Innehållsförteckning för May 2022 från NZ4WD

The whippings will continue until morale improves. Clean Car tax, fuel prices, food prices, state highways with surfaces like corduroy, a wounded economy that seems headed toward recession. Happy times for 4WD owners. As petrol clustered around $3/litre, the traffic to price monitor app/sites doubled overnight as people started to realise some retailers are more focussed on prices and margins than others. After the howls of outrage started to reach a peak that threatened to affect its popularity the Government (grudgingly?) agreed to a cut in fuel taxes. Three months at a slightly lower price. But while we got this temporary reduction in the tax on petrol grades; there was no relief for the many 4WD owners who have diesel engines. Likewise, New Zealand relies on medium-heavy truck infrastructure to…

❝[Haval] has kept pace with the latest safety standards. ❞ The Haval H6 has gained a five-star ANCAP safety rating following completion of the latest round of testing. The 2020-2022 ratings are the strictest in the system’s history. ANCAP Chief Executive Officer, Carla Hoorweg says the H6 performed well across all areas of assessment, achieving solid scores for its protection of adult occupants, children, pedestrians and cyclists. It also performed well for its ability to actively avoid or reduce the effects of a range of potential crashes through its onboard safety systems. “This is an impressive achievement. The H6 is GWM’s first new SUV model for a number of years. Delivering a five-star vehicle to the market, against ANCAP’s latest 2022 protocols, demonstrates the brand has kept pace with the…

There aren’t many 4WDs that justify the use of the well-worn cliché ‘iconic’. The Original Jeep, the Land Rover, Nissan’s Patrol, Toyota’s Land Cruiser – and the Hummer. Over the past three decades New Zealand has seen – through official channels and private imports – every version of the mighty Hummer, the civilian version of the US military’s famous workhorse. Hummers were first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. In 1998 Hummer was bought by General Motors which added the smaller H2 and H3 versions alongside the original H1. It was discontinued in 2010, a victim of the 2007-2009 Global Financial Crisis. GM kept the name, and Hummer returned as a sub-brand in 2021 with two models: an electric pickup truck…

The V8 Supercars has its Ford Ranger Raptor chase vehicle to deliver emergency crews to crash sites. Now Motorsport Australia has added the Nissan PRO-4X Warrior to its trackside presence. The vehicle will be used to access crash sites and get races back to ‘green light’ as quickly and efficiently as possible. The Nissan Navara PRO-4X Warrior was launched in 2021. It is the flagship of the Navara range. This vehicle was locally developed for its recovery role by a leading automotive-engineering company in Australia.…

A wide range of 4WD events are still being impacted by the Government’s Covid response. Though some are able to continue, and others managed to slot in their outings before the ‘traffic lights’ turned red, there are now a number that are being postponed or even cancelled. Safari and tag-along events are hit hard, because of the 100-person limit imposed under the red light; some sport events can go ahead; others can only go ahead without spectators. Check the calendar here, and if in doubt make direct contact with the event organisers. 23 APRIL 2022 Offroad racing national championship Round 1 Hosted by Palmerston North. Short Course. www.oranz.co.nz MAY 13 – 14 Mainland Winch Challenge Round 1 Alexandra Hosted by Central Otago Club. The sport for the mud-flingers among the…

Every time an old 4WD is fired up it puts a smile on its owner’s face. Sometimes it’s a smile of relief, but a smile nonetheless.  Modern 4x4s? They are everything that a 35 or 40-year-old 4WD isn’t: reliable, capable and supremely comfortable for the long haul, meaning it’s possible to crank out a 1,000km trip in a day and step out fresh and ready for a cleansing soft drink, not bent like a pretzel and needing to be removed from the vehicle using an engine crane. But what if it was possible to have both? To have that 4WD cake and eat it too; an old school classic 4WD that not only looks amazing but uses modern engineering and materials to upgrade the classic in all the right ways? …

The Kingone winch range covers a wide variety of applications. Start with ATV and UTV use on the farm, where Kingone’s small winches are rated for 3,000lbs to 4,000lbs. Moving forward there is the KDS-8-SR 8,000lbs, well-suited for small off-road or farm vehicles, like Suzuki’s Jimny ute. Moving up to modern 4WD utes and SUVs there are a wide range of IP68 rated winches from the 9,500lbs Raptor to the 13,000lb Orca. The Kingone winches have been designed to have the lowest current draw on the market but to offer users some of the fastest line speeds. Coupled with a dual cone braking system, the winches deliver load holding in excess of their pull rating, which makes for a safe and efficient winch that will tackle most recovery tasks. There…

Woodhill, welcome back. On Queen’s Birthday Weekend the epic 100-miler returns to the calendar and the championship. It’s going to be a special race too – Tony McCall is aiming to match and then beat Ian Foster’s race win tally to become the ‘winningest’ driver on the Woodhill trophy. He will be doing a lot of overtaking slower cars to do that on a relatively short loop. The rest of the field might want to clean their rear-view mirrors as he looms up in that V8 unlimited class beast of his. The Woodhill ended up cancelled last year, a victim of Covid lockdowns and Covid response ‘levels’. But here we go, on a new course created at the Auckland Off Road Adventure Park. Apparently the organisers are going for an…

Things are about to get interesting in the full-size pickup market. Ford’s mighty F-150 will be on sale in Australia by mid-2023, raising the prospect of the Blue Oval’s big pickup also hitting NZ roads. Ford Australia has engaged RMA Automotive to convert new F150s to right hand drive. The trucks will be sold in Ford’s top-end Lariat and XLT trim specifications and will be powered by the company’s EcoBoost 3.5-litre V6 engine. The F-150 is America’s top-selling vehicle, with 726,400 units sold in 2020. Andrew Birkic, President and CEO, Ford Australia and New Zealand, says the F-series is built to work hard and play harder. “We’ve listened hard to fans and dealers and found a way to bring F-150 to Australia. As the pinnacle of ‘Built Ford Tough’, it…

Not road-tested, just admired. This one’s not even a ‘scoop’ or a ‘coming soon to your nearest dealer’. This is the first Ram 1500 TRX Hellcat in New Zealand. It is currently the only Hellcat in New Zealand, and it is one of the very few right-hand-drive TRX Hellcats in the world. Yes, it’s impressive and no, you can’t buy one. Not right now anyway. Will it even fit in the garage? No, it may be necessary to build a new one. There is one word to describe the look and spec of this full-size pickup: muscular. The numbers are impressive. Ram’s new TRX off-road pickup is powered by a supercharged 6.2-litre Hemi V-8 that produces 523kW (702 bhp) at 6,100rpm and 881Nm (649lb-ft) of torque at 4,800 rpm. Out-of-the-box…

Next generation petrol technology is coming for Jeep and Ram 4WDs. The American parent company Stellantis says it has identified the ongoing need for gasoline-fuelled engines well into the future. Unlike rivals with stated goals of dumping internal combustion engines by 2030 or even 2025, the company’s stated goal is to have half of its multi-brand range available in electric form by that time. With most major brands pouring billions of dollars into EV research, development and engineering, Stellantis has announced an all-new petrol inline six-cylinder engine code named Hurricane. It’s a from-scratch design with aluminium block and head, double-overhead-camshafts, direct fuel injection and an ‘undersquare’ format with an 84mm bore and a long 90mm stroke. Each turbo feeds three cylinders. Hurricane will be in production in 2023. Stellantis says…

It’s one of those events that were derailed by lockdowns and traffic lights, but GM Specialty Vehicles New Zealand has finally been able to launch its full three-vehicle Silverado pick-up range. Since the arrival of the new GMSV brand in New Zealand in November 2020, more than 250 of the impressive new trucks have been sold around the country. At the launch event local media were shown the LTZ Premium, Trail Boss and diesel V8-powered 2500 Heavy Duty (HD) versions at an event in mid-March. While the first two models will be familiar to regular readers of NZ4WD; the HD is fresh onto the market and a precious few were delivered to customers in late February-early March. To summarise: the Trail Boss is the more affordable and more off-road oriented…

Old school 4WDs draw the crowds. They’re charming, ‘real’, rustic and nostalgic. An old 4WD will make its owner friends everywhere they go. Kids shout and point, parents smile and get a far-off mist in their eyes and older types will buttonhole the owner for hours at a time, talking about ‘how it was back in the day’. Luke Jackson’s painstaking bolt-by-bolt restoration of his Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser has been a labour of love, with full emphasis on the ‘labour’. It’s a passion project that has taken him “a very long time”. Months spent in the garage grinding, welding, cutting, and painting. Months spent sourcing replacements for worn out, perished or lost parts. In total the work has taken him four years, two months, and 27 days to complete,…

There are those who deliberately go out to get bogged. Just so they can use their de-bogging gear. Ironman’s equipment may bring a few more 4WDers over to that lifestyle. Ironman 4x4 products have been developed in the harshest proving ground in the world: Australia. Sold in more than 120 countries, Ironman products have been the first choice for customers for more than 50 years. Ironman 4x4mMonster winches Redesigned and upgraded, these winches feature stronger motors, heavy duty casings, synthetic ropes and competition-style solenoids. They are the only winch on the market with a motor breather. There are two Monster winches: 9500lb and 12000lb with the option of steel or synthetic cable. The greatest new feature of the range of winches is the fully sealed motor with a breather that…

When it comes to the North vs South debate on tracks and trails, I’m firmly in Camp South. I live in Christchurch but consider the whole of the South Island to be my backyard and have taken the opportunity to explore all it offers in my Land Rover Defender. For starters, take the Oteake Conservation Park, halfway down the South Island. Its 80,000 or so hectares include the St Bathans, Ewe, Hawkdun, Ida and St Marys mountain ranges. It is an outstanding area of mountainous high county tussock, scree, wetlands and indigenous shrubland. The park offers spectacular 4WD opportunities and is cared for by the Department of Conservation, who have done a fantastic job. People keen to explore the park can easily do so: it’s open to vehicles from Labour…

Having enjoyed our touristy rest in Greymouth, we were keen to move on to new sights, and the rest of the West Coast was beckoning. Leaving Greymouth on a fine morning, we headed south, turning off just before Hokitika to take the longer way to Lake Kaniere. This gave us our first taste of gravel and of course the accompanying dust. I dropped back to be several minutes behind Ashley, giving the dust time to settle. This meant that we could enjoy clear views of some very attractive bushland scenery, and finally a few glimpses of the lake itself through the trees. We rejoined Ashley at the Canoe Cove track for an easy 15min walk through the shady bush to the edge of Lake Kaniere, where it was nice to…

Road to zero? What sort of naive overeducated pedestrian came up with that dream? Zero road deaths and injuries may be something to strive for, but as long as humans of any age get to operate machinery there will be both. It’s a fact of life – we are fallible and so is our machinery. People make mistakes, machines fail. People get broken. Removing the machines would change the scenario but more people would break. Most of our roads are two-lane, with opposing traffic. Some are single-lane, with opposing traffic. Many of the best ones are shingle or clay, and single-lane. We 4WDers use them often and know their risks. Motorways corral traffic into lanes going in the same direction. Good move, but we still get pile-ups, spin-outs, slow drivers,…

Unashamed luxury: Lexus has launched its LX 500d in New Zealand. The company says the range includes the first F Sport version of an LX. The LX 500D features a twin-turbo V6 diesel engine and a 10-speed automatic transmission. Lexus New Zealand General Manager Andrew Davis says a keen response from buyers means the 2022 allocation is already spoken for and dealerships are now taking orders for both the Limited and F Sport variants for delivery in 2023. The seven seat Limited model focuses on luxury, while the five seat F Sport places emphasis on performance. The two versions are priced at $175,900. “Being able to go anywhere is a key feature of the LX 500d. But this is far more than a typical four-wheel drive SUV. It has a…

The Karoo is a massive desert in the heartland of South Africa, famed for its tough and arid conditions (annual rainfall 50mm). It is also the name of a new ute from Mahindra, inspired by this storied and rock-strewn desert region. South Africans call their utes ‘bakkies’, and they are very much as beloved as ours. NZ4WD was lucky enough to be shown the first Karoo to arrive in New Zealand, a matter of hours after it was complied and registered. A full test has to wait, but we did drive the wee bakkie for a couple of hours and can report its 2.2-litre diesel four-cylinder engine is smooth and responsive. The manual transmission on our drive vehicle was smooth-shifting with a decent ratio spread that suited the engine. And…

For all those folk who have a mining or logging crew to deliver through desert flintrock or bear-infested backwoods – or who just need to get kids to school in the depths of Te Urewera – Torsus presents its mighty Praetorian all-terrain bus. With a 6.9 litre diesel engine and four wheel drive, the Praetorian is built to conquer the most extreme terrains around the globe (its media release says so). It will sidle along a hill at an angle of up to 32.5 degrees. It has dynamic stability control and an exhaust brake just like a real truck. Reliable? It has a six-year or 900,000km warranty. Our nearest dealer is in Western Australia, and it can be serviced at any MAN truck accredited workshop. Capable of safely carrying up…

It’s the age of the ‘ute tax’, and prices of new and used 4WDs have spiralled up drastically. But there’s good news for some of the 4WD/overlanding/motorsport fraternity. Race vehicles, modified off-road vehicles with a low volume certificate, classic imported vehicles ’of a certain age’. All are exempt from the Government’s 1 April ‘ute tax’. Motorsport New Zealand is spreading the news, but it’s the Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association that has been advocating on behalf of all motorsport enthusiasts. As a result, exemptions have been confirmed across several categories: Vehicles that are at least 40 years old • Any vehicle which is 40 years old or older as of 1 April 2022 (when the new legislation takes effect) is excluded from the requirements of the Clean Car Standard. This…

The headlines are many: “Family rescued after ten days in the bush,” “Lost adventurer wandered away from his stricken vehicle,” “Hunter ate tree bark to survive.” Kiwi adventurous types are always well prepared when we go bush (or desert, or mountain). We always take a few handy tools and we would never dream of going unaccompanied. We carry a full complement of recovery gear so our mates can help us get de-bogged. It isn’t all that hard to end up in a situation where the safety of travellers and vehicle is decided by a well-considered list of essentials. So what to take, and what to leave behind? Start with some decent recovery gear: get a recovery-rated snatch strap; get a winch or buy a ‘come-along’ hand winch; go shopping for…

Normally between weeks of 4WD guiding, I try to have some down time and concentrate on various other business interests. However, when a young friend of mine, Jack, from Auckland, told me that he was going to be in the South Island with his 4WD for a week, I offered to show him and his friend Dallas, some of my backyard. The previous week, it had rained very heavily and driving back from Central Otago to meet up in Christchurch, it was clear that many of the Canterbury rivers were still in flood and would be impossible to cross. We met up in Rolleston and headed off for our first nights camping in the High Country. I decided that we would spend the first night at the campsite at the…

Last month I covered some basic techniques for driving in sand but those alone don’t necessarily mean you won’t get stuck, so when you do, you need to know how best to become unstuck. If stuck, it is usually because you didn’t lift off quick enough when forward momentum was lost and the vehicle is “buried” in the sand. It’s not so bad if you are traveling with other vehicles and they can tow or snatch recover you but if you are on your own then it’s another matter. When you become stuck, assess the situation then take the appropriate action. Sometimes, just letting the tyre pressures down further is enough, or even driving back and forth gently will do it. Compacting the sand by going back and forwards gently…