This week on Chasing Cars: Ranger Raptor revealed, CX-60 draws near and the sub-$45k EV coming to Australia

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We’ve been teasing it for months, wanting it for years and now the second-generation Ford Ranger Raptor has been unveiled. Let out your dinosaur screams everyone.

More on that later as there is a lot more to cover including our petrol vs EV road trip, the rapid expansion of Cupra and our first look at Hyundai’s new robot dog that we are 99 percent sure was scanning us for weaknesses during our review.

On the review front, we had a look at Lexus’s new range-topping NX 450h+, published our complete Toyota Yaris Cross long term review and revisited the Ford Everest 4WD.

But for now, there are some very important cars on the way that we need to explain in detail so let’s jump into it.

New Ford Ranger Raptor revealed

After much teasing Ford finally ripped the covers off the second-generation Ranger Raptor to reveal a reborn beast of a ute now packing a 3.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 engine.

Spitting a muscle car-worthy 292kW of power and 583Nm of torque, the new Raptor has had a huge increase of grunt over the old model’s 157kW/500Nm diesel engine.

It also now features WRC-style anti-lag, full-time four-wheel drive, a variable exhaust and automatically adjustable Fox suspension that should keep the beast in check on- and off-road.

We asked Ford why it didn’t use the diesel V6 available in the rest of the Ranger line-up in the Raptor and those involved with the project pointed to a number of reasons but mainly it was to keep buyers happy.

Ford wasn’t shy about the capability of its new Raptor and said the new Ranger Raptor had blown past all competition and declared the super ute had ‘no rivals’. And, honestly, it’s not hard to see where they’re coming from.

Mazda CX-60 draws closer

The CX-60 midsize SUV will represent the first step in Mazda’s new line-up of vehicles that will pitch further upmarket and we’re very excited to see if they’ve actually pulled it off.

Set to arrive in Australia in late 2022, the CX-60 has been teased repeatedly by Mazda who shared new images of the headlight design this week – though we’ve already seen a leaked image of the whole car so it wasn’t a huge surprise.

Mazda also revealed interior shots of the CX-60 showing some Nappa leather trim and maple wood which are designed to create a more premium experience.

The CX-60 will be the first to sit on Mazda’s new Large Product Architecture platform that features rear-wheel drive as standard and all-wheel drive as an option. It should also add a more premium feel to the new Mazda – but that verdict will have to wait for a full review later this year.

BYD Atto 3 priced from $44,990 driveaway

Australian distributor EV Direct has announced the BYD Atto 3 will start at $44,990 driveaway and will be available with short- and long-range variants boasting up to 320km and 420km of WLTP-tested range respectively.

The Atto 3 is the Australian name for the Chinese-market Yuan Plus but it features all the same internal bits including a 150kW/310Nm electric motor on the front axle and up to 80kW DC charging speeds – enough to top up the battery in around 90 minutes.

Despite the low price, the Atto 3 also comes standard with a heap of goodies including a 12.8-inch touchscreen that can physically rotate into a portrait or landscape position.

Power-adjustable synthetic leather seats and a panoramic sunroof can also be found in the cabin and drivers benefit from safety features like AEB and seven airbags. 

All the cars and SUVs we reviewed this week:

We kicked this week off with a test rather than a review as we pitched the Hyundai Ioniq 5 EV against the petrol-powered Tucson in a race from Sydney to Melbourne to see how much slower it is to take the electric option in 2022.

Toyota gave its popular RAV4 midsize SUV a facelift for 2022 and now offers the rugged ‘Edge’ grade with a hybrid AWD drivetrain, we published our video review last week and now the written version is available online.

After launching late last year the new Mitsubishi Outlander is hoping to take a slice of the RAV4’s pie (and sales, probably) so deputy editor Nathan Ponchard gave the top-spec Exceed Tourer a closer look.

I had the pleasure of spending four months in a Toyota Yaris Cross as my previous long termer and while it was a very impressive small SUV in many respects, I came away with some key concerns that became harder to ignore as time went on. 

Despite getting on in years, the Ford Everest has been acknowledged as one of the best ute-based 4WD wagons in its class so we decided to check in one last time before its replacement is announced.

The new-generation Lexus NX has debuted a new range-topping variant known as the 450h+ plug-in hybrid that brings serious efficiency and performance to the fray. Learn more in our review published in both written and video form.

But if what you need is a hard-working no-nonsense ute then Mazda’s new BT-50 XS grade with the punchy 1.9-litre turbodiesel engine may be worth a look. Learn more in our reviews published in both written and video form.

And finally, journalist John Law reviewed Boston Dynamics’ SPOT robot dog and yes you read that right. The company is now owned by Hyundai and the technology inside this strange four-legged robot could make your car safer in a few short years. 

Other car and SUV news we covered this week:

• Cupra says it will double the size of its current vehicle line-up to eight cars by 2025, as the Spanish car manufacturer announced two additional cars this week.

• MG Motor has teased its new MG4 electric hatchback that could come to Australia given the success of the ZS EV small SUV in our market.

• With the Ford Ranger already on the way, the new-generation Volkswagen Amarok spawned from the same platform won’t be far behind, with new renders constructing front and rear angles of the ute based on the recent teaser images.

• Audi has announced its e-tron GT EV super sedan will land in Australia showrooms this September with prices starting from $181,700 before on-road costs, though the top-spec ‘RS’ will command $249,700. 

• Audi expects the e-tron GT to sell well in Australia, following in the footsteps of the mechanically similar Porsche Taycan, and says it should outsell the e-tron large SUV.

• Nissan has confirmed its fifth-generation X-Trail is coming to Australia towards the end of this year where it will bring significant safety, technology and performance upgrades.

• The Australian Government has announced it will pool $127.9 million into subsided to help fleet operations transition to electric vehicles.