Sedan Reviews

It's almost 20 years to the day after the original Subaru WRX stormed onto the scene.

Toyota Yaris is the smallest car in the Japanese giant's range that's sold in Australia. It replaced the popular Toyota Echo in November 2005, in turn Echo had superseded the not particularly popular Toyota Starlet in 1999.Yaris is a significantly larger car than Echo and can seat four adults in more comfort than you might expect. It can be used as a family car if the children are in their pre-teen year and even, with some compromises, can carry four adults.The boot is on the small side in the three and five-door hatchbacks, but their rear seat slides forwards, as well as folds flat so you can juggle the amount of luggage/people room you need. A four-door sedan arrived in March 2006 and has a lot more boot space than the hatches.Rough sealed roads can challenge the suspension and the ride is fairly bumpy on occasions. Tyre noise on some coarse chip surfaces is loud enough to be unpleasant. The handling is nicely balanced for a small Japanese car, though you wouldn't mistake it for a European machine. Yaris has understeer if you push really hard, but there's no sign of it at sensible speeds.Noise and vibration are well damped and on good roads and motorways it offers the sort of refinement you would expect from a car that's a full size larger. Power comes from four-cylinder engines of 1.3- or 1.5-litre capacity. Both use variable valve timing to give reasonable torque across the rev range. The engine isn't all that happy to rev to the top of the tacho, but Yaris isn't that type of car so that's hardly a problem.The manual gearbox is a five-speed unit, the automatic transmission has only four forward gears. A good home mechanic will be able to do a lot of the work that doesn't affect the safety of the car. Underbonnet room is understandably tight so expect some frustration and the occasional dribbles of blood.There are Toyota dealers all over Australia, indeed due to the popularity of the marque in country areas Toyota is probably represented in more out of the way places than any other maker. On the other hand, remote outback dealers may not have parts in stock for the Yaris, meaning you may have to wait for unusual bits to be freighted up from the city.Insurance costs are generally good and there doesn't seem to be a great variation from company to company. Nevertheless it's still smart to shop around, always being sure to compare apples with apples in the way of cover and/or extras.WHAT TO LOOK FOR Rust is not likely unless the car has been badly repaired after a crash. So if you do find rust be very suspicious.Trim, seats, dash top and carpets should all be in close to new condition with no tears or other damage. Look out for the interior of a car has been mistreated by bored children. And check the boot in case someone has crammed stuff into there to the extent of damaging the opening.Make sure the engine starts promptly, idles smoothly, accelerates without hesitation and doesn't blow smoke when worked hard.Manual gearboxes should be smooth and quiet in operation and not clash gears on fast downchanges from third to second.Automatics should be smooth and there shouldn't be any delay in it going into gear from Neutral or Park.The brakes shouldn't pull the car to one side no matter how hard they are applied. Make sure the ABS operates correctly – feel for a pulsing through the pedal when you hit it hard indicating the ABS is in action. Don't forget to check the rear view mirror first!If there's the slightest doubt about anything in the Toyota Yaris, have a professional do the final inspection and get a quote for all defects, even apparently minor ones.CAR BUYING TIPSmall cars used in city areas wear more quickly than big cars in the country. So don't let low kilometre readings cloud your judgement.

Mercedes is making the most of its four cylinder small car platform.

There are lots of sharp angles on the Q50. it's been designed to lure people away from the more predictable German rivals with it's unique look and spacios cabin. Infiniti claim the car has more rear legroom than any of its rivals. The large transmission tunnel and raised middle seat does mean that the Q50 isn't great for carrying 3 people in the back.Infiniti Q50 GTPrice: from $51,900Engine: 2.2L four-cylinder turbo diesel, 125kW/400NmTransmission: 7-speed auto, RWDThirst: 5.2L/100Km, 138g/km CO2

We've now spent a solid week in a new Optima for a more comprehensive review.

Mercedes is on a bit of a roll, and it all started with the launch of the new S-Class flagship last year. The new C-Class takes more than a few cues from the S-Class. It's bigger, more luxurious, and more hi-tech than ever before. The new C-Class is 80mm longer between the wheels than the old car and 95mm longer overall, and you really do feel that difference in the back. There's a lot more legroom, and headroom is decent as well.Mercedes has made a lot of big claims about its new C-Class. It's not only bigger than ever before, but its also set to be the most refined, comfortable and efficient car in its class.  If it can deliver on half of those promises, then it will be really impressive, and more than a match for the BMW 3 Series, and new Audi A4. Mercedes-Benz C200Price: From $60,000 (estimated)Warranty: Three years/unlimited kmCapped servicing: NoService interval: 15,000km/12 monthsResale: 55 per centSafety: Not yet ANCAP testedEngine: 2.0-litre four-cylinderPower: 135kW and 300NmTransmission: Seven-speed automaticConsumption: 5.3L/100kmEmissions: 123g/km0 to 100km/h: 7.5 secondsDimensions, length/width/height (mm): 4686/1810/1442Weight: 1445kgSpare: None. Inflator kit

Mercedes-Benz CLA 200 and Audi A3 go head-to-head in this comparative review..star {width:135px;}#article-corpus {width:100%; padding-right: 0;}

We've already reviewed the Audi A6 sedan and we thought it was one of the most stylish and spacious executive cars on the market.As if that large boot wasn't enough, the wagon or Avant version adds even more space.

Let's say you want a VW Golf GTI, a Jaguar XFR or even a Porsche Cayenne Turbo but you'd like to turn their performance all the way up to a 11.Well, that's why you can get a Golf GTI performance pack, a Jaguar XFR-S and even a Porsche Cayenne Turbo S.But are these highly tuned models really worth the extra cash? To find out Owen Mildenhall compares them on track with their standard versions.     In this video the Jaguar XFR-S is up against the normal XFR.

Many still believe it's also the case with cars - drive from the rear and change direction through the front, weighed down by the power plant.