TMR News and Features
Having recently driven between Sydney and Melbourne on a single tank of fuel in a Golf diesel, we can attest to the economical way in which the modern diesel performs in the real world (that road test is coming soon). Peugeot has just completed an altogether more serious “Coast2Coast” challenge in South Africa with their 308 HDi.
The Peugeot 308 HDi in question, has driven exactly 1689.7 km across South Africa on a single tank of diesel, that’s an average fuel consumption of a ‘hybrid like’ 3.4 L /100 km. Read Article
AMG boss Volker Mornhinweg has announced that the Mercedes-backed tuning company will release a diesel-engined high performance model by 2011.
The oil-burning sports car will most likely be based upon the C320 CDI, whose 3.0-litre V6 already cranks out a handy 165kW and 510Nm. Mornhinweg made no mention of just what AMG had in store for the diesel Merc, but he did describe it as being the spiritual successor to the AMG Hammer of the 1980s: an E-class sedan with a 5.6-litre twin-cam petrol V8 that could race to 100kph in just 5.4-seconds.
Hyundai has announced details of its latest engineering triumph - an all-new high-output range of turbodiesel engines, which promises to turn around the common perception of oil-burners as being heavy, unsophisticated lumps of economy-tuned iron.
The 2009 Dakar rally (which, ironically, no longer finishes in the West African city of Dakar, but on a different continent altogether) is set to begin January 3, and rally teams across the world are busy working away on this year’s field of contenders.
Volkswagen has had a long involvement in past Dakar Rallies, and there’s no intention of slacking off for the 2009 event. The latest evolution of the successful Touareg-shelled (well, vaguely) rally raid car is currently taking shape in VW’s motorsport workshops in Germany. With 206hp on hand (and presumably bagloads of torque) from its 2.5-litre turbo diesel and with a rugged spaceframe chassis lying beneath that Red Bull-liveried bodyshell, the Touareg 2 should prove a fearsome performer.
Aside from the strong-selling XC90, Volvo has been struggling to trouble the scorer in Australia these days. But that does not mean that the Ford-owned Swedish brand does not have some worthy cars in its model line-up. Any and all of its T-designated models, ‘T’ signifying ‘turbo’, are satisfying and swift drives; the svelte C30 T5 and punchy S40 T5 in particular.
Now, adding an extra shaft to its performance armoury, Volvo has announced the introduction of a compact, turbocharged 3.0-litre six-cylinder T6 engine to the S80 range, the new S80 T6 AWD, joining the grunt-filled S80 V8 AWD and diesel S80 D5.
BMW’s 3-Series has enjoyed a huge run of success and now, come November, the darling of the Australian white collar worker is to be replaced by a new model - one that offers new styling, new features and a new price point.
BMW, known for its (ahem) extensive options lists, has announced a new era of value for Australian motorists shopping for an entry level 3-Series, thanks to an increase in standard specification for the ‘base’ model.
Read Article
Australians are embracing diesels and why wouldn’t they? Efficient and powerful, they make a compelling case for the new car buyer’s hard earned dollars. Škoda Australia has now added a new variant to its Octavia model line up – the high performance Octavia RS TDI, with a new 125kW 2.0-litre turbocharged common rail diesel engine.
The Octavia RS is the performance flagship of the Octavia range, and is available in both liftback and wagon models. The new 2.0 TDI engine is the most powerful diesel engine in the Škoda range and is available with a six-speed manual transmission or optional six-speed DSG transmission – making this the first time that VW’s DSG transmission has been offered in an Octavia RS. Read Article
Hyundai has released details of its 2009 Grandeur large sedan range, and the big news is that it now includes a diesel option, with the introduction of the 2.2 litre CRDi turbo diesel engine which achieves 7.9 L/100km fuel economy*. It also comes with a range of enhancements and refinements over the older model.
The 2009 Grandeur offers buyers luxury car comfort and a choice of economical engines. The 3.8 litre V6 petrol (returning 10.8 L/100km) and the thrifty new 2.2 CRDi turbo diesel.
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