Overdrive

Welcome to Overdrive, a program that pontificates on the issues of motoring and transport I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 211023 - News 1. Hyundai Nexo – a practical hydrogen powered car (1:25) 2. Volkswagen Golf Life (2:42) 3. Ford Focus ST – just one model, a hot hatch (4:02) 4. Nissan celebrates 20 years of X-TRAIL (5:04) 5. Polestar teams up w...

Welcome to Overdrive, a program that ponders on the issues of motoring and transport I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. IONIQ 5 – New aspects of interior design (1:44) 2. All-New Subaru WRX includes a sports wagon (2:44) 3. Hyundai goes hard for hydrogen (3:42) 4. Peugeot's new vans are an important part of their mix (4:42) 5. MINI now has multi c...

Welcome to Overdrive, a program that probes deeply into the issues of motoring and transport I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. Cars sales September 2021 – Overall good – People movers booming (1:24) 2. New Toyota Land Cruiser 300 (2:24) 3. All-new Kia Sorento Plug-in Hybrid (3:29) 4. Kona electric – reducing costs with smaller batteries (4:32) 5....

There’s a new book out: "Car Wars Down Under". The subtitle is “The untold story of Australia’s first land speed record”, written by Murray Hubbard. I wondered if it was a story for the mechanically minded, car enthusiast: A lone back yard mechanic with an inventive approach involving carburettors and camshafts. As it turns out it is a rollicking yarn involving hardcore business, invective marketi...

Hello and Welcome to Overdrive, a program where we wander through the world of motoring and transport. 30/09/2021 I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. Hyundai Santa Fe with one particularly interesting feature (1:42) 2. Citroën refuses to give up hope – a New C4 (2:37) 3. Hyundai i30 Sedan – Another elegant Korean sedan (3:40) 4. CUPRA Born – silly...

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that panders to the world of cars and transport I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. Australian launch of the IONIQ 5 (1:27) 2. All-new Kluger – hybrid petrol is better thana diesel (2:38) 3. Picking between two cars where one costs twice as much (3:49) 4. Walmart autonomous vehicle delivery service in three...

Modern road safety systems are showcasing what is technically possible in warning drivers of dangerous situations and possibly intervening in the vehicle operation, if not to take complete control but at least to add an element of augmented reality. But, as we reported the other day on some research from MIT, there can be a big difference between what is technically possible, which we then use to...

Welcome to Overdrive, a program about the wonderful world of motoring and transport. I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. Car sales grow in a topsy turvy market (1:30) 2. It costs a lot just to have your car sitting in the driveway (2:28) 3. Australia’s Warrego hydrogen ute claims big pre-orders (3:31) 4. An Australian council approves trial of kerb...

Welcome to Overdrive, a program that digs up all sorts of information good and bad about the world of motoring and transport. I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News • The all-new Kia Sportage (1:41) • New powertrain for Mazda CX-30 and Mazda3 (2:44) • Motional and Hyundai Motor Group’s joint robotaxi (3:47) • Nissan e-POWER is coming to Australia (4:40)...

It was T.S. Eliot who said: Where is the Wisdom we have lost in Knowledge? Where is the Knowledge we have lost in Information? The collection of data is very much at the bottom of that list. It may be the first step but it may even be the wrong numbers or full of inaccuracies. Data is not guaranteed to produce the definitive measure of what we are trying to understand until it has been through a p...

Navman, started back in 1986 based in Australia and NZ, with a focus, as the name suggests, in providing navigation systems for cars and trucks. But like most or all things high-tech, more and more things are being developed. Virtual reality is a purely an imagined experience but augmented reality is where you get some extra information to help you operate and make decisions in your current situat...

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program that relishes all sorts of information and experiences in the world of motoring and transport. I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. Genesis GV60 may be the first EV to include wireless battery charging (1:22) 2. Bird launches integration with Google Maps (2:24) 3. Tesla’s robot – more hype than reality? (3:3...

Fifty years ago, one of the factors that was said to have led to NSW developing a world-renowned adaptive and coordinated traffic control system was that the engineers and technicians who worked on it had an understanding of human behaviour on the roads and that these skills may well have been missing in later reviews which failed to try and update the system. Commentary on driver distraction is a...

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, where we embrace the glories of motoring and transport. I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. Toyota Corolla sales top 50 million across the globe (1:09) 2. Hyundai STARIA: Space age people mover (2:08) 3. Iconic Kombi goes green thanks to an ambitious University conversion project (3:11) 4. 2023 Nissan Z: - The Zs kee...

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, where we take a sober look at motoring and transport. I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. Niro Hybrid (1:13) 2. The compact Caddy California camper (2:13) 3. News of electric utes – race to ugliness (3:19) 4. International traffic light day (4:23) Feature Interviews • Paul Murrell – On the Isuzu ute and the company a...

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program that roams through the world of motoring and transport I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News • We look at three significant features on the latest car sales figures • Cars Sales for July 2021 (1:39) • Toyota Corolla bounces back in July (2:33) • Isuzu Ute – Only two models but a big impact (3:33) • Peugeot 508 –...

COVID has meant that in some cases we have not been able to return the press car that we usually have for a week. Unfortunately, I have had to keep the Subaru WRX STI for several weeks. Unfortunately for those who were to get it next but great for me. David Rowley is the national Corporate affairs manager for Subaru Australia and joins us on the line Subjects covered include: How much was his deci...

As we mentioned in our news service, the Grattan Institute has just released a report titled Gridlock: removing barriers to policy reform It was very critical of systemic problems in government including • The reducing of expertise and independence of the public service, • Too many ministerial advisers closely tied to political parties • Lack of control of political donations, campaign finance, lo...

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program that looks at the latest trends in motoring and transport for serious and not so serious issues. I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News • Australia’s governance is going backwards (1:23) • Audi RS 7 (2:56) • Fortuner (4:06) • WRX (5:08) • Rogue (6:30) Feature Item • In the first of a series Barry Green takes us o...

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program that looks at the latest trends in motoring and transport for serious and not so serious issues. I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. Nissan Z Proto concept at the 2021 Chicago Auto Show (1:28) 2. Toyota Rhombus – a brave new world (2:16) 3. 2022 Toyota Corolla Cross (3:19) 4. BMW and RMIT University’s secon...

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program about cars and culture I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. VW strategy single platform, battery cell and software systems (1:39) 2. Spain to invest big in EVs and batteries (2:32) 3. Squad Mobility’s urban vehicle – an upmarket golf buggy with solar panels (3:35) 4. BMW electric Scooter for Australia (4:09)...

Hello and welcome to Overdrive, a program where we put the world of motoring and transport under the microscope. I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. Nissan Patrol (1:26) 2. Car Sales figures (2:45) 3. Tesla touchscreen wiper controls land driver with fine after crash (3:34) 4. Bugatti-Rimac combines the genes of strong brands (4:32) 5. Struck by li...

Overdrive: VW’s new electric push and Cupra model; Subaru WRX STI; Managing Traffic light controls Welcome to Overdrive, a program where we put the world of motoring and transport under the microscope. I’m David Brown The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) News 1. Nissan JUKE Energy Orange model (1:20) 2. New way for Honda in Australia starts now (2:26) 3. MINI Vision Urbana...

Buses are often seen as the poor cousin of public transport with little given to providing a whole of journey positive experience. In New Zealand, an off-street Bus Exchange, opened in 2000, provided a dramatic demonstration of the benefits of providing airport-quality waiting areas for bus passengers. In 2006 transport planning expert, Brian Smith introduced the concept of shopfront bus passenger...

Hello and welcome to Overdrive a program that broods over the world of cars and transport The times each story appears in the program are noted (mm:ss) I’m David Brown News 1. NSW State government pushes electric vehicle tax reform (1:12) 2. Rex breaks records in Australia (2:24) 3. Genesis is expanding in models and sales (3:21) 4. Can the station wagon make a comeback? - Peugeot Unveils the 308...