Second row seating is sometimes overlooked by buyers – but a lot can separate a good second row from a great one. Here are a couple of things to look out for.
How big the seats are in the second row can make or break the potential comfort. From the width, back height and seat base depth, there are a few factors to consider. Do you prefer flat bench-like seat bases or more contoured seats? When looking at the space in the second row, knee and foot room is equally important. The only true test however, is actually sitting in the second row – this will give you the best idea of how much knee and foot room there is.
Children are often the biggest consumers of second row seating – so it’s important to consider the safety aspect when considering a new car. Something that is often overlooked is adjustable head restraints in all three seating positions in the second row of seats. The head restraints need to be positioned to the back of your head, for maximum protection in case of an accident.
Simple storage solutions can come in handy when considering second row seating. From bottle or cup holders to back of seat pockets, these solutions offer a safe repository for items as well as a spot to keep items off the floor.
Light and smaller cars often don’t showcase technological features in the second row seating – often only providing basics like directional air vents. However, features such as tri-zone climate control, heated seats or second row lighting can be advantageous in the second row of seating.
Are you looking for a new car? Talk to our team – we will help you find a new car that suits all of your needs!
Have you noticed how ‘overboost’ has become a thing when talking about extra power from turbocharged engines? But what is overboost?
In order to fully understand overboost, we need to look into turbocharger is. Turbocharger is designed to increase the amount of compressed air into an engine. A turbocharger will typically pump around eight pounds per square inch of compressed air into the engine. This means that you can generally expect to increase performance of an engine via turbocharging by around 40%.
A turbocharger uses exhaust gases to spin its turbine, the more exhaust gases you pump into the turbine, the faster it will spin.
The idea of overboost on a turbocharged engine is about getting the most amount of power out of the engine while keeping the engine safe and the emissions down.
Overboost is when the turbo runs at a higher pressure than would be safe to the engine on a constant basis – it’s safe by limiting any boost to a set time of around 10-20 seconds with the hike in power around 5% or more.
Overboost is usually an automatic response to when the vehicle is in a certain gear, at certain revs and the throttle is pinned. The idea is to provide a burst of power when the vehicle determines it is needed.
Volkswagen has introduced the new-generation Polo - physically much larger than before, and better equipped than most offering similar boot space.
At $20,490 plus on-road costs, the 85TSI launch edition offers a 85kW/200Nm, 1.0 turbo petrol three-cylinder offers a fuel economy of 5.0 l/100km – a car ideal for getting you through city driving.
The interiors of the Polo range offers basics such as keyless entry, automatic headlights and wipers, auto-dimming rear-view mirrors, vanity mirror lights, rear map lights, cloth trim, power windows and mirrors, cruise control and manual air-conditioning.
The 8.0-inch colour touchscreen with Bluetooth phone and audio streaming showcases Apple CarPlay or Android Auto smartphone mirroring, wireless phone charging and six speakers.
A Driver Assistance Package can also be bought into – which includes adaptive cruise control, blight-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, front and rear parking sensors with auto reverse-park assistance and electric fold door mirrors.
All Polos – except the GTI – share the same suspension, the 85TSI Launch Edition showcases 16- inch wheels with Continental ContiPremium Contacts.
This new generation Polo offers an ANCAP rating of 5 stars – with safety features including dual front, front-side and full-length curtain airbags, ABS, ESC, reverse-view camera, forward collision warning with low-speed autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection.
Polo 70TSI Trendline starts at $17,990 (plus on-road costs) delivers 70kW of power plus 175Nm torque and wears 15-inch steel wheels.
Next model up, the Comfortline comes in at $19,490 (plus on-road costs), 85kW/200Nm showcases 15-inch wheels, auto on/off headlights and wipers, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, rear map lights and map pockets, vanity mirror lights and a front center armrest.
The 85TSI Beats edition is also soon to be available, at $22,490 will offer all of the above plus sports seats, 300-watt Beats audio and a full-colour driver display.
Perhaps one of the most important factors to some when buying a new car, is how safe it is – ANCAP or the Australasian Car Assessment Program rates cars from 1 to 5 in terms of safety, where a 5 star rating is the highest that a car can receive.
ANCAP safety ratings are published for a range of new cars – including passenger, sports utility (SUVs) and light commercial vehicles (LCV).
The safety rating indicates the level of safety that the vehicle provides for the occupants of the vehicle as well as any pedestrians in the event of a crash. Other factors that influence the rating include the vehicles ability, through technology, to avoid or minimize the effects of a crash. Consumers can then use these ratings to compare the safety between vehicles of similar mass.
But how are cars given their ANCAP safety ratings? The cars are put through a range of internationally recognized, independent crash test and safety assessments. These include destructive physical crash tests, an assessment of on-board safety features and equipment, and performance testing of active collision avoidance technologies.
Vehicles are evaluated against four key areas, including adult occupant protection, child occupant protection, pedestrian protection and safety assist.
Adult occupant protection considers the level of protection offered by the vehicle, in the case of an accident, to the adult occupants – seated in both the front (driver and passenger seats) as well as the second (back seats) rows. While the child occupant protection assesses the level of protection offered to any child occupants – while seated in appropriate child restraints – in the rear seats of the car.
The pedestrian protection evaluates the design of the front of the car to minimize injury risk to a struck pedestrian. Factors that influence the pedestrian protection include the car’s crumple zone as well as the height of the front bumper. Vehicles are also assessed for their ability to avoid or mitigate impacts with pedestrians.
While the more stars the better, a vehicle that achieves the maximum of 5 stars in its ANCAP safety rating must exhibit the highest standards in all tests and feature advanced safety.
A large family car offering a premium feel and extra safety, the 2019 Peugeot 508 Touring has recently been unveiled. With added practicality, the French brand has shown off the wagon version of the 508. If you didn’t catch all of the highlights, then read on!
A few of the design features include frameless doors and the integration of Peugeot’s high-tech i-Cockpit. Lending to a more premium feel, the inside of the 508 wagon features premium materials such as leather upholstery as well as a panoramic sun-roof and a 10-speaker Focal stereo.
Safety was also made a feature of the new 508 – the 508 Touring wagon includes adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, adaptive headlights, park assist and night vision which uses infrared technology to detect people beyond the scope of the headlights.
Another nifty selling feature is the amount of space. The rear seats can be folded flat – giving the 508 Touring a total cargo space of 1780-litres.
The 508 Touring will be offered in a range of petrol and diesel options that are matched to an eight-speed automatic transmission – while a plug-in hybrid petrol version will join the range later on.
The German-built Holden Commodore wagon is its closest comparison; however, the Peugeot 508 has generated a large amount of interest. While the Peugeot 508 wagon is set to go on sale in Europe at the start of 2019, Peugeot Australia has yet to announce whether the wagon will be on sale closer to home.
Mazda Australia has recently released its facelifted Mazda 6 sedan and wagon range – the updates, featuring revised powertrain offering and added safety equipment, also include a updated interior.
The Mazda 6 model line-up remains unchanged, featuring the Sport; Touring; GT and Atenza in both the sedan and wagon versions.
The Sport is offered exclusively with an updated version of the carryover 2.5 litre naturally aspirated petrol engine. And according to Mazda, the Sport and Touring variants now have $3000 worth of added value compared to the previous models.
Its worthy noting that in order to improve the on-road performance, Mazda has increased the chassis rigidity and revised the suspension geometry, while the electric power steering system has been further tuned.
The interior, as mentioned previously, has also had a significant update. With a new dash, updated centre console, seats and door trims.
Safety has also made a feature in the facelift. From radar cruise control as a standard to blind-spot monitoring, driver attention alert and emergency stop signal. Other features that round up this rather comprehensive safety suite include lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, rear parking sensors, rear cross-traffic alert, auto-dimming rear-view mirrors, reversing camera and smart city brake support.
And if you are looking for an upmarket feeling, the top-of-the-line Atenza grade is treated to either white or walnut brown Nappa leather trim, wood door and dash trim, Ultrasuede door and dash trim, a sunroof, adaptive LED headlights, surround-view monitors, a 7.0-inch TFT LCD screen, ambient LED interior lighting and ventilated front seats.
2018 Mazda6 list pricing:
Sedan
Mazda6 Sport 2.5 petrol – automatic – $32,490
Mazda6 Touring 2.5 petrol – automatic – $36,690
Mazda6 Touring 2.2 diesel – automatic – $36,690
Mazda6 GT 2.5 turbo petrol – automatic – $43,990
Mazda6 GT 2.2 diesel – automatic – $45,090
Mazda6 Atenza 2.5 turbo petrol – automatic – $47,690
Mazda6 Atenza 2.2 diesel – automatic – $48,790
Wagon
Mazda6 Sport 2.5 petrol – automatic – $33,790
Mazda6 Touring 2.5 petrol – automatic – $37,990
Mazda6 Touring 2.2 diesel – automatic – $40,990
Mazda6 GT 2.5 turbo petrol – automatic – $45,290
Mazda6 GT 2.2 diesel – automatic – $46,390
Mazda6 Atenza 2.5 turbo petrol – automatic – $48,990
Mazda6 Atenza 2.2 diesel – automatic – $50,090
With many new innovations in headlight technology – we wanted to share everything you need to know to make the informed decision when buying your next car. From LED to halogen lamps, day-time running lights and more.
Halogen
In the early days, automotive engineers had to solve a basic problem – how to reliably generate light with limited resources (from a car). From the mid-19600s until now, tungsten filaments have been encased in halogen gas in order to improve the performance and longevity – the solution that they found all those years ago has been pretty consistent, until recently.
Traditionally, tungsten and halogen lamps focused light on the road via a lens that doubled as the headlights protective housing. This is now not the case – since the 1990s the exterior casings of headlights have been made from polycarbonate while light from the bulb is often aimed via a series of reflectors. Alternatively, the light beam is directed by a projector lens within the headlight housing.
While these low cost and long lasting bulbs are the most common headlamp type – the market is rapidly changing.
HID (High Intensity Discharge) headlights
HID headlights are a mixture of rare metals and gases that are heated to produce a bright white glow. HID headlights are two to three times brighter than their halogen counterparts. The Australian Design Rules require cars with HIDs to also have self-levelling mechanisms as well as headlight washers – this is due to the affect HID headlights can have on other road users.
HID lamps require less power to operate and are easy to distinguish as their cool white glow is often accompanied by a distinctive blue tinge. HID lights contain a trace amount of the gas xenon – and they are often commonly referred to as xenon headlights.
LED (Light Emitting Diodes) headlights
LED headlights have also come a long way, they hit maximum brightness within a millionth of a second, however, currently they fall short of the brightness achieved by HIDs.
The biggest selling point of LEDs are that they convert most of the energy created into light and not heat. Of late, LED headlights have started heading into mainstream cars – and as of late have become available on the Corolla sedan.
Laser headlights
BMW was the first to offer Laser headlights as an option in its i8 plug-in hybrid supercar. Laser beams are focused towards a cloud of yellow phosphorous gas, the gas then emits a powerful white glow – which is then reflected and diffused to light up the road. BMW claims that these headlights can illuminate the road up to 600 meters ahead of the i8 - making them more efficient than other variants on the market.
With the all-new Audi RS 4 Avant high-performance station wagon now on sale in Australia, we thought we’d share a bit more about this 2018 new-generation model with you.
The 2018 RS4 Avant is powered by a 2.9-litre twin-turbo V6 petrol engine, that produces 331kW of power and 600Nm torque – all models come with an eight-speed tiptronic automatic transmission and quattro all-wheel drive.
Standard features of the RS 4 include 20-inch alloy wheels, red RS brake calipers, adjustable sports exhaust system, LED headlights with LED daytime running lights, adaptive rear LED indicators, adaptive sports suspension and tinted rear windows with acoustic front glass to name a few.
If you are looking for something streamlined and funky in the interior – then the Audi RS 4 Avant delivers. The standard interior kit amongst other things includes Audi’s virtual Cockpit 12.3-inch driver info screen, an 8.0 inch tablet media screen with sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto phone mirroring and a 19-inch speaker Bang&Olufsen stereo system.
Front sports seats with Nappa leather trim and honeycomb quilting are showcased with the ambient interior lighting system (with 30 different colour options!). A panoramic sunroof is fitted as standard but you can choose to rather forgo this option if not suitable.
In terms of safety the lengthy list of features include Audi’s pre-sense front system with auto emergency braking with pedestrian detection, a 360-degree camera with reversing camera and front/rear parking sensors, traffic jam assist, active lane-keeping assist, lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, turn assist and auto high-beam lights. Rounding off this lengthy feature list, Audi has also added rear cross-traffic alert, multi-collision braking and Audi’s “exit warning system” – which flashes the ambient lights if an occupant is about to open their door into the path of oncoming cars or cyclists.
The new twin-turbo V6 model is priced at $152,900 (excluding on-road costs)