This week on Chasing Cars: new Porsche 911 GT3, cut-price utes and VW CEO drops a hydrogen bomb

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This week was a big one in car industry news, with no less than five new cars unveiled – including everything from McLaren’s new 500kW supercar and track-slaying Porsche 911 GT3 to a special edition Ford Ranger with nine grand cut off the sticker. This week, there truly was something for everyone.

We also saw some mudslinging at hydrogen from none other than Volkswagen Group chief executive Herbert Diess – before Hyundai’s local electromobility boss backed the efficacy of the technology.

Porsche 911 GT3 fully unveiled

After taunting us with half-reveals of a cladded and unfinished versions of the 992 generation of the 911 GT3, Porsche finally ripped off the covers entirely this week.

The team of wizards at Porsche have somewhat managed to keep the naturally aspirated flat-six engine in the 911 GT3 with a tacho that screams all the way to 10,000rpm. Porsche even managed to squeeze out an extra 7kW of power at 375kW.

Paired to that engine remains the seven-speed PDK dual-clutch gearbox as the standard transmission while the all-important six-speed manual still remains an option.

Hydrogen wars

The CEO of Volkswagen Group, Herbert Diess, wasn’t looking to expand his friendship circle this week when he took to Twitter to brand hydrogen in cars “expensive, inefficient and slow”.

Mr Diess called for leaders around the world to ditch the idea of using hydrogen and to embrace battery-electric cars – which came as little surprise considering VW Group has only invested in the latter.

Chasing Cars spoke to Scott Nargar, head of future mobility at Hyundai Motor Company Australia who pointed out hydrogen could do nifty things like solve long charging times, still remain emissions-free and be possibly the only viable alternative for diesel powertrains in trucks.

New Mitsubishi Outlander unveiled

The folks at Mitsubishi have finally put down the defibrillator and let the current nine-year-old Outlander midsize SUV rest in peace with the introduction of the new fourth-generation.

Mitsubishi have gone the whole hog on the new Outlander with a newly developed platform and 2.5-litre four-banger making 135kW of power and 245Nm of torque – with a hybrid version slated to follow.

We’ve only seen the seven-seat version so far – with a five-seater on the way – but the new Outlander showed off some snappy features such as a 12.3-inch driver’s display, a more advanced AWD system and adaptive cruise control that can read the road ahead and adjust for obstacles such as a fork in the road.

Other car and SUV news we covered this week

• McLaren unveiled its all-new Artura supercar this week with a twin-turbo V6 making 500kW of power and 720Nm of torque matched with a plug-in hybrid system that enables it to drive 30 kilometres emissions-free.

• Jaguar announced it will go fully-electric by 2025 with sister brand Land Rover to introduce six EV variants to its current line up in the next five years, with all petrol and diesel models to be ditched by 2039.

• Honda officially unveiled the HR-V small SUV this week with hybrid power, a snazzy new interior and a redesigned exterior. It’s slated to arrive in Australia this year.

• Volkswagen has modernised its midsize van range with the T6.1 facelift that brings standard features like autonomous emergency braking and wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto to keep drivers safe and comfortable.

• The Volkswagen California campervan is a variant of the T6.1 but it deserves its own spill. With the ability to sleep four, a roll-out awning, camper chairs and a battery health monitor it has everything you would ever need while camping.

• Ford released the Ranger Tradie special edition which packs the much-loved 4×4 system with a dual-cab form factor and a range of accessories for an absurd $47,990 driveaway price.

• Jeep also jumped on the cheap ute bandwagon with a new Gladiator Sport S variant which cuts $10,000 off the starting price and costs $65,490, before on-road costs.

• The Kia Niro small SUV will be coming to Australia in a matter of months with an amazing lineup of full battery-electric, plug-in hybrid or conventional hybrid drivetrains.

• Skoda put a price on it’s the Octavia sedan and wagon this week which looks to be brilliant value starting at just $30,390 before on-road costs with a hot RS version also offered.

• Mini sure loved a special edition this week, starting with the Countryman Boardwalk Edition which is a beach-themed small SUV, with just 59 examples coming to Australia.

• Mini also released the Paddy Hopkirk Edition of its outgoing Hatch, that celebrates the brand’s first-ever win in the Monte Carlo Rally back in 1964.

• The Range Rover Sport added a new twin-turbo inline-six to its lineup, which puts out 294kW of power and 550Nm of torque and effectively replaces the old four-cylinder engine in Australia.