Articles by Karla Pincott

The new Sorento has been unveiled in Korea just days after catalogue images leaked onto the web last week.The SUV has been restyled, given a complete body makeover and set off with new light clusters front and rear, LED daytime running lights, bigger 19-in alloy wheels and a revamped interior with a stronger focus on quality finishes.The cabin also gets a larger eight-inch infotainment display screen, new LCD instrument cluster and redesigned centre console.The seven-seater Kia Sorento is based on a new platform shared with stablemate Hyundai’s next Santa Fe SUV.Kia says the engine range has been updated, which means revisions to improve economy and efficiency of the current engines: a 145kW/422Nm 2.2-litre turbodiesel (6.7L/100km in the manual version), a 128kW/226Nm 2.4-litre petrol (9.2L/100km) and a 204kW/335Nm 3.5-litre V6 petrol (10L/100km).Australian specifications and prices will be confirmed closer to the new Sorento’s launch at the Australian International Motor Show in October.

What’s the catch with this one? Well, it’s missing two wheels, and an engine, steering wheel, leather seats, automatic transmission. You get the picture - after seeing the picture. It’s a bicycle. The upside? All 77 of the Aston Martin One-77 cars have been sold (and since then one crashed, bringing the number to 76). But the bike is available to buy.  Developed as a joint project between the British carmaker and compatriot high-end cycle fettlers, Factor Bikes, the One-77 is essentially the Aston Martin of bicycles and is being billed by both companies as "the world's most technologically advanced road bicycle”. And it promises to do everything short of administer a drug test. Following the spirit of the two-door coupe, the bicycle relies heavily on carbon fibre for the frame, wheels, forks and handlebars, features hand-stitched leather on bars and seat. Instead of the car’s six-speed automated manual transmission, the bikemakers looked to Japan for a race-spec 21-speed Shimano Dura-Ace running gear. However there is techno wizardry worthy of any supercar in the integrated high-intensity LED light system front and rear - no pleb dynamo grinding or bolt-on uglies here, thanks. But the standout technology is the touchscreen computer system, which raises performance analysis to the level of a science lab. Most bike computers will give you speed and distance. Better ones give you cadence (pedal revolutions) and heart rate. The One-77 gives you more than 100 data measurements, including altitude and rate of ascent - the latter a novel idea according to the cyclists in our office who are happy enough to be able to get up a hill at all. The computer will also calculate the leg power, wasted leg power, and crank torque and force. For each leg. The One-77 goes on sale in July - as with the car, in a limited edition of just 77 -- and buyers will be invited to view their bike being built at the factory.  

The SQ5 is the first diesel Audi to be developed into an ‘S’ sport line version. It carries a 230kW/650Nm 3.0-litre V6 bi-turbo engine that the German carmaker says will get the SQ5 to 100km/h in a very respectable 5.1 seconds and to a top speed (governed) of 250km/h. An eight-speed automatic transmission delivers the effort to all corners with Audi’s quattro all-wheel drive with torque vectoring. Fuel economy is claimed to be 7.2L/100km, but that is likely to go higher if you speed-test the sports-tuned suspension that squats the SQ5 30mm lower than the normal SUV. You can still put the vehicle to practical use as a carthorse, taking advantage of its 2400kg towing capacity. But it could be the best-dressed SUV in the caravan park with S-logo black brake callipers peeking out through the standard 20-in alloys – or the 21-in optional ones – roof spoiler, special bumpers, aluminium-look grille elements and sporty garnish around the cabin. Will Audi take the next step and top the Q5 line-up with an RS to sit above the SQ5? No word on that yet but the with brand continually pushing its performance technology profile you’d have to suspect it’s being considered. The former stance of having ‘only one RS model at a time’ is long gone, with the badge appearing in the A3, A4, A5 and TT ranges, and with rumours of one on the way to the Q3 as well. For now there’s also no confirmation of whether an Australian launch will follow Europe’s – scheduled for the first quarter of next year. But Audi Australia is not going to dismiss the idea. “I don’t have anything specific for you yet, but I can suggest that it’s a great-sounding package for a country with such a strong SUV market,” general manager of corporate communications, Anna Burgdorf says.  

It’s been a five-year makeover for the failing Disney property known as the California Adventure Park. But the crowds for the weekend opening of the new Cars Land suggest the entertainment giant could be on a winner with this one.At one stage the people lined up for the main feature ride -- Radiator Springs Racers – stretched all the way out of Cars Land itself, with waiting times posted as up to four hours. The ride takes visitors in open-topped cars on a rollercoaster through the whole theme park, which has been given detailed attention to be as close as possible to Radiator Springs.Cars Land has two other rides, the dance-themed Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi's Flying Tyres – think bumper cars on speed.Food spots are also right out of Radiator Springs with Flo's V8 Cafe, Fillmore's Taste-In and Cozy Cone Motel.  The inevitable merchandising traps are configured as Sarge's Surplus Hut and Ramone's House of Body Art.To take an interactive tour, check out the Disney site here. 

The five-seater Nissan Leaf has gone on sale with the promise of 170km range from a full 24kWh battery charge – which means a cost from around 2c per kilometre in fuel compared to 11c/km for a comparable petrol car.The five-seater is priced from $51,500, with a charging station adding from $2800 extra for those who want to cut the juice-up time back to about four hours, rather than the 16 hours needed for a 15amp domestic supply to ‘juice up’ the underfloor battery pack.A cutting edge telematics system connected to a global data centre allows the driver’s smartphone to remotely set charge options, including taking advantage of off-peak rates. However, the Leaf is launching head-on into the carbon tax -- which will raise electricity costs after July 1.“The general view is that carbon tax will lead to electricity prices going up around eight per cent,” says Chris Giaoris of Origin Energy, which is supplying the Leaf charge points.The car also faces an acknowledged resistance to the new technology and concern about plug-in range.“There is some reluctance, not just in Australia, but in every country,” Nissan’s global head of product strategy and advanced planning, Francois Bancon said at the launch in Sydney yesterday (SUBS: Friday).“We are improving the technology, we are targeting better economy and we plan to double the range in another four or five years.“The answer is in the infrastructure, where you can one day drive from one city to another and along the way pull into a station and charge in 10 minutes while you have a cup of coffee.“But the government has to support this approach and in Australia it has not so far.”Nissan doesn’t expect the Leaf to do massive sales, saying it is spearheading a push for the range of models coming behind it.“We’re talking about just hundreds a year,” Nissan spokesman Jeff Fisher said. “At the moment it’s about the whole electric car awareness, so we want to take one step at a time.“This is basically the thin end of the wedge. We’ve always talked about having a suite of electric vehicles: a family hatch, we talked about a two-seater city runabout, a luxury version that could be under the Infiniti brand for example. We talked about a commercial vehicle… all of those are out there.” 

Unveiled at lat month's Nagoya Exciting Car Showdown in Japan, this Celica has been taken to extremes with tyre camber. Developed by the staffers at Japan's 'Drift Tengoku' magazine, the Celica's tyres are also filled to more than 85psi --- otherwise the inside of the rims would be scraping, we imagine.."

They've taken the soberly-coloured Rocketman Concept from the 2011 Geneva motor show and tarted it up in new red, white and blue livery of the British flag. And it doesn't stop at the duco. The glass roof gets red trim to echo the Union Jack, with matching red pinstriping on the polished black 18-in wheels. Red and white bezels accent the air vents, speakers and door pulls, and the 3+1 (+ an extra if needed) seating layout is trimmed in blue leather. To mark parent brand BMW's involvement in the 2012 London Olympics, The centre cubby is inscribed with figures playing that most British of games, basketball. And the door inserts are scribbled with the name of every Olympic city. If it all sounds a bit garish, you only have to think back a few weeks to the Jubilee mugs and tea towels to realise the Rocketman doesn't stack up too badly as a rolling souvenir.    

Connected technology has reached the smallest seat in the car.We're seeing more and more electronic nannies in cars -- stability, traction and braking controls for a start. But a new child seat takes the idea to real nanny status with app connectivity that sends alerts to a parent's smartphone.Developed by Tomy in the US, the First Years IAlert seat includes an inbuilt system of sensors that monitor and sends a warning if the seatbelt becomes undone, the seat changes angle, the temperature becomes too high or low -- and if the child is left in it after the car has stopped.The system can send alerts to the phone even if it's not in the car, meaning that parents will be able to keep a remote eye on their little one. The seat will go on sale in the US around September, with pricing yet to be announced but estimated at around $250 there.While the seat itself may not come to Australia – which has very stringent regulations for child seats –the technology is likely to be fitted to Tomy seats in our market.Tomy Australia sales general manager Mark Robertson says it is on the local radar. “It’s a fantastic product and is certainly something we’ll have a look at,” Robertson says. “Australia has a different and very particular standard for child seats (to the US).“The First Years IAlert seat may not come to Australia, but that technology can be adapted and applied to the other seats we have for sale here. It’s possible that we could see it from around mid next year,” he says.            

But this little odd concept is designed to get young kids into cars along with their parents. To that end, Toyota says it could carry three people -- essentially two adults and a child. The Toyota Camatte Concept was revealed at the 2012 International Tokyo Toy Show overnight with features the Japanese carmaker touts as being particularly kid-friendly.  The Camatte's main party trick is the ability to swap out the body panels, snapping in others in a different colour or style as the mood takes you, or perhaps to provide fun for the whole family when there's nothing on television.  But the more serious job it's been given is to spark an early interest in driving -- in a world where young people are increasingly bypassing the car. With the ability to communicate across a host of social media networks, coupled with growing economic and unemployment pressure in many countries, young people are bypassing not only the car but even the ritual of learning to drive.  This car aims to perform the same job once ascribecd to lolly cigarettes: get them young and they will continue the habit. However Toyota says the simple body structure and components are designed to give the whole family "the chance to become more familiar with the workings of motor vehicles". Seating is arranged in a one-plus-two triangular layout the carmaker says will aid communication between child up front and parents in the back. And the car also features pedals, so the child can "develop driving skills while a parent takes care of important tasks like steering and braking". There are no details about the drivetrain, but the video shows what could likely be a battery pack as the car is dismantled and reconfigured. The parent in the right-hand side seat can also take control of the steering wheel and brakes while the car is under way. The Camette is being displayed in two versions, the Camette ‘Sora’, and Camette ‘Daichi’. There are no production plans at the moment. However don't completely dismiss the idea of seeing something similar reach the market. Just as in many other countries, the leaner-licence aged youth in Japan are turning away from cars. And that's a concern for Japanese carmakers who know that if they don't get 'em young, they might not get 'em at all.

Sometimes you can mess with an original. Move the location, change the characters and update the props – or in this case, the cars. Using 2012 scenes and technology -- and the latest version of the cars that starred in The Italian Job, Mini has produced a fast-paced spoof video set around the Olympics.The action was directed by BBC Top Gear’s Phil Churchward and stars Jodie Kidd, and a crew of Olympic gold medallists: decathlete Daley Thompson, triple jumper Jonathan Edwards and rowers James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent.Marking Mini’s partnership with the British Olympic and Paralympic teams, the video features three new special ‘London Edition’ Mini Coopers sporting red, white and blue.The trio chases down a two-wheeled thief with a series of stunts, jumps and avoidance tactics finishing with the Olympic Stadium as a prominent background.Mini plans to build 2012 of the special edition packs across the UK-spec Cooper variants as part of their Olympic sales bid, decking out the cars with Union Jack accents, a special London 2012 logo and sketches of London landmarks etched into the dash. Seriously.