There’s few people who would say the Toyota Corolla hasn’t been an iconic car for New Zealand – or more realistically, the whole world. It hasn’t been called ‘New Zealand’s Favourite Car’ for no reason.This year, Toyota New Zealand (TNZ) launched the 12th generation 2018 model, with much of the emphasis on assisted...
Mazda invited us to join them for a demonstration of their SkyActiv vehicle dynamics at the world famous snow farm in Queenstown. It would have been rude to ignore such an invite.The Drive up the mountainOur day started at 6am outside the lobby of the hotel. In front of us the team from Mazda had a fleet of CX-5’s, CX-8’s and...
With small SUVs making huge waves in the market, Jaguar had a problem; they didn’t have one.Then out came the E-PACE to fill the void. A few months back, we went along to the launch of the Jaguar E-PACE, and came away with mixed feelings. Only a week-long test was going to bring in a final verdict on Jaguar’s smallest SUV, and...
It's not often we get to review convertibles, maybe it's due to our location and the famous Windy Wellington weather. Most of them have been small sports cars that dont always fit well with taller drivers.However, when the words E-Class Cabriolet are spoken, you won't be squeezing into a dingy, this will be a land yacht. The...
On a wet Wellington day, we were invited to see the new Holden Acadia in the flesh at the home of the USA Ambassador, Scott Brown.I have to say part of the event was overshadowed by the ambassador, as he discussed some of his history including 35 years in the military (leaving as a Colonel) and also a US Senator. One of Ambassador...
Skoda is becoming a more and more popular brand in New Zealand with the Kodiaq which we reviewed last year taking our 2017 award for the Best Value Car of the Year. I was interested to see what the new Skoda Rapid Sport Spaceback was going to offer.The RangeThe Skoda Rapid has a somewhat small range compared to some other...
Welcome back.In this episode I'm going to cover mounting of the power steering, ride height control and ABS pumps. To be honest when I started this process I didn't really have a strict plan so there was a lot of standing around looking important and trying to figure out the best use of the space whilst still thinking about...
You’ve got to hand it to Holden, they’ve got big balls. At a time when diesel cars seem to be a dying genre, out pops the Commodore diesel.That’s not to say they’re alone – the excellent Mazda6 diesel is a wagon to be respected, but it seems that each new car launch we go to, diesels are either non-existent, or there’s...
With three cars in the small car segment, Holden New Zealand suggested we spend a day with them sampling their cars in this range; the Spark, Trax, and Astra.While many would question if the Astra is a small car, it did mean some time behind the wheel of three models. So why not?A quick flight to Auckland first, a quick briefing...
Last year we tested the $126,900 high spec Land Rover Discovery HSE TdV6 and found it to be a pretty impressive bit of kit. This year we have the opportunity to test the new limited edition Land Rover Discovery Td6 S Pioneer Edition, which is the first Discovery available on the market for under $100K, at $99,990.The RangeThe...
