Behind The Wheel

A big show on the cards this week. We’ll head back to the busy streets of Japan for a guided tour with Pete. We'll go car shopping in Ginza and take in the delights of Tokyo traffic. There’s a new Mercedes-Benz - the all-new A-Class which is likely to be one of the best sellers for the brand. David McCarthy from Mercedes-Benz calls in with the details. Another brand-new offering, a much bigger Volkswagen Polo is about to land here in Australia. Paul Pottinger from VW has all the Aussie specs that you’ll need to know about. We’re on the road in the latest edition of the BMW X3, while Joel Helmes has been at the launch of the very funky new SUV from Peugeot - the 5008. We'll hear how it drives on Aussie roads. Simon Lai has had his hands on the top of the line Honda Accord V6, we’ll get his thoughts. Rachel Franco is keen to highlight all the times our cars have made us look foolish. Be prepared for a very long segment! All that and heaps more this week on Behind the Wheel.

Another big show on the cards this week. We’re getting ready for the Bathurst 12 hour. Hot favourites, Porsche, are fielding a huge fleet this year. Chris Jordan from Porsche joins us on the show with details on the preparations - and he’s got a great story out of London that involves $10 million worth of gold bullion and three new Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo’s. Andrew Fraser - Nationals Member for Coffs Harbour, is pushing for driver education to be taught in schools for kids as young as twelve. It’s based on a model from CAMS. We’ll chat to Andrew and get the nuts and bolts of the plan. Joel Helmes has been at the Australian launch of the new Haval H9 – a seven-seat 4x4 that, on paper at least, shows a lot of promise. We’ll get all the details on how it drives and how much it costs. Victoria Police are in the process of renewing their fleet - starting with the Divy Vans. Their choice of vehicle is interesting and nowhere near as exciting as the car that will be replacing the Highway Patrol Commodores.

We’re back for 2018 and it’s a show with a bit of international flair! Pete is going to take us on a tour of Japan & he’ll crash a Nissan Leaf live on air! We’ll go touring car factories and get a sense of Tokyo traffic. Meanwhile, back here in Australia, we’ll take you around the block in the BMW M4 Pure and try and figure out what you miss out on by buying the cut down version of the iconic BMW. We’ll also stack up the M3 against the M4… is there a lot of difference apart from a couple of doors? Speaking of BMW, they’ve unveiled a funky new SUV - the X2 and Lenore Fletcher joins us with all the pricing details and release dates. The Maserati Quattroporte has been around a while. It’s recently been back to the factories in Modena & Turin for a bit of a nip and tuck.  Glen Sealy, CEO of Maserati Australia, has all the details for us. Joel Helmes has been hanging with the new edition of Australia’s most popular mid-size car - the now fully imported Toyota Camry. Has the Japanese built Camry lift

It's the last episode of Behind the Wheel's Summer Series before an action packed return to live action next week, so we've tried to squeeze in as many of the good bits of 2017 as we can. We revisit what was the huge task of choosing 2017's Car of the Year. Joel Helmes takes us through the process of coming up with a winner from a long list nominations. Some brilliant cars missed out on the gong and you'll hear the chat with the winning manufacturer. Effie Zahos, editor of Money Magazine had a bee in her bonnet about toll roads in 2017. She chatted with the boys and broke down what is now a considerable cost for a lot of Aussie motorists. Gary Linnell, contributor to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, had been known to mock Elon Musk's ideas about the future. Seems he had a change of heart in 2017 and he chat's to Pete and Chris as to why. We also talk car buying trends for 2018, and Joel Helmes put us Behind the Wheel of the updated version of Toyota's epic little sports car, the 86. Behind the Whe

The weekly Behind the Wheel Radio Show is now going to be heard every Thursday night across Australia's major capital cities on EON Sports Radio. Ahead of the show's debut this week on the EON Sports Radio airwaves, Behind the Wheel co-host, Peter Hitchener, joined the guys on the EON Sports Radio brekky show to talk cars, footy, golf...and crumpets! Have a listen...

Iveco has launched the new 2017 Iveco Daily 4x4 into Australia and we got along for a drive. We also caught up with Iveco Australia Marketing Manager, Darren Swenson, for a chat about the new off-road model...

Marc “Elvis” Priestley is certainly no stranger to the inner working of a car, in fact, he was one of the top Formula One mechanics for a number of years. Today though he is the host of a new series which premieres tomorrow on Discovery Turbo, Gears, Grease and Glory. In the series “Elvis” travels to South Africa, Mexico, Britain, Sweden, Cuba and Thailand and gets his hands dirty working alongside grassroots experts in some of the most extraordinary and unique amateur motorsports. He creates, builds, and customises vehicles and puts them to the test in local motorsports competitions. Some of the motorsports he gets involved with include car spinning, hopping lowriders, drag racing and long-tail boat racing. Behind the Wheel’s Simon Lai caught up with “Elvis” for a chat…

We’ve had the opportunity to chat with NASCAR legend and host of AmeriCARna on Discovery Turbo, Ray Evernham. The two time Daytona 500 champion is now setting lap records on the television as the host of AmeriCARna, a great show that looks back at some of the most revolutionary moments in automotive culture. Behind the Wheel’s Simon Lai caught up with Ray to talk about the show, the interesting automobiles and people he's encountered and his own love of cars…

Will Castro started out parking cars, now he is the ‘go to’ man for car customization. His TV show, Unique Rides with Will Castro, features some of the biggest stars of today with famous names such as Pamela Anderson, Donald Trump and LeBron James all previously handing him the keys to their cars. Unique Rides shows how Will and his team transforms the celebrity-owned cars into rolling works of art. Set to debut in Australia on Discovery Turbo on the 1st of May, we caught up with Will to chat about the show, the cars, the stars and his roots in the car customisation world…

Lamborghini now have a new rear-while drive version of the Huracan available to Australian supercar buyers with the local arrival of the new Lamborghini Huracan LP 580-2. Launched today at an event in Sydney, the new offering is essentially the same as the AWD Huracan, though it is significantly cheaper and is designed to be a lot more fun, according to Lamborghini. With a different weight balance and all the 426kW and 530Nm going to the real wheels, it goes without saying that the Huracan LP 580-2 is clearly aimed at Lamborghini drivers who like oversteer and a little 'drifting'. Also boasting more aggressive front and rear bumpers and unique alloy wheel designs, prices on the road in NSW start from $415,000 for the 2WD Huracan, that's a significant $50,000 less than the traditional AWD variant. Behind the Wheel was at the Australian unveiling of the new Huracan LP 580-2 and caught up with the Australian boss of Lamborghini, Eginardo Bertoli...

Steve Richards has teamed up with BMW to tackle the keenly-anticipated 2016 GT3 season. BMW today took the covers off Steve's 2016 car, a BMW M6 powered by a twin-turbo V8 engine. We caught up with Steve for a chat to look at the BMW campaign and motorsport in general in 2016...

Peugeot has launched the new 308 GTi range into Australia with two variants available - 308 GTi 250 and the 308 GTi 270. Unashamedly taking on the Volkswagen Golf GTI and the Renault Megane RS 270, Behind the Wheel is on assignment at the Australian launch of the new Peugeot 308 GTi models and caught up with Peugeot Australia's, Tyson Bowen for a chat...

Iveco Trucks get set to reach more customers in 2016. Just give us a go, that’s the message from Iveco Australia Marketing Manager Darren Swenson. Speaking at the launch of Iveco’s 2016 Australian campaign, Mr Swenson, who started with Iveco last year, says no other truck brands caters as well to the needs of drivers than Iveco, he says truck buyers just need to take a test drive to find out why. With a number of new models and configurations coming to the Australian market in 2016, Behind the Wheel’s Joel Helmes caught up with Darren for a chat to look at how Iveco can gain more Australian truck market share in 2016 and beyond…

Bec and Rach talk about their experiences buying cars. It may not be as much of a ‘Man’s World’ as once it was, yet it seems that car dealerships remain a male-dominated environment. In this edition of Coffee and Cars, Bec and Rach talk about their previous experiences buying cars, how they have been treated and what they have hated about the experience. Just as importantly the girls also come up with some strategies to help make buying a new car easier, including when is the best time to head into a car dealership and the importance of being well-researched before you head out…

We chat to Screen Machines host Robert Moseley. Robert ‘Videobob’ Moseley is renowned for being the man to talk to if you want an as close to original as possible recreation of an iconic vehicle from television and films. Want a KITT from Knight Rider or a Batmobile? Robert Moseley is the man to talk to. In this chat with Behind the Wheel’s Simon Lai, Robert Moseley talks about his background and how he got into creating movie and TV replica cars, how he goes about building them and what we can expect from the upcoming season of Screen Machines. The coming season of Screen Machines premieres Thursday the 4th of February at 8.30pm on Discovery Turbo.

Bec gives Rach a driving lesson in a manual car. “It’s not 1926 anymore, the car needs to be changing its own gears!” We think Rach might not be going out and buying a manual car anytime soon! After years of driving auto’s and doing all she could to avoid learning how to drive a manual, Rach finally agreed to have a go in a manual under the expert tutelage of Bec. With the Mitsubishi ASX with a five-speed manual in the Behind the Wheel garage, the girls figured there was no time like the present to show her the manual “ropes”. Have a listen to hear how Rach went…

Australians paying thousands of dollars in toll fees and charges. If the rising cost of accessing tollways wasn’t already putting enough squeeze on Australian motorists, new reports say we are also paying thousands of dollars in extra fees and charges for late payments. The team over at The Big Smoke report that one motorist was even slapped with a $50,000 fine for late toll payments and extra fees, some motorists have even been threatened with prison sentences. Toll fines are getting out of control and its state governments that are reaping the benefits. We caught up with The Big Smoke founder, Alex Tselios, to find out more about the issue and how we are being stung by extra fees and charges every year by the tollway operators and state governments.

Bec and Rach talk about their dream machine - the Jaguar F-TYPE R. We sent the girls out to road test the 2015 Jaguar F-TYPE R and it appears the men of Sydney really had trouble containing themselves. We are still undecided whether it was the topless convertible Jaguar with the breathtaking V8 grumble, or Bec and Rach that attracted all the date offers and marriage proposals! Either way they had a memorable in a standout vehicle. To hear Bec and Rach go weak at the knees about the Jaguar F-TYPE R just hit play or download...

We chat to EROAD about their range of in-vehicle technologies. In the old days, when a truck or company owned vehicle left headquarters or a depot there was no real way of accurately tracking where and what that vehicle was doing. So in most cases it really was a situation of out of sight out of mind. But then technology came along that allowed for real time tracking of vehicles and from there the sky really is the limit in regards to creating efficiencies and safety improvement possibilities. EROAD is one of the leaders in In-Vehicle Hardware and offers a full range of vehicle tracking systems and software that allow vehicle owners to monitor a whole host of vehicle data and records. The software even allows drivers to compete against each other to achieve the best fuel economy and smoothest driving. Behind the Wheel’s Joel Helmes chatted with engineering manager at EROAD, Jarred Clayton…

Bec and Rach talk MINI’s most-powerful car yet. It’s a little pocket-rocket and carries a price tag to match, but is the MINI John Cooper Works worth the money? Bec and Rach have had the keys and talk interior space, the MINI cabin layout, parking and sports mode! Check out what the girls think of MINI’s most powerful model yet…