First Drives New Cars

FIRST DRIVE: Audi RS3

When Mercedes-Benz decided to crash the AWD Hot Hatch party with its sensational small AMG offerings, it was always fairly certain that Audi wasn’t going to take things lying down. After all, Audi had been doing the grunt AWD Hot Hatch thing for quite some time and isn’t the sort to go down without a […]

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First Drives

FIRST DRIVE: Hyundai Tucson

Someone at Hyundai must like cowboys. Nothing wrong with that, cowboys are cool. But, seriously, someone at Hyundai must really like them. Why else would they have chosen to name their SUVs Santa Fe and Tucson after towns in the cowboy states Arizona and New Mexico? From this naming convention, we can assume that if […]

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New Cars News

Lotus 3-Eleven breaks cover. Almost breaks 7 minutes…

The fantastically angry-looking little Lotus 3-Eleven would seem to be every bit as fast as its looks suggest following its first public outing at a two-week test session during the industry pool test weeks at the legendary Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit, in which over 2,000kms were covered as part of the car’s test and development programme. Jean-Marc Gales, Chief […]

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New Cars

ROAD TEST: Mercedes-Benz CLS 500 Shooting Brake

It has been Shooting Brake-tastic here at OVERSTEER just recently, with the small CLA 45 AMG a few weeks back and now the big daddy of Merc Shooting Brakes, the CLS 500, this week! Sadly, a full-fat AMG version of the Shooting Brake isn’t offered here in New Zealand, but the CLS 500 still packs a […]

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First Drives New Cars

FIRST DRIVE: Jaguar XE

Once upon a time Jaguar made a mid-size car. It was called the X-Type and it was crap. It wasn’t crap because it was based on the Ford Mondeo – which it was – and neither was it crap because it was FWD – which it also was, although 4WD models were available – rather […]

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New Cars Road Tests

ROAD TEST: Mercedes-Benz CLA 45 AMG Shooting Brake

Quite how AMG manages to get a blistering 265kW out of a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine without it exploding into shrapnel after about ten minutes is staggering. How the also get it to be not only useable, but also relatively docile and tractable around town has, quite frankly, got us buggered. Needless to say, however, […]

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New Cars Road Tests

ROAD TEST: BMW 125i

The BMW 1 Series has always been a fantastic little car. Okay, so the first generation was a bit crook looking, but facelifts (or “Life Cycle Impulses” in BMW-speak) and an all-new second generation car have taken care of the worst visual offences. But if you want a small five-door hatch with fantastic RWD handling characteristics, […]

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First Drives New Cars

FIRST DRIVE: Mini John Cooper Works

Once upon a time, back when the Mini really was mini, having the Cooper name attached to it meant it was the serious go-fast version. But eventually it became essentially a trim level, a rather sad standing that was only reinforced when BMW took things over and made the Mini less mini, but also far, […]

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