Archive for January, 2006

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First Tiida Review

After 20 years and numerous styling changes the Nissan Pulsar is dead and its replacement is about to hit Nissan showrooms across Australia. To replace the Pulsar Nissan are introducing the Tiida – a totally different car to the Pulsar.
The Tiida comes with better equipment levels than the old Pulsar but confirms Nissan’s commitment to [...]

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Honda Civic

There are definitely times when the way manufacturers advertise their motor vehicles is downright boring.
But you really couldn’t describe this ad produced to market the Honda Civic in the United Kingdom as boring (the Honda web page has since been removed).
Oh and the car looks like this:

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Nissan Tiida Release Date

While people in Sydney and Melbourne have had a chance to look at the Nissan Tiida while they were on display in various shopping centres the rest of us have had to sit and wait.
Come February 1 the wait will be over because that is the date set for the Tiida’s release. Expect some photos [...]

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The Kia Cerato Wins an Award

The Kia Cerato has received the “Most Delightful Vehicle of 2005″ award in the small car division from Strategic Vision, a US company that has been running the awards since 1996.

Strategic Vision measures the experience of approximately 90,000 new vehicle owners annually. According to Strategic Vision, the results give the industry actionable information about [...]

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Rough Times Ahead for the US Car Industry

Both Ford and General Motors have announced savage cuts to their workforce. Ford is set to close 14 plants and sack 25,000 to 30,000 workers while GM intends closing nine plants and laying off 30,000 workers.
Both companies are facing stiff competition from Japan and Korea and both companies are said to be burdened with the [...]

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$2.5 million for James Bond’s Aston Martin

Back on December 7 we reported that the James Bond Car would soon be going under the hammer in Phoenix Arizona.
The auction has now been held and what was advertised in the sales brochure as a “1964 Aston Martin DB5 Coupe” will soon be on its way to Switzerland after a Swiss business man [...]

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Nissan Navarra Specifications

Quite a few people have been coming to the site looking for the specifications for the Nissan Navara.
Nissan did have comparison chart available that showed you the Nissan Navara Specifications for each model but it hassince been removed.

Here is an interesting quote from the latest Nissan eNews

The all new turbo diesel Nissan Navara Dual Cab [...]

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Mitsubishi Set to Cut Jobs in Adelaide

Mitsubish released the 380 last year and was frank in telling the market place that the 380 was the make or break car for the company in Australia.
Unfortunately sales have not been what they had hoped and even the Toyota Yaris outsold the 380 in December. With sales results like that job cuts were inevitable.

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Another Rise in the Cost of Fuel

Stand by to get slugged in the hip pocket again. Fuel prices are going to rise significantly and it could start to happen as early as Tuesday.
The cost of crude oil has jumped by of $US2.00 a barrel and the exchange rate of the Aussie dollar against the US dollar has fallen.
Prices in Queensland (where [...]

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The Five Points of Holden Barina

The new Holden Barina is here but is it worth looking at?

Five Good Reasons

1. At $12,990 it’s cheaper than this time last year
2. It comes with a 1.6 litre motor as standard
3. It handles well in tight spaces
4. Standard equipment includes airconditioning, power windows, adjustable steering wheel, driver and passenger airbags and [...]

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Buying a Small Car on Price Alone

If you’re thinking of buying a small car and price is the only consideration then here are a few baseline prices that might interest you.

Ford Fiesta $13,990
Holden Barina (a rebadged Daewoo Kalos) $12,990
Hyunda Getz $13,990
Kia Rio $14990
Toyota Yaris $14,990
So obviously the Holden Barina is definitely going to interest you but remember, you get what you [...]

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Toyota – Does Someone Else Own Its Hybrid Technology?

Toyota seems to have encountered some problems with parts of its hybrid technology in the United States.
Solomon Technologies Inc claims that it owns the US patents on the parts of the technology that Toyota is using in the Prius.
In September 2005 Solomon started court action against Toyota claiming that one of it’s patents covering drive [...]

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Viva – Long Live …

Holden seem to market the Viva as a party car. If you look at the advertising on television you see lots of people celebrating. But the correct meaning of the name is ‘long live’.
Does any small 4 cylinder car live long in Australia?
Perhaps Viva will live up to it’s name because it’s foundations [...]

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Taking Your 4×4 Underground

When we think of four wheel driving just about anywhere in the world we think of driving over rough terrain and almost none of us would think of driving a 4×4 underground. But then most of us aren’t gold miners like Roger Hicks.

One of the country’s largest gold mines is capitalising on the toughness and [...]

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The Toyota Camry for 2006

The new Toyota Camry for 2006 was on display at the Detroit Motor Show this past week.
The Camry has been the best selling car in the United States for seven of the last eight years the best selling medium car in Australia since 1994. The new 2006 Camry certainly seems set to continue to dominate [...]

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Kia Optima – the 2006 Model in the US

Kia have annouced their 2006 Kia Optima in the US. The new model is part of Kia’s plan to completely regenerate the Kia product line-up.

The car comes with a longer wheelbase, wider track, increased horsepower, better fuel economy and improved driving dynamics. The 2006 Optima also comes with six airbags as standard but other safety [...]

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US Car Awards

The motoring industry in the United States is going through it’s annual round of car awards and one of the first is the Roand and Travel Magazine International Card of the Year Awards.
Typically the Americans give a world title to something that only applies in the US but still it’s interesting to see what did [...]

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Ford Zephyr

In case you don’t recognise the name or the image let me introduce you to the 1954 Ford Zephyr Mk1 sedan. The Ford Zephyr was an English car manufactured between 1951 and 1955. The engine for this car was a specially designed 6 cylinder overhead valve engine with a capacity of 2262cc.
In 1954 Ford [...]

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Suzuki Swift

One of the more popular cars with motoring writers for 2005 was the Suzuki Swift but what does this car really have going for it?

A blunt nose certainly does give this car a presence and butat first glance the price tag of $15,990 for the base model might turn people away. At that price [...]

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A Modern Three Wheel Car?

Hang on to your hat Mr Bean the Messerschmitt has got company.

Meet the Xebra – it’s a Chinese three wheel battery powered car that’s now on the market in the United States.
According to the brochure it has:

a top speed of 65 kmh
a range of 65 km from it’s battery pack of 12 volt batteries
it will [...]

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Car Sales Up In 2005

2005 saw an increase in the number of new vehicles sold in Australia but at the same time it also saw an increase in unsold vehicles held my GMH and Ford.
In an effort to clear stocks Holden ran a discount campaign that was to finish at the end of December but, as I write this, [...]

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Are Your Children Safer in a 4WD?

The conventional wisdom that children are safer in big four wheel drive vehicles – or Sports Utility Vehicles (SUV) as the Americans call them – may not be based on any solid fact.
A recent study in the United States has found that bigger does not equal safer when it comes to being safe inside a [...]

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Nissan Develops a Clear Paint That Repairs Scratches

Nissan has developed the world’s first clear paint that repairs scratches on painted car surfaces, including scratches from carwashing machines, off-road driving and fingernails.
“Scratch Guard Coat” contains a newly developed high elastic resin that helps prevent scratches from affecting the inner layers of a car’s painted surface. With ““Scratch Guard Coat” a car’s scratched surface [...]

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Hyundai Sonata – a Top 10 Vehicle in the United States

Back in November Aussie Motoring posted some comments about the Hyundai Sonata. It seemed to attract mixed reviews from motoring journalists here in Australia that were somewhat at variance with what Sonota owners ,that we have spoken to, have to say about the car.
Those reviewes are also at variance with what motoring journalists in the [...]

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There’s No Accounting for Taste

This is the Honday Element – it’s a four wheel drive vehicle sold by Honda in the United States and its target market is young people. It even has a sun roof over the back seat – not for the comfort of back seat passengers but to allow young drivers to carry their surfboards inside [...]

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Want a Tax Deduction on Your Family Car?

Not a problem if you live in the US and are prepared to buy one of at least 13 vehicles that showed the most improvement in fuel efficiency during 2005.
Back in November we reported that the US Chamber of Commerce wanted the government to put a special tax on hybrid cars – those that operate [...]