Articles by Stephen Corby

The General Motors-made vehicle is considered one of the largest and least fuel efficient SUVs in the world and comes at a time when vehicle sales in that segment have dropped 23.1 per cent in the year to date. But that's irrelevant to the appeal of a Hummer, which Holden says needs no explanation. "There's nothing like it anywhere in the world," a spokesman said after the announcement at the Australian International Motor Show. "What it represents needs no explanation." The Hummer was originally a military and government vehicle called a Hum-Vee - an acronym for High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. GM changed the branding to Hummer once it took over marketing and distribution from the military division of American Motors. The Hum-Vee saw significant action in the Gulf War and was catapulted to pop culture glory after featuring in movies such as Three Kings. Holden plans to sell the H3 Hummer, which is the smallest model on the market. "The H3 perfectly matches Australian conditions because of its size, and it has what Australians expect to see in terms of capabilities," a Holden spokesman said. The H3 Hummer is considered to have serious off-road capabilities and will compete against the Toyota Prado, Nissan Patrol, and Jeep Grand Cherokee. Pricing would be announced closer to its mid-2007 availability. Holden claimed the Hummer had a shorter turning circle than the Ford Territory and also a shorter wheel base. Few Australians have seen a Hummer in the metal, with boutique importers bringing in low volumes of H2 Hummers and converting them to right hand drive. The H3 will continue to be made at GMs Port Elizabeth factory in South Africa, and will be the first factory-made right-hand drive Hummer available. Initially, the H3 would be available in Australia with a 3.7-litre inline five-cylinder petrol engine, producing peak power of 180kW at 5600rpm and peak torque of 328Nm at 4600rpm. A diesel version could also be offered at a later date. Private sales of SUV diesels grew 1.6 per cent in 2006 compared with a 12.1 per cent drop in petrol sales. FAST FACTS Engine: 3.7-litre Vortec 3700 five-cylinder engine with dual overhead cams and variable valve timing. H3 will offer an MA5 five-speed manual transmission or 4L60-E electronically controlled four-speed automatic transmission, depending on specification. Fuel economy under the US EPA city/highway measurement of 6-8 km per litre for the manual and 4-5 km per litre for the automatic. Electronically controlled four-wheel-drive system features traction control, underbody shielding and StabiliTrak control system. Safety features include roof rail-mounted side curtain air bags and rollover protection system. H3 can traverse 407mm of water at 32km/h or 610mm streams at an 8 km/h pace, 407mm vertical steps, rocks and sand. 11.3 m turning circle 216mm ground clearance and maximum break-over angle of 23.5 degrees make it possible to clear large obstacles in off-road driving. maximum approach angle of 37.5 degrees and maximum departure angle of 34.6 degrees.

The 3 Series convertible arrives less than a month after the coupe, launch in Australia and more than 12 months after BMW’s highest selling sedan range.

The Mazda Kabura - a sporty coupe with a unique asymmetrical design involving three passenger doors - made a surprise appearance signalling that the Australian International Motor Show was finally in town.The multi-million dollar coupe concept has two front passenger seats, one rear passenger seat, and a smaller jump seat behind the driver.A Mazda spokesman said the unique 3+1 design was in keeping with sports car usage."Most people only take one passenger in a sports car. You might fit a child in this rear seat, but it’s primarily designed for coupe buyers."All passenger seats fold flat to accomaodate recreation gear such as snow boards, shopping bags and anything else that a youth market might want in an affordable sports car.The rear door opens by electronically sliding inside the panels of the vehicle.An MX-5 engine sits under the hood while the body takes styling cues from an RX-8.Mazda wouldn’t confirm if the Kabura would reach production, but it would be inexpensive and aimed at RX-7 buyers.The carmaker has had a good run on concept cars making it to production over the last six years. The most notable being the RX-8, which went from concept to production in four years and remained almost untouched in the final version.The Kabura was first launched at the Detroit Motor Show in January this year and travelled to all major Motor Shows including the most recent Paris Motor Show.The rear wheel drive Kabura has a 2.0-litre version of Mazda’s highly respected MZR DOHC 16-valve engine, and comes with 245/35R19 Bridgestone Potenza front tires and 245/35R20 tires at the rear.The car has been constructed over several MX-5 chassis components, and the basic dimensions fall between Mazda’s MX-5 and RX-8 sportscars.Kabura design efforts were guided by Mazda North American Operations’ (MNAO) Director of Design Franz von Holzhausen, who joined Mazda in February 2005.Von Holzhausen said the Kabura’s exterior was: "a nimble-looking fuselage with a powerful stance, pronounced wheel arches and taut surfaces.""Every line flows into another with no open ends. Surfaces are drawn tight over the wheel arches, the way a spider’s web stretches between anchor points."The side looks like a conventional coupe but the windshield and forward portion of the roof are integrated into one seamless glass surface that extends from the cowl to the B-pillar.The overhead glass has adjustable tinting so drivers can lighten and darken the interior with the twist of a knob.The interior has an eye for environment-friendly car design by featuring recycled materials, including regenerated leathers produced from 100-percent post-industrial waste.Von Holzhausen said much of the waste was material recovered from the manufacturing of Nike brand athletic shoes, which was treated in such a way to allow it to be dyed and printed in any color or design.

There was a time in my life when I would have, given the chance, quite unashamedly thrown my arms around Wayne Gardner and hugged him — I was that much of a fan.Yet I recently did both during a four-lap fang around Eastern Creek on the back of Gardner's fearsome Honda Fireblade — an experience that was the most physically and emotionally exhausting and exhilarating eight minutes I've ever lived through.The former 500cc world champ is, as you'd expect, an absolute Steve Waugh-level legend of a bloke in person, and he laconically explained that he normally does pillion hot laps only for charity.The going price at auction for two laps with Gardner is around $6000, and apparently a few of the lucky bidders haven't even made it that far before they've begun pounding on his back with their fists in a panicked entreaty for him to slow down."But you'll be right. If you've ridden bikes before, you won't be scared," he grinned at me, somewhat maniacally.The 46-year-old, who attends the Eastern Creek Ride Days every month to blow the cobwebs out, bade me climb on the disturbingly elevated rear seat of his Honda — a 1000cc machine that weighs just 176kg and pumps out a silly 123kW — and went through the survival methods I would need for our hot laps.Under acceleration, I would link my arms, and fingers, around his waist, and hang on as if I was being dangled over a cliff, but then, under braking, I would have to let go and place my hands on the tank, to brace myself.At the same time, it was important not to hold him too tightly, because he would need room to "get off the bike" to go around the corners.Down the straight, where Gardner had been hitting 295km/h in his rather heated solo warm-up laps, he explained that I would have to tuck in behind him "or else the wind will just blow you straight off the back."We burst out of the pits at ohmygod speed, and, within 20m, the front wheel was waving gaily in the air — a gut-gurgling experience from my seat.Gardner kept accelerating, stupidly hard, towards the hairpin left-hander that is Turn Two, and then applied the brakes with all the subtlety of an AllBlacks haka.Even pushing back as hard as I could against the fuel tank, I couldn't keep my backside on the seat, and I found myself rising dangerously high into the air.Falling off wasn't my biggest fear, because I was more concerned about the embarrassing fashion in which I was mounting Gardner's back.Tipping into the corner, he shook his head angrily and wriggled furiously, reminding me that I had to loosen my boa constrictor grip and allow him to drop his knee — and the bike — to the ground.This might seem like a scary experience, but these slow, low corners were the only time I could actually relax a little and breathe, before the brutality of our acceleration towards the next bend, and the physical battering of braking, knocked the wind out of me again.Coming out of Turn Three at what felt like terminal velocity, the front wheel pointed at the sky again and stayed there as Gardner changed up a gear and we fell down the hill towards Turn Four.His pace around the Corporate Hill section of the track was blistering, bordering on unbelievable, and when we hit the straight — where we managed 275km/h — the air rush smashed my helmet into my head, and my head into my rib cage.Then came Turn One, a fast sweeper that we attacked at over 200km/h.Words simply cannot explain the strange mixture of elation and fear this bend inspired.For the next few laps, I fought as hard as I could to stay on the bike, resorting to jamming my balled fists into the tank in an only partly successful attempt to keep my butt somewhere near the seat under braking.I did manage to perfect a hoop-arm technique that allowed Gardner to throw his body off the bike and corner as he pleased, and I even became reasonably comfortable with riding around on one wheel — a trick he carried on for about one-third of the track's distance on our cool-down lap.I thanked Gardner as profusely as my collapsed lungs would allow and told him that no motorsport experience I'd ever endured — hot laps in V8 Supercars, thrill rides with rally drivers — had even come close to this."Ah, cars are rubbish; nothing can match a bike," he grinned."The great thing about being on a bike is that you're totally part of it, you're completely involved. There's nothing else like it. I just love it."The grinning blokes watching from the pit wall informed us that, even with me on the bike, Gardner's times were faster than the best riders there had managed that day riding solo.I was so grateful, I almost hugged him again. For more on Eastern Creek Ride Days, call 1300 793 423 or go to www.easterncreekridedays.com.auStephen Corby is a senior roadtester for the CARSguide team whose work also appears in the Sunday Telegraph.

Skaife choked as soon as the starting flag dropped, with a slipped clutch that saw him drop to the back of the field before the first corner.

There are already too many gushing words used to describe the rumble of V8’s by race geeks, so we’ll just use a few: like roid-raging bumblebees.And yes the concrete shakes, your ears hurt, your bones rattle a bit.Here it is. It may take a minute to download.

We'll all see lots of flashy pics from professional sports photographers in the lead up and from race day, but nothing quite as real as the pics from your camera.CARSguide wants all readers to document the 2006 Bathurst 1000the way it was, so you're invited to send in your best pics of the weird and the wonderful.The best Bathurst snaps from CARSguide readers will feature in the Bathurst Bird's Eye view gallery, and can be images of crowd action, race action or both.Send your pics low resolution (under 200 kilobytes each), and send to feedback@NOSPAMcarsguide.com.au. Remove the words NO SPAM, and to make sure we notice your mail, you’ll need a subject heading clearly labelled "BATHURST PICS".Make Bathurst yours and create history.

Holden young gun Rick Kelly fired the first salvo at Ford by flaunting the past seven Bathurst victories by the Commodore at Mount Panorama.

Mini bigwig Dr. Michael Ganal said all new models of the Mini had completely new four cylinder engines, which he claimed increased performance and decreased fuel consumption by 20 per cent.Other new features included an optimised chassis, new six-speed transmission and electro-mechanically assisted power steering.The new Mini is boasting itself as the safest car in its class with six airbags as standard. Ganal said the exterior changes are subtle because Mini buyers don’t like change, so the rounded headlights and hexagonal grille have had only slight design tweaks to bring them up to date.Inside is a different story, with a complete revamp for a more spacious and sporty feel, he said.The CARSguide test team is currently in Barcelona for the official worldwide launch of the new Mini, and our test drive reports will be available in coming weeks.

Australian buyers can expect to see the car at dealers in the second quarter of 2007.