Australian 4WD & SUV Buyer's Guide May Issue #33 2019

Until recently, the standard new vehicle warranty in Australia was three years/100,000 kilometres, but that’s now changing fast. Led by the South Korean makers Hyundai and Kia, who respectively introduced five and seven years coverage, with unlimited kilometres, many other makers have now followed suit. Ford, Holden, Honda, Jeep, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Peugeot, Skoda, Subaru, Suzuki, Toyota and Volkswagen now offer fi ve years; Ssangyong offers seven. Luxury European brands are sticking with three years. Maybe that says something about the quality of their vehicles? I hope you enjoy the magazine and that it helps you choose the 4WD, SUV or ute that works best for you. Feel free to get in touch at bill.mck10@gmail.com…

JOSHUA DOWLING Joshua Dowling is the National Motoring Editor at caradvice.com.au and a World Car of the Year judge. Joshua is renowned for his consumer-first approach and you can also read his regular rants on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling. In this issue, he tests the Holden Acadia, Jeep Wrangler, Mazda CX-8, Mercedes G63 AMG, Porsche Cayenne and Toyota RAV4. JOHN CAREY John is a previous editor of Overlander, a contributor to Wheels magazine where he is a Car of the Year judge, and publications in the USA and UK. He lives in Bergamo, Italy. In this issue, John tests the Maserati Levante and Jaguar I-Pace. BYRON MATHIOUDAKIS Byron is a complete car tragic. He claims that a dream as a toddler of driving an Austin A35 sealed his fate. Byron writes for…

In our tests on the following pages we have used symbols to give you a quick indication of the strengths of each vehicle and star ratings to indicate in more detail how each stacks up in its class. Here’s what the symbols and stars mean: Our piggybank indicates a vehicle that we think represents good value for money against the others in its class. It may not necessarily be the cheapest, but taking into account factors such as standard equipment, safety, the way it drives, resale values and quality, it shapes up as a good deal. A capital S indicates a vehicle that scores five stars out of five for occupant protection in ANCAP crash tests. Go to www.ancap.com.au. for more information If you’re after a safe, practical vehicle to…

Prices are supplied by manufacturers and do not include on-road charges, which vary from state to state. Note that advertised prices must now include all on-road costs. The best way to get a good deal on a new car is to do your research, test drive each of your shortlisted cars, then decide exactly the make, model, specification, colour and any options you require. Then you simply get a price from a few dealers on that car. If you have a trade in, you want what is called a changeover price. Check current prices and deals at carsales.com.au. Redbook future values in each test are average wholesale prices after three years/60,000km and five years/100,000km for a vehicle in average condition. Go to redbook.com.au for a valuation on your 4WD…

Jeep’s first pickup since the 1986-1992 Comanche, the Gladiator arrives in early 2020. It’s based on the new Wrangler five-door, with shared drivetrains and running gear, including five link coil spring rear suspension, packaged within a significantly longer wheelbase, chassis and body. At just over 5.5m, Gladiator is longer than the typical one-tonner and closer to a double cab-chassis 79 Series Landcruiser (with a tray) in overall length. Engine choices are Jeep’s 3.6-litre Pentastar V6, with 213kW of power and 347Nm of torque, plus Fiat’s 3.0-litre V6 turbodiesel, with 184kW/570Nm, though these outputs may vary slightly by the time Gladiator launches here. Six-speed manual and eight-speed automatic transmissions are available in the US, but it’s likely we will get the automatic as standard. As with Wrangler, Gladiator will be offered…

Boasting that its new Speed is “the world’s fastest SUV” no less, Bentley ups the ante in every respect with this beast. The fastest SUV claim translates to a top speed of 306km/h and quoted 0-100km/h time of just 3.9 seconds. That’s quick, but maybe Bentley doesn’t regard Tesla as a viable competitor, because its Model X SUV covers the 0-100km/h trip in 3.1 seconds. Given Elon Musk’s obvious difficulties with facts, though, Bentley’s claim is more believable. The Bentayga’s 6.0-litre W12 is chipped in the Speed for 467kW of power – an increase of 20kW — and 900Nm of torque, unchanged from the standard model. Sport mode, the most aggressive of eight settings, is calibrated for maximum responsiveness from the eight-speed automatic, which probably helps the performance cause too.…