Marie_Claire_Australia_November_2016

258 marieclaire.com.au

CAR: Lexus NX

ROUTE: The Rainforest

Way, NSW & Qld

REVIEW: The Lexus NX

is as sharply modern

looking as the Rainforest

Way is ancient and will

tackle this spectacularly

scenic 650km loop that encompasses

14 national parks with ease.

A spacious family-sized vehicle,

the NX (from $52,500) has a

luxurious interior with a Qi charging

pad for wireless phones (between the

seats), keyless smart entry, reversing

camera, rain-sensing wipers and a

comfortable raised seating platform.

Perfect to carve up the steep

passes of Mount Warning in NSW,

the NX will conquer the Scenic Rim,

formed by a volcano, and the slopes

of the Green Mountains, both across

the border in Queensland, where you

can stay at O’Reilly’s Retreat and take

a tree top walk in the rainforest

canopy that will leave you feeling like

an Ewok. Don’t miss the miracle of

the Natural Bridge in Springbrook

National Park or the wild majesty of

Minyon Falls – two highlights you

can enjoy without even getting your

shiny new Lexus splattered with mud.

PHOTOGRAPHED BY STYLANDER/GALLERY STOCK/SNAPPER MEDIA; GETTY IMAGES. TEXT BY STEPHEN CORBY

CAR CRAZIES

The same glass found in the

screen of your smartphone will

soon be used in car windscreens.

Gorilla Glass, which is used by

just about every smartphone

maker on the planet, has

already been chosen for future

models from Ford to BMW

because it’s thin, light and very

tough. No word yet of car-sized

cases to protect your vehicle

from scrapes with other vehicles.

BACKPACKS

3 of

the best

on the road

GO THE DISTANCE WITH OUR COOL-GIRL CAR GUIDE

Imagine driving on a highway when,

without warning, your vehicle starts

accelerating by itself. Pressing the

brakes, you find them disabled.

Someone has taken control of your

car. While it sounds like a B-grade

movie, the computers at the heart

of some modern cars may be at the

mercy of hackers. In a July 2015

experiment, a US journalist was

driving a Jeep Cherokee at 110km/h

when hackers showed they could

kill the vehicle’s power and disable

its brakes, proving how vulnerable

the car’s digital brain, via its

wireless hotspot (a feature not

in Australian

Jeeps), is to

hackers. Car

makers are

now busy

testing new

safeguards.

TRAFFIC

TRAUMA

Spare a thought for drivers in

the world’s five most traffic-

clogged cities as measured

by the TomTom Traffic Index

2016. It shows how much
      longer people are spending in
      their cars due to congestion
      compared to travelling on
      traffic-free roads.

Australia’s major cities paint a slightly

rosier picture. Unless you live in Sydney ...

MEXICO CITY

59 %

ISTANBUL

50 %

MOSCOW

44 %

BANGKOK

57 %

RIO DE

JANEIRO

47 %

36 %

SYDNEY

ADELAIDE

25 %

BRISBANE

27

PERTH

MELBOURNE

29

3

R

O

A

DT

RIPPIN

..

.

1 Burberry, $2065, at

Net-a-porter.com. 2 The Daily

Edited, $329.95. 3 Meli Melo, $665.

Lifestyle