Innehållsförteckning för February 2018 från NZ4WD

Building on its blue-chip legacy with the confidence of a company very much at the top of its game, Jeep has finally revealed its significantly upgraded 2018 model year Wrangler. “Jeep has always represented the ultimate in capability and open-air freedom, and our all-new 2018 Wrangler protects that important legacy and takes it into the future,” said Mike Manley, Head of Jeep Brand – FCA Global. “The all-new Wrangler is instantly recognisable as a Jeep, staying true to the original, yet it is better in every way – delivering even more rugged capability, more ride comfort, more fuel efficiency courtesy of several advanced powertrain options, more interior comfort, more safety and more technology.” At the official launch (at the Los Angeles Auto Show) in late November last year Jeep confirmed…

The latest NZ 4x4 Trials Championship series kicked off in style at Awakeri in the Eastern Bay of Plenty on Sunday October 22 last year. Congrats go to overall winner Aaron Guest and navi plus all the many and varied class winners on the day. We sent along ace motorsports photographer Greg Henderson of Photography in Motion to chronicle the day and – apart from a big smile on his face – this is what he came back with! Enjoy! RESULTS  RND 1 2017/18 NZ 4X4 TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES AWAKERI BAY OF PLENTY SUNDAY OCTOBER 22 2017. 1ST OVERALL: Aaron Guest A CLASS 1. William Jeffery 2. Caleb Adlam 3. Daniel Howat C CLASS 1. Phil Conwell 2. Rhys O’Brien 3. Darrell Osborne 4. Nathan Fogden 5. Ian Templeton D…

January 20th 2018 NZFWDA National 4x4 Trial – Round Three Hawke's Bay; A National 4x4 Trial is based upon the ability of competitors to drive their vehicles over difficult terrain, including hill climbs, water courses, mud bogs, up steep hills, over rocks, ruts, along banks and a speed section. Open to the public and spectator friendly, the NZ National 4x4 Trials Series comprises of one-day events hosted by NZFWDA affiliated clubs around the country This round will be hosted by Hawkes Bay 4WD Club. For more details visit; nz4x4trials.co.nz/calendar-and-results/ Sunday 11th February 2018 Wairarapa 4WD Club Public Day Fundraiser. Hosted by Wairarapa 4WD Club. Family Drive with privileged access through Stations within the Tinui area fundraising in Support of Life Flight. $100.00 per vehicle 8.00am start. Please register if interested…

Having opted for the Adventurous group I parked up and waited in line... where we were all given a cattle tag with a number for each vehicle on it so we could be checked in and out of the area. The first stop was to open a gate to allow us to pass the Magazine Area, before leaving the gravel road for the first hill climb of the day. Once all (but one) had climbed the first hill we continued along the crest, before dropping down a steepish grade onto a gravel road, albeit not for long as we were soon to head north again on a track. A good challenge This was around a hill and down through a creek crossing with a steep pull out, before the first…

The weather forecast on the Thursday in November was not great for a weekend of cutting back on the Tongariro Forest’s 42 Traverse route. However, weeks of planning was in place for the annual cut back, so it was going to go ahead anyway. Friends of 42 Traverse Inc. had co-ordinated with the Department of Conservation (DoC), who administer the Tongariro Forest to allow the use of 4WDs on the route before the official opening day of December 1 and to use the DoC Health and Safety paper work for the project. A DoC staff member attended the Saturday morning safety briefing at 9.30am before we all headed into the forest. The turnout from the 4WD community was again excellent, with over forty people from around the North Island. The…

For 2017 the competitor’s base was at the Maramarua Ruby Club with the two competition sites also in the area, with the property for the night stages being a totally new property to events. Again this year, the club has dropped its Manukau Class after poor numbers last year and total competitor numbers across the remaining three classes were also significantly down over earlier years. This is hard to understand why considering there has been a lack of similar events to compete in during the last couple of years. For 2017 there were originally 18 signed up but two were a no show for various reasons. The remaining made up of three in Challenge Class, two in Club Class and 11 in Modified. I do wonder if the lack of…

The end of one year and beginning of the next is always a time of change. Racers refettle their trucks, other trucks arrive from overseas or roll out of workshops here in New Zealand, and it’s no different for our team. The GT Radials Ford Falcon is no more. It’s done great work over almost a decade now, and the highlights are fondly remembered – class titles at regional and national level and an NZ1 at the hands of my son Owen. This, remember, was the first New Zealand build ProLite design to grid up in Class 8. And it is still one of only two four-cylinder turbo ProLite designs in the country. So we must be doing something right. But now it’s time to rethink and reanimate some ideas…

In a new agreement jointly announced late last year, General Motors Holden and Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) have agreed to a future which will see the Colorado 4x4 Crew Cab ute replacing Commodore as the iconic Australian tuning company’s base performance-upgrade model. A wide-ranging rejig of the relationship between the two companies will also see HSV import, convert to RHD and sell in Australia and here Chevrolet Silverados utes and Camaro sports coupes. But the all-new Colorado SportsCat, a derivation of the volume-selling Colorado 4x4 Crew Cab utility, will be the first fruit of the groundbreaking new deal to go on sale here. The Colorado SportsCat features a raft of styling and chassis enhancements that the company believes will position it as the most advanced sports 4x4 on the market.…

The Manukau Four Wheel Drive Club had their first official meeting on October 02 1979 when, members of what was then known as the Northern Branch of the Waikato Four Wheel Drive Club, met at the Civil Defence building in Manukau City near where Rainbow’s End is sited. Prior to this, this group of guys and gals (yes, even back then the females were actively involved) had been part of the Waikato Club but due to the introduction of Carless Days on July 1st 1979 travel to Waikato events became restricted and was the catalyst to form their own club closer to home. That eventful October ‘79 meeting was attended by 25 members (with one apology) and the decision to form their own club was made. The minutes of that…

The two models are based on the heavily customised Hilux Gladiator Concept ute Toyota NZ showed at Fieldays last year and will join a third ‘new’ local Hilux – the SR5 Cruiser- in the company’s extended 2018 model offering. The SR5 Cruiser will be available in both 2WD and 4WD Pre-Runner configuration and is significant for a number of reasons. Toyota sees it as its top-of-the-line ‘Level 4’ offering in the vein of the Wildtrak version of Ford’s Ranger and the Z71 version of the Holden Colorado, and as such it will replace the SR5 LTD in the Hilux line-up. Effectively it is a simple styling and re-spec exercise, but so impressed are local execs with the new nose and grille that these will be adapted across the complete range…

A quick flick back through the files confirms what Jason Frost suspected. The five-cylinder, 3.2 litre turbo-diesel engine in a showroom stock Ford Ranger ute produces 147kW of peak power (at 3000rpm) and 470Nm of peak torque (from 1500 to 2750rpm). We both agree – me from the perspective of an occasional user, he from that of an owner as well as a performance tuner – that it’s a fine engine, arguably still very much the best of the current bunch. Yet it doesn’t take long behind the wheel of his daily-driven development version - a couple of power pole lengths at the most up the quiet country road he lives on - to realise that ex-factory it is only delivering part of its (very real) performance/driveability/ economy potential. Starting…

In the December 2017 issue of the mag, Editor Ross mentioned roads that have never happened. There’s long been pressure to put roads through the Heaphy Track (Takaka to the West Coast), from Haast to Milford (Cascade to Hollyford), or the Routeburn Track (Lake Wakatipu to Hollyford). All have similar pros and cons depending on your point of view. The tourist sector wants ways to get more tourists around more quickly and efficiently so they can roll more cash through the tills. Locals want the employment and better access to improve their lives. Other locals and the general eco/conservation/keep-NZ-green bloc wish to preserve the untouched landscapes these roads, and their construction, would disturb. I’m on the fence here – my petrolhead side likes to roam the country exploring, camping and…

By my count this was the thirtieth round of the Central Zone Club Truck Challenge (CTC) held since it all began in 2011. Mark Watchorn is still aboard controlling the series and rules have had very few changes since the start, a good indication that they were basically right. For Round 3 we headed to Orongorongo Station, south of Wainuiomata a venue which Wellington Jeep Club has used before. The week before Jeep Club members Bruce, Don, Tony, Tom, Jess, Glen, Dave and Andrew, and Cruiser Club members Marty and Hayden all helped to peg out the hazards. We had a couple of novices join us on this day and they picked up the basics straight away but the coaching the other competitors gave them was cool so here’s another…

It was service time on the Discovery V8 once again and a check of the front wheel bearings revealed a little too much play in the front left and needed to be remedied. Wheel bearings are one those things we tend to ignore until the wheel collapses or we jack up the vehicle to physically check them as they do at WoF time. At the time I had just returned from a weekend outing where the vehicle had been subjected to some deep wading and water holes which is one sure way to contaminate wheel bearings. Wheel bearings generate heat and wading into deep cold rivers and streams gives that sudden cooling aspect of the hubs and creates a vacuum behind the hub seal and can suck water into the…

Jeep is set for its biggest ever year here and across the Tasman with two all-new volume models and a never-seen-before niche performance model. Set to lead the way – numbers-wise anyway – is the all-new Compass SUV, unveiled with some flair and not a little US-style pizzazz at a glitzy function in Melbourne’s Docklands district in early December. New Compass will be first to arrive here – by the end of the first quarter – with Kiwis being offered the choice of three different models, a base 2WD Latitude with an RRP of $39,990, the first 4WD model, the Limited with an RRP of $49,990, and the range-topping $54,990 RRP Trailhawk 4WD. Local company boss David Smitherman was bullish about volume for the new Compass, which he believes will…

Salt Lake City-based electric vehicle manufacturer Nikola Powersports gets our vote for finally finding a suitable use for all-electric powertrains, with this the Nikola Zero UTV. The Nikola Zero UTV is an all-electric, 400-volt plug-in, off-road and potentially street ready vehicle which was set to go on sale in the US in January this year. With prices starting at $US35,000, the Zero is one serious piece of kit with two performance options; 316kW (415hp) & 413 (555hp) and three battery options: 75kWh, 100kWh and 125kWh, with the latter giving it more battery storage than a Tesla P100D, at a fraction of the price. The 125kWh battery package can deliver 320km (200 miles) of range in 4x4 off-road mode. According to Nikola, the Zero will be the first UTV to come…

MagMate magnetic holders Fed up with your phone or GPS sliding around the vehicle on long journeys and getting underfoot or lost under the seat? The answer is something as simple as holding them in place with a magnet. The new Aerpro MagMate range of premium magnetic holders has just been released in New Zealand by automotive and marine accessory specialist, Griffiths Equipment and, like many good ideas, it works because it is so simple. Maker Aerpro uses a very thin metal plate that has an adhesive side that sticks to mobile devices with or without a case. As well as being applied directly to the device, the plate is slim enough to be adhered to the battery under the battery cover, between the phone and the case or to…

Since 1999, when it launched its first X5 model, BMW has sold more than 5,400,000 X vehicles, making the move into SUVs an unarguably good one. When the company launched the smaller X3 in 2003, however, it wasn’t quite as convincing as the X5, with odd looks and poor quality making it decidedly un-BMW like. That changed somewhat with a quick facelift in 2006 and any ‘un-BMW-like’ thoughts were banished entirely in 2010 by a far better looking and much higher quality second-generation model. Now, in 2018, it is time for an all-new third-generation X3, and (Not surprisingly given the reception to it) BMW has made the new ‘un even more like an X5 than ever before. There is a very good reason for this – the luxury SUV segment…

Run under the direction of the Offlimits Charitable Trust (whose mission is to raise money to support the health and welfare of servicemen and women) this event gives four-wheel-drive enthusiasts the opportunity to access land that is otherwise ‘off limits.’ The event is named after David Stirling, the legendary leader of the SAS and leader of daring vehicle mounted raids deep in the deserts of North Africa during World War II. And so it was that 55 four-wheel-drive vehicles descended on the central North Island township at the beginning of December eagerly awaiting what lay ahead on Saturday morning. But first the formalities in the form of a safety briefing including the all-important one on Unexploded Ordinates (UXOs). The participants had registered to be in one of four groups; Club,…

Leaving Wellington on SH1 we turned off at Hunterville to head cross-country to the Tangiwai Memorial just out of Waiouru on SH49. The run across to Turakina Valley was an easy drive through a rugged and remote landscape on sealed roads, with the tail end of some recent wet weather making for changeable conditions with rain and sunny weather, often at the same time. Very full rivers and a number of slips, especially on the unsealed upper section of the Turakina Valley Rd made for more interesting driving, especially when pulling off the soft shoulder after stopping to let everyone enjoy the spectacularly full waterfalls. While I have done this route several times, it was new to my passengers, making a nice experience for me to see this remote and…

So there you go, another 4x4 Rally done and dusted. The weather did its usual leading up to the day, with plenty of rain the week before, meaning some last minute alterations had to be made to account for the saturation of the hazards. Come the day, though, there were some light showers in the morning but they had cleared by the afternoon to be quite pleasant for the spectators. It is great to see that the event is still well supported, some old faces with old trucks, some old faces with new trucks, some new faces with new trucks, some new faces with old trucks. There were 15 rally competitors and this year a new ‘Winch Recovery’ class with five entrants. Simple format The format for the day was simple;…