2013 BMW ActiveHybrid 3 Review

You’d be forgiven for thinking the BMW ActiveHybrid 3 is a car aimed at cashed-up members of the Greens Party, but what BMW actually offers in its newest addition to the 3 Series range is a seriously quick sports sedan for drivers looking for as much grunt as green smarts. Despite its eco-conscious image, the $97,700 BMW ActiveHybrid 3 is actually the quickest model in the 3 Series range with the exception of the M3. The 3 Series hybrid shares...

Categories: BMW

2013 Holden Cruze Review

Calling it an assimilation process is a bit much, but the 2013 Holden Cruze has for the past 18 months been re-worked by local engineers to become more suited to Australian conditions and “feel more like a Holden”. On the outside, both the Holden Cruze sedan and hatch look near-identical to the Series II models that first rolled off the Australian production line in March 2011 – and those cars in turn looked a lot like the Korean-built Series...

Categories: Holden

2013 Holden Cruze SRi Review

  This is where it’s at with the 2013 Holden Cruze – the new 1.6-litre turbocharged SRi and SRi-V models. With 132kW of power, 230Nm of torque, and an 8.4-second 0-100km/h claim, the Holden Cruze SRi offers higher outputs and faster performance times than any petrol-engined competitor within sight of its $22,490 starting price. As a gauge of how far the value equation has improved with this facelifted Holden Cruze pseudo-sports model,...

Categories: Holden

2013 Aston Martin DB9 Review

Tweaked for more power and boasting an edgier range of technology, the 2013 Aston Martin DB9marks more of an evolution of the car’s soul rather than its beautiful body. From the front the new DB9 is the spitting image of the now discontinued Aston Martin Virage – adopting the same elongated headlamp assembly with LED daytime running lamps. Aston says it’s made subtle improvements to the front splitter for improved airflow to the carbon-ceramic...

Categories: Aston Martin

2013 Renault Clio RS Review

The all-new Renault Clio RS 200 EDC takes the light hot-hatch segment to an entirely new level. Whether it can still satisfy the Renault Sport purists is a different question, however. Unlike the previous two generations of Renault Clio RS that made use of a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine coupled to a six-speed manual, the new car makes use of a Nissan-Renault engineered 1.6-litre turbocharged four. It puts out the same power...

Categories: Renault