Articles by Paul Pottinger

Nissan today announced in excess of 11,000 of its vehicles are potentially at risk. Nissan said that 11,360 of its popular X-Trail, Navara, Patrol and Pulsar vehicles built between 2000 and 2004 have the suspect front passenger airbag which could explode showering the cabin in plastic shards. The airbag, made by the Japanese company Takata, is at the centre of a global recall of more than 3 million vehicles made by Japan's biggest manufactures. Nissan Australia's announcement almost doubles the number of vehicles potentially affected in Australia. The total suspected figure stands at 23,658. Some 480,000 Nissan vehicles worldwide are affected in addition to 1.7 million Toyotas, 1.14 million Honda and almost 50,000 Mazdas. Mazda spokesman Steve Maciver said the company had revised its local figure down to 468 having initially reported almost 600 potentially affected vehicles. The original figure had included cars sold in New Zealand. The recall is the latest in a series of global incidents affecting Japanese carmakers, which are fighting to hold off the challenge of Korean brands. Last month 6000 FJ Cruiser SUVs in Australia were part of an international recall of 310,000 because of a seat belt problem. Mazda Australia has a recall for its 1531 of its new Mazda6 to rectify a potential quality issue with the vehicle's electrical system that could cause a fire. Concerned owners should contact: Toyota: 1800 643 242. Honda: 03 9285 5510. Mazda: 1800 034 411. Cars affected by the recall: Nissan - 11,360 (T30 X-TRAIL, D22 Navara, Y61 Patrol and N16 Pulsar 2000-04) Honda - 9,980 (Civic sedan 2001-03; CR-V 2002-03; Jazz 2003) Toyota -1700 (Corolla and Avensis 2000-04) Mazda - 468 (Mazda6 2002-03) Lexus - 150 (SC 430 2001)

Honda has flagged 9,980 of its cars are affected by the recall over a faulty airbag. They are the Civic sedan made from 2001-03; the CR-V compact SUV (2002-03) and Jazz city car (2003). Toyota said at least 1700 Corolla and Avensis Verso vehicles built from November 2000 to March 2004 are affected. A further 150 SC430 cars produced by Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus carry the suspect component. Mazda spokesman Steve Maciver said the recall applied to 597 Mazda6s made between 2002 and 2003. The recall was triggered by the Takata Corporation, which produces airbags, after reports of faulty inflators which could burst and send plastic shards flying in the cabin. "The recall is due to the possibility that the front passenger airbag may have been assembled with improperly manufactured propellant wafers. In the event of a crash, the inflator may rupture and cause the front passenger airbag to deploy abnormally," Toyota says. A spokesman for Toyota in the US said its recall was based on five cases of front passenger side airbags inflating incorrectly. Mazda and Nissan’s Australian operations are determining the number of locally sold cars affected. Globally the airbag fault has hit 1.73 million Toyotas,  1.14 million Hondas, 480,000 Nissans and almost 50,000 Mazdas. Nissan said certain vehicles made between 2000 and 2004 were affected. All four companies supply Australia with vehicles built both in Japan and Thailand. Almost all Australian-sourced Hondas come from Thailand, which is the second biggest source of vehicles imported to this country. At a time of increasing Korean car sales, the recall is another body blow to the reputation of Japanese cars, which have been considered a byword for reliability. Since 2009, Toyota has recalled about 15 million cars for faults including sticking accelerator pedals, faulty brakes, engine malfunctions, defective steering, fuel leaks and non-functioning airbags. Last month 6000 FJ Cruiser SUVs in Australia were part of an international recall of 310,000 because of a seat belt problem. Mazda Australia has a recall for its 1531 of its new Mazda6 to rectify a potential quality issue with the vehicle’s electrical system that could causea fire. Toyota owners should contact 1800 643 242. Honda’s customer support line is 03 9285 5510. Mazda owners should call  1800 034 411.

The $50,000 question. Neither BMW nor Benz has played here. Neither has had a properly hot hatch that could be got on road under the ludicrous luxury car tax without undue deprivation of luxury.These turbo Teutons start at -- or not much above -- the norm for a European quick compact such as RenaultSport's Megane or Volkswagen's Scirocco. Indeed the entry Mercedes-Benz A-Class and BMW 1 Series variants have never been cheaper. It's at $50,000, however, they warm up. Benz's A250 Sport is the range topper until September when the A45 AMG arrives to take on the BMW's 135i. The 250's true rival is the 125i.VALUEUnadorned, both cars start just shy of $50K. Optioned to the extent of our test cars they're just shy of 60. The 125i's $46,100 starting price is illusory. Manual sales are next to zero and BMW want all of $3077 for its eight-speed auto.That's $49,117 to the auto-standard Benz's $49,900. The latter includes bi-xenon headlamps, reverse camera, parking assist software and a panoramic sunroof. For these, the 125i buyer drops $4000.  Both gouge for metallic paint. It’s $1308 on the BMW, $1190 on the Benz.As driven, the Bimmer is $58,116 -- the balance of that sum reached with the sunroof ($2246); sat-nav system ($1385) and the M Sports kits which includes taut suspension, 18-inch wheels and negligible visual adornment ($5385).Our Benz is $59,060 before charges, the cool red-cut leather upholstery and lurid seatbelts being standard. The "COMAND" pack with eye level screen and multi media set up including voice control and digital radio is $2990.An AMG Exclusive pack which brings real visual lustre adds $2490 with the same sum again for the Driver Assist kit's array safety warnings. You're getting into a fully equipped, fast and fun prestige cars for well under the starting point of an interesting 3 Series or C-Class.TECHNOLOGYIndeed, in terms of sophistication these little luxury cars lose little except space to a full-size 5 Series or E-Class. Both engines are 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo with direct fuel injection. BMW uses an eight-speed torque converter (i.e.: conventional) automatic to transmit 160kW and 310Nm to the rear wheels. With all of the latter turning up from about 1300 revs, the 125i returns 6.2L/100km and 0-100km/h time of 6.4 seconds.The Benz's auto is of the twin clutch type (strictly speaking an automated manual, much like Volkswagen's DSG) with seven ratios to pluck its 155kW/350Nm for the figure of 6.6-litres in juice use and 6.6 seconds in the sprint. Drive goes to the front wheels.DESIGNNext to the lustrous 'look-at-moi' Benz, the BMW is a sombre Mormon. The barely discernible sports kit does nothing to lift it. Even the five-spoke 18-inch alloys somehow look undersized in a construct that remains visually and functionally awkward in its second generation.Unremarkable without, underdone within. This interior is worth 30 grand, not the double charged. BMW's much-vaunted dynamic advantage of rear-wheel-drive is a design dead end in a small hatch, the transmission tunnel rendering useless the centre rear seat. The other back pews are intolerable for anyone over average height. Not for nothing is this to be the last rear-drive 1 Series.By polar, shining contrast the Benz's cockpit could be that of a $150K sports car. It's one of the interiors of the decade to date, an outstanding interface of function and cool; sophisticated yet simple. In exterior terms there's hasn't been a more striking five door hatch. Each time you approach it will gladden your heart.SAFETYStaggering levels of front end grip and neutral handling are the best means of ensuring you never trigger the Benz's nine airbags. So it is with the BMW's intuitive and progressive driving character. Naturally both cars have the maximum crash rating.Unfortunately both have run flat tyres without a spare. The Merc has a proper colour reversing camera to the 125's dated colour coded proximity graphic. Only the former leaves no doubt as to when a child strays into your path. The BMW also lacks the Benz's digital speedo and blind spot warning lights.DRIVINGHere the 125i regains ground. With the crown of the 3 Series slipping, this has become the brand's default driver's car.Yet the expensive sport suspension is crucial to its full enjoyment, disciplining the ride without making it impossible as have previous combinations of M Sport and runflats. It's a tasty engine, one from which this intuitive transmission gets the best whether urban grinding or dashing from apex to apex.In Comfort mode, but particularly Sport, delivery is hot, strong and smooth in a way the Merc's twin clutch auto is not. That not the fact power goes to the nose is the Benz's shortcoming. In Eco mode it climbs the gears as rapidly as revs allow. In Sport it holds gears interminably. Manual selections made through the shifting paddles are too readily refused. It can be irritating.The ideal setting would be somewhere between Eco and Sport. So it is with the forthcoming CLA. We bet someone in Stuttgart is tweaking the software even now.It's almost a matter of indifference that front wheels have to steer and drive. The Benz is supremely sorted. The DNA of the AMG tuning arm is felt everywhere, not least through the tiller. If the ever terse ride is too a high a price to pay for body control of this order, try the cheaper A200.That said, the BMW's unadulterated steering feel — light at low speed, firm when needed — is delicious. Such trueness of feel made BMW's rep and the hardcore will consider this worth the compromises the 125i otherwise entails. But they will be alone.Mercedes-Benz A250 Sport4.5/5 starsPrice: From $49,900Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo petrol; 155kW/350NmTransmission: 7-speed twin clutch auto; FWDThirst: 6.6L/100kmBMW 125i Auto3.5/5 starsPrice: From $49,177Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo petrol; 160kW/310NmTransmission: 8-speed auto; RWDThirst: 6.2L/100km

Hyundai releases a car then within 12 months Kia does it that bit better. This is as immutable as earth's orbit and the timing of the tides; as inevitable as Tony Abbott starting his morning run from The Lodge come September. So it has come to pass with the new Cerato, Kia's take on Hyundai's Carsguide Car of the Year runner up i30.The i30, or Elantra as it's known in sedan guise, should be toward the top of any small car shopping list. Logically, therefore, the Cerato ought to be at or near the top. Yet even the uppermost echelons of the small car class are too crowded for comfortable decisions, so it's no slight accomplishment that the Kia makes itself heard above the throng.Well, some of them do. While the range kicks off at the inevitable $19,990 for the symbolic entry level manual (plus $2K for the auto everyone will buy), the steel-wheeled Cerato S is very much the fleet favourite. Doubtless a nice price will be done for the mass buyers, because from $500 less Holden's Cruze Equipe provides a lot more for someone shedding their own cash.The mid-level Si is where we'd put our dough. From $23,990 for the rather sweet six speed manual, it gets the full cream engine and kit including 16-inch alloys, rear view camera, Bluetooth, artificial but pleasing leather wrapped dash, auto headlights, small touchscreen and six airbags.The SLi adds yet more fruit, but no more substance. The very top model chucks in sat-nav but moves the sticker price north of 30 grand. Yes, Kia has moved on and then some since the driveaway-then-chuck away days of only last decade (there are waiting lists for some models), but are you quite ready to drop the price of a decently equipped Volkswagen Golf on a Cerato? No, didn't think so. And there's no real need.The Si is the sweet spot and a tasty package for the price. It's all sedans until July when the hatch comes online. The Koup (yes, they're staying with that) lobs by year's end.Let's begin with the three mode steering setting that moves the feel through the wheel from ultra-light to vaguely substantial. Then let's move on, because we instantly forgot it. The real story is not knobs and buttons with which German carmakers feel compelled to festoon their cars, but that which you'll never see and will feel daily.An acronym that goes unexplained in car head publications is NVH. It stands for "noise, vibration and harshness" and its absence in the Cerato relative to the previous generation of small cars (we're talking last evade again) is remarkable.Much labour has gone into deadening the roar of Australia's roughhouse roads in the cabin. The Cerato Si has the refinement traditionally expected of something larger and lusher. Even the A pillars (those at the front between the roof and the fore of the front doors) are fitted with an acoustic deadening foam. This and sundry measures besides work so well you'd never know they were there.While the base S makes do with an uninspiring 1.8-litre petrol four, the Si and those above get the altogether better direct injection 2.0-litre four. Good for a solid 129kW/209Nm, it returns an acceptable 7.4 litres per 100km and  a reasonable acceleration time of 9.3 seconds from 0-100km/h as an auto. This alone is worth the ask over the rather wheezy base model.Kia claim that the 50 litre tank will furnish some 650km for the "average" driver between refills. While some Japanese manufacturers, at least those that went to ground during the GFC, still push out five speed transmissions, it's six cogs and nothing less for Kia in manual or auto form. The latter is said to be the "world’s most compact six-speed transmission”, which is nice, and, though laid out in a straight P-R-N-D arrangement, can be manually shifted by moving the lever towards the driver when in D mode. We didn't bother.Kia’s local product team has made the ride and handling characteristics as bespoke as parent company Hyundai will allow. You may not know or care that there are gas-filled dampers front and rear, but you'll appreciate the ride comfort and stability they deliver.The sedan will sell on looks alone. Kia make much of the futuristic styling, but really it's a case of melding a multitude of contemporary designs into a singular whole. There are, if you care to look hard enough, bits of Focus, Mazda3 and Elantra therein to say nothing of Audi tail lights. Somehow the Cerato succeeds in being its own thing, clearly a smaller sibling of the head-turning Optima sedan.It's tight in back of there, though, where 185cm me has to hunker down to save scraping his scone. Nor could I comfortably sit behind me. Inmates won't complain of the quality. The Si is already at the front the class, a Neil Armstrong stride from the previous model and a good deal more pleasant than the $50k BMW 1 Series we handed back this week.Though yet to be crash tested the newbie has been engineered to meet the newly tightened standards of both the European and Australian crash test authorities. Five stars are confidently anticipated.It's painful even for the neutral that in the week poor sales of the Cruze cost 500 Australian jobs another base model car arrives that does not match it. By no means is the Cerato S much in the wake of the Cruze Equipe, but its value deficit is exacerbated on the road. Riding on 16 inch Nexen rubber it can't adhere with the same tenacity as the Holden with its 17-inch Bridgestones. Nor does the six speed auto on offer redeem it in the same way as its fellow Korean sourced but Australian built rival.Kia's localisation work is more evident in the mid-spec Si. This is the point at which the Cerato becomes more than yet another smallish car and begins to stake a pace at the A-list table.Its better (alloy) wheels and rubber are abetted by a bigger and better (direct injection) engine, one that doesn't trouble the Cruze SRi's turbo four for outright performance, but is very much in keeping with the unflustered gait of the very similar unit in Ford's Focus. Dynamically the Kia treads more gently than either, sitting flat and handsome through corners but conveying more information in its body movement and we'd warrant this will please more of the people most of the time.Spend the right amount - neither too much or too little. The Si is toward the top of a hard fought class.

Priced from just under $51,000, the 316i is the latest salvo in the prestige pricing war that last week saw Mercedes-Benz announce their new CLA four door coupe for a similar sticker price. The least expensive 3 Series since the '90s also has the smallest capacity engine, running the 1.6-litre turbo petrol four from the smaller 118i and the Mini Cooper. It's good for 5.9L/100km through a standard eight-speed automatic and a 0-100km/h stroll time of 9.2 seconds. BMW says it is visually all but indistinguishable from the rest of the range save for 16-inch alloys and man-made leather upholstery. The standard kit runs to rear park assistance, Bluetooth and a 6.5 inch multi-media screen. There is not satellite navigation, nor will the entrant take M-Sports suspension. Although the 2 Series range of compact coupes is not here until next year, BMW spokesman Scott Croaker denies the cut price 3 Series is a holding action against the CLA. "It's a bit early for any immediate reaction or price fight,'' he says. "It's been looked at for some time. But what's happening in the competitive field at this price point is obviously very important and this is a good opportunity to take focus from some of the competition.''

You might as well skip this. You're going to buy the CLA no matter what the likes of me say. Such a meeting of relative affordability and outright desirability has seldom been seen. The CLA will, as one observer pungently put it: "Sell its tits off," when it arrives for Christmas.For what it's worth, you're unlikely to regret investing in the cheapest ever Mercedes four door. Though at some $50,000 it's a good deal dearer than the same under the skin A-Class hatchback, the CLA sedan - or four door coupe as it is styled - is a good deal more evocative and cooler than something so utilitarian as a hatchback.VALUEWe're barely used to the reality of a fully equipped, good to drive Benz priced substantially under a basic Commodore. Such is the entry A-Class. Carsguide has gleaned that this new and madly stylish departure will start just north of $50K - eight grand under the ridiculous luxury car tax and nine under the Mercedes C-Class, which sells its chest assets off despite it.Benz has been here before, albeit with the two door and too poor CLC, a device to give hairdresser's cars a bad name. The CLA is cut of a very different cloth, essentially an A-Class in a classier suit, but with all that's substantial about that landscape altering model.Standard is a seven speed twin clutch automatic transmission driving a choice of four cylinder turbo petrol or diesel engines and multimedia screen possibly with satnav. The probable starting price is higher than we expected, but Mercedes promise a bountiful kit level, though the desirable options will be plentiful and costly.Initially we'll see the two turbo petrol variants - the entry CLA 200 and the stove hot 250. The former can be optioned with sports suspension and 18-inch wheels to match the latter's handling if not its punch. A diesel follows next year if you must go that way, as does the CLA 45 AMG with all-wheel-drive and blistering performance. You'll go that way if you can.TECHNOLOGYOf the opening lineup, the 250 is that which all with petrol in their veins will desire. The 200 is the one almost everyone will buy and feel satisfied by. Both have a three mode drive system that at a button's push shifts engine response between normal, sport and manual which is operated within strict limits by shifting paddles.While most Mercedes except SUVs remain rear wheel drive, its latest models suffer little from the fact of the one end doing both the steering and driving. All variants get Direct Steer which is smart enough to react to changes in grip, gradient and gratuitous driving.Few cars punch so cleanly through the air. The term "drag co-efficient" may mean nothing to you; suffice that the sharp angled CLA's is one of the lowest of any production car and a major contributor to its exceptionally low fuel use and emissions.The newest versions of Merc's multi-media system brings photo realistic map display, an additional Bluetooth profile to enable net access via iPhone and real time traffic data. Connoisseurs need to know that while the A250 Sport was developed from the get go with the input of that mighty tuning arm AMG, the top CLA lacks that. Mind you, we who drove between Marseille and St Tropez reckon that counts for close to nothing, so adept is the newcomer. Anyway, CLA 250 Sport to sit beneath the full on AMG model is on the way.DESIGNBasically this is the A-Class in a shell sculpted down from the imposing CLS, the model that started the mania for so-called four door coupes. The effect of those accents concentrated in a smaller shape - though one longer than the current C-Class sedan - is confronting."Aggressive" is invariably used to describe the styling of sporting cars - for once the adjective is warranted. Seen live in the metal the CLA is stunning. The shapely nose mirrors that of the hatchback, but we're assured that not a panel is shared.The inside story is, to our eyes, yet more successful even with the lurid and mercifully optional yellow stitching and striped seats of our test 200. The cabin is otherwise a model of class and taste, from the bare centre console and largely unadorned but quality expanses to your front.The five circular vents are the more effective, both functionally and in form, for standing out. It isn't classist to say this defines the difference between a try hard car from the lower orders and a true patrician. It just is. Now to the caveat. No one standing more than 180cm in height will want to sit in the back. In fact, they can't.There's also the minor matter of the driver being barely able to see out the back, so thick are the pillars and small the rear portal. Blind spot alert had better be standard. But this is, of course, a coupe, albeit one with two extra doors than usual and if functionality is too impeded for your liking, Mercedes will sell you a mechanically compatible hatchback.SAFETYWe do tend to go on about active safety and so we should. By that we mean the ability of the car to co-operate with you in not making necessary all those airbags and crumple zones. While the five star cars rating of the A-Class will surely carry over, it's the CLA’s inherent balance and instinctive drivability that will do most to save you from yourself.DRIVINGThere has been considerable disquiet among the petrol sniffing fraternity as Benz and soon, BMW, moves away from the holy rear-wheel-drive paradigm. Likely buyers (ie: real people) are hardly likely to be bothered and even the doom mongers will be hard put to complain.The 200, running the smaller turbo petrol engine, is going to be more than enough for most of us. Never mind that its 0-100kmh time of 8.6 seconds is more than two ticks of the clock behind the guts and glory 250. We talk about torque for the damn good reason that it's far more important than power in most modern driving situations.This is another compact turbo petrol engine that summons all the torque has almost immediately both for efficiency in general running and rapid response when overtaking. That responsiveness is allied to refinement fully in keeping with one of Merc's luxury saloons - the CLS for example.Hastily leaving a toll booth on the test drive (at that point it's a rat race in France) the guttural growl of the engine is almost shocking, so quiet was it till this moment. Mercedes might be after younger buyers, but it's not about to forsake its traditional virtues.That applies to the driving experience as a whole. The 200 is not the sportster of the lineup, though the optional suspension keeps it in that ballpark. It is, however, recognisably of Mercedes DNA. You can well imagine a CLA owner for whom family responsibility has come either trading up to a C-Class or getting an A- or B-Class as a second car to fulfil life's grimmer tasks.Once you've had a Benz in the driveway, you're not willingly going back to the farm. On the first world roads in the south of France, the CLA 200 is to all intents and purposes faultless. The ride won't thrill a traditional Benz buyer, but even on sports suspension it is absorbent without losing dynamic poise.By no means the most involving drive (the manual mode is too apt to block selections - you're best to leave it to pick its own gears in the sport setting), it points and goes where it should when you want it to abetted by completely linear steering.It's looking looking likely that Benz Australia will take a CLA 250 Sport over the 250 with sports enhancements we drove. That means the quicker steering, rorty exhaust and stabiliser bars of the equivalent A-Class added to an already formidable package. The 2.0-litre turbo four puts out a stonking 155kW/350Nm, the latter all from low 1200rpm.It gives the CLA a knockout punch over the deft jabbing 200. Although the transmission's tendency to scale the gears quickly can exasperate, we'd give it an extra half star to add to lesser car's four.VERDICTStill with us? Looks as though you were right in the first place. Where's mine?Mercedes-Benz CLA 200Price: From $50,000Warranty: 3 years/100,00kmCapped servicing: NoplppResale: N/AService interval: 12 months/15,000kmSafety: 5 starsEngine: 1.6-litre 4-cylinder turbo petrol; 115kW/250NmTransmission: Seven-speed auto; FWDThirst: 5.5L/100kmDimensions: 4.6m (L); 1.4m (h); 1.7m (w)Weight: 1395kgSpare wheel: none

Prestige cars will continue to cost us less than ever with a Mercedes-Benz sedan that's priced at less than a Subaru Liberty going on sale in December.With a price tag to be a little over $50,000 the CLA is the least expensive Mercedes of its type ever sold in Australia. It will be some $2000 more than the top priced Mazda6, less by  the same sum than an upper bracket Subaru and almost $10,000 below the popular Mercedes-Benz C-Class.Unlike the C-Class, the country's best-selling mid-size imported car, the CLA enters showrooms well under the luxury car tax threshold, which takes effects from $58,000.The traditionally premium cost German luxury brands are fighting a price war that has already seen Mercedes, BMW and Audi market family-sized hatchbacks for as low as $34,900. Last month Mercedes released the A-Class hatch at $36,000, less than a basic Commodore.Mercedes-Benz spokesman Jerry Stamoulis said the CLA was another move toward broader acceptance. The world's oldest carmaker has the world's oldest buyers with an average age of 55, among the highest of any auto brand."People who buy the CLA will very likely never have even considered a Mercedes-Benz," he said. "We want to get into people's lives earlier. We think they'll continue to buy Mercedes."Billed as a "four door coupe", the CLA is closely related to the A-Class, which has become the best selling car of its type with demand threatening to outstrip supply.The unprecedented plunge into affordability by the prestige brands is placing pressure on Japanese brands and Volkswagen, whose new Golf is released next month.WHAT $50k BUYS YOU - the sedans being squeezed from aboveHonda Accord Euro - $43,140Mazda6 Atenza diesel - $49,690Subaru Liberty Premium - $52,990Toyota Aurion Presara - $49,990Volkswagen CC - $54,990 

It's no longer enough to look half a million dollars, the next Mercedes-Benz limousine will also reek of the sweet smell of success. The S-Class sedan, due in Australia by year's end, has a liquid perfume dispenser among its array of high-tech devices and fittings. This item fills the ultra-luxury cabin with a specified odour from an electronic fitting in the glovebox. The choice of scents for your dollars is limited only by  "whatever you want," according to a Mercedes spokeswoman in Stuttgart where the benchmark cabin is revealed this week. With the car long favoured by heads of state, sheiks, captains of industry and pop stars, it seems Beyonce will be able to go her gig in a car suffused with Chanel if she so chooses. "Or if she's going to see Jay Z, she can have the S-Class smelling of Havana cigars," Mercedes-Benz Australia spokesman Jerry Stamoulis told News Limited. When the stress of stardom or leading a country becomes a bit too much, the passengers can activate a hot stone massager in the back seats. Built in consultation with aromatherapists and psychologists, it uses the seat's 14 separately-activated air bladders with the seat heating function. Even the armrests in an interior designed to suggest a luxury jet cabin or six star hotel suite are heated so the skin is not insulted by cold leather. Less sensual items includes a cloud- system, which integrates Facebook, Google Street View, and Google searches for local points of interest through a mouse. These can be surveyed from rear seats that recline to a lower angle than any sedan currently on dale.The driver, or chauffeur, views his instruments and infotainment system  via  two laptop size information displays. A new S-Class, which comes every 10 years, is regarded as a landmark event in the car world, always introducing new technologies. Mercedes spokesman Michael Allner said these luxuries would filter down to affordable cars over the next decade. For now, though, Stamoulis said that in Australia, the new car would be priced similarly to the outgoing model, from some $220,000 for the entry variant up to almost $500,000.  

Carsguide will next week head to South Australia to drive BMW's new 3 Series Touring. OK, the wagon is a marginal seller in this part of the world, but it’s been 13 months since the sedan lobbed and that’s quite a wait for a family friendly car that promises to be a good thing.Carsguide has just driven BMW's new 3 Series Gran Turismo, a car that redefines marginal. And mongrelised. Not a sedan, not a wagon, not a hatch, not a coupe, not an SUV - though it has elements of all - the so-called GT is coming our way in late June.    VALUESeldom has this question been so much in the eye of the beholder. You might consider that you're getting three cars for the price of one. Equally you could see it as too much money for not enough of anything.BMW is yet to finalise GT prices beyond saying it will come at premium on the wagon, which in turn is priced above the sedan. That means a price range of $70,000 to $76,000.Aside from Audi's A5 Sportback (a reinvention of the elongated lift back style which was also popular on the last Mazda6) there are no direct rivals, which says something in itself.While the GT ought, at that premium, to provide more, it provides only difference. Four cylinder engines and trim choices mirror the rest of the 3 Series range. The Sport line package - a monochrome interior partially enlivened by silver accents - is most popular. An M-Sport kit comes in late in the year with big wheels and sports suspension.Likewise the 320i with its fast but frugal turbo petrol engine. Yet that was not available to drive in Palermo. The X3 SUV, which has the GT's elevated driving position and storage uncompromised by a whimsical shape, starts at $59,200.The 320i and the diesel 320d open the local batting with the fully tuned 328i lobbing later.Our 3 Series sedans, with the exception of the hybrid, are made in South Africa. The interior quality of these has not impressed. The GT comes from Germany. Would that the proportion were inverse.TECHNOLOGYAs per the 3 Series sedan it’s a tech tour de force with class leading turbo engines and eight speed automatic transmission. The 320i is a case in point, smaller in size than the six cylinder engines for which BMW is famous, but as rapid and more efficient - so much so you wouldn't bother with diesel.Riding on a longer wheelbase version of the wagon platform, the GT requires the same optional enhancements to make it ride decently. It strikes a discordant note that the "sheer driving pleasure" brand no longer comes with an acceptable default setting.DESIGNWe’ve suggested Walter da Silva, the designer of the A5 Coupe was backed over by an outgoing 3 Series Coupe. Certainly its rear end made an impression on him.In designing its belated riposte to the A5 Sportback BMW can't be accused of knocking off anyone else’s work. They've  considered the Audi's appeal and taken the polar opposite approach. It isn't as overwhelmingly ungainly as the 5 Series GT, but that's only because it's a bit smaller.The Gran Turismo is slightly longer and taller than the 3 Series wagon. The front and rear passengers sit higher than those in the sedan but the swooping coupe roof compresses head room. Yet the backseaters can stretch their leg. So again, no real advantage, just a point (and not a very good one) of difference.The tailgate is another of the new wave that responds to a sensor in the proximity key fob. You open it by waving a foot under back end. Great if you're hands are full of shopping or a mountain bike. It's cleverly laid out too with extra under floor storage and space to stow the cargo covers.If only there was more space. Constricted as it is by the funky or fugly shape (take your pick) most self-respecting wagons or SUVs match its load capacity.  You can drop the rear seats, but that's so of any hatchback and doing so means you also drop three passengers. Again, the point is elusive.Are we making too much of this? I don’t think so. The GT demands to be judged on its design. Just as BMW has diluted the driverly virtues that distinguished the 3 Series, the GT suggests they've forgotten what one should look like.The shudder felt on seeing the malformed X6 quasi-SUV now seems premonitory. Far from being a elaborate practical joke that eluded only the Americans who build them and largely buy them, its malign influence has spread. Presumably the 3 Series GT is also aimed at them.Why then build it in right hand drive? Because more models means more sales? Good luck - the Yanks are ignoring the 5 Series GT in the same proportion as Australians. Releasing a new niche variant every five minutes works for Audi because although its entry models aren't much to drive, they look pretty good. At any rate they don’t look like this. The GT falls short on form and function.       SAFETYThe five safety stars earned by the sedan extend to this, although it’s customary to test crash cars by the front end not the back as seems to have occurred here. Indeed, such unfortunate serendipity might explain its shape.Standard is a reversing camera, optional is the full surround camera and head up display.  As ever with BMW there is no spare wheel, only run flat tyres, because driving conditions in Australia apparently mirror those of Germany.DRIVINGOf the available test cars only the diesel 320d is of interest to us. The same engine and transmission runs the 520d, to which we've awarded two stars from five.The 3 Series GT is by no means as poor as the marginally bigger, far heavier and more expensive model, but then it couldn't possibly be. On rutted Sicilian roads, all too like those at home, the GT was no more comfortable than any 3 Series without the expensive addition of M Sports suspension. Eight centimetres might not sound much, but that extra height over the sedan is felt when cornering.Still, it does get closer to behaving as a buyer has very right to expect from a car with this badge. Sending all the drive forces to the rear wheels leaves the front free to steer and this simple formula, of which BMW remains one of the few remaining practitioners, works in the form of fluency on back roads and a tight turning circle in town.The eight speed auto isn't easily caught out. It's almost always in the right gear, plucking the optimum from a great, grunty engine that is exceptionally refined and at its best doing highway cruising speed If you associate diesels with coarse agricultural devices, think again. You really ought to drive the 320d next to a 320i.But in another model line perhaps, because if you associate 3 Series with great driving and graceful design, this is not the 3 Series for you.VERDICTBuy the 3 Series wagon or X3 SUV. Or an Audi A5 Sportback.BMW 320D GTPrice: From $70,000Warranty: 3 years/100,00kmCapped servicing: NoResale: N/AService interval: 12 months/15,000kmSafety: 5 starsEngine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo diesel; 135kW/380NmTransmission: Eight-speed auto; RWDThirst: 5.8L/100kmDimensions: 4.8m (L); 1.48m (h); 1.8m (w)Weight: 1540kgSpare: none

You might have seen the TV ad for a budget brand ute, the one in which the dopey looking bloke goes “d'oh” because he bought a far more expensive brand.Sure, he's down a few thousand bucks but he, his loved ones and possibly even his employer won't be so quick to self-admonishment should he survive a big prang.The chances of this happy outcome remains lower in Chinese-made working vehicles than in any from the Japanese brands, Ford, Holden or Volkswagen. Much lower in most instances.In the past month, the Australian New Car Assessment Program -- the line-filling moniker for the local agency that crashes cars into walls and rates how they hold up -- crunched the body of and the numbers on the latest such conveyance from Cathay.Foton's Tunland 4WD light-commercial dual-cab was awarded three stars from five. That's almost but not quite as poor as it gets these days, but a possibly generous assessment given the absence of electronic equipment mandatory for the full five stars.Nor is the Tunland especially cheap at $34,500. Hard to grasp why that sum shouldn't include stability control, a fixture standard elsewhere and arguably even more important for vehicles with a high centre of gravity.“There really is no excuse for a new vehicle coming into the market today to be without stability control, which is now mandatory for passenger cars,” ANCAP's Lauchlan McIntosh says.ANCAP is irksomely apt to claim credit for pushing major safety advances that originate with car makers and are compelled by market forces. Yet it has also admitted to being two years behind Euro NCAP in its methodology.There’s no quibbling on this point, however, certainly not when two such old stagers as Toyota's LandCruiser and Mitsubishi's Pajero have both been upgraded to five stars after equipment improvements.The Chinese brands fare not so well. The Chery J1 gets three stars, and the Chery J11 gets two stars. The Great Wall V240 gets two stars and X240 gets four stars. Carsguide does not recommend a vehicle of any sort that has less than four stars. Indeed, we’ve directed our team to not so much as test them. We say you shouldn’t so why should we. Some of us have families. None of us are suicidal.