Ford's Fiesta Ecoboost S is illegal for P-platers to drive, despite being extremely safe and relatively low powered. Source: Supplied
OPINION: CAR technology is changing and the laws of our most populous state need to adapt.
The Victorian government today announced that it is overturning the blanket ban on turbocharged, supercharged and 8-cylinder plus vehicles for provisional drivers in the state, in favour of a power-to-weight ratio rule.
The South Australian government has had this in place since March and the Queensland government has had it since January. Yet despite considering changing the rules last year, the NSW government hasn't budged.
Let me explain how flawed these rules are.
As a P-plater myself, I am able to drive Honda's insane S2000 sports car that has a power-to-weight ratio of 140kW/tonne but I'm not allowed to drive Volkswagen's five-star ANCAP rated Golf that has a power-to-weight ratio of just 83kW/tonne. Simply because it has a small turbo charger to save fuel.
The Honda S2000 is regarded as one of the best sports cars of all time. It's bloody quick too. Yet completely legal for NSW P-platers. Source: Supplied
I am also allowed to drive Infiniti's Q50 Hybrid, which features a V6 engine that gets boosted by new battery technology, giving it nearly 270kW of power and a huge 546Nm of torque, yet, again, I can't drive the Golf.
Ford's excellent ecoboost engines are turbocharged petrol engines that are designed specifically to save as much fuel as possible. They do so by the use of the turbo charger and are usually pretty low powered, much less powerful than a lot of legal P-plate approved cars. But, of course, cars that run them are off limits.
The new rules only allow previously banned vehicles from 2010 onwards to be driven, with the official reason being that no official power-to-weight ration was available then. But it was also the time when manufacturers really began to push the technology for fuel saving measures, not just to gain power.
As we move on to an age where cars are more focused on safety and efficiency than ever, our laws need to adapt to make sure that those safe and efficient cars can be driven by the road's most inexperienced drivers, instead of pushing them into buying 20-year old rust buckets.
New South Wales, it's your turn to get with the times.
Do you think P-platers should be able to drive modern turbocharged, supercharged and V8 cars that fall under the 130kW/tonne rule? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter | @harrytuckerr or @newscomauHQ.
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