Wagon Reviews

Peter Anderson road tests and reviews the Hyundai i40 Tourer Premium with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Never a company to rush into things unnecessarily, Volvo has had its XC90 on sale since 2002 (2003 in Australia), albeit with many significant upgrades and changes along the way. An all-new model is finally on the way and incorporates some fascinating new technology, obviously safety heads the list, but there are many

Derek Ogden road tests and reviews the 2015 Volkswagen Golf R-Line wagon, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

James Stanford road tests and reviews the Mazda 6 at its Australian launch.

Ewan Kennedy road tests and reviews the used 1997 - 2007 Ford Fairline and LTD.

Craig Duff road tests and reviews the 2015 Skoda Superb 4x4 Outdoor, with specs, fuel consumption and verdict.

Porsche purists are still whining, but the fact of the matter is that if Porsche doesn't do SUVs, the purists are unlikely to get machines like the 918 Spyder or Cayman GTS. So that argument is pretty much over for the rest of the internet, thank goodness.Porsche's challenge now is to continue to grow its SUV line-up while maintaining the balance between sporty and utility. It's started from a good base, both technologically and financially - you can have either the diesel or petrol Macan S for a long way south of $100,000.The Macan's current range starts with the $84,900 six-cylinder turbodiesel and then the two twin-turbo petrol V6s, the 3.0-litre S and the strangely-named 3.6-litre $122,400 Turbo.Our car was the mid-spec $86,700 petrol-powered S. Standard on board is an eleven-speaker stereo with Bluetooth, USB and inbuilt hard disc, dual-zone climate-control, alarm with motion sensor, rear-view camera and front and rear parking sensors, trailer sway control, hill descent control, electric front seats with memory, satnav, auto bi-xenon headlights, power mirrors, auto wipers and active ride suspension.Added to the S, and from a substantial options list, was a panoramic sunroof ($3790), full leather ($3720), sport chrono package ($2690), handsome 20-inch wheels ($2130), side skirts ($1920), brushed aluminium interior package ($1090), front heated seats ($890), triple zone climate control ($830) and black roof rails ($750).While this brings the price up to a whopping $104,510, it doesn't make the Macan any faster because it's all cosmetic apart from the sport chrono package. This little lot adds a stopwatch to your dashboard but also adds the Sport Plus button which brings faster, sharper shifts and throttle response. It may not make you faster, but it will feel it.The Cayenne is a bit of a mess stylistically, and the Macan's front end is probably a little too close to big brother's bloated bonce. Move to the side, however, and things improve immeasurably. The falling roofline lands in a very cool homage to the 911, with slim LED lights and all the right angles to make the Macan look quick.Naturally, this bites into the boot space and also appears to shift the rear seats a little further forward than might be ideal, rendering rear leg room marginal for anyone over about five and a half feet.The front of the cabin is very Porsche, so you have to take the good with the bad. It does look terrific (good) but there seems to have been a nasty accident at a button factory (bad). There are buttons everywhere across the dash and down the console and it takes a while to learn what they all do and mean.Some people like the technical feel of lots of buttons, others don't, but once you learn what they all do, it's not a bad place to be at all. The leather is smooth and soft, the big steering wheel is perfectly sized if a little flat in the face for some tastes and the seats fantastically comfortable.The central console is high to give the impression you're sitting lower than you might expect. It makes the Macan feel low and snug. The three-dial dash is very clever, with a traditional speedo and tachometer and a third screen that can be changed around to suit your needs - trip computer, satnav, whatever takes your fancy.A 7.8-inch screen sits in the middle of the Festival of Buttons and controls everything from your phone and music through to satnav. The eleven-speaker stereo is a good one, with great sound and was very easy to set up, despite the controls being shared between console and steering wheel.The Porsche V6 is quite a thing - from 3.0 litres and two turbos comes 250kW  and 460Nm (the Turbo ups the figures to 294kW and 550Nm). With stop-start and a seven-speed DPK (dual-clutch) transmission, the Macan S sprints to 100km/h in 5.4 seconds.It uses a claimed 8.7L/100km. In the real world, you'll see low double figures fuel consumption.Drive is to all four wheels through the seven-speed transmission, with a clear bias to the rear wheels.The Macan is home to eight airbags, stability and traction control, load-limited and pre-tensioned seat belts, ABS, EBS and brake force distribution.There is no ANCAP safety rating for the Macan.Straight away this feels different to your average fast SUV. It doesn't have a lumpy ride or feel compromised through the steering. While its close relative, the Audi SQ5, is a great car, there are a few things about it that might not appeal, the ride in particular.Porsche's active ride system irons everything out in Comfort mode, giving a firm but compliant urban ride quality while never stuttering on the fast or high-frequency stuff.Switch everything up to Sport and the car's character changes considerably. The engine becomes a lot more vocal and the shifts become super-fast, almost imperceptible. What's most impressive is that free-spinning twin-turbo V6 - it cheerfully winds out to the redline without the hesitation in that last few hundred rpm many forced induction engines suffer from.It's terrific fun in the fast stuff, too - always willing, with little understeer and a proper slingshot feel out of the bends.

Not everyone, it would seem, wants a compact SUV on their drive.Sales of these 'quasi-fourbies' are through the roof but if you look at sales of the new Peugeot 308 Allure Touring (wagon) there may be life left in the traditional small family wagon.They've waxed and waned on the whim of consumers and right now, they're waning.But the new Pug wagon, with a classy, almost Audi look, could be a game changer or at least make people think twice when they shop for a set of 'sensible' new wheels.This is a totally new generation 308 that's been out in Europe for a year winning European Car of the Year along the way.The whole range has appeal with smaller capacity, more efficient engines being adopted across the board - except for the 308 diesel Touring we drove.It's the range topper at $37,490 and gets a 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine with 110kW/370Nm output driving the front wheels through a conventional six-speed auto with paddle shift. The engine in some form or other has been around for a while and can be found in other models (and brands).Competitors are numerous and impressive coming out of Japan, Europe and Korea.But the Pug is latest cab off the rank and as a result, enjoys a serious leg-up on a number of fronts. The Bluetooth phone and audio/multimedia system for example is as good as anything else on the market in terms of voice reproduction and ease of syncing. And it's among the safest new cars available right now.Peugeot was able to slice off 140kg (down to 1420kg) from the latest 308 Touring compared with the previous model through better materials and design.Their green tinge is more than skin deep with exemplary fuel economy from all models, petrol and diesel. This one does 5.0L/100km standing on its head.We actually cracked deep into the 4s at one stage - something you don't see too often.But you still have to unlock the filler cap with the ignition key to fuel it up. That's a pain.And another negative is the difficult removal and replacement of the rear cargo blind. We gave up and left it rolling around in the load space, which is large with the rear seats up as well as down. When down, the load space is large enough to sleep two adults, a reflection of the size of the vehicle.The rears are what Peugeot calls Magic Flat seats which means one touch up or down for the whole kit and kaboodle.It scores plenty of useful kit from a luxury and a safety point of view. There's cruise with speed limiter, electric power steering, hill assist, electric park brake, front and rear parking sensors and reversing camera, 9.7-inch multimedia screen, satnav, multiple wheel controls though some are on annoying satellite wands, dual zone climate control, aircon glove box, pollen filter, heads up display, digital speedo, multi trip computer, alloy roof rails, rain sensing wipers and auto headlights to name a few.Leather is optional but unnecessary as far as we are concerned because the cloth seats are great.We like the style of the new 308 inside and out with the former exhibiting a rather minimalist look dominated by the speedo/tacho pod and similar shaped control panel. And get this, there's a CD player tucked away under the second panel.This is where the new 308 really shines, the diesel Touring in particular. It has excellent performance with a slightly sporty edge - complemented by an impressive ride/handling package that takes Peugeot back to the good old days when they went around corners like a sporty car and yet offered the comfort of a luxury model.The feel comes from a fairly rudimentary strut front and beam axle rear set-up. Must be in the springs/dampers.The 308 Touring has a quality feel missing on the previous model - the one with that awful 'gaping maw' front styling. All touch points are soft and the switches click positively when you use them.It has a clever mix of new technology and tried and true engineering as well as passing stringent Euro 6 emissions regulations.

Call it desperation, or shrewd opportunism. Either way, Subaru Australia's decision to slash prices on 2015 Liberty and Outback by up to 25 per cent should give its mid-size sedan and SUV spin-off a healthy rev up in showrooms.Philanthropy doesn't come naturally to car companies, of course. Liberty and Outback were class frontrunners a decade ago, with combined sales of nearly 14,500 units in 2006. At the end of November last year, the tally was 3173 units.Both are ageing nameplates verging on atrophied with all the design flair of a fridge that has fallen off the back of a truck. The Liberty no longer possesses that critical desire factor either, for anybody but a few old blokes looking for a suitably somnolent conveyance to get them to God's waiting room in one piece.Subaru Australia boss Nick Senior's decision to reach for the sharp pencil on 2015 Liberty and Outback follows a similar strategy on the WRX STi hot rod, introduced at the beginning of last year with discounts of up to $11,000.It had the desired effect. WRX STi sales took off and ended the year more than 330 per cent up on 2013.Senior's "Have I got a deal for you!" pitch has been assisted by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's policy of stimulating exports by anaesthetising the yen. Unlike its hometown rivals, most of which now make more cars abroad than in domestic factories, 80 per cent of Subaru's total production still comes out of Japan, so the revised Australian dollar-yen exchange rate works for Subaru Australia and its Fuji Heavy Industries parent.Senior has also pre-empted the elimination of the 5 per cent import tariff on imported vehicles when the Japan-Australia free trade agreement takes effect on January 15. Beyond these factors, though, it's the discrepancy between actual showroom transaction bottom lines and fanciful manufacturer's list prices in the ultra-competitive Australian market that has prompted the deep discounts. Holden did the same with the VF Commodore in 2013, dropping prices by up to $9800 because dealers were doing it anyway. The days of car companies introducing new models with take-it-or-leave-it price hikes are over.Liberty, now in its 25th year, faces the greatest challenge. Australian buyers are bailing out of sedans en masse, moving into larger SUVs if kids are part of the buying decision or downsizing to a hatch or small SUV if they're not. The exception is Mercedes' all-conquering C Class, which won every car award worth winning last year and outsells every other mid-size sedan bar the Toyota Camry.Prices for the 2015 Liberty start at $29,990 for the 2.5-litre four cylinder petrol/continuously variable transmission (CVT) base model, $3000 less than its 2014 equivalent. The 2.5i CVT Premium, which includes leather, sunroof and navigation, is $35,490 (a $4000 discount). The 3.6-litre six-cylinder petrol/CVT Liberty 3.6R is $41,990, a $14,000, or 25 per cent, haircut on the 2013 model's $55,990 sticker price.Senior sees an opportunity to cash in on Commodore's demise with the 3.6R. While we no longer buy enough family-sized six cylinder cars to keep making them in Australia, Commodore is still doing 30,000 or so units a year. Come 2017, when it disappears, Senior believes many of those customers will be looking for an alternative sixpack.The previous Liberty's major shortcoming - sheet metal styled by the House of Dork - has been addressed in the 2015 car, which has a lower profile, coupe-ish roofline and arch-filling 18-inch alloys. The word 'want' still doesn't spring to mind when it drives by, though.The previous model took Liberty close to large car territory; this one is longer again in the cabin, with the front pillar pushed forward by 50mm. There's generous back seat legroom, though the lower roofline has compromised headroom a little, and boot space is reasonable.Liberty's spacious, formal interior features an easy to use touch screen multimedia system, a luxurious, super-sized (read: American market) driver's seat and Subaru's signature precision fit and finish.Like its predecessors the 2015 Liberty comes with a blue-chip safety CV, including Isofix child restraint anchors, seven airbags, a reversing camera and Subaru's Eyesight system as standard. Eyesight uses cameras and radar to read the road and the traffic. It now incorporates a vehicle in front brake light alert function, plus automatic emergency braking from 50km/h or less, lane departure warning and adaptive (or conventional) cruise control.Drivetrains are basically unchanged, save for fuel efficiency gains of up to 10 per cent, derived from improved aerodynamics and automatic stop-start on the 2.5-litre variants.So the on-road Liberty experience is familiar. The 2.5's modest numbers and narrow powerband are flattered by the smooth, responsive CVT transmission, engine and road noise levels are low and the car is balanced, intuitive and easy to drive. Its all-wheel drive point of difference helps Liberty maintain its position as one of the best handlers in the class. The 3.6R also has that lovely linear power delivery and top-end kick you miss out on with turbocharged engines. Complaints? The steering's accurate but far from tactile while the ride's a touch fussy and sharpish on rough roads.Twenty years after its introduction, Outback remains the SUV you should consider if you hate SUVs. You'll find its light weight, fine balance, disciplined body control and outstanding road-holding a much more satisfying, enjoyable combination than the sloppy, barge-like histrionics you have to put up with in most rival wagons. It runs taller, more absorbent tyres than Liberty, so the ride is more comfortable, too, on any surface.Subaru has increased body rigidity and tightened up the suspension on the 2015 model, to excellent effect. A back-to-back test drive with the benchmark Audi Q5 will give you an idea of how far the Outback has progressed as a drive. It's a long way.Outback is the sole wagon in the 2015 line-up. Liberty-badged freighters are no longer offered.Prices start at $35,990 for the 2.5i CVT, a $3000 drop from 2014. Base Outback is now the 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel/six-speed manual 2.0D, at $35,490 (down $5000); CVT adds $2000 to the diesel and Premium specification adds $6000. Top of the range Outback 3.6R is $47,990, a $10,000 discount on the 2014 price.Petrol drivetrains are as per Liberty. The Outback's 2.0-litre turbodiesel, however, is a strange device that suffers from a lack of low down pulling power which is particularly apparent in the manual. As with the 2.5i petrol, the CVT almost disguises this deficiency, but you still need to be more vigorous with the go pedal than in other diesels and overall performance is sedate. However, the Subaru boxer engine is smooth, quiet and frugal.Eyesight is still being calibrated into the diesel drivetrain, so it's not yet available. Outback specification levels are close to Liberty equivalents; specific 2015 wagon improvements include wider opening doors for easier access, roof rails that can carry up to 80kg, and a power-operated tailgate on Premium variants.Outback inherits Forester's X-Mode system, an effective push-button substitute for low-range gearing that adjusts the traction control and enables it to crawl down, or up, a steep slope and traverse rough or slippery terrain with ease. In concert with 213mm of ground clearance, X-Mode gives the Outback genuine - if far from extreme - ability off the bitumen.

Holden Astra is a small medium car that was popular in Australia for many years.