Top five advice articles for 2017

We all love the colour and drama of a three-way comparison test between high-performance sports cars, or the highly controversial supposition of a speculative opinion story.

But, much of the time, what people seek is just solid, grounded advice – information which can be applied to selling cars, draining oil or even obtaining a drivers’ licence. We've built up quite a swag of advice features over the years, covering these and other subjects too.

For 2017, the five most popular advice features published by motoring.com.au, in ascending order, were as follows:

More a comparison test than an advice feature as such, this story placed reviewer Feann Torr between the front-drive Golf GTI and all-wheel drive Golf R to settle on one over the other – very pertinent for those Golf shopping. You'll have to read the story to learn whether Feann hooked or sliced.

Road Test Editor Matt Brogan opened up the definition of 'sports car' to embrace a couple of hot hatches for this story, published back in March. Prices for these cars ranged from the high $20,000 mark up to just under $42,000 for the number-one pick. And unexpectedly, this advice feature generated a lot of discussion in comments.

There has been enormous interest in the ‘Benz version of the Nissan Navara, and our readers lapped up Matt Brogan's in-depth analysis of the new one-tonner, including the launch schedule for Australia, the vehicle's mechanicals and other background material.

It's the bane of many drivers – other road users who unwitting or deliberately operate fog lights on clear nights. Our own ‘everywhere man’, the nearly ubiquitous Matt Brogan, was the brains behind this story, compiling a series of FAQs to outline when it was appropriate to use fog lights, how to recognise when the lights were on, and what sort of fines you'll pay for inappropriately using them.

Taking us through the murky and half-understood world of systems designed to tackle low-grip surfaces was technical expert and former product planner for BMW Australia, Alan Swanson. His advice feature was a comprehensive explanation of the various constituent elements of the two different system types, and the respective advantages and shortcomings of each.