Articles by Karla Pincott

The video of this teen at the wheel of his father's Ferrari 458 Italia -- worth more than $525,000 plus a hefty amount of Luxury Car Tax here -- claims insane acceleration. The footage doesn't quite match to the promise, with the young tacker taking it pretty carefully. But you still get a good earful of the fantastic 458 engine: a whomping 4.5-litre V8 that pushes out 425kW of power at 9000rpm and 540Nm of tyre-shredding torque at 6000rpm. Getting that to the rear wheels via a seven-speed sports auto, it delivers a claimed 0-100km/h time of 3.4 seconds. We don't see that in the kid's video, but he seems to be already driving fairly confidently. And while we might be a bit envious that he gets to play with this kind of toy, at least he's treating it with a bit of respect -- unlike the video earlier this year of a young lad drifting his dad's Ferrari around a dusty carpark. Watch the desktop version of the 14-year-old takes dad's Ferrari 458 super car for a blast video here.  This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott    

The mysterious Tax The Rich team seems to have plenty of money to get hold of supercars and blast them around their rural lair. So it's no surprise they can afford the kind of high-end video camera that gives you stunning slo-mo of the action.Their fitting subject for this stunt is a Ferrari F50, and with the high-speed camera you see every detail as it drifts and dances.We've previously seen Tax The Rich dish out similar thrashings to a pair of Ferrari F50s, a Ferrari Enzo, a Ferrari 288 GTO, Bugatti EB110 SS, Rolls-Royce Phantom, and a Jaguar XJ220 that was punished through a series of rural British paddocks and down crumbling dirt and gravel backroads.The mystery crew have been very coy about their identity, but it's becoming obvious there's a link to Harry Hunt, the rally driver son of Brit real estate magnate Jon Hunt, whose Heveningham Hall manor estate is clearly identifiable in some of the videos.Watch the video of the Ferrari F50 being punished on our desktop site. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott

Whether you welcome or deplore the idea of self-driving cars, they're on the way. And Volvo wants to be in the lead when the technology arrives in showrooms. The Swedish brand is starting a pilot project that will see 100 driverless cars on the streets by 2017. The project -- called Drive Me -- will roll out next year in the large Swedish city of Gothenburg, putting 100 residents in the cars and letting them travel on about 50 of the main roads in the area. Onboard radar and camera systems will integrate with GPS and cloud data to keep the cars on track, and to have them park without anybody in the vehicle. However the driver will still need to get their hands back on the wheel to cope with pedestrian traffic. If the vehicle senses an imminent collision and the driver fails to retake control, it will automatically brake to a stop. But while they're not at the stage of drivers being able to settle back with a newspaper or DVD for the morning commute just yet, Volvo says that should be possible by 2017 on some roads -- with continuing technology advances during the project. Volvo and the pilot partners, the Swedish Transport Administration, the Swedish Transport Agency, Lindholmen Science Park and the City of Gothenburg, will use research from the project to judge infrastructure requirements for autonomous driving, which traffic situations benefit from driverless cars, how drivers interact with them -- and buyer confidence in them. Volvo is not alone in the driverless car field, with Google have sent one across the US, and Mercedes-Benz saying its new S-Class would be capable of autonomy if the legal groundwork and road infrastructure was in place. Watch the Volvo world-first public pilot for driverless cars video on our desktop site. This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

Audi has just confirmed one of its worst-kept secrets: they will put a small Q1 SUV into production. Teasing the new subcompact crossover with a single teaser design sketch, Audi said the Q1 will start rolling out of their Ingolstadt plant in Germany in 2016 to sit below the Q3, Q5 and Q7 in their range. The teaser sketch shows some of the exaggerated ruggednes and aggressive styling of the Crosslane concept revealed at last year's Paris motor show.  And while you should expect the design to be toned down for the showroom, it does hint at a fresher look for their SUV line-up. Audi hasn't released any details of drivetrains, but the Q1 is tipped to offer both front-wheel and all-wheel drive, and as we've previously reported, engine choices are likely to be a 67kW 1.4-litre petrol four-cylinder and a new 67kW 1.4-litre turbodiesel three-cylinder -- both mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. However there is also talk of a hotter SQ1 version with a 170kW 2.0-litre petrol unit, and a Q1 hybrid slated for 2018 with a 80kW 1.2-litre petrol engine paired with a 80kW electric motor. And from the scant details Audi did provide with the teaser sketch, it sounds like the Q1 will not be the final addition to their SUV offerings. “The Audi Q1 is part of our broad-based SUV strategy,” Audi CEO Rupert Stadler said in the press statement. “It ... will round off our Q series at the bottom end.” The statement added that Audi would increase its current line-up of 49 models to more than 60 by 2020, in the chase for annual global sales of two million. And that they expect their current 28 per cent of production devoted to SUVs to grow to 35 per cent by then. Still plenty of scope for a Q2, Q4, Q6 and maybe even a Q9 monster offroader, then.  This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

Audi has put its Quattro concept to work on a couple of motorshow stands -- first at Paris in 2010 and then at this year's Frankfurt show in September -- but now we're seeing indications that the car is slated for production, along with the Nanuk concept.The boss of Audi in the UK, André Konsbruck, has said the brand will launch a roll-out of top-shelf cars based on the concepts, according to Autocar. "Every concept we show has production possibilities, and these cars are no different," Konsbruck is cited as saying."I can see a future where we aim to deliver different, innovative premium cars that people aspire to own, such as these. They will be niche, and they will push our price ceiling, but they deliver on the brand image and build the desirability of the brand as a whole."He reportedly indicated the Quattro and Nanuk are already being evaluated by customer testing, and a business case is being explored at Audi HQ, but indicates they will be niche -- and expensive -- models if brought to the showroom to help further raise the brand's profile."However popular they are, we cannot just build Audi A3s, that's clear," Konsbruck is quoted as saying. "Audi has always done special projects to drive its premium image, and cars like the Quattro and Nanuk could achieve that."The Quattro concept in Frankfurt showed considerable further development from the one that debuted in Paris three years ago. A new hybrid drivetrain was unveiled that offers combined power outputs of 515kW and peak torque of 800Nm -- coming from the marriage of the 412kW/700Nm four-litre twin-turbo V8 from the RS6 and RS7 to a 110kW/400Nm electric motor powered by a 14.1-kWh lithium-ion battery.The drivetrain also features a start-stop system and cylinder deactivation that shuts down four cylinders when load on the engine is decreased. An eight-speed tiptronic automatic transmission sends drive to all four wheels through a new generation of Audi's signature quattro all-wheel drive system.The new technology is markedly heavier, with the latest Quattro weighing in at 1850kg --  550kg more than the first concept. However, Audi is claiming a 50km range in all-electric mode, and a 0-100km/h time as 3.7 seconds with a top speed of 306km/h.The Nanuk may be an easier business case, as it's built on VW Group's mid-engine platform - the same one underpinning the R8 sports car and Lamborghini Gallardo. However, it still has features that can't be swept off the VW shelves and into the carryover shopping basket, including the raised suspension and special 400kW/1000Nm V10 turbodiesel engine -- which Audi says gets the Nanuk from 0-100km/h in just 3.8 seconds and on to a top speed of 305km/h.Watch the Quattro reveal in Frankfurt.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

Nissan made a splash at Tokyo and Los Angeles motor shows with vehicles from their Nismo performance division.Particularly: the GT-R Nismo, the Juke Nismo RS, the Pulsar (Sentra) Nismo and our pick of the show: the Nismo IDx that reprises the iconic Datsun 1600.But it seems they're not stopping there. Nismo has been allowed to get their hands on the recently unveiled Qashqai small crossover -- curently called the Dualis here, but with a name change due with the new model next year.The Qashqai Nismo will be launched late in 2014, and while the decision on an engine has yet to be made, it will offer more than 150kW of power (about 50kW more than the 2.0-litre in the current Dualis), according to a report in the UK's CAR magazine.Nissan says the Qashqai Nismo will have to be more powerful than the Juke Nismo sold overseas. “I wouldn't just give it the engine from Juke. It’d have more power than that,” Nissan global product boss Andy Palmer told the magazine, suggesting that the Qashqai could end up with the uprated 1.6-litre four-cylinder from the Juke Nismo RS unveiled at the LA show.With some tweaking, including a reprogrammed CPU and larger-breathing exhaust, that unit now squeezes out 160kW of power and 285Nm of torque. However Palmer said Nismo versions are not just about delivering more power. "I want us to focus on ride and handling, making cars that aren’t just faster, but also feel obviously more fun to drive,” he said.The Nismo sub-brand is still being considered as a business case for local roll-out by Nissan Australia, so it's early days for thinking about the Qashqai Nismo coming here. But the Dualis is a popular vehicle in the Australian market -- leading its class last year and only overtaken this year by run-out sales of the exiting Hyundai ix35 (its nearest rival) -- so a performance version of the Nissan crossover should only add more shine to the sales figures. 

The next Suzuki Alto five-door hatch promises to be bigger and roomier, with the design being previewed in the A:Wind concept unveiled in Thailand.Measuring up with the same 1600mm width as the current Alto, but 100mm longer at 3600mm, 70mm taller at 1540mm and riding on a 65mm longer wheelbase at 2425mm, it claims to offer more rear leg room, wider-opening doors and 'class-leading' luggage capacity -- although the cargo figure isn't given.The concept has the usual show garnish, including jazzy 16-inch alloy wheels and a sharply-styled nose with headlights integrated into the spindle-like grille. Under the bonnet is the same 996cc (round it up to 1.0-litre) three-cylinder petrol engine, and while Suzuki hasn't revealed outputs, it could at the most be a small rise on the current Alto's engine, which develops 50kW of power at 6000rpm and 90Nm of torque at 3400rpm.There could also be a change of transmissions, with the front-wheel drive Alto's five-speed manual -- claiming 4.7L/100km -- likely to continue but the 5.3L/100km four-speed auto to be replaced by the continuously-variable transmission previewed in the concept. The car will go into production early in 2014 and is likely to arrive here late that year.However, while our Alto is currently built in India, Suzuki has so far only outlined plans for the new one to be built in Thailand. But with Suzuki referring to the A:Wind as a "global compact car" it seems a certainty to also roll out of the brand's other main production facilities. With the Chinese-built Chery J1 having to exit the Australian market -- culled by the November 1 manadatory requirement for all new cars to have electronic stability control -- the Alto has regained its crown as Australia's cheapest car, with an entry price of $11,790.That price tag is unlikely to move much higher, as despite the affordable level, the Alto is trailing the main rivals in a crowded field of nearly 30 light cars on the Australian market, with sales of 2490 year-to-date 26 per cent down on 2012 -- and considerably behind the leading Mazda2 on 13,136, Toyota Yaris on 12,269 and Hyundai i20 on 11,659.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

German carmaker BMW is intent on making electric cars desirable with their little i3 city vehicle and sexy i8 sports car. The problem with both of those is that no matter how much a family desires them, neither model can practically do duty for the usual family chores of lugging people, gear and groceries.However a solution may be in the works, with BMW planning to stretch the i3's platform to build a new vehicle, tipped to be called the i5 according to UK website Autocar.Their report suggests the little car's 4000mm could be extended by just another 100mm of leg room in the back and another 150mm of rear overhang for extra cargo, to create a family-friendly electric package longer than the current Mini Countryman -- although the next Countryman is likely to be bigger than that as well.The i3's carbon-composite body is built onto a separate aluminium chassis 'skateboard' rather than integrated into the monocoque steel platform of a conventional vehicle, so stretching will be a simpler task involving extending the platform length -- and changing the design of the rear doors.But it could also mean the necessity of muscling up the drivetrain to cope with the extra load without penalising range. The i3 has a 130-160km range when powered entirely by the  lithium-ion battery pack feeding a 125kW/250Nm electric motor. And while the range is boosted to 300km by adding the optional 647cc rear-mounted motorcycle engine -- which tops up the battery charging but also adds 150kg of weight to the i3.Also watch: BMW i3 electric car video reviewWe've reported previously that BMW could build a range of body designs on the same rolling electric platform. And with the brand tipped to have already registered nameplates ranging from i1 up to i11, a volume-targeting family car is the next logical step for the birth of a new BMW sub-brand.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

The Nissan Freeflow and Nismo IDx concepts were a star turn at the recent Tokyo motor show, and it looks like the positive reaction has the carmaker thinking about production versions Nissan bosses have said "there is already a plan" to develop the concepts into a production vehicles, UK website Autocar is reporting. While the comment source was not cited, the carmaker couldn't have failed to notice the acclaim given to the two concepts -- and particularly to the Nismo IDx that salutes the legendary Datsun 1600 (although it's said the resemblance was not intentional). The cars were designed through a crowdsourcing project in Nissan's UK design studios with about 100 young people in their 20s collaborating on the designs. The results starred in Tokyo in two forms: the retro-themed Freeflow IDx car and the sports-focused Nismo IDx with echoes of the early Datsun 1600 rally heroes. The name IDx comes from a mash-up of the acronym for "identification" and the "x" standing for new ideas seeded through communication. Nissan says the collaborative approach with 'digital natives' (those born post-1990) sparked new insights and creative potential -- and plans to continue the practice for future projects and product development. Watch the IDx concepts official video on our desktop site.  This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

It looks like Russian roads are taking revenge on some of the country's dangerous drivers.  A Russian dashcam captured a mystery road explosion in the city of Yekaterinburg, where it looked like the road rose up to stop an SUV that was about to speed through a red light. Experts have weighed in with a range of explanations for the explosion, blaming water mains, gas pipes and even underground sewer systems. And while the SUV driver came to grief, the timing of the eruption meant he was uninjured -- a second faster and he would have been right on top of the main blast. Is this what they mean by the old saying 'may the road rise up to meet you'?   Watch the desktop version of the exploding Russian road video here.   This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott