Advice

US pick-ups are all the rage in Australia and with a full-sized Toyota Tundra a fresh arrival, fans of these big utes are about to be even more spoiled for choice.

Pop-up headlights: A great automotive idea or a fashion-driven waste of time? In truth, it’s probably a bit of both. Pop-up headlight have been around for many decades, but they really became popular in the late 1970s and, particularly, the 1980s. This could suggest that they’re a fashion item, but it’s worth remembering this was also a time when fuel economy and emissions became more important to carmakers than they had ever been. And that’s the point, because, in most cases, there was an aerodynamic consideration when cars were designed with pop-up headlights. And that’s probably their greatest advantage; they can make a car’s frontal area smaller and, therefore, potentially improve a car’s fuel efficiency. When they’re shut anyway. Other advantages include the fact that a headlight hidden by a metal or plastic shield is less likely to be damaged by a flying rock or piece of road debris. Oh, and on the right make and model, cars with flip-up headlights could look super-cool. Not all cars, however, as some just never pulled it off style-wise. Disadvantages? Plenty. For a start, a pop-up headlight assembly is inevitably heavier than the headlight unit on its own. And by the time you’ve added the mechanism that opens and closes the pop-up aspect, and the wiring to operate it, there’s definitely a mass penalty to pay. They’re expensive to engineer and make, too. Anything that moves requires something to move it and in the case of a pop-up headlight, that’s usually an electric motor and a range of linkages and connections to make both lights emerge at the same time. In some cases, the pop-up party trick is achieved with hydraulics or even vacuum from the engine. The list of things that could go wrong was a pretty long one. Other cars used hydraulics. Same same. So why else did pop-up headlights go away? A couple of reasons, but mostly because carmakers figured out ways of making cars just as slippery aerodynamically without resorting to hiding the headlights. As our understanding of aerodynamics improved, it turns out small frontal area is not the only concern, and an overall aerodynamic pure shape is far more important. The concept of covering a headlight with a sleek Perspex or glass cover – something carmakers like Ferrari and Jaguar were using in the 1960s – re-emerged. Also, as lighting technology started to embrace physically smaller LED light units, there was less physical headlight to hide in the first place. Put simply, modern cars with LED lights don’t need pop-ups. Throw in the weight and cost penalty, and you can see why modern cars often don’t bother with this tech. Back in the day, the US carmakers were obsessed with pop-up headlights, although they weren’t always pop-ups (even if a lot were, like the C3 Corvette, to name one well known model). Instead, cars like various Lincolns and Cadillacs (and the 1968/69 dodge Charger of Dukes of Hazzard fame) used covers over the headlights. These covers retracted or folded away to expose the light, so it wasn’t a true pop-up light. It was also mainly for show as the idea of aerodynamic efficiency in a Cadillac the size of a small house never really entered into things. Plenty of Japanese cars embraced pop-up lights, too. For a while there, heaps of JDM cars had them, and makers like Mazda and Toyota were very keen on the concept. Nissan was in on the act at the same time, too, with various SX coupe models, the Z21 300ZX and even the tiny little EXA all pop-up headlight cars. In Europe, the trend caught on to, with notable examples being the BMW 8-Series (and the earlier M1, of course). Ferrari had a few models with this tech and even Porsche got in on it with the 924, 944 and 968 sporting pop-ups as well as the weird combination of a pop-up headlight that didn’t live behind a cover of any sort in the 928. Instead the 928’s lights laid back in their cubby holes, staring at the sky, until the driver switched on the lights, at which point the headlights rolled up into position like a pair of frog’s eyes. Pop-up lights are, to this day, one of the most memorable things about this generation of Japanese cars, and the MX-5 or Miata pop-up headlights continue to define the design in a visual sense. That means you don’t need to buy something exotic to get this groovy feature. In fact, there are plenty of cheap cars with pop up headlights now, just make sure they work properly as part of the inspection of any second-hand car for sale. Remember, too, old cars with technology like this won’t be affordable cars if anything serious goes wrong. In Australia, we didn’t escape the trend, either. The 1990s Ford Capri, designed primarily as an export to the North American market, had pop-ups, and so did the Holden VL Calais, in an attempt to differentiate it from the less expensive Commodore and Berlina models. Even then, the Calais wasn’t a standard pop-up system and, instead, left the lower half of the headlight glass exposed while using a lifting eyebrow to expose the full lens when the lights were switched on. Our favourite pop-up headlight car? Let’s hear it for the Opel GT, built between 1968 and 1973 and sold mainly in Europe. This looked like a scaled-down C3 Corvette, so the covered headlights looked right. But instead of a motor or hydraulics or vacuum opening them, the GT had a simple, mechanical linkage with a lever next to the centre console. When the driver yanked on that, the headlights didn’t pop-up, but instead rolled over through 180 degrees to reveal their lenses to the world. Brilliant.

You can thank/blame (take your pick) Scottish engineer James Watt for the confusing way we measure engine performance in cars. He was the person that came up with the bright idea of measuring power based on a horse.

What is a sedan vs SUV An SUV or Sport Utility Vehicle is used to describe cars that have a higher ground clearance than their sedan cousins, can tackle a fire trail or more if it has AWD/4x4 capabilities and combines the space inside for more than three passengers. So, not a ute, even though these sometimes have 4x4 capability. A sedan or saloon, is a passenger vehicle that seats up to five people and features a long and enclosed boot that generally can’t be accessed easily from inside the cabin. The ground clearance is typically low (around 140mm) and it’s easy to spot their elongated shapes compared to hatchbacks or coupes. The popularity of the humble family sedan has fallen with the rise of the SUV but we’re going to see if there is a clear winner when it comes to on-road handling, comfort and practicality. The biggest advantage with an SUV is that more often than not they’re AWDs or 4X4s and can simply go places where a sedan can’t. SUVs also have more towing power. You typically can’t tow a big caravan with a sedan. However, the sleeker aerodynamics and lower ground clearances of a sedan often mean better fuel efficiency overall, especially if you opt for a hybrid model like the Hyundai i30 or Toyota Camry (3.9 – 4.0L/100km, respectively). With a hybrid powertrain you’re looking at less time at the bowser and a long driving range as well. It's harder for a large or upper-large SUV to be super sufficient and green-energy enthusiasts will balk at the V8 petrol engine found in the Nissan Patrol. While turbo-diesel models like the Toyota Prado offer better efficiency and driving range relative to their high-powered petrol cousins, they're still far off the efficiency of a hybrid sedan. The benefit of driving a sedan is its lower centre of gravity. Why? Because you get a more dynamic on-road experience compared to an SUV. There’s less roll in corners and more sure-footedness in winding roads when you’re taking them at speed. The benefit of an SUV's size means that its easy to see the road ahead and around you from your taller driving position. This comes in handy when you’re travelling at awkward times, like dawn or dusk and the light is poor quality. Being able to confidently see around you is a big advantage in this situation. Yes, this does mean there’s often more roll in cornering and you can feel like you’re driving a big lumbering bruiser (especially in some 4x4 models) when tackling hills but good visibility is a great advantage. Boot capacity. This one depends greatly on the SUV size as compact/small SUVs can have less boot capacity then mid-size to large sedans. Once you hit the mid-size SUV, where boot capacities sit above 550L, boot storage is far superior in an SUV for both capacity and access. In an SUV you have the height of the vehicle itself for the boot, rather than to the top of a boot lid like a sedan. SUV boot apertures tend to be wider and squarer as well, which makes it easier to slide large gear in and out. Individual storage. Most vehicles have a glove box and middle console. But’s it’s the other little cubbies which contribute to a cabin’s practicality. Especially, when you have kids around with all of the stuff they tend to attract. At the very least, every row of a sedan and SUV gets at least two drink holders though it’s often more. Some large SUVS, like the new Hyundai Santa Fe, have six cupholders in the middle row alone! SUVs are larger in size and that means you're able to stuff it full with more items. SUV vs sedan size - passengers. You can’t get a third row in a family sedan and that means you’re limited to a maximum of five occupants. In an SUV you can travel with up to eight occupants and while that will limit the boot capacity in an SUV, SUVs can tow a trailer for additional storage. Not having to take two cars to a destination cuts down fuel costs and overall wear and tear on your vehicle(s). The larger size of an SUV makes them a firm favourite with families, large or small. The option to go for a larger SUV that has a third row means you can accommodate your mini soccer team or simply have more boot space for your family of five when you visit Grandma at Christmas. Kid-friendly. Most of the time my kid favours the weeks I drive an SUV for two simple reasons. The first is his view. The window sills tend to be lower and the windows themselves larger, which means he gets to see everything he wants to see. Perfect for when you’re entertaining them with an I Spy-type game. The second reason is an SUV tends to feel more spacious for him with legroom and less like he is getting crammed behind the front passenger seat. When it comes to sedan vs SUV on-road comfort levels, an SUV often nudges out its smaller cousin. If you’re a family, not having kids and/or pets sitting on top of one another will minimise a lot of backseat squabbles (and parent headaches). Having the space to pop most of your gear in the boot, rather than footwells, also levels up the comfort. In terms of whether or not you’ll enjoy driving a sedan vs SUV for a long drive is entirely up to the vehicle you’re driving. There have been some sedans which leave SUVs in their dust when it comes to the driving pleasure (I’m looking at you Porsche Panamera) and there are some SUVs which absorb every bump in the road and you’re butt doesn’t get tired in the massaging wide seats (here’s to you Audi SQ7). This one is 100 per cent subjective. Not necessarily but an SUV's bulk affords it the most basic of protections against even the best sedan and that’s simply that there’s more of it. The most important takeaway when it comes to safety is to look at its ANCAP safety score, if it has one, and the safety equipment that comes with the variant you’re looking at. It's essential that an SUV offering a third row has curtain airbags that extend across all three rows. Not all maximum five-star scores are the same either. Look at the individual assessment scores and read the ANCAP report. When a vehicle received its ANCAP score is important, too, as each new year tends to bring new safety protocols. If you ever want to feel humbled, check out the crash-test dummy videos of the car itself but remember, no car is 100 per cent safe. So, do you go for a sedan or SUV? It depends on the size of the travelling troupe and age! For my family of three, a sedan is more than adequate for the daily drive and the odd road trip. For my parent's demographic, a sedan can be harsh on joints and access, so they've recently opted for SUVs. However, while I have a big soft spot for sedans… SUVs offer more options and practicality overall, especially for families or those who like to adventure!

Between towering import costs, dealer markups, and an archaic Luxury Car Tax (one still unmatched by a Luxury Boat Tax, Luxury Helicopter Tax or even Luxury Jewellery/Watch Tax), Australians have long shouldered some of the highest car prices in the world. Not for nothing to global brands laugh into their lobsters while referring to Australia as Treasure Island.

You are being watched. No, seriously, right now there's a device somewhere near you that is tracking you.

They’re called variable voltage alternators, but the car-making world has started calling them smart alternators. But if you’re an off-roader, or drive a car with lots of accessories, the tech mightn’t seem very smart at all.

The Ford Ranger was the best-selling vehicle in the country for the second consecutive year in 2024. And now there’s another Ford ute on the horizon that looks set to shake up the ute market in Australia. Due on sale here in 2026, the Ford Ranger Super Duty has been touted as a mid-sized ute with “next-level, work-ready capability”, according to Ford. Purpose built for those with harsh job requirements, including emergency service operators, farmers, utilities and forestry workers, miners and infrastructure technicians, the Super Duty will have a 4500kg braked towing capacity, a 4500kg gross vehicle mass (GVM) and an 8000kg gross combined mass (GCM) rating. Let’s take a deep dive into everything we know so far about the Ford Ranger Super Duty. Read on. The Ford Ranger Super Duty is a mid-sized ute intended to be capable of tackling extremely tough work duties that no other standard mid-sized ute is capable of doing straight out of the factory. Details and specs remain somewhat sketchy, but the Super Duty will be, according to Ford, a new ute that's engineered from scratch for heavy-duty applications. It will also be the first mid-size ute to carry the Super Duty badge in Australia. Ford reckons its Super Duty project is a direct response to Aussie customers who want a gung-ho ute capable of hauling big loads, but in a vehicle size that is easier to manoeuvre than a bigger US-style pick-up. The new Ford Ranger Super Duty is intended as a heavy-duty work vehicle for emergency service operators, farmers, utilities and forestry workers, miners and infrastructure technicians, as well as having lots of potential as a recreational 4WD touring vehicle and towing platform due to its “enhanced off-road capability”, so sayeth Ford. The factory-built Ford Ranger Super Duty is covered by a full Ford warranty, and has been designed, developed and engineered in Australia by a 1500-strong crew. Recent testing has been conducted in Australia. If its claimed GVM (4500kg), GCM (8000kg) and towing capacity (4500kg) turn out to be accurate, then the Super Duty is going to be a bloody beast on work sites everywhere, for lugging loads, and for weekend wanderers who want to tow boats, horse floats and the like. For quick reference, in comparison, the Ford Ranger XLT turbo-diesel V6 4x4 has a listed GVM of 3280kg, a GCM of 6400kg and maximum braked towing capacity of 3500kg, and Ford’s long-wheelbase F-150 pick-up or truck offers lower GWM (3265kg) and GCM (7315kg), but equals the Super Duty’s 4500kg braked towing capacity. In terms of styling, the Ford Ranger Super Duty will have new wheels, wider arches than a standard Ranger, an all-new grille design, replete with a new off-road-style front bumper, as well as substantial underbody protection. There are no details about what powertrain the Super Duty will get, but perhaps the Ranger’s 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel engine (184kW at 3250rpm and 600Nm from 1750-2250rpm), along with the line-up’s 10-speed automatic transmission, will be a good fit. A power and torque boost may even be on the cards, in order for the Super Duty to handle the much-touted heavier loads it may be burdened with. Australia’s Super Duty will likely sport the eight-stud, 18-inch steel wheel and 33-inch all-terrain tyre package of the US Ford F-250 Super Duty. Also, it could be in line to share the Raptor's wheel track, which is 50mm wider than the standard Ranger. No word on suspension yet, but upfront it may be fitted with new front control arms (similar to the Raptor’s cast-alloy units), and it will likely have a leaf-sprung rear axle rather than Raptor-esque coils, as the Super Duty is a vehicle intended for load-carrying and towing. It may also have job-specific accessories such as push-button Pro Trailer Hitch Assist, Trailer Navigation (aimed at ensuring your vehicle and trailer go via a route that the combination will be able to physically travel through) and even on-board scales. The Ford Ranger Super Duty – or Ford Super Duty Ranger as some have dubbed it – will be manufactured at the same Thai facility as most made-for-Australia Rangers. The Ford Ranger Super Duty is expected to be unveiled sometime later this year and is tipped to be on sale here in 2026. An all-new ute sporting major hardware upgrades, resulting in impressively uprated payload and tow ratings, being sold in a ute-hungry market? Name your price… At time of writing, there were no clear indications of what the Ford Ranger Super Duty’s eventual price-tag would be, but expect to pay upwards of $75,000. It will be bigger and built more robustly for heavier duties than those undertaken by standard Rangers. And it will likely be in a price range comparable to the Raptor. Keep reading CarsGuide.com.au to stay up to date with news on all upcoming vehicle releases, including the Ford Ranger Super Duty, which is due to be launched here in 2026.

Q: How long can a car be parked on a residential street?

Tesla has been making headlines recently with a decline in sales, both internationally and around the world. While there are a variety of reasons for this, at least part of that can be put down to the relative lack of choice, with only the mid-size Model 3 sedan and Model Y SUV available to local buyers. There is no larger sedan, no smaller sedan, no Roadster, no Cybertruck and, most relevant for Australia, no seven-seat SUV. Australians have demonstrated a love of family friendly SUVs, with record sales for the Ford Everest and Isuzu MU-X in 2024 and big sales expected for the new Toyota Prado in 2025. In this article we’ll tell you everything you need to know about Tesla’s seven-seater plans. No, at least not in Australia. Tesla dropped its 7 seater electric car, the Model X from its Australian line-up in 2023 along with the Model S sedan. Its current local range consists of the five-seat-only Model Y SUV and Model 3 sedan. Maybe. Tesla has no current public plans to bring back the Model X, as it no longer builds it in right-hand drive. But it does have a potential new 7 seater Tesla, in the form of the three-row Model Y that’s available in the US market.  The seven-seat Model Y has been available in the USA in the Long Range AWD variant since 2020. It features the same seat arrangement for the first two rows (two in the first row and three across the middle), with two extra seats where the boot would be.  Tesla traditionally reveals very little details about upcoming models, which makes it incredibly difficult to predict when, or even if, Tesla will launch its new models in Australia. However, a report from Reuters in late 2024 suggested the three-row Model Y will soon be produced in China for potential right-hand-drive markets. It’s too early to know any details on price, as the three-row Model Y isn’t confirmed for the Australian market. Tesla is also known to adjust its pricing to try and drive sales, so it’s impossible to predict the brand with accuracy. However, what we can say is it’s likely to carry a small premium over the five-seat Model Y to account for the extra seats. You may have noticed we have referred to it as the ‘three-row Model Y’ as opposed to a seven-seater. That’s because the expectation is the Chinese-built variants will feature six-seats, spread across three rows of two. There is a seven-seater version of the Model Y built in Germany for European markets, but that may not be an option for Tesla in Australia due to the logistics, production complexities and costs. The biggest difference between the Tesla Model Y 7 seater Australia could see in the next few years, compared to the previous Model X will be size. The Model X was a large SUV while the Model Y is mid-sized. The Model X also famously had the so-called ‘Falcon wing’ double-hinged doors that allowed for easier access to the third row. In contrast, the Model Y three-row has the conventional doors. If the Tesla Model 7 three-row variant comes to Australia, besides only having six seats instead of seven, it will differ from key rivals in size. Instead of competing against the likes of the Ford Everest, Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento, it will be a much smaller SUV and be more directly rivalling the Nissan X-Trail and Mitsubishi Outlander. The problem with the three-row Model Y is the extra seats appear to be both limited for space but also take up much of the luggage space. If anything changes, we’ll let you know, so keep reading CarsGuide to stay up to date with everything happening in the motoring industry.