Aussie Motoring

In another life I’m not only a freelance writer but I’m also involved in online marketing so I’m always interested to look at the way various manufacturers promote their product.

It’s unlikely that we will ever see advertising like this in Australia but this is definitely thinking outside the box and it’s going to give you three good laughs.

VW’s Unpimp My Rides

Despite what we were told by a salesman at our local Hyundai dealer several weeks ago the new Grandeur is here and it is being advertised by the local dealer. So what do we have and is it really going to be worth the money.

Sadly if you go to the Hyundai website you’re not going to see much more of the car this this:

and just for a comparison here was the last model Grandeur that was sold in Australia:

Call me old-fashioned if you like but the new body shape does not have me rushing off to the dealer with my cheque book in hand. But then beauty is in the eye of the beholder and you might think that the new body style is wonderful.

There are two models in the range - the V6 and the Limited with prices of $42,990 and $46,990. Equipment levels in both models are good and, unlike the previous Grandeur, both models have leather trim as standard.

One thing that I certainly appreciated in the old Grandeur was the leg-room for both front and rear passengers and that seems to have been carried over to the new Grandeur too. Boot space is good and you would be surprised what you can pack into the boot of one of these cars. The security officer at the Bass Straight ferry terminal at Deveonport couldn’t believe it either when he looked in our boot when we were moving from Tasmania to Queensland.

Everything seems to look rather good in the new car until you get it out onto the road where several journalists have noted that it’s handling and acceleration leave something to be desired. I’ve yet to drive one but my old Grandeur is not the fastest off the mark but still accelerates well at speed and apparently handles much better than the new version.

For a full and comprehensive road test of the new Hyundai Grandeur go here.

I guess the one unanswered question about the new Grandeur is what Hyundai will do if sales don’t reach the target. I can remember reading a report in 2000 where the head of the company that was importing them at the time assured potential purchases that they would do nothing to undermine the value of the car.

A month or so after we bought ours the importers started selling Grandeurs to car hire companies and today our $41,000 Grandeur XG is worth less than $9,000 (and that is with lower than average kilometres on the clock).

Are we seeing the beginning of the end of a love affair? Could the passion be cooling and the ardour be waning?

Well for all of us who drive normal cars and have trouble at intersections seeing around those lumping great 4×4s that have never seen a hint of a dirt road the news might be looking good. It seems that sales of cars rose in January but sales of 4×4s dropped by 1.5%.

What makes it even more interesting is that it could just be that the love affair Americans have with 4×4s could be almost over too.

When motoring writers start saying things like this:

When you’re behind the wheel of a Subaru station wagon, it’s hard to figure out how the SUV craze ever got started in the first place. Subarus come in a variety of sizes and degrees of ruggedness, and all have standard all-wheel drive that powers them through snow, ice, and mud almost as well as any SUV. They’re also safe, reasonably priced and reliable. They get better gas mileage than most SUVs, and are roomy enough to fill the needs of most people 95% of the time. Some of them are even a blast to drive.

about this car:

you have to wonder if the romance has died.

If you want to read the full review of the WRX Sport Wagon you will find it here.

Now here is a concept car that has been released at for the Melbourne Motor Show that I like, not because it’s a real head-turner or it pushes the boundaries of technology but because it’s a concept car that you or I could build.

That’s right, the Nissan Nismo 350Z is a concept car put together from parts that are locally available through the Nissan dealer network right here in Australia.

For more information and all the specs follow this link.

The Melbourne Motor Show is in full swing and Ford has dipped into its bag of tricks and come up with three treats for Ford enthusiasts.

Ford Territory Turbo and Territory Ghia Turbo

Both models will go on sale in July powered by a 245kW turbo. The Ghia will come complete with leather upholstery - just what you need for a little scrub bashing.

Ford Focus XR5 Turbo

The Ford Focus XR5 turbo comes straight from Germany and has its first outing at the Melbourne Motor Show.

Ford Escape

The new Ford Escape has been unveiled at the show too. The new escape comes with a choice of 2.3 litre 4-cylinder or 3.0 litre V6 Duratec engine and is equipped with on-demand 4WD.

It’s unlikely that we’ll see this interesting VW Polo variation here in Australia but it’s still interesting to see what some of the European manufacturers can do to enhance their basic designs.

The VW CrossPolo is one of those interesting variations. Follow the link to read the details.

One of the most unique exhibitors at the Melbourne Motor Show when it opens on February 7 will be the Redback Spyder, an incredible looking sports car designed and built right here in Australia.

Follow the link to see photos and read the story of Australia’s very own Redback Spyder

The Dakar Rally is over for another year and this time it certainly had its down side for Australian motor sport enthusiasts. But for Mitsubishi it was another successful year and VW were quite happy with the outcome too.

For the first time a diesel powered car gained a podium finish in the world’s toughest rally event and you can read the full story here of how the VW Touareg did it.

Do you think that street directories and maps are for pussies?

Or are you like me and have an unerring ability to always find your way to a railway station whenever you get lost?

Well if you do the Volkswagen and Google are on the case.

Volkswagen of America, Inc. and Google recently presented the future of vehicle navigation at the 2006 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, and it’s closer to virtual reality than ever before.

Volkswagen, Google, and graphics chipmaker, nVidia, are working on an in- car navigation map system and display that is 3-dimensional and more real looking than anything that’s available today.

Driver and Passenger will be able to instinctively recognize where they are in relation to the surrounding topography, especially in urban areas that are depicted with depth and accurate size relationships between buildings and roads.

Volkswagen, working through its Electronic Research Laboratory (ERL), in Palo Alto, Calif., together with Google and nVidia, is also working on other advancements, including automatic personalized content updates for its vehicle navigation systems.

Highlights of Volkswagen’s prototype vehicle include a vehicle-centric touchscreen interface to Google Earth with state-of-the-art graphics, accurate 3D maps and real-time traffic updates and routing.

This open system harnesses the power of the web to maintain a dynamic database of current information on restaurants, dealerships, gas stations and other points of interest that can be overlaid directly onto the user’s 3D map.

With the increasing accuracy of GPS, dead-reckoning and laser-radar imaging, as well as ever-improving car-to- infrastructure communication, this prototype will be available on showroom floors in the near future.

High-quality 3D and satellite-based representations of the world are becoming an exciting feature in on-line search engines and navigation. These photo-realistic, high-resolution 3D images are not only more engaging for the user, but they are also more efficient and accurate at conveying information than traditional 2D mapping representations.

The Melbourne Motor Show starts on February 7 and among the exhibitors will be Dodge who have come to show us what they’re about to offer in showrooms across the country.

You may have already seen their advertising on television - even here in regional Queensland they’ve given us a glimpse of three of the vehicles they will be selling over here. And you can expect to see those vehicles on display in Melbourne.

The company really seems to want to prime the market because it’s reported that the first to hit the marekt place will be the Doge Caliber and that won’t start selling until September.

It looks like something of a cross between a station wagon and a minivan but what will actually power this beast is yet to be decided.

However it’s interesting to note that, at a time when 5 speed autos are common and 6 speed autos are appearing the Caliber is not going to get anything better than a 4 speed auto. Somehow that seems to rather date the vehicle as last year’s effort - especially seeing it’s not going to go on sale till almost next year.

The interior looks a little dated too - but it does come with a drink cooler so that should make all the difference - and the Americans wonder why they can’t sell cars to their own people.

Of course, I’m always prepared to be proven wrong but somehow I don’t think this is the vehicle that’s going to do it.