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Archive for the ‘Drive Thru’ Category

Drive Thru: BMW Z4 range

Sunday, March 14th, 2010 Posted in BMW, Drive Thru, Reviews | 2 Comments »

Yesterday I spent the morning behind the wheel of BMW's current Z4 offerings. It was a brief taster provided by local dealership Rolfe Classic BMW. The deal was pretty simple, get existing and prospective customers in small groups to take ...

Drive Thru: Audi S4

Monday, January 11th, 2010 Posted in Audi, Drive Thru, Reviews | 10 Comments »

While the ‘new’ Audi S4 has been on sale in Australia for almost one year now it does represent something of a new world order for Audi and manufacturers around the planet, who are now desperate to play the green ...

Drive Thru: Volkswagen Golf GTI

Sunday, November 1st, 2009 Posted in Drive Thru, Reviews, Volkswagen | 7 Comments »

After losing its way in the mid-late 1990s the GTI badge relinquished the credibility gained with the first two GTIs. The fifth generation GTI, launched in 2004, has been widely acclaimed all over the globe. It won back respect for ...

Drive Thru: Audi S5 4.2 V8 FSI

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 Posted in Audi, Drive Thru, Reviews | 5 Comments »

When I started my test drive in the Audi S5 quattro, fitted with a 4.2 litre V8, the last thing I expected to come to mind was the West Indies cricket team from the 1980s. But that is exactly what ...

Drive Thru: MINI Cooper D

Monday, June 1st, 2009 Posted in Drive Thru, MINI, Reviews | 14 Comments »

Earlier today the opportunity for a quick taste of MINI's new Cooper D came my way. Naturally, I jumped at the chance to see just how Australia's most economical car drives. That's not a typo, with a miserly fuel consumption ...

Drive Thru: BMW 135i Coupé v Audi S3 Coupé

Sunday, March 22nd, 2009 Posted in Audi, BMW, Drive Thru, Reviews | 64 Comments »

If you’re looking for a new car at the premium end of the small-ish coupé segment, two of the stand out choices are the Audi S3 and the BMW 135i. The current generation S3 has been in Australia since 2007, ...

Drive Thru: Audi RS6 Avant

Sunday, December 14th, 2008 Posted in Audi, Drive Thru, Reviews | 9 Comments »

With 426kW on tap from the twin turbo 5.0 litre V10, this is comfortably the most powerful car I have ever driven. My previous personal best, also courtesy of Audi, was the relatively feeble 309kW 4.2 litre V8 found in ...

Drive Thru: Skoda Octavia RS

Sunday, November 16th, 2008 Posted in Drive Thru, Reviews, Skoda | 7 Comments »

Imagine you have your (affordable) dream car and love the joy it brings you. Whether that’s behind the wheel, or simply admiring the gentle shoulder line of its three-door shape. Your car has oodles of torque that make it a ...

Drive Thru: Audi R8 4.2 quattro

Monday, September 8th, 2008 Posted in Audi, Drive Thru, Reviews | 11 Comments »

Well the drums rolled off in my forehead and the guns went off in my chest... That’s how I felt with Audi’s teutonic symphony orchestra behind me today. Welcome to the Audi R8. There’s nothing quite like the sound of a ...

Drive Thru: MINI John Cooper Works

Saturday, August 30th, 2008 Posted in Drive Thru, MINI, Reviews | 16 Comments »

When something meets your expectations so well, have you ever been left feeling almost let down? Equally, when something does meet your expectations so well, can you be anything other than impressed? These were questions I was asking myself a ...

Drive Thru: BMW 135i Coupé

Saturday, May 31st, 2008 Posted in BMW, Drive Thru, Reviews | 9 Comments »

After attending the launch of BMW's 1 Series Coupé, I was keen for a closer look at the 135i. Initially I thought the 1 Series Coupé was a bit of a design faux pas, however, the more I see it, ...

Drive Thru: Audi A3 Sportback 2.0 TDI Ambition

Sunday, May 25th, 2008 Posted in Audi, Drive Thru, Reviews | 3 Comments »

After recently driving the Audi’s close relation, the Golf GT TDI with DSG, I was keen to see how the A3 Sportback 2.0 TDI Ambition compared. The two cars share the same basic underpinnings, the same engine, producing the same ...

Drive Thru: 2008 Audi A4 1.8 TFSI

Saturday, May 17th, 2008 Posted in Audi, Drive Thru, Reviews | 2 Comments »

Last month Audi Australia officially launched an all new A4 model. Audi claims to be the fastest growing prestige brand in the Australian market. If that growth is to continue the new A4 needs to deliver bums on seats. At ...

Drive Thru: Volkswagen Golf GT TDI v GTI

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 Posted in Drive Thru, Reviews, Volkswagen | 18 Comments »

Welcome to AUSmotive's first Drive Thru test. In time these will become more commonplace, they will offer independent thoughts gained on a brief test drive that is about what you'd expect from visiting your local dealer. Drive Thru reports are ...