Review: Mercedes A250

It's not like Mercedes-Benz to get left behind, but there’s no denying the Aussie branch of the world’s oldest car maker has stood idly while BMW and Audi raked in the cash, and the entry-level buyers, with their 1 Series and A1 respectively.

Review: Mitsubishi Mirage

Since the closure of the Tonsley Park assembly plant in 2008, Mitsubishi Motors Australia has struggled to come to terms with both its past and future. Staff have come and gone, managing directors have been rotated like Aussie fast bowlers, and the GFC strangled the vital supply of new product from Japan.

Review: BMW X1

WITH Audi’s Q3 premium compact and smart, affordable crossover alternatives such as Kia’s Sportage, Mitsubishi’s Outlander and Subaru’s XV stealing customers, BMW is fighting back with a wide-ranging mid-life upgrade of its X1.

Review: Honda CRV

The new, Thai-built fourth-generation is easily the best CR-V in the model’s 17-year history.

Review: Porsche Cayman

Poor man’s 911? Don’t believe it. In fact, until the 991 911 range is filled out with the superstar Turbo and GT models, the second-generation Cayman S is the most focused and fun car Porsche currently makes.

Review: Audi RS4 Avant

Who says the fast life has to stop when you start a family?

Review: Opel OPC range

The odd thing about pushing this car really hard is that you know exactly when you think the car will start understeering, and steering-wheel tugging, but it just doesn’t.

Review: Mazda 6

If the new Mazda 6 was just 50 cents longer, it would be as big as a Commodore.

Review: McLaren MP4-12C Spider

TALK about a car of the moment. Right now, the 12C Spider is crucial to the evolution of McLaren Automotive, the brand. No one has ever been in any doubt that the 12C can deliver the goods dynamically, where it counts.

Review: Lexus LS600h F Sport

The big Lexus slipped into EV mode and rolled silently to a halt behind a black HSV GTS. As I waited for the lights to change, the 325 badge on the rump of the GTS caught my eye.

Review: Porsche Cayenne S Diesel

THE BOXSTER is extolled and the 911 drowns in a sea of purple prose, but it’s the Cayenne SUV that keeps Porsche viable, by accounting for 50 percent of all sales globally.

Review: Jaguar XJ V6

Starting now, Jaguar intends to broaden the choice with an all-new supercharged V6 that’s so good it replaces the previous normally aspirated V8.

Wheels Review: BMW Active Hybrid 7

Is the $222,000 BMW Active Hybrid 7 more about polishing owners’ neighbourhood environmental credentials or BMW’s?

Now the wealthy can play the enviro card

Is the $222,000 BMW Active Hybrid 7 more about polishing owners’ neighbourhood environmental credentials or BMW’s?

Wheels Review: Porsche 911 Carrera 4S

I’ve just had an hour I’ll never forget, on a road I just can’t believe in a car that I’ve just fallen madly, hopelessly in love with.

Wheels Review: Mini Paceman

MINI has a problem. It’s a problem Porsche faced and overcame, and now Mini is beginning to do the same.

Wheels Review: Audi SQ5

Adding ‘S’ to the Q5 unveils a performance revolution at Audi: it’s the first S-badged SUV and the first diesel S. Significant, because the Q5 comfortably outsells its BMW, Volvo and Mercedes-Benz rivals globally and, locally, vies with the A4 as Audi’s best seller, so the $110K SQ5 extends the range at the top end.

Wheels Review: Renault Clio

After a six-year hiatus, the full Renault Clio range is returning to Australia, and what a brilliant comeback it promises to be. So great is this all-new, fourth-generation model that it may dethrone the Polo in the light-hatch class when it lobs here next October for around $17K. Sacre bleu! France is back in the segment it once dominated.

Wheels Review: Nissan Patrol

The new Patrol roughly approximates the dimensions of a tank. And that’s fitting because it’s already been attacked – actually, carpet-bombed – on at least three fronts long before it’s even due in Aussie showrooms in January, next year.

In pics: Wheels review BMW's new M6

There are many things in this world that seem to have little or no reason to exist; mosquitoes, Delta Goodrem, jazz, and BMW's M6. Until you drive it, that is.

Wheels Review: BMW M6

There are many things in this world that seem to have little or no reason to exist; mosquitoes, Delta Goodrem, jazz, and BMW's M6. And then you drive it.

Wheels Review: Mazda MX-5

Wheels' admiration for the MX-5 is well-documented; you don't win two COTY awards by fluke. But there's very little substance in the latest update, and while the roadster's sporting essence is still evident, its shine is definitely fading.

Wheels Review: Bentley Continental GT Speed

Adding the Speed suffix to the second-generation Bentley Continental GT pumps up top speed by 12km/h over the regular W12-powered Conti GT. With a 330km/h vmax, the Speed is the fastest car Bentley has ever made.

Wheels Magazine: Volkswagen Up

As a name, 'Up' is ripe for ribbing. Even Volkswagen played the joker at the launch with a "This way Up" roof sticker on one example. I didn't check to see if there was a companion sticker underneath that said "Wrong way Up". But the VW Up is no joke.