Aussie Motoring

Motoring journalists do not have an easy job. You might think that there would better job than driving around in new cars all the time. But it must be so difficult to remain objective about each individual car when you do that all the time.

I mean how can you remain objective about a Kia Sorento as you drive it this week when the car you drove last week was a Lancer Evolution?

Despite those problems most motoring writers in Australia do manage to remain objective and that’s why it’s interesting to see what some motoring journos consider to be the worst cars of 2005.

Kia Sorento - Stephen Scorby considered that calling the Sorento a lemon was an insult to citrus fruit and suggested that the car was made out of egg cartons and pipe cleaners

Kia Sportage - Paul Pottinger found that both he and Stephen Scorby became highly agitated when they tackled their first roundabout in a Sportage.

Nissan Pathfinder - Samantha Stevens found that driving the Pathfinder reminded her of driving a tractor with a flat tyre. (Now having actually done that makes me wonder whether any vehicle certified safe to use on our roads could really be that bad)

Holden Barina - Isaac Bober decided that the Daewoo sourced Barina was a huge disappointment and a “pathetic imitation” of what the market once loved back in the beep beep Barina days.

I don’t know about those vehicles, I haven’t driven any of them yet, but I began to find that my Hyundai Grandeur XG started to suck majorly as soon as it ran out of warranty in March this year. It was then that I realised that the Grandeur wasn’t really a car but more a collection of very expensive spare parts that moved along the road in very close proximity to each other.

Edit - Update and a link to the first online review of the Nissan Tiida

The Nissan Pulsar is about to become yesterday’s car with the release in February of the Nissan Tiida. Shoppers in major shopping centres in Sydney are already getting a preview of the new sedan as preview cars go on display through December and January.

If you’re not in Sydney here are a few preview pics of the new sedan andhatch.

And you can see more of the advanced features of the Tiida at the Nissan Tiida website

Perhaps I should be the last person to write this piece. I mean I cut my 4WD teeth on a very battered but dependable Mk1 Land Rover. And back in 1987 when I spent several weeks driving a base model Pajero I thought of it as a car for sissies. So maybe I’m not the perfect choice to write something about the Nissan Murano because … well … it’s not really an off road vehicle at all.

I mean what self-respecting 4WD only has one gear? Where’s the fun in driving a vehicle that has only one gear even if it is the right gear for that precise point in time?

Even using the word ‘gear’ is probably not quite right because the Murano comes equipped with a continuously variable transmission (CVT) and that means that it is always in the right gear for the conditions.

The CVT is a stepless transmission controlled by an onboard computer and it gives an infinite number of gear ratios. But just in case the driver happens to have Luddite tendencies Nissan have also provided a gear selector that the driver can use to select from one of a number of pre-programmed gear ratios.

When the vehicle is being driven in full auto mode the drive operates as 2WD only with power going to the front wheels but as soon as any wheel spin is detected the vehicle automatically switches to 4WD. And if anyone is silly enough to believe that this vehicle should be taken off-road then the driver can lock in 4WD.

But even there the responsibility of driving the Murano is taken from the driver because even with the 4WD locked on the vehicle will automatically switch back to 2WD should the vehicle speed exceed 30kph.

The Murano is powered by a 3.5 litre V6 – the same V6 that powers the Maxima and 350Z – and the suspension is very similar to that used in those on-road vehicles too. In fact the Murano also shares its frame with the Maxima.

The result is a big vehicle that is really designed for sealed roads. It rides and handles well and seats 4 adults in comfort and carries their luggage as well. On a trip you can expect to get around 11 litres per 100km but around town that figure is going to worse.

The starting price for this Soccer Mom’s vehicle is $51,990 and you can option it up from there up to around $56,990 for the top of the range Ti model.

Based on figures from the US where the Murano has been selling for the last 2 years, and has now sold over 327,000 units, Nissan expect to sell as many as 300 a month here in Australia.

Hmmmm – I still can’t come to grips with a vehicle like this. Whoever heard of an off-road vehicle that had a foot operated parking brake?

Nissan has launched it’s all-new Navara D40 dual-cab this week. Built in Spain the new range of vehicles will be sold alongside the existing D22 model and will include a 2WD model in the up-market version.

Nissan believes that the new D40 is going to take on the Toyota SR5 Hilux while the older D22 will compete strongly in the area of the 4WD market that includes Triton and Rodeo.

The D40 is a bigger vehicle all round than the D22 and comes with a choice of diesel or petrol engines coupled to a 6 speed manual or 5 speed automatic gearbox.

There will be two models in the the range. The RX version is the entry-level model while the ST-X is the up-market version. Prices start at $38,990 for the V6 petrol RX and $40,990 for the dielsel version.

Prices for the ST-X version will start at $37,990 for the 2WD and stop at $45,990 for the 4WD

Update You can see further information about the Nissan Navara here