Significant features
– The most powerful straight-six petrol engine ever used in a BMW M car.
– Six-cylinder 3.0-litre in-line engine with twin turbochargers has outputs of 353kW/600Nm.
– Track tested cooling and oil supply systems.
My connection to the Lexus brand was established in the early 2000’s, when the Lexus IS200 and IS300 were released. I liked the in-line six cylinder engines, rear wheel drive layout and how the instrument cluster resembled a chronograph watch. Other cars that stood out for me in the Lexus range included the original IS F and the magnificent V10 LFA.
Toyota Australia enjoyed a bumper year in 2018, having sold 217,061 vehicles. The brand has been the market leader for 16 years in a row and 2018 represented the fourth straight year of rising sales for the car manufacturer.
Key statisitcs
– The HiLux was Australia’s best-selling vehicle for the third year in a row with 51,705 deliveries.
In the early 2000’s, The Nations Cup Championship held in Australia was a personal favourite of mine to watch. The Championship featured exotic road cars including the Porsche 911 996 GT3, Ferrari 360 Modena Challenge and Dodge Viper ACR. Talented Tasmanian Paul Stokell was my favourite driver of the time and he drove a Lamborghini Diablo SVR throughout the 2000 and 2001 series.
Aston Martin and the James Bond film series have always been strongly affiliated, starting in 1964 when a beautiful DB5 featured in ‘Goldfinger’. Any enthusiast of the films will know that there have been times when other manufacturers were used, including Lotus, BMW and even AMC. Since 2002 however, when an Aston Martin Vanquish was used in ‘Die Another Day’, Aston’s have been a regular part of the film series.
The Toyota Corolla has always been a popular small car and around 44 million have been sold since the model’s introduction in 1966. The Corolla is currently in its 12th generation and utilises the Toyota New Global Architecture (TNGA) modular chassis family, resulting in lower noise, improved rigidity and a lower centre of gravity.
The BMW M3 E36 and Nissan 300ZX Z32 were two of the best performance cars to come out of the 1990’s. In 1990, the 300ZX cost $69,720 while in 1994 the M3 cost a hefty $124,650. There are a number of similarities between the two cars. They’re both good looking two door coupes. Both have three litre six-cylinder naturally aspirated engines featuring double overhead camshafts and 24 valves with the M3 being an in-line six and the 300ZX a V6.
Continue reading “BMW M3 E36 and Nissan 300ZX Z32 Comparison”
My good friend Matthew Harpantidis has owned some great cars over the years but one that really stands out for me is his 1975 Mk1 Ford Escort. I’ve always loved Escorts and the success they had in the World Rally Championship throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s. I still have fond memories of Matt’s car and all the time that we spent driving around Healesville in the early 2000’s. Matt still owns the Escort so it was a great opportunity to ask him about the history of the car and what’s planned for the future.
The Toyota Supra built an impressive reputation as one of the finest performing sports-cars for the road and an all-conquering machine on the racetrack. It’s been 16 long years since the Supra featured in the Toyota range. A one off Toyota GR Supra Racing Concept was unveiled at the Geneva International Motor Show earlier this year and a camouflaged production version made its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Continue reading “Toyota Supra”
My first E-book can be found on Amazon and focuses on new and used car reviews, significant road and race cars, Australian motor racing circuits and other motoring related topics. Continue reading “Stories from the motoring world E-book”
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