Just in case you had forgotten, the latest series of the original Top Gear—Series 11—airs in the UK this Sunday 22 June. Stay tuned for highlights and more updates. In the meantime, enjoy this teaser.
Author: Liam
Reports have emerged suggesting that the upcoming Volkswagen Golf MkVI will NOT be sold in Australia. You can read the original report, in German, HERE, or alternatively see autoblog and germancarblog for reports in English. To highlight the gravity of these suggestions, it has been said that the United States and Brazil will also miss out on the MkVI Golf.
AUSmotive.com contacted Volkswagen Australia earlier today, but at this stage no comment has been made to confirm or deny the Australian future of the MkVI. However, the suggestion of the next generation Golf not being sold in Australia is one that warrants close attention. The reports suggest it is the profitability of the MkVI that concerns Volkswagen chief Martin Winterkorn. On a global scale it would be hard to argue that Australia is a vital market for Volkswagen. But in a local context the current MkV Golf is sinking plenty of long range putts for Volkswagen Australia.
In 2007 the Golf was the highest selling car in Australia for a German manufacturer. VFACTS figures show 10,982 Golfs were sold in 2007. Well above the next best—the BMW 3 Series with 8716. In fact, even if you add 1 Series sales to the 3, the combined sales tally for the two BMW models—10,497—they still fail to overtake the Golf.
Peugeot’s entire model range couldn’t match Golf sales either, with a total of 8807 sales last year. A similar tale is told for stablemate Audi, with 7225 sales across the range in 2007. Subaru’s Impreza was another unable to match it with the Golf last year, although they were about par, with 10,853 Impreza sales.
Winding Road, an aptly named US online magazine, has a report on this year’s Targa Tasmania in their latest issue. Check it out, it’s a good read and nice to see a homegrown event written of so fondly.
The launching of John Cooper Works as a BMW owned brand is virtually complete with the announcement of pricing for the MINI John Cooper Works models. As expected, pricing for the hardtop and Clubman models has been confirmed at $48,800 and $51,300 respectively. Also confirmed is the good news that Australian deliveries are expected in August this year. “These are the fastest cars yet that MINI has brought to Australia but it is not their outright performance alone that will endear them to our customers. The cars are the complete package with bigger brakes, sportier exhaust, and an even higher degree of exclusivity,†said Justin Hocevar, National Manager for MINI.
Full details are listed below in MINI’s press release, but the basics are the John Cooper Works models—based on Chilli specification—feature a revised 1.6 litre turbocharged engine producing 155kW with a maximum of 280Nm of torque. Both the hardtop and Clubman are capable of reaching 100km/h in under 7 seconds. The engine modifications are based largely on the power plants used in the race cars from the MINI CHALLENGE series which has been impressing competitors and fans alike across the country since the series launch in March this year.
Top Gear Australia’s new presenters—Charlie Cox, Warren Brown and Steve Pizzati—will be breaking the ice on set this July when filming of their debut eight-part series kicks off. In a recent interview with UK staple The Times, Matt Campbell, SBS head of content, claims the Aussies won’t be outdone when it comes to the type of stunts and races we’ve come to expect from the Top Gear UK crew.
“I think some of the sequences that we have in mind will make Clarkson, Hammond and May quite jealous,” he says. “They haven’t got the diverse range of terrain that we have in Australia to muck around in.”
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Focus XR5 facelift seen in Melbourne
The new and updated Ford Focus has not yet been released, but it has been spotted and photographed on Melbourne’s streets. See Car Advice for more.
Jason Bargwanna has made a dominant return to the MINI CHALLENGE taking a clean sweep of all three races in the Round 4 meeting at Sandown raceway. Starting on pole for the first race the former Bathurst winner established an early lead and never looked like being headed. Denyer closed slightly, but was never seriously able to challenge. Third placing in the opening race was Nathan Geier, with Stokell bringing the DecoRug machine home in fourth.
Volkswagen’s high performance Passat R36 has recently been spotted in Sydney showrooms and on the roads (see more on Flickr). The R36, the third in the ‘R’ range, was created by Volkswagen Individual, and follows the Golf R32 and the Touareg R50. With a 220kW (300hp) 3.6 litre six cylinder direct injection petrol engine the R36 sedan is capable of reaching 100km/h from standstill in just 5.6 seconds, while the seriously cool wagon takes 5.8 seconds. This makes the R36 the fastest accelerating Volkswagen available in Australia. The uber Passat is available with a six-speed DSG transmission only and also comes fitted with Volkswagen’s 4MOTION all wheel drive system.
Round 4 of the 2008 MINI CHALLENGE takes place at Melbourne’s Sandown raceway. Pictured above is Paul Mercurio who will be tapping his toes behind the wheel of the UBER-STAR CAR this weekend. Mercurio won the hearts of cinema goers in the lead role of the Australian classic Strictly Ballroom, and now finds a place in our homes as a judge on Channel 7’s Dancing with the Stars. He is no stranger to race track action, Paul took victory in the Australian Grand Prix Celebrity Challenge in 2000 and in his second appearance in 2005, finished third after starting on the front row. He has also appeared in a PRO-AM at the Race of 1000 Years ALMS race on the Adelaide Grand Prix circuit and driven a MINI in the Classic Adelaide tarmac rally, where he finished second.
“It is every boy’s dream to be a sponsored racing car driver and I’m getting to live the dream—fantastic!” Mercurio enthused. “It’s a fantasy to be a sponsored driver.”
To get you in the mood for this weekend’s Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix, I hope you enjoy this lap of the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with commentary from BMW Sauber’s Nick Heidfeld. This clip was spotted at our friends from BimmerFile, via BMW-web.tv.
It is expected that Australian pricing for MINI’s new factory built John Cooper Works models will be confirmed within the next fortnight. The John Cooper Works range will be available in both coupé and Clubman models and will offer a new high-performance version of the 1.6-litre Twin Scroll turbo engine, producing 155kW, the highest output ever offered in the new generation MINI range. Internet rumours suggest the Coupé’s list price, less on road costs and any options, will be under $49,000 while the Clubman will come in under $52,000.
The MINI John Cooper Works Hardtop model will reach 100 km/h in just 6.5 seconds, while the MINI John Cooper Works Clubman covers the same sprint in 6.8 seconds. Peak torque now increases to 280Nm courtesy of a high performance Overboost feature between 2,000 rpm and 5,300 rpm. In less frenetic driving, peak torque of 260Nm is available between 1,850 rpm and 5,600 rpm. Deliveries of the John Cooper Works models to Australian customers are expected before the end of the year.
Keep reading AUSmotive.com for more details as soon as they come to hand.