Sean, Scott and James take a look at the MG 4 XPower - the $60k super hatch. The guys give their impressions of newly announced 2025 Subaru Forester and they discuss whether Australian speed limits are too low.
Welcome to the CarExpert Podcast – now in video! Host Sean Lander is joined by resident CarExperts Scott Collie and James Wong to chat the latest in automotive news and reviews.
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
2025 Subaru Forester: 00:59
MG 4 XPower: 07:53
Speed limits too low?: 18:59
Our picks of the week: 25:52
Outro: 30:11
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
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Paul Maric:
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Welcome to the CarExpert Podcast – now in video! Host Sean Lander is joined by resident CarExperts Scott Collie and James Wong to chat the latest in automotive news and reviews.
Skip Ahead:
Intro: 00:00
2025 Subaru Forester: 00:59
MG 4 XPower: 07:53
Speed limits too low?: 18:59
Our picks of the week: 25:52
Outro: 30:11
We review every new car on the market, bust car myths, cover the latest car tech and answer your burning questions.
Whether you need new car advice, purchase validation or simply love learning more about new cars and technology, we are your car experts.
Subscribe to Car Expert: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7DvMhvy3H7ntEgn9n3xQcQ?sub_confirmation=1
You'll find us dropping new video content three times a week. If you'd like to ask a question about one of our videos, simply leave us a comment. If you'd like to give us any feedback on our content, feel free to email us, or alternatively, hit us up on social media.
Finally, we want this channel to grow with your support and feedback. If there's anything you don't like or would like to see us change, we'd love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media to see what we're up to and to ask any questions!
CarExpert:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarExpertAus
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/CarExpertAus
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carexpert.com.au
Paul Maric:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PaulMaric
Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/PaulMaric
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/PaulMaric
Category
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MotorTranscript
00:00 G'day, I'm Sean and welcome to the Car Expert podcast.
00:02 We're back, thanks for being patient with us.
00:04 We had a much needed break.
00:06 Scott, how was your leave mate?
00:08 - Yeah, I played one of the best rounds of golf of my life.
00:11 So, you know, kicking goals away from the podcast
00:13 that don't count for anything in real life.
00:15 - Yeah, right, well, that's Scott playing golf
00:17 and the man who has a golf jam,
00:18 Swung, he's here as well.
00:20 You were actually doing some work
00:21 the week that we were away.
00:22 - Yeah, I was just heard you say leave
00:23 and I was like, what's leave?
00:24 I'm always here, so I don't know.
00:26 (laughing)
00:28 - Well, maybe we'll let you take some next year.
00:29 We'll see how we go.
00:30 - Sounds good.
00:31 - Swing is prison top today too.
00:32 Just to really hammer home the point
00:34 that we're making work hard.
00:35 (laughing)
00:36 Well, we've got an exciting show today.
00:38 We're talking about the brand new Subaru Forester.
00:41 We're not sure when it's coming,
00:42 but we've got some facts and figures on it.
00:44 We've got the MGX power that we recently drove
00:46 and drag raced.
00:47 We're gonna chat a little bit about that.
00:48 And we're gonna ask the question,
00:50 are Australia's speed limits a little bit too low?
00:53 But we'll dive straight in.
00:54 Subaru dropped last week,
00:56 well, actually the pictures were leaked to start with,
00:57 and then they officially announced a new Forester
01:00 on the way, which looks,
01:02 you can kind of see the old one,
01:03 but it's also quite new on the outside.
01:05 - It's like the old one sort of combined with the Ascent,
01:08 which is the big four wheel drive they have in America.
01:10 And then Suzuki ran an S-Cross into the back of it.
01:13 It's sort of a hybrid of those three things,
01:15 but it is definitely a Subaru Forester.
01:17 They don't mess with the formula too much.
01:18 - And it is a hybrid.
01:19 There is a hybrid in the range,
01:20 which sounds like it's gonna be improved
01:22 over the current gen.
01:24 And James, I know we were talking
01:25 before we started filming this
01:26 about the current hybrid system in the Forester
01:29 and what this new one, tell us a little bit about that.
01:31 - Yeah, so Subaru's confirmed
01:33 that they'll be using Toyota's Hybrid Tech,
01:35 which is a pretty big step change from the current one.
01:38 They use like a, basically a 48 volt mild hybrid system
01:41 that they dub an actual hybrid, which as--
01:44 - Generous branding, I think is the way to put that.
01:46 - It's a bit generous,
01:47 'cause it obviously doesn't offer
01:48 the same kind of fuel savings
01:49 that you get out of a Toyota hybrid,
01:51 but the new one will basically have Toyota's batteries,
01:54 electric motors bolted onto a Subaru engine,
01:56 which I found quite interesting,
01:58 'cause that was a conversation that we've had in the past
02:00 about Mazda, Suzuki and Subaru all being sort of,
02:05 Toyota has stakes in them to an extent.
02:09 So they're all being able to use
02:10 Toyota's Hybrid Tech moving forward.
02:12 And we were wondering how it would sort of manifest
02:15 into a production model,
02:16 whether these companies would keep their own engine tech
02:18 and then just bolt the system on,
02:19 which is what Subaru is doing.
02:21 So yeah, I found that interesting,
02:22 but there's not really too much detail
02:23 around what that system is yet,
02:25 because it's not actually going into production
02:26 until like 2025.
02:27 - Something like that.
02:28 I think they've called it a 2025 model for the US,
02:31 but that could mean anything
02:32 from January 1, 2024 onwards, basically.
02:34 So we'll know more next year.
02:37 I am a little bit disappointed, to be honest.
02:39 I love Subarus, I've owned three of them.
02:41 So I'm a little bit biased on that front,
02:44 but I'm just so sick of seeing the same stuff
02:46 from them every single time.
02:48 This new Forester in the States is a carryover engine.
02:51 It's a 2.5 liter boxer.
02:53 It's got 134 kilowatts, 240 Newton meters, got a CVT.
02:57 It's just time for them to move forward
02:59 and do something more,
03:00 because I know that people buy one Subaru
03:03 and then keep buying them,
03:04 but they are getting left behind
03:06 in the engine tech stakes at this point.
03:08 And in the current car, which is not all that heavy,
03:10 it feels undergunned.
03:12 I can't imagine how this bigger new one
03:14 with more tech and more luxury inside
03:15 is gonna feel when you put five kids on board.
03:17 - Obviously the imagery we have at the moment
03:19 is all from the US specs.
03:20 So it might vary a little bit by the time it gets here,
03:22 but the interior looks a lot like what we've just seen
03:25 come out in the new Outback, which is a really nice,
03:27 a really lovely interior.
03:28 It's got a massive screen, really comfy seats,
03:31 good infotainment system.
03:34 So I guess they've finally jumped up a little bit with that.
03:37 But yeah, in terms of the engine,
03:39 the CVT combination at the moment is not-
03:43 - It's not particularly inspiring, no.
03:45 But I suppose the flip side of that is
03:47 we really like Subaru
03:48 because I know you've had one in your family as well, James.
03:51 You've got a rally connection.
03:53 The brand probably punches above its weight.
03:55 It is a small company and investing in new engines
03:58 is expensive.
03:59 So I understand why they do it.
04:00 But yeah, take all the tech away.
04:03 The one thing that we liked about the Outback last year
04:05 is that they finally gave it a 2.4 turbo.
04:08 It's a shame that at launch so far,
04:10 we haven't heard of that same engine
04:11 being offered in the Forester.
04:12 - Yeah, I will jump in there and say,
04:15 depending on what Japan does,
04:16 'cause currently the Forester over there
04:17 gets a 1.8 liter turbo, which isn't quite the 2.4,
04:20 but it definitely has more punch than the 2.5 liter does.
04:23 And when I spoke to the local managing director
04:26 recently asking if we'd get the turbo in the current one
04:28 before the new one comes in,
04:29 he was like, "We're not gonna do it for this generation."
04:32 So it perhaps leaves the door open
04:34 that if the new one in Japan
04:35 only comes with the 1.8 liter turbo again,
04:37 that we could get that as the petrol engine
04:39 and then also get the new hybrid as well.
04:41 So I guess at the moment,
04:42 the American spec is all we can go off,
04:45 but hopefully there's good things to come for other markets.
04:49 - To talk about the fact that it has a Toyota hybrid system
04:52 going into it, the hybrid Camry drives very, very well.
04:55 And the hybrid RAV4, very, very nice car to drive.
04:58 Almost feels like it's got a turbocharger
04:59 and it just gives you that extra push.
05:02 - Extra push.
05:02 - Do you think that's kind of what we're hoping to see here
05:05 with the new Forester?
05:06 - I think it's gonna have to be with the hybrid system.
05:09 I do think the key difference
05:10 is gonna be the engine, obviously.
05:12 Toyota hybrids we're very familiar with
05:14 because when you do put your foot down past a certain point,
05:17 the petrol engine kicks in
05:19 and you get that same sort of flat Toyota sound,
05:21 but it's pretty well insulated.
05:23 Subaru obviously has boxer engines in its cars,
05:26 so we're assuming it's gonna be a boxer
05:28 hooked up to the Toyota electric motor and battery.
05:31 I think the key with it is not gonna be the performance
05:33 'cause we know what the electric motor's gonna do for it.
05:36 I actually think it's gonna be how Subaru manages
05:38 to keep its engine quiet and all the vibrations at bay.
05:42 Even in their latest cars, you turn them on
05:44 and they do this flare of revs and they sit there
05:46 and you can kind of feel the boxer as it idles.
05:49 Which is the same thing it did in my 2007 Liberty.
05:51 So I actually think that's the characteristic
05:53 they're gonna need to work on
05:54 more than they are the performance,
05:56 which we know the electric motor will give.
05:58 - All right, so this is the subjective part
06:00 that we can actually comment on is the,
06:03 okay, I like the interior.
06:04 I think you guys kind of like the interior
06:05 'cause I know we like the outback,
06:07 but the exterior seems to be dividing some opinions.
06:10 So I think we'll let Scott go first on that one.
06:14 - I think it's a bit of a dog's breakfast.
06:17 Subaru not known for making beautiful cars.
06:19 They are known for releasing beautiful concepts
06:21 and then dialing them back.
06:22 This is really fussy.
06:24 I think it'll look better in person
06:25 'cause it's gonna be quite big and have presence about it.
06:28 But yeah, it's definitely one that needs to be had
06:31 in a dark color for me based on the amount of black plastic
06:34 and the black light bar at the back.
06:35 Maybe that's the way we need to do it.
06:37 - It's very American.
06:38 And like I said, this is an American model that we're seeing
06:40 so it may change, but James, what are your thoughts, mate?
06:43 (all laughing)
06:46 - Similar thoughts.
06:47 I feel like this one in particular,
06:49 it lacks the identity that we've seen in their latest models.
06:51 You look at Outback, WRX, LeVorg, Crosstrek,
06:55 they all still have a very familiar face
06:58 and it's got like the grill,
06:59 the headlight designs all consistent,
07:01 whereas this sort of throws all that out the window.
07:03 And perhaps this is ushering in a new design philosophy,
07:06 but it's also very ambiguous
07:07 and doesn't really look like a Subaru.
07:09 It sort of looks like a Suzuki in places.
07:11 It also looks like a Jeep or, you know,
07:13 there was some other influences there that looked it.
07:15 - It looks like it's got a Ranger tailgate,
07:17 the indented Forester written across the tailgate.
07:19 - Yeah, it was just, it's a bit of a mishmash of things
07:21 and it just, you know, to me personally,
07:23 it wasn't my favourite.
07:24 So I'm hoping that when I see one in person,
07:26 that looks a little bit more inviting.
07:29 - I suppose if nothing else,
07:30 we know Subaru buyers are incredibly loyal.
07:33 So for everything we're saying about it,
07:34 I bet you it'll sell well.
07:35 - Absolutely.
07:36 And look, I'm looking forward to getting it
07:37 because the Subaru Forester is our current reigning
07:40 mid-size SUV off-roader. - Yeah, off-road champ.
07:42 - So hopefully this can maintain it,
07:45 but we'll just have to wait and see.
07:47 Could be next year, could be the year after,
07:48 but the second we can get our hands on it,
07:50 we will absolutely be pitting it against the others
07:52 and seeing how it does.
07:53 Let's move on though.
07:54 We're gonna go a little more electric now.
07:57 The MG4 is the latest offering
08:00 from the British/Chinese company MG,
08:03 since 1924 apparently.
08:06 This, the MG4 is a fully electric model
08:09 and they have a model called the XPower,
08:11 which is, I guess, MG's answer to the Model 3 Performance,
08:16 the Model Y Performance, that sort of style car.
08:19 - Yeah, it's the budget hot hatch
08:22 or super hatch we've been talking about all year.
08:24 Costs less than 60 grand in Australia,
08:26 zero to 100 in less than four seconds,
08:28 which no matter what you pit it against,
08:30 Model 3 Performance is 95 grand, was something like that.
08:34 We don't have a new one yet.
08:35 A Golf R is 75, an AMG 845 is 120 in Australia.
08:40 To get that sort of performance for that money,
08:42 on paper at least, is really appealing.
08:44 - Well, so you say on paper, so they claim 3.80 to 100.
08:46 We tested it last week and we got a 3.92.
08:50 - It's pretty good. - Which is pretty good.
08:52 - That's on a hot day on an unprepared surface.
08:54 - Absolutely, and after the car,
08:55 like this wasn't full, we didn't have full battery
08:57 or anything like that, so pretty good for that.
09:00 Now, we're gonna talk a little bit
09:02 about the drag race to do with it soon,
09:03 but let's just have a look at the car.
09:05 I actually, I'm not a huge fan of the exterior,
09:07 but I quite like the interior
09:09 'cause it doesn't feel like a Tesla
09:10 because mostly it has a dash.
09:12 But what do you guys think in terms of like,
09:15 electric cars are often a bit wild
09:17 and they're trying to be a bit different with the design,
09:19 but what do you guys think about the NG4's design?
09:21 - I think from the front, it's quite handsome.
09:23 It's a very sleek design, a bit minimalist.
09:26 I like the X-Powers wheels and everything,
09:28 all comes together really nicely.
09:29 - Not the brakes though.
09:31 - The fake caliper cover things are questionable,
09:35 but they look cool when it's parked up.
09:38 The back is a little bit more, you know,
09:39 that new age sort of, you know,
09:41 those Hot Wheels proprietary designs
09:45 where they had always like the wild and wacky ones.
09:45 - It could be like a Grand Theft Auto car almost
09:48 with some of the detail.
09:49 - It's almost like a Toyota CHR on the back.
09:51 It's got like that sort of,
09:51 they just kept designing it and kept designing it.
09:53 - Yeah, there's a few different elements in there
09:54 that you can see have been inspired,
09:56 we'll say, by other brands.
09:58 But I think it, you know, it's got,
09:59 it carves its own sort of look and feel.
10:02 And the, I think it's well-proportioned.
10:05 It sort of sticks out a little bit.
10:06 The lighting signatures are also really cool.
10:09 So it's definitely not, I wouldn't say it's ugly,
10:11 like some other electric cars we've seen lately, but yeah.
10:15 - I think the interior is kind of the highlight.
10:18 If we're talking design before we get to the performance,
10:20 the exterior is what it is.
10:22 I actually don't mind it,
10:22 but the way it is inside is really simple and clean.
10:25 It's just a screen on the dashboard
10:26 and a screen in front of the driver.
10:28 But one of my problems with a lot of electric cars,
10:31 and we've talked about this on the podcast before,
10:32 is they try to do too much.
10:34 Whereas this is just a car.
10:36 It gives you a simple infotainment system
10:38 that I find really easy to use,
10:40 simple information in front of the driver,
10:42 a pretty good driving position.
10:44 I do wish the XPower got a proper set of bucket seats,
10:46 'cause it is so quick.
10:47 A bit more support wouldn't go astray,
10:49 but MG seems to have focused its money on what counts here,
10:53 which is obviously for one, how it goes,
10:55 but also there's good space inside,
10:57 and it's a good showroom price.
11:00 I'm more worried about that
11:01 than I am the way it looks outside or inside.
11:03 - I think that's a very Chinese car thing
11:06 where they really focus on the interior,
11:08 the space in the back seat.
11:09 There's a lot of legroom in the back.
11:11 The boot space, not amazing.
11:14 - Yeah, it's not terrible,
11:15 but given the exterior size of the car,
11:17 you might expect a little bit more.
11:20 Still very usable, though.
11:21 - And the range of these is actually not terrible either.
11:26 So they're actually designed to be
11:27 taken out and driven around.
11:29 - Well, I'm gonna stop you there,
11:30 'cause we did some performance.
11:31 - Okay, how to go reality then?
11:32 - Yeah, so the performance testing we did down at Lang Lang
11:35 where we were drag racing against the BMW,
11:37 MG says you get 385 kilometers of range,
11:40 but with our average of,
11:42 I think it was 29 kilowatt hours per hundred,
11:45 you would have got about 210 Ks of range,
11:48 and that manifested with me needing to
11:50 plug into a slow charger at Lang Lang,
11:52 first up to actually get enough charge,
11:54 then get me to a fast charger.
11:56 I rolled in with 1% battery left,
11:59 which is not MG's fault.
12:00 I mean, you drive a petrol car hard,
12:01 and it uses a lot more fuel as well,
12:03 but 385 Ks is the claim.
12:06 Depending on how you're driving,
12:07 you might get 300 to 350,
12:09 but if you're pushing hard as 320 kilowatts
12:12 and 600 Newton meters might inspire you to,
12:15 it is worth considering your charging options
12:17 because we found out that battery
12:19 really plummets when you push it.
12:21 - Well, and so James, did you drive the X-Power?
12:23 - Yeah, I took it for a night or two, I think, yeah.
12:26 - And how'd you find it?
12:27 - It was, I can see what Scott's saying
12:29 about the simplistic interior design.
12:31 I actually found it a little bit underwhelming
12:32 because once you get to the 60 grand mark,
12:34 you know, it does feel like not a lot of effort
12:38 has gone into dressing it up
12:39 to make it feel the price that it is.
12:40 And it was actually a similar thought that I had
12:43 about the long range one that's only a few grand cheaper,
12:45 but has a bigger battery.
12:47 I do agree though, that it's one of the cleaner designs.
12:50 The fit is good.
12:52 The finish in areas is still not what I would expect
12:55 of a car that expensive.
12:56 And, you know, like we've criticized stuff
12:58 like the Cooper Bourne and the Volkswagen ID.3
13:00 for similar reasons
13:01 and they're sort of playing at a similar price point.
13:03 And I guess you sort of have to knock MG for the same,
13:05 even though the powertrain
13:07 obviously offers so much performance.
13:09 It's wicked fast.
13:10 Like there was a couple of times where I really gave it,
13:12 you know, a plant to my foot
13:13 and it made me sort of go like, oh, jeez.
13:15 - It hurts, doesn't it?
13:16 That initial.
13:17 - Yeah, it's really impressive
13:18 how fast it is in a straight line.
13:20 I did find in areas that was a little bit rough
13:23 and unrefined, like you get a little bit
13:24 of powertrain noise, the brakes can screech a little bit.
13:28 It doesn't quite feel like you can handle the performance
13:31 it does as soon as the road makes a curve.
13:34 It's not quite as tied down in that sense.
13:36 - So this is definitely like,
13:37 I suppose the question with the X-Power that we had was,
13:40 well, it's really quick in a straight line,
13:42 but is it the new prototype hot hatch?
13:44 And I think the answer is not yet.
13:46 It feels like a rocket on a roller skate
13:49 in the straight line.
13:50 But even though it's got some really clever tech,
13:53 it's got torque vectoring by braking,
13:54 it's got an electronic locking differential.
13:57 When you do put your foot down in a corner,
13:58 you get this feeling of, oh my God,
14:00 what I do with this power?
14:01 And you can feel the brakes sort of grabbing,
14:03 you can feel this diff lock trying to do its thing.
14:06 Whereas I know a Golf R is more expensive,
14:08 but the powertrain on that thing is so impressive
14:11 that when you put your foot down mid corner,
14:13 rather than it trying to think about what to do,
14:15 starting to run wide, it just kind of grips and goes.
14:18 And the MG, I think the next step for it
14:20 is to get to that point where it also offers
14:22 that same sort of anywhere, anytime effortless performance,
14:25 because it's fun.
14:27 Like you can really feel it moving around a bit
14:29 when you brake, it's so quick in a straight line,
14:32 but it's not a proper performance car
14:34 in the way it handles just yet.
14:35 - Well, I guess, I know that MG claim
14:37 they've been around since 1924,
14:39 but let's be honest, they are very much still a new company.
14:41 - Absolutely, it's young.
14:42 - They have come a long way since the MG3
14:44 came out a couple of years ago.
14:45 So they're moving in the right direction, I guess.
14:47 - Absolutely.
14:48 - Is really what it's about.
14:49 - Can you offer people a teaser as to this drag race?
14:51 'Cause I was driving the other car next to Paul
14:54 and I was absolutely blown away by how close this race was.
14:58 - Yes, so this is coming up on our YouTube channel very soon.
15:01 So make sure you subscribe to that.
15:03 We got a BMW i7, which you can have one BMW i7,
15:08 or you can have five and three quarter MG, four X-powers.
15:12 But the BMW i7 weighs 2.7 ton.
15:15 It's a very, very heavy car.
15:16 - It's a big old bus.
15:17 - It is made to ferry celebrities
15:19 who are environmentally conscious
15:21 to and from the airport and their hotels.
15:23 But it also goes very, very quickly in a straight line.
15:26 And the way that it accelerates is absolutely mind boggling.
15:30 The way that it bogs down and just launches into-
15:33 - It's like a powerboat, isn't it?
15:34 The way the nose sits up.
15:35 - And it defies the laws of physics.
15:38 (both laughing)
15:38 It's honestly insane.
15:40 I'm not gonna reveal exactly who won or the total results,
15:44 but what I do wanna say is at the end of the day,
15:47 when we tested the quarter mile,
15:48 there was less than 0.3 of a second between the two cars.
15:51 - That's close.
15:52 - So it is insane.
15:53 - When you drive a seat of that BMW,
15:54 there's kind of an arrogance you get.
15:56 You put your foot on the brake
15:57 and the door electrically closes and it's silent
16:00 and there's crystal inside and it makes Hans Zimmer noises.
16:04 And it's just a beautiful car.
16:06 And there's something about that,
16:07 that instinctively you look at the Chinese hatchback
16:10 to your left and go, "Blow you away.
16:13 You are nothing.
16:13 You are a beetle."
16:15 Not the case.
16:16 I, at multiple times in those drag races,
16:19 looked to my left, "What the hell are you doing there?"
16:21 It is so close.
16:22 - Yep.
16:23 So make sure you subscribe for that
16:24 because that is coming
16:25 and you're not gonna wanna miss it
16:27 'cause it's actually,
16:28 doesn't sound that interesting,
16:29 but it actually is really fascinating.
16:30 - It was a really fun race.
16:31 - It's time for our Help Me Car Expert section
16:33 where we put to you guys an alternative car
16:37 that you could buy.
16:37 Now this week, it is the Mazda 3.
16:39 Massive wait times.
16:40 It is one of the most popular cars in Australia.
16:43 It's hard to get the ones that you want.
16:45 What are your alternatives to a Mazda 3?
16:48 - I had a long think about this one
16:49 because there's quite a few good options
16:51 and given the Mazda 3 has such a wide reaching range,
16:54 it was sort of trying to figure out
16:56 what price point you wanna shop in.
16:59 I went with the Cupra Leon V,
17:01 which is probably a car
17:02 that not a lot of people know about.
17:03 It's sort of like the Spanish brand's
17:05 alternative to the Golf.
17:06 It's based on the same platform.
17:07 It's effectively a Golf underneath.
17:09 But the base one,
17:10 what they've done is they've fully decked it out
17:12 with all the features and tech
17:13 that you get across the range.
17:15 But it's got a 140 kilowatt two liter petrol engine,
17:17 which is basically a detuned version
17:19 of the one you get in the GTI.
17:20 And so--
17:21 - That's a really good engine, that one.
17:22 - It's a great engine, yeah.
17:23 It's fast enough, but it's still refined.
17:26 It gets smaller wheels than the other models in the range,
17:28 so it's quite comfortable.
17:29 It still gets adaptive suspension as well,
17:31 so you can make it as comfortable or as sporty as you like.
17:33 It's got good space in the back.
17:35 You've got a decent sized boot,
17:36 which is a key pain point for the Mazda 3.
17:40 So you've got a really well-rounded package
17:43 that for similar money in a Golf,
17:45 you don't get an engine that's anywhere near as powerful,
17:47 plus you get more kit.
17:48 And it's something a little bit different
17:49 'cause Cooper's have quite an angular, angry design
17:52 that makes people sort of turn their heads
17:53 as you drive past.
17:54 - What is that thing?
17:55 - Exactly right, so that was my pick.
17:57 - What about you, Scott?
17:58 - I went a similar train of thought to James.
18:01 I've got a Hyundai i30 N-Line.
18:03 - Great choice.
18:04 - I really like it.
18:05 It's a punchy turbocharged 1.6.
18:08 You can still get a manual as well,
18:09 which for now at least is the case.
18:12 We know they're transferring over
18:13 to European supply next year and that might go away,
18:16 but it's just a good all-rounder
18:18 and it's a car that has been around for quite a while now.
18:21 But just every time I drive one,
18:23 it's quicker than you expect,
18:25 it's more spacious than you expect
18:26 and it handles really well.
18:28 I actually, if you were to get the Cooper,
18:31 we could go and have some fun out in the hills
18:33 'cause they're two of the best handling,
18:35 sort of call them warm hatches out there.
18:37 - And quite a looker too.
18:38 - Yeah, I think it's a really handsome thing.
18:40 - So look, if you're interested
18:42 in either one of those cars
18:43 and you wanna get your hands on it quickly,
18:44 head to Google and type in Help Me Car Expert.
18:46 We can connect you to a series of vetted dealers
18:49 that can get you into one of these cars quicker
18:51 and possibly even cheaper than you might think.
18:53 So Google Help Me Car Expert
18:55 and if you do end up using it, leave a comment,
18:57 let us know how the experience was.
18:59 All right, this is an interesting one, this topic.
19:02 I know we live in Victoria,
19:05 so we're probably gonna be crucified
19:08 for the conversation we're about to have.
19:10 - Speed is the enemy.
19:10 - Speed is the enemy, but the cities,
19:13 oh, well, the suburbs of Fitzroy and Collingwood
19:16 doing a trial dropping quite a number
19:18 of their road speed limits to 30 kilometers an hour.
19:20 The Victorian Police Chief Commissioner, Shane Patten,
19:24 came out and said, "That's not the answer,"
19:26 which is ironic given the Victorian police's stance on speed.
19:30 But he made a very valid point saying
19:31 that most of the incidents and road fatalities
19:35 happen in the country in regional areas.
19:37 So I'm curious, basically my question is,
19:40 and I wanna start this conversation,
19:42 are speed limits too low in Australia?
19:45 Is it like in general?
19:46 - Yes.
19:47 - Yeah, it really is. - Thank you very much.
19:48 Good chat.
19:49 - The reason I say that is,
19:50 last night, literally last night,
19:52 I drove back from Canberra down the Hume Highway,
19:55 110 the whole way.
19:56 If that was 130, I would have shaved an hour
19:59 or a bit over an hour off my trip,
20:00 which is an hour less time I could be falling asleep
20:03 at the wheel, and that's 130,
20:06 like 110 to 130 isn't that dramatically different
20:09 in terms of the handling of a car.
20:10 So what do you guys think?
20:12 Like, I'm not talking about a terrible country road,
20:14 but on main highways, could the speed limits be higher
20:17 to actually make it safer for us to travel?
20:19 - 100%, I think that speed's not really the issue.
20:22 It's around, you know, driver training and education
20:24 where people need to learn how to control a vehicle
20:28 that, you know, there are so many of us,
20:30 all of us have had experience with driving on a track
20:33 and we go well over the signed speed limits on a highway
20:35 and we're perfectly safe.
20:36 - Just to be clear, on the track,
20:38 we go well over the signs. - On the track, yeah,
20:38 yeah, yeah, not on the way there.
20:40 - Yes. (laughing)
20:42 - But, you know, you get a feel for what a car's capable of
20:45 and what you're willing to do.
20:47 And, you know, I just came back from Europe a month
20:49 or so ago and driving on the roads there, you know,
20:51 the speeds get much higher,
20:53 there are more people on the road
20:54 that can drive a little bit more crazy,
20:56 but things just down to like lane etiquette
20:58 and, you know, being a bit more courteous
21:01 and understanding where you might wanna slow down
21:04 even if the speed limits are certain things,
21:06 you're coming up to a bend and things like that.
21:07 People just do that there,
21:09 whereas here it seems like no one really understands.
21:11 So it doesn't really matter what the speed limit is.
21:13 If you have people that just don't understand
21:15 how roads work or how their car works,
21:18 you're gonna have problems all the time.
21:19 So I think that's really what the crux of it is.
21:21 - Yeah, I think it does come back to the highway question
21:25 because this decision from the city of Yarra,
21:28 I think 30's too slow.
21:29 I mean, driving a modern car at 30 is painful
21:32 because they are not designed to go that speed in town.
21:36 But ultimately, they're on streets
21:38 that are around cyclists and pedestrians and shops.
21:40 And I can actually understand that rationale.
21:41 I think that there's no real excuse for going fast
21:44 in areas where there are kids running around
21:46 and people on bikes and that sort of thing.
21:48 - Look, I'm not really that opposed
21:50 to the 30 Ks an hour thing, like especially around schools
21:52 and those areas where there's trams and there's people.
21:54 - Absolutely, yeah.
21:55 You're not going faster than that anyway.
21:57 - Exactly.
21:58 - But on the highway,
21:59 one of the things that has always perplexed me
22:01 is we have the ability to monitor weather conditions
22:04 in real time.
22:05 And most of Victoria's like inner city highways
22:08 have adjustable speed limits.
22:09 Which are always set to 80.
22:10 - Which are always set to 80.
22:12 - Or 40 for absolutely no reason at all.
22:14 - But that could be used on the Hume, for example,
22:17 which is a well-surfaced two lane highway
22:20 with safety barriers the length of it,
22:23 to when conditions are good, set the speed limit to 130.
22:26 And then when it starts raining
22:27 or when there's heavy traffic or something like that,
22:29 drop it back to 110 or 100.
22:32 So I think what frustrates me about it
22:34 is not so much the going slowly thing,
22:35 because I get that there are situations
22:37 where you need to do that.
22:38 It's common sense.
22:39 But it's this idea that we do have the technology
22:42 to do variable speed limits,
22:44 but rather than using them to let us get
22:45 where we need to go faster,
22:47 they only actually apply when we need to slow people down.
22:51 I think the other reason behind it
22:52 in Victoria in particular is the Hume is now
22:54 pretty much from Melbourne all the way to the border
22:56 with New South Wales monitored by point to point cameras.
22:59 And those point to point cameras
23:01 are gonna snap less people if the limit's higher
23:03 and they're less likely to be speeding.
23:04 So there's also definitely a revenue raising angle on this,
23:07 which is another frustrating conversation worth having.
23:10 But yeah, the fact that we're treated like children
23:13 and not given the opportunity to actually do the speed
23:16 that the roads designed for
23:17 and our modern cars are designed for
23:19 is kind of offensive, I think.
23:22 - Well, and I think the thing is,
23:24 you go to outback Queensland or the territory
23:26 and it's 130 kilometer hour speed limits.
23:28 And the reasoning is,
23:30 you wanna get people to their destination sooner
23:32 so there's less chance that they're gonna fall asleep
23:34 and hit near you.
23:35 - The fastest I've ever seen a croc move is about 110.
23:37 So 130 lets you outrun this.
23:40 - Yes, I guess, yeah, that's the thing.
23:42 There's plenty of roads that are 80 for a very good reason.
23:45 They're not to conditions or the quality is not very good,
23:49 but our main highways,
23:50 driving down the Hume Highway
23:53 is the most boring drive in the world.
23:54 - It's soul destroying.
23:55 - And even if I've had a 20 hour sleep prior,
23:58 I'm still gonna get to a point
23:59 where I probably wanna doze off because it is just dull.
24:02 And going faster doesn't really keep you more awake,
24:06 but it's just limiting that time, right?
24:07 So do you think even with the,
24:10 I guess the standards of Australian drivers,
24:12 which are not amazing,
24:13 do you think it would be safe enough to do it
24:15 when the traffic is moderate?
24:18 - Look, I'm not a road design expert.
24:20 So I suppose that's worth qualifying here.
24:24 Of course I do, because I think it's what it should be.
24:27 Whether or not that plays out in the real world,
24:30 I don't know, but I do think it's definitely something
24:32 that I'd love to see the data on.
24:34 I think it's worth investigating
24:36 'cause moving slower is bad for everybody, right?
24:38 It's bad for the economy when you're talking about trucks
24:41 running stuff up and back between Melbourne and Sydney.
24:43 It's bad for people who need to get where they're going
24:46 and who spend longer on the road.
24:48 It's also just like, I mean, as a modern developed nation
24:52 that likes to think that we are on a par with Europe
24:55 and the USA and places like that,
24:58 the fact that we treat people
25:00 with the contempt we do on the roads is just baffling.
25:04 It's really confusing.
25:05 So I think in that context as well,
25:08 motorists almost deserve to have at least,
25:13 it looked into, let's weigh up the benefits
25:15 and costs of this and try to understand
25:17 why we're not doing it beyond just,
25:19 hey, fast is dangerous and we've always done it this way.
25:22 I think also, and I know you guys have read this,
25:24 but Wheels back in the day actually did an investigation
25:27 into this and I know they're one of our rivals,
25:28 but it was a really interesting story and showed that,
25:31 well, yeah, it is possible to get from Melbourne
25:33 to Sydney faster without driving off the road
25:34 and exploding into a fireball.
25:36 - Yes, exactly.
25:37 The point of that is the journalist who did that
25:39 was from Europe and he is now back living in Europe alive.
25:43 - Although not, only once he'd gone home
25:46 did they publish the story
25:47 'cause they knew the stink it'd kick up.
25:49 - Very smart, very smart move there.
25:51 All right, so now that we've solved
25:52 the nation's problems on speed limits,
25:55 we'll move on to our picks of the week.
25:57 James, I'm gonna throw it over to you first this week
25:59 'cause I know both of your picks sort of relate.
26:01 So I'll let you go first, James.
26:03 - Yeah, so I'm actually not somebody
26:05 who typically follows F1 very closely.
26:07 I've sort of, you know, motorsport's not really been my thing
26:09 but over the weekend I watched the Las Vegas Grand Prix
26:11 and it was the first race I'd watched in a while.
26:13 - So Scott and I have worn you down
26:14 over the past couple of weeks.
26:15 - Yeah, everyone talking about it, I was like,
26:16 "I don't know what they're talking about."
26:18 So the race itself was pretty entertaining,
26:21 but for the longest time it was like the Red Bull One-Two
26:23 that was for the bulk of the second half of the race
26:26 and then right at the end, Charles Leclerc
26:27 just came through on the last corner
26:29 and overtook whoever number three was.
26:31 - Sergio Perez.
26:32 - That one, see, I'm still learning.
26:34 But it was such an epic thing
26:36 and when I tell you I was watching it
26:37 and I got up out of my seat and like cheered
26:39 because it was such an amazing move.
26:42 It was just really cool vision.
26:43 So that's my pick of the week, which we'll show now.
26:46 - Charles Leclerc's going for it to the inside
26:49 as he got the car slopes once again
26:51 and he's very close to the line.
26:53 But it's Charles Leclerc who takes second.
26:55 - Imagine being a Ferrari fan
26:57 considering the year that Charles Leclerc started.
26:59 - Well, there's actually a reaction video
27:00 from the team in the pits when he does it
27:02 and they're all like jumping out
27:03 and like cheering and everything.
27:04 So I just thought it was a really cool moment
27:05 to see in motorsport.
27:07 - All right, Scott, what do you got?
27:08 - I'm going after the finish of the race.
27:11 Las Vegas had its problems, obviously.
27:13 There was the manhole cover
27:14 that destroyed Carlos Sainz's car.
27:16 - There was the lack of crowds for practice session.
27:19 - Right, for their 2 a.m. practice session.
27:22 But they also tried to do some really interesting stuff.
27:24 I actually quite liked some of the fan engagement stuff
27:26 they were doing.
27:27 One of the things that really I didn't understand though
27:30 was at the end of the race,
27:31 usually they walk into a cool down room
27:32 and they put caps on with first, second and third.
27:34 - And host the Max Verstappen podcast.
27:36 - Right, exactly.
27:38 There's usually a bit of chat between the drivers.
27:40 This being Vegas, they decided we're not gonna do that.
27:42 We're gonna sit them in the back of a Rolls Royce,
27:44 which is a cool idea,
27:45 but the only camera angle they had
27:47 was between the front seats.
27:48 So it was just a shot of Max Verstappen's crotch.
27:50 - After two hours in an F1 car,
27:53 wouldn't be the prettiest place in the world.
27:55 - Glad it wasn't smell-o-vision.
27:57 But they had the two, you know, second and third place,
28:00 Arshal and Checo sitting either side of him.
28:03 And the awkward conversation in the back of this car
28:05 between, you know, two guys who,
28:07 one of whom had just overtaken the other
28:08 for second place seconds ago.
28:10 And then Max has won every race of the year.
28:12 It was almost like one of those TV episodes
28:14 where all the main characters get locked in a room
28:16 because the budget's run out for that season.
28:18 - A bottleneck episode.
28:20 - It was really awkward, but really kind of hilarious.
28:23 - You know what?
28:24 I feel like they missed a trick with that.
28:26 What they should have had was like a 1970s Cadillac
28:29 with the top down and an Elvis impersonator driving.
28:32 - Yeah.
28:32 - Now that's a vision, that's vague.
28:34 - Yeah, sort of thing that JFK got assassinated
28:36 and would have been perfect.
28:37 - Yeah, but yes.
28:38 Are we allowed to talk about that yet?
28:40 Or is it still too soon?
28:41 - I don't work for the US government.
28:43 And I was a Lincoln, anyway.
28:45 - All right, I'm surprisingly not picking a race car
28:49 for this week, even though I kind of want to.
28:51 But Australia developed the Ranger Raptor.
28:56 Like it was all done here in Melbourne.
28:58 A lot of the testing, the R&D and the development.
29:01 Then a guy in England decided,
29:03 what's a Raptor like to drive on two wheels?
29:06 Paul Swift is a stunt driver in the UK.
29:08 He has a bunch of Guinness World Records,
29:10 but he decided to drive this Raptor up on two wheels
29:13 through the tightest possible gap he could,
29:15 which is 88 centimetres, which is about a third of Scott,
29:18 just to put that in context.
29:20 - Actually, no, not quite.
29:22 So yeah.
29:23 - But yeah, it's absolutely phenomenal.
29:25 Like seeing this giant car,
29:27 which is a ridiculously gargantuan looking car
29:31 up on two wheels through this tight little gap,
29:33 absolutely phenomenal.
29:34 And probably the softest landing he's ever had
29:36 doing a stunt when the Fox suspension caught him.
29:39 - Did he do that?
29:40 Was it James Bond where they drove the car onto two wheels
29:43 to get through a gap between buildings,
29:45 but they shot it from opposing angles.
29:48 So the car goes in on one side and comes out on the other.
29:51 And halfway through the shot,
29:52 they went, "Oh, well, this is weird."
29:54 So halfway through the shot,
29:55 he's wedged between the buildings
29:56 and he goes, "Krrr."
29:58 - Yep, somehow just-
29:58 - And the car changes sides,
30:01 which means he could have just driven through
30:02 on all four wheels.
30:04 That's what I want to see from Paul Swift next.
30:06 - Yes.
30:06 (laughing)
30:07 Well, we'll send him a tweet and see if he responds.
30:10 - Yeah, we'll see if he responds.
30:10 - That pretty much sums it up for the week.
30:12 I do want to leave with one final thought.
30:14 I just want to do a big shout out
30:16 to Harry Bates and Coral Taylor,
30:18 won the Australian Rally Championship on the weekend
30:20 in their Toyota Yaris,
30:24 which is slightly different to your Nanzi Yaris,
30:26 but absolutely epic weekend.
30:28 It came down to a final battle
30:29 between Harry and Lewis Bates.
30:32 And at the end, it was six seconds between them.
30:34 So yeah, really cool to see a homologation car
30:38 actually doing a rally and succeeding really well with it.
30:42 So if you haven't checked out,
30:43 go to YouTube and search it,
30:44 'cause it's absolutely epic to watch.
30:46 Any final thoughts from you guys?
30:48 - I've got nothing for you, I'm sorry.
30:49 - That's odd.
30:50 - I'm very content as well.
30:52 I just want to see our Paul do the two wheel thing
30:55 in his Raptor.
30:56 I think that would be a really cool-
30:57 - I'm very pro that.
30:58 - Go up the logs at Lang Lang or down them on two wheels.
31:02 That'd be amazing.
31:02 - Great way to check the diff as well, if it's on the roof.
31:05 I'll come up and have a look afterwards.
31:06 - It doesn't matter if it's not working
31:07 if you're only on two wheels.
31:08 - Yeah, exactly.
31:09 - 'Cause then it's a drop on wheels.
31:10 Okay, well, if you'd like to see
31:12 Clint test his Raptor on two wheels,
31:14 subscribe, leave a comment.
31:16 And if you listen to us on a podcast,
31:19 leave us a rating and a review.
31:21 We'd love a bit of feedback.
31:22 We'd love to know what you think of our podcast.
31:25 Guys, thank you very much for coming along again this week.
31:28 And next week might be a little different
31:31 'cause Paul and I are actually off to India
31:32 to check out some Mahindras.
31:34 So we're gonna do a sneaky little podcast,
31:36 not live, but sort of live from India.
31:39 So Scott and James will be back the following week,
31:41 but next week, check it out.
31:42 Paul Maric and I in Chennai, India.
31:45 And if I've said that wrong, I do apologise.
31:47 But thank you everyone for joining us
31:48 and we'll see you next week.