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Review

May

Laurence Escalante on one of his boats in Perth.

Gambling mogul lists superyacht at $10m, starts retailing supercars

A spokesman for Laurence Escalante’s private office said the sales were part of a new business venture.

  • Primrose Riordan

June 2023

The EQE 53 4MATIC+is a tech and performance powerhouse – the reason it costs from $214,900 plus on roads.

Thrill (or scare) your passengers with Mercedes-AMG’s new $214,900 EV

The EQE 53 sedan is stunning in every respect – but the electric vehicle’s range has been sacrificed for a dazzling rest-to-100km/h time of just 3.5 seconds.

  • Tony Davis

February 2023

The electric Rolls-Royce Spectre, the first fully electric Rolls Royce.

The Rolls-Royce Spectre EV is the purest Rolls ever

The $725,000 six-metre long and two-metre wide coupe is smoother, more silent and more powerful – not to mention better looking – than any of its V-12 predecessors.

  • Hannah Elliott

January 2023

The 2020 version of the Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG.

This $500,000 Mercedes is an unapologetic joyride

The next-generation 2022 Mercedes-AMG G63 4x4² screams disruption. Driving it feels honest, unapologetic and very bossy. I loved it.

  • Hannah Elliott

November 2022

The ultra-widescreen experience for the rear passengers.

The new electric BMW with a cinema in the back

The i7 xDrive60 knows just about everything about its occupants and their needs. Passengers, why not watch a film on your own 79.5cm screen?

  • Tony Davis
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October 2022

Skoda’s new Kodiaq RS is a nifty SUV with high equipment levels throughout.

Skoda delivers an updated, sportier SUV

Starting at $68,390, the seven-seat Kodiak RS is a niche proposition – but no niche seems too small for the Australian market.

  • Tony Davis

March 2022

The Porsche GT4 RS is faster than cars twice its price and horsepower.

This new Porsche will turn your onlookers green with envy

The 2022 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS is a sublime swansong for the naturally aspirated mid-engine racer. If you have to sell your left kidney to get one, do it.

  • Hannah Elliott

December 2021

The 2021 Mercdes-Benz S-Class outclasses even the best new electric cars.

The best car I drove in 2021

The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a vehicle for the ages – even our dawning battery-powered one, because electric vehicles aren’t perfect yet.

  • Hannah Elliott

November 2021

The 2021 Lamborghini Huracan STO in Italy, on cobblestones that would give this reviewer a panic attack.

The new Lamborghini that makes me drive like a grandma

The Huracan STO’s door panels are as naked as the day you were born. It’s a track car supposedly meant for the streets, but is it fun to drive on them?

  • Hannah Elliott

October 2021

The BMW i4 is even prettier from the rear.

This new electric BMW looks good (but drives great)

Ignore those buck teeth for a moment and set your eyes on the future revealed by the i4’s exceptional interior technology and confidence-inspiring battery life.

  • Hannah Elliott
BMW 128 Ti

A shouty, fun new BMW is joining the hot hatch fray

The 128 Ti is a revival of a designation dating back to 1963 and a reminder of how much joy a well-thought-through hatchback performance car can bring.

  • Tony Davis
The BMW iX does not look as bad in real life as it does in photos.

BMW’s new beaver-toothed electric SUV isn’t as ugly as you think it is

A first drive of the 2022 iX reveals it is like a just-plain-decent person you might try dating despite their looks, because, why not?

  • Hannah Elliott

September 2021

An SUV blended with a sedan? That’s this new electric Porsche

The Taycan Turbo Cross Turismo sport utility vehicle, an off-road version of the prestige car maker’s green flagship, is a bit of a jacked-up beast.

  • Tony Davis

August 2021

Up close, the Bacalar is a delight.

What it’s like to drive Bentley’s $2.7m Bacalar

This is the first of the small-batch, highly specialised cars the marque’s modern Mulliner operation aims to produce. If I could afford it, I’d buy it.

  • Hannah Elliott
Mercedes-AMG’s latest baby can compete with and dominate cars that look and sound far wilder.

A supercar with creature comforts

The Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S may not look made for the track, but it drives as if it is. And it’ll hold your drinks, to boot.

  • Hannah Elliott
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June 2021

The Lexus LS500 F Sport boasts a superb build and loads of features as standard.

This flagship Lexus is one for the dwindling luxury sedan crowd

Despite its high levels of refinement and magnificent sound system, the brand’s halo limousine, the LS500 F Sport, feels dated next to its competition.

  • Tony Davis
With the  M2 CS, BMW is offering you a broad choice of how much you want to have your senses assaulted in the cause of going quickly.

This car is close to the most fun you can have in a road-legal BMW

The company’s smallest M coupe is not only loud and brutal but feels as direct and responsive as a track car, which in a sense it is.

  • Tony Davis
The Tesla Model 3 Standard Range Plus leaves the competition one or two generations behind.

Thrills but no frills in Tesla’s Model 3 Standard Range Plus

The near-seamless interaction of software, app and hardware is a delight, although you do have to touch the central tablet for almost everything.

  • Tony Davis

May 2021

The Porsche Taycan 4 Cross Turismo with “Cross Turismo Design” wheels, which proved polarising as I drove the car around.

Porsche delivers world’s first electric station wagon

The entry-level Taycan 4 Cross Turismo can handle off-road terrain and is a better buy than its far more expensive top-of-the-range sibling.

  • Hannah Elliott

April 2021

The 2022 Infiniti QX55.

This $60,000 luxury SUV is both expensive and forgettable

Infiniti has debuted its first crossover, but the Infiniti QX55 isn’t really all that new - or impressive.

  • Hannah Elliott

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/car-reviews-hn4