What's the difference?
Toyota Australia is on the record as saying it doesn't want to push one form of electrification over another, and to that end wants the market to choose whether it wants hybrids, plug-ins, full battery or hydrogen vehicles.
While hybrid options have well and truly arrived in models like the RAV4, Corolla and Camry, and we’re all still waiting for the full-electric and plug-in vehicles, Toyota has now brought in its second-generation Mirai hydrogen FCEV.
But with Toyota, and Hyundai with its Nexo, the only brands pushing hydrogen into the mainstream, is it good enough to hold its own against battery electric models like the Tesla Model 3 and Nissan Leaf?
To say the BMW M4 CS is a hot ticket in Australia is something of an understatement.
Consider this. There is an even more expensive one, the M4 CS Edition VR46 – at a cool $346,900 – and it sold out in less than an hour. Now, granted, Australia only got four examples, but still, demand was running hot.
That car makes this one, the regular M4 CS, seem like an absolute steal. It's only $254,900 (yes, the word 'only' is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence), and it shares the same upgrades, and makes the same monstrous power, as the VR46 – for Valentino Rossi’s 46th birthday – only it does it for around $100K less.
See? A bargain. At least, that's how I'd be justifying it to myself if I had a quarter of a million burning a hole in my pocket.
So, this or a Porsche 911? Read on.
Believe it or not, the Mirai represents a pretty big gamble for Toyota, a company who has been known in the past for being relative conservative with its vehicles.
In recent years though, with models like the GR Yaris and even the RAV4 Hybrid, it seems like Toyota is more willing to go out and take a chance on something that would not be considered a safe bet.
The Mirai represents this willingness to experiment, but it is still too early to say whether it will a winner or a failure.
It drives well, looks good and its powertrain is a potential gamechanger for electric cars in Australia, but whether hydrogen takes off locally with customers is beyond Toyota’s control and up to those willing to invest in refuelling infrastructure.
Brutal, bruising and utterly brilliant, the M4 CS will be an acquired taste due to its no-compromise approach, but those willing to take the leap will find a performance car like few others at their disposal.