The new 1 Series Convertible has arrived in Australia - marking the first premium compact drop-top from BMW in over three decades.
The new range flagship 135i is powered a current reigning International Engine of the Year winner - BMW’s 225kW twin turbo straight six.
Fiat’s performance devision has released the first details of its new 147kW Fiat 500 race car.
Developed by a team of Abarth engineers and designers, the ‘500 Abarth Assetto Corse’ will campaign on race tracks across Europe in 2009.
2008 Holden Astra CD Review & Road Test
“For just under $22,000, the base model Holden Astra CD with five on the floor, is a surprisingly good drive and well worth a look”
Good & fun drive, value for money, well built.
Starting to show its age (though it still looks good).
CarAdvice rating: 
(3.50)
- By Anthony Crawford
The problem with driving the world’s fastest and most expensive cars, as we recently did on our “Full Throttle in Europe” tour, is that you quickly get a taste for the best automotive engineering that money can buy.
The other more important issue is that your ongoing expectations are immediately re-calibrated to a much higher level than they were previously. That can make things difficult, especially when reviewing small five-door hatches, priced under twenty five thousand dollars.
The only Astra I’ve driven in the last twelve months is HSV’s sizzling VXR Turbo three-door hatch, which I labelled “a point-to-point weapon” due to its ferocious in-gear acceleration.
But the Astra CD is a long way down the mountain from the VXR in fact; it doesn’t have a Turbo or even a 2.0 litre engine. No need for panic though, with 1.8-litres mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox; it’s still a sporty drive.
103kW and 175Nm doesn’t seem like a lot and frankly, you might get the wrong impression. It’s a lot better than that. Up to 90% of available torque is on song from 2200 to 5500rpm, so the Astra pulls hard very soon after you punch the throttle.
And don’t let me forget to mention the advantages of power to weight. At 1249kg, the Astra made light work of any hill, which stood in its path.
Yes, it’s true! CarAdvice has turned two as of today. Two years ago CarAdvice.com.au went live as a small car blog to bring up to date news and information about the Australian car market, today it’s the largest independent car website in Australia* and the only site in the top 5 without classifieds.
Last month over 600,000** unique visitors visited our website, a little different to our first month, when we had only 2,500 visitors. There are nearly 3,000 articles on the site and over 55,000 comments.
An image has appeared on the web purportedly that of the new Nissan 370Z, captured at a recent Nissan event with a camera phone.
While the image isn’t the best quality, the front of the 370Z at least seems to retain much of the original 350Z styling with only subtle design changes made to the headlights and front bumper.
Definitive proof has emerged of a new V10 flagship for the Audi R8, with several high quality photos and even a video appearing on the web.
Apparently as part of its testing and evaluation, Audi has lent out a few of its V10-powered Audi R8 supercars to a select few current Audi R8 owners in Florida for their opinion on the new model.
Not only is Mazda’s Furai Concept on the shortlist as one of the most beautiful cars in the world, as this video demonstrates it is also easily one of the best sounding.
Turn your sound right up as you take a few hot laps aboard this 335kW three-rotor Wankel-powered machine.
2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX review
Model tested: 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
Recommended Retail Price: $56,789
Options fitted: None fitted.
Everything. Power, handling, braking, steering, balance, Recaro seats, the list goes on
Interior still poverty pack, ride is very firm
CarAdvice rating: 
(4.5)
- Photographs and review by Karl Peskett
There are some sensory experiences which have to be done more than once. Chocolate, for example. Would you be satisfied with just a square, and leave it at that? Me neither…
Just think of the rides on the Gold Coast. You can’t just leave the Big Drop at only one go. Or the Tower of Terror. Or the Superman ride. No, you have to do them over and over - as many times as the lines, daylight and, of course, your stomach will allow.
Worldwide sales of the world’s first mass-produced petrol-electric hybrid vehicle, the Toyota Prius, has surpassed the one million mark.
By the end of April, Toyota had sold 1,028,000 examples of the Prius, with Australia contributing for just over 9,300 of the total.
In the past, diesel-powered cars have never really found their place in Australia. Both the cars and the fuel which they ran on were more expensive than the petrol alternative - a trend which has usually been reversed in overseas markets.
However in more recent times, diesel cars have become increasingly popular thanks to the soaring price of oil and a growing awareness of environmental issues.
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