Articles by Paul Gover

Not just that, but the $13,990 VW Up! is the first sub-$15,000 car with five-star safety and the first tiddler you would actually recommend to your best friend. It's not perfect, with no chance for an automatic gearbox and Bluetooth only an option, but it is a tiny tot that feels solid, gets along reasonably well, and should be more than just a disposable car at trade-in time. It also has a significant first for the size and price - a radar-guided anti-collision system that can even brake automatically at up to 30km/h if it senses an imminent crash. Pricing for the Up! is even sharper than expected, with the bottom-line $13,990 three-door car coming with remote central locking, electric power steering, aircon and a full-sized spare.It costs $14,990 to get into the five-door Up! - only a $500 advantage over the recently-tweaked Ford Fiesta - with just five extras including special paint at $500 and Maps+More including Bluetooth for $500. The Up! slides in below the Golf and Polo, measuring 500 millimetres shorter than the Polo and handily undercutting its $16,990 starting price. It is likely to spark a rash of truly tiny city car arrivals in Australia and Volkswagen is confident it will be popular with a range of people, from first-car buyers to seniors and people who are usually secondhand shoppers."We have seen there is potential for this car in Australia, and it can create a segment of its own. People in Australia are downsizing more and more. We make it more affordable and bring safety," says Anke Koeckle, managing director of Volkswagen Group Australia.VALUEThe Up! starter looks really good against a tiny-box Suzuki Alto at $11,790, a Korean-made Holden Barina Spark at $12,490 or even a 1.2-litre Nissan Micra at $13,490. Things get murkier when you chase down rivals for the costlier 5-door model, especially the Fiesta which now starts at $15,490 after a $1500 price cut that also added extra airbags. But most people are going to be going for the $13,990 bottom line, and the car has all the right stuff to easily justify that sort of spend. It's only a four-passenger car, but that's what you expect in something that's only 3.5 metres in length and only weighs 880 kilograms. The only remaining question for Up! shoppers is the running cost, but Volkswagen says it uses 95-octane, not the costlier premium, and Carsguide expects an imminent announcement of capped-price servicing costs for the car. This will definitely make a difference and also brings Volkswagen into line with rival baby cars from the Korean companies and Nissan.TECHNOLOGYThe Up! is a simple little car with a 1-litre, three-cylinder engine in the nose, a four-seater cabin that's just big enough for the job, a reasonable boot and full-sized spare. When the idea for the Up! was first floated, as a return to the people's car package that began the Volkswagen brand, the concept cars were actually rear-engined. But that idea passed quickly, mostly because of the difficulty in make it work for crash safety and assembly. There is nothing advanced on the technology front, at least in the body and chassis, but Volkswagen is brining the City Emergency Braking system as standard for Australia. It uses a forward-facing radar inside the windscreen to detect imminent collisions and can brake automatically in what VW says it is a major advance. The engine makes a meagre 55 kiloWatts of power and 95 Newton-metres of torque, but the Up is light and VW says the fuel economy is 4.5 litres/100km running on 95.DESIGNThe Up! is a box. There is nothing special at all about it, although the designers have tried to inject a big of personality with a smiley face on the nose. Otherwise it's about jamming the biggest possible cabin into a car that's less than three metres in length, including a split-fold rear seat, a boot with adjustable-height shelf to vary the capacity, and that full-sized spare. The cabin is typically Volkswagen and typically Germanic, which means efficient and not particularly inviting.But when you look around it has everything you need, with a couple of nice touches - like the flat-bottom steering wheel - to relieve the hard plastic and painted metal surfaces. The back windows don't roll down, but pop out, which is probably not good for rear-seat passengers but saves money and allows more side space for crash protection.SAFETYThe Up! has already hit the five-star standard in Europe - with a special award for the City Emergency package - and VW says the result will be mirrored in Australian testing, which is already underway.It only has four airbags, with no head support for the rear, but there is that radar system, audible seat belt warnings, and the usual ESP and ABS, but with only drum brakes on the rear.DRIVINGThe Up! looks nice enough and the first impression is good. The doors shut with a thunk, the turning circle is tiny, but the boot is surprisingly roomy. It's not a particularly brisk drive, but it gets along well in traffic and - provided you're prepared to use the gearbox - is quick enough for suburban roads and highway cruising at 110km/h. The braking is solid, it grips pretty well in corners, and all the controls and light and easy to find.There is some suspension clunky over low-speed potholes, and it's never going to win a cornering contest, but the ride smoothes over 80km/h and its fairly quiet. We'd much prefer to have the choice of an automatic, but the Up! is what it is. That means it has to be compared against its size and price rivals, where it comes up a winner.You can say that it will cost $17,000 to put a fully-loaded Up! on the road, but that would be a tasty little car with equipment you cannot get in something like an Alto or a Spark. It feels more substantial - read that as safer - than an Alto, Spark or Micra, as well as having parts and assembly work that lives up to the Volkswagen badge. It's not a Polo or a Golf, but it's impossible to build that sort of car for $13,990.So what you get is an Up! that resets the bar for the smallest cars sold in Australia today, and in a good way. It deserves four Carsguide stars, not when you think about cars as classy as a Benz C or a Porsche 911, but because of how it relates to its direct rivals, and the way it beats them.VERDICTThe Up! has just joined the shortlist for this year's Car of the Year judging, as well as winning a rare four-star tick from Carsguide.Volkswagen Up!Price: from $13,990Engine: 1-litre 3-cyl petrol, 55kW/95NmTransmission: 5-speed manualThirst: 4.5L/100km

The blue oval brand is building a much greater commitment to anyone who buys into the brand, from long-haul capped-price servicing to extra technicians and a new warranty system that puts the power with dealers and cuts the red tape to head office in Melbourne. The new approach is being driven right from the top by Ford Australia's president, Bob Graziano, and comes after a long investigation into customer complaints including significant feedback from Carsguide over the past 18 months. "At the end of the day, it's about satisfying our customers," the president of Ford Australia, Bob Graziano, reveals exclusively to Carsguide. "We're trying to be more proactive. We've done a full review, wanting to make sure any change we make is a positive one." Graziano talks enthusiastically about everything from a seven-year service program to a new customer-loyalty program, a training program called 'Dipped in blue' and even the appointment of former motorsport chief Steven Kruk to head a revitalised customer service division. He says the new moves drill down to the foundations of Ford and have required a buy-in at all levels. "We have universal dealer acceptance. We haven't made a big promise we cannot deliver," Graziano says.  Ford is already seeing results from the Graziano plan, with the cost of non-schedule repair works falling, a month-on-month increase in the number of scheduled services - which are now up from 6000 to 10,000 a month - and a positive customer reaction to vehicle health check reports that rate jobs at red-green-yellow from fix now to future work and all-clear. "We're also seeing a big increase in fixing things right the first time," Graziano says. He admits Ford is still working hard to improve things and says the payback to the company is coming from repeat service business, as well as owners are more than twice as likely to continue with Ford at changeover time. "We're empowering people to make decisions on the ground, instead of having to go back to head office. It reduces the lead time and customer inconvenience."

...under giant plastic camouflage panels.The new C Class is expected to follow the styling direction of the CLS, with more aggression and attitude, but with a four-door body that's much the same as today in size despite increases to cabin space. 

If auto engineers had their way then every car would have its bonnet welded shut at the end of the production line. They don't want us to meddle. In fact, Mercedes-Benz once built a concept sports car - it was called the Vision SLA and nicknamed the ‘sneaker’ - that didn't have a bonnet.It eventually morphed into the cute little SLK roadster but grew a bonnet before it went into production. It was probably for the mechanics - or technicians, as most carmakers prefer to call them in 2012. After all, when did you last open the bonnet on your car? “The day I took delivery. I wanted to see the engine. That was enough,” laughs one Carsguide mate.But think about it. There are lots of very complicated and costly bits and pieces under the bonnet, yet we mostly ignore them unless there is a red warning light or some sort of nasty noise. We're spoiled. And rotten. In recent years I've heard plenty of stories about people who have ignored the early warning signs and been hit by a nasty repair bill.One was a leaky radiator that meant an engine replacement and another was an oil leak that turned into a fire that burned the car to the road. They are extreme cases, but every day there are people who fail to recognise the early signs of a bad battery or an oil leak or a fan belt on the way out. And don't get me started on flat tyres.I blame it on the death of the old-style service station. These days, most of us get our fuel from a donut shop that has some pumps out the front. There is no-one to check the tyres, clean the windows or lift the bonnet for a quick dip of the oil and a check on the battery leads.I remember this ritual very well, since my first after-school job was pumping petrol at Bruno Rossi's Caltex station. There were good tips if you got the windows squeaky clean and added some water to the radiator.Now I admit that I've become lazy and spoiled by cars that typically run from 10-15,000 kilometres between service calls - instead of demanding a survival pack with spare oil, fuses, belts and a toolkit in the boot. “Some people think that servicing a car is putting petrol into it,” says another of my mates, Jerry. But it's not, and totally ignoring a car for 10,000 kilometres is just asking for trouble. Even the engineers have recognised that cars need a bit of TLC, which is why all the important bits - like the dipstick for the engine oil - now have bright yellow tabs to make them easier to find in the engine room. So, why not lift the bonnet sometime. You might get a surprise, one way or another. 

The German brand's electric division goes live towards the middle of next year with the battery-powered i3 runabout and the high-tech i8 two-seater hybrid.The cars are expected to hit Australia almost simultaneously, still not until 2014 but with the local arrival of the i8 is well ahead of the original target in 2015. "We've already got deposits on half-a-dozen i8s around the country.There is extremely strong interest in Australia," the spokesman for BMW Australia, Piers Scott, reveals to Carsguide. "It's a real performance car and, given the support for the various BMW M cars here, we've been lucky to get early allocations from the factory."The early tease on the i-car launch plans comes despite rumours from Europe that BMW was winding-back support for its electric and hybrid plans because of poor sales and no profit for other early arrivals, including the GM Volt, Nissan Leaf and Mitsubishi iMiEV. Scott says nothing has changed and BMW was always aiming for a gradual ramp-up with its i-cars after testing the mechanical package for the i3 in the Active-E protype that made a very positive impression on Carsguide in Germany earlier this year."There is no delay on the launch. In terms of the ramp-up for production, the tap will be turned on slowly," says Scott. The two cars will be built at Leipzig in Germany and BMW is spending big, not just on their radical new powertrains but also on the carbon fibre technology intended to slash their weigh and improve efficience.The i3 is confirmed as a fully-electric plug-in car, although Scott says there will be a range-extender model similar to the Volt, while the i8 combines a three-cylinder combustion engine producing 164 kiloWatts with a pair of electric motors. The result is a claimed 0-100km/h sprint in less than five seconds with economy of 2.7 litres/100km.Scott is not getting into the technical details but says BMW Australia is working on its launch program, including dealer and service support for the cars. "The plan is a simultaneous launch. We should get both cars around the middle of 2014 in Australia," he says. "The i3 appears on the global stage somewhat earlier but, because major markets with mega-cities will get priority, we won't get it for six to eight months.And that's closer to when the i8 will appear. "For the i3, we'll have fairly low volumes in the early stages. We have no deposits yet, but we're looking at a more innovative process where leasing is concerned. "What we're doing on batteries and things is still being determined, which means we're not in a position to talk transactions with customers just yet.And the technology? "There are some considerable differences in the cars," Scott says. "The i3 is a pure electric car. We will have the option of a range extender, but that engine purely charges the battery, it does not drive the wheels. It's most likely we will launch with that model. "It's the exact same drivetrain as the Active E, but with a body that's close to 700 kilograms lighter. "The i8 is a plug-in hybrid, with a three-cylinder petrol engine and two auxiliary electric motors, one on each axle. To give you a steer, we'd look at the Audi R8 as a potential competitor for this car." 

This car, caught by Carparazzi, is regular Mini but with extra rear doors to make it more family friendly. European sources say it is part of the third-generation Mini family and should be ready for showrooms in the second half of next year at around $50,000. 

It looks like a racer and it goes like a racer and it's priced like a racer, but Mercedes-Benz wants you to think of it as just a wickedly quick SLS Coupe. The giveaway are the two words at the back of the package - Black Series.Anything that leaves AMG in Germany with a Black package is right at the top of the tree, and right on the limit for what you can safely - and legally - drive on the road. The SLS is the fifth in a string of Black Series cars that began with a pocket-rocket SLK and most recently brought a CLK with Bathurst-style wings down under. The SLS Black Series still has the regular car's signature gullwing doors, and lots of luxury, but the upgrade is all about the numbers.That means 464 kiloWatts, 635 Newton-metres, 3.6 seconds to 100km/h and 315km/h at the top end, and 70 kilograms lighter. With an engine that spins to 8000 revs, but also drinks fuel at a claimed 13.71 litres/100km. Did I mention a pricetag that easily tops $500,000 and a production run that means less than a dozen are coming to Australia."Yes, it is coming. We already have a handful of orders," confirms Mercedes-Benz spokesman, David McCarthy. There are already 69 Black Series cars in Australia, split between C63, CLK and SL models.The SLS is the work of the talented and focussed engineers at AMG, the hot car headquarters for Benz in Germany and also the source of the E-Class lookalikes that will race in Australia's V8 Supercar championship from next year.The style of the speedster is drawn from the GT3 racing version of the SLS, which is already winning in Australia. That explains the wild wings on the nose and tail, as well as the forged aluminium rims and the giant tyres.But the Black Series car still comes with aircon and power steering and a top-end Bang & Olufsen sound system and the other stuff you expect in a top-end exotic. All of the running gear has been tweaked and tuned, from lower and stiffer suspension to bigger carbon-ceramic brakes and even a special lithium-ion battery and a carbon fibre-reinforced plastic tailshaft that weighs only 4.7 kilograms.So, what's the bottom line? "We don't know the price yet. Let's just say that it won't be crossed-shopped against anything from Hyundai," laughs McCarthy. That means somewhere handily north of a half million, since the regular SLS coupe already lists at $468,320 in Australia.But the price will not be a hurdle and McCarthy confirms SLS deliveries in Australia are currently closing on 100 cars, combining the gullwing coupe and the recently-introduced Roadster. The first Black Series cars will reach around the middle of next year, although Mercedes is considering an air-freight preview car - as it did this year with the CLK Black Series - for its customer drive day at Albert Park on the eve of the Australian Grand Prix."We might get one. We'll see," says McCarthy. But away from the track, is there any point to the SLS Black Series? "Does anything more powerful than a Suzuki Alto have a point in Australia?," fires back McCarthy. "No doubt some of the owners will take them on a racetrack. The point is that there will always be people who can appreciate what the car is about. We're in the business of fulfilling dreams." 

The compact high-rider joins a range already spearheaded by the B and A-Class compacts already seen in Australia, with local deliveries likely in the final months of next year. It's a crucial car in a growing segment but is aimed more at the Range Rover Evoque than the Nissan Dualis. Here very late 2013 for less than $40,000.

The orca of the BMW family has landed. And it's not half bad. The M6 is big and bulky but still deadly serious and seriously quick, with the sort of performance you rarely find in a luxury coupe or convertible.The downside is prices that straddle $300,000 and mean an M6 buyer can also consider a wide range of exotics - including Aston Martin and Porsche - and not just make a straight-out choice against a Benz SLS with the AMG treatment.After driving the M6ers at the global press preview in Spain I was not sure how they would translate to Australia and Australian roads. Driving on sand-slicked summer roads in Europe they felt heavy, slightly unwieldy and over-powered in a lot of conditions.But it's possible to drive an M6 in Australia without fear, and also to crack the whip and enjoy the experience - and whip-crack exhaust bangs on serious up changes - without worrying about your license. You can also cruise and collect some smiles, or just go for the whole luxury experience in a car that's wrapped up in leather, carbon fibre - including the roof in the coupe - and a thumping sound system.How does $292,500 sound? What about $308,500? If that's too rich for you, and it likely is, then the orca twins will only ever be a dream. But BMW Australia says the prices for the new Msters are actually slightly lower than the cars they are replacing, and also loaded with a lot more standard equipment.That means everything from a 2+2 cabin to the old-school folding canvas top on the convertible, which comes complete with a roll-up electric wind blocker just ahead of the boot that doubles as the back window when the roof is in place.The M6 deal is sweeter because so much of the car is shared with the M5 sedan, from the twin-turbo engine to the chassis and the latest iDrive infotainment system, but it's still a big and heavy car. BMW Australia says the most-likely rivals are the Benz CLS and perhaps the lovely SL roadster - which I drove and loved as the SL63 earlier this year - as well as the chunky and punchy Jaguar XK-R S hotrod.M6s will never be common in Australia but there are still plenty of people who want one and are prepared to pay their $300k. "We will deliver close to 30 cars this year. As for next year, we would expect to out-perform the predecessor model and that sold 65 cars in the first year," says Piers Scott, BMW spokesman. In total, BMW sold 156 of the outgoing model but it has - slightly - higher hopes for the newcomers."This is the most responsive turbocharged engine in the world. And the benefit is not just the performance, but way better fuel economy," says BMW Australia's M6 product manager, Christoph Priemel. The force-fed V8 is lifted straight from the M5, complete with 412 kiloWatts and 680 Newton-metres from 4.4 litres.There is no such thing as a manual M6, but the seven-speed double-clutch manumatic is driver adjustable between slur and speed shift and the car will thump to 100 in 4.2 seconds with a top speed - if you're prepared to pay a little extra on tyres and things.As Priemel says, the fuel economy is impressive with an official rating of 9.9 litres/100km kilometres for the coupe and 10.3 for the convertible. Look under the M6 and you find an M5, although the wheelbase is a little shorter despite a slight increase in length, the coupe is 20 kilograms lighter, and there is an active differential to improve handling. Extra work went into the M6 to ensure there was enough cooling for the engine room and a late change to the coupe brought a tiny spoiler at the tail edge of the boot.Orca looks big and tough, but still M6 sleek and purposeful. For me, the coupe is a little sweeter without the complication of the flying buttresses at the tail of the convertible, but the design is really about making an impact. That means an aggressive nose, giant alloys and the M division's signature four-pipe exhaust system.Inside, M tweaking includes special seats, a driver focussed wheel and a bunch of switches to control the various engine, transmission and suspension settings. Thankfully, the designers have worked with the engineers to add a pair of programmable M buttons on the steering wheel that allow you to drive sedately at the start, then switch to M1 for more fun, then M2 for extra excitement up to and including a full-on track attack with super-slick shifts and zero intervention by the stability control.We're never going to get an ANCAP rating on the M6ers, but they should rate a five-start tick with all their technology. They might be big and fast, but BMW has built in all sorts of airbags and electronic safety systems that go way beyond standard ESP. The idea is to have fun but always with a safety net, regardless of the roads or conditions. But the only safe place to really run wild in an M6 is at a racetrack. Full stop.The sun is shining on a lovely Brisbane morning as we head for the hills. And the promise of Lakeside raceway hot laps. Heading out of the city, the pod of orcas - close to $2 million worth - keeps close company and there is fun and big smiles as the drivers thump away from the lights and whip-crack the exhausts on the 1-2 changes.But things settle down quickly and there is time to settle into the comfy sports buckets, enjoy the punch of serious zircon, and also marvel at BMW's latest 3D satnav display. There's not a lot of boot room in the M6ers, and you could only carry kids in the back, but it's not intended to rival a Kia Carnival for family hauling.As the road climbs and turns twisty it's time to see what the suspension can do. And it's surprisingly compliant for such a heavy car with such big wheels. It's obviously not a Porsche, or even an SL, but this is a big GT car and not an all-out sporty.As I start to enjoy the drive, I realise the M6 convertible is much more helpful than the M6ers I had driven in Spain, which felt floppy and never really connected with the road. I now realise it was probably the very slipper Spanish roads.This time around, the M6 puts its power down well, turns relatively sweetly - it's not a Toyota 86 in size or response - and is always ready with a brutal twin-turbo thump. It's not a quiet car, but there is minimal disturbance with the top down at 100km/h and you get what you get with wide low-profile tyres on coarse Australian bitumen.The kilometre roll past as easily as you expect in a $300,000 car, and then it's time for Lakeside. The track is very fast with some serious corners, but the orca coupe is right in its element. There is more than enough power for anyone, the brakes handle things surprisingly well, the gearbox is a delight, and the steering has just the right balance between grip and feel.It's not as quick as I remember an Audi R8 or a Nissan GT-R, but it definitely lives up to the M heritage. The weight works against it, and the front wants to push wide at times, but it's a car you could happily thrash on weekends. Not that BMW expect many M6 owners to do it.The combination of road and track time has softened my complaints about the M6, and made me more of a fan. I'm never going to love it the way I do a Porsche Cayman, or crave it the way I do a Benz SL63, but the M6 is better than I expected and definitely better than I thought in Spain.Which just goes to prove that you should never pass final judgement on any car until you get it home. I was only lukewarm on the new M6 when I drove it in Europe, but now I can see it's a good thing and a worthwhile member of the BMW M family. But I'm still not sold on the deal when the price is so high.The M6 twins are not for everyone, but for some people they will be everything they want and need.

It's hard to see what's happening under the camouflage, but Lexus is aiming for Audi-style quality and BMW-style driving dynamics with a car that's definitely going to be much more adventurous in design.