Articles by Stuart Martin

Stuart Martin road tests and reviews the BMW 420d Convertible, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Mini adds $5000 worth of extras to Paceman and Countryman for 2015.More gear for the same asking price - that's the message Mini is sending with its revamped Countryman and Paceman.The BMW-owned British brand has given the pair some extra pep as well for their arrival next month but the claimed $5000 worth of extra gear is likely to generate more interest.The brand says the added features include satnav, audio upgrade and trim tweaks Its dashboard will have a 'new-look" instrument dial layout and air vent controls. Denser sound insulation improve scabin refinement.Cooper S versions of each, and the All4 variant of the Countryman, will pump out an extra 5kW. External changes include LED fog/daytime running lights, heated mirrors and windscreen washers.Countryman owners are not necessarily expected to go off-road - a main road through to the snow is more likely - so in addition to the heating functions there's also a new Offroad styling package standard on Cooper S All4 and Cooper SD All4 variants.Mini says the improvements are worth $5000, but it says it is (generously) absorbing these costs and aligning the prices - the upgraded Countryman and Paceman will start from $34,150, which is a $50 rise for the former and a cut for the latter by $1650.Mini Australia general manager Kai Bruesewitz says the brand is in the middle of 'an exciting and eventful year".'The launch of the all-new Mini Hatch in April heralded a new era in Australia, with enhanced specifications and a major increase in customer value," he says.Sales have perhaps not reflected the maker's excitement, which is why staffers are looking forward to the five-door.So far this year only 1258 Mini vehicles have rolled from showrooms, a 17 per cent drop on its 2013 performance to the same point. Alfa Romeo and Porsche, among others, are outselling Mini.Bruesewitz says there is more to come from the British automotive icon.

Hyundai's ix35 is on top in the small SUV segment but Stuart Martin finds renewed opposition from Nissan's Dualis replacement, the Qashqai.

Renault pushes for a new category for its Twizy electric runabout but there is a query on quadricycle safety. Renault’s Australian arm has put its two-seater Twizy electric vehicle on what it calls a “long road" to establish a new vehicle category here. The French brand is seeking a quadricycle classification, as is the case in Europe, that does not require its personal mobility device to conform to passenger vehicle safety standards.The company argues that the Twizy performs similar duty to an electric scooter but with a much-greater level of safety. Renault Australia managing director Justin Hocevar says the Twizy has to be driven locally to be understood. He describes "a unique, imaginative and exciting view of future personal mobility" in increasingly congested cities.Three Twizys can fit on a standard car parking space and the vehicle can be charged overnight from a standard household socket, he says. The Twizy has been on sale in Europe for two years. Renault's local arm wants to show its capabilities to legislators, industry associations, transport authorities and the public.There are some Renault electric light-commercial vans on test on the Australia Post fleet. The maker also has conducted hot-weather testing on its Zoe small car. Corporate communications manager Emily Fadeyev says the Twizy program is in the "early, early stages ... you need to see it to understand it".Renault started the process at last weekend's Hunter electric vehicle festival in Newcastle and it has an EV specialist approaching federal and state authorities to create a quadricycle category. The four-wheel Twizy has disc brakes, with a protective cell around its two passengers (there are optional "scissor" doors) as well as an airbag and four-point harness for the driver. The rear passenger has a conventional three-point seat belt.Weighing 450kg, the Twizy can reach 80km/h. Its lithium-ion battery, which is recharged when decelerating or via a normal power socket in just under four hours, powers a 13kW/57Nm electric motor. Maximum range is 100km though the real-world figures are more like 55km-80km. Among its chief attractions is the ability to go from A to B in the open and without a helmet.Crash testing authority Euro NCAP tested four "heavy quadricycles" earlier this year as part of what it called "a special safety campaign". It found "all vehicles have performed very poorly and some have shown serious risks of life threatening injuries".NCAP logged "dangerously high" forces acting on the head and neck of occupants and poor leg protection, particular near the driver's knees. The safety body chief Michiel van Ratingen concedes crash tests for quadricycles are not required by law and they have nowhere near the level of safety of a regular passenger car.Euro NCAP has called on makers and legislators to ensure a minimum level of crash safety for this vehicle segment. It's not the first time the safety body and the French maker have clashed. Renault was the first maker to achieve a five-star NCAP rating - with its Laguna 13 years ago but is bringing its Captur small SUV to market without rear side airbags.The Captur got five stars in its crash test but the side-impact tests summay says: 'In the side barrier test, protection of the chest was adequate and that of other body regions was good."However, in the more severe side pole test, dummy readings of rib compression indicated weak protection of the chest and marginal protection of the abdomen."Using different criteria, Australian NCAP is likely to give the Captur four stars.

Polo, CT200h and Lexus IS get maximum safety rating.The latest round of crash-test rankings has given five stars to a trio of fresh cars - while also giving them a backhander over the absence of safety gear that is standard on other models or in other markets.ANCAP takes the VW Polo and two Lexus models, the IS sedan and CT200h hybrid, to task for the entry-level variants' lack of active safety features fitted in other markets.As of this month, the Polo has emergency stop signal and secondary brake collision assist as standard. However, the base model does not have autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control (ACC), driver fatigue detection and reversing collision warnings.The Lexus CT200h also lacks ACC and AEB on the entry-level model. The IS sedan came under fire for the absence of those two items and lane departure warning - and for blind spot monitoring being standard only on top-spec examples.The IS, however, earns praise for its 'active' bonnet. In a collision with a pedestrian, the bonnet panel rises to provide additional clearance from the top of the engine to protect the pedestrian from serious head injury.ANCAP chairman Lauchlan McIntosh says the authority aims to encourage the car makers to include the equipment as standard. But it stops short of changing the requirements for a five-star ranking to include these features as standard.“We are continuing to see the majority of these important technologies either being withheld from base variants or not available at all," McIntosh says."I don't think it is unreasonable to say, -if you make these devices available in Europe, why not make them available here?' 'If we are to see a significant drop in the number of lives lost on our roads, these technologies need to be provided to all. Safety should not be seen as luxury or added extra."Costs of road trauma are huge, with 30,000 seriously injured every year here. In the US, autonomous emergency braking is credited with cutting the crash rate by 25 or 30 per cent - a huge number." VW Australia spokesman Karl Gehling says the company's decisions on whether to fit safety features are based on customer demand."We have offered these options on entry models. The data suggest buyers of the entry models were basing their decisions on value (rather than safety) and the take-up was less than 5 per cent." "The features on the Polo are class-leading and while we would love to be able to include them as standard they do come at a cost and we have to be conscious of what the consumer is going to bear. We could offer everything in one vehicle but if no one buys it there's no benefit to anyone."

Faster Jaguars and Land Rovers will roll from the Indian-owned brand's high-performance works and first cab off the rapid rank is the Range Rover Sport SVR, fresh from pipping Porsche as the fastest SUV around the famed Nurburgring circuit.Fresh from a thinly disguised debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the maker has released details of the fastest, most powerful Land Rover yet. It will arrive in local showrooms in the second quarter next year.Under its clamshell bonnet, the first Land Rover to wear the SVR badge has a supercharged V8 5.0-litre (405kW/680Nm) as used in the F-Type R. It drives all four wheels via a ZF eight-speed auto. The SVR claims 4.7 seconds for the 0-100km/h sprint and a governed top speed of 260km/h.Demand should exceed supply despite the price. The current flagship is the $182,400 Autobiography Dynamic but the super-SUV is expected to land nearer $200,000, still coming in below the $222,100 Porsche Cayenne Turbo.The SVR's fuel economy and CO2 emissions match those of the V8 Supercharged: 12.8L/100km and 325g/km.At the Nurburgring, an early example clocked 8 minutes 14 seconds - "the fastest time ever recorded by a standard production SUV" says Land Rover - or a second quicker than Porsche recorded with a production Macan Turbo. The SVR also gets body enhancements, unique interior and "active" exhaust (with quad outlets - or the driver can select a quiet mode, whatever the engine speed). Wheels will be 21-inch alloys with optional 22-inchers.Rather than a single-range driveline to keep weight down, the SVR retains the dual-range transfer case, even though it is unlikely SVR owners would venture far off the bitumen.The V8 is fed and calibrated to deliver "exceptional flexibility" off-road. The deeper front spoiler can be removed in rough terrain and the SVR can switch between low and high range at up to 60km/h. The normal 50-50 torque split has been retained, as has the ability to send up to 100 per cent to either end as needed. High or low range can be selected at up to 60km/h.There's no mistaking this is a Rangie - it has a sports body kit with a new front bumper, trapezoidal air intakes, extra brake cooling ducts, darkened grille and graphics, flared wheelarches, new-look fender and vent arrangement, roof lip spoiler, underbody aero additions and rear diffuser.The seven-colour palette includes the SVR-specific Estoril Blue (pictured), with Santorini Black roof as standard.The cabin gets aluminium trim (or optional carbon fibre), leather sports racing-bucket seats and redesigned 'bucket cut" reclining rear bench.

Stuart Martin road tests and reviews the Porsche 911 Turbo, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Mazda's top-down two-door marks 25 years and 16,000 local sales. As anniversary presents go, this is one of better options ... but the buyer may just want to let the partner share it.The 25th anniversary limited-edition of Mazda's modern-day classic MX-5 sports car has arrived in Australia but the brand isn't expecting it to gather dust in showrooms.Just 40 of the 1000 built for sale worldwide are coming to Australia, asking an extra $1100 over the normal retail price but staying below $50,000 before on-roads.Unveiled at the New York motor show earlier this year, the roadster sold out within hours of release in the US and Japan. Australian MX-5 buyers have been a little more conservative.Mazda Australia spokesman Steve Maciver says 13 of the allocated 40 cars have been reserved for customers and he expects the rest to sell quickly.The arrival of an all-new MX-5 - it's officially being revealed in September - isn't expected to put potential customers off buying the anniversary edition, he says.'This is a limited-edition car, unique styling, lightweight components, Bilstein shock absorbers, Soul Red paint - a few of those things put together makes it unique so, for collectors and enthusiasts, we think there will be demand for it," he says.The red paint is a first for the MX-5. Anniversary models are badged and numbered and also will be distinguished by black paint on the windscreen pillars, door mirrors and retractable roof.Off-white leather seat trim, red-stitched black leather-wrapped sports steering wheel and manual gearshifter are among the limited-edition features. There is also a 'his-and-hers" commemorative watch set.The Mazda two-door - inspired by the 1960s Lotus Elan and launched in 1989 - reinvigorated the affordable sports car market and has sold more than 940,000 examples globally and 16,000 in Australia, gaining a Guinness World Record as the most popular two-seater open-top sports car.Current MX-5 program manager Nobuhiro Yamamoto and his predecessor Takao Kijima echoed tributes paid to the enthusiastic fan base from first-generation MX-5 program manager Toshihiko Hirai.Hirai says that before the initial series MX-5, lightweight sports cars were nearly extinct. "Although the project was officially approved, both human resources and budget were extremely limited. However, the developers, who believed that true car lovers would love the MX-5, made every effort to get it on the market and managed to accomplish this feat."

To get five doors, front-drive, a decent boot and space for the kids, you don't have to settle for a boring shopping trolley...

The XE sedan promises to become Jaguar's top seller ... until they do an SUV.The British are coming and the Germans are in the gunsights. Indian-owned British brand Jaguar will march on the compact prestige segment with the XE sedan.There will be spirited skirmishing from the aluminium XE, which is set for an official global unveiling on September 8 and expected by the local Jaguar branch in the third quarter of 2015.Rear-wheel-drive dynamics and shared bits with the F-Type sports car are among the credentials for the small sedan, which would become the brand's volume seller.Jaguar claimed it would double global volumes when it borrowed heavily from then-parent Ford's Mondeo to put the X-Type range on the road 13 years ago but the pint-sized XJ didn't set the sales tally ablaze.Brand manager Mark Eedle says Jaguar has come a long way since the days of X-Type, which disappeared from the Jag price list four years ago.Jaguar's spin has the XE as 'a true driver's car; one that redefines the concept of the sports saloon" - a segment Jaguar says it created over 50 years ago with iconic models such as the Mark II.'We changed ownership and have a whole new design language, we invested heavily in engineering and development, it's a different world," Eedle says The brand 'doesn't talk volumes" but Eedle is clear the XE is a potential sales bonanza. Against C-Class and 3 Series, 'we know there's a volume opportunity and it opens up a huge market for us," he says.'Different parent, different design, different engineering, new aluminium architecture ... when you are going into a segment where you want to deliver the best that chassis is a big attribute." Jaguar is basing its strategy on market analysis suggesting the affordability and value in cars below $100,000 is better in Australia than it is in Europe, An "halo" performance model from the newly formed Special Vehicle Operations is on the cards, given the parts being shared with the F-Type. There will be new petrol and diesel turbo engines.The aluminium architecture was first displayed in the mid-size SUV C-X17 concept. Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing director Michael Winkler can't confirm an SUV but wants to make the most of the flexible platform.