CAR ADVICE

A McLaren P1 has fallen victim to Hurricane Ian in the US, a little more than a week after its new owner purchased the million-dollar supercar. A Florida man’s McLaren P1 supercar has been swept away by flood waters just one week after he took delivery. In a series of posts on Instagram , a user named ‘Ernie’ ( @lambo9286 ) documented his first week of McLaren P1 ownership, claiming the million-dollar machine had just 300 miles (482km) on the odometer. Recent photos uploaded to Instagram displayed the McLaren P1 in waist-high flood waters caused by Hurricane Ian accompanied a message by the owner who claimed the supercar “went through the garage” and onto the street. Produced between 2013 and 2015, the McLaren P1 was priced from more than $US1,150,000 ($AU1,750,000) when it was new.  View this post on Instagram A post shared by Ernie (@lambo9286) Used-car website CarGurus recently listed two used examples for sale in...

Strict side-impact rules that knocked the Alpine A110 out of Australia will also prevent a final cameo with the track-focussed R. Renault-owned sports car brand Alpine is going all-in with a final track-focused send-off for its A110 sports car, before the niche French brand goes out of production in the coming years. The 2023 Alpine A110 R is due to be unveiled next week, but the French brand issued an early tease with illustrations of the go-faster parts it will add to the final version of the mid-engined lightweight – which in 2017 put Alpine back into business as the sports-car division of Renault. The tweaks to the A110 R include a bigger high-mounted rear wing and underbody aerodynamic diffuser, and bigger wheels and racing seats. But Alpine was unable to do anything about the additional side-impact crash protection needed to satisfy new Australian regulations that ended local sales last year – so the A110 R will not be making a final appearance in Australia. “I...

French brand Renault will bring its budget affiliate Dacia from Romania to Australia in 2024, but the vehicles may not have a five-star ANCAP safety rating. French carmaker Renault is targeting an attack on Australia’s budget-car market using its Romanian value brand, Dacia , from 2024. An all-new Dacia Duster compact SUV will lead the launch, but all Dacia models planned for sale locally will wear Renault badges to avoid confusion for customers – and bypass the massive costs of establishing a new brand in the overcrowded Australian market. It is likely to be followed by the larger Bigster family SUV, already previewed as a concept but not set for production until 2024 or 2025. However, to meet its targeted low prices, the Renault-owned company’s vehicles are not engineered to score five-star safety ratings – and lack many of the advanced safety aids fitted to dearer cars. Above: Dacia Bigster concept. “We see a terrific future for the Dacia [models], but badged as...

The quirky French brand’s odd-ball styling has peaked with the Oli – an electric car concept with body panels made from cardboard. The Citroen Oli is the latest concept car from the French car-maker, highlighting the future of vehicle production with sustainable materials, electric power and quirky styling. Positioned as a bigger sibling to Citroen’s current Ami micro car, the Oli – pronounced “all-e” – is said to outline the brand’s ambitions to reduce its environmental impact at every stage of a car’s life cycle. The Citroen Oli’s bonnet, roof and pick-up tub panels are made from recycled cardboard – corrugated in a honeycomb pattern and reinforced with fibreglass, developed by German chemicals company BASF. According to Citroen, the cardboard-based panels are strong enough for an adult to stand on, despite weighing half as much as equivalent steel panels. Limited to 110km/h, the Citroen Oil was designed as a city runabout rather than a highway cruiser, with aer...

Toyota president Akio Toyoda says the planned ban on pure petrol-powered vehicle sales in California in 2035 needs to be reconsidered in a broader move towards carbon neutral motoring. The world’s biggest carmaker believes it will be difficult to achieve a planned ban on the sales of new, non-hybrid petrol and diesel cars in California by 2035 – and has renewed its calls for consumers to be offered a range of efficient vehicle types, not just electric cars. Toyota has acknowledged the need to move to a carbon-neutral future but believes the California ban – which is now reported to be copied in New York state – is not workable with current technology and for many consumers. “Realistically speaking, it seems rather difficult to really achieve that,” the president of the Toyota Motor Corporation, Akio Toyoda, told a briefing for reporters in Las Vegas, reported by Automotive News .  “Everything is going to be up to the customers to decide.” Mr Toyoda also said a plan...

Stock of the final Ford Fiesta STs and Focus STs in Australia is depleting – and once they’re sold, there will be no more. The last shipments of the 2022 Ford Focus ST and Fiesta ST are selling out quickly, as Australians snap up what are likely to be the last Ford hot hatchbacks with petrol power. Much of the final batch of 40 Ford Focus STs – and a larger, undisclosed last allocation of Ford Fiesta STs – for Australia has been spoken for, two months on from news both cars would be axed from local showrooms this year. A Ford Australia spokesperson told Drive this week “around a dozen” Focus STs remain – all allocated to Ford dealers, for customers to buy – while “approximately 50” Fiesta STs remain available, which “will most likely arrive in February 2023”. “We would suggest customers call their local Ford dealership/s to check availability,” the spokesperson told Drive . Once these cars are sold, there will be no more for their current generations – and plans...

Elon Musk has boldly claimed the Tesla Cybertruck is capable of fording rivers, lakes and even seas – provided they “aren’t too choppy”. The long-awaited and delayed Tesla Cybertruck may be able to cross rivers, lakes and calm seas – according to recent claims made by the electric-car giant’s outspoken CEO, Elon Musk. In a post on Twitter , Musk claimed Tesla’s upcoming electric Cybertruck will be “waterproof enough to serve briefly as a boat”, adding it could “cross rivers, lakes and even seas that aren’t too choppy”. According to Musk, the Tesla Cybertruck “needs (to) be able to get from Starbase to South Padre Island,” referring to the rocket launch site of his space exploration company SpaceX, and a nearby island with further facilities, respectively. While driving from Starbase – located in Boca Chica, Texas – to South Padre Island covers more than 60km by road, being able to cross the channel in an amphibious Tesla Cybertruck would reduce the direct distance to appr...

Being booked for a double demerits driving offence could have a very different result – depending on where you live. Double demerit point penalties are a regular police deterrent for bad behaviour on many Australian roads, but the outcome is not always the same. People caught breaking the law while travelling interstate can suffer the same points penalty as home-state drivers – but not always and not everywhere. The ACT transfers any points penalty for an offence committed in NSW directly to the driver’s license, including double demerits, but Queensland and Tasmania only apply the points penalty to match a similar local infringement. In other words, you pay the NSW monetary fine – but the points applied to your licence are equivalent to the same offence in your home state. Queensland is against using double demerit points as a holiday deterrent, taking a year-round approach instead. “There is no proven safety or deterrent benefit from enforcing double demerit points ...

Spy photos of the next Porsche 911 Cabrio testing in the USA show a digital revolution in the dashboard. The old-school analogue instrument cluster in the Porsche 911 – with three round binnacles and traditional gauges – is heading into history. Work is underway on a fully digital display for the next major update of the classic German sports car – known to Porsche enthusiasts as the ‘992.2’ generation. A test car caught on camera in the US shows the revolutionary new approach for the Porsche 911, which mirrors the dash display already used in the Porsche Taycan electric model. The current Porsche 911 (992 generation) uses an analogue tachometer in the centre, and a digital display on either side, with graphics simulating analogue dials. The previous-generation 911 (991.2) had four traditional analogue dials and one small screen. In the facelifted ‘992.2’ 911, the traditional central tachometer is carried over to monitor engine revolutions, and there are still three b...

A manufacturing defect could lead to the diesel engine’s air intake sparking a fire. Fiat Chrysler Australia has recalled 1431 examples of its  2018-2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee , citing a manufacturing fault with the turbocharged 3.0-litre diesel-powered SUV’s exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) cooler that could spark a fire. It represents more than 10 per cent of the 12,808 Grand Cherokees sold in Australia over that period. The recall notice , lodged with the Department of Infrastructure, says: “Due to a manufacturing defect, the Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) cooler may crack over time. “If this occurs, preheated vaporised coolant will build up inside the engine air intake. This could result in combustion potentially leading to a vehicle fire. “A vehicle fire could increase the risk of injury or death to vehicle occupants, other road users and bystanders, and/or damage to property. Date of recall notice 15 September 2022 Make Jeep Model ...

The BMW Z4 has received a minor update, with a tweaked look, new colour and wheel designs, and revised feature lists – plus unchanged pricing. 2023 BMW Z4 pricing and specifications Updated range offers two variants Mild styling tweaks, spec upgrades Priced from $90,900 before on-road costs, unchanged The 2023 BMW Z4 is due in Australian showrooms early next year, priced from $90,900 plus on-road costs. Revealed yesterday , the updated 2023 Z4 – which serves as the mid-life facelift for BMW’s roadster – introduces mild design changes and standard specification tweaks, but no upgrades to interior technology, safety or engines. Two models will be available in Australia, the four-cylinder sDrive20i and inline six-cylinder M40i, both with M Sport packages as standard, and eight-speed automatic transmissions. The mid-grade sDrive30i four-cylinder was quietly axed from the pre-update range earlier this year – and will not return for the ‘facelift’. It has also be...