Articles by Stephen Corby

It had to happen; Tesla, and Elon Musk, have finally gone to the dogs. The famously quirky and fast-reacting company has announced that it will launch 'Dog Mode' for its cars - via an over-the-air software update - this week.Unusually, Dog Mode - which is designed to make the interior of a Tesla more pleasant for dogs, or other pets, that have been left in there - was not one of Musk’s own crazy ideas.Twitter user Josh Atchley originally pitched the idea to social-media-addicted Musk in October last year, asking whether it would be possible to have a mode that would leave a Tesla’s air conditioning, and music, on while the car is parked, so he could leave his dog in the vehicle.He also suggested it would be a good idea to leave a message on the giant multimedia screen saying “I’m fine, my owner will be right back.”Why? Because dog owners are taking over the world, that’s why. No one has suggested that Dog Mode would work for children left in cars, of course, because that would still be a terrible, and illegal, idea.(Hyundai’s Santa Fe takes a slightly different, but clever, approach to animals, or humans, you may have left in the car, perhaps by accident. The car has an ultrasonic sensor in the headliner to detect motion in the rear seats, which will then notify the driver to check back there after turning off the engine. If that doesn’t work, and the vehicle is locked with someone, or some living thing, inside, the system sets off an alarm - it’s the kind of high-tech idea Musk would be proud of.)Imagine Mr Atchley’s surprise when Musk Tweeted back, “Yes”. On February 7th, Musk updated him with another Tweet announcing “Sentry Mode (and Dog Mode) roll out next week”.Sentry Mode was yet another idea pitched to Musk by a Twitter user, who requested a “360 dash-cam feature while parked”.The concept, which is actually a very good one, is to use the various exterior cameras found on Tesla vehicles to constantly monitor what’s happening around, or to, the vehicle while it’s parked.This would mean that if your car was scratched, bumped or even broken into, you’d have video evidence to provide to authorities.If you’ve got an idea for a feature that Tesla should add to its cars (don’t try “make them fly” because Musk is already working on that one, via another Tweet.), feel free to get on Twitter and suggest it. It really is that easy.

In the race to be the first company in the world to get a fully functioning autonomous car into showrooms and on to public roads, it looks like global giant Toyota might just beat the high-tech Germans, and sci-fi loving Tesla, with the company pledging to offer a self-driving, road-registrable car within the next year.Toyota knows how big a task this is, indeed it’s being described as the company’s “moonshot”, a reference to the US space program aiming for the impossible back in the 1960s, but believes it can be done by creating the “most powerful supercomputer on wheels."James Kuffner, CEO of Toyota Research Institute Advanced Development Inc, or TRI-AD, is the man faced with the task of finding and hiring people with the necessary skills and then getting them not only to develop the software and hardware necessary, but finding ways to vastly reduce the amount such technologies cost. The goal being to produce a car people not only want, but can afford.TRI-AD was established in March, 2018 to help Toyota bridge the gap between theory and showroom floor more quickly. While the program is branded and run by Toyota, you can bet the first vehicles it puts on the road will be wearing a more expensive Lexus badge.Its first goal is to have vehicles that can drive themselves, at least in highway conditions, on Japanese roads by 2020, using a system called 'Highway Teammate'. As futuristic as that date sounds, it’s now less than a year away."The prototypes and the pre-production vehicles that the team is building here at TRI-AD are going to be… the most intelligent supercomputer on wheels," Kuffner told Autonews.com."We've called it the moonshot of my generation to build this technology and bring it to market.”As the name Highway Teammate might suggest, Kuffner is an American and has made his way to Tokyo via Silicon Valley.He’s got quite the budget to play with, too, as Toyota Group suppliers Aisin Seiki and Denso have invested $US2.8 billion into this new division.While we’ve heard about test mules, and even driven, or been driven, in a few before, on Japanese roads and race tracks - an unsettling but fascinating experience - Kuffner is all about turning these experimental vehicles into reality.”If you think about building a research prototype, making a demonstration is pretty easy, but making a product is really hard," Kuffner said."Whenever we talk about our company, we often talk about being a bridge of the prototype to the product.”Advanced prototypes already exist, of course, and they are based on a Lexus LS sedan, which has been turned into a kind of mobile laboratory.Globally, Kuffner admits, there is huge competition to find the best people with the knowledge to create supercomputers on wheels."People actually respond well to our mission," Kuffner said. "I can tell a top-talented software engineer, 'Would you like to write software to sell ads, or would you like to write software to save lives?’ And they'll join us."

In the way of its excellent and mildly hilarious Super Bowl commercial, 'The Cashew' Audi is set to unveil yet another desirable looking, Goldilocks-sized EV at the Geneva Motor Show.Audi is not releasing too many details but has confirmed the Q3-sized "premium compact SUV concept" will debut in Geneva on March 5.More enticingly, this 'concept' is likely to be very close to the production model the company is expected to reveal later in 2020, with deliveries expected to begin at the start of 2021.The as-yet-unnamed EV will be a sister model to Volkswagen's Golf-size I.D. Neo electric hatch, which goes on sale in Europe next year, and will sit on the same VW Group MEB electric-car architecture.If and when it goes into production the Audi would be built alongside the Neo at the VW factory in Zwickau, Germany, where the global giant is investing 1.2 billion euros in EVs, with the goal of producing as many as 330,000 of them a year, wearing VW, Audi and Seat badges.The Q3-sized but no doubt more futuristically styled SUV is part of Audi's attempt to fill out its EV line-up in a bid to take on Tesla, and Jaguar's I-Pace.The new MEB-based small SUV EV would join the Audi E-Tron, which is already for sale, with deliveries starting in Europe next month. The E-Tron will arrive in Australia later this year, with prices tipped to start around $140,000, but so far unconfirmed.Audi is seriously invested in EV technology, as its Super Bowl commercial indicates, and plans to have 12 full EV models in showrooms by 2025.

On any normal car, the very clever Wet Mode just launched on the new 992 Porsche 911 would be seen as a very good idea, and have safety experts clapping joyfully, but on such a savage sports car it seems a little… insulting.

In theory, satellite navigation is the best thing to happen to human relationships since the invention of deodorant. Those of us old enough to remember the days of big maps that even a black belt in origami couldn't fold properly, and raging arguments over the orienteering skills of men vs women, know full well just how lucky couples are today to have a bland-voiced guidance counsellor in the car.It's no exaggeration to say that there are probably children who only exist today, or only have their parents still living together, because of the advent of satellite navigation.Unfortunately, as anyone who has driven a few different brands of car will tell you, all sat navs are not created equal, and if you find yourself stuck with a bad one, you might find yourself rediscovering the nav-rage of being sent around the bend by bad directions.Personally, I've tried a few in-car systems - including those from industry giants Mazda and Toyota - that were so infuriating, and incoherent, that I would have been better off throwing bread crumbs out the window, or trailing a piece of string to find my way home.These companies are experts at making cars, not navigation systems, so they just don't put the effort in that stand-alone GPS makers do.So we decided to find out why some units are better than others, and why sometimes even using your phone's map app is better than using the expensive in-car system.We were lucky enough to find an industry Deep Throat, who works for one of the companies that builds navigation systems and understands the technology, but didn't want to be identified, because their business also provides map data and software to some car companies, who they'd prefer not to offend.DT says the essential problem with car-company systems it that they just don't care. "Satellite navigation is just another tick-a-box for them. Have we got Bluetooth? Check. A stereo? Check. Sat nav? Check. These companies are experts at making cars, not navigation systems, so they just don't put the effort in that stand-alone GPS makers do," he/she explained."From our experience working with car companies, the big challenge they face is that the dash and the hardware in a new car has usually been planned five or seven years ago, and then they need to support that system for the next five or seven years, so by the time you buy a car the sat nav in it can be almost redundant."Like anything, you've got processing power, CPUs that are the brains behind the navigation, those things change, rapidly, and with things like phones and stand-alone GPS units we can improve those every time we manufacture a new one."Every year we get to reassess what's making up the guts of the product, and a car company doesn't have that luxury."DT is often frustrated by how uninformed the people they deal with at car companies are - often it's the person in charge of 'in-car entertainment' rather than a navigation expert - and how unconcerned they are with being up to date."Honestly, I drove a Volvo recently, a new car, that didn't even do spoken street names, and we've had meetings where the car people go ‘wow, can sat nav do that now?'" DT exclaims.Apparently, when your car's system takes you on some absurdly long-winded route that makes no sense, and then home again a completely different way, or just fails altogether, it's either the fault of the mapping data - which is often not up to date - a lost connection with the satellite, or the "navigation engine, which isn't very good at choosing a route."It is this essential piece of software that requires serious investment to stay up to date with best practice.It's possible, of course, that your navigation system is taking you on back roads to avoid traffic, but only the very smartest in-car units are capable of doing that, or doing it well.The very best after-market systems - from companies like TomTom, Navman and Garmin - not only connect to live traffic information to help guide you around jams, but have algorithms based on what you might call local knowledge, so they'll know not to take you down Parramatta Road in Sydney, for example, ever, during daylight hours.Apple CarPlay is a trend we're seeing, because for a car manufacture it's a cheap way to go.As for your mobile phone, DT says it's important to remember that, much like a car, being a navigation device is not its core function."I think if I'm walking in the city, I'll look on my phone, because that's where phones come from in navigation terms, from pedestrian mode - getting people around places on foot - rather than car mode, which isn't what they do best," DT explains."That's why a lot of stand-alone systems now will guide you to the street address, then hand off to an app on the phone that will take you direct to the door of where you're going."You have to remember that Samsung isn't building its own maps, its own direction-algorithms; the phone companies are getting their navigation engines from somewhere else."Despite the perceived flaws of phone navigation, however, DT believes it will increasingly play a larger part in the way we move around in cars, as systems like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto - which allow you to run your phone's apps, including navigation, through the head unit -  find their way into the dashboards of new cars."Apple CarPlay is a trend we're seeing, because for a car manufacture it's a cheap way to go, they don't have to buy a lot of licences, the user just brings the navigation with them into the car - I think it will go that way increasingly," DT says.Hyundai Australia is one company already cleverly heading in that direction, offering cheaper, base models of most of its range with CarPlay/Android Auto, but no in-built nav."We are working towards having in-built nav and CarPlay/Android Auto in some vehicles," Hyundai Australia spokesman Bill Thomas explained."Arguably, in-built nav is superior, at least currently, because it is not reliant on a phone signal/data, but uses satellite positioning linked to a map that is always locked and loaded and ready to go in the car."However, CarPlay/AA is extremely effective, too, in that it allows you to access your own phone's ‘Ecosystem' via your car and use phone-based nav when needed."Taking the system in your new car for a test run could be just as important as the test drive itself.Mazda Australia, meanwhile, has recently changed from using TomTom branded navigation systems in its cars to a bespoke sat nav, developed specifically for the company, as part of 'MZD Connect.'The company claims its system, which uses maps sourced from a local supplier, is superior to any purpose-built, aftermarket navigation system."We'd be surprised if someone decided to remove the MZD Connect system and replace it with an aftermarket option as it has been designed specifically for Mazda," a spokesman said."In addition, the MZD Connect system has been widely praised by media and our customers – including the quality of the sat nav - thanks to its features and ease of use."What's clear, however, is that if you tend to use your sat nav a lot to get around, taking the system in your new car for a test run could be just as important as the test drive itself.

Holden has finally been given some good news by its parent company, General Motors has told its Australian bosses they are allowed to raid the candy store.

There's no finer way to ruin your day, and throw yourself into a frenzy of frantic self-loathing, than to realise you've lost your car keys.

If you're a true believer in the theory that weight is the enemy of performance, one of the guiding principles of the Mazda MX-5, then this $41,960 variant is the one for you. It's got the old, cloth-style roof rather than the fancy, and far heavier, folding hard top, and you really can feel the difference. But with the GT - unlike the base model 1.5-litre roadster - you get the properly fizzing new version of the 2.0-litre engine, making 135kW/205Nm, pushed to the rear wheels through either a fantastic six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed auto that's nowhere near as much fun.Standard kit from the base car includes a new reversing camera, 16-inch alloy wheels, now black metallic for extra visual menace,  LED headlamps, power mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, climate-control air, black cloth seats, a 7.0-inch touchscreen with 'MZD Connect', an audio system with six speakers and DAB+ (but no CD player), Bluetooth streaming, internet radio integration, satellite navigation, 'Smart City Brake Support', or AEB, 'Traffic Sign Recognition', and blind-spot monitoring.Stepping up to this GT throws in 17-inch alloys, adaptive LED headlights and DRLs, black or tan leather seats, a Bose premium stereo with nine speakers, keyless entry, 'Driver Attention Alert', lane-departure warning and reverse parking sensors, and Smart City Brake Support in reverse. The new car also gets a telescopically adjustable steering wheel, which makes the perfect driving position even more perfect.

If you really must have a hard roof, with the attendant increase in weight (and lifting of the centre of gravity), then you'll be very happy with the RF, as it's a solid feeling lid that opens and shuts with minimal fuss (although you have to be doing less than 10km/h - ie basically stopped - to use it). Remarkably, at this entry level, the price comes in under $40K, just at $39,400. And you do get the properly fizzing new version of the 2.0-litre engine (RF is not available with the 1.5), making 135kW/205Nm, pushed to the rear wheels through either a fantastic six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed auto that's nowhere near as much fun.Standard kit for the base car includes a new reversing camera, 16-inch alloy wheels, now black metallic for extra visual menace,  LED headlamps, power mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, climate-control air, black cloth seats, a 7-inch touch screen with 'MZD Connect', an audio system with six speakers and DAB+ (but no CD player), Bluetooth streaming, internet radio integration, satellite navigation, 'Smart City Brake Support', or AEB, 'Traffic Sign Recognition',  and blind-spot monitoring.The new car also gets a telescopically adjustable steering wheel, which makes the perfect driving position even more perfect.

If you like your MX-5 with the lot, this is the car for you, at $45,960, which gets you not only the fizzing new version of the 2.0-litre engine (RF is not available with the 1.5), making 135kW/205Nm, pushed to the rear wheels through either a fantastic six-speed manual gearbox or a six-speed auto that's nowhere near as much fun.What you also get is the full suite of safety systems, so everything on entry level plus 'Driver Attention Alert', lane-departure warning and reverse parking sensors, and 'Smart City Brake Support' in reverse. You also get  17-inch  alloys, adaptive LED headlights and DRLs, black or tan leather seats, a Bose premium stereo with nine speakers and keyless entry.And, as on all new versions, your steering wheel is now telescopically adjustable for your comfort.