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MOTOR MONTHLYIssue 32 ● December 2011

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Family MattersVital new Ford Escape breaks out

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MOTOR MONTHLYIssue 32 ● December 2011iSelect’s

EditorialGoAuto NewsroomPO Box 18Sandringham VIC 3191(03) 9598 6477 [email protected]

EditorDavid [email protected]

ProductionLuc Britten

Sub-editorRon Hammerton

ContributorsMarton PettendyByron MathioudakisTerry MartinHaitham RazaguiJames StanfordMike Costello

Advertising enquiriesSally Mellor(03) 9598 6477 0425 700 [email protected]

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Out of FocusFord’s hot new Focus-based

Escape SUV delayed

Just say CCYou can’t say no to VW’s

new coupe-convertible

Thai me Kangaroo DownHolden to get new Colorado-

based SUV from Thailand

Porsching the envelopeAll-new 911 is more hit than myth

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By DAVID HASSALL

FORD has taken the wraps off its long-awaited new-generation Escape compact SUV, but the Australian launch appears to have been slightly delayed and it will now arrive in local showrooms very early in 2013.

The new Focus-based Escape – which will be known as the Kuga in many global markets,

including Europe and China – had been expected to make its Australian debut late next year.

Its unveiling in full production trim at the Los Angeles auto show came well ahead of sales commencing in the US in the first half of 2012 and in Europe around the third quarter.

Ford Australia is still assessing the various engines available globally, but we expect the

Thai-built model for Australia will feature the turbocharged 2.0-litre EcoBoost four-cylinder engine with direct fuel injection that will feature in the Falcon from early next year.

The local arm of the Blue Oval is also yet to decide whether to stick with the decade-old Escape name or adopt the Kuga moniker in this country.

Escape has been a consistent but low-volume performer for Ford Australia. In a market segment that has grown considerably in the 10 years Escape has been sold here, the old Mazda Tribute-based compact SUV has never grabbed more than five per cent of the segment.

Ford Australia may be tempted to relaunch

Out of FocusFord Escape //

Ford’s hot new Focus-based Escape SUV delayed


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the vehicle with a bright new name to go with the all-new modern look that was crafted in the company’s European design studios (with the help of Australian designer Dennis Sartorello).

While Escape is already the top-selling compact SUV in the US, ahead of the Honda CR-V, Ford global product development group vice-president Derrick Kuzak said the new model would “raise the bar even higher” with segment-leading features and economy.

“We call our all-new Ford Escape the ‘Smarter Utility Vehicle’ because it offers the strengths that customers today really value – fuel economy, versatility and new technology that makes driving and living with the vehicle easier and more fun – all wrapped in a sleek, more modern design,” he said.

“Ford understands that more people every year are looking at vehicles like Escape, and we want to give them even more reasons to buy.

“Escape is America’s best-selling utility vehicle, and the Ford team has worked hard to make sure we deliver even more of what small SUV owners really want.

“This all-new Ford model opens a new chapter in the world of SUVs. By being smarter, this utility vehicle will help customers around the globe find better, easier ways to connect with technology, maximise fuel efficiency and find the versatility and capability they need and want.”

Mr Kuzak said 60 per cent of Americans shopping for a vehicle

Oval engineered: Expect the new Escape to be powered by Ford’s EcoBoost 2.0-litre engine.



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next year will look at either a mid-size car or small SUV.

Among the new features claimed to be new to the segment is a hands-free power tailgate that employs motion technology used in today’s video game systems.

If you have the key on you, a gentle kicking motion under the centre of the rear bumper activates, unlocks and raises the tailgate, allowing quick and easy access to the cargo area without needing to set down packages or dig out keys.

The new Escape will also be available with an active park assist function, which automatically steers the car into a parallel parking space, requiring the drive to operate only the pedals, a sensor-based blind-spot alert system and a range of dynamic drive systems.

Phone, satellite-navigation, entertainment and climate controls are said to be more easily managed either by voice commands or menus accessed through controls on the steering

wheel, touch-screens, buttons or knobs.As well as the 2.0-litre EcoBoost engine,

the US market Escape will get a new 1.6-litre version that is also under consideration for Australia, but the mainstream engine for Americans is a 2.5-litre four-cylinder. All will be mated to a six-speed torque-converter automatic transmission.

Improved aerodynamics – with drag cut by up to 10 per cent – help lower fuel consumption, though Ford did not reveal economy figures.

An interesting aero development is the introduction on 1.6 and 2.5-engined models of an active grille shutter system, which keeps the grille slats open when extra engine cooling air is required, such as low-speed driving, but automatically close when cruising on the highway to reduce wind drag.

Ford claims improved stowing with greater cargo capacity and more convenient access due to a lower floor than the outgoing model as well as one-touch fold-flat seats.

The Great Escape: Ford’s long-awaited SUV will race into Australian showrooms in early 2013.

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Porsching the envelope

All-new 911 is more hit than myth

Porsche 911 //

By MARTON PETTENDY in LOS ANGELES

PORSCHE has finally laid all of its seventh-generation 911 cards on the table, five years after it began development, 48 years after the first 911 appeared in 1963 and four months ahead of its arrival in Australia in March.

This 991-series model is only the third all-new 911 ever – following the original 901 and the 996 series of 1997.

It doesn’t look much different at first glance, thanks to the trademark ‘cannon barrel’ front wings and sloping rear roofline, but the new 911 is in fact wrapped in an all-new body that is the same width and just a few millimetres

lower-slung than before, but measures 56mm longer and wears a more convex windscreen.

The biggest departure from 911 tradition, however, is the 991’s 100mm-longer wheelbase, with the front wheels pushed 30mm further forward and the rear wheels shifted 70mm further back, retaining the same overall cabin size.

Beneath the familiar exterior proportions is a more formal, upmarket interior with straight edges replacing the previous circular dashboard shapes, but five overlapping round gauges – dominated by a large central tacho – continue to form the 911’s hallmark instrument panel.

You sit so much lower in the new 911 that only the headlight turrets – not the bonnet –


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are now visible from behind the wheel, but thin and carefully sculpted A-pillars mean forward visibility in all directions is good. This is aided by the new door-mounted mirrors, which are also more slippery than before, reducing wind noise and stopping water and road grime collecting on the side windows as in the old 911.

Further accentuating the cockpit feel is a

Panamera-style rising centre console with two rows of buttons and a gearshift lever mounted high and close to the new steering wheel. Also for the first time in a 911, there is an electric parking brake and dual-zone climate-control.

Apart from extra standard features, the outstanding engineering advances Porsche has managed to achieve with the 991 make the newest 911 vastly better value than before –

even priced from about $230,000.Despite the larger body, 80kg of additional

electronics and extra rigidity, overall weight reduces by more than 30kg, to around 1400kg, thanks to greater use of aluminium in the body.

Combined with a fuel-saving idle-stop engine function as standard across the range and a host of other efficiency gains, fuel consumption reduces by up to 16 per cent in the 3.4-litre

entry-level Carrera with dual-clutch auto, which now returns just 8.2L/100km and is the first Porsche to emit less than 200g/km of CO2.

At the same time, top speed remains unchanged at 287km/h and 0-100km/h acceleration drops by a tenth to just 4.6 seconds.

Similarly, despite also being more powerful, the 3.8-litre Carrera S is quicker, faster, cleaner



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MOTOR

and more fuel efficient – with either Porsche’s improved PDK auto or the world’s first seven-speed manual transmission in a passenger car.

The 3.8 flat-six now sounds louder inside – with or without acoustic exhaust mode being selected – perhaps because everything else is so much quieter, and belts out a hairier-chested pop and crackle on the overrun. There is more power everywhere and yet it will happily chug along at less than 60km/h in top (seventh) gear from just 1200rpm.

However, it is the 991’s bigger, stiffer, lighter and more grown-up chassis that brings the biggest step change for the 911.

With the longer wheelbase, a wider front track and 20-inch tyres increasing both its footprint and contact patch, the Carrera S delivers a new level of roadholding, grip, ride and road manners.

But the biggest change to the way the 911 drives is its steering. This is the first Porsche

with an electric rather than conventional hydraulic system and the result is steering performance unlike any other 911.

Electro-mechanical steering is becoming widespread as the industry searches for greater efficiency and, while this is easily the best electric steering system we’ve sampled in any car – as precise and responsive as the previous 911, with plenty of feel and feedback – it does not have the same level of communication as before, when there was an unrivalled visceral link between man and machine.

The new 911 is more stable at high speed, more confidence-inspiring at all speeds and more effortless to drive at the same given pace, and there’s no doubt the 911’s outright handling ability sets new standards, but the filtering out of “unnecessary” feedback also makes the new 911 more clinical, less characterful.

This is a 911 to be sure, but not as we know it.

Rear admirable: The iconic Porsche 911 has evolved over a period of 48 years.

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Just say CCVolkswagen CC //

You can’t say no to VW’s new coupe-convertible

By MIKE COSTELLO

VOLKSWAGEN has discarded the ‘Passat’ moniker from its CC four-seat coupe as part of a mid-life facelift that sees the car move further upmarket.

The German brand’s refreshed medium-size luxury contender made its debut at the recent LA Auto Show with more conservative front and rear styling, and an array of new driver-assist technology.

The revised naming should help differentiate the car from its more humble Passat five-seat sedan and wagon siblings when its worldwide launch kicks off from February next year.

Volkswagen Australia general manager of

press and public relations Karl Gehling told us the CC will go on sale locally by the end of 2012.

As we reported earlier this month, the facelifted model receives a redesigned nose


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and tail that aligns it more closely with the rest of the Volkswagen range.

The German marque has ditched the current model’s teardrop headlights in favour of the sharper design found on the revised Passat, Eos and Tiguan. The new lights are complemented by a much bolder three-bar chrome grille and a larger, more angular front bumper and fog light design than the current model.

Matching the new nose is more square-edged rear-end styling that incorporates LED tail-lights, mirroring those of the Passat sedan introduced to Australia earlier this year.

The CC is said to be the first Volkswagen to package Side Assist Plus with Lane Assist, which together warn of vehicles in the car’s blind spots and can intervene with steering if it detects an imminent collision.

Also new are a Fatigue Detection system that monitors the driver’s steering behaviour and sends out a warning at signs of tiredness, Dynamic Light Assist automatic high-beam glare control, and a camera-based traffic sign detection system.

Available as an option will be a proximity sensor in the boot that allows it to be opened wirelessly with a kicking leg motion (providing the person is in possession of the key), as well as a towbar that extends and retracts electronically with the push of a button. Certain variants will also come with ‘climate seats’ that feature an integrated massage function.

It is unclear which of these features will be offered on local examples when the car arrives in this market next year.

The CC gets a bigger list of standard features in overseas markets – including bi-Xenon

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headlights with static cornering function and a touch-screen sound system – but these are already standard on the highly-specified current model sold in Australia.

The CC’s engine line-up is unchanged, with a selection of four-cylinder diesels (with idle-stop) and four- and six-cylinder petrol units.

Volkswagen currently offers the sleek executive car in Australia as either a front-drive 2.0-litre turbo-diesel or in flagship 3.6-litre V6 petrol with 4MOTION all wheel-drive guise, both linked to the brand’s DSG dual-clutch transmission.

The CC design team was led by Klaus Bischoff, the head of design for the Volkswagen brand, who said reworking of the front and rear body sections gave the car “an even more elegant yet dynamic overall image”.

“Even more than on the previous model, the entire area of the new front bumper, headlights and radiator grille exhibits clean lines that correspond fully to Volkswagen ‘design DNA’ styling,” said VW of the latest CC.

“This DNA is marked by such characteristics as an emphasis on horizontal lines and a concise harmony of the headlights and radiator grille. The latter is no longer designed as a separate V framed by elements in the body colour, rather it forms a visually continuous, charismatic band together with the headlights.

“Although the frameless doors of the CC are unmodified, its side profile shows a new look, too. The more powerful design of the bonnet – in interplay with the new bumper design – sharpens the car’s silhouette while the much more distinctively sculpted side sills between the wheel housings stand out.

“At the rear, the bumper now has greater volume and transparency; together with the coupé-like styling of the C-pillars and the very long swept-back rear window, this generates a very special dynamic. The entire rear section now shows more straight-line surfaces and a greater emphasis of horizontal lines.”

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Thai me KangarooDown

Holden Colorado 7 //

Holden to get new Colorado-based SUV from Thailand

By RON HAMMERTON

HOLDEN is finally set to get a successor to the Jackaroo in the form of a rugged Colorado-based ladder-chassis seven-seat SUV called Colorado 7 that will be tasked with taking

the fight up to the Toyota Prado.To be known elsewhere as the Chevrolet

TrailBlazer, the go-anywhere 4x4 wagon broke cover at the Dubai motor show last month in a thinly disguised concept form armed with General Motors’ new 2.8-litre diesel that will

also power the forthcoming Colorado ute.Holden immediately confirmed the vehicle

for Australia, saying it would be released here in the first quarter of 2013.

The Colorado 7 will give Holden a contender against current body-on-frame SUVs such as

the Prado, Nissan Pathfinder and Mitsubishi Challenger. It will also face a raft of new competitors such as an all-new wagon being developed by Ford Australia from its Ranger ute and, potentially, a new Isuzu SUV based on the upcoming D-Max ute and a similar



Rocky Mountain High: Holden’s version of the seven-seater will carry Colorado badges.

SUV derived by Volkswagen from its Amarok.

Developed in parallel with the new-generation Colorado one-tonner in a $2 billion program based in Brazil, the GM wagon will be built in Thailand alongside the ute that is due to touch down in Australian showrooms in the second quarter of 2012, Thai floods permitting.

The importance of the vehicle in Holden’s future was underscored when GM Holden chairman and managing director Mike Devereux took a group of key Holden dealers overseas to drive a prototype.

Holden has been without a heavy-duty four-wheel-drive wagon since the death of the Rodeo-based Jackaroo in 2004, instead relying on the smaller and softer Captiva to do the heavy lifting in the SUV segment. Like the Rodeo that morphed into the current Colorado, the Jackaroo relied heavily on hardware from Isuzu.

GM’s latest Colorado siblings have again been developed in collaboration with Isuzu, but have much more GM input, including exclusive new GM powertrains.

While the engine line-up for the Colorado range has yet to be confirmed, the 132kW/470Nm 2.8-litre Duramax turbo-diesel in the Dubai show TrailBlazer concept is an almost certain starter, perhaps alongside a Holden-made petrol V6 and a four-cylinder petrol range opener.

The Colorado 7 is expected to get the same transmission options as the ute, including a five-speed manual



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Toyota pimps Prado

HYUNDAI is the biggest mover and shaker in the automotive world.It has gone from a maker of youth-oriented entry-level models to having one of the broadest model ranges in the sub-$60K range across the light, small and medium sectors.

Thai-tanic: Big Holden SUV will be built in Thailand.

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HONDA has finally launched its CR-Z coupe in Australia, where it will be a vital part in the struggling Japanese brand’s hybrid strategy and spiritual successor to the fondly-remembered CRX of the 1980s.

TOYOTA Australia has released an upgraded version of its Prado wagon, with price increases across the range accompanied by extra features for top-end models.

gearbox and Hydra-Matic six-speed auto.Holden’s marketing team rejected the

Jackaroo nameplate for the new model, deciding it did not carry sufficient cache from the previous generation that always struggled against the big guns from Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan.

They also shunned the TrailBlazer tag to be used on the Chevrolet version to be sold in the Middle East, South America and South East Asia (but not North America).

Instead, they decided to hitch the wagon to the strong Colorado branding, taking advantage of the rugged reputation and close family resemblance of the wagon to the ute.

Like other Holden models drawn from the Chevrolet arsenal, including the Cruze and Captiva, the new Colorado ute and SUV range will get a distinctive Holden grille and badging when it arrives Down Under.

GM chose the Dubai show to reveal the Trailblazer version, recognising the

importance of the Middle East in potential sales of the new SUV. However, the vehicle is set to make its sales debut in Thailand in the second half of 2012, being bedded down in its home market before venturing offshore.

GM says the TrailBlazer/Colorado 7’s chassis has been tuned for the dual requirements of heavy-duty off-road performance and ride comfort in urban and city driving, while its body-on-frame construction and 3000kg load capacity would make it an ideal vehicle for towing.

Although the vehicle on show in Dubai is labelled a concept, GM admits it is close to final production guise.

Medium SUV sales in Australia have been dominated in recent times by car-based monocoque ‘soft-roaders’ such as the Ford Territory, Toyota Kluger, Mitsubishi Pajero and Captiva 7, but the rugged Toyota Prado still lays claim to the title of best-selling ‘serious’ off-roader.

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