In short, the Suzuki Swift Sport comes with an upgraded 1.6-litre engine … that delivers 100 kW of power … coupled to an all-new six-speed manual transmission or an optional seven-speed auto and all that drives a car that’s 30 kilograms lighter than the previous model.

Despite the reduction in weight the Suzuki Swift Sport is 120mm longer. The wheelbase is 50mm longer and there’s a wider front and rear track too.

The engine
The engine is an upgraded 1.6-litre four-cylinder donk that delivers that 100kW of power at 6,900rpm. The engine is fitted with a performance manifold and variable valve timing and the standard gearbox for the Suzuki Swift Sport is an all-new six-speed manual transmission.

The optional automatic transmission is a Continuously Variable Transmission with paddle shifters  and seven-speed “gears” for those who want to drive it as a manual.

Fuel consumption in the previous model was 7.3L/100km but that has now been reduced to just 6.5L/100km in the manual and 6.1L/100km in the auto.

The interior
The Suzuki Swift Sport comes with plenty of creature comforts including climate control air conditioning, a six-speaker stereo system with MP3 capability and Bluetooth , cruise control, sports seats, three-spoke multi-function steering wheel  and stainless-steel pedals just to set the right tone for a car with the sports label.

Red stitching on the seats and on the leather gear knob and steering wheel also add to the sporty feel of the car and Suzuki thinks that the stainless-steel pedals help point to what they consider to be “the car’s rich rally heritage.”

The exterior
On the outside a large grille dominates the front of the car and those headlamps are bi-xenon  to really light up the road at night.

The 17-inch rims and low profile sports tyres were specifically developed for the Suzuki Swift Sport. The rims are actually thinner … and lighter … thanks to a new manufacturing process that also produces a rim that is stronger.

The Suzuki Swift Sport comes in a range of six colours including Champion Yellow, Ablaze Red, Boost Blue, Snow White, Premium Silver and Super Black.

Handling
Suzuki was happy with the overall handling of the previous model so this time they focused more on the detail of things like the mounting bushes, wheel bearings and the strength of the trailing arm suspension. The result of that work is a Suzuki Swift that is more stable at higher speeds.

The front and rear suspension has also seen some changes with a 15 per cent increase in spring rates at the front and 30 per cent at the rear. Additional springs were also fitted to the front struts and now the Swift Sport is even more stable in tight corners.

Safety
It’s a small car so it’s going to need all the safety gear it can get … and it also needs to live up to the 5-star ANCAP safety rating of the previous model.

So the new Suzuki Swift Spoprt comes with seven airbags as standard … and that includes curtain airbags and a knee airbag for the driver … Electronic Stability Programme as well as ABS braking with electronic brake-force distribution.

Suzuki have also used high and ultra-high strength steel throughout the body to provide the stiffest body possible and add protection for the occupants.

And all that adds up to an exciting little car … on paper … let’s see how it performs on the road.

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The concept is pretty simple really … build a concept for a segment of the market that probably doesn’t even realize that it needs something like this and see if it flies. Sell it as the ultimate vehicle for business and leisure and target it a group that may want to carry a few tools … a box or two … and look cool while they’re doing it.

It’s a far cry from the hard-working little panel van of years gone by! Gone are the bare bones interior and fairly basic seating and now we’re seeing all the refinements of a modern van with those extra refinements that MINI brings to passenger comfort. Even the cargo area is cloth-lined

Apart from the usual driver and passenger doors the Mini Clubvan Concept has two side-hinged doors on the rear and a rear-hinged Clubdoor (MINI’s term) for the large door on the right-hand side.

The cargo area of the MINI Clubvan has a totally flat door and is designed to be configured to fit individual requirements with storage drawers, shelves and 12 volt power outlets. The side windows are opaque and sealed to protect the contents of the cargo area from prying eyes.

The MINI Clubvan Concept will have its first public outing at the Geneva International Motor Show next month and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Clubvan Concept didn’t turn into a production model in the months ahead.

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Until that light bulb came on the Toyota Prius was just what we saw … a technologically advanced by rather dull looking sedan loved by greenies and taxi drivers … but since someone had that light bulb experience we’re starting to see the Prius start to blossom.

First came the Prius v … the people mover version that will go on sale in Australia in the second quarter of this year … and now we have the economy version of the Prius.

Toyota has named it the Prius c and when it goes on sale here in Australia late next month it’s going to have a recommended retail price that will be “thousands of dollars” below the $29,990 recommended retail price of the best-priced rival hybrid car.

Toyota Australia still expects the Prius c to sell in large numbers but supply may be a problem … at least during 2012. In Japan Toyota currently has orders for more than 120,000 of this version and that’s 10 times more than Toyota’s monthly sales target for this vehicle.

The Prius c comes with a 1.5-litre petrol engine and the Hybrid Synergy Drive technology that has been used in previous models. The battery and fuel tank are now located under the rear seat to allow more legroom and luggage space and the Prius c is a little taller to allow more headroom for occupants in the front and rear seats.

The turning circle has also been improved and that’s sure to make it even more appealing to city drivers and those who spend a lot of time getting in and out of tight car parking spaces.

The truck show was what you would expect … lots of big trucks … big rigs and even bigger price tags and despite those price tags there were a lot of people talking serious business and if you had taken a quick look you would have thought that the big trucks was where all the interest lay.

But if you looked behind the big rigs … and the medium sized trucks … you would have seen that there was a lot of interest in the light commercial vehicles that were on display. Fiat, Renault, Ford and Mercedes-Benz all had vehicles on display and they were attracting a lot of interest too. These days there’s big money to be made in light commercials and all those brands are out there to grab their share of both the small and larger light commercial market.

Renault’s offering at the larger end of that segment is the Master and they have now released a new version and you’ll be surprised at what you now get in a light commercial vehicle and just how much these vans can actually carry.

The Renault Master comes in both medium wheelbase and long wheelbase versions and is equipped to not only carry a big load but also function as an office because that’s what a lot of these vehicles really are … mobile offices. The driver not only has to deliver the goods but he also has to keep records as he goes and the days of using your lap as a desktop while you scribbled entries in a docket book or work diary have long gone as far as Renault is concerned.

These days the driver gets a swivelling desktop that’s fitted to the fold-down back of the middle seat along with plenty of storage areas that can be covered to protect against prying eyes.

The model range
The Renault Master comes as either a short or long wheelbase van fitted with a 2.3-litre diesel engine coupled to either a six speed manual box or a Renault Quickshift auto box.

The roof height of 1894mm is standard for both medium and long wheelbase models.

There are three option packs available … one that adds extra storage and a power outlet in the cargo space … another that adds several extra airbags for the driver along with automatic headlights and wipers, fog lights and cornering headlights … and a premium pack that adds satellite system, a reversing camera with the screen mounted in the back of the driver’s sun visor and multimedia connectivity.

The engine
Well it’s not necessarily one that you would want to work on … there’s not a whole lot of room under the bonnet. Renault’s 2.3 dCi turbo-charged engine is mounted transversally at the front and it’s coupled to transmissions that are designed to give good acceleration and fuel economy as well.

The automatic version of the Renault Master will deliver 8.5L/100km while the manual version is a little thirstier at 9.0L/100km. Renault have given the Master a 105 litre fuel tank and that means that the range for the auto version is around 1230km while the manual has a range of around 1150km.

The need for business owners to keep maintenance costs down hasn’t been lost on Renault either. The timing chain is what Renault calls “fitted for life” … of course the engine will die if the timing chain breaks so I’m not sure what Renault is saying here. Engine coolant will now last 60,00km or 48 months and Renault claims that the brake pads will last 20% longer too.

The Renault Master comes with a three year/200,000km warranty and three years of 24 hour roadside assist and service intervals are 15,000km/1 year.

The automatic versions of the Renault Master come with a couple of extra controls on the dashboard that are designed to make life easier for the driver. One controls traction in slippery conditions and when it’s engaged it will automatically select second gear when starting from a stop.

The second control automatically changes the clutch mapping when carrying heavy loads … and the Renault Master can carry some heavy loads.

Carrying capacity
The medium wheelbase Renault Master has 10.3 cubic metres of cargo space and can take two standard Australian pallets  while the long wheelbase version has 12.5 cubic metres of cargo space that will hold three pallets.

Both versions have rear barn doors as well as a left-hand side sliding door as standard. A right-hand sliding door is an option. The rear doors open as far as 270 degrees while the side door has a 1200mm opening … that’s wide enough for a pallet to slide in.

Of course getting the load over the door sill can be a problem and the Renault Master  has a 543mm high sill for the long wheelbase model and 548mm for the shorter version.

Interior
In the callow days of my youth I often had cause to be driven around various suburbs at high speed as a front seat passenger in various PMG (the predecessor of Australia Post) vans. The interior of those vans was spartan to say the least, seat belts were non-existent and you only closed the sliding doors if you wanted to appear weak.

I’m sure those drivers would be stunned by what the interior of the humble delivery van looks like and contains today.

Renault has set out to provide a car-like driving position for the Renault Master and they have even increased the amount of legroom in the new Master by 57mm compared to the previous version. The driver’s seat has a wider and longer cushion and now comes fitted with an armrest as standard.

A fully adjustable suspension seat is available as an option and that’s good news for drivers who cover long distances in these vans.

A glazed steel bulkhead and Australian standard cargo barrier are fitted as standard and the bulkhead helps to keep noise levels down in the cabin.

Air conditioning is standard and climate control is available as an option. Bluetooth connectivity is standard, there are large and small storage compartments spread throughout the cabin and as mentioned earlier there’s a rotating table on the back of the middle seat.

Safety
The new Renault Master comes with anti-locking brakes, emergency brake distribution, electronic  stability programme, seat belts with pre-tensioners, front airbags for driver and passenger and brakes that can bring the Master to a stop from 100km/h in just 44.7 metres.

The protection provided by the bulkhead and cargo barrier is augmented by the addition of numerous tie down hooks on the floor and pillars in both the long wheelbase and the medium wheelbase versions.

The bottom line
The medium wheelbase manual version is $43,990 and $46,490 with auto transmission while the long wheelbase version is $44,990 for the manual version and $47,490 for the auto.

The Renault Master medium wheelbase model

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The Renault Master long wheelbase model

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Some of the goodies in the premium pack

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If you’ve ever wondered about how the evolution of a big car maker actually works then Kia is one car maker you should be watching because watching Kia is a bit like watching something come out of a cocoon … every little movement gives you another faint hint of what is still to come.

Kia is owned by Hyundai and for years it was obvious that every new car coming off Kia’s production line was pretty much a knockoff of something that was already in the Hyundai showrooms. Then a few years ago Kia launched a couple of vehicles that were unique … the cee’d and the Soul … and now we might be about to see something else that’s unique to Kia.

The Kia KH is Kia’s first rear-wheel drive car and Kia says that it will combine innovative design with high-tech features that’s “appropriate to a luxury car” and while that may be so the KH will still have Kia’s radiator grille just so you understand that it is part of the Kia family.

Nothing says “luxury” more than lots of chrome and Kia says that they have given the KH a “luxurious bold chrome accent” that gives the KH a “sophisticated and stable rear view”.

I guess we’ll have to take Kia’s word for it because until we get closer to the launch date these drawings are all we’ll see of the KH.

As I said earlier the KH will be launched in Korea first but eventually it will be available in every country where Kia sells motor vehicles.

While their wagon sales have all been at the bigger end of the market they’re now getting ready to offer a wagon that’s a little smaller in the next 12 months.

A wagon version of the Holden Cruze will make its appearance at the Geneva motor show next month badged as a Chevrolet.  Of course the Cruze was designed by Daewood … GM’s Korean car maker and that’s where the Cruze wagons destined for Australia will be built.

Every wagon needs luggage space and the Holden Cruze wagon has plenty of that for a small wagon.  A slightly longer body … 77mm longer than the Cruze sedan and 165mm longer than the hatch … means that the Cruze wagon has 500 litres of luggage space up to the window line … with the rear seats in the upright position.

When the rear seats are lowered there’s 1500 litres of space if you want to load the wagon to the roof line.

Mitsubishi that’s who and the vehicle they’re releasing into the Russian market is the new 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander. After the vehicle hits showrooms in Russia it will be released in Europe, followed by Japan, Oceania, China and North America.

Think about that list of countries for a moment and the order in which they fall because perhaps it might  tell you something about where Mitsubishi believes the money is.

Fortunately we don’t have to wait till the vehicle is released in Russia to see what we’re going to get in the 2012 Mitsubishi Outlander because its first appearance will be at the Geneva International Motor Show that starts on March 6

Engines and transmissions
The European spec’d Mitsubishi Outlander will come with a choice of diesel or petrol engines. The petrol version will be powered by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder single overhead cam MIVEC engine that comes with an all-new valve train while the diesel will be powered by a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo MIVEC engine coupled to a six-speed manual transmission.

Mitsubishi have not yet announced what transmission will be standard in the petrol version and they have not yet released fuel consumption figures for either version.

There will also be a plug-in hybrid power system available Outlander that will make its appearance shortly after the initial launch.

Safety
The new Mitsubishi Outlander will come with LDW … a lane departure warning system … FCM … a forward collision mitigation system … and ACC … an adaptive cruise control system.

The forward collision mitigation system detects obstacles on the road ahead of the Outlander and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The LDW warns the driver if the vehicle is about to drift out of the lane it’s in and the adaptive cruise control system operates to maintain a safe distance between the Outlander and the car in front.

The ACC system even works at low speeds in heavy traffic … hmmm I hope you can turn it off or it’s going to be a major source of irritation for many drivers in stop-start city traffic.

Interior
The new Mitsubishi Outlander comes with an upgraded instrument panel that features high-resolution instrument displays, silver accents on the switches and a soft-touch material across the panel.

A  power-operated tailgate will be a feature of the new Outlander.

So there are some changes and the hybrid Outlander does look interesting but you have to wonder if we will ever see it here in Australia.

Mechanically there’s very little difference between the new Barina sedan and the five-door hatch … both are powered by the same 1.6-litre 16-valve four cylinder engine that produces 85kW of power and the sedan comes with the same transmission too. A five-speed manual box is standard with a six-speed auto as an option,

Safety features in the Holden Barina sedan include a full suite of airbags including curtain airbags, dual front seatbelt pretensioners, electronic stability control and collapsible pedal release and that all adds up to a five-star ANCAP safety rating.

Obviously the biggest changes are in the bodywork at the rear of the vehicle. The boot has a capacity of 502 litres and Holden has worked hard to give the area around the boot what Holden describes as “… a more upscale and sleek appearance …”

The price for the new Barina sedan is slightly more than what you will pay for the hatch.  The recommended retail price (not including on-road costs) is $16,490 for the five-speed manual and
$18,490 for the six-speed manual.

It will be interesting to see how well the Barina sells in what is one of the most competitive segments in Australia.

The Citan is not a replacement for anything in the Mercedes-Benz range of vans but is designed to supplement what is already working for Mercedes.

The Mercedes Citan will be offered in Europe as a panel van, a crew bus and a mixed use vehicle and it will come in a variety of lengths and weights to fit those uses.

The Citan will be offered with a range of low-emission and fuel efficient diesel and petrol  engines and an electric version is also on the drawing boards and the vehicle could be built at any one of the Mercedes-Benz plants located around the world. They have commercial vehicle plants in Germany (2), Spain, Russia, the US, Argentina and China they have plenty of production capacity.

Test vehicles have already been built but Mercedes-Benz have not yet released photos of the Citan. Until they do all we have to go on are the artist’s impressions that you see here.

While the Mercedes-Benz Citan has been confirmed for Australia final details have yet to be decided and the first Citan won’t be unveiled until September when it will make its debut at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hanover.

Although it’s obviously a member of Toyota’s Prius family the Prius V sees a change the technology used in the Prius … and the Hybrid Camry too. Instead of being fitted with the nickel-metal hydride battery used in the standard Prius the Prius V will come fitted with a new lithium-ion battery.

This new battery is smaller and lighter than the nickel-metal hydride battery but has similar storage capabilities. By using a smaller battery pack in the Prius V Toyota was able to maintain the roomy interior needed in a seven-seat wagon.

In the Prius V the battery pack has been moved from the boot area … obviously something that’s already somewhat cramped by the very design of the vehicle … to the space under the centre console between the driver and the front-seat passenger.

The Toyota Prius V has obviously been designed from the ground up

Moving the battery and tossing in an extra set of seats is not what Toyota has done to arrive at the Prius V you see here. Instead the Prius V is a totally new design from the ground up and it shares no body panels with the standard Prius we see on the streets today.

The new Prius V is 135mm longer, 30mm wider, 100mm higher and has a wheelbase that’s 80mm longer than the Prius hatch. It’s powered by a 1.8-litre Atkinson Cycle petrol engine that produces 73kW combined with a 60kW electric motor.

Toyota has sold 17,000 Prius models in Australia so far and perhaps the Prius V should add quite a few more. Larger families seem to be a little more environmentally aware than most groups but I guess all will depend on price.

Expect to see the Toyota Prius V in the showrooms in May this year.

The problem is that it’s not yet in production and won’t hit European showrooms till late this year.

The Opel Mokka is the first sub-compact SUV to be made by Opel and it’s certainly an eye-catching little SUV that’s going to attract a lot of attention in a very competitive part of the market. It might only be 4.28 metres long but Opel says that it will accommodate five people “generously” … although maybe five big Australians might be a bit of a squeeze.

Engine and transmission
In Europe the Mokka will be available with a choice of petrol or diesel engines. If you opt for the petrol version you then get to choose between a 1.6-litre 85kW non-turbo engine or a 103kW 1.4-litre turbo engine that produces 200Nm or torque.

If you choose the diesel option you’ll get a 1.7-litre CDTI turbo that churns out 300Nm of torque.

The 1.6-litre engine is coupled to a six-speed manual transmission while you have the choice of a six-speed manual or auto transmission in the 1.4-litre and diesel versions of the Mokka. Regardless of which transmission you end up with you will also get the Opel Start/Stop system as standard equipment.

Front-wheel or all-wheel drive will be available on all models. The all-wheel drive system is not a fulltime all-wheel drive. Power to the road will normally go through the front wheels with the drive connecting to the rear wheels when added traction is called for. This is a system that has been around for over 10 years on various vehicles produced by a number of car makers so there’s nothing new there.

Standard features
On the Opel Mokka these include electronic stability control, traction control, hill start assist, hill descent control, advanced adaptive forward lighting, high beam assist, reversing camera and what Opel calls Opel Eye. This is a forward facing camera that integrates with several other onboard systems

Interior
Inside the Opel Mokka there’s the “generous” seating for five that I’ve already mentioned, up to 1,372 litres of load space, 19 storage system and a bike carrying system integrated into the rear of the vehicle that functions as a drawer and can carry up to three bikes at once.

While there are some things that aren’t all that exciting about the Opel Mokka … it’s not really an off-road vehicle although Opel is trying to make it sound as though it can handle rough terrain … some of those inclusions sound very interesting and there’s no doubt that the body shape is a bit different to what we might expect to see in the sub-compact SUV niche.

As I said at the start, release date for the Mokka in Europe is late this year so perhaps we won’t see it here in Australia till early 2013 but we can hope and if Opel really wants to make an impression here in Australia the Mokka might be just the vehicle to make that splash that Opel needs to get noticed when they launch here.

Earlier this month Skoda announced that they … in close co-operation with their parent company Volkswagen … had begun testing electric traction in everyday use with a fleet of 10 electric Octavia E Line wagons based on the Octavia Combi.

Skoda chose the Octavia Combi because its modular chassis provides plenty of space for the battery pack and various controllers that you won’t find in a conventionally powered vehicle. The extra space available in the Octavia has allowed Skoda to pack a 180 cell battery that weighs 315kg into the space under the rear floor panel and part of the of the boot.

The electric motor that Skoda is using has a peak power output of 85kW that produces 270Nm of torque and a top speed of 135km/h.

The range of the lithium-ion battery in the test vehicles is a very credible 150km which Skoda feels is ideal for city drivers and when you think about the number of people who use a station wagon around the city and suburbs here in Australia it’s not hard to see that the Skoda Octavia E Line might be quite popular here in Australia.

Of course if you happen to travel more than 150km in a day you’re going to run into the one issue that is undoubtedly causing the most head-scratching among engineers and that’s charging time. On a three-phase 400 volt charger it takes two hours to charge the battery while the more common 230 Volt single phase charger takes eight hours to charge the battery.

Now if only Skoda’s technical department could reduce that charge time they just might have the perfect vehicle for a lot of city based businesses here in Australia.

Testing the Skoda Octavia E Line should be seen as an indication that Skoda is looking to move away from conventionally powered cars … at least not in the medium-term future. Skoda is still developing its diesel and petrol engines and expects to see a mix of different propulsion systems being available for quite some time to come.

The lights turn green … you depress the accelerator … and for a moment nothing happens. Then … WHAM … you’re head snaps back as you’re hurled through the speed limit and into the arms of the first copper with a speed gun!

Fortunately there was no copper around with a speed gun on that occasion … or on a number of other occasions when the same thing happened during our test drive of the Holden Series II Cruze SRi-V … and it was just there to remind us that we were driving one hot little turbo-charged machine … even if it was only powered by a 1.4-litre petrol engine.

Did we enjoy the week we spent in the Series II Cruze Sri-V? Yes we did … but don’t get the wrong idea … we’re not about to say that the car is perfect because it’s not. There are some things that bugged us about this car but overall we think it’s pretty good!

The finish
One the things we rarely comment on in our reviews is the finish of the vehicle under review because press vehicles get a bit of a hammering and we have picked up vehicles in the past that have had bits hanging off them and once or twice we’ve seen body panels that don’t fit all that well … and that’s on overseas built cars.

Let’s face it Australian-made cars haven’t always had the best reputation for finish so I really should say something about the finish of the Series II Cruze … the Cruze that’s assembled in Australia. The finish on the car we drove was as good as you will see anywhere!

The panels fitted, there were no bits hanging off and even in the boot well … a place where poor workmanship is often most apparent the finish was good … all the joins were sealed … and we couldn’t fault it.

Even when we took it over about 20km of average Australian dirt road at a reasonable road speed there were no rattles and no dust got in anywhere. At the end of the trip on the dirt you could wipe your finger over the black dashboard and not see a trace of dust.

The engine
When we booked the car with the Holden press fleet in Brisbane I did wonder what it would be like to drive a car with an engine capacity of just 1.4-litres. Was it going to be a dog … and a very slow dog at that?

The Holden Series II Cruze Sri-V is fitted with a 1.4-litre, four-cylinder, 16 valve DOHC iTi turbo petrol engine. A six-speed manual transmission is standard on this vehicle but the vehicle we drove was fitted with the optional six-speed auto box with Active Select and I can tell you that ‘slow’ and ‘dog’ do not describe the performance you get from that combination.

Instead words such as ‘hot’, ‘sparkling’ and ‘nippy’ spring to mind when I think back on the week we spent in the vehicle.

Cruise control is standard on the auto and it worked well too. There was a little bit of lag when changing down for hills but I was prepared to live with that just to have something to help me keep the car under the speed limit. On the open road it wants to get a move on but I’m in no hurry to add to the Government’s income stream by speeding.

The one niggle that we had about engine/auto box combination was that Holden says that fuel consumption for the auto box with the 1.4-litre engine is 6.9L/100km. That was a figure we couldn’t get close to. The driving style of myself and the other tester here at AussieMotoring.com often seems to produce better fuel consumption figures than what manufacturers suggest but we really couldn’t get close to it with the Series II Cruze we tested.

We also noticed that by the time we returned the vehicle it had developed a slip between second and third gears and that was on a vehicle that had just under 8,000km on the clock.

Ride and handling
The Series II Cruze SRi and Sri-V both come Watts link performance suspension … and we loved it. We pointed our test vehicle into some of our favourite corners and curves at speeds that would normally induce at least some body roll in other vehicles but the test vehicle sat flat and on the dirt it was no different

Small cars on winding corrugated dirt and travelling at 80km/h or more usually don’t make for a good combination. The light weight combined with the poor road surface usually means that the car bounces around all over the place and on curves the rear of the car wants to overtake the front of the car … but not in our test vehicle.

There was never a hint that the rear of the car wanted to break out on curves and even over corrugation the car held its line. That 20 km of dirt road really sealed the deal for us as far as the quality of the car was concerned.

Apart from Watts link suspension there’s a full suite of control and handling programmes fitted as standard throughout the Cruze range.

Interior
I liked the layout of the dashboard and driver’s controls. They were all within easy reach and clearly labeled.

The onboard computer gives you more information than you could ever want and I expect that most drivers will rarely look at the most of the data that is available. The dials were easy to read and neither of us had any problems with glare or reflections in the dial coverings.

The air conditioning worked well and certainly kept the cabin cool in the early stages of another hot Queensland summer. The audio system was good too and it was handy to have the audio controls on the steering wheel.

The front seats were very comfortable and there’s plenty of back support if you need it. In the vehicle we tested the upholstery was black leather and the seats were heated but that’s not something we bothered testing … five minutes parked in the sun and the seats were more than hot enough for our liking.

Legroom for driver and front seat passenger is good too but if you’re tall don’t expect to be able to carry anyone but a dwarf in the back seat … there is just no legroom.

This is a car that would work well for you if you’re kids were still quite small … or had left home … but if they’re starting to grow and need some legroom then the Cruze is probably not the best choice for you or your family.

The Series II Cruze Sri-V comes with a touch-screen satellite navigation system as standard … and we thought that this was probably biggest mark against the Series II Cruze. Sat nav systems are not cheap and when you buy a new car with a system factory fitted you would expect to get the most up-to-date maps that included the most up-to-date data.

Sadly that’s not what came in the Cruze we were testing. The maps were four or five years out of date and were showing rail crossings that had been moved years ago, service stations that burnt down or closed years ago and other information that was just plain wrong or very out of date.

Access to the front and rear seats was quite good but access to the boot as limited. The Series II Cruze was a wonderfully big boot for the size of the car but because of the body shape you really do have to stretch in to get anything out of the back of the boot.

The shape of the rear passenger doors was painful for me too. I don’t know how many times I opened the door only to whack myself in the chest with the top corner of the door because I stood too close to it. By the end of the week I had begun to stand back from the door and so had the other tester.

Safety
Fortunately we can’t attest to the effectiveness of the safety equipment in the new Holden Series II Cruze because we didn’t have an accident but it’s nice to know that you’re protected by front and side-impact airbags as well as side curtain airbags.

The Series II Cruze is also fitted with auto headlights and, while that might be a safety feature that some drivers need, we found the system in the Cruze to be downright annoying for us and probably for some drivers around us too.

On a slightly overcast day the lights would come on every time we drove under a bridge and you can imagine how annoying that can get when there are a number of bridges in quick succession. (I just hope that burly truck driver didn’t think I was insulting him by flashing my lights at him.)

Of course you can turn that feature off … each time you drive the car … but the default setting is to have the auto headlight feature on.

The bottom line
The Holden Series II Cruze Sri-V is not a perfect car by any means but we loved it and we had fun in it … and somehow managed to pass every speed trap at a sedate speed.

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The latest to hybrid to appear made its debut at the North American Motor Show in Detroit last week when Volvo unveiled their new XC60 plug-in hybrid. This is an SUV that can give the driver a range of 45km on straight electric power or deliver an amazing 2.3L/100km when run as a true hybrid.

The engine
Being a hybrid the XC60 plug-in concept has two engines … a 51kW electric engine and a 206kW four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine. Volvo have combined these engines with a new eight-speed automatic transmission.

The petrol engine is a completely new engine that Volvo says will deliver performance levels similar to today’s clutch of six-cylinder engines but deliver all the fuel economy people expect from a four-cylinder. And obviously with fuel consumption figures of 2.3L/100km in the XC60 hybrid concept they’re not kidding.

It’s also interesting to note that obviously Volvo considers that the combination of the electric and four-cylinder engines in this hybrid deliver enough power to come close to what their eight-cylinder engines deliver because they given the vehicle a classification that, in the past, has been used for vehicles fitted with eight-cylinder engines.

Driving modes
The driver can choose one of three settings while driving the Volvo XC60 hybrid.

In what Volvo calls ‘Pure’ mode the XC60 runs on the electric motor. In Hybrid mode the electric motor and petrol engine combine as they do in most production hybrids and the vehicle has a total operating range of 960km.

In Power mode the electric motor and petrol engine are combined in a way that delivers the maximum possible power and the electric motor’s ability to deliver instant torque enables this Volvo XC60 to hit 100km/h in jus 6.1 seconds.

The battery
The boot seems to be a popular choice for car makers when it comes to finding somewhere to put the battery and Volvo have put the battery for the XC60 hybrid under the luggage space at the rear.
The battery itself is a 12 KWh lithium-ion battery and charging times at home vary from 3.5 to 7.5 hours depending on the voltage available.

You do have to wonder just how many people will use the plug-in option to charge the battery. Obviously if you are travelling short distances each day then you may be able to run totally in electric mode but how many people do drive that short a distance?

It may be a while before we see a production model of the XC60 plug-in hybrid but the technology that has been included in this car will be hitting the production line later this year when a diesel powered V60 plug-in hybrid goes on sale in Europe.

Hmmm … will we ever see it here … my Korean crystal ball is a bit flaky on that one … as it is on most things … but some experts are suggesting that we will never see it here in Australia. So what are we missing out on because GM thinks that the Holden Cruze is all we really need down here in their unofficial colony?

GM describe the Cadillac ATS as a compact luxury sports sedan designed to take on the likes of BMW in what they also describe as the world’s most significant luxury car segment. Somehow that seems to say it all as far as the Australian market is concerned.

The body
The wheelbase is 2775mm with very short overhangs front and rear and the ATS rides on 17-inch wheels as standard with 18-wheels as an option.

LED lighting is a feature, and aerodynamic drag is reduced by active grill shutters that close once a pre-set highway speed is reached.

Engines and transmission
Weighing in just 1,542kg the Cadillac ATS is certainly not a heavy-weight by any means and it appears that Cadillac intends to offer the ATS in most markets with a choice of just two four-cylinder engines … both with a capacity of 2.0-litres.

One of those four-cylinder engines will be turbo-charged and GM says that it will churn out an impressive 201kW of power.

For the American market the Cadillac ATS will also come with the option of Cadillac’s 3.6-litre V6 and GM estimates that the V6 engine will produce around 237kW of power. Manual and automatic transmissions will be available across the range for both rear-wheel drive versions and a planned all-wheel drive version.

Suspension
GM understands that they need more than just power and fuel economy to compete in the compact luxury market so the ATS will come with five-link rear suspension, multi-link double pivot front suspension, sports suspension that the driver can adjust, variable effort steering gear and four-channel ABS with performance brakes.

The interior
The interior of the new Cadillac ATS features real wood … yes … real wood along with plated metal and carbon fibre trim. The instrument panel and driver’s controls have all been carefully placed to enhance the driving experience.

And perhaps that’s why we Australian’s are almost certainly not going to see the Cadillac ATS down here. It might be a rear-wheel drive compact and lots of Australians want one but GM is talking about a car that will tackle the premium market with a premium price tag … something that most of us would not be prepared to pay for.

So guys you better resign yourselves to years of Holden Cruze and Cruze derivatives because it looks as though that’s what GM has planned for us Vegemite lovers.

Probably not because we’re still seriously lacking in the infrastructure needed to support a move to electric vehicles. Sure anyone can get whatever they might need to charge their car at home … and maybe that can be as simple as buying a long extension lead … but what about those times when you need to charge your car while you’re away from home?

Well for Koreans that’s not all that much of a problem … they already have 500 fast/slow charging stations and the government plans to increase that number to 3,100 by the end of 2012. I guess that’s why Kia was prepared to launch Korea’s first production electric vehicle just before Christmas.

The Kia Ray EV is based on the conventionally powered Kia Ray CUV a 1.0-litre petrol powered front-wheel drive town car that went on sale in Korea in November and because of that it can share the same production line as its petrol powered sibling.

The engine
The Kia Ray EV is driven by a 50kW electric motor that draws its power from a 16.4kW hour lithium ion polymer battery pack that’s designed to last for 10 years. The battery pack that ‘s designed to fit under the rear seat and under the cabin floor does add an extra 187kg to the weight of the Ray EV but the torque supplied by the electric motor is greater than the torque supplied by the petrol engine in the Ray CUV so the extra weight doesn’t hold the EV back.

In fact the EV out accelerates the conventionally powered CUV.

Range
Of course the range of any electric vehicle is limited and the EV is no exception. It has a range of up to 139km before it needs recharging. That recharging can be done at home in just six hours or 25 minutes if you choose the fast-charge option. The driver can also select B mode for the automatic transmission and that adds some charge to the battery by turning braking force into electricity.

Kia have also introduced a new braking system featuring what they call Active Hydraulic Booster. This feature uses the electric motor to create hydraulic pressure in the brake system and this results in a consistent brake pedal force in a wide variety of driving conditions and also recharges the battery.

Simulated engine noise
The lack of engine noise in electric cars is seen as a real problem for pedestrians who simply don’t hear an electric vehicle approaching so Kia have added engine noise to the Ray EV. Kia have fitted a virtual engine sound system to the Ray EV and when the vehicle is travelling at speeds below 20kph this system delivers a mixture of engine noises recorded from conventionally powered c ars.

Imagine that … you can have a puny little town car and fit it with the recorded engine noise of a hairy V8. I wonder how long it will take someone to fit something like that to their Kia Ray EV?

Unique dashboard
The dashboard on the Kia Ray EV is interesting … of course it has the usual speedo and it also has a navigation system designed specifically for electric vehicles. You won’t have to worry about where the next charging station might be because the navigation system in the Ray EV will tell you where the charging stations are that are within range of the whatever charge remains in your battery.

Kia plans on making 2,500 Ray EVs in 2012 but none will be coming to Australia. All of those 2,500 units will be passed to Government departments for their use and Kia will monitor the cars as part of a long-term research and development programme.

Maybe if the Government were to do more to develop the infrastructure for electric vehicles we might see the next version of the Kia Ray … but I won’t be holding my breath waiting for it to happen.

That’s rather sad really because the 2012 Toyota Camry has appeared with a new 2.5-litre four-cylinder engine coupled to a six-speed auto transmission in all models and that’s definitely worth talking about. It’s especially worth talking about when you see the fuel consumption figures that Toyota is promising.

There’s also a blind-spot monitor that’s available in the top of the range Atara SL and that’s going to be a precursor for something similar appearing in cars with more modest price tags. It may be a couple of years but we will begin to see that interesting little gizmo appearing in cars with modest price tags and that’s also worth talking about.

The 2012 Toyota Camry has been in the planning stage since 2006 and Australian engineers have been involved right from the start and anywhere the Camry is sold you’ll find engineers from Toyota Australia working towards making the Camry compatible with the local conditions.

The 2012 Toyota Camry Altise

The range
There are four models in the 2012 Toyota range. For the fleet buyer and the household that just wants a basic vehicle there is the base model … the Camry Altise. It comes with the new engine and transmission combo tuned to provide 133kW of power and 231Nm of torque and to do that the Altise needs just 7.8L/100km of fuel.

The standard fittings include seven airbags, new seat design with greater height adjustment, trip computer and Eco indicator, seat belt warning lights for all occupants, a six-speaker sound system, Bluetooth and iPod connectivity, audio controls on the steering wheel, 16-inch alloy wheels and a full-size steel spare.

The new 2.5-litre four-cylinder Toyota Camry engine

A touch-screen display is not standard but can be fitted as an option along with a reverse camera.

Atara S
Next in the range is the Atara S and this is the first time the Atara name has appeared in the Camry range. Toyota have aimed this model at private buyers and those who get to choose their own works cars thanks to salary sacrifice or novated leases.

With the Atara S you get some body-styling changes, more goodies and even a little more power. Toyota have found an extra 2kW of power and more torque simply by fitting a dual exhaust system and there’s keyless entry and start, fog lamps, reverse camera, dual zone air-conditioning, a touch-screen audio display, an electric driver’s seat and more.

Leather interior and moonroof are options for the Camry Atara S

Dashboard of the Camry SX

Atara SX
Above the Atara S is the sports version … the Camry Atara SX … with sports suspension, rear spoiler, some additional body features and leather-accented interior. The only option for the SX is a moonroof.

Atara SL (Grande)
And at the top of the 2012 Toyota Camry range is the Atara SL and it comes with lots of goodies including a premium audio system with 10 speakers, 7-inch touch-screen display that includes sat-nav.

Paddle shifts for the auto transmission in the Camry SL

Digital radio makes its appearance in the Toyota range with its inclusion as standard in the Camry Atara SL and live traffic updates are included. The reversing camera includes a back guide monitor and there’s automatic high beam, rain-sensing wipers, electric rear sunshade, rear parking sensors, exterior mirrors that dip when you select reverse and the blind spot monitor that I mentioned before.

Other good points for the new 2012 Toyota Camry include increased leg room for those stuck in the back seat and the interior has a little more width too. The front pillar has been reshaped to make it a little thinner and that means better vision for the driver and the centre pillar is slimmer too.

The warning light lights when there's a vehicle in the blind spot on either side.

Blind spot monitor
This comes as standard on the 2012 Camry Atara SL and it warns drivers if there’s a vehicle in the blind spot on either side of the car. Sub-millimetre radar is used to detect other vehicles and when a vehicle is detected a light appears in the relevant side mirror and stays illuminated as long as the vehicle remains hidden in the blind spot.

And that’s the new 2012 Toyota Camry … around 100,000 will be built at the Toyota plant in Victoria this year and 70% of them will be exported but that still leaves a lot for us here in Australia.

Toyota has just unveiled its latest sports car – the Toyota 86 – a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive car that is all about what the Japanese call “waku doki” or enough excitement to get your heart racing.

The Toyota 86 is powered by a horizontally opposed D-4S engine that combines Subaru’s boxer engine technology with Toyota’s cutting edge direct injection technology. This is the world’s only horizontally opposed engine with rear-wheel drive.

The D-4S engine comes with separate twin injectors for both direct and port injection and has a high compression ratio of 12.5:1. This compression ratio provides high torque over a wide range of engine speeds.

The engine redlines at 7,500rpm with a maximum output of 147kW of power and will be available with either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic transmission

The compact and light-weight platform combined with rear-wheel drive and the mid- positioning of the engine gives the Toyota 86 outstanding handling characteristics.

Inside the Toyota 86 there is seating for four and the rear seats can be folded down to increase the luggage space. The seats themselves are designed to provide support during acceleration and cornering and the front seats have been specially designed to prevent elbows from getting in the way when the driver wants to change gears.

The steering wheel on the Toyota 86 is the smallest in any Toyota and the surface of the steering wheel has been refined to give extra grip for the driver.

The dashboard has been kept nice and simple with easy-to-read markings that are clearly visible … when you’re travelling at high speed you need relevant information delivered fast.

And in a nice touch that is a clear indication that Toyota wants people to understand that the 86 really is a sports car all information dials have been built around the tacho.

There’s no word yet on when we might see the Toyota 86 in Australia but I would expect that this will be a very popular car and demand will probably always exceed supply.

Suzuki Regina
Well if you thought the S Concept looked hot then the Regina is likely to like being on the receiving end of a bucket of cold water. Suzuki claim that they see the Regina as being a next-generation global compact car but let’s hope the exterior goes through a serious re-design before it’s released because at the moment it looks like a throw-back to a 1950s toaster rather than a serious attempt at producing a good looking car.

While the exterior is rather sad looking those lines do a lot to reduce the drag coefficient and when that’s combined with a weight of just 730kg you end up with a petrol powered vehicle that gives you 3.1L/100km and emissions as low as 70g/km.

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The Suzuki Q-Concept
Looking further into the future is the Suzuki Q-Concept. It’s a two-seater that Suzuki sees as being somewhere between a motorcycle and a car … and a lot like a mobility scooter.

Seating in the Q-Concept can be set up for two people riding/driving in tandem or with one seat for the driver and a two-person child seat in the rear. At just 2.5 metres long the Q-Concept is not going to be for everyone and even Suzuki admit that if you want to travel more than 10km at a time you probably won’t want to do it in this car.

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Suzuki EV Hybrid
Another Suzuki that may be for the near future is the Suzuki EV Hybrid. Suzuki knows that in Japan the average distance covered by a Swift is just 20-30km a day and the Swift EV will cover that distance on battery power alone.

However in other countries the average Swift journey is much longer and for that the Swift comes with an engine-driven generator. By adding an engine-driven generator to an electric version of the Swift Suzuki has been able to use a smaller, lighter battery that charges quicker, uses less resources and costs less too.

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If these cars really are Suzuki’s view of what the future holds then the concepts are interesting … but the visual impact may leave something to be desired.

Volkswagen certainly seems to think that the demand for station wagons is anything but dead and now they’re about to launch a wagon that may well appeal to some people who previously went down the SUV path. After all, SUVs are not all they’re cracked up to be and some station wagons have more carrying capacity that a similar sized SUV.

While some car makers lost faith in station wagons Volkswagen has always had a wagon available in the VW Passat range and next month VW will take the Passat wagon to another level with the launch of the Volkswagen Passat Alltrack.

Volkswagen believes that there are many drivers who want a vehicle that is both a light off-road vehicle and a sporty and roomy passenger vehicle for on-road use. So they have taken the basic VW Passat wagon and added new bumpers, side sill and wheel arch flares. They have also given it a higher ground clearance with better off-road ramp angle, approach angle and departure angle.

The new Passat Alltrack will come with two turbo charged and direct injection petrol engines producing 118kW and 155kW of power as well as two turbo diesels producing 103kW and 125kW of power. The most powerful petrol and diesel varants will have all-wheel drive and dual clutch transmission fitted as standard while the smaller diesel variant will have the all-wheel drive and dual clutch transmission as options.

Volkswagen has not yet released the fuel consumption figures for the Passat Alltrack petrol variants but the diesels return a very competitive 5.7L/100km for the smaller 103kW powered version with all-wheel drive and 5.8L/100km for the larger 125kW powered version.

The new VW Passat Alltrack will make its debut at the Tokyo Motor show next month and it will begin to appear in European showrooms in early 2012 and prices are yet to be announced.