Autos For Us

Unlike some, I didn’t have a strong connection with Honda’s last Civic Type R hatch, or even a desire to ever drive one, primarily because of the outrageously-styled body kit that inflicted it with an overtly cartoonish profile.

That was early 2018, before I ended up in the driver’s seat of a Championship White FK8 Type R and proceeded to systematically take apart a number of the more challenging sections in the Victorian high country in less than ideal conditions – it was a bit damp and a bit sketchy.

Just to make sure we didn’t drink too much of Honda’s Kool-Aid, we brought along two of its toughest rivals; the Ford Focus RS and Renault Megane R.S.

The Focus was my preordained favourite for its added poke and all-wheel drive stickiness on damp surfaces, while the Megane wasn’t far behind in the power stakes but also gained all-wheel

Peugeot Australia is looking into offering the people mover version of its smaller Partner van, which would give the French brand a direct competitor to the Volkswagen Caddy.

The Peugeot Rifter is the passenger version of the Partner, based on the same platform as the latest Citroen Berlingo – a long-running van that is no longer sold in Australia – as well as the Opel/Vauxhall Combo, and the Toyota ProAce sold in Europe and the UK.

At the recent launch of the new Peugeot 308 Hatch and Wagon, managing director for Peugeot Citroen Australia, Kate Gillis, told media the compact MPV is not a sure-fire starter for our market, but it’s under consideration.

“We’re always looking at what’s being developed and seeing whether it’s right for our market. So it’s definitely not a no, and at this point it’s still under consideration,” Ms Gillis said.

“There’s definitely opportunity for

The upcoming Lamborghini V12 hybrid set to replace the 12-year-old Aventador, which ended production this year, is likely to start at a higher cost – but the Italian brand insists that has more to do with the increasing cost of materials than hybridisation.

Set to be unveiled early 2023, the new flagship Lamborghini V12 will be utilising an all new chassis, V12 engine and a hybrid system that the Italian brand says is entirely in house. The new model already has over 3000 orders.

Speaking to CarExpert at the opening of the revised Lamborghini dealership in Brisbane this week, the brand’s regional director of Asia Pacific, Francesco Scardaoni, said the new model will have a price rise due to the rising cost of materials.

“The cost price will be slightly higher than Aventador, but not because of the hybrid but because of the materials, the cost of material, cost of

We publish a ton of car news stories during the working week, and it can be tough to keep up with everything – which is the rationale behind this weekend list.

In short, here are some key articles from our news desk since Monday of this week summarised, just in case you missed them at the time.

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Five-star Atto rating

The BYD Atto 3 has cleared one of the last stumbling blocks in its Australian rollout, receiving a five-star rating from safety authority ANCAP that applies to the budget electric vehicle locally.

It had received a five-star rating from ANCAP for New Zealand, but no rating was applied for Australia.

This was due to an issue with the placement of child restraint anchor points that had also led BYD’s local distributor, EVDirect, to suspend sales of the vehicle from October 21 until earlier this month.

FULL STORY: BYD Atto 3

Mercedes-Benz will allow owners of some cars to unlock more power after purchase… for an annual fee, of course.

In the USA, owners of its electric EQE sedan and SUV and EQS liftback and SUV can now pay $US1200 per year (~$A2000) to shave up to a second from their 100km/h sprint times with software.

Mercedes-Benz Australia had “no announcements” to make about whether it will offer similar subscriptions locally. Currently, it only offers the EQS liftback Down Under, although the EQE sedan, and EQE/SQS SUV ranges are on track to arrive in 2023.

Power in the EQE 350 4MATIC jumps from 215kW to 260kW, while the EQS 450 4MATIC gains 55kW to pack 330kW.

The so-called Acceleration Increase subscription is listed with the following explanation on the North American store:

“Fine tuning of the electric motors increases the maximum motor output of your Mercedes-EQ by 20 to 24 per