Car Reviews

First drive: Jaguar F-Type R Coupe

Jaguar’s F-Type Coupe is stiffer, sexier and more sensible than the Convertible with which it shares much in common. But what's it like to drive?

First drive: 2014 Alfa Romeo MiTo

Only months before a new-generation Mini Cooper launches in Australia, Alfa Romeo has put its Mini challenger – the Mito – through a ‘Series II’ enhancement program.

First drive: BMW X5

The golden goose of the large SUV segment, the BMW X5 has been preened for yet greater refinement into 2014.

FIRST DRIVE: Holden Barina RS

Holden introduces the RS badge to its diminutive Barina. But is it warm or hot?

FIRST DRIVE: Nissan Altima

Replacing the long-standing Maxima, Nissan Altima's value equation climbs as you descend the range.

FIRST DRIVE: Audi S3

The conservatively-styled Audi S3 returns with more power, more grip and more luxury...and a lower price to boot.

FIRST DRIVE: Renaultsport Clio 200

The hot little Renaultsport Clio is back, and it's all grown up with a turbocharged engine and dual-clutch gearbox. Does the magic still exist?

First drive: Porsche 918 Spyder

Wheels flies 56 hours for 28 minutes on-track in a $2million hybrid Porsche supercar. Wouldn't you?

First drive: Chevrolet SS

James Stanford drives the Chevrolet SS in Palm Springs.

FIRST DRIVE: FIAT PUNTO POP

The Fiat Punto is back

First drive: Isuzu MU-X

Isuzu clearly knows when it’s onto a good thing. Riding on the D-Max’s wave of success – which is up 30 percent year on year – the Japanese brand will launch its first SUV, the MU-X, in Australia next month. And we’ve been driving it.

Review: Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG

You won’t find ‘Race Start’ on the new Mercedes-Benz S63 AMG. The launch-control technology that helps make the smaller E63 AMG the fastest accelerating sedan in Wheels’ history is ignored in the still supercar-fast S63.

Review: Volvo V40 XC

When the words ‘cross country’ appear on a vehicle, there’s an immediate issue in managing expectations. Volvo’s new V40 derivative suffers from just such a challenge.

Review: Kia Cerato hatch

Stone motherless last. Not a position you really want to find yourself, unless, say, you’re a guest of the Americans in Guantanamo Bay and there’s a lengthy cue for a go on the water board.

2013 Holden Trax Review

The world has gone small-SUV mad. In markets all over the globe, the satchel-sized Sport Utility Vehicle has become the hottest thing since sleeve tattoos and manufacturers can’t keep up with demand.

2013 Alfa Romeo 4C Review

This is a slightly sad, mildly embarrassing thing to admit, but sometimes - very rarely - the unveiling of a car can make all the hair on my body stand up and dance.

Volvo's twin-charged future

Why not both?

2013 Range Rover Autobiography Review

The day when cars can assess your mood as you're driving and react accordingly – playing Gregorian chants, or birdsong when you're stressed, sending mild electric shocks to your crotch when you're sleepy – is fast approaching, but I didn't realise it was already here.

2013 Holden Commodore SS-V Redline Review

So many performance Commodores over the last 20 years haven’t cut it as track cars. But those days are over.

2013 Lotus Exige S Review

If you like it hardcore, you’ll see the light

2013 Range Rover Sport Review

Find something it can’t do. Go on, try...

Mercedes-Benz E-Class: Review

Call it facelift is you must, but the "new generation" Mercedes-Benz E-Class range has just lobbed into Oz with a bold new look, gutsier and more efficient engines, richer updated interiors, higher levels of standard equipment, better value and a raft of cutting-edge tech that brings (albeit very limited) autonomous driving to local terra firma. It's a direct response, Merc-Benz says, to customer wants of more aggression, power and technology in their Es.

Audi S3 vs BMW M135i vs Mercedes A45 AMG: Comparison review

Gentlemen, start your engines for a two-day no-holds-barred 2013 shootout between the Audi S3, the BMW M135i and the Mercedes A45 AMG.

2013 Hyundai i30 SR Review

In Hyundai-speak, it’s the “Local Model Expansion Strategy.” For us, the first result of a more adaptable product-development approach is the i30 SR, a warm hatch that is (for the moment) unique to Australia.