CAR ADVICE

As we move toward the end of the year, and a hope that travel restrictions will ease across the country, many readers have been asking about getting a vehicle prepared for a big trip away – so we felt it was a good time to review the build-up we did to a 70-Series Landcruiser dual cab. We're re-re-running the updates each Sunday during October, but we'll end with a brand-new instalment – next week.

You know you’re rich – or in an industry with, er, fast-moving cashflow – when you can torch a $400,000 Mercedes as a publicity stunt. We don’t know the full story, other than this Russian customer wasn’t entirely happy with his car. It’s real, and there’s video to prove it. We started watching it with our hands over our eyes once he started pouring petrol into and over the car.

The cliche goes that motoring journalists are only really satisfied behind the wheel of a station wagon with a manual transmission – and it’s not incorrect. At CarAdvice, our wagon-loving ways take many forms, but we can all agree on one thing: it is the superior body type. While we can bemoan the rise of the SUV until we (and you, dear readers) are blue in the face, it does mean the scarcity of the wagon on our roads just ups its cool factor even further.

The 2021 Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid and Turbo S E-Hybrid have received upgraded electric power systems for the new year, ahead of an Australian arrival in the first quarter of 2021. Battery capacities in the plug-in Cayennes – in both ‘wagon’ and Coupe body styles – have increased from 14.1kWh to 17.9kWh for MY21 – matching the recently-revealed Audi Q8 TFSI e, which shares its ‘MLB evo’ platform with the Porsche twins.

An original 1977 Holden Torana SL/R 5000 has sold for $425,000, thanks to its low mileage and rare options list. What makes this particular Holden so desirable is its rare A9X package, which was introduced as a way for the car company to fit more competitive performance parts to their racing cars, which had to be based on their road-going version. This particular Tuxedo Black sedan has less than 30,000 kilometres on the clock, and was held onto by the last owner for 28 years.

A new website has been launched by not-for-profit organisation Empty Esky, with the idea of supporting bushfire-affected communities. The new website – created with the financial help of Jeep Australia – provides pre-made itineraries for those wanting to take a road trip to regional areas, ranging from single day trips from capital cities to three day driving holidays.

Not since the very first Mercedes-Benz-branded models started rolling from the production line in 1926, has Mercedes-Benz attempted to produce something approaching the engineering complexity and sheer technical ambition of the new S-Class. A car that is destined to be produced exclusively in four-door saloon guise, following a decision to not replace the existing coupe and cabriolet models.

Cross country road trips in the US have been upgraded to Business Class with the announcement of a collaboration between General Motors, WarnerMedia and telecommunications provider AT&T. The service, called WarnerMedia Ride, allows owners of GM-brand vehicles (Chevrolet, GMC, Buick and Cadillac) to stream on-demand entertainment via the car’s WiFi hotspot and an unlimited-data AT&T 4G plan.

UPDATE, October 31: The 2021 Volkswagen Golf R has been teased once again, this time with the previously spied R badge – a new design, although revealed already with recent R and R-Line models – displayed in its new home beneath the VW roundel. As noted below, the new Golf R will be revealed on November 4, so watch for all details to be revealed next week. UPDATE, September 17: The 2021 Volkswagen Golf R has been teased ahead of the model's unveiling on November 4, 2020.

Ferrari had a problem. It wanted to go Formula 2 racing in the 1960s but it needed to homologate its 2.0-litre engine for competition, and that meant at least 500 had to be built and used in road-going cars. As a maker of low-volume sports cars, that was never going to happen. Yes, Ferrari tried with the Dino 206GT, powered by its new 2.0-litre V6, but its small production numbers (just 152 were made between 1967-69) were never going to trouble the homologation bean counters.

Australian Formula One hopeful, Oscar Piastri, has had his first taste of an F1 car, clocking up just under 500km behind the wheel of a Renault R.S. 18 at the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain. The 19-year-old was given the opportunity to test the Renault F1 car following his stunning victory in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Piastri admitted to being nervous before getting behind the wheel of the 2018-spec F1 car.

On the fancy-dressiest day of the year, it seems fitting to draw attention to a 1993 Ford Explorer which has been modified as a tribute to the ill-fated ‘wild life tour’ vehicles from the 1993 film, Jurassic Park. What’s more, the customised Explorer is for sale on US time-erasing window-shopping auction portal, Bring a Trailer.

For a little bit of Halloween fun this year, we thought we would compare two of cinema’s finest four-wheeled villains and discover once and for all which murderous machine is the greater of two evils. John Carpenter’s imagining of Stephen King’s Christine fights to the gruesome death against George Barris’ custom B-grade nemesis, The Car – in our first-ever Spooktacular Halloween Special Scare-parison.

When we’re not creating it ourselves, the CarAdvice team spends a lot of time finding and consuming motoring content from all over the world. Here’s a handful of the photos, articles, videos or social media posts that most caught our eye last week. Some of them are brand new, others have been online for a while. Enjoy them – just not too much, okay? We've all taken a wrong turn in our driving careers, ending up on a multi-lane freeway or a tiny one-way street.

Mercedes-AMG has widened its product range, introducing a lower-powered, more affordable tier of performance vehicle. This move has brought changes the trio of new A-Class, CLA-Class and GLA-Class products, with the introduction of new '35' AMG versions. These lower-powered performance models have become the new entry point, sitting beneath the more-powerful 45, and 45 S variants.

It's Halloween, and this is a GHOST! So, we couldn't resist a revisit. September 24: Rolls-Royce Motor Cars has launched its new Ghost Extended in Australia. This lengthened-version comes off the back of the all-new Ghost's global reveal earlier in September.

The age of the gauge is over. Nowadays, screens are taking over. Most modern cars employ some of digital display to present vehicle data. Audi could be considered pioneers of this modern-day trend, having implemented one of the first, customisable fully-digital instrument clusters, in the third-generation Audi TT. They are not an entirely new thing, however. More complex iterations of this concept span back as far as the 1970s.

Few vehicles spawn such vitriolic response as the Ram 1500 in Australia. On one hand, there are fans of this big American that’s now available through more mainstream means, with its big engine, big comfort and big towing capacity. On the other hand, others cannot fathom why such a thing exists on the roads, with its big consumption, big footprint and big asking price.

Volvo Australia has issued a recall on 9388 examples of the XC60 SUV, noting “the front windshield wiper arm nut was not tightened sufficiently during manufacturing”. The affected vehicles are Model Years 2018-2020, and were sold between 1 September 2017 and 27 August 27 2020.

Market leader Toyota says new-car sales are recovering quicker than the industry had forecast during the grip of the coronavirus crisis – and dealers are taking orders for more cars than they can deliver, due to severe stock shortages. Analysis by Toyota – which has been market leader in Australia since 2003 – predicts the sales tally for 2020 will fall to its lowest level in 17 years.

In efforts to keep diesel-fuelled engines on the right side of emissions laws, manufacturers are turning to more and more aggressive means of reducing the kind of bad stuff coming out of the tailpipe. And when things like exhaust gas recirculation and diesel particulate filters aren’t cutting the mustard, something called selective catalytic reduction (SCR) is employed.

The missing single cab and extra can variants of the 2021 Mazda BT-50 have been announced, with Mazda taking a strictly work-focussed approach to the new additions. While the dual cab BT-50 range comes in three distinct trim grades, the single cab and extra cab versions, which include rear-hinged doors for rear-cabin access (which Mazda calls Freestyle cab) will only be available in the entry-level XT grade.

There’s absolutely no doubt that Australians love the Toyota HiLux, and while the 2020 Toyota HiLux SR 4x2 Hi-Rider might not be the most popular variant, the model range itself shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.

Very few new 4x4 models and designs give that small niche of traditional 4WD enthusiasts something to not whinge about. Actually, when you really think about it, such 4WDers, zealots of traditional off-road ability, spurn anything new and technological with mistrust. Sometimes, even after that new technology has gone some distance to prove itself. It’s a small group, yes, but they are vocal. Historically, responses from the diehards have been like this:

Bugatti has released details of what it has been teasing for the past week, confirming the track-only Bugatti Bolide, a one-off concept hypercar capable of hitting 500km/h from standstill in around 20 seconds. Based on the road-going Bugatti Chiron and powered by the same W16 engine, the Bolide’s power unit has been uprated via the addition of four new turbochargers with more boost and which are claimed to have added 282kW over the outgoing turbos.

Last week CarAdvice reported the SSC Tuatara had broken the production car land speed record in the Nevada desert with an average speed of 508.7km/h in two directions. Now, the legitimacy of that achievement has been cast into doubt. Based on the known distance between set points along Nevada’s Highway 160 – and the amount of time it took for the car to reach them – high-profile YouTuber Shmee150 estimated the Tuatara’s peak speed was no higher than 450km/h.

The all-new 2021 Genesis G80 sedan is ready to roll into Australian showrooms with a pared back range, but a broader spread of options. Where the outgoing G80 offered four distinct variants, the new range comes in just one trim level, however now features a choice of two powertrains from Genesis.

The Mitsuoka Buddy has emerged online, offering buyers the chance to own a modern vehicle with the retro styling of an American SUV. Based on the Toyota RAV4, Mitsuoka has transformed the vehicle into a classic American model from the 1980s, with a design vaguely reminiscent of the Chevrolet K5 Blazer or Suburban from the era.

Kia Australia has been pushing for a ladder-frame SUV and ute for our local market for some time now, with proper off-road capability to compete against the dominant Toyota LandCruiser. The obvious choice would be to use the Kia Mohave's ladder-frame chassis to develop such models. This idea was all but confirmed recently when The Korean Car Blog spotted a prototype out testing, using a raised Mohave chassis.

Pricing and specification for the new Peugeot 2008 small SUV has been revealed today. The range now starts with the Peugeot 2008 Allure, priced from $34,990 before on road costs. The previous entry-level 2008 Active has now been discontinued. This sees the cheapest Peugeot 2008 rise by $10,500 when compared to the outgoing model. Comparing like-for-like however, the new 2008 Allure is still $5500 more expensive than before.

A fully-electric version of the Ram 1500 pick-up is currently in development, it has been confirmed. Fiat-Chrysler (FCA) boss, Mike Manley, made the announcement during a conference call discussing third-quarter earnings, according to American newspaper Detroit Free Press. "I do see that there will be an electrified Ram pickup in the marketplace, and I would ask you just to stay tuned for a little while, and we’ll tell you exactly when that will be," Mr Manley said.

It's always better late than never. Peugeot has always marched to the beat of its own drum, and making an SUV was a tune that it took a while to learn. Its first in-house crack at something resembling an SUV was the first-generation Peugeot 2008. However, its wagon-esque styling, complete with hunchback roof line, meant it never struck a chord with Aussie SUV intenders. To provide some clout, the brand claims it sold only 2500 copies of its 2008 in Australia over a seven-year lifespan.

The clever clogs in Affalterbach are on a roll at the moment, especially with this particular 2020 Mercedes-AMG GLA 35. Its latest generation of product is gaining a new breadth of ability. No longer are they all the aggressive sledgehammers of yesteryear. I’m sure you’ll jump into anything wearing the three capital letters, now so synonymous with performance, and feel content. Even as far as family cars slash daily drivers go, they’re becoming more palatable at each product update.

Victoria's automotive industry has returned to work after months of lockdown, with businesses in both metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria once again permitted to operate at full capacity. And if you've been sitting on your hands waiting to get your car maintenance checklist ticked off, there's never been a better time.

Some cars burst onto the world stage with much fanfare, only to flop on the showroom floor and be consigned to the automotive history books as a single-generation curio. Others, enjoy an average lifespan, morphing through several generations before fading away quietly. And then, there are these models, those that have evolved and endured over decades of production, moving from generation to generation to become automotive icons.

Emerging Korean luxury marque Genesis continues to grow its portfolio, with the medium-sized 2021 GV70 SUV revealed today after months of speculation. The GV70 will become the fifth model in the global Genesis lineup, along with the the bigger GV80 SUV and G70, G80 and G90 sedans. Likely to seat only five, the GV70 will compete with the likes of Mercedes's GLC, BMW's X3 and Audi's Q5.

The 2020 Ford Escape will hit showrooms next month, and buyers can now be assured the all-new SUV offers some of the highest levels of safety available. The independent Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) awarded the Escape a five-star safety rating off data provided by partner Euro NCAP, scoring favourably with adult occupant protection (92 per cent), child occupant protection (89 per cent), vulnerable road user protection (82 per cent), and safety assists (77 per cent).

A new special edition of the Nissan Qashqai joins the range, gaining a visual boost and some extra equipment to help it stand out from the pack. The Qashqai Midnight Edition joins the ranks of previous special editions like the N-Sport and N-Tec, in what’s fast becoming an annual tradition for Nissan.

We test eight of Australia’s favourite utes in our annual mega test.

A very rare Toyota 2000GT sports car has begun its restoration journey, it has been revealed. Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia announced the 2000GT's restoration kicked-off at a workshop in Sydney in recent days. Only 351 examples of the Toyota 2000GT were made between 1967 and 1970 – with nine being delivered to Australian customers – making it one of the rarest vehicles to ever come from the Japanese car maker. And one of the most valuable.

Mercedes-Benz Australia has issued a recall on 291 examples of the C-Class, citing a potential fault with headlight adjustments. The affected vehicles are all Model Year 2018, and were sold between May 1 and August 30 of that year. The recall notice, lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), says “a deviation in the headlight adjustment may lead to a reduction or an enlargement of the illumination.

March, 2020: It may not be the only wagon in the mid-size prestige segment, but could BMW’s 330i Touring be the best? Mid-range, mid-sized, yet anything but middle of the road, the 2020 BMW 330i Touring is both polished and practical. As the sole 3 Series wagon for the Australian range, it’s also likely to be a rare and treasured beast.

Mercedes-Benz Australia has issued a recall of 101 examples of its A-Class, B-Class, and CLA variants with Model Years from 2019 to 2020 (MY19-MY20) due to the potential for an oil leak to occur. The recall notice, lodged with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), states the oil leak could either ignite and cause a fire, or leak onto the roadway and cause an accident.

The 2021 Isuzu D-Max ute has only just gone on sale in Australia, but there are already some clear signs of the extra technology coming to next model update. The new-generation Isuzu MU-X four-wheel-drive wagon – which was unveiled in Thailand today ahead of its Australian showroom arrival this time next year – had a host of extra features likely to make it onto future editions of the Isuzu D-Max ute.

The covers have come off the 2021 Isuzu MU-X four-wheel-drive at a gala preview event in Thailand this afternoon, ahead of its Australian showroom arrival next year. As night follows day, the 2021 Isuzu MU-X four-wheel-drive wagon has been unveiled about 12 months after the new-generation Isuzu D-Max ute, with which it shares the majority of its underpinnings. While the new-generation Isuzu D-Max has just gone on sale in Australia, it was unveiled late last year in its homeland, Thailand.

The facelifted 2021 Jaguar E-Pace gets some impressive new technology, alongside a $1170 price increase at the bottom end. Externally, the compact Jaguar SUV now has a lower aperture, new grille, updated LED headlights, and a few subtle tweaks at the rear. Interior upgrades include a new Pivi Pro infotainment system and a 11.4-inch curved-glass touchscreen. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come standard. Meanwhile, a cabin air ionisation system – with PM2.5 filtration – can be optioned.

New South Wales is officially the state with the largest number of public electric car charging points in Australia – but it has room to improve if it's going to continue servicing the growing number of electric cars on its roads. A new study from insurance company Budget Direct has broken down the number of DC fast-charging and AC charging points in each state, ranking them based on how many sites there are per electric vehicles on the roads.

Eastnor and Fiorano don’t have much in common, but they should be twin towns. Eastnor is a tiny village in the English county of Herefordshire, home of a scenic Victorian castle that was originally commissioned by a bloke with the unimprovable name of John Cocks.

Mercedes-Benz will increase its stake in British sports car company Aston Martin Lagonda by up to 20 per cent over the next three years. In a statement issued by Mercedes-Benz, the German car giant said the move would provide Aston Martin with broader access to technology and powertrains.

Environmentally conscious kids are influencing their parents’ car buying decisions, according to a new survey commissioned by Peugeot in the UK. The study revealed that over half of the children surveyed are urging their parents to be more environmentally aware, not only through general household recycling and reusing, but in pushing them towards buying an electrified vehicle.

A prototype Porsche 911 has been spied testing in Germany, but with one curious detail: raised suspension. Why a brand-new 911 sports car would even be fitted with high-riding suspension remains a mystery. At this stage there have been no industry whispers about such a variant. However, in the past few months we know Porsche has been testing a Taycan Cross Turismo, using a lifted body to combine the best aspects of a large luxury wagon with the clearance of an SUV.

Bugatti’s upcoming hypercar may be a reskinned variant of the all-electric Rimac Concept One, according to a new online clue. The Bugatti website last week teased obscured images of the new model’s X-shaped tail-lights, but these have now been replaced with the cryptic text “0,67.” Analysis of the Rimac website suggests the 2014 Concept One (shown below) weighs 1850kg, and produces 913kW from its four electric motors.

Kia CEO Ho-Sung Song is preparing to relaunch the company as it begins rolling out a range of electrified cars. In an interview with Automotive News, Mr Song revealed the Korean car company would align itself with a younger customer base as it transitions away from traditional combustion powertrains. It's expected Kia will announce its future product plans in more detail, as well as unveiling a brand-new logo.

As an overall happy owner of a 2017 Mazda 6 GT wagon – in black, on the big shadow grey 19s because aw yeah – I'm more than a little glad to see that my few gripes have been addressed in the company's newer models and facelifts. Gone are the ugly infotainment graphics with its early-2000s design student metal-and-glass look – replaced by a premium and minimalist look with a faster processor and a bigger screen (depending on the model, sure).

The all-electric 2021 GMC Hummer EV reportedly sold out within 10 minutes of last week’s high-profile reveal. Priced from US$112,595 (approximately AU$160,000), 'thousands of examples' of the Edition 1 pick-up were secured with a deposit of US$100 (AU$140). Currently only available in the American market, the Hummer EV will eventually be offered in dual-cab pick-up and SUV configurations. Factory production will commence in 2021, at the manufacturer's ZERO plant in Detroit.

After months of lockdowns and on-site closures, Victoria’s automotive industry has finally been permitted to return to work – hopefully heralding a resurgence for hundreds of businesses left sidelined by the coronavirus. One of the many groups elated over Premier Daniel Andrews' reopening announcement were car dealers, some of whom have been prevented from conducting on-site vehicle viewings, test drives or even office work for up to 112 days.

A disgruntled Russian YouTube star has used the video streaming platform to stage a dramatic protest against Mercedes-Benz. Mikhail Litvin doused his luxury Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S four-door in petrol before setting it alight and watching it go up in flames, totally destroying the car which, in Australia, starts from $358,735 plus on-road costs. Litvin’s staged the protest after his car has reportedly suffered from a litany of problems which he claims his local Mercedes dealer refused to fix.

The Toyota Yaris Cross – the Japanese brand’s first pint-size SUV – will cost big bucks when it arrives in local showrooms from next month. Pricing announced today confirms the Toyota Yaris Cross will be available with a choice of petrol or hybrid power, in two-wheel-drive and electric all-wheel-drive.

A high-profile merger between FCA (Fiat-Chrysler) and PSA (Peugeot-Citroën) is reportedly set for approval by the European Commission. News outlet Reuters reported earlier this week that sources close to the matter confirmed the approval was imminent. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the eventual conglomerate – to be known as Stellantis – will comprise Citroën, Chrysler, Peugeot, Fiat, Dodge, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, DS, Jeep, Lancia, Maserati, Opel, Ram, and Vauxhall.

Will you separate? Can you post? Do you have the 10mm washer that goes on the back side of the second-to-left bolt on the inside of the glovebox? A big component of the allure, and downright thrill, of owning a project car can be summed up in one simple word. Parts.

A brand-new 2021 Lotus Lambda SUV could be here before the end of the year. Earlier this month rumours indicated the British company – best known for producing lightweight sports cars – was preparing to unveil the Lambda after patent images surfaced online. These renders from Spanish publication motor.es via Kolesa provide a better glimpse of what we can expect with the Lotus Lambda.

The past seven years have been kind to the BMW 4 Series. Introduced with a good deal of fanfare back in 2013, it has now recorded over 800,000 sales worldwide. Its success is spread across three models, including Coupe, Cabriolet and five-door Gran Coupe, as well as a range of four- and six-cylinder petrol and diesel engines, which together have managed to provide it with wide appeal.

UPDATE: There is little left to be seen of the new-look 2021 Nissan Navara, thanks to the spy photos and leaked promotional images below – but once it has left the station, the teaser train must go on. An official teaser has appeared on Nissan Australia's social media profiles today, offering a shadowy look at the Navara's facelift, along with a short history lesson on the company's ute game.

Toyota Australia has doubled the warranty from five to 10 years on cars affected by faulty diesel-particulate filters (DPFs). Customers have experienced – and Toyota has acknowledged – repeated problems with the DPF system fitted to 2.8-litre 1GD-FTV and 2.4-litre 2GD-FTV diesel engines. This includes Toyota HiLux, LandCruiser Prado, and Fortuner dating back to 2015.

Australia is looking likely to receive the most powerful Peugeot ever built - the plug-in hybrid Peugeot 508 Sport Engineered (already dubbed 'Peugeot 508 PSE' by punters). At the launch of its all-new 2008 small SUV, Kate Gillis, general manager of Peugeot Citroen Australia, said that evaluation has so far been favourable, and that PSA Groupe were in support of launching the vehicle in Australia.

It's been a big year for automotive in 2020, with the exit of Holden, the cancellation of international motor shows and the Australian Grand Prix due to coronavirus, and the steady decline of new car sales. In a challenging climate, it's perhaps unsurprising that carmakers are reducing their ranges, discontinuing under-performers and replacing older models with hybrids, electric cars or new creations altogether.

The 2021 Volkswagen Touareg Wolfsburg has been announced, with only 300 of the special SUVs on offer. Of those, 200 will be fitted with a 3.0-litre turbo diesel V6 producing 210kW and 600Nm – the high-output V6 engine offered in the Touareg range – and taking a claimed 6.5 seconds to hit 100km/h from a standstill, the same as the 190TDI, through an eight-speed automatic transmission and all-wheel drive.

A startup in the US says it is planning an electric pick-up for the American market. Hercules says its electric ute – named the Alpha – will be based on the Nissan Titan, a full-size pick-up only available in North America. Rather than developing a vehicle from scratch, Hercules plans to re-engineer the Titan into a fully-electric vehicle, claiming the vehicle will produce around 750kW from its four electric motors.

News out of the US claims the 11th Fast & Furious film will be the very last in the long-running movie franchise. According to a report from Hollywood news website Deadline, Universal Pictures has tasked director Justin Lin with wrapping up the series, with a storyline expected to stretch across the final two films. The latest movie, F9: The Fast Saga, was expected to be released in early 2020, but was delayed a full year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 2021 Hyundai i20 N has been put through its paces on track, as captured in a new video put out by the Korean car company. Designed to fight against the Volkswagen Polo GTI and Ford Fiesta ST, the i20 N comes with a 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder producing 150kW and 275Nm. Drive is through the front wheels via a six-speed manual and limited-slip differential. Earlier this month, CarAdvice was invited to test a prototype of the i20 N on track.

While Toyota holds a dominant stranglehold over many segments of Australia’s new-car landscape, 4x4 sales show a particularly tight grip on the short’n’curlies. The LandCruiser Prado is a far-and-away winner when it comes to large 4WDs, and will look to continue that dominance with a recent update. But go up another segment, where the big, expensive and dated V8 diesel 200 Series LandCruiser lives, and boy, it’s as popular as ever.

Peugeot, through its local distributor Inchcape, is looking to grow sales in Australia by way of a two-stage rollout of plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles. The first step is to launch the all-wheel-drive, plug-in hybrid Peugeot 3008 SUV (below) halfway through 2021. This will likely be followed by an all-electric Peugeot 208 city hatch toward the end of 2022.

New car buyers in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria can now inspect their next vehicle purchase in person, after the state government announced automotive retail would be permitted to reopen after months of closures. From October 28, all automotive businesses will be allowed to re-commence on-site work, including new and used car dealerships, mechanics and service centres.

German car maker Audi has reaffirmed its commitment to all-wheel-drive, even as it pivots with the rest of the car industry to electric power. As Audi celebrates the 40th anniversary of its all-wheel-drive “quattro” system, the company says it is well progressed with plans to evolve the technology and apply it to pure electric cars. Unlike mechanical all-wheel-drive systems – in which the front and rear drivelines are connected – electric cars power the front and rear wheels independently.

Victorians remain in the grips of ongoing coronavirus restrictions, relying on often-confusing weekly announcements from Premier Daniel Andrews to learn of the changes in both Metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria. Below, we've answered some commonly asked questions about Melbourne's latest coronavirus lockdown rules and how they pertain to drivers. If we've missed anything, let us know in the comments section.

Tesla has reportedly challenged a recall for almost 30,000 American-made Model X and Model S cars imported into China, disputing claims there is an issue with the vehicles' suspension and instead blaming the problem on "driver abuse". The recall, lodged with China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) by Tesla Motor's Beijing arm, apparently affects Model X and S cars produced between September 17, 2013 and January 15, 2018, and imported into China.

The automotive world could be on the brink of another global recall crisis. Takata, the same company responsible for producing potentially deadly airbags in more than 100 million cars, may have also lied about the strength and safety of its seatbelts.

The 2021 BMW M4 was only recently revealed, but a special edition has already been announced. The German car company has collaborated with New York lifestyle brand Kith to create the BMW M4 Competition x Kith, which will be limited to just 150 examples worldwide. The M4 has mainly cosmetic upgrades, featuring merged BMW and Kith logos throughout the vehicle, as well as BMW M tri-colour front seats with embossed Kith lettering and an illuminated badge.

The Hyundai Veloster will soon no longer be the only asymmetrical ‘three-door’ car on sale, with the unveiling of the 2021 Fiat 500e 3+1. Based on the reborn, all-electric Fiat 500e hatch unveiled earlier this year, the 3+1 adds a small, rear-hinged door on the passenger side, to allow easier entry into the rear seats.

UPDATE, October 22: The results are in. The whole auction lot sold for €1,118,000 (AU$1,856,752). What did our picks fetch? Peugeot 504 Coupe. Guide price: €11,000 - 14,000. SOLD €18,300. (AU$30,392) Peugeot 205 'Rallye'. Guide price: €11,000 - 14,000. SOLD €18,300. (AU$30,392) Peugeot 2008 'DKR16'. Guide price: €450,000 - 550,000 (AU$747,300 - $913,200). UNSOLD. Citroën Méhari. Guide price: €5,000 - 8,000. PULLED FROM AUCTION PRIOR.

The 2021 Audi RS E-Tron GT will use a tri-electric motor set up, reportedly boasting more than 520kW of power. Despite the E-Tron GT being based on the all-electric Porsche Taycan, it's believed the Audi will receive an additional electric motor and more power, according to a report from UK publication Auto Express.

The Mitsubishi Triton GSR is the new flagship of the brand’s ute range. Although the GSR badge was previously applied to a rally-bred, high-performance, turbocharged all-wheel-drive Lancer sedan in the 1990s, more recently it has been used on the Mitsubishi ASX to distinguish the top model grade of the brand’s small SUV. In the case of the Mitsubishi Triton, the GSR badge doesn’t bring any more power, torque or capability, but it does deliver a more sporty appearance.

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinta Arden is poised to switch to electric power for her ministerial car, from a BMW 7 Series diesel to an Audi e-Tron.

Tesla is poised to introduce a new level of autonomous driving technology in the US, however authorities say they stand ready “to protect the public against safety risks”. The Reuters news agency has reported Tesla released an early test version of what it refers to as “full self driving” software to an “undisclosed number of expert, careful drivers”. Tesla owners responded by posting videos taken by them while experimenting with earlier versions of the company’s autonomous technology.

Australia's new car market, it is fair to say, did not have a stellar year in 2019. Month after month, sales were down, with consumer confidence low and dealers struggling with significant changes to finance regulations.

As we move toward the end of the year, and a hope that travel restrictions will ease across the country, many readers have been asking about getting a vehicle prepared for a big trip away – so we felt it was a good time to review the build-up we did to a 70-Series Landcruiser dual cab. We're re-re-running the updates each Sunday during October, but we'll end with a brand-new instalment – next week.

An electric Hummer, the world’s fastest road car (unofficially), a new pint-size hot hatch from Hyundai, and Tesla price rises for its Supercharger power in Australia.These are just some of the top news stories from last week. Here's a quick recap, with links to the original stories so you can catch up in no time. General Motors is about to resurrect the Hummer brand name but not as a gas-guzzling V8 but a hulking heavy-duty four-wheel-drive with epic electric power.

Super-luxury brand Rolls-Royce has professionally rendered the dream cars of kids, as part of an international design competition. From 5000 submissions four winners were eventually selected, each in one of the following categories; technology, environment, fantasy and fun. Chenyang from China, aged 13, took the top prize in the technology category, with the Rolls-Royce Bluebird II. His streamlined design is powered by jet turbines, and is supposed to work on "land, water, and snow."

Australia loves a ute. In fact regional centres all around the country not only depend on them for day-to-day operations, but celebrate them in the finest style, with the hallowed ute muster. So, what happened to the ute? The mere mention of the word probably pops an image of a Commodore or Falcon load-lugger into your head. Maybe something a bit older, say a Kingswood or a Valiant.

German aftermarket specialist, Prior Design, has taken the wraps off - via YouTube - its in-house redesigned front grille and bumper for the newly-released BMW M3 and M4 siblings. The M halo cars aroused much controversy when revealed to the public earlier this year, the large, vertical kidney grille dominating the front fascia and drawing criticism from car enthusiast and automotive media alike.

Owners of the original Mazda MX-5 (NA) will now find it easier to keep their iconic drop-tops in tip top condition with Mazda revealing it has started manufacturing new replacement parts for the 30-year-old roadster. The catch for Aussies, it’s limited to Europe and the UK for now. A total of 117 left-hand and 156 right-hand drive parts are being manufactured to original specification by Mazda, albeit using modern materials and technology.

In nearly every test we’ve done recently that involved a Porsche car or SUV, we’ve come to realise that adding a GTS badge to the tail moves that variant right to the head of the class, and it seems that rings true with the 2020 Porsche Macan GTS.

From the moment we first saw it, there was no doubt that the Lexus LC500 was a beautifully styled sports coupe, and as you tend to do when you see a beautiful coupe, thoughts drift to what it might look like with the roof removed from the equation. Or more accurately, a roof that can be removed from the equation when the mood takes you.

This month, we hitched up the CarAdvice trailer and hit the road in our 2020 Nissan Navara N-Trek Warrior long-termer – with a slightly different (though still related) ute in tow.

The 2021 McLaren Elva – set to be the newest addition to the British-manufacturer’s Ultimate Series – has been test driven at Silverstone by 20-year-old F1 driver Lando Norris. This represents the best look yet at the upcoming roadster in action. Inspired by founder Bruce McLaren’s M1A, M1B and M1C race cars of the 1960’s, the the £1.4 million (AU$2.5 million) Elva is powered by a 4.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 producing 599kW and 880Nm.

There’s more to the strategy behind the 2021 Hyundai i30 sedan than simply a name change from the outgoing Elantra. It needs to be remembered, too, that the Elantra was a solid car in a segment that has waned a little of late, but shows signs of gaining momentum over the next few years.

The pocket rocket category was far from overflowing this year, and 2021 won't exactly offer more options than the average hot-hatch fan could stomach having to choose from – but at least there's now one more. Revealed this past week, the i20 N is a proper full-bottle N offering – only the second, after the i30 versions (or third if you want to count body shapes in the mix).

Only a month after winning the Formula Three championship, Australian racing car driver Oscar Piastri has been invited to test in a Renault Formula One car. The 19-year-old will be one of only three F3 drivers to invited to show off their talents in Renault's 2018 Formula One car later this month at the Bahrain International Circuit. "It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to drive an F1 car, so I am very grateful to the team for the opportunity," Piastri said.

When we’re not creating it ourselves, the CarAdvice team spends a lot of time finding and consuming motoring content from all over the world. Here’s a handful of the photos, articles, videos or social media posts that most caught our eye last week. Some of them are brand new, others have been online for a while. Enjoy them – just not too much, okay?

When AMGs account for a healthy percentage of Mercedes-Benz sales, you can’t blame the German brand for capitalising with more performance variants. So, following on from the ‘43’ and ‘53’ badges introduced below the full-fat AMG 63 models in Mercedes’s medium and large model ranges, 2019 saw the freshly founded ‘35’ number applied to compact models below the fully fledged ‘45’ AMGs. At least, they do in the case of the A-Class hatch and GLA compact SUV.

Alfa Romeo's wild Giulia GTA and GTAm monster sedans have been put to the track test by F1 drivers Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, at the famous Balocco Proving Ground – home to Alfa Romeo sports car testing since the 1960s. Although partly a valuable promotional opportunity, inviting the brand's motorsport representatives to test the new hero Giulias is an important part of the development process.

Plug-in hybrids don’t often get the respect they deserve – despite making sense for a large cross-section of the driving public – but after a few days with the 2021 Mercedes-Benz A250e, it’s hard to work out why PHEVs don’t get a bit more love.

Legal representatives for car giant Toyota – and the law firm that commenced a Class Action over diesel particular filter faults on approximately 250,000 HiLux, Prado and Fortuner models – went head-to-head today in an online Federal Court hearing. At the centre of the dispute is the excessive white smoke caused by certain Toyota models equipped with the 2.8-litre engine (and some equipped with the smaller, 2.4-litre) when it is doing a “burn off” of the diesel particular filter.

An orderly queue is starting to form for the Volkswagen Amarok W580 special edition. The locally-developed model – a partnership with Volkswagen Australia and the Walkinshaw Automotive Group, formerly the parent company of Holden Special Vehicles – is due in local showrooms from April 2021.

Electric-car specialist Tesla has discreetly raised the cost of Supercharger usage by almost 25 per cent in Australia this month. Tesla Model 3 owner Wan told CarAdvice yesterday that – without notice – the per kW pricing increased from $0.42 to $0.52 sometime between his last two charges. “That’s a lot more expensive. I hadn’t realised they’d done that,” he noted.

Australian car buyers will once again have an opportunity to look at and sit in a wide range of new four-wheel drives, as automotive companies begin taking a more active role in 4WD shows around the country.

Yes, we can still confirm the Mitsubishi Lancer is no longer on sale (but we like to double-check every now and then). But there are still plenty of models lingering around among all the new or relatively fresh metal in showrooms – vehicles that most people had forgotten were actually still available.

The world's most valuable car brands have been revealed for 2020, with a small number of brands managing to improve their rankings despite a difficult year for the industry. With its annual Best Global Brands survey, marketing agency Interbrand ranks brands based on their overall valuation, which takes into account things like "financial performance of the branded products or services, the role the brand plays in purchase decisions, and the brand’s competitive strength".

The Honda NSX has been retired from the Australian line-up, the company has confirmed. According to VFACTS data, only nine examples of the $420,000 Honda coupe have sold since the car was released in 2016 – and none in 2020 – prompting the NSX to be removed from sale. Honda Australia confirmed the decision, telling CarAdvice new orders for the model can no longer be placed. The NSX does remain on sale in other markets such as the US and UK.

There’s more to the strategy behind the 2021 Hyundai i30 sedan than simply a name change from the outgoing Elantra. It needs to be remembered, too, that the Elantra was a solid car in a segment that has waned a little of late, but shows signs of gaining momentum over the next few years. The small-car class might not go back to where it once was in this country, but the product offering – across all major brands, it has to be said – is better than it’s ever been.

Shannons are auctioning a Ford Mustang that was once used for Supercar Championship promotional duties. All proceeds from the sale will be donated to Camp Quality, a children's charity that supports kids aged 0-13 with cancer. The 'Velocity Blue' V8 manual example was originally used by Ford Australia as a media evaluation vehicle. It was factory-specified with 19-inch forged aluminium wheels, adaptive suspension and Recaro seats.

As a right-hand-drive market, Australia is in the minority. That much is pretty well known. RHD cars aren’t an obscure rarity in the global market by any means, with over 60 countries currently using this format. Certainly, there are more LHD markets (over 140) and as a result more LHD production volume, around 75 per cent globally.

From the moment we first saw it, there was no doubt that the Lexus LC500 was a beautifully styled sports coupe, and as you tend to do when you see a beautiful coupe, thoughts drift to what it might look like with the roof removed from the equation. Or more accurately, a roof that can be removed from the equation when the mood takes you.

Plug-in hybrids don’t often get the respect they deserve – despite making sense for a large cross-section of the driving public – but after a few days with the 2021 Mercedes-Benz A250e, it’s hard to work out why PHEVs don’t get a bit more love.

Manufacturers may soon be required to include an autonomous emergency braking (AEB) system as standard on all new cars sold in Australia, under a recent Federal Government proposal to reduce road trauma caused by light vehicles. In a Regulation Impact Statement issued in October 2020, the Government proposed introducing a new Australian Design Rule (ADR) mandating car-to-car and pedestrian-detecting AEB systems on all new-generation models from July 2022, and on all new cars from July 2024.

Australian pricing for the Ford Mustang Mach 1 has been confirmed before the limited edition arrives in local showrooms early next year. The 2021 Ford Mustang Mach 1 will start from $83,365 plus on-road costs. Just 700 will be imported from the US.

The 2021 Mazda MX-30 is all but confirmed for Australia, after documents revealed the model has been approved by the Federal Government's car certification body. The Road Vehicle Certification System (RVCS) website published a letter dated 19 October 2020, stating Mazda's application for the MX-30 had received the green light. While the small SUV has not yet been announced locally, gaining approval from RVCS is one of the many steps manufacturers must take prior to launching a new model.

Toyota may be developing a plug-in hybrid Corolla, according to a report from Japanese auto website Best Car Web. Unlike Toyota's popular Corolla Hybrid currently available in the line-up, a plug-in hybrid would allow the vehicle to be driven entirely on battery power for a typical commute.