Articles by Paul Gover

Subaru joins other manufacturers in offering a capped price service planThe best after-sales back-up in Australia is provided by Ferrari, which throws a seven-year free service package in with every new car it delivers Down Under.Of course, you're still going to be spending at least $459,295 for the privilege, even if the keys to a shiny new Ferrari California headline the deal.There are plenty of cheaper alternatives if you're after some certainty on the service side, as all but one of the top 10 brands in May have capped-price service plans.The only holdout is Mercedes-Benz but it has two excuses - it hit the top 10 for the first time last month and it has a range of packages it sells with its cars, starting with a $2499 Silver three-year service deal for the junior models.The other late starter on the capped-price front is Subaru, which finally succumbed to the competitive pressures - and, most likely, pressure from buyers - to expand its after-sales support.But, like so many things Subaru has done over the years (as in its early adoption of the ANCAP road safety program) it's gone a step further. Instead of providing the service safety net for the length of its new-car warranty, which means three years, it's extending its support for the life of it cars. It's also backdated its capped-price deal to cars from 2006."This program is designed to give customers transparency around scheduled service costs. It means they can make better, informed choices on how they service their Subarus," says Nick Senior, managing director of Subaru Australia."Basically, capped-price servicing sets the maximum price participating Subaru retailers will charge for each standard scheduled service on applicable vehicles." Subaru is also introducing a free Health Check and Chat for the first month after a new-car delivery, he says. It will be a check-over and a chance for the owner to get answers from a factory-trained service adviser.And that's the really important thing about such deals. No two are exactly the same and it's important to also look into the fine print and conditions, particularly on service intervals.Most companies go for 12-monthly service intervals, or 15,000km of driving, but Mazda is like Subaru with a whole-of-life deal and Ford and Kia both have seven-year packages.Honda, Mazda and Nissan have six-month service intervals. The prices also vary by brands and service requirements, so you need to total the costs across the whole period of the package.And there are some that cut short of the really big service work, such as the essential replacement of the timing belt.Senior reinforces the point as he talks-up the overdue change at Subaru. "When considering these programs, be sure that you are comparing apples with apples," he says.

First glimpse of Ford's new-look Focus ST hot hatch reveals a nose job.The exotic line-up at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, where $2 million collector cars are commonplace and the La Ferrari fades into the background, included one surprisingly humble star.It was the new Ford Focus ST, making its global debut. Australian sales will start next year and the hot hatch has a big new performance role in the US.There is no confirmation from Ford Australia on the exact timing for local deliveries but it is likely to be in the first half of next year.The ST is much as expected and follows the new-look common to Ford's small cars. The more distinctive nose - some people say it was inspired by Aston Martin - also will feature on the new Mustang.The Mustang was also making its European debut at the Festival and the big difference from the static reveal of the two cars was their showing on hill climb runs during the four days of what has become Britain's annual motoring show.The new ST's basics are much as before, with a turbocharged four-cylinder engine and sports suspension and brakes. The variant will continue to be built in Europe for Australia despite the change to Thai factories for lesser models in the line-up.There is also an ST diesel for the first time with 136kW which is unlikely to make it here.The updated petrol engine, with variable valve timing on inlet and exhaust, makes 183kW. The ST covers the 0-100km/h sprint in 6.5 seconds but uses a claimed 6.8L/100km.Ford says its Team RS group concentrated on suspension work for the new car, new front springs and tauter tail shock absorbers. The electric power steering and stability control settings have been revised for the ST requirements, with sharper steering response and improved torque vectoring for the front-driver.There are also a new 19-inch Michelin tyre, a predictable rear wing and twin exhausts. The biggest benefit for owners is likely to be in the cabin, where the smoother new dash design for the Focus update - with a far fewer buttons - is delivered with an ST twist, including Recaro sports buckets and leather-wrapped wheel.Ford says the car will come with collision avoidance, lane keeping assistance and adaptive bi-xenon headlamps.

New JLR special vehicle operation previews Range Rover Sport SVR at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.A hulking SUV seems like a strange way to start a new high-performance division — but not at Jaguar Land Rover. It is using the coming Range Rover Sport SVR to show just what it can do, starting with a weekend tease at the Goodwood Festival of Speed for its boxy-bodied supercar.“It’s happening. It’s got to happen. We’ll build it for next year,” says John Edwards, who has recently taken the reins at JLR’s new Special Operations division, talking about the SVR.Edwards has 500 staff at his disposal including 200 engineers, and a broad brief that covers JLR’s bespoke, heritage and special ops projects.The Jaguar Project 7 retro roadster is under way but the Range Rover SVR — a 400kW variant of the Sport — is really going to make an impact.Says Edwards: “People have been speculating about the car for a long time in RS form. But it’s not RS, its SVR. It’s still got camouflage, it’s still in development but it’s here. And it sounds great.”Edwards has much to talk about but he cuts quickly to the chase, covering everything from bespoke cars to changes in the naming of JLR’s performance models to the creation of six hand-built “continuation” versions of the 1960s lightweight E-Type, all pre-sold at more than $2 million each.“We don’t want to do horrible bling cars. We’re in the business to do tasteful bespoke,” he says. “As a business we’ve got to a position where we’re at the critical mass."We want to go to the next step. The opportunities are endless. But ... we have to decide which is the best one. Our proposition is slightly different. It’s a broader proposition. All-terrain performance is another obvious area.”But it’s the go-faster models that will create the cut-through for customers. “Land Rover has never had a performance brand. It does now,” he says. He is clear on the brief for anything that wears an SVR badge.“We want the cars to have integrity and be demonstrably a step ahead. It could apply to any product, but we’ve only confirmed this SVR,” he says.“What we want to do is more special cars. And the clue is in special cars.”It’s a very British approach to a motor show, with the very latest sharing space with the vintage and the quaint.

Goodwood. There is nothing remotely like it, anywhere in the world.It's a combination of a British summer garden party, the world's most upmarket motor show, a classic car event and a high-speed hill climb. Then there is the air show, a rally stage and so, so, much more.Officially it's called the Festival of Speed and it's held each June on the driveway and front lawn — yes, really — at the stately home of the Earl of March, about 90 minutes into the green British countryside from London.The difference is that Charles March has a driveway that is ferocious fun at 250km/h in a retired Formula One car. His front lawn hosts more than 120,000 people over four days.He also knows some very special people, from F1 heroes Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen to rock gods and movie stars. And they like to show their collectable cars and cut loose in the speed trials."This is just amazing. It is unique," Bentley Motors chairman Wolfgang Durheim tells me. He's prowling like a regular punter, taking a close look at the new Jaguar F-Type Project 7 as thousands check the new arrivals in giant temporary showrooms and the Moving Motor Show.And that's what has changed at Goodwood. The event began as a fun run for classic cars and old-timer drivers but the collapse of the last surviving British motor show means the car companies now put all their effort into "The Festival".If you added the investment from all the brands, you would quickly run beyond $50 million. But even that doesn't sound like much when there are classic Ferraris on display that would cost more than $5 million each to put in your garage.The Festival now runs for a full four days and there are regular demonstration runs up The Hill by the most desirable cars on the planet, including the latest LaFerrari, Porsche 919 hybrid and McLaren P1. If you want to see how a Mercedes SLS AMG Black Series looks in action, this is the place, and it's the same for Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Maserati, Lotus and Bentley and more.There's an everyday side, too. Peugeot and Citroen and Toyota and Nissan have giant displays and Ford shows the new Mustang that's coming to Australia in 2015.Ford also uses the Festival to reveal its new Focus ST hot hatch, as Land Rover teases a hot rod Range Rover from its new Special Vehicles division, and Aston Martin and Nissan display concept cars created to debut digitally in theVisiting the show is an automotive overload. It takes a full day just to appreciate the size of The Festival. My weekend passes in a blur because Goodwood blurs dreams with reality, the past with the future, and unspeakably exotic cars with road-going runabouts. Goodwood is much more immersive than a regular motor show. And the cars move, which brings the whole thing to life.It helps immensely that the classic race cars, which truly provide something for everyone from the Dakar to Le Mans, fire up all the senses. How can you not smile as a Blitzen Benz from the dawn of motoring chugs up the same piece of bitumen that Kimi Raikkonen tears apart with a near-new F1 Ferrari?This is passion, and excitement, and a smile-a-second reflection of everything that is good about cars. "Why am I here? Where else would I be?" laughs Martine Walkinshaw, widow of Tom and now the driving force behind Holden Special Vehicles and the Holden Racing Team. She has driven to the event in an HSV Commodore and is watching son Sean driving classic Jaguar racers.It should come as no surprise that the death of the Australian International Motor Show has sparked a lot of interest in Goodwood, and how it can be copied and adapted down under. A couple of attempts are already under way and we'll see in 2015 whether the headline act in Melbourne, combining the resources of the VACC and RACV, can get somewhere close to The Festival.But that's still in the future and, despite all the glorious cars from the past and the sight of so many of the motorsport heroes even from my childhood, I'm still deeply immersed in Goodwood 2014.If you have a Bucket List, and you're remotely interested in cars, add the Festival of Speed. At the top.

Paul Gover road tests and reviews the Volvo V60 Drive-E T5 R-Design, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

The giant aero addition on the back of the latest Porsche test car can only belong to the extreme GT3 RS model.Carparazzi says the wing is unlikely to make production but it promises up to 50 per cent extra rear downforce and could be part of a track pack. Other keys to the RS package are wider tracks and a 0-100km/h sprint in about 3.5 seconds. 

...and now Benz is following with its MLC. This camouflaged test car does not look as brutal as the BMW and will get extra finessing before it goes public at the Detroit motor show early next year.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

But the decision to use European Opels to add spice at Holden means the all-new Corsa could easily land Down Under with a GTC badge and a go-faster package to sit alongside the Astra-Insignia-Cascada crew already announced.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

It's Jaguar's first SUV and, despite the clunky look of this cobbled-together test mule, it promises to be a game-changer for the Indian-owned British brand.It needs to be super special so it does not steal sales from its sister brand, Range Rover, but it gets a head start by sharing its base with the all-new Jaguar XE. It should be ready next year.What is it? Jaguar SUVWhy the fuss? It's Jaguar's first.When is it here? 2015How much? About $80,000This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover 

Gerry Dorizas has arrived at the most critical time in the history of the red lion and will take the company through the shutdown of local production, and the death of the Commodore, into a future that is still being defined.Greek-born Dorizas is not in Australia to win a popularity contest, but he says he is at Holden because he believes in the brand and its future. "Everywhere I have been, there has been a fire," Dorizas tells Carsguide.That means he's been through troubled times at Alfa Romeo, and Volkswagen, Toyota, Hyundai and even Mercedes-Benz. Most recently, he was in India with Volkswagen. And that's not a good place.His plan, broadly speaking, is to return Holden to the top by putting its customers first. His target is number one in showrooms by 2020. But it's not going to be easy, or quick, which is why he is committed to at least seven years at the helm of Holden.And there you have the big difference between Dorizas an every other CEO I have seen at Holden over the past 30-something years. Holden was always a stepping stone to somewhere else, even if it was the last stop on the road to retirement for German firebrand Peter Hanenberger and Aussie sales guru John Bagshaw. There has been a long succession of mid-level American managers who came and then moved on with a tick on their report card, even if blokes like Mark Reuss and Alan Batey continue their love affair with Holden and Australia from their new jobs in America."I have joined Holden. I have not joined GM," Dorizas says bluntly. He is not ready to share any product plans, but talks optimistically about changing the Holden culture from headquarters in Fishermans Bend down to the workshop floor in the most remote dealership. "The brand is made up of people. There is a lot of work for all of us. I'm ready to fight," he says. "We have to get our customers back. We have to delight our customers."The reaction to Dorizas' plan is predictable and not particularly positive. "Tell him he's dreaming," says one rival executive. But he has a plan and he's been hired from the outside to make a difference on the inside. "What I ask is, give us a chance. Don't be so tough on us. We will walk the talk," Dorizas promises.But 2020 is a long way off, and a return to number one in Australia at the expense of Toyota is every further from today's reality. So, what can we take away from the first Carsguide chat with The Chief?Dorizas is smart and feisty, he has experience and good ideas, and he's not just a company man. The first change he has made is obvious. Every Holden executive now has a red lion badge on their suit lapel, which seems like a tiny thing but is a very real reflection of renewed pride in a brand which has lost its shine.This reporter is on Twitter: @PaulWardGover