Articles by Paul Gover

The Land Rover Defender, the four-wheel drive with the least and the most, is the off-road icon that has stayed truest to its roots, and that means its renewal is one of the toughest challenges in world motoring. Land Rover chiefs must ensure they create a 'grandfather's axe', changing everything for the new world but keeping everything that has made the Defender so popular for generations of owners. "The difficulty we have is that we need to make the defender a lot more relevant to a lot more people. And appealing. But how much of Defender do you end up changing for it not to be a Defender?" asks Murray Dietsch, program chief at Land Rover in Britain. Fans of the Defender will see the future when Land Rover unveils a concept car at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month, but Dietsch - a transplanted Australian - is promising plenty. "It's not going to dilute what Defender stands for," he says. But, equally, Dietsch says the Defender must change with the times and become more relevant and eco-friendly. "A lot of people that like the Defender want to hard back to the 90. The liked the open top and a lifestyle vehicle. But you never want to be in a situation that you take that car and try to do something, and it doesn't do that for you. You cannot leave one little chink." Dietsch says the new Defender is intended for private buyers and small fleets, but doesn't rule out some sort of return to the military roles where it starred for generations. "One of the things we are looking at is our fleets and our miltiary contracts. It hasn't been a parimary consideration, but it's not excluded either. We're pretty much out of that business." Dietsch, who directs all future programs at Land Rover, says the company is also working on a range of new developments including hybrid vehicles. "We're working on them. But it's the priority of what's in the model cycle plan. We're doing a lot of work to reinvent ourselves," he says. "We're working on both diesel and petrol hybrids. It's market dependent. Does it give a return? The biggest market for hybridisation is the UK and European. "It's really about what makes business sense for Land Rover."

...and that’s easy work for the Carparazzi spy shooters.They have caught an Avant that is expected to have a turbocharged 4.0-litre V8 with more than 310kW.

Without camouflage, the real shape emerges and its targets are obvious as the test car is driven alongside an Aston Martin Vantage Roadster and a Jaguar XK.

...although the face-lifted Hyundai 2012 model could be a little early for local sales.Carparazzi says it has new lamps on the outside with a sleeker nose and a punchy V8 making 185kW.

THERE is much more to the new 2012 Range Rover Evoque than a design job that's the automotive equivalent of a Prada handbag. The shape and style is enough to ensure its success, and has created a worldwide order bank of 20,000 cars including 150 deposit-paid buyers in Australia, but it's not enough - nearly - for Land Rover and its long-term followers.So the Range Rover Evoque is genuinely capable when the bitumen stops, even through the sort of deep water, ruts and muddy country that would have an Audi Q5 or Volvo XC60 driver making a quick U-turn. There is a front-drive model that will be best for the bright lights of big cities, but the focus at the moment is on the four-wheel drive Evoque that's coming out of the blocks first with a starting price of $53,395 in Australia. It will hit showrooms in November and promises the driving ability that justifies a Range Rover badge on the tail."It's got to be authentic. We couldn't put a car on the road and then not have it perform the way you expect it to perform as a Land Rover or Range Rover," says Evoque team leader, Murray Dietsch. "Put it up against anything in its class and it will rings around it." But there is a problem with that. No-one really knows the Evoque's rivals. The compact prestige four-wheel drives are obvious, especially for the five-door family-focussed Evoque, but the three-door model - which designer Gerry McGovern insists is a coupe - could be shopped against other trend setters including the Audi TT and Mini.The starting price for the 2012 Range Rover Evoque in Australia is a tasty $49,995. But it's not that simple, as the top end runs up to $75,895. The base price is possible because of the equipment, driveline choices and three engines. So the starter car is a front-wheel drive, six- speed manual with a 110kW diesel engine and Pure equipment. The flagship car is the four-wheel drive Prestige with 177kW petrol engine and six-speed automatic. When you look at a lot of its rivals, including the Q5 from $63,400 and the XC60 from $54,150 with front drive, it is well positioned. Even the BMW X1, a favourite with yummy mummies, costs at least $57,400. Still, an automatic is almost mandatory in a car like the Evoque, which is far more likely to be used as a car than an SUV. And a lot of people are also going to splash on things like the parking camera and satnav which are essential in the luxury class despite the effect on the bottom line. Land Rover is still waiting for feedback from buyers but is expecting 70 percent of people to go for the five-door body and only 40 per cent of Evoques to go off-road, company chief Phil Popham tells Carsguide.Almost everything under the new Range Rover Evoque's good looking body comes from the Land Rover Freelander II. That's good news for everyone, from the accountants at Land Rover to serious off-roaders. The only real difference off-road is that the Evoque is a little short of front clearance, but otherwise Land Rover's excellent Terrain Response system does more than enough to compensate for low-range gears.Buyers will make the final choices, but the baby Rangie can come with all the stuff you might find in its big brothers, from parking radar and camera to dual-zone climate system, hard-drive navigation, rear infotainment screens, keyless entry, electric rear door, adaptive headlamps and more. Just like the latest Ford Focus, there is also a system that can parallel park almost automatically.Engine choices run from the baby 2.2-litre turbodiesel with 110 kiloWatts/380 Newton-metres to the 2.0-litre petrol turbo with 177/240 and the top-end 2.2-litre turbodiesel with 140/420. The all-wheel drive system uses a Haldex differential in the rear and the suspension is fully independent with struts at each corner, with a magnetic-ride suspension on the Dynamic models.The new Range Rover Evoque has been about design since before it was born, as the car began as the LRX concept. It started as a three-door called a coupe and was quickly updated with a five-door body, which Land Rover says is aimed at families with the three-door for young city singles and coupes with bicycles and dogs.The roof looks pinched down tight, and it is, but the cabin still has space for four adults and the ambience is just what you would expect in a Range Rover, with plenty of leather but none of the old-fashioned woodgrain panelling. The design makes visibility a bit tough, even at the front and with those big wing mirrors, but that's a price buyers are expected to pay quite happily.Five-star is almost a certainty for the Range Rover Evoque, even ahead of any NCAP testing. There is lots of extra-strength steel in the body, seven airbags and ABS and ESP as you'd expect, and corner brake control, with the added comfort of Range Rover grip in all conditions.The 2012 Range Rover Evoque delivers on all the promises. It is fun in the city and can get seriously muddy without getting stuck when you head off the bitumen. The cabin is plush and welcoming, it's quiet and smooth on the freeway, and its off-road ability is beyond the reach of the sort of people who buy in prestige SUV shops. The two turbodiesel engines have great pulling power and there is the promise of emissions as low as 133grams/kilometre of CO2 and economy as good as 4.5 litres/100km.What's not to like? The rear vision is very ordinary, there is some turbo lag in the petrol model, and the magnetic ride system is probably too firm - almost BMW runflat jiggly - for Australian roads. The mirrors also cut some vision. Otherwise, the Evoque is a very mature young thing that will work for a wide range of buyers. The three-door looks just as chic on the roads as it does in motor shows and has more than enough seat and cabin space for couples.The five-door is no bigger inside, but rear access is a lot better. The level of equipment reflects what you pay but the basics are all there from the Pure starter car, the Dynamic even gets red dash lights when you switch driving modes, and the Prestige is fully loaded.Carsguide cannot judge the front-wheel drive Evoque because it's being held back. But after driving the four-wheel drive model in a huge range of conditions, from motorways and muddly Welsh hills to a giant tunnel beneath Liverpool - yes, really - there are no complaints. It is a real Range Rover and that says enough for anyone, regardless of how they might want to use the Evoque.In reality, there will be far more yummy mummies in showrooms than farmers with boots and that's exactly the way the Evoque and has been designed and delivered. There are a couple of small foibles, but they are minor and will not stop it becoming a runaway success.Just what you would expect. The 2012 Range Rover Evoque a Range Rover for a new century and new buyers, delivering on the brand's off-road promise but with the sort of city chic that opens up plenty of new possibilities for anyone.

It's the bedrock of Toyota Australia's manufacturing plan downunder for at least the next five years and goes on sale in November following a global reveal - including Melbourne - this morning. The seventh-generation Camry is typical of every car that's worn the badge, with safe and conservative looks designed not to offend the buyers in more than 100 countries who will be driving it. It's a little edgier than the current Camry but the real improvements are promised in everything from cabin space and quietness to fuel economy and emissions. Biggest news for Australia is a new Camry model - the Atara, which means crown in Jewish and future in Japanese - with a bit more funk thanks to a twin-pipe exhaust and other improvements that were not discussed today. Also still private today are likely pricing, exact production numbers and the planned export program for the car. But Toyota Australia is confident the new Camry will be good enough to boost output at is Altona factory back over 100,000 cars in 2012. That's still short of the all-time record of 126,000 but a major improvement over the 88,000 production forecast for this year. "We're about to open a new chapter in the history of Toyota. It's a car that does everything better," trumpets Toyota Australia's head of sales and marketing, Dave Buttner. "We've invested heavily. It is a symbol of Toyota." Camry has been built in Australia for the past 24 years and it has been the country's favourite medium-sized car for the past 17 years.  Total production has now topped 1.2 million cars and more than 850,000 of those have been shipped overseas. Buttner says the launch timing for the new Camry is November for the four-cylinder model, the first quarter of 2012 for the Camry hybrid and the second quarter for the V6-powered Aurion. All cars will use engines imported from Japan until a $300 million overhaul of the company's engine factory in Melbourne is complete in the third quarter of next year. The unveiling today reveals a car with all-new sheetmetal but Toyota Australia is not revealing the car's cabin, which it says has differences from the American interior which is already public. "There are certain features we would like to leave up our sleeves to excite and titillate you," says Buttner.

It will hit Australia next year, but has finally been revealed after countless camouflaged teases in the final countdown to the Frankfurt Motor Show, where it will go public at 11.40am on September 13. Porsche's official pictures show nothing unexpected or unusual, just the latest refining and re-calibration of a car which has been a classic for more than 30 years. The shape of the new 911 is classic Porsche, but a full 100 millimetres longer - perhaps for a hybrid power power - than the current car. The detailing is a continuation of the evolutionary work, from a nose with traditional round headlamps to the rounded tail housing a flat- six engine. The biggest visual change is the relocation of the mirrors to the tops of the doors. Porsche claims all sorts of improvements for the 2012 version of the 911, from engines which all better 10.0 litres/100km fuel economy and emissions up to 16 per cent better to electro-mechanical power steering, a wider front track and new rear axle. The new 911 Carrera with a new 257 kiloWatt 3.4-litre engine PDK gearbox sets the efficiency benchmark with 8.2 litres/100km consumption and CO2 emissions of 194 grams/kilometre. The Carrera S will hit the road with 294 kiloWatts, combined with 8.7L/ 100km and 205 grams, despite an 11 kiloWatt power boost. Other early details on the cars include a 0-100km/h time of 4.1 seconds for the PDK-equipped Carrera S and 4.4 for the Carrera, a weight loss of up to 45 kilograms and wheel sizes up to 20 inches. The first cars should be in Australia in March, with the Carrera from $229,900 and the Carrera S priced from $263,100. Carsguide will have full details from the Frankfurt Motor Show, as well as the first drive impression from the USA in November.

The second member of the new 458 family follows the family droptop pattern, as the second model in the new mid-engined range, with a go- faster Scuderia expected out of the blocks in the second half of 2012. The Ferrari 458 Spider is confirmed for production next year with the first Australian deliveries before the end of 2012. No-one is betting yet on the bottom line, but it's likely to be somewhere significantly beyond the $526,950 of the 458 coupe. The big difference in the new fresh-air speed machine is the roof - it's been switched from a canvas soft top to a folding clamshell similar to the one already fitted to the Ferrari California. It comes with the promise of more security and reduced noise levels, although the top speed is still pegged at 320km/h with a 0-100km/h sprint in 3.4 seconds. The top is made from aluminium, achieving a 25 kilogram weight reduction over the previous system, and Ferrari says it can be raised or lowered in 14 seconds. The design was integrated into the 458 program from the beginning, which Ferrari says has not compromised the car's aerodynamics or the ability to carry luggage on the small bench behind the car's twin bucket seats. The Spider will be officially unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show next month but the car is already close to a sellout in Australia - at least for deliveries in the first 12 months. "At this point we're sitting on well into the double figures of expressions of interest. It's not a case of how many cars we can sell, but how many are allocated for sale," says Edward Rowe, spokesman for Ferrari in Australia.

The smallest baby Volkswagen is finally official with pictures of the car that will go public next month and into production in 2012.It is called the up! - at least, in Volkswagen-speak - and promises plenty for anyone who wants, or needs, a 21st century city car.The Up is considerably smaller than the Polo at just 3.54 metres long, 1.64 metres wide and 1.48 metres tall, but has a four-seater body sitting behind a new generation of three-cylinder engines.Volkswagen says the car will be ready for the road in December and promises three models - the Take Up, Move Up and High Up.A fully-electric Up is also in the works.Economy will start in the 4.2 litres/100km region with emissions below 100 grams/kilometre of CO2.The most important option on the Up is a new city-safety system with automatic emergency braking, but there is also an infotainment system that includes navigation and can be removed from the car for use as what VW describes as a Personal Infotainment Device.There is no news yet on pricing, or arrival timing for the Up in Australia, with full details expected next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The baby Accent, which comes as Hyundai moves away from the price-first policy championed by its baby Getz, joins a growing lineup of cars that get a five-star tick from the ANCAP crash-test program. All of Hyundai's new-generation cars, including the i20, i30, i45, Elantra, ix35 and Santa Fe, can now tout the top ranking from ANCAP. But the latest results - which previously highlighted the shortcomings   in the Chery J1 from China - reflect the safety emphasis that is make a five-star score almost the starting point for major brands. The Lexus CT200h, Peugeot 508, Toyota Rukus and Volvo V60 have all emerged as five-star cars after local tests or results from the parallel EuroNCAP program. The Toyota Corolla has now been upgraded to five stars after the addition of seven airbags and ESP stability control as standard equipment. "ANCAP is pleased to see this bonanza of five-star ratings in the interests of Australian motorists and we will continue to provide as many ratings as possible for consumers to assist their purchase," says   the ANCAP chair, Lauchlan McIntosh. ANCAP is currently finalising its 2011-2012 crash test program after receiving its annual funding from motor clubs and government bodies. McIntosh also praises the work done at Hyundai. "The Accent continues Hyundai's safety focus - it tested well and   includes six airbags, electronic stability control and seat belt reminders for all seats as standard across the range."