Articles by Peter Anderson

Peter Anderson road tetss and reviews the Nissan Pathfinder Ti Hybrid with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Peter Anderson road tests and reviews the Mercedes-Benz GLA250, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Nissan's crossover SUV has a new name, new body and a new outlook on life. The first iteration, the Dualis, was a solid if unspectacular effort that nevertheless delivered some very impressive sales figures for the Japanese manufacturer.The Qashqai's body is bigger than the Dualis' in the important directions, but the new outlook is the most important thing - during the Dualis years the market segment heated up, with multiple entrants from all corners of the globe. The Qashqai, as the Dualis is now known, has to be better in many ways.The petrol-powered Qashqai Ti can be yours for $32,890 with the six-speed manual or $35,390 for the CVT automatic. The only option is $495 metallic paint and a further $495 for premium paint.As the top of the range model, the Ti has a long list of standard features. The part-leather trimmed interior has dual-zone climate control, heated front seats, powered driver's seat, keyless entry and start, cruise control, sat-nav, fake 'leather' steering wheel and gear selector, park assist, around view cameras, power windows and mirrors, glass roof and rear privacy glass.The whole car's aesthetic is miles ahead of the Dualis. The 19-inch wheels fill the arches properly, and the car no longer looks top heavy and knock-kneed. The Qashqai is longer but also lower-slung, giving it a better, more balanced visual presence.Passengers benefit not only from the longer, lower cabin but also from a bit of extra width. There's headroom aplenty even with the glass roof. Sadly, that glass means the cabin can get a bit hot.Inside is also a huge leap forward, with better materials and overall construction. There's plenty of clever storage around the cabin and the fit and finish is remarkably good. Some of the materials, like the slippery fake leather on the steering wheel, could be a bit better, but the overall feel is high quality.All Qashqais have a five-star ANCAP rating - six airbags, stability and traction control, ABS, brake force distribution and assist, load-limited front belts and pretensioners and reversing camera.The Ti adds the around-view camera, lane departure warning, fatigue detection, moving object detection and blind spot warning.The up-spec Ti replaces the simple and useable interface with a more complex one that adds Facebook and Google integration. The speaker count remains stuck at six, but like its lesser brethren provides perfectly good sound for the masses.The Facebook and Google stuff is a bit fiddly to get going and requires a download of a Nissan app to get it moving. We struck trouble getting Facebook to activate but given one doesn't want to see ugly baby photos at home, it's probably not a great loss to not have access on the move. If you've got an Android phone, you can also hook up Pandora for your music. Nissan still has some work to do here.The satellite navigation is reasonably detailed and easy to use and while the seven-inch screen makes it easy to see where you are, the resolution is a little muddy.Propulsion duties fall to Nissan's MR20 2.0-litre petrol. There isn't a turbo in sight, but variable valve timing and direct injection brings the kilowatt count to 106 (10 more than the diesel) and the torque to 200Nm (120 fewer than the diesel).Were it not for the CVT, that torque figure would seem a bit anaemic for a 1600kg car, but the rubber band is well-tuned for the Qashqai. Confusingly, it occasionally behaves like a torque converter auto with artificial steps.Nissan claims 6.9L/100km on the combined cycle – we saw 9.8L/100km, which is significantly higher.The turbodiesel Qashqai we tested was blighted by a lengthy "spooling" delay, which knocked a dent in our confidence in the car. The petrol isn't similarly afflicted, which made us much happier. It was much more prompt stepping off the line and more responsive from standstill.The lack of torque compared to the diesel was most apparent in rolling acceleration, with the engine revving much harder and buzzing as the needle stuck fast in the upper rev range. The diesel would blow it away in overtaking and is more relaxed in those circumstances.The steering is very slow in the Qashqai, which masks a very competent handling feel. The front tyres bite well once you've got the wheel turned far enough and it has a safe feel even without all-wheel drive.Passengers will appreciate the twin-stage dampers but on particular surfaces the rear can get a little unsettled, bobbing about a bit across high frequency transverse ridges. It's not unduly worrying, but it happens.

Porsche purists are still whining, but the fact of the matter is that if Porsche doesn't do SUVs, the purists are unlikely to get machines like the 918 Spyder or Cayman GTS. So that argument is pretty much over for the rest of the internet, thank goodness.Porsche's challenge now is to continue to grow its SUV line-up while maintaining the balance between sporty and utility. It's started from a good base, both technologically and financially - you can have either the diesel or petrol Macan S for a long way south of $100,000.The Macan's current range starts with the $84,900 six-cylinder turbodiesel and then the two twin-turbo petrol V6s, the 3.0-litre S and the strangely-named 3.6-litre $122,400 Turbo.Our car was the mid-spec $86,700 petrol-powered S. Standard on board is an eleven-speaker stereo with Bluetooth, USB and inbuilt hard disc, dual-zone climate-control, alarm with motion sensor, rear-view camera and front and rear parking sensors, trailer sway control, hill descent control, electric front seats with memory, satnav, auto bi-xenon headlights, power mirrors, auto wipers and active ride suspension.Added to the S, and from a substantial options list, was a panoramic sunroof ($3790), full leather ($3720), sport chrono package ($2690), handsome 20-inch wheels ($2130), side skirts ($1920), brushed aluminium interior package ($1090), front heated seats ($890), triple zone climate control ($830) and black roof rails ($750).While this brings the price up to a whopping $104,510, it doesn't make the Macan any faster because it's all cosmetic apart from the sport chrono package. This little lot adds a stopwatch to your dashboard but also adds the Sport Plus button which brings faster, sharper shifts and throttle response. It may not make you faster, but it will feel it.The Cayenne is a bit of a mess stylistically, and the Macan's front end is probably a little too close to big brother's bloated bonce. Move to the side, however, and things improve immeasurably. The falling roofline lands in a very cool homage to the 911, with slim LED lights and all the right angles to make the Macan look quick.Naturally, this bites into the boot space and also appears to shift the rear seats a little further forward than might be ideal, rendering rear leg room marginal for anyone over about five and a half feet.The front of the cabin is very Porsche, so you have to take the good with the bad. It does look terrific (good) but there seems to have been a nasty accident at a button factory (bad). There are buttons everywhere across the dash and down the console and it takes a while to learn what they all do and mean.Some people like the technical feel of lots of buttons, others don't, but once you learn what they all do, it's not a bad place to be at all. The leather is smooth and soft, the big steering wheel is perfectly sized if a little flat in the face for some tastes and the seats fantastically comfortable.The central console is high to give the impression you're sitting lower than you might expect. It makes the Macan feel low and snug. The three-dial dash is very clever, with a traditional speedo and tachometer and a third screen that can be changed around to suit your needs - trip computer, satnav, whatever takes your fancy.A 7.8-inch screen sits in the middle of the Festival of Buttons and controls everything from your phone and music through to satnav. The eleven-speaker stereo is a good one, with great sound and was very easy to set up, despite the controls being shared between console and steering wheel.The Porsche V6 is quite a thing - from 3.0 litres and two turbos comes 250kW  and 460Nm (the Turbo ups the figures to 294kW and 550Nm). With stop-start and a seven-speed DPK (dual-clutch) transmission, the Macan S sprints to 100km/h in 5.4 seconds.It uses a claimed 8.7L/100km. In the real world, you'll see low double figures fuel consumption.Drive is to all four wheels through the seven-speed transmission, with a clear bias to the rear wheels.The Macan is home to eight airbags, stability and traction control, load-limited and pre-tensioned seat belts, ABS, EBS and brake force distribution.There is no ANCAP safety rating for the Macan.Straight away this feels different to your average fast SUV. It doesn't have a lumpy ride or feel compromised through the steering. While its close relative, the Audi SQ5, is a great car, there are a few things about it that might not appeal, the ride in particular.Porsche's active ride system irons everything out in Comfort mode, giving a firm but compliant urban ride quality while never stuttering on the fast or high-frequency stuff.Switch everything up to Sport and the car's character changes considerably. The engine becomes a lot more vocal and the shifts become super-fast, almost imperceptible. What's most impressive is that free-spinning twin-turbo V6 - it cheerfully winds out to the redline without the hesitation in that last few hundred rpm many forced induction engines suffer from.It's terrific fun in the fast stuff, too - always willing, with little understeer and a proper slingshot feel out of the bends.

Peter Anderson road tests and reviews the Mazda 3 with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Peter Anderson road tests and the reviews the Mazda MX-5 25th Anniversary edition with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Peter Anderson road tests and reviews the Mercedes-Benz CLA 250 Sport 4Matic with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Peter Anderson road tests and reviews the Mercedes-Benz C200 with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Peter Anderson road tests and reviews the 2014 Nissan Qashqai TS, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Peter Anderson reviews the 2014 Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4.