Ford Ranger FX4 Bi-Turbo Special Edition joins MY2020.25 line up with smart, distinctive identity, and offered in either 4WD or 2WDThe return of the Ranger FX4 to the line-up, now with the Bi-Turbo powertrain as standard, brings customers a Ranger that combines upgrades with greater enhancement and individualisation for a more...
Škoda Superb upgraded with new technologies, refined design and new model line-upDrivelife is a fan of the Skoda Superb - a highly-respected car by any standrds. We tested it last in in 2016 in a wagon, and rated it a full five-chevron car. It really is that good.Now, three and a half years after the launch of the third...
DriveLife went to the launch of the 2019 Ford Focus Active, and found it to be an enjoyable extension of the normal Focus. A great chassis, that sweet-sounding 1.5-litre Ecoboost engine, a well finished interior. There wasn’t too much not to like.But that was just for a few days. What happens when you spend a few weeks with the...
A mainstay of Toyota SUVs, the RAV4 has now hit its fifth generation. After 25 years, we get an all-new from the ground-up car.Built on the Toyota New Global Architecture platform, this is the first hybrid Toyota SUV, although we got sent a 2.5-litre non-hybrid to test out. Hopefully we’ll get a hybrid at a later date.Toyota...
Back in 2016, we got a chance to test the bonkers A45 AMG, 2016 Mercedes-Benz A45 AMG – Car Review – Track Focused Breeding. To say that hot hatch was a hardcore vehicle was putting it lightly. In light of this and hearing the news that the A45 would be replaced with the A35, I was keen to see what it would be like. It was hard to...
We tested the Hyundai i30N this year and loved it. Not quite as raw as the Honda Civic Type R, but still a barrel of fun.Now Hyundai New Zealand has extended its N range with the all-new Hyundai i30 Fastback N. This new design of the i30 Fastback combines the performance and fun-to-drive features of the i30 N five-door.“The...
We loved the Hyundai i30N when we tested it. A little raw, exciting, 202kW of power, and a manual gearbox – there wasn’t much not to love.At $54,990, the i30N is hot on the heels of the Honda Type R, which retails at $59,990. Is there a market for a less-powered, i30N wannabe? Hyundai thinks so, and has launched the $43,990...
The Q2 is Audi’s crossover SUV, which I reviewed a couple of years ago and said it was good, but not great. Now Audi have given it the S treatment, adding more luxury, more toys, and of course more power. Would the SQ2 improve my opinion of Audi’s smallest SUV? I drove one for a weekend to find out.The...
Can the small New Zealand car market absorb yet another SUV? Hyundai New Zealand seems to think so, as we headed to the launch of their new compact SUV, the Venue. Unusual name aside, this model slots in under the Kona, making it Hyundai’s smallest SUV on sale.After a quick reveal of the new car, Hyundai New Zealand gave us the...
The Jaguar I-PACE has been named the 2019 New Zealand Car of the Year - the first time a vehicle available only as a full battery electric vehicle has won the award.The BMW i3 was the first plug-in to win the award in 2015, but at the time was offered with a range-extending petrol motor.Members of the New Zealand Motoring...
This week Hyundai New
Zealand’s first hydrogen powered SUV, NEXO, made its driving debut on one of
the most breathtaking roads in New Zealand, Te Anau to Milford Sound, a fitting
choice for the zero-emission vehicle. Following is a press release from Hyundai
on the vehicle.NEXO is the technological flagship of Hyundai’s growing...
It’s a kiwi thing; the bach. Part of me believes it’s something to do with our geography – with so much coastline in a short distance from pretty much anywhere, it seems every man and his dog has a bach somewhere. Northland, the Coromandel, the Kapiti Coast, not to mention the hundreds of bays and inlets in the South Island, each...
I’m not sure how many
times we’ve said it, but it’s a lot; there are some tough market segments out
there. It’s very much the same for the luxury, compact SUV segment; lots of
players and lots of juicy choices, all vying for a slice of a relatively small
market. Audi has done well in the past with the Q3, as it’s been a...
New Zealand’s first electric Mercedes-Benz production vehicle, the EQC, will arrive in local showrooms in January.In a press release with our first details around New Zealand pricing, it's obvious Mercedes-Benz have the Jaguar iPace and Audi e-tron set dead in their sights. Base-model pricing at $142,900 means that the EQC slots...
As the ads say “Electric has gone Audi”. The E-Tron is Audi’s first purpose-built electric SUV. And it’s quite an impressive thing, as Fred found out at the New Zealand Launch. But how would it fare as a daily driver? And how would it compare to the Jaguar I-Pace? We drove one for a week to find out.The...
There’s some tough market segments out there, and large SUV is one of the toughest. With cars available like the Mazda CX-8, Toyota Highlander, Mitsubishi Outlander, Holden Trailblazer, and Skoda Kodiaq, the Santa Fe has some tough competition. Luckily for Hyundai, it seems Santa Fe buyers are a pretty loyal bunch.DriveLife went...
• Audi releases the all-electric Audi e-tron 50 to sit alongside the Audi e-tron 55• Two electric motors with total power of 230 kW and 540 Nm of torque• Lithium-ion battery offers over 300km* range• Arriving in New Zealand in March 2020, priced from $134,900.We like the Audi e-tron, after going to the launch. Shortly,...
It's not often you get the opportunity to review a coupe that has 477kW power and 881Nm of torque running through the rear wheels. In fact, it’s not often you see those sort of numbers in any car these days. However, in true American style, the 2019 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 is the supercharged V8 performance coupe that the world probably...
New Zealand motorsport enthusiasts will now have the opportunity to view the new Jaguar XE SV Project 8, apparently the world's fastest production four-door sedan, which has arrived in the country.With a starting price of $350,000, each of the 300 limited edition vehicles are hand-assembled and, have been described as the...
Arriving in mid-2020, Transit Custom Plug-In Hybrid van delivers 56 km zero-emission NEDC driving range, and more than 500 km NEDC total range using 1.0‑litre EcoBoost petrol engine range extenderAdvanced plug-in hybrid architecture features 13.6 kWh battery that can be charged with mains electricity for zero-emission...
