I shall begin with the car’s exterior. To be honest, I could not see any sort of fault with the Mondeo’s aesthetic; it looks more mature than its predecessor, which is a good thing, and sure is more upmarket now. So the face resembles an Aston Martin’s, and you cannot stop wondering why the designers seem to lack ideas, but it somewhat grows on you – viewed from the front, it has this muscular stance with headlamps that stares down in yer face. The detailed front bumper along with the grill all work together as a whole. I don’t blame you still if you do not agree with me, but remember how Lexus first brought their radical new face with the ‘Spindle Grill’? It started with their GS, then RX, followed by ES and IS, now with the RC? Well, I think it would work the same way in Ford’s case – it will grow on you eventually.
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Silent Hero | Ford Mondeo Titanium

IN Ford, Mondeo, Titanium, GTDI, Ford Mondeo Titanium, 2015 Ford Mondeo, Regent Motors

No, this is not a new sedan by Aston Martin – instead, it is Ford’s newest Mondeo


Although they all come from different manufacturers, if you were to ever park them side by side, all share the similar body shape; gone are the days where large sedans like these look like bricks and are as exciting as a plastic ruler. Now, they all look shapelier with beautiful (woah I actually said that) lines and curves. In fact, calling them sophisticated isn’t wrong as well.
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Value Up | Peugeot 508 Allure

IN Peugeot, 508, Allure, Peugeot 508, Peugeot 508 Allure, What The Pug Say, AutoFrance

Peugeot’s 508 sedan gets some midlife update to keep it relevant – lets see whether this one will share the same success story as its predecessor


Hence the dismal sales figure. The diesel version was brought in too, but looking at how Singaporeans are still not warming up to diesel, that didn’t fare well too.
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Making Good Sense | BMW X5 xDrive35i

IN BMW, X5, SAV, SUV, XDrive35i, XDrive, Beemer, BMW Asia

The new X5 was introduced last year with a rather big V8 engine and that made its popularity limited, but now with a more sensible 3.0-litre engine will it be more appealing?


Of course, you could play hooligan with the GTS, and it’s not hard to do so. To get the rear kicking out, simply switch to Sport everything, off the traction control and you can happily laugh sinisterly as you leave trails of smoke behind while flamenco-ing away; useful particularly at chasing away mosquitoes…
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Alter Ego | Porsche Boxster GTS

IN Porsche, Boxster, GTS, Porsche Boxster GTS, Posh, Porsche Centre Singapore, Stuttgart, Stuttgart Auto

Until any sort of news on a GT4 Boxster pops up, petrolheads with an immense love of topless driving will have to be contented with the GTS; and that’s not a bad thing either


If that’s not enough, you’ll even have the enthralling experience courtesy of that super lively sports exhaust. In the first two gears, the needle flies to its 6,700 rpm without any effort to the point that, I think, it would gladly spin even to 20,000 rpm if Jaguar had such a maximum mark on the tachometer. It really puts things into perspective as to what sort of feat engineers can achieve in modern engines.
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Wrecking Ball | Jaguar F-Type R Coupe

IN Jaguar, F-Type R Coupe, Jaguar F-Type R Coupe, F-Type R, R, Coupe, Jag, Jag Coupe, Jaaaaag, Wearnes Automotive

Bored of life? Get this coupe from Jaguar and get ready for a ball of a time. Growwwl!


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Hot Wasabi | Lexus RC-F

IN Lexus, RC-F, Lexus RC-F, Coupe, Lexus Coupe, Borneo Motors

Lexus enters the high performance coupe segment - does it have enough mettle to throw off the usual suspects?


Which is a little unfortunate for other brands, to be sidelined by silly Singaporeans who are more brand-conscious than value-conscious; because, if they are really value-conscious, Volvo’s S60 would definitely spring to mind first. And why so? Very simply, this Swede offers so much for not so much moolah.
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Have It All | Volvo S60 T5 Drive E

IN Volvo, S60 T5, Volvo S60 T5 Drive E, Drive E, S60, Sedan, Wearnes Automotive

The T5 engine makes an appearance in the S60 sedan now, and we think it’s a genuinely sweet proposition


Handling wise, the Captur feels relatively tight and assuring with predictable body movements despite standing 100 mm taller than the Clio. The steering however, could do with slightly more weight and feel; while it’s God sent for driving around town, when you do want to have a little bit more fun, it seems a little inappropriate.
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Leave The Boring Crowd | Renault Captur dCi

IN Renault, Captur, DCi, Renault Captur dCi, French, Wearnes Automotive

If you want something small and unique for the daily grind, Renault has something for you


So there you have it, the 911 C4S Cabriolet retaining Porsche’s ethos still. As a cabriolet, it's simply complete. There’s nothing to fault this car, as everything is well thought out, engineered and put together with no compromises at all; till now, I am still highly impressed as to how Porsche can manage to sort out the entire chassis and make it a solid package - in more ways than one - just to cope with demanding drivers.
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Sweetest Dream | Porsche 911 Carrera 4S Cabriolet

IN Porsche, 911, 991, C4S, Carrera 4S, Cabriolet, Cabrio, 911 Carrera 4S, Posh

Is the Carrera 4S Cabriolet the ultimate hairdresser’s car or just a boulevard cruiser?


Well there are other family hatchbacks available out there you can park your money at, namely the Ford Focus, Mazda 3, Opel Astra, Renault Megane, Chevrolet Cruze, Toyota Auris and BMW 116i even. Heck if you want something unconventional, you could even consider the new 5-door Mini. But Singaporeans have spoken and their choice, it seems, is still the Golf; like how the Corolla Altis is the ultimate choice if you’re looking for a family sedan.
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A Hole In One? | Peugeot 308 1.2 Allure

IN Peugeot, Pug, 308, 2015 Peugeot 308, Petrol, 308 Allure, What The Pug Say, 1.2 Turbo, Turbocharged

Peugeot’s Golf competitor arrives in its latest guise with one aim only – to take the crown as the best family hatchback


With that, I’m off to pay for my speeding ticket; the other thing M3 owners are too familiar with. This here encourages you to drive fast and it’s bloody hard to resist…
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Speed, You Know What I Mean | BMW M3

IN BMW, M, M3, Sedan, BMW M3, Munich Automobile

BMW’s M3 might have drawn some flak for going the force-fed route initially, but after spending time with it (and slapped with a speeding ticket), there’s so much to love…


That is until Porsche pulls the same stunt with their Panamerarara though...
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Utter Genius | Jaguar XJ i4 2.0

IN Jaguar, XJ, I4, 2.0-litre, Jaguar XJ i4 2.0-litre, Jag, Wearnes Automotive

Jaguar strapped in a 2.0-litre engine into their XJ – first question asked by most was, “can the car even move?”


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The Topless King | Audi A3 Cabriolet 1.4 TFSI

IN Audi, A3, Cabriolet, Convertible, TFSI, Audi Centre Singapore, Audi Singapore, Premium Automobiles

The new Audi A3 Cabriolet has grown and is more ‘BMW 120i Convertible’ than ‘Golf Cabriolet’. But is it good enough to be the king of the compact drop-tops?


Ok, so that was just a mild exaggeration. What wasn’t exaggerated, however, were that the order books were filled even before the car was officially launched. Heck, queries were made before the car arrived for LTA’s obligatory homologation (which apparently took sixty-eight years, seven months, three weeks and twenty-two days to complete).
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Flavourful Entrée | Porsche Macan

IN Porsche, Porsche Macan, Macan, Eurokars Group, Porsche Centre Singapore, Stuttgart Auto Pte Ltd

We’ve previously driven both the Macan S and Macan Turbo, now we see how the entry-level variant fares in this ever-burgeoning segment


Out on the expressway, the Cashcow is surprisingly refined to drive. Nissan’s engineers seemed to have put in lots of effort at keeping the cabin quiet and as vibration-free as possible; at expressway legal cruising speeds, sounds from the engine compartment are hardly audible, you don’t get any transmission shift shocks and wind noise can only be heard past 120 km/h. Very well played, Nissan.
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Bingo! | Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-Turbo

IN Nissan, Qashqai, 1.2 DIG-Turbo, Qashqai 1.2 DIG-Turbo, Turbocharged, Turbo, Tan Chong Motor Sales

Nissan’s compact Qashqai, now with a small 1.2-litre engine, makes the biggest sense for Singaporean drivers


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Bag Of Surprise | BMW 435i Gran Coupe M-Sport

IN BMW, 4 Series, 4 Series Gran Coupe, 4 er, 435i, Beemer, BMW Asia, Performance Motors Limited

BMW is filling every possible segment they could - this Gran Coupe is really worth a closer look


Now bear with me - a mere mortal like me can never own one even if I flash a bag of real cash to McLaren, as all 375 limited units that were produced were already spoken for. Maybe, just maybe, with the help of a certain Mr Lim, I could get unit number 376. But then again, maybe not; as it's a left hand drive, it would be too troublesome to fly to and from Europe when you feel like just having a blast. Or maybe if I’d be ‘bros’ with the said royalty, he would let me park mine in his garage. And I would only drive 200 kilometers in it a year as I want to keep it in the most immaculate condition. My preciousssss…
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Refresh Page | McLaren 650S

IN McLaren, 650s, 12C, McLaren 650S, Wearnes Automotive

The 650S is probably known as a 12C with a new face, but we realized the difference between the two are beyond skin deep; really deep…


This thing is fast, fast and fast everywhere it goes and better still, you don’t have to give the accelerator a full-on stomp just to catapult you to the next junction. But if you were to work that right foot, just get ready to see yourself pushed hard into the seat as your eyeballs go backwards, see your own brains, and then go back into its original position; at the same time, enjoy the sight of lesser hatches and so-called performance sedans trying very, very hard to catch up. There’s just so much go in this car, ‘aggressive’ would be an understatement; perhaps the word aggressivestest would be more apt…
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Who Cares What This Is | Mercedes-Benz GLA45 AMG

IN Mercedes-Benz, GLA, GLA45 AMG, Mercedes, Cycle & Carriage Industries

The niche segment filler from Mercedes gets hyper this time around but the question now is, who would want one?


Ok, let’s move on. The NX 300h looks rather radical compared to its peers in the segment though. There are bold lines, stunning creases, stylish head and rear lights; a lot of work went into designing the exterior itself. That front face with the highly detailed bumper finished with a one-piece spindle grille, looks ready to swallow anything in its way. The only downside are those wheels that still look undersized and out of place on the car. Oh, those are 18-inch mind you.
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Silent Night | Lexus NX 300h

IN Lexus, NX, 300h, Hybrid, Lexus NX300h, Borneo Motors

Lexus enters the German-dominated segment with its fresh offering, but beneath all that fancy sheetmetal, is there any real substance?


With that, the Q50 has 208 bhp and 350 Nm of torque available from 3,500 rpm, and takes only 7.2 seconds to go from zero to 100 km/h; top speed is rated at 245 km/h.
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The Monument Man | Infiniti Q50 2.0T

IN Infiniti, Q50, 2.0t, Q50 2.0t, Wearnes Automotive

It’s a monumental task for Infiniti’s compact executive who has to face BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Lexus in this very challenging segment



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