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...
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...
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...
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...
When the Lexus RC F first burst on to the stage with its thumping old-school 5-litre V8 as a Japanese alternative to the likes of the BMW M4, Mercedes-AMG C63 Coupe, and Audi RS5 it was always seen as a left-field choice. Reviewers said it was a bit of a blunt compared to its Teutonic rivals with its weight being the biggest...
Let’s play an automotive word association game. If I say ‘EV’ what car comes to mind? You probably said Tesla or Leaf. Alright next one, what if I said ‘sports car’? A Porsche 911 perhaps, Mazda MX-5? Easy enough. Right, last one. What about ‘hybrid’? I’m sure 9/10 of you would’ve said Prius and for good reason. Ever...
The V12 Aston Martin DB11 is dead. If you want a DB11 you’re stuck wit the AMG-sourced 4-litre twin-turbo V8. That’s not the worst thing in the world, it’s still a wonderful engine and Aston’s exhaust tuning still makes it sound quintessentially Aston. Except, that’s not entirely true because the DB11 AMR exists....
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