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.

Frank Melilli, Manager of the Victoria Police Transport Branch, has all the inside goss.

The AAA (Automobile Association of Australia) is making a just call for the removal of tariffs on cars. Originally put in place to protect Australia's car manufacturing industry, obviously there's now no need to pay for an industry that doesn't exist.

The AAA also think there could be another huge benefit other than the cost savings motorists would experience. Tune in the CEO Michael Bradley to hear their ideas.

And Simon Lai & Rachel Franco are back to discuss the benefits of keeping your car stocked with food and drinks.

Lots to take in on this week’s edition of Behind the Wheel.

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 lifted the bar in comparison to the older Aussie version? We’ll find out.

And Simon Lai & Rachel Franco make their return for 2018. Who know’s what will happen!

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 Wheel's Summer Series - It's your last chance to relive some of the best bits from 2017 - Don't miss it!

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...