What cars can P-platers drive in Australia?

Specifically, they are NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. If you live anywhere else in Australia, you can skip this article – and drive whatever you want the moment you get your licence.

For example, a brand new, 2023 Toyota GR86 GTS would be banned because it has 174kW and weighs 1291kg. Power (174kW) divided by weight (1291kg) times 1000, gives 134kW/tonne – meaning it’s about as good as a driveway ornament, and that’s about it.

Much like NSW, P-platers in Victoria can’t drive a vehicle with more than 130kW of power per tonne, meaning the Toyota GR86 GTS, used in the example above, would also be off-limits to provisional drivers in Victoria. The same restrictions apply to vehicles on club permits.

If you got your provisional licence before October 29, 2019, these rules don’t apply to you. Similarly, if you are driving in Victoria under a provisional licence from another country, you’re off the hook.

For vehicles built after January 1, 2010, the same 130kW per tonne maths equation of NSW, Victoria and Queensland applies – that being, your car can’t exceed 130kW per tonne power-to-weight. The SA Department of Infrastructure and Transport also forbids provisional licence holders under 25 to drive any vehicle with “any modification to vary engine performance”.