Aussie Motoring

In America the robotics group at the California Institute of Technology is setting up an armour plated Ford E-350 van to take part in the Urban Grand Challenge - a race for driverless vehicles. You’ll find some interesting pictures here

Meanwhile here in Australia this is still enough to turn heads and get my partner reaching for her camera

The Victorian Government is in the process of preparing a law to protect new car buyers who get stuck with a lemon.

You would think that manufacturers would be interested in looking after their customers but sadly that just isn’t the case. If you get stuck with a lemon you’re on your own unless the dealer wants to help out.

Hopefully it won’t be long before Lemon Laws are introduced right throughout Australia and you can read about Victoria’s ground-breaking new law here

The price of crude oil is on the way up again and we’re beginning to see the impact of that price rise at the bowser. It seems that quite soon now we’re going to be seeing even bigger price rises at the bowser and some suggest that the prices could be so huge that we can expect massive social dislocation.

While it might be easy to laugh that off if it were the half-demented ramblings of rabid greenies it’s harder to ignore when it appears in a report commissioned by the Queensland Government. The report suggests that we’re almost at the point where world demand for petroleum is about to pass the ability to supply the product and when that happens our lives will change forever.

You’ll find more about the report in this article from Saturday’s Courier Mail - it makes sobering reading and it should be something you consider as you make plans for the future.

Scottish rally legend Colin McRae has reportedly been killed in a helicopter crash on his estate in Lanark Scotland. The 1995 World Rally Champion is believed to have been in the helicopter which crashed late Saturday afternoon. McRae’s son and two others are believed to have been onboard at the time.

Apart from winning the 1995 World Rally Championship McRae was the runner-up in 1996, 1997 and 2001 and was a part of the 2007 Subaru rally team.

Image courtesy of Newscom

Chrysler announced today that it would be recalling over 290,000 SUVs to reprogramme the computer that’s connected to the anti-lock braking system.

It seems that Jeep Grand Cherokees, Jeep Wranglers, Dodge Nitros and Commander SUVs have experienced braking problems that has lead to at least one accident and all vehicles within the affected groups well be recalled.

Undoubtedly this recall will extend to vehicles in Australia.

Chrysler is also recalling Dodge Avenger sedans and Chrysler Sebring convertibles to have a problem with the door latches and locks corrected. There are over 72,000 vehicles covered by this recall.

Kia has been toying with motoring enthusiasts for a couple of months now by releasing vague photos of their new concept car. Today, at the Frankfurt Motor Show they pulled back the veil and now we can see what Kia has been hiding.

With its broad stance and low profile, Kee is a new interpretation of the 2+2 coupe, with a simple yet distinctive outline thanks to its long sweeping bonnet, slightly lengthened cabin with striking graphic treatment, sculpted flanks and strong lines.

Kee lays down very clear indications of how future Kia vehicles should look and displays elements that its creators will transfer to future Kia products. Presented as part of the strong frontal design with its distinctive headlamps and eye-catching LED cluster, the new style grille will become the new ‘face of Kia’ across our product range.

Inside, Kee looks and feels like a true sports car. The cabin is designed for maximum focus on driving. Clustered directly ahead of the driver, the main dials and controls are simple and straightforward, utilising Kia’s new standard red-orange illumination.

Behind the square-bottomed steering wheel are paddles to shift the six-speed semi-automatic sequential gearbox. Instead of a standard gear stick an ergonomically designed lever sits atop the milled aluminium centre console and requires only a nudge forward or backward to select the desired drive mode. And the top of the computer mouse-like lever flips up to reveal the electronic starter button.

All the main interior surfaces are covered in semi-suede microfibre materials and the body-hugging sports seats use a hard-wearing but distinctive metallic-finish silver cloth. And continuing the real-life functionality of Kee, the rear of the 2+2 cabin is sufficiently spacious to allow two adult passengers to travel on individual seats in the back of the vehicle whenever necessary.

The design team has concentrated on producing a realistic sports coupe. Every element of its design is clear, easy to understand and to use. All the main controls are fly-by wire, but their feel in operation has been created to deliver a sense of traditional operation. For example, the toggle switches mounted on the dashboard – echoing the DNA of generations of sports cars – let you navigate intuitively through the interface menu of the info-media center.

Kia Kee - Technical Specifications

Length 4325 mm

Width 1860 mm

Height 1315 mm

Wheelbase 2675 mm

Tyre size 245/40 R20

Engine V6 2.7-litre MUE-II

Maximum Power 200 ps

Transmission Six-speed automatic

by Stuart Livesey

OK … to show interest in a car like this at my age is probably an indicator of mid-life crisis … or maybe I’m reverting to my second childhood. On the other hand I might have always been interested in cars like this and just hide that interest behind more staid examples of the car builder’s art.

Whatever the reason I do have to say that I like the Volkswagen America’s 2007 GTI concept car.

Some of these controls may be a little less than user friendly but …

And this is a backside with attitude

Volkswagen of America, Inc. has been awarded two “Motorist Choice Awards” from PRIMEDIA’s IntelliChoice.com and AutoPacific for the 2007 Volkswagen GTI and Jetta.

2007 GTI

The Volkswagen GTI was the top choice for the Image Compact Car category, while the Jetta was named the winner in the Mid-Size Car category. The award, which recognizes the most satisfying cars and trucks that are also the least expensive to own is based on a combination of IntelliChoice.com cost of ownership data and AutoPacific’s customer satisfaction survey data, creating a final score.

“Both of these vehicles are very deserving of this praise,” said Matthias Seidl, Volkswagen of America chief operating officer. “Our commitment to making the safest and best-engineered vehicles at an affordable operating cost has shown through with these great cars.”

AutoPacific surveys 38 product-focused attributes, generating a score between five and 25, allowing for a maximum possible score of 950, which is then normalized to 1000. This score, merged with IntelliChoice.com’s seven scored attributes including depreciation, financing, fuel, insurance, maintenance, repairs and state fees, develops the final score and ranking of the Motorist Choice Awards.

… and Toyota is way out in front.

The automotive industry has withstood any immediate impact from the recent interest rate rise by posting record sales for the month of August.

Official industry figures released today by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries show that 88,206 cars, SUVs and trucks were sold last month – an increase of 6,545 or eight percent on the same month last year, and 2,029 more than the previous record for August set in 2005.

FCAI Chief Executive Andrew McKellar said that while the result was encouraging there was some evidence in the underlying figures that market growth had throttled back a little.

So far this year Australian motor vehicles sales have totalled 698,873 – up 56,490 or 8.8 per cent on the same period of 2006.

“Strong consumer confidence, fierce retail competition and new model activity have been powering the Australian car market at record levels throughout the year to date,” said Mr McKellar.

“The million vehicle market is now a reality, and not withstanding a longer-term reaction to the recent rate rise or other factors, I am confident that the market will continue to comfortably exceed this benchmark through to the end of the year, “he said.

Most of the extra sales last month were generated by SUVs and light trucks.

SUV sales boomed in August, with the SUV Compact segment up 32.9 per cent on the same month last year and the SUV Medium segment up almost 2,000 vehicles or 41.7 per cent.

“The strength of the SUV market is the result of new model activity and the diminished influence of petrol prices on consumer preferences,” said Andrew McKellar.

The booming popularity of 4×4 Pick-ups continued in August, with sales up 1322 or 23.2 per cent on the same month last year. Year to date the segment is now up 10,660 or 23.4 per cent.

The Passenger car market rose by 1.4 per cent in August, with an increase in the sales of Small cars offsetting a slight decline in Light car sales.

Large family car sales remained solid (up 1.3 per cent on last August) and year-to-date Large car sales are now up 5617 or 6.2 per cent on the same period of 2006.

Toyota was the best-selling brand in August with 23.7 per cent of the market, ahead of Holden with 13.8 per cent and Ford on 10.8 per cent.

Year to date Toyota now leads Holden by 55,873 sales.

by Stuart Livesey

In case you haven’t noticed the cars that are hitting our roads are becoming more and more high tech. Our 2000 Grandeur whirs, beeps and flashes at us from time to time. At the same time it adjusts the interior temperature by increasing fan speed or turning the airconditioning on and off and it also turns the demisters on and off too.

It has traction control, it monitors the air intake to the engine and it even allows me to steer it around corners but even that simple task is now being monitored in more recent models. The automatic box handles all the gear changes and even if I choose to use the Tiptronic option the car will still over-ride me from time to time.

These days manufacturers are releasing new models with an ever increasing array of high tech devices that make driving a totally different experience to what it was when I bought my first Mini back in 1968.

But is it becoming all too much for us? Are drivers ready for the high-tech onslaught will certainly make you think twice.