This week on Chasing Cars: BMW 2 Series unveiled, Lotus’ last combustion car and Volkswagen’s drift-ready wagon

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The almighty dual cab is a wondrous thing. Logically it makes sense, they can do pretty much anything and is well suited to our Australian landscape which feels downright apocalyptic at times.

We used to call dual-cabs unsafe, but when the Isuzu D-Max strolled into ANCAP last year and brushed off all the latest and toughest safety standards people paid attention and in June that paid off when it shot to the third best-selling vehicle in the country, making it a top three dual-cab lockout in Australia.

It’s great news for ute lovers, but for those who want to round corners a bit quicker, we saw BMW release full pricing for the M3 sedan and M4 coupe – while Genesis announced it would be adding a more sporting variant to the G80’s fleet.

But we also saw some huge names dropped this week in what either is or could be the final versions of some iconic cars with a combustion engine and you’ll find out all about them below.

BMW unveils the next 2 Series:

With the iconic M3 sedan and M4 coupe launching to somewhat mixed reactions, the old M2 and wider 2 Series has been a lifeline for hardcore fans, so it was important the folks at BMW got the new one right.

So far the new 2 Series looks to be quite impressive with the car sitting on the same platform as the M3 and M4, and retains the classic combination of offering a six-cylinder engine with rear wheel drive. 

Sadly the manual has been ditched, though he could see that come back for the full-fat M2; buyers also now have the option of all wheel drive in the current top trim M240i xDrive.

Despite being trimmed in a stunning ‘Thundernight Purple’ hue the appearance has failed to resonate with many fans but we’ll have to wait and see if that actually correlates with sales.

Lotus Emira revealed

Grab your hanky and dab your eyes because what you’re looking at is the last sports car powered by an internal combustion engine car that Lotus will ever make.

They could just slack off and dress up an old Exige but they haven’t. Engineers have designed an entirely new platform made out of bonded aluminium and given it a stunning appearance that mirrors the all-electric Evija hypercar.

Emira buyers can choose between an AMG-sourced turbo four-pot mated to a dual-clutch or Lotus’ long-running supercharged 3.5L V6 with either a manual or torque converter automatic transmission. Both send power exclusively to the rear wheels.

It might look like a hypercar but it sure isn’t priced like one, and while we don’t have official pricing for Australia yet it will go on sale in the UK from £60,000 (AUD$110,700). Expect more information closer to when it goes on sale in Australia by July 2022.

Volkswagen Golf R Wagon uncovered:

Wagon fans rejoiced this week as Volkswagen unveiled the Golf R Variant (known as the wagon here) and it sure didn’t disappoint.

Carrying the same upgrades as the hatch, the wagon will be a good amount more powerful than the last generation with 235kW of power and 420Nm of torque on tap.

That feeds into a seven-speed dual-clutch and a heavily revised all wheel drive system that has a multi-plate clutch pack on the back axle to distribute power more effectively between the rear wheels.

This tech has given the Golf a far more rear-biased nature which engineers have rejoiced by programming in a dedicated Drift Mode to help you do exactly that. Expect it here by February next year. 

Other car and SUV news we covered this week:

• The June sales results came out this week and showed the Isuzu D-Max was the best selling vehicle behind the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

• Looking specifically at SUVs, the Mazda CX-5 was the best seller overall with the Toyota RAV4 losing some ground while the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado was the best selling ‘proper 4×4’ overall. 

• Kia detailed the new Sportage midsize SUV that will arrive in Australia later this year with a fresh new design, lots more safety and a hybrid version could follow.

• We put our graphic designers to work this week to see if they could create a hot GR version of the RAV4 midsize SUV. We loved the results talk in depth about if it will happen and what could be under the bonnet

• Subaru had a big sales drop in June and it wasn’t because people didn’t want one but rather its been hit by stock delays stretching up to three months on the Forester, Outback and XV.

• The Toyota LandCruiser Prado was given a subtle update with new safety features like blind-spot monitoring matched with a price increase across the range.

• Genesis announced the G80 Sport grade would be coming to Australia in the third quarter of this year with a more athletic flavour that includes a new design and four wheel steering.

• Jeep has given the Compass small SUV a facelift with a swish new 10.1-inch touchscreen in the cabin and a new off road focuses Limited grade. Prices start from $37,950.

• BMW released pricing on the new M3 Competiton sedan, which will start at $144,900 when paired with a manual, going up to $160,900 for an all wheel drive Competition model.

• Likewise, the closely related M4 Competition was also priced from $149,900 with a base manual or up to $176,900 if you go for the convertible that only comes in Competition guise.

• If you want a BMW 3 Series for a bit more shape to its design then BMW announced the 4 Series Gran Coupe will go on sale later this year with prices starting from $75,900.

• If fast SUVs are more your thing, BMW released the pricing for the facelifted X3 M ($160,900) midsize SUV and more coupe-like X4 M ($167,900) which both arriving exclusively in competition guise.

• Nissan announced plan to build a fully-electric small SUV that will sit on the same platform as the Ariya. The new EV form part of a $1.8 billion investment that includes the construction of a dedciated battery factory.

• Subaru hit an important milestone this week as it produced its 20 millionth car fitted with all wheel drive. All-paw models make up 98 per cent of sales so they won’t be slowing down anytime soon.

• Volvo showcased the new Concept Recharge which is an all-electric SUV built on the marque’s new EV-exclusively platform and shows off some cool design elements.