CAR ADVICE

LDV’s cheapest van is set for a safety upgrade and styling tweak in plans to keep it on sale alongside the new Deliver 7. One of Australia’s most affordable delivery vans – the LDV G10 – is set to remain in showrooms for the foreseeable future through a styling update and safety upgrade. It was long expected the G10 – launched in 2015 – would be superseded and discontinued with the arrival of the Deliver 7 , a similarly-sized but new-generation van with greater levels of comfort and technology. Government approval documents published today show LDV’s diesel G10+ will live on as a – likely cheaper – alternative to the new model, coinciding with a new front bumper to set the new model apart. And while it is yet to be formally announced, it’s all but confirmed the G10 will gain advanced crash-avoidance technology absent from the current model in order to meet inbound Australian motor-vehicle rules . MORE: 2025 LDV Deliver 7 price and specs Arrival timing is yet to be c...

One of the least-celebrated rally cars of the legendary Group B era, a Mazda RX-7, is heading across the auction block. The Group B era of rallying was dominated throughout the 1980s by European brands, with the most iconic cars being made by Audi , Lancia , MG , and Renault , among others. While outshone by other brands, Mazda created its own Group B vehicles based on the first-generation RX-7 – with one of the 19 rally cars now being sold at auction. Whereas the most successful rally cars in the championship combined the latest turbocharging technology with all-wheel drive, the RX-7 was powered by a 1.3-litre non-turbo 13B twin-rotor engine, driving the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission and limited-slip differential. Performance came through a Weber 51 IDA carburettor, along with dual electronic ignition, and peripheral intake ports. VIDEO: New Group B rally film Race for Glory coming soon The engine was also moved approximately four inches (100mm)...

The German car maker has recreated a real-life version of the race car in its iconic blue and silver livery, equipped with the V8 racing engine that was featured in the 2005 Need For Speed: Most Wanted video game. BMW has recently unveiled a special edition of its M3 E46 GTR sports car that was prominently featured in the 2005 video game Need For Speed: Most Wanted. To celebrate the gaming franchise’s 30th anniversary, the luxury German car maker – in partnership with global automotive website Speedhunters – recreated a real-life version of the M3 GTR in its iconic blue and white livery. “The [BMW] M3 GTR model is one of the most recognisable cars in the history of Need for Speed , so for the 30 th anniversary we wanted to do something special,” John Stanley, the Senior Creative Director of Need For Speed: Unbound , said in a media statement. The one-off concept has been on display at the BMW Welt Museum in Munich, Germany, since November 27, 2024. The recreation of the...

It’s not against the law to turn left against a red light in Western Australia, as long as a road sign permits it – but authorities didn’t put this one up. Drivers have been put in a dangerous situation after an official-looking traffic sign was affixed to traffic lights at a notorious intersection in Western Australia. According to the Examiner Newspaper , the sign – which reads ‘Left turn on red permitted after stopping’ – appeared over the weekend in the suburb of Kelmscott, around 30 kilometres south-east of Perth. A spokesperson from Main Roads Western Australia confirmed the sign was unauthorised, and was removed after several days by road workers. While the practice of allowing a driver to turn left at a red light is allowed under the state’s traffic laws – provided there is a sign permitting the action – Main Roads confirmed to the Examiner no signs have been installed in Western Australia to date. The road sign was identical to another located in Sydney’s Inner W...

Starring in all three Austin Powers films – and a Madonna video clip – the one-and-only Shaguar is up for sale complete with brash, British paintwork. The car from the swinging sixties-themed Austin Powers film trilogy – dubbed the ‘Shaguar’ by the rambunctious spy – will go under the hammer at Mecum Auctions in the United States on 18 January 2025. Designed to match the ostentatious, over-the-top swagger of Mike Myer’s spoof character, Austin Powers – taking the mickey out of the classic British spy genre – the Shaguar’s Union flag livery helps it scream ‘Great Britain’ louder than a royal scandal. A contrast to the understated grey Aston Martins – among others – of the more serious James Bond , the Shaguar also wears classic knock-off wire wheels and ‘Shaguar’ rear decklid badging for a thoroughly shagadelic result. The car is a 1967 Jaguar E-Type Roadster Series I (sold as the ‘XK-E’ in the United States) and is powered by a 4.2-litre straight-six petrol engine with a ...

After Nissan’s CEO declared an ‘Emergency Mode’, took a pay cut and  slashed jobs, is the car maker actually on the brink of disaster? Not all of its sales results spell trouble. Japanese car maker Nissan announced last month it’s operating in ‘Emergency Mode’ after posting dramatic sales declines in key markets, resulting in huge financial losses and – ultimately – job cuts. How accurate are the claims made by an unnamed senior official close to the car maker – which built its first vehicle more than 100 years ago in 1914 – suggesting Nissan is only around 12 months away from collapse? That time frame may be pointing towards a 2026 bond maturity for the car maker, which will see the company owe $US5.6 billion ($8.59 billion)– its largest ever debt, according to Bloomberg . That’s in addition to $US1.6 billion ($AU2.45 billion) in 2025, although the car maker told Bloomberg it has sufficient funds to fulfil its upcoming payments. Nissan X-Trail In 1999, when the...

Toyota has confirmed the demise of the current GR Supra with two special models – a sharper Track Edition for Australia, and a far more powerful A90 Final Edition for other markets. The current Toyota GR Supra sports coupe will exit production after 300 examples of a six-speed manual Final Edition variant – the showroom name for the long-rumoured GRMN Supra – roll off the assembly line. A new generation of the GR Supra has been confirmed – which reports suggest may be a four-cylinder hybrid – but 2025 will mark the end of the road for Toyota’s current ‘A90’ iteration developed with BMW . It will bow out overseas with the manual-only A90 Final Edition, offering the most powerful version of BMW’s 3.0-litre single-turbo petrol inline-six ever fitted to a road car, plus racing suspension, bigger brakes, track-day tyres and a rear spoiler. MORE: Next-generation Toyota GR Supra confirmed by Australian executive Australia will miss out on the A90 Final Edition, however, ...

If you want to maximise your fuel economy, it may be best to change your driving style. We investigate whether you really use more fuel at high speeds. Photo: iStock – Kenneth Cheung/Giselleflissak With fuel costs continuously rising and car manufacturers always looking for ways to make cars more economical, it may be at the point where changing your driving style will save you more money. ADVICE: Does air conditioning really use more fuel? Perhaps one of the greatest debates is whether driving slowly will save you more fuel rather than driving quickly. Driving at a higher speed will mean spending less time on the road, but the trade-off is you’ll likely cover a greater distance than if you were sitting in stop-start traffic. We investigate if driving at a higher speed means you use more fuel. Do you use more fuel going faster or slower ? According to research conducted by the New Zealand Transport Agency, driving faster does indeed use more fuel, provided you’re talking...

In a secret 7000-vehicle collection of some of the world’s most expensive and exotic cars – leaked on social media – sits an Australian-made Holden Commodore V8. A social media post showing a huge collection of cars owned by the Sultan of Brunei has revealed a slew of strange, expensive and collectible cars including Ferraris, Bugattis and one-off bespoke builds – and a Holden Commodore. It’s not just any Commodore, though, the former top-selling model a family, police and performance car favourite. Rolling through the vehicles, nestled in front of a yellow Ferrari – with a pair of blue and red Ferraris alongside – is a 1990 HSV VN SS Group A Commodore. The Sultan of Brunei – a tiny country in South-East Asia – is regularly reported as the world’s wealthiest royal, with the famous secret collection peaking at an estimated 7000 cars with a value of $US5 billion ($AU7.8 billion). Images of the collection were posted to Instagram this week – as well as a full Google Drive fo...