Articles by Kevin Hepworth

Almost half of shoppers in the used-car market are prepared to spend $25,000 or more on a more efficient, stylish and safer vehicle like the the BMW 320.“Gone are the days of the used-car market being dominated by people looking for a cheap deal,” NRMA board director Wendy Machin says. “Environmental concerns are top of mind and price is no longer a primary motivator.”Run by the CarWise website, the survey found more women than men were motivated by environmental and fuel efficiency issues.“Almost 45 per cent of women are buying greener, more fuel efficient cars with a fuel consumption of less than nine litres per 100km in the city, compared to 26 per cent of men,” Machin says. “Buyers are more interested in value than savings. That means not buying a lemon that will cause them problems in the future.”She says buyers are also increasingly conscious of the safety of second-hand vehicles, with almost two-thirds looking to buy a car no more than five years old.“The newer the used car, usually the better the safety package with not only airbags and systems like ABS and ESP but advances in the inherent safety of the car's construction."“Since new cars are cheaper there is now more — and better — choice available on the second-hand market and buyers are snapping up the options.”According to the research, fewer than 10 per cent of buyers would spend less than $5000 on a used car, while most cruise the web investigating common problems and recalls of models they may be considering.NRMA CarWise provides an avenue for buyers to do a background check on a specific vehicle and provides information to aid shoppers in the used car market.“Used car buying can be daunting — CarWise makes the process simple and stress-free by providing motorists with all the information they need at their fingertips,” Machin says. 

This follows an exclusive report in Carsguide last week that a private importer is set to sell the new GT-R ahead of Nissan Australia.

Let us say up front that the Audi R8 had been one of the most anticipated drives of the year. First seen as the Le Mans Concept at the 2003 Frankfurt motor show, the production R8 had been talked up to a degree only a true superstar could live up to.Reports from the launch drive were mixed; good but not great, a bit of a show pony held back so as not to embarrass its Lamborghini stablemates, stylish but tries too hard.It all added to the anticipation and, more than usual, first impressions were going to be everything.Talk about getting off on the right foot. The test car was the six-speed manual with a solid body colour of brilliant red. The absence of the optional carbon-fibre ($5050) or silver ($2600) side air-intake panels immediately sent the spirits soaring.The R8 doesn't need gimmickry to draw attention. Even the glass show-off panel over the mid-mounted engine is unnecessary. In its most basic form the R8 is an attention magnet.It just looks the business. From the gaping front airdams, LED underscored headlights and no-nonsense stance through to the oversized TT-like rear the R8 speaks of getting on with it. Still, nobody had ever criticised it for being ugly.Slip into the cabin and you are in for a very pleasant surprise.You get the distinct feeling that those practical Germans have taken a long hard look at the captains of industry who are likely to be able to afford the R8 and — in the nicest possible way — made concessions for the regular boardroom lunch or three.There is room to spare and comfort to burn. Even the basic sports seats are nicely styled to hug a larger frame rather than just the pencil-thin F1 driver on his day off.If you want to step up to the creme-de-la-creme of sports seats, has Audi got a deal for you. For a mere $10,700 you can get the same carbon-fibre saddles as seen in the TT — and they come with the same compromises, a whopping price premium and the loss of the side airbags.The instrument binnacle is deeply-cowled and concentrated high in front of the driver. The flat-bottomed steering wheel has a nice meaty feel to it, with easy-to-use audio controls on the cross-arms.The open-gated six-speed manual shifter is a nice piece of art in a cabin that leans towards the minimalist and, more to the point, is well placed to come easily to hand.Storage space is not excessive but by supercar standards it is generous. There was also the optional storage package ($800) on the test car. There is a reasonable parcel shelf behind the seats and enough room for a phone and wallet in the centre console.The test car interior was standard and pretty good for all that. If you have a bit of pocket change left after purchase you could always option up to the $13,450 Napa leather treatment with sensuous-to-the-touch hide stretched across the dash, door trims, handbrake lever and further.So much for looks, how about ability? Straight up, the performance parameters of the R8 are not about being a supercar.Make no mistake, 0-100km/h in 4.6 seconds and a top speed of 301km/h are nothing to be sneered at, but neither are they in true supercar territory. A Mercedes SL600, Porsche 911 GT3, BMW M6 and a few others can match it and nobody thinks of them as supercars. Think mid-three seconds if you want to wear that tag.The upside of the R8's performance is that it has been set up as a car you can live with every day and shake the cobwebs out any time you like.It doesn't feel harsh and super-sharp, neither in the throttle, suspension nor steering.They are all at the better end of the sportscar scale but are still enjoyable without being tiring.Fire up the 4.2-litre V8 and wonder where it went. The isolation from the engine, sitting behind you, is such that the initial cabin noise is sedan-like.Wind down the window, find a tunnel and then jab the throttle.That will give some idea of how good this thing sounds to those merely looking on. From the driver's seat you are going to have to be satisfied with a far more subtle experience.The free-revving V8 is the same as the one in Audi's glorious RS4 — and while it shares the same magic it suffers from the same frustrations.At urban pace the benefits of a 309kW powerplant that spins up to 7800rpm remain largely untapped.Even the 430Nm of torque — which peaks at 4500rpm and hangs around until 6000rpm — rarely gets the chance to contribute.It is also keen for a drink. Feather-throttle driving is not something the R8 encourages so be prepared to accept that the official 14.6litre per 100km economy rating is an ambit claim. It is going to be quite a bit higher than that.Drive for the R8 is through Audi's quattro all-wheel-drive system, tuned in the R8 to give serious bias to the rear and not spoil all the fun.Adjustable sports suspension has its benefits but apart from the rare smooth section of sweeping highway and a trip to the track the comfort setting will be more than adequate.News from the New York Motor Show this week  the R8 had plucked two of the four World Car of The Year awards — Performance Car Of The Year and Design Of The Year — will only add to the R8's lustre.The bottom lineSuperstar, not supercar.  Snapshot Audi R8Price: $259,900Engine: 4.2L/V8, 308kW/420NmTransmission: 6-speed manualPerformance: 0-100km/h 4.6secs The rivalsPorsche 911 Carrera SPrice: $233,100Engine: 3.6L/6cyl, 261kW/400NmTransmission: 5-speed tiptronicPerformance: 0-100km/h 4.8secs  BMW M6 coupePrice: $276,400Engine: 5.0L/V10, 373kW/520NmTransmission: 7-speed sequential manualPerformance: 0-100km/h 4.6secs Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMGPrice: $382,974Engine: 6.2L/V8, 385kW/630NmTransmission: 7-speed automatic with manual modePerformance: 0-100km/h 4.6secs

.....you would need a really big bottle. You would also have something approximating the GT2.Generally speaking, Porsche builds outstanding driver's cars. Occasionally, it produces a spectacular gem. The new 997 GT2isone of those gems.Porsche itself describes the GT2 asa product of the company's “spare parts bin”.“The best bits of everything come together to produce this special car,” Porsche Cars Australia technical guru Warrick McKenzie explains.Australian motorsport legend, Porsche-phile and Targa Tasmania addict Jim Richards concurs.Richards, who owns one of only two 2008 GT2s in Australia, is preparing to fling his $425,700 rarity at the Tasmanian scenery next week.“It's pretty much the basic street car with a roll cage,” Richards said atEastern Creek last week during the official launch of the car.“The only thing we've done to it so far is to put in heavier springs front and rear.“That's just to keep the car frombottoming out on some oftheTarga roads.“I'll also put in some different brake pads, but that'll be it. There isn't time to do anything else.“Maybe I should run it in the showroom class: it's that standard.”Richards is confident that, given time, he could squeeze an extra 60kW out of the GT2's 3.6-litre, bi-turbo boxer engine, but he's happy enough to settle for an out-of-the-box 390kW and 680Nm.That's enough to sprint to 100km/h in 3.7 seconds on the way to a top speed of 329km/h.“It's the torque that's unbelievable,” Richards says. “The thing pulls like a tractor in third gear.”Despite the GT2's considerable price tag — almost $95,000 more than the brutal Turbo Coupe — Porsche Australia is holding confirmed orders for 31 cars.Just two examples of the first-generation GT2, released in 1995, were sold in Australia. The second series found more buyers; 26 were sold here between 2001 and 2004.“We expect the total number of sales of this series to be between 35 and 40,” Porsche Cars Australia sales director Kevin Nicholls says.“That will pretty much be determined by production restraints, which will ultimately limit supply — thesame as with the GT3 RS.”There's little in the way of technological perfection trickery that Porsche hasn't thrown at the GT2.For the first time, it will have as standard the clever Porsche Active Stability Management system, with “regular” and “track” modes.The active dampers controlled bythePASM software react within milliseconds to changes in road surface and driving conditions, providing optimum body control andsteering and throttle sharpness.“The engineers could have set the system so there's absolutely no body roll — in fact, there could actually be negative input, effectively rolling the body away from the cornering forces,” McKenzie says.“But that would have been just tooweird, so they've allowed something in the order of two degreesof body movement.”The 997 GT2 is also the first of its ilk to get variable steering assistance, ceramic composite brakes as standard, titanium mufflers and pipes to reduce rear-end weight and a three-stage stability management program.In the basic “minder” setting, the full stability and traction control functions are operative, along with theanti-lock braking system.Switch off the first stage, and the lateral force control functions are de-activated, allowing the car to move around its axis.Second-stage de-activation removes the longitudinal, or traction-control, monitors, allowing for wheelspin. TheABS remains active at all times.The thing to remember in the GT2 is that off means off. There's no pre-set panic point at which the electronic minders jump in and try to undo the harm when ambition overtakes ability.What's not new in the GT2 is its six-speed manual gearbox. And that's a good thing.The shifter's basic design goes backto the late 1980s, with small modifications from generation to generation producing a thing of beauty.Shifts are short and precise, if a shade notchy, but it's the little things most owners will never see that set the Porsche philosophy apart.Gears are inserted, not pressed, into the gearbox shafts, allowing for easy replacement and allowing the owner to adjust the gearbox to suit any track.Synchro rings are also made of steel, rather than the more usual brass — not as durable, but slicker.Yet, while it may be the technology of the GT2 that earns your respect, it's the manners and the character of the car that will evoke a boundless love.The GT2 is pure class. Its cabin is comfortable, sensible and functional.The carbon-fibre racing buckets are supportive, beautifully styled and practical — to the extent they even have fold-down backs, making access to the rear storage shelf a no-fuss affair.Fire the GT2 up, and the sound is akin to the 911 Turbo: purposeful without being overtly threatening. Off the mark, the GT2 is as happy todawdle away as it is to throw itself atthe horizon — with or without the launch control activated.As expected, the GT2's steering is razor-sharp. It's not for the faint-hearted, butconcentrate and the frontend will answer your every wish— immediately.Pour in the right foot, and the twin turbochargers with variable turbine geometry turn up the boost, forcing thefuel/air mix through an innovative expansion intake manifold.That all makes for a power delivery so smooth, it's like driving a hot knife through soft butter. A torque curve thatpeaks just over 2000rpm and staysthat way right through to 4500rpm certainly helps.Pushing the GT2 around Eastern Creek — aided in no small part by Porsche Experience instructor Steve Pizzati calling encouragement and advice — is far less intimidating than the raw performance figures suggest.Such is the balance of the car — both mechanical and through the computer-controlled PASM logarithms — that only an over-estimation of ability isgoing to upset the applecart.The car itself knows exactly what isrequired and how to handle it.  SNAPSHOT PORSCHE 911 GT2Price: $425,700Engine: 3.6L/6-cylinder bi-turbo boxer; 390kW/680NmTransmission: 6-speed manualPerformance: 0-100km/h 3.7 secs, 0-160km 7.4 secs, 0-300km/h 33 secs; top speed 329km/hEconomy: 12.5L/100km 

Launched in Japan in December and drip-fed to a waiting world, the demand for the all-new GT-R is such that Australia's first production vehicles will not land until at least the middle of next year and, until the company has a car ready for sale, Nissan Australia will remain under attack from independents offering cars imported under low volume schemes.“Of course it is a concern to us. It is certainly not something we are ignoring,” a Nissan Australia spokesman said this week when asked about importers advertising immediate delivery of the new GT-R — both new and second-hand demonstrator models.No senior executives from Nissan Australia would be interviewed about the latest developments in which a Melbourne importer, Kamikaze Motors, is advertising availability of six road-registered GT-Rs for $160,000 each.Nissan's official position is that the cars bought at second-hand auction cannot be imported because they are the same model that will be sold in Australia under the Nissan badge next year. However, they are less certain about being able to block the cars bought new in Japan by agents acting for Kamikaze Motors.“The situation with the new cars is less clear,” the spokesman says. “However, if they are imported then they will have to be homologated and meet all Australian ADR regulations with regard to seats belts, emissions and other issues."“Customers need to be aware they need to buy a Nissan GT-R from Nissan Australia. It is the only way they will get a full warranty and full service support from Nissan,” the spokesman says.Kamikaze principal Shui Mir is confident there will be no impediment to his importing the GT-Rs.“We have been doing this for 10 years and are well up on the regulations and requirements for importing low-volume cars,” Mir says.“The cars are either bought direct from Nissan Japan or through auctions with very low mileage on them. I have checked carefully and under the regulations we can bring in up to 100 cars a year as long as they are built before the manufacture date of the first car Nissan Australia brings in.”Nissan, both in Australia and internationally, has been aware for some time of the threat grey imports might pose in small-number markets, particularly those at the end of the roll-out schedule.Nissan vice-president for global communications, Simon Sproule, said at the international launch in Japan last year that the threat to any high-desirability, low-production model was that people were not prepared to wait.“We're going to have to be realistic and concede that in some instances the grey imports will be the first available,” he noted then. At the time Nissan Australia put on a brave face, saying it was confident of being able to block non-official imports.“Because we've clearly stated our intention to import the car, there'll be no opportunity for any grey importers to bring the GT-R to Australia,” Nissan Australia's Karl Gheling said at the time.Mir says interest in the first six cars has been stronger than he anticipated, his phone “ringing off the hook” even before the advertisement in a specialist car magazine this month.“If I sell these six, and demand is there, there will be no problem with getting more,” Mir says.At $160,000, the Kamikaze GT-Rs are about $10,000 dearer than the indicated price from Nissan Australia, although with specialist cars it is not unusual to pay a premium to acquire cars in short supply or to jump up the supply queue.For example, when Subaru imported a limited number of its first STi models in 1998, within 24 hours of delivery to those on the 'official' list there were cars back on the market advertised at a $20,000 — or 40per cent — premium.The biggest issue facing both importers and buyers of the 'unofficial' cars is the question of warranty and service for what are very specialised high-performance engines.“We will warranty the cars for three years and ... well, we do have a bit of an issue with servicing at the moment,” Mir concedes.“If necessary, a couple of the boys will go to Japan and get the training they need there.”Even Nissan Australia has not been forthcoming with just how they will handle the proposed three-year premium servicing.The highly complex and specialised racing car-style service will offer a full chassis and suspension balance as well as a precision tune and balance of the engine.That will require expensive, specialised equipment and highly-trained staff — something likely to be beyond Nissan Australia's normal service capability — let alone a small importer. How the import scheme works* Independent importers, such as Kamikaze Motors (their advertisement) can be licensed to bring in 100 cars a year as low-volume, used vehicle imports* They cannot import a vehicle that has been sold as a new model by a mainstream importer in Australia* Individual low-volume importers can bring new vehicles into the country under licence but the vehicles must be homologated to Australian design rules 

Surrounded by hybrid and fuel cell cars of every type and size the stars of the annual Big Apple motorfest remain the muscle cars.

Music artist 50-Cent introduced the 2010 Pontiac G8 Sport Truck at the New York Auto Show today, as well as other new Pontiacs, in New York. The sport truck combines the handling of a performance coupe with the cargo capabilities of a light truck. It provides both car-like fuel economy and a 0-to-60 time of 5.4 seconds. It can also carry a payload of more than 1,074 pounds. The sport truck is expected to arrive in dealer showrooms in late 2009.For more on the Pontiac Sport truck, read Kevin Hepworth's full story below..Australia's “working man's sportscar” has cracked the biggest new car market in the world with the announcement that a Holden Ute will be sold by Pontiac in the US.With General Motors already marketing the Commodore SS as the Pontiac G8, the news from New York that a ute will be added to the lineup from next year has sent local spirits soaring.“It's not every day that a manufacturer announces a vehicle that creates a whole new segment in a market, but with this, the first ute export to North America in the form of the G8 sport truck, it is exactly what Pontiac is doing,” GM Holden's chairman and managing director Mark Reuss, said.“The design, engineering and performance of the G8 sedan is already drawing praise from US media and Pontiac fans alike and we're confident that the sport truck and the GXP sedan will be as warmly received.”Speculation on a North American export opportunity for the Aussie Ute first surfaced at the Detroit Motor Show in 2002.GM product boss Bob Lutz, the man who later that year championed the Monaro into North America as the Pontiac GTO, suggested it as a replacement for the classic Chevrolet El Camino.That plan never eventuated but with the free trade agreement removing the 20 per cent tariff which had hindered the Ute previously GM decided to green-light the Pontiac program.“The FTA situation certainly made it viable,” GM Holden's John Lindsay said. “The numbers are not expected to be huge but it is great news for us.”The G8 sport truck is based off the new V8 SS Ute with a similar specification level and the same revised front styling treatment on the G8 sedan.Buick-Pontiac-GMC general manager, Jim Bunnell, said: “Pontiac has never shied away from offering segment-defining vehicles. There's simply nothing else like the G8 sport truck on the road today, and we definitely believe that there are customers who will be excited by its distinctive design, performance and cargo capabilities.”The sport truck will be officially unveiled at the New York Motor Show on Wednesday and sitting alongside it will be a fourth Holden model wearing a Pontiac badge.The new flagship, G8 GXP high performance sedan joins the G8 and G8 GT as Commodore-based Pontiacs.The GXP sedan, production of which will start in Adelaide later this year, and the sport truck due next year means Holden's Elizabeth plant will be producing 45 models off six variants.The G8 GXP utilises GM's new small-block LS3 6.2-litre V8 with 300kW and 546Nm. It will be the first Aussie-built Pontiac to offer both a six-speed manual and six-speed automatic gearbox. “Two countries separated by a common language”.It is unlikely that George Bernard Shaw was thinking of the classic Aussie Ute when he made his famous observation on America ... yet it is still relevant.To North Americans a Ute is an indigenous native, the people for which the state of Utah is named.That language barrier has prompted Pontiac to turn to the public in searching for a name for its new G8 sports truck, built off the Holden Ute and to be unveiled at the New York Motor Show on Wednesday.Pontiac has opened a website on which suggestions for a suitable name for the segment-busting new car can be lodged.Pontiac's marketing director, Craig Bierley, said the company was aware that the simple sport truck moniker did not fully describe the vehicle's ability to blur the lines between sports car and truck (the US description of any range of SUVs and pick-ups).  

Mercedes-Benz quietly admits that its look-at-me roadster had missed the mark.The penny dropped for Mercedes, according to head of passenger car development Hans-Dieter Multhaupt, when 60 per cent of customers specified the AMG sports body kit for their basic SLs.“That is not right,” Multhaupt says. “Normally, it should be 30 percent of customers who want the extra-sporty look."“This tells us that the customer wants to have his car positioned a bit more sporty. This time, we have followed that wish.”To that end, the revamped SL has a more powerful and efficient V6, optional active steering, a far more aggressive front end, a restyled interior and — oddly, given the customer message — a three-litre, entry-level V6.“We felt we should sharpen the car's sporty edge,” Multhaupt says.“Our customers expect from the SL a combination of sportiness, comfort and safety ... we felt it could be even a bit sharper in design and technology.”Apart from the front and interior styling, the steering rack and the spanking 3.5-litre V6, most of the changes are, at best, subtle.The SL's grille and general stance have been squared up to give the car a far more bulldog look.Under the bonnet — which now features a pair of power bumps redolent of the original 1954 300SL — are a range of four engines from the entry V6 to the SL600's 5.5-litre V12.“There are no immediate plans to add the SL280 to the Australian range, but it will remain under consideration,” Mercedes-Benz Australia's Peter Fedayev says.Traditionally, the V8 SL500 has dominated Australian sales, but it could come under pressure from the SL350's high-spinning 3.5-litre V6.With 232kW — up from 200kW in the superseded engine — and 360Nm of torque, the SL350 dispatches the sprint to 100km/h in 6.2 seconds and uses just 9.9 litres of fuel per 100km.That's only marginally faster (0.4 of a second) and more efficient (0.4 of a litre) than the outgoing car, but it feels a whole lot better than those raw figures indicate.Not so shabby for a middle-aged athlete in a corporate suit.There are no changes to the engines at the top end of the bragging tree, with the 5.5-litre SL500 and twin-turbo, 5.5-litre V12 SL600 retaining their respective 285kW/530Nm and 380kW/830Nm outputs.Most noticeable change to the cabin is the absence of the deeply scalloped dash, replaced by a flatter treatment with classic-styled dials and new three-spoke steering wheel.As in some other performance models, including several from Subaru, the instrument needles flip from one side of the dial to the other on start-up before returning to their initial positions.The seven-speed gearbox has not been changed, apart from a software upgrade that makes for slightly quicker changes in manual mode and blips the throttle on downshifts.An unexpected advantage of that downshift blip is that the changes are smoother because of equalisation of shift pressure.The chassis remains unchanged, but there has been some tweaking of the active body control (ABC) on the top-end cars to provide a sharper ride at full tilt; but a more refined suspension feel for general duties.The biggest single difference to the upgraded SL is active steering — optional on models sold overseas but likely to be standard for those available in Australia.At the heart of the variable steering is an idea first developed by Dr Arthur Bishop in Sydney almost 50 years ago.“The beauty of Dr Bishop's idea was in its simplicity and economy,” Michael Rapp, senior manager for steering systems development at Mercedes-Benz, explains.“There is no need to have sensors for speed input or servo motors or build in great complexity, which brings with it a greater risk of component failure ... the Bishop system is elegant simplicity."“The benefit is that at highway speeds, the off-centre experience is sharp, yet in a situation like parking the greater assistance makes it easier to manoeuvre without needing to wind on great amounts of steering angle.”Also optional on overseas models — and under consideration for Australia — are the Airscarf neck-warming system pioneered on the SLK and a multi-mode intelligent light system.The system has five modes — country, motorway, enhanced fog lamps, cornering function and active function.The variable-control bi-xenon headlamps activate the light functions automatically. Motorway mode, for example, kicks in at speeds in excess of 90km/h, increasing the driver's range of vision by up to 60 per cent.When the active light function is operational, the headlamps pivot in line with the steering angle around bends, illuminating a claimed extra 25m.“I think we now have a very good blend and the right mix for our customers,” Multhaupt says.“They tell us all the time that they don't want a purist sporty car that you can only stand for an hour — the SL is a companion for the whole day."“They want the sportiness at the same time as the comfort and the assurance of safety.” Snapshot Mercedes-Benz SLPrice: from $225,000 (est.) to $380,000 (est.)Engine: 3.5L/V6, 232kW/360Nm (SL350); 5.5L/V8, 285kW/530Nm (SL500); 5.5L/V12, 380kW/830Nm (SL600)Transmission: 7-speed automatic (SL350, SL500); 5-speed auto (SL600) 

Meet the Megane Coupe Cabriolet concept, the stand-out star from a Geneva Motor Show stacked with designer fantasies and production test beds.

The production version of the world's smallest four-seater car was unveiled at the Geneva motor show in the heartland of the super-efficient mini-car.