Articles by Karla Pincott

It's only a couple of days since we saw a Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG race against a downhill longboarder on South Africa's Franschhoek Pass in a stunning bit of video.

Lamborghini unveiled the new Gallardo LP 570-4 Squadra Corse at Frankfurt as the second special racing edition spawned by its Super Trofeo series. So of course we want to see it on the track, and the Italian brand has complied with a video giving our first look at it in track action.Almost a clone of the Super Trofeo racer, the street-legal Gallardo LP 570-4 Squadra Corse borrows technology and weight-reduction strategies from the track version, including high-downforce aerodynamics, considerable use of carbon fibre and aluminium -- and a quick-release engine bay cover.Under that cover is the same V10 engine used in the Super Trofeo mated to a robotised e-gear six-speed transmission operated by steering wheel paddles, punting the all-wheel drive Squadra Corse to 100km/h in just 3.4 seconds and on to 200km/h in 10.4 seconds with a top speed of 320km/h.Watch video of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Squadra Corse here.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

The Audi Q3 is the brand's local sales hero, and is positioning itself to attract even more buyers with a new entry level version. Audi has unveiled the new 2.0 TDI quattro, which will be priced from $47,500 -- slipping in under the $49,450 2.0 turbo petrol model. The newcomer is powered by a 2.0 litre turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine that delivers 103kW and 320Nm, mated with a seven-speed S tronic dual-clutch transmission delivering torque to all four wheels. The 2.0 TDI quattro is also the new Q3 leader in the economy stakes, using 5.8L/100km on a combined cycle. Its $55,000 diesel sibling carries the same engine, but with 103kW, and coming in at 5.9L/100km. Standard features are more lavish in the higher-priced variant, but the base model still fares well with leather seats, 17-inch alloys, dual-zone climate control aircon, rear park assist, light and rain sensors, front foglights and Bluetooth with audio streaming. Audi Australia is confident the new model will strengthen the Q3's position in the market.  “It is the best-selling SUV in its segment and the addition of this new entry-level model is significant, because it creates a more affordable entry point into quattro, making it unrivalled in this class," managing director Andrew Doyle says. “We believe sales of the Q3 range will continue to grow with this introduction.” This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott  

Bored with supercars? Finding the Ferrari just doesn't get through traffic jams any better than the 20-year-old bomb in the lane next to you? The solution is the P12 jet pack. Developed by New Zealand's Martin Aircraft Company, the P12 is on the cards to hit the market next year with prices starting around $150,000 to $200,000 with the company saying it hopes to be able to drop the price to around $100,000 as production scales up. That's about half the price of even a starter supercar -- and will zoom over traffic while they're still caught in the snarl. While called a jet pack, the P12 isn't actually jet-powered. Instead it relies on ducted fans driven by a 2.0-litre, two-stroke four-cylinder engine to get you airborne. And it's bulkier than the streamlined versions beloved of movies and sci-fi comics, but it is a genuine VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) personal flying machine. The overall weight limit -- including you -- is 330kg, of which the engine already takes up 60kg, so there's a margin for you carrying groceries and briefcase if you can figure out how to hang on to them. You also have to be kitted out like a race driver while flying: helmet, neck restraint, boots and a fire suit. Plus ear plugs to dampen the 95-decibel noise rating. The powerplant develops 150 kilowatts of power and 244 Newton-metres of torque, which gets the P12 to a respectable top speed of 74km/h, with cruising speed of 56km/h. That might not sound fast until you factor in that most urban streets are limited to 50km/h -- and that a lot of CBD traffic moves at about 15km/h. And it's likely to feel even faster at the P12's operational ceiling of 900 metres, which means you'll be able to leap over tall buildings in a single zoom. The manufacturer says you should keep above 150 metres for most of the time to alow the P12's safety devices -- including the rocket-deployed ballistic parachute -- time to operate if needed. Outer suburban commuters will have to stick to their cars, with the P12 only able at this stage to travel for about 30 minutes on a full tank, with a range of about 32km. Martin is focusing on commercial sales, primarily to firefighters and other emergency services who could use the P12 to reach difficult places quickly. However, the company is also taking orders from private buyers with $5,000 to slap down as a deposit -- and the ability to get the basic Sport Pilot license to required to drive it. This reporter is on Twitter: @karlapincott

Nissan's new Pathfinder will arrive here in October with $9000 slashed off the entry price to each spec level with new two-wheel drive versions. The seven-seat Pathfinder range will start with the two-wheel drive ST at $39,990 rather than the outgoing range's base price of $48,990 for the all-paw.Nissan says the Pathfinder -- built on the same platform as the coming Altima sedam -- will continue with three spec levels, each of which will be available with either 2WD or AWD. The base ST asks an extra $4300 for the $44,290 all-wheel drive version. The mid-spec ST-L is $50,290 in 2WD form or $4000 more at $54,290 for the all-paw -- a rise of $5400. The Ti flagship will set you back $60,790 for 2WD and $4100 more at $64,890 for the AWD, a drop of $1500 over the outgoing $66,390 Ti and $11,500 off the $76,390 Ti 550 that topped the range.Two-wheel drive SUVs are becoming increasingly popular for their economy benefits, and the Pathfinder has been strategically priced to launch into a field that includes the Ford Territory, cheaper Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento -- but also the more expensive, but popular, Mazda CX-9 and Toyota Kluger.As reported earlier this year, the diesel engines are gone from the launch range, with the new Pathfinder kicking off with only a 194kW/325Nm 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine matched to a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission).However, also on the cards is a supercharged 2.5 litre four cylinder, paired with a single electric motor and lithium-ion battery system. The 15kW electric motor is small by hybrid standards but combines with the petrol engine to produce 187kW/329Nm. Nissan will reveal full specification details closer to the launch date.2013 Nissan Pathfinder pricesNissan Pathfinder ST 2WD  $39,990Nissan Pathfinder ST-L 2WD $50,290Nissan Pathfinder Ti 2WD $60,790Nissan Pathfinder ST 4WD $44,290Nissan Pathfinder ST-L 4WD  $54,290Nissan Pathfinder Ti 4WD $64,890

The maxim that real drivers shift gears manually is outdated, with automatics now better for both sports driving and economy according to the proponents of 'sheer driving pleasure': BMW."In the past if you want to be sporty and fuel-efficient, go for a manual one, and the auto was for comfort. And now it is the other way around," BMW's head of production for large vehicles Peter Wolf tells Carsguide.  "You're faster with an automatic, you have less fuel consumption, If you go to a race track ... with a manual shifted car and an automatic, you are faster with an automatic."Wolf cites this reasoning behind the ongoing evaporation of manual transmissions from the sports end of not only the BMW range but also its competitors. "For the 6 Series car we have in the future only automatic, and our M models we also have the double-clutch with a special application with seven gears and only for a few markets make a few  -- a very few -- hand-shifted cars," he says."And also have a look at Porsche 911... it's almost all PDK automatic. Nearly no-one (buys) hand-shifted. Because not so fast acceleration as well. The fuel consumption is higher, the acceleration is slower. The more time to put in the next gear, you lose so many time in acceleration by doing it manual."His colleague, BMW product communications manager Bernhard Ederer points out that the automatic invasion has spread to the territory of models in which anything but a manual would previously have been considered sacrilegious."One of icons of manual gearboxes, the (Porsche) 911 GT3, is no longer offered with a manual gearbox. And I think it was not an easy decision for Porsche to make that way either. They got of course a lot of (media) criticised them for that. The PDK in that one is so good, that even a really good driver could not shift faster manually ... the driving fun would not be more with a manual gearbox."Wolf also says the moves beyond eight gears in automatic transmissions -- to nine or even 10 -- will mean diminishing returns.  "If you look what are the steps with a gearbox, if you have this high figure -- eight -- if you go to nine, it's small steps," he says. "If you start with four gears and go to five, it's a huge step. But (as you add more gears) the steps are smaller and smaller. The effect gets lower and lower."In addition, Wolf says, BMW is not seeing customer demand for any more than eight speeds in their automatics. "I know of not a single customer request to have nine or 10 gears," he says. "At the moment we are very happy with where we are with automatics. The take-up rates are very good and the gearbox, especially with Aisin combined with the BMW engines ...  we are top of the line here."This reporter is on Twitter: @karlapincott 

The safety recall is part of the global recall of 909,900 vehicles announced yesterday, for a defect that coulld cause them to stall while running.The fault is with defective accelerator sensors that may become unstable and stop responding to the driver's foot, slowing and even stopping even if the accelerator pedal is pushed to the floor.Nissan Australia says the recall is on 24,700 of Y61 Nissan Patrols with the ZD 3.0-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder engine built between June 2006 and July 2013. "However, there have not been any incidents reported in Australia," Nissan spokesman Peter Fadayev says.The fix will involve replacing the accelerator pedal and changing the engine control programming. "We estimate it will be less than an hour's work," Fadayev says.In addition to the Nissan Patrol, the global recall affects the X-Trail and Infiniti M sedan in overseas markets but not in Australia.  

The wraps came off the Ferrari LaFerrari at the Geneva motor show earlier this year, but we're still in the dark about final performance figures. That data is likely being honed right now as the LaFerrari tests on the Nurburgring.Most of the figures we have so far include the 'less than, more than' qualifiers. Ferrari has so far claimed a 0-100km/h time of less than 3.0 secs (300km/h in 15 secs) and a top speed of more than 350km/h -- which could reach as high as 370km/h.That's achieved with a 6.3-litre V12 engine developing 588 kilowatts of power at 9000rpm and 700 newton-metres of torque at 6750rpm, mated with a 120kW HY-KERS energy recovery unit that adds short bursts of extra zing for a total 708kW and 900Nm.Final performance figures should arrive after more testing, and Ferrari is keen to bust the recent Nurburgring lap record for a road homologated car set by the -- also hybrid -- Porsche 918 Spyder, which finished the circuit in 6:57. McLaren is also eyeing the record for their P1 hypercar.Our spy photos show the test car on the difficult German circuit looks to be similar to the show car from Geneva -- with the addition of some camouflage wrap on the body. Although with it already having been shown undisguised, including runs on Ferrari's own test track at Fiorano, there could be little to hide now. 

The safety recall is to fix a fault that could see the powered seats' reclining lever stick in the operating position after use, allowing current to continue to flow to the seat motor. Mitsubishi says there is a risk the motor, seat cushion and surrounding parts could melt or burn."There have been two incidents recorded in Australia, with no injuries," Mitsubishi spokesperson Shayna Welsh says."There are 3,647 vehicles affected in Australia.  Customers need to take their vehicle to a dealership to be inspected, which should take around 20 mins, however, if the seat adjuster assembly needs to be replaced, this action will take up to two and a half hours."The recalled vehicles are the 2007-2013 Triton 4WD Double Cab and 2010-2013 Challenger 4WD models fitted with power front driver's and/or passenger's seat.Mitsubishi says that as a precaution until the owners have their vehicles inspected, they should make sure the reclining lever always returns to the central position after they have used it -- and whenever they leave the vehicle.All owners of affected vehicles have been contacted by mail sent to their last known address, and are asked to contact their nearest Mitsubishi service dealer to have their vehicle inspected and the seat assembly replaced if needed.Owners who believe their vehicle is in the affected range and who have not received a letter by today, September 27 -- or seek more information -- should call Mitsubishi on 1300 13 12 11 and select option 4, then select option 2.

The Need for Speed video game franchise was always likely to transfer to the silver screen. And our first look at the film -- due to launch in March next year -- shows it's kept the high-octane pace of the game. The movie stars Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul in the lead role as car mechanic and street racer Tobey Marshall, who serves a prison term after being framed for a crime he didn't commit. The story really kicks off after he gets out of jail and sets off on a series of high-speed adventures in a quest to get even with the man who was responsible for his false conviction. Need for Speed's trailer suggests a dark taste of vengeance, with the voiceover vowing "All those who defied me shall be ashamed and disgraced. Those who wage war against me shall perish". But even with a scant attempt at story development, the film promises car action -- and lots of it -- with chases, crashes, explosions and ... err, more chases, crashes and explosions. Need for Speed needs little else, really. Watch this video.