Articles by Paul Gover

The final five contenders are revealed today and complete the 10-car lineup for the two days of back-to-back assessment and comparison that will decide the biggest prize in Australian motoring. Each i

The new partners are AMG and Ducati, who have forged an alliance intended to tap the shared attractions of their go-faster two and four- wheelers.

Stunning German supermodel Heidi Klum upstages the cars on the opening day of the Los Angeles Auto Show.

Most people expected Subaru's concept car unveiling on the opening morning to be its early reveal of the Subota coupe it is jointly developing with Toyota, which has already shown its thinking with the FT-86.Instead, the wraps come off a four-door sedan that Subaru says is the pointer to the future of its mainstream sedan cars.  That means the Impreza.Subaru has done some darn ugly concepts in the past and there are plenty of shoppers who are polarized by the American-centric design of the latest chunky Forester and Outback.But the Impreza Design Concept is surprisingly elegant, combining a sporty intent that looks much more inviting than today's blandoid Impreza. The good work starts at the chunk nose - complete with the latest interpretation of a corporate grille - and runs back through the trend wheel arch blisters to a chunky butt.The Impreza Concept is claimed as a runner, too, with Subaru's signature 2.0-litre boxer engine in the nose, a constantly-variable transmission and its signature all-wheel drive.Inside, there is a large touch-screen control panel and the technology tweak in the car is an anti-collision system linked to an EyeSight vision camera on the roof.

The Cayman R is being unveiled on Wednesday morning as the early star of the 2010 LA Auto Show. It looks hotter, goes faster and will be on sale in Australia before the middle of next year from $165,000.It arrives as Porsche also uses California as the preview base for its 911 GTS, the tweaked hero car that will carry the brand through the final days of the current 997 and into the arrival of the next all-new 911 in 2012. The GTS is expected to account for more than half of all 911 sales in Australia next year and drives quicker and tauter than the current Carrera S.The go-fast Cayman has been on the cards since the day the Boxster-based coupe - which also shares much of its stuff with the 911 - first hit the road.The R is lighter and more powerful, which means it can sprint to 100km/h in as little as 4.7 seconds, using the Sport Chrono package on the PDK double-clutch gearbox. Top speed is 282km/h with the six-speed manual gearbox, or 280 with the PDK. The car's 3.4-litre flat six engine picks up an extra eight kiloWatts, although details on changes are not available yet.The weight savings come from aluminium doors, lightweight bucket seats and lighter alloy wheels, although Australia cars will only be 40 kilos under the Cayman S - not the 55kg of European coupes - because of extra standard equipment including the automatic aircon and Porsche Communication Management system that are dumped from overseas cars.Porsche says the use of R in the Cayman's name is deliberate, since it is reserved for the quickest of its cars. It also goes with responsive, racy and refined."The main aim during the design of the Cayman R was to improve the two-seater even further in its performance, driving dynamics and agility through consistent weight reduction," says Paul Ellis, Australian spokesman for Porsche.The R pack promise is reflected in a number of body and chassis changes, including a 20 millimetre suspension drop, a larger fixed rear spoiler, silver-painted alloys, black-framed headlamps and mirrors, and a giant Porsche decal on the side.Meanwhile, Porsche has ruled out a return to Formula One. Company chief Matthias Müller tells Carsguide there is not enough return on the potential investment in a grand prix program to justify the massive expenditure involved."Look at Abu Dhabi. Sebastian Vettel wins, Red Bull wins. We need Porsche to win," Müller says. There have been persistent rumours in the Formula One paddock for the past six months about a Porsche comeback as an engine supplier.The company won with McLaren in the 1980s, with a V6 turbo it designed but was badged as a TAG motor, in the time when Niki Lauda and Alain Prost fronted the team. But it also made a disastrous comeback attempt in the 1990s with the under-funded Footwork team, using a 3.5-litre V12 engine that was overweight and underpowered.But Porsche has been much more successful at Le Mans, where it's sports cars are the most successful of all time with a win record stretching back to the 917 in the 1970s. But there is Audi," says Müller. So Porsche is looking at its motorsport choices, but it yet to make a final decision.  

And it should come as no surprise that it is being unveiled this week in LA-LA land.  The open-air Murano - which somehow manages to tick the boxes for both a convertible and an SUV - is the early tease for the 2010 running of the Los Angeles Motor Show.It's one of more than 30 new models promised for the last big global show of the year at a city that still sets the agenda for many carmakers.The LA show also sees the unveiling of Mitsubishi's fatboy iMiEV, tweaked for American roads and drivers, as well as a commercial version of the plug-in Nissan Leaf and a battery-powered RAV4 EV that will go into showrooms in 2012.The green field also includes a new Honda electric concept and a Kia Optima Hybrid.  There will be upscale luxury stuff as well, including the latest CLS 63 AMG from Mercedes-Benz and Porsche's 911 GTS models, with a couple of surprises on the show car front.Subaru promises something special with its coupe concept, although it has yet to confirm it is its take on the shared program that has already spawned the Toyota FT-86, Cadillac also has a concept car, and Acura has something called the TSX concept.Nissan has already gone public with pictures of the Murano CrossCabriolet, which promises everything from a two-door convertible body to space for golf clubs in the boot and seats for four. It is likely to tap the same sort of sentiment that has brought SUV buyers to the BMX X6 in droves, despite a loss of practicality compared with the X5.It will definitely be sold in the USA as a 2012 model but there is no confirmation, yet, of any Australia sales plan.Toyota is confirming details of the electric RAV4, which is officially only a concept at the LA show but will clearly have few changes before full-scale production.It uses a powertrain developed by Tesla, which is now part-owned by Toyota, but is yet to be confirmed for any countries outside the USA.  For the latest Los Angeles Motor Show news: www.carsguide.com.au

Mark Webber's mercurial 23-year-old German team mate became the youngest driver to claim the title following an overpowering win in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Vettel was clearly the best on ground and sprinted past points leader Fernando Alonso, who was ahead going into the four-way title decider, when a poor call on tyre-change strategy left Ferrari's front man a miserable seventh at the final flag and four points behind in the final standings. Webber was never a factor after qualifying a disappointed fifth, trailing home in eighth place but still an impressive third - up from fourth in 2009 - in the F1 rankings. There was plenty of action in the final race of a frantic 19-round championship, with seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher eliminated on the first lap when he spun and was collected by Tonio Liuzzi of Force India. The unlikely spoilers at Yas Marina were Nico Rosberg of Mercedes and the Renault twins, Robert Kubica and Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov, who all stole points from Alonso and eased Vettel's path to the crown. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button of McLaren both led the race briefly, but could do nothing against Vettel - who started from his 10th pole position of a sensational season. The German faced all sorts of championship scenarios before Abu Dhabi, including the possibility of boosting Webber to number one, but made his own luck. He had never led the championship at any time before the decider but picked exactly the right time and place to do the job. ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren3. Jenson Button, McLaren4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes5. Robert Kubica, Renault6. Vitaly Petrov, Renault7. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari8. Mark Webber, Red Bull9. Jamie Alguersuari, Toro Rosso10. Felipe Massa, Ferrari WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP1. Sebastian Vettel, 256 points2. Fernando Alonso, 2523. Mark Webber, 2424. Lewis Hamilton, 2405. Jenson Button, 214    

He will need to be faster than a speeding Ferrari and more powerful than a pair of McLarens to have any chance of lifting the world title- and that's without worrying about the Red Bull family feud with Sebastian Vettel who took pole position.Basically, Webber must get ahead of championship leader Fernando Alonso to have any chance.He did not help himself when he only qualified fifth for the duel in the desert, but his grid spot for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was not helped by only using one set of qualifying tyres and a surprising lack of speed on the two big straights at the Yas Marina course.Even so, Webber - arguably the toughest bloke in F1 - is not giving up."I did not expect to be fifth, I expected to be further up. But that is what happened," Webber admitted after qualifying."Of course I am not rapt with the qualifying today. It was the crucial session that did not come together for us, which is a shame."But he has not given up his world title hopes, even with Lewis Hamilton promising a go-for-broke run at the front, Alonso sitting tight on a solid series lead, and outgoing world champion Jenson Button pipping him in the final seconds of qualifying."The script is impossible to predict tomorrow. Let's have a look at the end, and the world champion - one second after the race they will give it to him, whoever he is."It is not handed out yet. So, if it was a one lap race it would maybe be not so good. But it is a two hour race and things can change."Webber was quick enough to be a serious contender through the three practice sessions at the gorgeous Yas Marina circuit and was clearly baffled when he slipped down the final order."It is one of the first times this year I have looked at the pit board and said, 'I really cannot do that time'. Because most of the time I can always react to the pit board with the lap time and get back in the fight, but tonight in the last Q3 I could not do that."In contrast, Vettel was bouncing like a puppy after claiming his tenth pole position of the season with a Red Bull RB6 that has been the car to beat all season. He is a long shot for the championship but if Alonso has problems and Webber cannot improve then he could become the youngest driver to lift the crown."My season has been up and down and we should be in a different position and we are not. Still we are in a strong position," Vettel said."We put the car on pole here which is crucial for tomorrow's race. It is long race, a lot of things can happen. We will see."Hamilton is likely to be very quick, and his McLaren has been strong on the straights all year, but everyone in the field is looking at Alonso as he builds towards his third world title and his first championship at Ferrari."I'm confident. I've been confident for the past five months of the championship. Now there is one day to go," Alonso said."This year also I feel the team supporting a lot. I feel very happy in the car. It is a great, great year for me."ABU DHABI GRAND PRIXSTARTING GRID1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull-Renault2. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren-Mercedes3. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari4. Jenson Button, McLaren-Mercedes5. MARK WEBBER, Red Bull-Renault6. Felipe Massa, Ferrari7. Rubens Barrichello, Williams-Cosworth8. Michael Schumacher, Mercedes-Benz9. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes-Benz10. Vitaly Petrov, Renault11. Robert Kubica, Renault12. Kamui Kobayashi, Sauber-Ferrari13. Adrian Sutil, Force India-Ferrari14. Nick Heidfeld, Sauber-Ferrari15. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams-Cosworth16. Tonio Liuzzi, Force India-Ferrari17. Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso-Ferrari18. Sebastian Buemi, Toro Rosso-Ferrari19. Jarno Trulli, Lotus-Cosworth20. Hekki Kovalainen,Lotus-Cosworth21. Timo Glock, Virgin-Cosworth22. Lucas di Grassi, Virgin-Cosworth23. Bruno Senna, Hispania-Cosworth24. Christian Klien, Hispania-Cosworth  

The $394 million for the green scheme is on hold while the fine detail of the Federal government's Cleaner Car Rebate Scheme, part of its election platform, is decided under the direction of the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr. It was originally planned to fire up in January. "We have to get this right. We need to make sure all the detail is correct," Carr tells Carsguide. The scheme is intended to give the owners of pre-1995 clunkers a financial boost to put them into new cars, with their vehicles then sent to the scrap heap for recycling. Carr says there is work to be done on where the $2000-a-car rebate is paid - the owner, car dealer or scrapyard - and fine detail on which cars qualify on both sides of the fence, both clunkers and greener new cars. But the scheme under attack from several fronts, including the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association which says it is ill-conceived and open to rorting and abuse. "This is another pink batts debacle waiting to happen, but this one is on wheels,” says Stuart Charity, executive director of the AAAA. The AAAA says the calculations for the rebate plan do not take account of the overall environmental impact. "Research shows that up to 20 per cent of a car’s lifecycle emissions are produced during its manufacture and that, from an environmental perspective, the optimal vehicle life is 19 years. In calculating the environmental benefit of the Cleaner Car Rebate, no account was taken of the emissions resulting from the production of the 200,000 new vehicles put on the road," says Charity. "Do we need to give 200,000 people $2000 of taxpayers’ money to buy an imported car that delivers average environmental performance, when the car they own now could achieve significant improvements in emissions performance after a simple service?" But Carr stands by the scheme and says the government is committed to lowering road transport emissions, which contribute over 12 per cent of the country's carbon pollution. "The consultation process will include the detailed design of the scheme and the method of its implementation so the government can ensure the scheme meets its objective. The government is working on a range of initiatives to lower road transport emissions. It is also helping the industry produce more efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles and components through the Green Car Innovation Fund."

THE Proton R3 Rally Team dominated the final round of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship in China at the weekend with Scot Alister McRae clinching maximum points and teammate Chris Atkinson of the Gold Coast second of the series runners. McRae and Atkinson were among the pacesetters throughout the 15-stage, two-day event despite getting several punctures. Atkinson said they had three punctures thanks to rocks sharper than on the Acropolis Rally. Japan's Katsu Taguchi won the drivers championship. His co-driver, Australian Chris Murphy finished second in the points to MRF's Glenn MacNeall because Murphy missed the Malaysian round when he was stuck in the UK by the Iceland volcano in April.LUCK has turned around for Australian Marcos Ambrose with a 12th place in a dramatic Texas 500 NASCAR race at the weekend. After several weeks of mechanical failures and crashes, Ambrose steered clear of the drama around him in his Toyota Camry, to bring home his best Sprint Cup result since Richmond at the start of September. The race featured a fist fight between Chevrolet drivers Jeff Burton and Jeff Gordon, while Kyle Busch spun his Toyota, was penalised for speeding in pit lane and docked two more laps for an inappropriate gesture towards an official. The race was won by Denny Hamlin (Toyota), who now leads the Chase for the Sprint Cup ahead of Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet) with only two events remaining.RALLY drivers from the Asia Pacific will return in May for the International Rally of Queensland on the Sunshine Coast which is part of the provisional FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship and Australian Rally Championship calendars. It also is expected to include rounds of the Queensland Rally Championship and Australian Classic Rally Competition, plus supporting categories.SOUTH Australian Kevin Weeks has recorded a dramatic victory over Tasmanian Jason White at the inaugural Targa High Country in Victoria at the weekend. White was initially declared winner, crossing the line six seconds in front. After a review of times, Weeks was allocated a corrected time 20 seconds ahead of his fellow Lamborghini Gallardo Superleggera driver and a further 1 minute 21 seconds in front of eight-time Targa Tasmania winner Jim Richards. "It is unfortunate that the error happened, but these things can occur in such logistically complicated events like a Targa, and it's just one of those things," Weeks said. The next round of the Australian Tar ga Championship is the Targa Wrest Point in Hobart in January.SPEEDWAY star Brooke Tatnell will miss the first four rounds of the World Series Championship starting in Brisbane on November 20 because of the birth of his son Garrett in the US. The Krikke MotorSport will fill his seat with American Jason Sides until after Christmas. Sides and Tatnell, a three-time national champion, race in the US World of Outlaws series.A RECORD number of Australians will compete in the Dakar Rally in South America in January. The contingent is led by our most successful Dakar competitors, Bruce Garland and Harry Suzuki, who finished 11th in 2009. The Sydney-based team this week loaded their Isuzu D-Max on to a ship bound for Buenos Aires. They will be joined in the auto division by Geoffrey Olholm and Steve Riley in a BMW-powered Rally Raid special. There will also be six competitors in the motorcycle category, led by Dakar veteran Simon Pavey with newcomers Mark Davidson, Simon Harslet t, Andrew Scott, Warren Strange and 2009 Australasian Safari winner Jacob Smith, 22. It will be the first time Smith has raced with a GPS. "My goal is to finish in the Top 10. And this year I'm here just to learn the ropes. Then I'll be trying to score a better result," Smith says.A 1964 EH Holden driven by Australians Matthew Bryson, 38, and Gerry Crown, 78, has scored an outright win in the 37-day Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. Of the 96 that started the gruelling trans-continental rally, only 83 finished. The EH also competed in the 1997 rally with Matthew's father, John, co-driving with Crown, winning its class and finishing second outright. Only four of five cars completed the original 1907 rally. The second Peking to Paris was not held until 1997.BRYAN Staring is this weekend hoping to become first Australian rider to win the 125GP, Supersport and Superbike championships. The Perth rider now based on the Gold Coast holds an 18.5-point lead going into the final round of the Australian Superbike Championship which is being run in tandem with the V8 Supercars round at Symmons Plains, Tasmania. The 23-year-old Honda rider has won half of the 10 races he has contested this season and finished outside the top three only once. The only rider capable of upsetting Staring is fellow Honda rider Wayne Maxwell of Victoria.