Articles by Robert Wilson

Selected dealers have been approached to join an exclusive network that will sell the military-inspired Hummer H3 SUV, and eventually encompass Saab and US luxury marque Cadillac."It's gone beyond the discussion stage. It's been formally talked about to the dealer network," an automotive retail source said. The source said Holden had modelled its strategy for adding two new American brands on Ford's Premier Automotive Group of Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo."What they're envisaging is Holden going to do its version of PAG — Hummer being Land Rover, Saab being Volvo and Cadillac being Jaguar," the source said. "It's a lot of money to spend for dealers, but the pay-off is they'll eventually get three brands. They haven't finalised the Cadillac bit of it, but the Hummer plan is a fait accompli."The longer term intention was to integrate Saab with the Hummer and Cadillac network, the source said.The offer was only being made to selected high-volume Holden dealers or dealer groups."The volumes will be too small to spread across the Holden dealer network, so the plan is to ensure a concentrated market presence," the source said.Large Holden dealers were aware of the plan but reluctant to discuss it."It (Hummer) will be bundled in with other products — just what, we haven't been told yet," one metropolitan dealer principal said.Another city dealer principal said, "Not everybody's going to get Hummer ... I've been told it could come under Saab, HSV or Holden."Holden launched the Hummer H3 at the Australian Motor Show. It said the SUV would go on sale next year after right-hand drive production begins in South Africa, but sales and marketing director Alan Batey declined to give specifics."We're finalising the details of which distribution channel we'll use and we'll make an announcement in two months' time," he said."It's a niche. It's not going to be a mainstream segment but it's going to do well."About 1000 Hummer sales a year was the initial target with prices starting between $50,000 and $60,000, according to another Holden executive.Holden spokesman Jason Laird said the company had yet to finalise its Hummer marketing strategy and had no detailed plans for Cadillac."We're looking at all options available to us," he said. "But nothing's firmly in place when one of the brands is not confirmed for this country."If approved, Cadillac would be unlikely to arrive here before 2008, Mr Laird said. "Discussion about Cadillac would be premature, although we've made no secret of our interest in the company," he said.Cadillac is on an export push with foreign sales up by 42 per cent last year, giving the brand its best result since 1990.Cadillac launches in South Africa — another right-hand-drive market — next February.The three-model line-up consists of the Cadillac BLS, a sedan based on the Saab 9-3 for $44,000, the STS sports sedan at $70,000, and the SRX crossover at $79,000.The vehicles will be marketed together with locally made Hummers and imported Saabs by GM South Africa's newly established Premium Channel division.GM executives in Detroit are bullish about the export prospects of Hummer, which has been one of the few sales successes in the automotive giant's recent history.In Europe, where the H3 went on sale last year, the brand's sales are up more than 200 per cent. Exports could account for up to 25 per cent of the brand's 62,000 annual sales, Hummer general manager Martin Walsh last week told the Detroit News.

Monday's announcement that Ford would reduce output from its Broadmeadows plant was not an excuse for the company to cull its workforce, he said."It hasn't been determined that there need be any jobs cut," Mr Jones said. "Some voluntary redundancies are likely but we'll be working to see that anyone who needs a job can keep a job."Ford workers would meet next week to approve the company's enterprise bargaining agreement and discuss the threat to jobs, Mr Jones said.Co-ordinating rostered days off so that the plant could be shut down, taking accumulated leave and adopting a nine-day fortnight were all measures the union would be proposing to minimise actual job losses."We haven't even started talking with Ford about those yet," he said.On Monday, Ford announced a slowdown of its assembly line to reduce output to 360 vehicles a day from 450.It is the second time this year Ford has responded to falling demand for its Falcon large sedan and Territory SUV, after slowing output from 520 vehicles a day in February.Ford Australia president Tom Gorman said the company was looking at other cost-saving measures, but some jobs would have to go."We haven't announced numbers but I want to stress it is not a linear thing," Mr Gorman said. "If our production capacity is coming down 20 per cent the workforce reduction would not be similar. We're working through all our alternatives and not taking a slash and burn mentality."We are still evaluating all other cost reduction initiatives. It will take two or three weeks before we can finalise those and we aren't in a position to discuss them at the moment."Ford's plan to develop and export the next model Falcon, due in 2008, would not be affected, Mr Gorman said. The business case for the car, codenamed Orion, had already been based on a smaller market share for locally made large cars, he said."When we look at our next round of models we've already adjusted. We had a certain set of assumptions for volume and we have adjusted those already."I don't think large cars will ever again be a 20 per cent plus segment. If it's in the neighbourhood of 15 per cent you have a marketplace where you can make something of it. Add exports and you have a viable business," he said.The catalyst for the cuts came when large car sales did not recover as much as anticipated in August and September despite the arrival of the new VE Commodore and Toyota Camry.Mr Gorman said Ford had been looking forward to the VE regenerating interest in the large car segment."When people get interested in a segment they go out and do comparative shopping — and that suits us because we've got a very competitive product," he said.Large cars sales could still recover if petrol prices stabilised."I still think it's too early to say it's not going to bounce back. I don't know whether it's a residual effect of petrol prices. Clearly petrol prices have backed up quite a bit — which is good."

Mahindra will reveal a low-cost ute at next month's Australian National Field Days in Orange, NSW, while Tata is on schedule to begin selling utes by mid-year before introducing its Indigo and Marina small cars in 2008. Mahindra has appointed Sydney dealer group Tynan Motors to import its Scorpio Pik Up. Single and dual cab versions of the diesel ute will be shown at the field days to gauge interest. Tynan Motors dealer principal Michael Tynan said the utes had received Australian Design Rule approval and would be on sale by March. They would be sold in 2WD and 4WD versions with an emphasis on regional, rural and mining markets, he said. Standard equipment would include airconditioning, electric windows, and a rear limited slip differential. "They are work vehicles but we think they are good enough to claim their place," Mr Tynan said. He estimated up to 1000 could be sold in the first year, initially in NSW, Victoria and Queensland. In South Africa, where the Pik Up went on sale in April, prices start at the equivalent of $25,000 for the 2WD single cab, with the double cab model coming in at about $30,000. Four-wheel drive models cost about $32,000 for the single cab and $36,500 for the double cab. Mr Tynan would not reveal planned Australian prices but said they would be "extremely competitive". "If anything, they could be lower than those figures." Mahindra began making passenger cars last year with an Indian version of the Logan, an economy car designed by Renault and produced in Europe by Romanian maker Dacia. Mr Tynan said India was the sole world source for right-hand drive versions of the car but said there were no plans to import it. "We should see how the commercial vehicles go first," he said. The Tynan venture will be Mahindra's second appearance in Australia. The Mahindra Stockman and its upmarket version, the Bushranger, were sold here as recreational vehicles between 1990 and 1993. Their design was based on the original wartime Willys Jeep design used by Mahindra when it began making vehicles in 1947. About 250 were sold here before its WA-based importer collapsed and had to return 100 unsold vehicles to India. Although simple, the Mahindra Scorpio is a modern design, launched in 2001 as an SUV and upgraded this year when the ute version was revealed as an export-only model. The Scorpio Pik Up will be powered by a 2.5-litre common-rail diesel engine co-developed with Renault. The engine would meet the stringent Euro 4 pollution standard and would produce slightly more than the 80kW and 280Nm the 2.6-litre Euro 3 engine fitted to evaluation models, Mr Tynan said. At 5.1m long, the Pik Up is comparable with a Toyota Hilux in size, although heavier at 2150kg for the 4WD double cab version. All versions boast carrying capacity of 1000kg. A dual-range five-speed manual with part-time four-wheel drive is the only transmission available. Steering is by power-assisted rack and pinion, and suspension uses a torsion bar independent system for the front wheels and leaf springs on the rear axle. Meanwhile, dealer sources say Tata remains on track to reappear in Australian showrooms next year, four years after the previous importer brought in the last shipment of Safari utes. Dealers said the company would return with a low-cost ute before offering a range of small cars with petrol and diesel engines. "Things are moving along, they were hoping to make an announcement in January but that's now more likely to be in March or April," a dealer said. "Homologation is under way and market research is being done. They know their demographic, they know what their pricing has to be and they're working towards that now, he said. Another dealer said Tata understood how competitive the Australian market was. "They can see that it's a viable but not wildly beneficial exercise at the sort of prices the local market will bear. But they don't see short-term margins as the be-all and end-all of the exercise," he said. Hong-Kong based analyst with automotive strategic consultants Autopolis, Graeme Maxton, was pessimistic about the chances of Indian makers, saying they were "getting ahead of themselves" in their urge to take on the Australian market. "Mahindra and Tata are both enthusiastic about overseas markets but they don't have the product line-up or build quality to establish themselves," he said. "I think rural commercial vehicles are a risky strategy in Australia where reliability in outback use can be a matter of life and death."

Petrol-electric cars would become an everyday sight here by 2015, Dr Andreas Truckenbrodt said, with Australia likely to follow American buying patterns rather than European. However, Dr Truckenbrodt, who was here to review the two-year trial of fuel cell buses in Perth, reversed years of predictions by DaimlerChrysler by saying hydrogen power would be limited to niche vehicles."Your repertoire of vehicle sizes and driving styles is closer to North America than Europe," he said. "Europe will be overwhelmingly diesel, but the open question is Japan."Forecasts pointed to the US vehicle market being 65 per cent petrol, 25 per cent hybrid and 10 per cent diesel in 2015, he said.Europe would remain at 50 per cent diesel with hybrids taking a smaller bite from the sales of petrol cars.DaimlerChrysler, BMW and General Motors are jointly developing a new type of hybrid transmission that promises greater efficiency than existing designs.The "dual mode" system would appear in US showrooms next year in large SUVs from Chevrolet and Dodge. Later versions would be offered in Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz passenger cars. The system could be engineered for front or rear-drive, Dr Truckenbrodt said.GM's version has been designed to fit in the casing of the long-serving four-speed automatic used in the VE Commodore - a significant step in making a hybrid version of the car feasible. This year Holden received $48 million from the federal Government to investigate building a petrol-electric version of its large sedan.Dr Truckenbrodt, DaimlerChrysler's executive director on the $1.3 billion Detroit-based project, said hybrids were one of many options the company was examining in response to oil shortages and greenhouse concerns. "It's becoming clear there is no single solution which will be the silver bullet," he said.Previously, DaimlerChrysler had predicted offering hydrogen fuel-cell powered Mercedes-Benz cars by 2010 but Dr Truckenbrodt said the problems of hydrogen storage and infrastructure had proved more difficult than designing viable fuel cell engines."This is not a problem just for DaimlerChrysler but for the whole industry," he said.He predicted fuel cell vehicles would be confined to small niches such as urban buses and delivery vans. "It is not the case that the next 20 years will see the replacement of the internal combustion engine," he said.With petrol and diesel engines here to stay, hybrid technology was the best way of increasing their efficiency and lowering emissions. But future hybrids had to show more improvement in fuel consumption than early designs had done, he said. Trendsetters had bought the first generation of hybrids as environmental statements, but mainstream buyers would consider them only if they significantly cut fuel bills while retaining the feel of a conventional vehicle."More and more customers are buying hybrids because they want to see the payoff," he said. "We're confident the dual mode system will have less distance between its certification (fuel consumption) numbers and real world numbers."DaimlerChrysler would apply the new hybrid system to diesel engines, but Dr Truckenbrodt said combining technologies would make the vehicles very expensive.

The reason is that most hybrid transmissions use two electric motors/generators - one connected to the engine generates electricity to power the car while the other turns that electricity into motion.This "power split" system works well in the city but it means hybrids cannot run purely on petrol power. The electric generator and motor have to run all the time, even when the petrol engine is doing most of the work.This is less efficient than a conventional transmission in steady, highway speed driving.The "dual mode" hybrid transmission being developed by DaimlerChrysler, BMW and GM adds extra gears and clutches to the hybrid transmission to create an all-mechanical path from the petrol engine to the wheels.In highway driving, dual mode hybrids work the same way as transmissions in conventional cars.A dual mode hybrid uses the electric motor and generator only for accelerating and recovering energy in braking. At steady high speeds it is driven purely on petrol (or diesel) power.That might sound like a step backwards but it's actually an improvement in efficiency.The jointly developed dual mode transmission has four purely mechanical ratios for open road cruising on petrol/diesel as well as the infinitely variable electro-mechanical gearing range of a power-split hybrid for urban driving.

More than 2700 new generation Camrys were sold in August against 2600 buyers for the VE Commodore, with both up against an increasing preference for smaller cars. Including the old model Commodore, total sales for the nameplate fell just short of 5000 units, allowing it to snatch back No.1 spot from the Corolla, which has enjoyed two months at the top. However, this year's trends were reinforced last month with demand for light city cars now up 23 per cent while large cars have slumped 23 per cent, according to official figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries released yesterday. Light cars accounted for 13 per cent of the August vehicle market, up from 9.5 per cent a year ago. Meanwhile, large cars now comprise just 14 per cent of vehicle sales this year, down from 17.5 per cent. Toyota's Yaris dominates the light car segment and it helped the Japanese giant stretch its sales lead over Holden to nearly 43,000 vehicles year-to-date. Despite the small car boom, overall vehicle sales continue to run behind last year's record result, widening slightly in August to be 3.4 per cent down on 2005. However, the FCAI has stuck to its forecast of 980,000 sales for the full year. "After four years of record growth the FCAI had been forecasting a slight decline of total sales in 2006 and the downturn is only a little greater than our initial prediction," said FCAI chief executive Peter Sturrock. He said August was notable for the strong debuts of the two new locally manufactured models. "The enthusiastic reception for the Holden Commodore and Toyota Camry is a great encouragement to the local automotive industry," he said. Holden spokesman Jason Laird said early buyers were opting for luxury and performance versions of the VE Commodore, but trends had yet to emerge. "It's a promising start but too early to be drawing any sort of conclusion," he said. "Dealers are filling their inventories and we're getting close to our production rate of 620 a day." Toyota Australia's senior executive director of sales and marketing David Buttner said the new Camry had been eagerly anticipated by private and fleet customers. "It's notable that Toyota's record sales total was achieved without any significant sales contribution from Camry V6, which is being phased out in preparation for the new Aurion," he said, referring to the six-cylinder Camry variant due later this year. Other locally built large cars had a tough time last month. The Mitsubishi 380 increased sales marginally over its dismal July result but still found only 1069 buyers. The company revised down its sales forecast to 1500 a month when it cut the price in April. Overall Mitsubishi sales are now down 11 per cent for the year, with declines for all models except the Lancer and Triton ute. The Ford Falcon recorded 3700 sales, down from 5800 last August and it is now running 20 per cent behind its 2005 sales rate. Ford's Territory SUV, with 1600 buyers last month, is down more than 18 per cent on last year. Ford found some consolation in a 77 per cent increase in demand for its small Focus, which overhauled the Territory to become its second most popular model in August with nearly 1700 sales. Mazda remains the leading importer in fourth spot on the sales chart, despite a 4.5 per cent dip this year. Honda has climbed to fifth, edging out Mitsubishi by 500 units. Its 12.5 per cent year-to-date sales increase makes it the best performing brand in the top 10. Volkswagen, with 37 per cent sales growth for the year, could overhaul tenth-placed Kia if the Korean importer fails to turn around its current slump. Other strong performers include Chrysler, up 73.6 per cent, Saab (+43.5 per cent), Volvo (+36.5), Peugeot (+25.2), Lexus (+24.5) and Suzuki (+24.4).

Car sales overall fell 5.2 per cent in August compared with the same month last year, with large cars recording the biggest slump, followed by declines for medium and large sports utility vehicles.About 5000 Commodores were sold, 2600 of which were the new VE model, which went on sale on August 14.The demand helped Holden reclaim the top sales spot from the Toyota Corolla, however Toyota's new model Camry outsold the Commodore, shifting about 2700 units in the month.Both new versions went on sale halfway through the month.Despite the success, sales of large cars continue to languish, with last month's 27 per cent fall year-on-year leaving the sector accounting for just 14 per cent of all vehicle sales, down from 17.5 per cent last year.Holden spokesman Jason Laird was cautious about the VE figures. "It's a promising start but too early to be drawing any sort of conclusion," he said, adding that sales were "pointing in the right direction"."Dealers are filling their inventories and we're getting close to our production rate of 620 a day," Mr Laird said.There were 3700 Ford Falcons sold, down from 5800 last August, a fall of 20 per cent. Just over 1000 Mitsubishi 380s were sold, less than the company's prediction of 1500 a month when it changed the price in April.But the new four-cylinder Toyota Camry has started strongly, with its 3023 sales in August representing a 45 per cent increase on August last year."The enthusiastic reception for the Holden Commodore and Toyota Camry is a great encouragement to the local automotive industry," Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Peter Sturrock said.The FCAI's official figures showed 81,661 new cars were sold last month, compared with 86,177 in August last year.Sales were down 3.4 per cent so far this year, with 642,383 vehicles sold. The FCAI said the market remained on track for 980,000 sales this year.The VE Commodore began recouping its $1 billion investment by reclaiming top spot after two consecutive wins by the Toyota Corolla.Despite the new model, 630 fewer Commodores were sold than in August last year and Toyota remained the top-selling maker - with its 18,585 August sales giving it a 21.8 per cent market share, ahead of Holden on 11,819 and Ford on 10,323.The figures came as it was suggested a decision on the future of Adelaide car-maker Mitsubishi could come as early as next month.John Camillo, South Australian secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, said Mitsubishi's Japanese parent company told its Australian subsidiary last October as it launched its make-or-break 380 model that it had 12 months to break even."Therefore, in October and November this year my understanding is that Mitsubishi Japan will have to make some sort of announcement," Mr Camillo said. "It really depends now on Mitsubishi Japan, whether they continue or don't."

A firm called Honda makes high-revving, efficient and desirable cars that focus on the driver. The Accord Euro, for example, is a Honda. Similar but subtly different is a company that sells mainly in the US. Pronounced as Hahn-da by Americans it makes larger, more softly sprung vehicles with slightly ungainly styling and an agenda that's more domestic appliance than driver's car. The Accord V6 is most definitely a Hahn-da - and so is the new Civic sedan.There's no longer a Civic hatch, at least not in Australia. Europeans get a Civic hatch built in Swindon, England, but Honda Australia says the impregnable British Pound makes that car too expensive for Australia. Instead we get a Thai-built version of the US-market Civic sedan. There's no reason to worry about its origins. This is no thrown-together takeaway. Build quality on both the cars we drove was very good, and difficult to tell from a Japanese made car.Civic comes in three versions. The glamour model is the hybrid, which uses a 15kW electric motor in combination with its 1.3-litre 70kW petrol engine. And there's a luxury Civic Sport with a larger 2.0-litre engine developing 114kW. But most sales will be the 1.8-litre Civic VTi, which we drove on test.It may be the basic Civic but with cruise control, power windows, air-conditioning and an MP3 compatible CD player, the VTi offers all the essentials of modern motoring life. It also shares a radical new interior with the rest of the Civic range.There are two instrument panels, one in the usual place near the steering wheel and one further forward, just below the bottom of the windscreen. The forward panel contains a splendidly legible digital speedometer. It's one of the best we've used and the next best thing to a head-up display. It sits between electronic bar-graph style fuel and temperature gauges. The lower panel contains the odometer, tripmeter, various warning lights and the tachometer — the only traditional needle and dial instrument in the car.The previous model's dashboard mounted gearshift has moved back down to a sort of plinth halfway between the dashboard and the floor, where it sits next to a stubby handbrake. Above them sit simple and straightforward radio and climate controls.There's no attempt to disguise the overwhelming acreage of plastic trim. But it's good quality, well-finished plastic and well-designed, with no shortage of storage spaces.Exterior design is not quite as successful to our eyes. Although the frontal treatment is striking, the body seems a little slab-sided with an awkwardness around the rear door and the wheel arch. It's the look of a car designed outwards from a set of interior dimensions, with the emphasis on practicality rather than desirability.But the most serious design flaw shows up once on the move. The windscreen pillars are both elephantine and awkwardly angled. The need to do well in crash tests has made thick windscreen pillars the curse of many modern cars, but the Civic's are particularly bad.Something about their angle and width seems to always put them in the way. A less serious but potentially annoying consequence of its design is that neither bonnet nor boot can be seen from the driver's seat, making parking a challenge.Things are better on the open road — for a start the Civic has a distinctly plush ride by small car standards. The seats are plush with decent-sized bases, and it's quiet, with road and wind noise well controlled. There's little intrusion from the 1.8-litre engine once moving. The five-speed gearshift is light, in typical Asian car fashion, but has enough weight and positive feel for serious driving.The steering wheel is a groovy, vaguely 1970s-looking item, slightly squared off and the same diameter as the wheel on Honda's S2000 sportscar. Unfortunately the power steering system it's connected to feels a little vague, although usefully direct.Roadholding is not the Civic's forte. Although perfectly competent in dry conditions at normal speeds, it lacks the satisfying precision of a Mazda 3 or Ford Focus, or even a Holden Astra. It doesn't inspire great confidence in the wet or over challenging roads. The price of its placid ride is a suspension that's too soft for committed driving and leads to a fair bit of wallowing and leaning. It also feels under-tyred, with less grip than expected.Despite the body roll and lack of sharpness there's a reasonably balanced feel to the handling — even though it lacks grip it doesn't feel terminally nose-heavy. But it's definitely more Hahn-da than Honda. But the engine retains most of the Honda virtues. Its willingnes to rev hard without sounding strained is a reminder that Honda began as a motorcycle manufacturer. Worked hard it's lively but in more mundane driving situations, such as climbing a long freeway grade in top gear, it can lack low-down torque. It redeems itself with very good fuel consumption. Car makers' fuel-use figures are often hard to match, but the 7.2 litres per 100km we saw in real-world urban driving was not far off Honda's quoted figure of 6.9 litres/100km.The rear seat is roomy enough to qualify the Civic as a four-adult car; it's too narrow to carry five full-sized adults in comfort for any substantial distance. The seatback folds down, but in once piece. Split-folding seatbacks (standard on many cars, including the bargain-basement Proton Savvy) are reserved for more expensive Civic versions.The folding seat makes the best of a disappointingly small boot. At 376 litres it is by Honda's own figures, 74 litres smaller than the previous model's boot. A high floor is the space invader. It's there to allow Honda to fit a full-sized spare wheel. Many will see that as an admirable exception to the trend towards space saver spares, but it does come at a price.Also slightly disappointing is the lack of side airbags in the volume-selling VTi. They can be had for another $3500 in the $24,490 Civic VTi-L — or for $17,990 if you buy any Holden Viva. And no Civic model offers electronic stability control, an omission somewhat at odds with Honda's otherwise deserved reputation as a technological leader.Honda Australia has ambitions to sell 12,000 Civics a year, nearly twice as many as it sold of the old model last year. Given the strength of the small car market and the Thai-sourced Civic's good quality and keen pricing it may well beat that target. Despite its faults the Civic is small car that drives like a big one.Verdict:

The S-Class also became Mercedes's technological showpiece. The W116 model of 1972 was among the first cars designed for crash safety and the W126 model of 1979 introduced ABS brakes and airbags to mass production cars (although airbags had appeared briefly in the US on 1973-76 Oldsmobiles).The 1991 W140 model — derided as the "swine-class" for its huge size — established a reputation for unimpeachable build quality that some think the W220 of 1999 lost slightly, although it shook off the piggy nickname with renewed agility and graceful styling.Now comes the W221, the first S-Class of the new millennium and the car that must uphold Mercedes-Benz's reputation for the remainder of the decade, at least. Its advanced technology credentials are an optional night vision system and hybrid powered concept versions, seen at last year's Frankfurt motor show. Until those cars hit the roads the question is how the S-Class performs in a world crowded with luxury car contenders and pretenders. After a week in an S500 L we have an answer. The fact that our week-long test included 650km of driving in a single afternoon gives some clue as to what it is.Styling on the largest Mercedes has moved with the times. The conservative and devout Adenauer might find this one a bit racy with its 17-inch wheels (18-inch on the test car) and prominent, flared guards. The boot and tail lights seem a nod to Maybach, which probably seemed like a good idea several years ago when the car was being drawn, although these days the less said about Mercedes-Benz's underperforming super-luxe line the better. But the result is lithe without being undignified. Something about the contradiction between its ready-for-action stance and its traditional luxury chromework evokes an athlete in a tailored suit.The interior is a new direction for Mercedes. A central control knob, similar to BMW's reviled iDrive and Audi's better regarded MMC system, appears on the centre console. Like the Audi system (and — to be fair — the latest versions of iDrive) the Benz comes with a "back" button to extricate you from the murkier depths of its multi-layer menu. It becomes comprehensible after a few days although operations like changing the radio station can be needlessly complex if you're using another mode, such as navigation, at the time. But that was also a whine about the old model's Comand system. Whether these controls are truly intuitive or whether your intuition adapts to their little ways is the unanswerable question.But questions of interior quality have been answered emphatically. Some reviewers said the previous model displayed a little too much plastic in the cabin. Not this one. Whatever plastics it uses are convincingly disguised, such as the steely cold feeling seat adjustment buttons. The rest is leather, cloth and metal.The result feels both old-world and up-to-the-minute. It's an elegant contradiction exemplified by the speedometer. Look again at the needle and dial and you realise it's actually an LCD screen emulating a conventional instrument. On cars equipped with night vision this is where the display appears.We'll withhold our verdict on the usefulness of this $3590 option until we take an S-Class down a 'roo-ridden country road at dusk. In city driving it adds little to what the streetlights illuminate. But the xenon headlights, which follow the steering, are brilliant.Radar cruise control is optional and will soon include a second, long-range radar that scans for objects entering the car's path. The system gives Mercedes the confidence to offer full automatic braking, from up to 200km/h down to a standstill if it detects an object. Certification in Australia has been delayed; the small matter of it using the same frequency as radio telescopes has to be resolved. Astronomers might confuse a passing S-Class with a distant galaxy.Another welcome change is the end of the Mercedes-Benz patent shin-scraper — also known as a foot-operated park brake. It's replaced by an electro-mechanical push-button parking brake as already used by Audi, Jaguar and BMW. By contrast the main brakes remain a conventional hydraulic/vacuum design with a direct physical link between the driver's foot and the wheels. Mercedes decided not to use the Sensotronic brake system of other recent models.In Sensotronic, the brake pedal acted as a switch for an electronic system. Impressive as this was to technology wonks, it offered no overwhelming advantage — particularly as ABS and stability control work perfectly well with conventional brakes. Old-fashioned or not, the S500's brakes had an exemplary combination of initial bite, strong stopping power and finesse for gentle stops.The interior ambience can best be summed up in one anecdote. You can listen to classical music at low volume when the S-Class is sitting on the motorway speed limit. (What else would a road tester for a broadsheet newspaper listen to?) Most cars drown out quiet orchestral passages, but the S-Class is a mobile concert hall.Ahead of its double-insulated firewall a newly designed 5.5-litre V8 turns at a relaxed 1500rpm at 100km/h, returning an impressive 12.4 litres per 100km over a very demanding test. Despite the truck-like low revs there's no vibration or coarseness through the driveline. That's expected but the way it responds between corners on winding roads is a surprise. Its 0-100km/h time of 5.4 seconds makes the two-tonne S-Class as fast as a Porsche Cayman. The seven-speed transmission can be shifted with steering wheel buttons, right for up and left for down. In sport mode, via a switch on the centre console, it can feel a little fidgety but in comfort mode it is as smooth as the rest of the car.The steering, light at first in familiar Mercedes fashion, becomes firmer as speeds rise although it never approaches sportscar levels of communication. The same goes for the S-Class's handling, although it is fundamentally well-balanced, well-endowed with grip and astonishingly agile for a big car.And big it is, although the styling disguises its true bulk. Front seat room is ample and the rear compartment of an S500 L is one of the few in any foreign car that is as commodious as those of a Holden Statesman or Ford Fairlane. It comes with three seatbelts but is really set up as a luxurious and roomy space for two, with a second interior control knob in the pull-down armrest for climate and audio.And while both a Statesman and Fairlane are well-sorted cars they can't approach the splendid isolation of the S-Class. Most of the time its ride is sublime, delivering the wafting sensation that is the mark of true luxury. Occasionally there's a rude interruption from broken bitumen or severely ridged concrete but it is like distant thunder, and larger bumps are almost completely damped away.That was why, as the big Benz bathed in the autumnal afternoon light beside a quiet road in southern NSW, it seemed entirely reasonable to take the long way home.

A reference close to the average Porsche buyer's heart, you might sarcastically think. And the lip curls further as the eye scans the options list. The test Cayman came in blue metallic paint — for an extra $5990 — a sports steering wheel is $1790 and the sport chrono package — essentially a dash-mounted stopwatch — is $2190. Who needs taxes with options prices like that? The $6000 paint, incidentally, is almost identical to the shade of metallic blue that costs Holden Viva buyers an extra $300.Outrageous, but does anyone care? Not me. After a week in the Cayman S, options prices faded into insignificance. The question was academic: I wasn't paying and will probably never be in a position to order my own Cayman. But its performance, quality and sheer rightness were real. Even with its many marginal rip-offs the Cayman S is still an outstanding sportscar — and outstanding value. It offers at least as much ability as the Porsche 911 — for nearly $50,000 less.So stand by for another Porsche paean. I don't much like crocodiles, loathe tax cheats and tried to dislike the Cayman, but nobody with any feeling for how a car should drive can do anything but love this one.The Cayman S is a new Porsche model between the Boxster roadster and the rear-engined 911 range. It is mid-engined like the Boxster but uses a larger capacity unit. At 3.4-litres the Cayman's flat-six lies between the 3.2-litre engine of a Boxster S and the 3.6-litre motor of the cheapest 911 Carrera. Its 217kW of power puts it between the 206kW of the Boxster S and the 235kW of the 911. And at $148,500 (plus options, easily another $15,000) also sits between them in price. Marvellous thing, marketing.In time there will probably be a Cayman without the S, once Porsche works out how to position a cheaper version in its price range. For now the Cayman S is a hybrid of 911 Carrera, Carrera S and Boxster S. The engine is based on the the Boxster S motor but adds 911 cylinder heads with the Variocam Plus system that alters both valve timing and lift (how much the valve opens). The cams are taken from the 3.8-litre 911 Carrera S and the brakes are shared with the 911 and Boxster S. Porsche says the Cayman shares 51 per cent of its components with the 911, 29 per cent with the Boxster and is 20 per cent unique.It's easy to see where the Boxster parts are. The interior is identical, which means it's both luxurious and an authentic feeling homage to the sparse Porsche cockpits of the 1960s and 70s. A slightly awkward looking hump in the roof line ensures good head space, even when sitting in the upright position that the Cayman's considerable acceleration and braking abilities make necessary.There are only two seats, unlike the 911 which makes the pretence of offering four. Despite a large rear hatch there's little luggage space. Porsche says the Cayman can carry a snowboard, which sounds impressive, but they're being selective. The engine sits in a carpeted hump just below the hatchback glass. Near the tail it's a little deeper but narrow — take no more than a soft overnight bag for your Cayman caper. Like the Boxster and the old VW Beetle there's a bucket-shaped boot between the headlights. It could carry a case of wine perhaps. What space there is comes at the expense of a spare wheel. Instead you get an inflation kit and 12 months of Porsche's 24-hour priority road service — so long as you're in mobile range, eh?But as with the Boxster it takes more than no spare tyre to spoil the Cayman. As a fan of the Boxster's combination of open-top freedom and solidity I thought I'd miss the sensuality of roadster motoring, but no, the payoff for the Cayman's fixed roof is an even more solid feel.Porsche says the Cayman S gets around Germany's Nurburgring road circuit faster than a Boxster S and only marginally slower than a 911 Carrera. Maybe, but that's with test driver Walter Rohrl at the wheel. For less talented drivers — and that's most of the human race — the Cayman would probably be faster because it is an easier car to drive than the 911 although it still rewards co-ordination and finesse.Although tamed by modern tyres and electronics, the 911 never quite overcomes the fact that its rear-mounted engine is in the wrong place for ultimate roadholding. To borrow Quentin Tarantino's memorable phrase, it gives the disquieting impression it will "get medieval on your ass" should you misjudge a corner. The Cayman's mid-mounted engine makes no such threats.You could use plenty of glowing jargon to describe a Cayman's handling — sharp turn-in, massive front-end grip and delicious adjustability are just three in a long list. Instead let's just say it takes corners like an Olympic skier, with carving precision, rather than the sliding antics of lesser athletes.The steering is, like all Porsche cars, unencumbered by the weight of an engine over the front wheels. Hold the expensive wheel correctly and you feel it dropping strong hints about how much grip is available and how much angle you need. It makes other cars feel like their steering gear is made from chewing gum and string.The six-speed manual gearshift and clutch are just as exemplary. They are light enough for the car never to be a chore in city traffic but positive in harder driving. A wide gate minimises confusion between gears with fifth and sixth well-separated from third and fourth but the shift action remains quick and harmonisation with the pedals is exquisite, transforming almost any driver into a fluent heel and toe shifter. Stopping power is extreme with an aggressive initial bite but plenty of subtlety and modulation in the brake pedal. Braver men than me have reported they endure repeated high-speed stops without the least sign of fading.The one criticism of the standard 2.7-litre Porsche Boxster was a relative lack of mid-range torque. Not in the Cayman. It's strong from idle to redline with a linear power delivery that makes it fast whenever the driver's foot goes down. Using mid-range torque to press on rather than storm brings another reward — between 4000 and 6000rpm it howls like a dive bomber in an old war movie — an irresistible fantasy for men of a certain age. Fuel consumption at 12.5 litres per 100km on test was surprisingly good for a high-performance car. It gives the Cayman a range the thirstier 911 lacks.But be aware the Cayman has another type of consumption. According to the owner's manual, it's entirely normal for the engine to consume up to 1.5 litres of oil for every 1000km. In engineering terms it's the price of power — a tighter, non-oil-burning motor could not produce the same output and throttle response. That's why refilling the dry-sump engine's oil tank is one of the few mechanical tasks Cayman owners can do themselves, and why the car checks its own oil level every time it starts.There's no standard CD stacker, just a single slot and no steering wheel audio controls. They aren't missed on such an entertaining car but the lack of a rear wiper was slightly irritating. Instead Porsche offers active suspension management as an option. A sport button near the gearshift selects harder damper settings for more responsive handling and changes the throttle map for sharper response to the pedal. The system also monitors road conditions and will firm or ease off the shocks, as it sees fit. It does this even in normal mode. The result is at moderate pace the Cayman rides unusually well for a high-performance coupe — and is ready for action even if you don't hit the this-is-serious-folks button. But it's worth doing so for the sharper throttle even at the cost of some discomfort.The sport chrono package fitted to the test car further winds up suspension and engine settings, while timing your progress on a centrally mounted stopwatch. Sounds good, but even by Porsche's reckoning it's only worth 3 seconds on Nurburgring. That's flat-out over 20.4km and 73 bends, not a difference you're likely to notice in road use.It's yet another thing to be cynical about in the Cayman. There's only one cure: you just have to drive it.Verdict: