Innehållsförteckning för September 2020 från NZ4WD

Rightly or wrongly a trip to Cape York (aka ‘the teeep’ as in the northern-most ‘tip’ of Australia) is on the Bucket List of many a Kiwi four-wheeler. Getting there – not to mention back again – is not particularly easy from this side of the ditch. But as long-time contributor to NZ4WD magazine, Kevin Isemonger, proved in his feature story on a successful ‘assault’ last year, it can be done. You just have to have the will, a credit card with a decent sort of limit on it, and a certain ‘way’ when it comes to negotiating bonnet-high water crossings like this one at Nolan’s Brook….…

Like every other US – plus any number of European – car makers, Jeep’s parent company (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles) has found itself playing catch-up, as upstart electric car start-up Tesla steals a march on all the existing players in the global car marketplace. I’ve no doubt that Jeep – as well as others – is a long way down the track of electric assistance or even full replacement of its current range of petrol and diesel engines. Rather that throwing another slick, wind-cheating, all-electric ‘showcar’ at us like an earnest Hyundai or ‘me-to’ Kia, Jeep has played to its strengths and come up with the exact opposite; a production-ready 6.4-litre V-8 Wrangler Rubicon 392 Concept. Full report next month!…

Four years of anticipation of what the Land Rover Defender replacement would be should be (or shouldn’t be) ended for Kiwis in late July with the arrival of the new Defender on our shores. Obviously, anyone remotely interested in 4WDs and four-wheeling would have seen the photos and read the comments from diehard Land Rover fans of the green oval; with many saying it’s not like the old Defender. So are they right or wrong? NZ4WD headed along to the official launch in NZ at the end of July for a first look and drive of the new Defender 110. The big question on my mind was, is it worthy of being part of the Land Rover family and – perhaps even more importantly, live up to its storied name?…

What gives indeed? Like many of you I am guilty of a sort of institutionalised bias against motor vehicles designed and built in China. As if, because they haven’t been in the car game for the 100+ years of Mercedes-Benz or Ford, or they don’t have the glorious competition history and back story of Ferrari or Alfa Romeo that they can’t be as good. Try telling that to someone like Elon Musk of electric car industry mover and shaker Tesla, or the Swede, Christian von Koenigsegg, who has carved out a successful niche in the global hyper-car sector with his eponymously named creations and, well, I’m sure you get my point. The bottom line these days is that it doesn’t matter where you are from, or how long you have…

As many of you may be aware, we’re wintering in Marahau, close to the Abel Tasman National Park. It’s a fantastic spot but a long way from our favorite Canterbury High Country valleys and Central Otago. What I tend to do is go away for a few weeks at a time and try to meet up with as many people as I can and then come back. I think I’m getting too old to drive 10 hours each way, just for a weekend trip! Anyway, a good friend of mine, Calvin Johnson, and I were talking about doing a weekend trip and getting some trucks from Christchurch to join in. We talked about Mt Patriarch and a few other routes and then Calvin suggested heading up into the Leatham Valley…

A Titan tray from Rola adds significantly more carrying capacity to any vehicle, especially for off-road adventures, yet adds little extra visual impact, weight or turbulence. Rola’s new low mount system allows the base of the Titan tray to remain fixed in place and ready for use, making it especially effective on the shorter roofs of utes where bulkier mounts and bars have a much more dramatic impact on the vehicle’s proportions. They are also ideal for SUVs when a full length rack is not needed. Flat tray to full basket The Titan tray can also be converted from a low profile flat tray to a full basket tray with the addition of separate sturdy bolt-on side rails, sold in pairs for any or all of the four sides, which…

Rugged Valley seat covers have been used and abused in the roughest testing grounds by fishermen, hunters, tradies, sparkies, four-wheel drivers and weekend warriors. Tried and true, Rugged Valley seat covers have survived the heaviest punishment and have been put to test in harsh New Zealand conditions. Rugged Valley seat covers are 100 percent waterproof, tailor-made to fit your specific vehicle right here in New Zealand. From the staunch Ford Ranger Raptor, to the classic new Suzuki Jimny, or the new workhorse Toyota Hiace vans, Rugged Valley has got you covered. Available for all utes, trucks, vans, tractors, excavators, quads and ATVs, with a no-nonsense two-year guarantee. Hear it from hard-working Dan, who recently reviewed our product: “Great seat covers. Only brought the front set for a start, was so…

Has ‘normality’ returned to four-wheeling, or have the side effects of Covid-19 made changes to our recreation? A 4WD club I belong to, ran a survey of its members in early May that asked if they thought their four wheeling would be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. A large majority indicated that they thought it would not change their recreation. As I write this, the interest in ‘getting out there’ seems to support those views, but I suspect that there may still be some whose situation has been impacted financially and will need to cut back their spending on four-wheeling. I have previously briefly commented on some environmental effects of those ‘lockdown’ restrictions over almost three months and there is bound to be vegetation growth on many routes used for…

Hah, some things never change when you jump into any Jeep Wrangler, or Wrangler-based Jeep; case-in-point the still very new here, Gladiator Utility. Open the ‘flat-pack-style’ quick removable driver’s door and if it raining, or has recently been, raining, watch as a steady stream of water flows from the vestigial roof guttering just where your right knee is going to be as you alight. That’s one common familial trait. Another – unique, I’m assuming, to right-hand-drive versions, is that, because the broad foot brake pedal sits cheek-by-jowl against the transmission tunnel there is not only no room for a typical wedge-style foot brace itself, there is bugger-all room for your left foot period! Then there is the way the thing steers. If – for instance – you don’t drive a…

Idon’t know about you, but for me – at least – my journey to Cape York started over 30 years ago. Back in the 1980s I subscribed to an Australian 4WD magazine called ‘Overlander’. I used to read this Journal from cover to cover every month. My favourite articles were great adventures into the Australian interior – the most memorable being the trips up the legendary ‘Old Telegraph Track’ to Cape York. Names like ‘Nolans Brook’, ‘Palm Creek’, the bridge over ‘Cyprus Creek’, the Jardine River and of course ‘Gun-Shot’ were legendary for me. NOT EASY! Of course, reading about someone else doing the trip, is very different to doing it yourself. The logistics, for a start, are huge. Naturally number one was how to get there? No Rental Car…

Ultra-sleek, boasting a super low mounting profile and lightweight design, the all-new BASE Rack form ARB provides unmatched simplicity, flexibility and personalisation in your roof rack set-up. Setting a new benchmark in strength and integration, the BASE Rack incorporates a revolutionary dovetail mounting system that makes attaching and removing loads and accessories easier, faster and more secure. The Rack Combining its fully-welded construction with a unique vertical cross beam design, the BASE Rack boasts a strength which rids the need of additional sub-frame supports; the result is a super-low roof rack offering improved clearance and sleek vehicle integration. The Range Available in a variety of lengths and widths to suit a growing range of 4WDs, you can configure the BASE Rack as a flat platform or add guard rails to…

With over 50 years experience in building suspension components, Ironman 4x4 is well qualified to explain just how shocks and springs are made. After deciding to bring out a replacement kit for a vehicle the standard suspension is assessed, and then decisions made as to the lift height and shock absorber rates required. Whether a coil spring is made progressive or linear depends on what the manufacturer has originally specified for the vehicle. Ironman typically brings out a range of spring rates from A to E, with A being the softest and E for the heaviest loads. Most 4WDers will go for the B and C springs which are designed for a slight lift and a heavier load than standard. The lift can come from a taller spring, but also…

My previous instalment in this series took readers as far as Moscow. We’d found (just) enough diesel to make it across Uzbekistan’s fascinating ancient desert region, then back into Kazakhstan and again into Russia (for the third time!). We then spent a very enjoyable four days in Moscow. It’s a wonderful city to explore and we could easily have enjoyed a longer stay here, but we needed to press on. And so, on Friday 13th December 2019, we departed Moscow bound for St Petersburg, feeling fortunate to be among the first motorists to use Russia’s new 130km/h M11 Motorway. This would make reaching St Petersburg the same day relatively easy, or so we thought. We nearly made it, but then ... disaster struck! SOME BACKGROUND FIRST I previously indicated that…

Cameron Raupi & Paula Burnett  Cameron Raupi and partner Paula Burnett like nothing better than stacking up a few ‘day’s owing from their respective employers and heading north, south, east or west from their Taupo base for a little Overlanding in their late-model Nissan Patrol. In an email with these (as well as several other) pics attached, Cameron told us that “For our latest 1750km trip we started by heading down the Napier side of the Kawekas/Ruahines with a few hikes and hut stays along the way. We then did North Range Road with the Wairarapa 4WD Club. Then Takapari Road with our Manawatu 4WD Club friends. From there we made our way from Palmerston North to New Plymouth via the Surf Highway then on to Dawson Falls before making our…

Your 4s  Our monthly feature showcases 4WDs doing just about anything except rolling over or burning! We will award a grand prize of a set of four Kumho 4x4 tyres in the NZ4WD Annual issue. This contest is open to all readers who are not professional photographers. IMPORTANT: Photographs must have been taken by the person entering them, or have the photographer’s written permission. Email your digital images and a detailed caption to: editor@NZ4WD.co.nz Send your prints and detailed captions to: Your4s with Kumho, PO Box 65-092, Mairangi Bay, Auckland 0754. Be sure to include your postal address! Submitting photos The basics: as with any photo, there’s no substitute for an image that’s sharp – in focus and free of camera shake. It should be well-exposed. Size and type The…

With a fully electric derivative of LDV’s T60 ute set to go into production in China in the second quarter of 2021, local importer, Great Lake Motor Distributors believes it will be the first EV ute to go on sale in the New Zealand market. In 2019 lDV was the first manufacturer to bring a full-size EV van to the market with the EV80. The soon-to-be launched LDV eDeliver 3, a purpose-built EV van which will offer up to 6.3 cubic metres of cargo space, will land here in Q4 2020, with a pilot vehicle due to arrive within the coming weeks. Following on from eDeliver 3, LDV will land the eDeliver 9, an all-new full-size rear-wheel-drive van based on the forthcoming diesel-powered Deliver 9. Then, all going well, the…

The Desert Defenders Off Road Club was formed by three families from the greater Ohakune area specifically to run the hugely popular Winter Woolies 4WD Safari events. These were held annually in the Ohakune/ Waiouru area incorporating access to the Waiouru Army training ground in winter (hence the requirement for your ‘winter woolies.’) However the team behind the event have finally called it a day citing among other things “family and work commitments making it increasingly time consuming to organise and run the event.” Kandy Mott, the current President of the club and main administration organiser, has recently written to all previous participants, supporters and sponsors advising of the decision to no longer run this tag-along safari. The main people behind the event were Robert and Priscilla Stout, Marty and…

Like many of us during the recent Covid-19 lockdown, Andrew Beaven from Christchurch probably spent too much time surfing the internet indulging in retail therapy. I know, I don’t mind admitting that I bought a few things; DARCHE swag, mattress, a couple of sleeping bags, a set of Maxtrax XTREMES and 60 Litre Engel fridge freezer. But I really ‘needed’ all of this, right!? Andrew, a self-confessed newbie to Overlanding, was much the same, stumbling across something that he just couldn’t resist and that I certainly, for one, just couldn’t afford. To that end this is not really a truck build story, at least not by the owner, but it’s an incredible story and one that merits being told. Yep, it was on TradeMe! What Andrew found on TradeMe was…

ECU-SHOP New Zealand is the trusted name in modern 4WD diesel tuning. NZ4WD Editor Ross MacKay explains why. OK, one thing that we as 4WD enthusiasts/aficionados/call us what you will, can pretty much agree upon is that ‘the internet’ has changed our lives. Largely – though obviously not universally – for the better, as well. Whether it is for business or pleasure, Kiwis are, apparently, spending an average two hours and 22 minutes on the internet each and every day. Not only that, but research recently published – where else but – on the internet, points to the fact that 88 percent of people who made a purchase either on-line or in a bricks and mortar store had done extensive research on what was available when, where, and for how…

Auckland 4x4 Performance has hit the ground running after we were all thrown into the Covid-19 Lockdown. The time spent in Lockdown seemed to give people time to think about possibilities and potential kit-outs for their 4WDs however. We had a large number of new builds to finish after the lockdown and we are very pleased with the results. We also managed to complete our showroom reception make-over – stage one. This has been an overdue process and the team and customers have been pleased with the near finished product. We have managed to tie in our new exterior signage makeover with a professional reception showroom. I would like to thank all of our customers that have visited and commented on the changes and a big thank you to you…

There’s a common belief that ‘off-road’ suspension is simply a taller version of factory supplied OE suspension. Depending on the brand you choose, it may well be just that! However, a properly engineered suspension lift is so much more. Lifting a vehicle by raising its suspension height changes the vehicle’s centre of gravity which can have a substantial effect on how the vehicle handles, corners or brakes. Depending on the suspension design, it can also have an adverse effect on driveline angles which can lead to vibration issues and component failure. However, engineered correctly, the right suspension system will address these issues, whilst providing an improved ride and weight carrying ability over a variety of road types both on and off road. Major advantage The major advantage of lifting a…

After fighting the traffic out of Wellington this particular Saturday morning, our first destination was the settlement of Tangimoana on the southern side of the mouth of the Rangitikei River. Just past this very pleasant-looking settlement the road took us through some sand dunes, deteriorating into a sandy track down onto the beach. The fine weather had brought out hordes of trail bikes, quads and 4WDs, so we headed a few kilometres down the beach to get some peace while we enjoyed lunch, entertained by a few people out for a horse ride trying to persuade their horses to jump a small driftwood log. The horses really didn’t seem to understand how to adjust their gait to be correctly positioned for the jump, but certainly knew how to stop in…

Having run for over 40 years, the Ashley Forest Rallysprint is a true Kiwi classic event. In the 1980s it was a regular commitment – a few brews, a barbecue and an afternoon spent watching the pretty well produced TV programme. It’s close to my place too – just outside Rangiora in North Canterbury. The rallysprint features a snippet of the infamous ‘Mt Grey Road’, with a short 1.7km blast up and down the hill. Over the years, winners have included New Zealand national rally champions Neil Allport, Tony Teesdale, and the late Possum Bourne, together with other big names in the sport including Alister McRae. Last year’s winner, WRC star Hayden Paddon, smashed the previous Sloan Cox record on his final run. This year, Paddon is set to return…

There don’t seem to be any statistics for New Zealand or even Australia, but driver distraction is estimated to be a factor in around a third of all road collisions in Europe each year, yet manufacturers continue to put technology into their vehicles which are more of a distraction to drivers than texting on your phone. The modern vehicle is full of creature comforts and technology, supposedly to improve our motoring experience, especially those with infotainment systems and driver assist features which are accessed via a touch screen usually in the centre dash. These touch screens usually replace the many switches, dials and buttons that controlled such things as radio (volume and station) or climate control settings and much more. However, a study from IAM RoadSmart (Institute of Advanced Motorists)…