Note: this event was shortly before the COVID-19 situation really started to happen.John tested the Camaro ZL1 recently, but the weather didn’t cooperate, and it bucketed down the whole time. Not optimum conditions for a rear-wheel drive supercharged V8. HSV took note of this, and invited a group of journalists to Hampton...
In what’s believed to be the first ever New Zealand virtual car launch, Mazda New Zealand have officially revealed their new CX-30 small SUV.The CX-30 is already available in Europe and has been selling well until recent world events slowed things down. You’ll be pleased to know that all Mazda dealers will be open from April...
A little late to the game, Mercedes-Benz finally launched its first full EV SUV, the EQC. Was it worth waiting for? Did Mercedes-Benz learn from the Jaguar I-PACE, Audi e-tron, and Tesla Model X?We always enjoy the latest from Mercedes-Benz and AMG here at DriveLife, so I’m desperately hoping that this car was going to be good, if...
It’s no secret I love the Alpine A110. It was without a doubt my favourite car I tested from 2019. It’s everything I love about cars in a fun, small, and relatively affordable blue package. The A110 proved to be everything a modern sports car should be. It’s more usable than a Lotus, less expensive than a Porsche, and not as wide...
When we went to the launch of the new Audi Q3, we really liked it. Dynamically it had an awesome chassis, a good ride and seemed incredibly refined.In that article, we mention how many excellent choices there are in the luxury small to medium SUV segment. Can the new Q3 hold its ground?Audi New Zealand sent us a top-spec 45TSFI...
New design upgrades and advanced safety features usher in a new generation of the Mitsubishi Mirage.The latest Mirage will enter the market as the safest of its lineage. New features including Lane Departure Warning (LDW), Forward Collision Mitigation (FCM) and a reversing camera ensure greater protection and confidence on the...
I’ve been lucky enough to familiarise myself with most of McLaren’s current lineup. The 570S Spider remains one of my favourite modern supercars, the 720S coupe is literally capable of warp speed, and now I’ve driven one without the roof. If I’m being perfectly honest all McLarens drive and feel the same, the only...
Have a think of how many diesel performance cars are left in the market. Audi have a couple of TDI powered S cars, BMW have a couple of fast diesel engines around, but that’s about it. What was once the promised engine combing big torque and even bigger range, diesel cars are slowly being phased out in favour of petrol-hybrids and...
Who doesn’t love a hot hatch? For hot hatch lovers, at last we get the latest Ford Fiesta ST. That’s not to say the last Fiesta ST was not a good car – far from it. But when I say we get it, well the first shipment sold out, and Ford are taking orders for the next.So the new model…Ford have taken away a piston, and given...
There’s no Redwood in Japan yet. They tried to bring the cool retro show over to Japan along with the help of SpeedHunters last year but had to cancel due to the severe lack of participants. Perhaps Japan isn’t quite ready for an American-based retro car show but that doesn’t mean there’s no appreciation of neo-classic cars in...
1969 put man on the moon, The Beatles recorded Abbey Road, and the Nissan Skyline GT-R was born. For five decades the car known as ‘Godzilla’ has been redefining the term ‘affordable performance’. The GT-R has always been, and should always be, accessible speed for the masses. Carrying on the traditional boxy sedan shape, the...
The previous Vantage, you know the pretty one introduced from 2004, was a roaring success for Aston Martin. During its 13 year lifespan, over 21,000 Vantages were produced. These included those with V8s and V12, manual and autos, coupe and roadsters. 21,000 might not sound like a big number in the grand scheme of things but for a small...
It’s Tuesday, so that must mean another new SUV is being released. All joking aside, we’re a fan of all of the Skoda SUV range. Each one has that little bit of extra something that makes them special, and enjoyable.But Škoda NZ decided they needed a compact SUV to complete their range, and so we have the Kamiq coming to New...
There aren’t many new cars that get me all hot and excited. They’re all pretty much the same, few cars stand out from the crowd with distinct personalities. I’d say there’s probably only a dozen or so brand new cars I’m vaguely interested in, the Lexus LC500 being one of them. I remember when the production car was first...
We’ve always liked the Outlander PHEV at DriveLife – in fact, all of the Outlanders are pretty good, with the PHEV having that plug-in hybrid edge over its siblings. For the uninitiated, PHEV stands for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle. Basically it means you have a larger battery pack than a car that’s only a hybrid, and you can...
MELBOURNE – The Holden brand will be retired from sales in Australia and New Zealand and local design and engineering operations will wind down by 2021, General Motors (NYSE: GM) announced today. Maven and Holden Financial Services operations will also wind down in Australia.GM International Operations Senior Vice President Julian...
The redesigned 2020 Civic Hatch gets fresh styling & upgraded interior, and now the sporty RS grade is back in the line-up, including Honda Sensing Safety Suite.The full suite of Honda Sensing Active Safety technologies have been added to the Civic RS Sport, including the High Beam Support System, while the RS Sport Sensing...
It’s regularly the biggest selling small SUV in New Zealand. Sharp pricing, good features and well-produced TV ads all help the Mitsubishi ASX to climb the small SUV charts. There’s been no chassis updates to this model, the changes are based around the front and rear facelift, a switch of tyres to help reduce road noise,...
Mazda’s newest snazzy crossover, the CX-30, is due on New Zealand shores in March so in preparation of the CX-30’s New Zealand launch, Mazda Japan kindly gave me the keys to on in Japan for a few days to get a taste of what it’s like. The variant I got was the 2.0-litre Skyactiv-G petrol with AWD and, wait for it, a...
The all-new Ford Puma will go on sale in New Zealand in the second half of 2020.Sourced from Europe, Ford says the Puma is an all-new urban SUV with fresh design, practicality and technology. Arriving alongside the new-generation 2020 Ford Escape, together the Puma and Escape will bring Kiwi customers greater choice through Ford’s...
