Australian International Motor Show: A Complete Geek’s Guide To The Best Tech On Offer


Off to the Australian International Motor Show? Good idea. There’s a bunch of tech there you simply have to see. make sure you don’t miss anything with this comprehensive guide to the best tech on the show floor. From simulators to smart-keys, booth babes to battery-powered vehicles, this is what you have to see when you visit the show.

This guide assumes you enter the Motor Show at Hall 1 and work your way through towards Hall 5.




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The first thing you’ll see as you wander into the 2012 Motor Show halls is the enormous Ford stand. Take a moment to wander in and you’ll be rewarded with this piece of amazing engineering. Honestly, it’s like Scarlett Johansson fused with a concept car.

It’s called the Ford EVOS (pronounced ee-voss) and it sports not two gullwing doors, but four. No mention of engine specifications on this one, unfortunately, but it represents the future of Ford. You see, it’s looking to get out of the pure four-wheels and engine business and into services as well. The EVOS is a car that is “fully cloud connected”, according to the company. It’s designed to be hooked into your smart home, so that when you pull out of your driveway, your car tells the house you’ve left, and turns off all the lights inside and locks the door.

It then intelligently routes you around all the traffic on your way to work, for example, all the while reading your general wellbeing via monitors in the driver’s seat. If, for example, you pass out, the car will detect it, pull over safely to the side of the road by itself and call the emergency services. Mighty nifty.

It’s the first Australian outing for the EVOS, and it’s definitely worth your time.



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The new Ford Mondeo had the covers pulled off it today ready for your viewing pleasure, and what a pleasure it is to see it.

The Mondeo has been retrofitted with the same grille as the Aston Martin, making it arguably the best looking sedan on the show floor.

The new Mondeo bears the Sync technology that Ford has been working on with Microsoft, and it also is the first car locally to pack Emergency Assist, which detects when an accident occurs, calls 000 for you and tells emergency service crews your location.

Moving on to the Holden stand right across the way, and the Volt is front and centre. We loved the Volt when we test drove it and you can have the same pleasure at the show, as well.




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Moving into the far corner of the Holden stand and you’ll see a brightly coloured Nissan 370Z. You haven’t wandered into the wrong area, it’s the Forza Horizon booth!

Sit down in any one of the 8 racing buckets and challenge your mates to a game of Forza Horizon before it hits store shelves. You’ll also compete for glory on the lap times board.

Wander through the other stands at your leisure until you make it down to Volkswagen. Here you’ll see — amongst other things — the brand-new Beetle. Loaded with infotainment tech, the new Beetle is beautiful to boot.



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Over on the Hyundai stand is another chance to beat the pants off your friends with the Veloster challenge app for iPad.




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When you make it to the Toyota stand next-door, you’ll find the Toyota Driving Support System Simulator which looks more like a space capsule than a driving sim.

If you feel yourself drawn to the right by a mysterious force, don’t be alarmed. It’s the magnetic pull of a brand new supercar that is begging to be looked at.



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It’s called the Lexus LF-LC Blue and it’s beautiful pearlescent blue is actually inspired by South Australian opals. It’s a hybrid supercar, which sounds a bit like a contradiction, but Lexus are out to prove that it can be done.

The LF-LC sports tech from the high-end LFA supercar under the hood, and in the cabin, there is barely a manual switch to be seen. They’ve all been replaced with touchscreens. Two 12.3-inch LCD touchscreens make up the instrument cluster, and the centre console is one big tilt-screen. Even the door mirrors on each side are controlled my two, four-inch touchscreens. Stay a while and ogle.



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The Mobil stand is interesting, too. It gives you the chance to win either a sweet model car or a hot-lap in a V8 supercar, provided you can score a sweet time in on virtual track.




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I tried to get a good shot of the brand new Range Rover, but those pesky models got in the way.

Inside the new take on the old favourite, you’ll find an array of LCD screens, including one on the centre console which looks like an enormous, horizontal iPhone 3GS.



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Move towards the back to check out the new Mazda models, including the new Mazda 6 which sports the SkyActiv technology for greater fuel efficiency.

You’ll also catch a glimpse at the new-look Mazda MX-5.

Then there’s that Aston Martin, which despite the Facebook-of-it-all, deserves a good long look.



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The all-electric Leaf is pride of place on Nissan’s stand. It sits on a drivetrain tester for some fun.




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Wander outside and you’ll find everything from Holden Volt test drives to the enormous Ford test track, that lets you play with everything from the automatic park assist technology we looked at a little while ago, right through to death-defying hill holds.

There’s so much great stuff to see at the Motor Show. Tell us you’re favourite thing you saw!

Images: Luke Hopewell/Gizmodo Australia


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