The ute market in NZ is on fire. Between SUV’s and utes they now take up over 50% of all vehicles sold. If you’re in the market for a ute, there is a massive array of options - a segment that used to be made up of Ford, Toyota, Holden, Nissan, Mazda and Isuzu. We now have products from Ram, LDV, Foton, Great Wall, Ssangyong, VW and...
For the first time in McLaren’s relatively short history they’ve had to completely replace an existing model, the 650S. The 720S is the next chapter in their Super Series range not only pushing the boundaries of what the young company can do but also heralding a new design direction for Woking. Passing the...
In May, 2018, Mercedes Benz New Zealand (MBNZ) invited us to the Wellington launch of the new S-Class flagship, the S560 coupe and cabriolet.It also gave MBNZ a chance to highlight some of the safety technologies available in the new S-Class, and many of these technologies will be filtering down to the lower models over time.Ben...
Get your Lotto tickets ready, Koenigsegg is officially coming Down Under. Koenigsegg Automotive AB released a press statement announcing the move Down Under last week, with plans of launching a full service dealership in Australia in conjunction with Prodigy Automotive and Lorbek Luxury Cars. The Melbourne dealer - with full backing...
In the last episode we finally got our V12 engine running and it didn't sound as I'd expected. I started looking at a few different things including the exhaust design. We did finally find the issue with the cam on one side being out of position, but whilst looking at the exhaust design I found some more information about the...
BMW have decided we need another X model to join the ranks of the X1, X3, X4, X5 and X6. I have to admit, when I saw the photos for the X2 before it was launched, I didn’t like it. Something about it didn’t get me going.Part of this was a feeling of ‘X Overload’. Do we really need yet another X model?The X2 is built on...
In 1988 when the VN Commodore came out, I was working in a medium-sized town in New Zealand that will remain nameless. The local Ford dealer bought a brand-new VN Commodore, and told the locals via newspaper and radio ads to 'come and drive the Commodore, and then the EB Falcon' to compare them.The sales gimmick backfired as after...
I'm not going to beat around the bush ! It's finally alive !After what seems like an endless list of little issues I needed to get solved before we could start this engine, Chris from Prestige Tuning and Motorsport came and spent quite a lot of time with us going through wiring, sensors, testing injectors and ignition etc and doing...
Due to the lack of broad driver education in New Zealand, Drive Life contributor Rob Neil is here to talk about some of the common bad habits and issues that cause difficulties on the road.Please, share the links to these articles with others. If we can save one life with our series of road safety and driver information articles, it...
I had a chance to drive the 2017 BMW X3 xDrive30i when Fred was reviewing it, and I was not as impressed as he was. I had just been testing the Volvo XC60 T5 which I thought was a much better option for an entry level midsize SUV.With my expectations wavering, it was time to see what the top of the range X3 was like. BMW should not...
