MOTOR MONTHLY

Issue 6 ● October 2009 

MOTOR MONTHLY 

Mellow Yellow 

Lexus reveals its forthcoming compact hatch 

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iSelect’s 

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Editorial 

GoAuto Newsroom 

PO Box 18 

Sandringham 

VIC 3191 

(03) 9598 6477 

newsroom@mellor.net 

Editor 

David Hassall 

dhassall@mellor.net 

Production 

Luc Britten 

Chris Harris 

Sub-editor 

Ron Hammerton 

Contributors 

Marton Pettendy 

Byron Mathioudakis 

Terry Martin 

James Stanford 

Philip Lord 

Advertising enquiries 

Sally Mellor 

(03) 9598 6477 

0425 700 904 

sally@mellor.net 

iSelect’s 

Lord of the Wings 

Gullwing door Mercedes set 

to fly in Oz, at around $500,000 


Hard-earned first 

Lexus set to build a long-awaited 

small car, based on Corolla 

Issue 6 ● October 2009 

MOTOR MONTHLY 

What an Eiffel 

French take inspiration from motor 

scooters to redefine the city car 

Cooper’s premium 

Two-seat roadster variant revealed 

as the latest Mini accessory 

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By TERRY MARTIN 

and MARTON PETTENDY 

AT LAST, Lexus has unveiled the crucial 

new compact hatchback that will target 

the BMW 1 Series and the Audi A3 

when it enters production late in 2010. 

The smallest Lexus – as well as the first Lexus 

hatchback and, possibly, the first front-drive 


Lexus (though four-wheel drive is possible) 

– made its highly-anticipated global debut at 

the Frankfurt motor show and Lexus Australia 

chief executive John Roca was there to lobby 

for a production version for Australia. 

While a three-door model is expected to 

emerge before long, the five-door shown here 

will be the first to enable Lexus to lower its 

brand admission price to below $50,000 in 

Australia, placing it well below the IS250 

sedan and right alongside the 1 Series and A3. 

Due here in the first quarter of 2011, the LF- 

Ch rests on a 2600mm wheelbase – the same 

as the Toyota Corolla, which is built on the 

same platform – and measures 4300mm long, 

1790mm wide and 1400mm high. This is a 

FRANKFURT SHOW: Lexus LF-Ch // 

Hard-earned first 

Lexus set to build a long-awaited 

small car, based on Corolla 

little lower, wider and longer than the Corolla 

and is quite a bit smaller than the IS250. 

Few firm technical details were revealed 

about the first five-seat, five-door Lexus – 

other than the surprise confirmation it will be a 

dedicated hybrid-only model, which Mr Roca 

does not believe will prevent it from become 

the top-selling Lexus model in Australia. 

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“We’ve done the research,” said Mr Roca. 

“We see it (premium compact) as a segment 

that requires Lexus representation and I think 

it has potential for being our volume car, or at 

least on par with IS and RX.” 

Asked if he thought the 1.8-litre petrolelectric 

hybrid LF-Ch could still be priced 


under $50,000 or the IS250’s $58,990 starting 

price, Mr Roca said: “I think it would be ideal 

to have the car sub-50 (but) I think people will 

pay up to $75,000 for it, given it is a dedicated 

hybrid.” 

Lexus enthusiasts have bemoaned the close 

associations with the anti-niche and less 

flavoursome Corolla – the biggest-selling car 

in the world – and the lack of a rear-wheel 

drivetrain to match BMW. 

Although badged as a ‘concept’, Lexus 

Europe chief Andy Pfeiffenberger made it 

clear at Frankfurt that the LF-Ch is intended 

for production. 

“The car appeals to the heart, but also to the 

head,” said Mr Pfeiffenberger. “With the hybrid 

power train, Lexus drivers can expect very 

low CO2, and minimal NOx and particulate 

emissions. That means they can enjoy the 

premium drive experience they seek while 

making far less impact on the environment.” 

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Small business: Lexus Australia 

believes the new hybrid hatch could 

become its top-selling model. 

In Europe, 75 per cent of Lexus GS and LS 

sales are hybrids, while 95 per cent of RX 

sales in Germany are hybrids. At the same 

time, the proportion of diesel vehicle sales in 

Europe has dropped from 75 to 49 per cent. 

Standout features of the LF-Ch include a 

bold grille design that sits above a deep, fullwidth 

bumper and airdam with brake-cooling 

slots that aim to give the car a “powerful and 

purposeful” wide-track stance. 

Its compact dimensions are reinforced 

through tapered side windows, a rising 

beltline and short rear overhang, while the 

now common practice of creating coupe-like 

aesthetics for a conventional hatch is achieved 

with a steeply raked windscreen, long 

flowing roofline, blacked-out B-pillars and 

rear doorhandles integrated into the C-pillar 

window trim. 

At the rear, the roof’s trailing edge extends 

over the rear window to create an integrated 

spoiler. The tailgate section also has a 

pronounced step, which flows from the fat 

wheel-arches (containing 20-inch wheels) and 

is then “anchored” by a wraparound tail-light 

design. 

The interior has liberal amounts of semianiline 

leather, polished aluminium, wood 

and soft-touch materials, while the seat design 

is said to be inspired by high-brow furniture 

with exposed metal frames, lightweight 

leather and grained black wood used in interrelated 

layers. 

The driving position is low, the wide-grip 

steering wheel has paddle shift controls, and 

the instrument binnacle houses large twin dials 

embellished with a turbine motif. As seen in the 

latest RX series, Lexus Remote Touch controls 

are used to keep distracting instrumentation 

MOTOR 

and switchgear to a minimum. 

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NOT since the 300SL of the 1950s has 

Mercedes-Benz produced a model 

with roof-hinged ‘gullwing’ doors – 

FRANKFURT SHOW: Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG // 

Lord of the Wings 


and never before, in four decades of turning 

out high-performance hero cars, has the 

Mercedes-AMG division developed a vehicle 

from scratch in-house – but that all changed 

with the unveiling of the Mercedes-Benz SLS 

AMG at the Frankfurt motor show. 

The $500,000 supercar will arrive in 

Australia in June 2010 as a replacement for 

Gullwing door Mercedes set to fly 

in Oz, at around $500,000 

the million-dollar SLR built in collaboration 

with McLaren, which revealed its own new 

supercar at the German show. 

As well as the emotive gullwing doors, the 

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Reich wings: The SLS is the 

first Gullwing Mercedes since the 

legendary 300SL of the 1950s. 

highlights of the SLS AMG include Mercedes’ 

first-ever aluminium space-frame body, a 

dry-sump 420kW 6.2-litre AMG V8, sevenspeed 

dual-clutch automated manual gearbox 

(another Benz first) in a Ferrari-style rearmounted 

transaxle, 47:53 front/rear weight 


distribution in a front-engine chassis layout, 

aluminium double-wishbone suspension and 

a provisional 0-100km/h acceleration time of 

just 3.8 seconds. 

The distinctive “purist” design that has 

emerged reinterprets the 300SL – considered 

one of the most recognised cars ever from 

the three-pointed star brand. Mercedes is also 

quick to point to the car’s two-metre-long 

bonnet, low-set cabin, short rear end, its long 

wheelbase, wide track and large wheels. 

The wheelbase measures 2680mm, front/rear 

track measurements are 1682mm/1653mm, 

the wheels are 9.5x19 at the front and 11x20 at 

the rear, wrapped in 265/35 R19 rubber at the 

front and 295/30 R20 astern. Overall length is 

4638mm, width 1939mm and height 1262mm. 

Three light alloy wheel designs are available, 

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all providing a view of the AMG highperformance 

composite disc brakes, 

internally ventilated and perforated 

at each end. 

According to Mercedes, the 

mechanical configuration above all 

else determined the proportions of the 

all-new machine – and to emphasise 

the point it refers to the low-slung 

engine mounted well behind the 

front axle line, and the transaxle 

incorporating the seven-speed AMG 

Speedshift DCT transmission. 

While the gullwing doors hark 

straight back to the 300SL, the classic 

Benz was also a reference tool for the 

wide grille with prominent silver star 

and wing-like fin. 

The designers also note the 3D 

sculptured nose with low V-shaped 

front skirt with lateral indentations, 

six large air intakes and wide-set 

vertical headlights with “intriguing 

internals” – the latter referring to 

central bi-Xenon low-beam lamps 

with metallic wing elements that are 

framed by LED indicators above and 

LED daytime running lights below. 

Aircraft themes also run across the 

SLS, with the cone in profile intended 

to resemble the air intake of a jet 

engine and the curvature of the long 

bonnet – further emphasised by four 

‘silver shadow’ fins – also echoing 

aircraft design. 

There is a misleading ‘6.3’ badge 

for the 6208cc engine on the flanks 

alongside the air outlets, which is also 

the position where a bold character line 

and lower convex indentation kick in. 

The cockpit has a high waistline, 

low side windows and a steep 

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windscreen, while the B-pillar tilts toward the 

front and transitions to the rear window with 

what Benz describes as an “elegant curve” that 

“gives the impression of pure dynamics”. 

The SLS has a pronounced shoulder 

extending from front to rear and aims to look 

like a taut muscle, flowing at the rear end into 

flat, wing-shaped tail-lights that are designed 

to give the car a wide appearance. 

Motor racing references come to the fore at the 

rear with the F1-style LED foglamp treatment, 

black diffuser insert and chrome tailpipe baffles 

of the sports exhaust. The rear skirt has sharp 

indentations to allow a clear view to the wide 

rear tyres, while the spoiler (integrated into the 

boot lid) extends automatically at 120km/h for 

extra stability. Boot volume is a modest 176 

litres. 

The seats are positioned just 269mm above 

the bitumen, but Mercedes promises that the 

wide-opening gullwing doors – which swing 

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Sex SLS: Sleek new Mercedes is the 

replacement for the McLaren-built 

SLR and is confirmed for Australia. 

open up to 70 degrees – ensure effortless entry 

and exit. The cabin was designed to impart a 

spacious feeling for the two occupants and will 

come with a fair whack of features that befit 

the half-million pricetag. 

AMG’s Performance Studio will also 

offer a number of customisation features, 

including carbon wing mirrors, carbon bonnet, 

carbon ornamental trim for the cabin, a more 

comprehensive interior carbon package (which 

extends to side panels for backrests and seats, 

and door sills), performance chassis tuning, 

forged 10-spoke wheels, sports bucket seats 

and a performance sports steering wheel 

covered with a leather/Alcantara combo. 

A soft-topped convertible version is also 

under development and is likely to wear an SLC 

badge when it surfaces in 2012 – the same year 

the next-generation SL is due to appear, wearing 

SLS styling cues and riding on a variation of its 

all-alloy body and chassis. 


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\\ FRANKFURT SHOW: Peugeot BB1 Concept 

What an Eiffel 

French take inspiration from motor 

scooters to redefine the city car 

By RON HAMMERTON 

PEUGEOT has borrowed expertise from 

its partners at Peugeot Motorcycles to 

develop one of the most innovative 

city-car solutions to go on show at this year’s 


Frankfurt motor show. 

With a motorcycle-style tubular steel frame 

and handlebar driving controls, the electricpowered 

Peugeot BB1 Concept shrinks the urban 

commuter to just 2.5 metres long – about 19cm 

shorter than the current sawn-off champion, the 

Smart ForTwo – and 1.6 metres wide (slightly 

wider than the 1.55-metre Smart). 

But, unlike the two-seater Smart, the Peugeot 

BB1 packs accommodation for four with what 

Peugeot describes as “record use of interior” – a 

combination of innovating thinking and shortcuts 

that might never trouble a production line. 

With no foot pedals, the BB1 achieves a 

more vertical driving position, meaning the 

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Twist and go: BB1 is controlled entirely 

through the scooter-like handlebars, 

eliminating the need for pedals. 


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legs do not need as much stretch 

room. A twist-grip throttle controls 

the speed, while braking is via a 

handlebar lever. 

Seating is conventional 2+2, but the 

seat backs are ultra-narrow, freeing 

up space in the cabin. The rearseat 

passengers sit with their knees 

akimbo, on either side of the frontseat 

occupants, in another motorcycle 

inspiration that saves space. 

The front seat backs fold forward 

so rear-seat passengers can clamber 

over the front seats into the rear 

compartment. 

Access is via large side doors 

that swing open from the front – 

‘suicide’ style - while a conventional 

rear hatch opens to the rear luggage 

compartment, which holds a minimal 

160 litres when the rear seats are in 

use. This can be opened up to 855 

litres by folding up to three seats. 

In what is becoming a Peugeot 

trademark, the BB1 has a panoramic, 

high-brow windscreen that wraps 

over the heads of the front occupants, 

in similar fashion to the “doublebubble” 

roof of the new Peugeot RCZ 

sports car. 

Powered by lithium-ion batteries 

under the seats and driven by two 

modest 7.5kW electric motors – one 

in each rear wheel – the BB1 can 

accelerate from a halt at the traffic 

lights to 30km/h in 2.8 seconds. No 

0-100km/h time is quoted, as the 

top speed is only 90km/h. Range is 

120km, which is fairly typical for an 

EV. 

Despite a not inconsiderable battery 

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moved the VE-based performance range well 

above its Holden counterpart. 

> FULL STORY 

Kia Cerato Koup 

KIA has followed the local launch of its new Cerato 

small sedan with a two-door version called the TD 

Cerato Koup – a five-seater that neatly fills a void 

in the mid-$20k coupe market. The Cerato Koup 

shares only one panel – the bonnet – with the 

sedan, and is shorter, lower and lighter than the 

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Subaru Liberty 

SUBARU’S fifth-generation Liberty sedan/wagon 

range has landed with an all-new platform and body 

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safety, economy and emissions reduction. Priced 

from an unchanged $33,990, the Japanese midsizer 

with all-wheel drive gains higher equipment 

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> FULL STORY 


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weight of 100kg, the BB1 tips the scales at just 

600kg – about 200kg lighter than the petrol 

Smart ForTwo. Part of the weight saving has 

come from use of hi-tech carbon body panels 

fixed to the space-frame structure. 

Like most electric or hybrid vehicles 

appearing today, the BB1 has solar cells fixed 

to the roof to generate power to ventilate the 

car when parked in the sun and supply a trickle 

current to some of the car’s electrical systems. 

Peugeot claims the solar panels are 

flexible – moulding to rounded surfaces – 

and more efficient than other current solar 

cell technologies, converting 16 per cent of 

captured solar energy into electricity. 

The in-wheel electric motors were developed 

by tyre-maker Michelin, which also supplied 

the low-rolling resistance tyres. 

City maneuverability was one of the 

major goals of the BB1 designers, who have 

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Get Shorty: Peugeot employed novel 

methods to provide accommodation 

for four occupants. 

endowed the BB1 with a turning circle of 

just 3.5 metres – less than half that of the 

conventional 10-metre turning circle of a 

small car. This has been achieved in part with 

a motorcycle quad-bike steering set up that 

inspired much of the package. 

Another source of inspiration was a 1940s 

Peugeot called the VLV – basic threewheel 

transport turned out by the French 

manufacturer during the dark days of World 

War 2, when both resources and customer 

finances were scarce. 

Like the BB1, the VLV was also electricpowered, 

to counter fuel restrictions in France 

at the time. 

Only 377 VLVs were built between 1941 

and 1945. It remains to be seen if the BB1 

can surpass that number, as Peugeot has not 

indicated if the new iteration will make it into 


production. 

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\\ FRANKFURT SHOW: Mini Roadster Concept 

Cooper’s premium 

Two-seat roadster variant revealed 

as the latest Mini accessory 


MINI continued its model 

diversification push at the Frankfurt 

motor show by not only revealing a 

two-door coupe version of its iconic small car 


but also an eye-catching two-seat Roadster. 

Expected to go into production in 2011/12 

alongside the Coupe at BMW’s plant in Oxford, 

England, the two-seater Roadster is described as 

a “purist vehicle concept” that promises sporting 

driving characteristics that will meet the demands 

of its “modern and self-confident” customers. 

A concept it might be, but Mini has made 

it clear that this head-turning Roadster is a 

clear perspective to the future of the brand 

and another development route – alongside the 

Coupe and the ‘Maxi’ crossover understood 

to be scheduled for production in mainland 

Europe late next year. 

The Roadster arrived on stage at Frankfurt 

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with an unmistakable Mini flavour to its 

design and an overt sporting character 

with its strong and substantial road 

presence, like the new Coupe, although 

the fabric roof – and in particular its 

desirable looks with the top dropped – 

sets this one apart. 

Both are built off the same front-drive 

platform as the Cooper hatchback, but 

BMW claims the flex-reducing body 

reinforcements and subsequent shift in 

weight distribution makes the Roadster 

even more agile than its hard-topped 

brethren. 

Removing the roof is a manual, singlemovement 

affair – unlike the current 

electric-operated Mini Cabrio – with the 

manufacturer claiming that the decision 

not to give the car a powered mechanism 

adds to its “puristic flair” and reduces 

weight. Cost is the other obvious factor. 

While the Cabrio has four seats and 

can swallow a maximum of only 125 

litres of luggage with the roof open 

– 170 litres when closed – the twinseat 

Roadster offers 250 litres whether 

open or shut. 

As with the Cabrio, the occupants 

can access cargo via a large lockable 

aperture in the bulkhead, made possible 

by a full-width single-piece rollover bar 

that, when required, deploys upwards 

from behind the head restraints 

within 150 milliseconds. 

The front-end design mimics 

the Cabrio through to the 

A-pillars, with the windscreen 

low and raked to a greater angle. 

As seen on the Coupe, the 

inner section of the grille 

is matched with the exterior 

paintwork, including the bonnet 

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Little Miss Sunshine: Two-seat Roadster will 

join the four-seat Cabrio in the Mini line-up. 


stripes, which provides the two-seaters 

with an additional sporting flavour and a 

distinguishing mark from other members 

of the Mini stable. 

The Coupe’s aggressive side skirts are 

used to the same dramatic effect on the 

Roadster, with the high, rising waistline 

culminating at the rear with a notchback 

look. 

Wide-opening doors allow convenient 

access to the interior, which Mini 

promises offers “generous” headroom 

at all times, thanks to low seating 

positions. The cabin is swathed in 

high-grade materials and includes 

leather sports seats, a threespoke 

multi-function steering 

wheel and Mini’s trademark 

large central speedometer. 

The onboard driver-assist 

technologies extend to the Mini 

Cabrio’s Always Open Timer, which 

records how long the roof has been 

down, and a host of new guides, such as 

a Nature Guard function, which provides 

information on how economical the car is 

being driven, a Highspeed Shifter indicator, 

which aims to optimise gearshifts under 

hard acceleration, and a Gravity indicator 

which details the lateral forces, g-forces 

and the direction of acceleration acting on 

the driver and the car. 

There is also a Heart Beat monitor for 

the car, beating faster for sportier drivers, 

and a Buddy Radar that hones in on other 

Mini drivers out on the road. 

While the Coupe has Mini JCW 

running gear, including a 155kW/260Nm 

1.6-litre turbo, the Roadster relies on the 

128kW/240Nm used in the Cooper S. 

“Through all these years and decades, 

Mini has reinvented itself time and 

again, always remaining faithful to its 

underlying philosophy,” the company 

said. “The (50th) anniversary year is 

therefore the ideal time to present the 

Mini Roadster Concept as yet another 

look into the future of the brand. 

“This ... is the vision of a sporting twoseater 

combining sophisticated design 

and exclusive features with spontaneous 

driving pleasure under the open sky 

and the uncomplicated enjoyment of 

premium motoring.” 


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