a roller coaster across the CBD to make travel “fun and fast”. And some saw the potential of versatile vehicles doing dual duty, with cars that “can be amphibian to short cut bridge bottleneck during traffic jams and go fishing during weekends”. Another wanted to increase the amount of passengers you could transport. “With kids and friends and relatives you never have enough seats to all go in the one car, so what I want is a people trailer attachment.”  In a similar vein, another wants to “place myself (or small items) on a hoverboard and use that to move around”. Others came up with lateral approaches to common problems, such as an automatic car cover, cars that spray a ‘calm down’ gas into the face of road raging drivers, and – unsurprisingly – a car that can drive you home if you’re over the legal alcohol limit. A large number of the entries are hoping for systems to take control of cars as a way to prevent speeding and fatalities, with suggestions for external systems to slow and stop cars, sensors on the cars to read signs, or GPS systems to be linked into the speed limits. “Make it so the GPS is wired into the car so you can just chose a route so it will drive, stop at road lights and do the speed limit to stop fatalities,” asked one. The potential of GPS wasn’t limited to just cars. There were visions of them being implanted in everything – including pets and children –  to help keep track of their whereabouts.  Several entrants would like to see a GPS locator in the car keyfob, so they can always be directed to where they parked. And there were many solutions requested for other parking woes: automatic devices that find an empty space, a system of ‘parking boxes’ that are stacked by cranes, and for car wheels to rotate sideways like those of the Nissan Pivo, allowing them to roll sideways in and out of tight spaces. Alternative energy sources were also a popular subject, with many feeling road surfaces should be used to generate power, both for cars and to feed back into the grid.  Various suggestions for how this could be done included embedding photovoltaic cells, compressed air pads or “solar cells running under the road”. Others suggested harvesting energy from road friction, the movement of air over the car body, solar cell paint, engine heat and wind turbines attached to the roof and sides. And at the other end of the power process, there were also ideas to prevent pollution – including car bodies covered in grass to absorb it, an emission meter that shuts cars down if they emit too much, and that all cars have stop-start systems that shut off the engine at idle.  Many also wanted to see traffic flowing better, with suggestions for traffic lights to be able to judge and change timing to minimise congestion. And improved public transport was a strong focus, with entries ranging from systems of shared cars, discounts on power bills for public transport users, and free public trans

The Swiss city of Fribourg has dressed an actor in the angel kit, and has him standing by the side of the road waving at drivers who exceed the speed limits – which range from 60km/h in towns up to 120km/h on the highways.  Police in that area say it has the highest count of speeding infringements in the country, and they want to send a strong message to drivers, about 130 of whom die each year on Switzerland’s often mountainous roads. "The idea is to provide a sort of concrete protection, to have a real angel telling drivers to be responsible," Fribourg police spokesman Benoît Dumas has said. "To have a physical presence like that makes the message more visible, and it's out of the ordinary."  The appearance of the ‘angel’ ties in with a television campaign for safer driving, in which a hurrying motorist runs over an angel. The winged actor – whose name is being kept secret, possibly for fear of damaging his future theatrical career – is scheduled to make his angelic appearances for 20 hours a week in different locations around the Fribourg region until October. There is no evidence yet that the campaign has reduced road toll or speeding. And it’s possible they might have more impact with a better-dressed figure, although hiring – for example – one of the Victoria’s Secret angels might be too expensive even for Switzerland.

The track-ready version from BMW’s M division doesn’t meet the Australian Design Regulations for ground clearance or decibels, says the carmakers Australian spokesman Piers Scott.  “We’re not sure of the exact specs of the M3 GTS, but apparently it’s lower and louder than the limits,” he says, referring to the ADR’s restrictions for 100mm clearance and 83 decibel noise limit. “However there will be a right-hand drive version, and although it looks like we’re not able to have it at the moment, it might change -- we’re still discussing it.”  Scott says that if any of the 120 cars being built do arrive, it will be with a pricetag nearly double that of its $163,000 M3 Coupe sibling. “I’d think it would be in the region of about $300,000, based on a rough comparison with what the price estimates in Europe have been,” he says.  What it offers for the price premium is a bigger, gutsier engine – a high-revving 4.3-litre V8 that develops 331 kiloWatts of power and 440 Newton-metres of torque (the M3’s 4.0-litre offers 309kW and 400Nm) – mated to a seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox that allows shift without losing traction. At 1500kg – about 80kg less than the Coupe -- the orange GTS  is aerodynamically helped by a front racing apron and rear wing, and with features like the grille, roof trim, alloy wheels and gills finished in matt black and dark anodised chrome, the GTS is clearly track-oriented. “Obviously it is designed so that you can drive it to the track as well, but it’s very much for the track day enthusiast,” Scott says.  “It’s the essence of M. The M3 is right at the core of what the M division does best and this is the M3 in its purest, most race-ready form.” Scott acknowledges that over recent years some attention may have drifted away from the M3 as other high-powered premium cars entered the field – most noticeably from Mercedes-Benz and Audi – but says this was not the motive for building the GTS, despite the brand’s triumph over its German rivals at this week’s 24-hour Nurburgring race with the M3 GT2. “New high-performance entrants have raised the stakes, but the M division has always pursued their own strategy.  However, certainly there is a halo effect with the GTS. To some degree it’s a message for purists … stripping the car down to its most basic form, and showing the superiority of rear wheel drive over four-wheel drive as a track day car.”

And that’s something that keeps carmakers tossing and turning at night, because they’re well aware that women choose more than half the vehicles sold – all the ones they buy for themselves, and also most of the ones that are bought by households. Sorry, fellas. It’s true. No matter how much you want that souped-up sportscar. Unless SHE agrees, you may as well back away from the vehicle now, sir. One of the most blatant grabs for the female market was the mid-50s Dodge La Femme. It was actually a 1955 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer under the skin, but the Detroit designers camouflaged that skin as thoroughly as a make-up artist for the Milan catwalks. And the first bait they used? Pink, of course. The colour universally agreed to be female, and lumbered on us from the cradle. A short stroll through the rosy glow of the girls’ aisle in any toy store shows the colour indoctrination starts early. Everything in pink: stuffed toys, dolls, prams – and, further into the career-training section: play stoves, brooms, vacuum cleaners... even a pink draining rack and dishmop. So it’s no surprise the La Femme was decked out in pink paint, with an interior covered in pink vinyl, set off by pink rosebud tapestry. And to show that this was not merely a cynical marketing exercise, Dodge kitted out the car with accessories that reflected the growing independence of women moving into meaningful career paths: a pink handbag complete with office essentials like a matching powder compact, lipstick case and comb. Because the La Femme sales figures were never separated out from the Custom Royal Lancer, it’s impossible to tell how many were sold. But estimations run as low as less than 1000. But the pink disaster being quickly dropped from the Dodge range at the end of the following year probably gives an indication of how successful it was. However it fared better than the 2004 Volvo YCC concept car. Designed by women, and featuring a host of features that those women said they wanted – and that the women and men who saw the car applauded. Some of the more general ones – automatic doors, parking assistance, diagnostics and service warnings – have since appeared in later cars. But the more female-specific features, such as the ponytail-holder channel in the driver’s seat, vanished without a trace. Volvo never intended to put the show car into production. And that’s the key to the whole problem, really. Carmakers might wrestle with insomnia, drown themselves in the chatter of focus groups, and spend obscene amounts on surveys and studies, all to supposedly find out what women want. But what’s the point? We’ve got as much chance of seeing that ponytail holder as we have of seeing men do their share of the housework.  Less chance, even – if it’s mathematically possible to conceive of a probability so miniscule.

There is no timetable for either car but both are more than just dreams, according to Peugeot. It previewed the RCZ hybrid at last year's Frankfurt motor show and is considering a car that will pick

The RCZ is already being touted as Peugeot's TT and the 3008 finally gives it a well-priced compact SUV.

Coupe body. Check. Sporty attitude. Check. Unique styling cues. Check.