Articles by Mark Hinchliffe

Australia could be the fourth country to get an electric Mini.The BMW Group has produced about 500 Mini E vehicles which run on mains electricity stored in a battery. They are loaned out to VIPs and government departments in the US, Germany and recently England.BMW Australia product communications manager Tim James hopes Australia will be the next to get an appraisal vehicle. "We have submitted a request to have a vehicle as part of a small pilot programme in Australia for various press evaluation and potentially government departments," he said. "There is no confirmation yet, but we have asked and we are confident. "Timing is unconfirmed at this stage."Unless you have been living in the Big Brother House for the past year, you would be aware that electric vehicles are imminent. Nissan, Mitsubishi, Smart and others are about to release mass market models while many other manufacturers are experimenting with small-volume test vehicles. Mini is one such company.Where the Mini E differs from most other models is that it is a commonly recognisable car. In the past, electric cars have either been golf carts or space-age weirdo machines that look like something George Jetson would drive. They were also thought to be slugs until Tesla came along and sorted that out; albeit with an expensive price tag. But they were never thought to be cars we could actually drive and afford. Until Mini E.Here is a car that looks exactly like a normal car. The only differences are some decals and the fact that it is a two-seater as the battery takes up the back seat.Mini E has a claimed range of 240km, produces 150kW of power and 220Nm of torque and will accelerate to 100km/h in 8.5 seconds.DrivingBMW last week loaned a Mini E to four Australian journalists to test around the streets and autobahns of Munich and surrounds. While we can confirm that it accelerates in a linear fashion to 100km/h in about 8.5 seconds, the claim about range must be based on a little old lady driving it to church.After our strenuous testing, the range indicator (where the tacho normally is) told us we would get about 70 per cent of the claimed range. Mini E project director Dieter Falkensteiner told us it was ‘driveable like a Mini auto’. However, with its enormous torque from go, it is a bit of a torque-steering handful when the lights go green.It also features overly aggressive regenerative braking which harnesses the kinetic energy of the brakes to recharge the battery.However, it feels as if the handbrake is still on. As soon as you release pressure on the accelerator, there is substantial deceleration. No coasting as you would expect in a normal car. This is fairly common for en electric vehicle, but it is the most dramatic of any electric cars I have driven. It is so effective, that it will decelerate to a complete stop from 100km/h in about 12 seconds without having to touch the brakes at all. That might be good for brake disc wear, but it will certainly take some getting used to.Together with a slight delay in the accelerator response, I found it rather difficult to drive smoothly especially in stop-go traffic. However, if you are keen on having a red-hot go, it rewards with a powerful thrust of linear acceleration, accompanied only by the muted sounds of a hair dryer. In fact, that sound is the airconditioning system trying to keep the battery cool.The 260kg battery takes up the entire back seat area and adds to the vehicle's extra weight which is up about 400kg on as similar auto Cooper. The battery can be quick charged on 50amp in about 2.5 hours or 32amp in five hours and draws a maximum of 28 kilowatt hours of electricity, costing about $5, depending on your supplier and when you charge. Australian mains power would charge it in around eight hours. Falkensteiner said that with development, the battery size would be reduced and the rear seat returned. How that battery copes with Australia's extremes of temperature are yet to be determined.Mini EBody: 2-door, 2-seaterMotor: asynchronous electricPower: 150kWTorque: 220NmBattery: lithium-ionWeight: 1465kgAcceleration: 0-100km/h 8.5 seconds

Diesel power is set to drive BMW sales further over the next few months. In the past five years since introducing oil-burning engines to its fleet in Australia the German brand has increased the proportion of diesel sales to 34 per cent.A number of new diesel BMW 1 and 3 Series models, including the first BMW diesel convertibles, will hit the market in December followed by a diesel 5 Series Gran Turismo in March and two diesel X1 models in April.BMW Australia product communications manager Tim James said he expected the proportion of diesel sales in the fleet would increase with the new models. The 1 Series is currently one-third diesel, but in December BMW will add the 118d hatch and convertible in six-speed auto and manual with prices starting from $42,170.The 118d Sports Hatch is the 2008 World Green Car of the Year with its two-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine developing 105kW of power, 300Nm of torque, but sipping fuel at 4.5 litres per kilometre and emitting 119g of CO2 per kilometre. It will feature in its twin-turbo format in the 123d hatch, coupe and convertible with prices starting at $50,790 and going up to $69,480.However, it does not attract the luxury car tax because the two-litre twin turbo's fuel economy is well below the 7L/100km requirement for exemption. Depending on the vehicle, it returns economy figures of 5.2 to 5.4L/100km while delivering 150KW and 400Nm. The single turbo two-litre diesel also arrives in the 320d Touring, Coupe and Convertible in December with prices from $61,500.The 3 Series Coupe and Convertible also get the three-litre diesel straight six used elsewhere in the fleet with prices from $91,900 and in the new 5 Series GT coming in March with prices starting from about $140,000.BMW's smallest SUV arrives in April in diesel guise only. The X1 xDrive20d uses the two-litre, four-cylinder diesel and the xDrive23d uses the twin-turbo engine. James said a 1.8 diesel engine was also being considered for the X1.Diesel penetration in BMW cars is highest in the 5 Series with almost 50 per cent now diesel and the 520d the volume seller, James said. It is followed by the 1 Series with one-third and the 3 Series with 17 per cent. James said diesel was even making inroads in the 7 Series. "The 730d was launched in June and already signs are it will become the volume model," he said.The car returns fuel economy figures of 7.2L/100km, but from this month, new production models will achieve 6.8L/100km and not attract the luxury car tax. James said this was already factored into the pricing, saving buyers $5000. BMW now has 21 cars with fuel economy less than 7L/100km.The X models have been the real winners for diesel. James said diesel represented 85 per cent of X3 sales and 80 per cent of X5 sales, while petrol was the most popular choice among X6 owners.Driving BMW supplied a 118d hatch, 123d hatch and convertible and 330d coupe for test through Bavaria last week. With a mix of autobahn, country road and tight village lane driving, each returned fuel economy figures on their on-board computers similar to official claims.At 200km/h on the autobahn, even the 118d three door (we will get the five-door) still felt like it had more to give, the diesels not only having low-end grunt but plenty of meat throughout the rev range.They are quiet, refined and have less idle clatter than is common among diesels. But it's the twin-turbo model that really stands out, sounding and feeling more like a petrol engine with its free revving and mid-to-top-end power. Handling is not adversely affected by the extra weight of the engines, although steering may be marginally heavier.The manual models feature auto stop-start which cuts the engine when it is stationary and in neutral, starting again when the clutch is pushed in. While this same function feels rough in the new X1 and Mini diesel, it feels much smoother here, maybe because of the engine positioning.James said the auto stop-start function had not yet been engineered for automatic transmissions, but they were working on it. The six-speed manual gearboxes feature well-chosen ratios, although first is a little short and sixth will be wasted in Australia where the highway maximum speed limit is 110km/h.NEW BMW DIESELS (From December)118d Sports Hatch (6-speed manual) $42,170118d Sports Hatch (6-speed steptronic auto) $44,370123d Sports Hatch (man) $50,790123d Sports Hatch (auto) $53,070123d Coupe (man) $57,900123d Coupe (auto) $60,180118d Convertible (man) $52,900118d Convertible (auto) $55,019123d Convertible (man) $67,200123d Convertible (auto) $69,480320d Executive Touring $61,500320d Coupe $67,500320d Convertible $80,400330d Coupe $91,900330d Convertible $104,850From March)530d Gran Turismo from about $140,000From April)X1 xDrive20d and xDrive23d from low $50,000s 

While starting from a higher base of CO2 emissions, companies such as Ferrari have made the biggest improvements, according to automotive data and intelligence provider, JATO Dynamics.Ferrari leads the CO2 volume reduction race, with a 40.4g/km improvement in CO2 output so far this year. This is the greatest volume reduction of any brand on sale in Europe and represents a 9.5 per cent improvement. Ferrari's net reduction puts it well on its way to achieving its stated aim to reduce CO2 emissions from 400g/km per vehicle to 280-300g/km, by 2012.While Ferrari can claim the greatest CO2 volume reduction, when expressed as percentage improvement, it is Alpina that is the outright best performer, although on a small sales base.The next best in percentage improvement is Porsche with 10.6 per cent reduction. Meanwhile, 96 per cent of the top 25 brands of European new cars sold so far this year have reduced CO2 output by an average of 6.2g/km.New car sales for Smart, Fiat and MINI are already under the 130g/km CO2 average required under EU legislation by 2015. The outright biggest improvement of all mainstream marques over the past year belongs to Alfa Romeo, whose average new car CO2 output fell by 19.9g/km.The top spot is taken by Chevrolet, whose diesel Cruze model and three-cylinder, 0.8-litre, 119g/km Matiz helped its new car sales to a 15.2g/km average CO2 improvement. Second is Audi, whose 2.0-litre TDi engine helped it to an average of 163g/km. Toyota, Suzuki, Hyundai and Mazda also recorded double-digit improvements. Ford was best of the biggest European volume sellers, improving average CO2 by 8g/km as its ECOnetic range.The cleanest of the range is the new 98 g/km Fiesta ECOnetic which is yet to be released here.However, Ford Australia is bringing the car out for next month's 3000km Global Green Challenge trial from Darwin to Adelaide. 

Diesel power is set to drive BMW sales further over the next few months

...including seven-times F1 champion Michael Schumacher in the Race of Champions.The annual competition between the top drivers from Formula One, Nascar, World Rally Championships and other formats will be held in November in Beijing for the first time.V8 Supercar champion and current series leader Whincup said he was "pumped" to have been asked to compete. He was given the all-clear to compete by Team Vodafone principal Roland Dane yesterday.Some of the drivers who have been confirmed for the event include Formula One drivers Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button as well as World Rally championship leader Mikko Hirvonen. "Talk about thrown in at the deep end," Whincup said. "I always said I wanted to do some overseas races and this is the first of many."Whincup last month re-signed with Team Vodafone for three years after considering offers to race overseas. He said his re-signing would also include opportunities such as the race of Champions for overseas one-off races.

BMW product communications manager Michael Blabst said there were many ways the new 5 Series could develop that would depart from the new design of the liftback GT models. “There are even many options just with the slant of the kidney grille,” he said.The GT is based on drawings by Christopher Weil which won an internal company design competition five years ago. Wolfgang Stadler, who runs the Dingolfing plant where the car will be produced, said the design merged a sedan with a station wagon and an SUV.The car features four doors with frameless windows, a coupe-like stretched roof line and a two-part tailgate that works like the new Skoda Superb. The chunky rear end of the vehicle is reminiscent of the old Rover Vitesse and SD 3500. It will be available in Australia in March with pricing and specifications available closer to the release date.BMW Australia product manager Tim James said it would cost more than an X5 or 5 Series starting at about $140,000-$150,000. It comes with three engine variants, two petrol and one diesel, mated to an eight-speed automatic gearbox from the 7 Series.James said it was difficult to determine customers and the mix of petrol to diesel because the GT was “a whole new category of vehicle”. He said it was a “niche vehicle” like the X6, not a volume seller like the X5. “But in saying that, X6 volumes exceed those of Porsche Cayenne,” he said.The engines are featured elsewhere in the BMW line-up, but the straight-six petrol 535i GT has been updated. It also comes as the 530d with a three-litre turbo diesel delivering fuel economy of 6.5 litres per 100km and CO2 emissions of 173g/km.Outside, it features the prominent nose of the 7 Series, LED daytime running lights and the two-part liftback that allows the boot to be used like a normal sedan, or as a one-piece, powered tailgate on a hatchback or station wagon.It will come in five and four-seat options, although the middle rear seat is suitable only for children or short stints. The back seats can individually recline and move forward and rear by 100mm. BMW claims the rear legroom of a 7 Series and the rear head room of an X5.The seats are also set higher than a normal sedan in what BMW describes as a ‘semi-command position’ which allows easy entry and exit from the vehicle without having to ‘climb’ up into it. The rear seats also fold flat in a 60-40 split to reveal a large cargo area. 

...most successful movies and continues to dominate lists of classic car films and car chases.Mad Max celebrates its 30th anniversary this year amid speculation that Mad Max 4 will begin shooting next year with actor Jeremy Renner replacing Mel Gibson in the lead. It is also believed video games based on the Mad Max series will be released in the next couple of years.While Mad Max turned Gibson into an international star, the host of vehicles used and abused were the real stars. Most notable is the black "Interceptor" driven with such lethal results by Gibsons' character Max Rockatansky.The car is a limited edition 1973 GT351 Ford Falcon XB Coupe with a 5.7-litre V8 351 Cleveland engine and a four-speed manual transmission. Only 949 XB GT coupes were built. It features a massive Weiand 6-71 Supercharger protruding from the bonnet and huge pipes sticking out of the side like a V8 Supercar.At the end of filming, the car was stripped of its supercharger and pipes so it could be sold. It was bought back for the sequel and then discarded as a wreck.The car has since been restored and is now on display in the Cars of the Stars Motor Museum in England, along with KITT from Knight Rider, several Batmobiles, a De Lorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future, Mr's Bean Austin Mini and several Bond cars.Before he went on a vengeful rampage, Max also drove a 1975 Holden HJ Sandman panelvan with a Statesman front end while his yellow police pursuit vehicle was a 1974 Ford Falcon XB sedan, V8 351.A host of other cars, pick-ups, utes, caravans and motorcycles were used in the film. Director George Miller's own blue Mazda Bongo van was also featured, spinning out of control in the opening chase scene.Most of the cars were XA, XB and XC Falcons, but in case you thought Miller was a Ford fan there was also a 1972 Holden HQ Monaro driven by the villain, ‘Nighrider’. He was the head of the Armalite motorcycle gang, who mainly rode Kawasakis — 1977 KZ-1000, 1975 KH250 and a Z900 — plus Honda CB750s and CB900s.Fourteen vehicles were destroyed in the movie's graphic chases and crashes. 

Saab's Alcokey concept was created in 2004 and was submitted to wide-ranging tests in Sweden, funded partly by the National Swedish Road Administration. It was expected to be released as an optional extra costing about $500 and available in most Saab models within two years in Europe. However, Saab Australia senior product planner Derek Tsao said the program was put on hold. "The official word is that the Alcokey is on hold as we finalise the re-structure of the new Saab, then it is planned to be introduced into the next generation of vehicles," he said. He said Saab did not clarify the timeframe. Meanwhile, Toyota has produced a similar key that prevents drink drivers from starting their car and say it will be available in Australia in a couple of years. The Saab and Toyota devices require the driver blow into the key fob device and, if it detects an illegal alcohol reading, it locks the ignition. The Saab key will not mobilise again until a suitable breath sample is supplied, but does not prevent someone else in the car blowing for the driver. Toyota has solved this problem by including a digital camera in the hand-held breathalyser. It photographs the driver's face to prevent a false reading from someone other than the driver. Toyota is testing the device with its wholly owned truck subsidiary, Hino Motors. The breath-alcohol ignition-interlock system is designed to help companies and organisations manage their fleet-vehicle operations. It will be installed on selected trucks and other vehicles of Japanese transport companies and tested over the next three months. The tests will verify system functionality, particularly ease-of-use in real-world situations. While other alcohol-detecting devices exist, they are fitted to the dashboard or door locks, not the ignition key.

Organising committee chairman Garry Connelly said Rally Australia would alternate each year with New Zealand and would return in two years. "We won't know the exact dates for a while as the FIA usually announce the calendar in December the year before," he said. "We'd prefer it at roughly the same time which is perfect because it's just before the school holidays and the weather is usually stunning. "We had perfect weather all weekend with a storm early Saturday morning which just settled the dust."He confirmed that the Speed on Tweed classic street rally would again be a part of the event. More than 70,000 people attended over the four days of the rally, exceeding targets by 80 per cent. "We were very conservative in our crowd estimates for the first year," Connelly said. "We always said we didn't expect a large crowd in the first year. "But it does mean we are going to have to plan more spectator points. "We had a few little complaints about parking, toilets and exit from the stages because we were just overwhelmed with so many cars and people. We were just swamped. "But it will be solved. Any event that rest on its laurels is doomed to fail."Connelly said they had less than a year to organise the event. "That is too short for a new event in a new location."He said organisers were working with police to prevent another disruption by protesters. Two stages of the rally were cancelled on Friday after protesters threw rocks at competitors' cars. "Unfortunately the teams did see the vocal minority, but I think what left a bad taste was the radical actions of what I would estimate were less than six people who did dangerous things," Connelly said. "We're working with the police on a strategy for that but we're not making that public."Connelly, who was awarded a member in the general division of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Queen's Birthday honours list this year for service to motor sport, said they had "just enough volunteers"."We had more than 1000 volunteers from all over Australia, including a huge contingent from Perth who wanted to get their 20-year awards for being officials, as well as New Zealand, Japan, Finland, US and Great Britain who flew here at their own expense."We had an email from the Ford team which won the event asking us to congratulate the volunteers because the team couldn't find one error or mistake by any of them over the entire rally." 

English comedian Jasper Carrott had a hilarious stand-up routine in the 1980s in which he simply read out real accident insurance claims. Examples were: "Leaving for work I drove out of my drive straight into a bus. The bus was five minutes early; I bumped into a lamp post which was obscured by human beings; Coming home, I drove into the wrong house and collided with a tree I haven't got." He also did an equally funny routine using genuine Australian insurance claims such as: "The pedestrian had no idea which direction to run, so I ran over him; The bloke was all over the road I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him; and I told the police I was not injured but on removing my hat I found I had a fractured skull." All, of course, read in a bad Aussie accent. So Carsguide enlisted the help of national car insurance company Budget Direct to find out if motorists were still as funny as they were 20 years ago. The answer is a resounding yes, judging by some of the claims the company unearthed. Budget Direct communications officer Richelle Ward said they didn't know what to expect when they started searching for funny claims, but were delighted by what they found. "Insurance can be a serious business, but this just shows the lighter side of things," she said. "It's interesting to see how many involve animals and children." She said insurance claims ranged from "timeless classics" to "left field" and simply bizarre. "Some of the `timeless classic' excuses we get on our claim forms include drivers who sneeze and lose control of their vehicle, rats and mice eating through the electrics, and enthusiastic children who help mum and dad wash the car - with sandpaper," she said. Some of the following genuine insurance claims from Budget Direct are direct quotes from the form and others are in the words of the insurance assessor: 1. "I was driving along in the right lane. I wound down the window, because I was smoking. It was a windy day and a gust of wind came in through the car. It took hold of the steering wheel and I lost control of the car and collided with a car that was travelling beside me in the left lane." 2. The client admitted being distracted as he was perving on a girl walking on the street (apparently she was blonde, and he likes blondes). 3. A client heard a noise and even though she had purchased a new vehicle (picked it up brand new from a dealership two days prior) she slammed on the brakes thinking there was something wrong with her car, because her old car would make noises and then conk out. 4. "I was driving along and did not notice a give way sign and collided with the sign. I did not lose control I just did not see the sign." 5. "I was reversing out from under my house and forgot the hatch was up, the spoiler was then knocked off when it hit the floor of the house." 6. "I have locked my keys in my car with my baby in the car, I was unable to get into the car so called 00. The fire brigade used an axe to break the window to get into the car, however at one point they missed the window and put a hole in the door." 7. "I came home and parked outside my house, I went inside my home, when I looked out of my window two cows were jumping on the car." 8. "The car was parked at work and a dog was off its lead and chased after a kangaroo and the kangaroo collided with the side of my car." 9. Client said that he found cows in his yard that were jumping up on the vehicle. He said cows left "presents" all over his vehicle as well. He claims they walked some distance to get into his yard. Photos are pretty funny too. 10. "I went into our garage to find my three-year-old pretending to wash our car with sand paper causing damage." 11. "I parked my car at the shops and came back to my car and found damage on the driver's door. My aerial had been bent over pointing to a note that said `ha ha'." 12. Client parked vehicle outside his friend's home in country Tasmania and when he was about to leave he found two goats on top of the car eating apples from a tree. 13. Client called to report vehicle was stolen outside the doctor's surgery. Client had called her son to come and pick her up and as he drove around the corner they found the vehicle parked on the street. Client had entered the surgery through one door and exited by a different door. 14. Police called and advised they had recovered one of our insured vehicles. The car was being transported across the country and had fallen off the back of the vehicle transporter and was found sitting in the middle of the road hundreds of kilometres from anywhere. 15. Client collided with another vehicle while doing a u-turn. Client claims GPS told her to do it as the GPS said it was safe to make the turn. We leave you with a final claim from an Australian as read by Carrott: "I had been driving for 40 years when I fell asleep at the wheel."