Innehållsförteckning för July 2023 från NZ4WD

Japan’s Kei vehicle class was conceived to ease delivery congestion on city roads, and offered reduced registration fees to those whose business needs included street delivery. They were limited to a maximum engine size of 660cc and maximum horsepower of 47kW. The current Suzuki Jimny’s ancestor, the LJ10, was a 4WD Kei car. It would fit in the wellside of a Ram 1500, no problem. It got a bit weird when tiny-truck fans here, in Australia and the USA worked out that these pint-sized marvels could pack a ton of performance. Nihilo Concepts is an American company at the heart of the Kei car (and truck) tuning and modification craze. A couple of years ago the company built this flagship/ showroom on wheels to demonstrate its work “We decided we…

When a Ram 1500 TRX is just not intimidating enough; when the zombie apocalypse begins; roll out the big bad Super Truck. If zombies or mushroom people were ever do come in their hordes, this thing will either save the day, or run out of fuel… we’re not sure. There is a long-standing and ever-growing trend in America: people who love to be prepared for the ‘upcoming doomsday’ event. They are called preppers or survivalists and they plan to be the survivors of nuclear or other apocalypse, establishing a new world order. Shudder. But in the land of the free, when there is a large enough market, there is always a product to sell. Enter Apocalypse and its megabeast. Based on the Ram 1500 TRX, the Super Truck has a…

It’s not all happy-clappy in electric vehicle world. After a production run of a few hundred units, and before right hand drive versions got further than the drawing board, one of the better-looking EV utes is facing oblivion. The Endurance pickup is a full new-build start-up product and entered production last year at the former GM factory in Lordstown, Ohio, USA. It features a unique drivetrain: four centrally managed wheel-hub motors. The project only got under way with help from iPhone maker Foxconn The EV maker now faces a falling out with the Taiwanese electronics giant, which has its own aspirations for EV manufacturing in the US. Lack of additional capital threatens continued production. The EV star-tup appears to have only had enough capital to produce a few hundred units…

NEWS A one-tonne payload, squared-off styling and live diffs. Scotland’s take on the new wave of electric-powered 4WD utes is unashamedly built to work for a living. The fact that it’s Scottish is interesting too, because that means it’s designed from the outset as a right-hand drive vehicle. Following last year’s reveal of what it calls “the world’s most capable all-electric 4WD”, Scottish electric vehicle (EV) start-up Munro Vehicles has revealed its simply-named MK_1 Pick-Up with an open rear bed capable of housing a Euro-size pallet. There will be the option of two powertrains: a 220kW/600Nm electric motor in Utility and Range variants, and a 280kW/700Nm motor in the range-topping Performance. In both configurations, power is sent through a two-speed transfer-case gearbox with a low-range gear and central locking differential.…

LAUNCH TEST Remember life before the iPad? Remember style before One Direction? (The boy band, for those over 55.) In that case, readers probably also remember the ute market without the Volkswagen Amarok (Inuit for Wolf). A dull, sad place it was too. Amarok version one arrived in 2010 and introduced the first of the premium European utes. It’s a segment which others have tried and failed to succeed in, but Amarok persevered and thrived in a slim but stable segment of the market. The Amarok did not have an especially easy time of it when it first launched. It was delayed in its arrival here and when New Zealand did get it, Volkswagen’s premium product came with a stick shift only. It would be a few months before that…

It’s winter. It’s rainy and dark. Time to close the curtains and spark up the Netflix? Hardly. Time to get the light set-up that makes winter adventuring safe and fun. But what’s best? Everyone has a favourite brand, many have a format preference. Spotlight, driving light, fog light or lightbar? Old-school halogen, high intensity discharge (HID), LED? Perhaps a mix-and-match. Fitting specialised driving lights to a 4WD might seem like a ‘wanna’ but for many people, it’s essential. The extra lighting offers huge benefits and makes it much easier to navigate in the dark, whether touring or working. Most 4WDs these days are manufactured with a standard of headlights far improved than those from a decade or two ago, however, the 4WD industry has developed specialised products perform better than…

The annual Toyota Festival has grown from its initial focus on track and show vehicles to embrace the thousands of owners who love exploring the back blocks in their Toyota 4WDs. This year’s festival was held at Highland Park near Cromwell. In addition to the track, pit and paddock sessions and displays, 4WD owners were treated to a high country adventure. Well-loved older 4WDs like the 40 series were well represented and shared trail time with later model Hilux, Prado, FJ and Land Cruiser 4WDs.…

Weekend Drive Resuming our trek, eventually we reached a third Caution sign, after which the road immediately shrank to a very narrow track. We were now on the serious part of Kiwi Road, starting with the Kiwi Road tunnel, much like the earlier Moki tunnel, followed by a run through dense bush as we dropped down a narrow valley on a very tight benched road with a sheer cliff on the left and steep drop into a deep valley on the right. The track was a continuous string of switchbacks that had me being very careful to ensure the K-Pod was following the right line, and was also quite deeply rutted with overhanging branches, washouts and slips all cutting into the already narrow track. While none of this was, in…

It is said all things come to those who wait, and Nick Leahy saw the truth of that at the short course championship in Tauranga He went wheel-to-wheel with arch rival Nick Hall and the pace of the racing was such that the unlimited class title turned into a two-way battle. Hall went out with an unexpected transmission failure, while Leahy continued through the heats to take the class win. It’s been a while coming, Leahy’s locally built ProLite single-seat truck slowly responding to suspension and airflow tweaks and bringing him closer to the similar truck of Hall. The latter has dominated the class for some time, and his Toyota Chev is painstakingly maintained, which made the withdrawal during the short course heats more surprising. Continuing a developing trend, the…

I had a couple of special visitors down on the farm recently, although one wasn’t really welcome but more on that critter later. The special visitor was Afonso Cerejo and his 1990 two-door Land Rover Discovery Camel Trophy replica, all the way from Portugal. While the 200tdi powered Discovery may be a very close replica, Afonso does own a genuine Camel Trophy Land Rover Freelander back home, along with a Series III Land Rover, again a replica of the early events in the late 1970s early 1980s. His visit today would be brief, just a few hours to have lunch in town and talk Land Rover, Camel Trophy and his adventures. The Camel Trophy is still very big in Portugal where they have their own Camel Trophy Club of which…

NEWS Subaru’s Impreza-based XV has evolved and transitioned to be the Subaru Crosstrek. Available from June, the Crosstrek features the latest infotainment technologies and intuitive safety systems, creating an enjoyable ride for all occupants no matter the destination. The Subaru Crosstrek presents a compact body with a rugged and sporty design with a much bolder exterior than its predecessor. Subaru will offer three Crosstrek models for customers to choose from, including two hybrid variants. The Subaru Crosstrek Premium petrol variant will be powered by a direct injection 2.0-litre Boxer engine and a Lineartronic transmission with eight-speed paddle shift manual mode. Two Crosstrek Hybrid variants include a premium specification model and feature a robust Subaru e-Boxer lineartronic transmission with sevenspeed manual mode. The Subaru Crosstrek features 220mm of ground clearance which…

Australasia is the home of four-wheel drive utes. From production lines in Thailand, Korea, the USA and Japan, 4WDs have stormed Australian and New Zealand sales charts for years. But long before the Ranger, D-Max, Navara and Triton became super-powers here, Aussie gave us a locally-made 4WD ute. This is a rare Ford Falcon XY 4×4 ute - just 432 of them were ever made and they were exclusively sold in the Australian market. A few have made their way to New Zealand, but they don't get out into the bush much these days. The Ford Falcon XY 4×4 ute was developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as a potential new 4WD for the Australian armed forces. The project showed a lot of promise, and there was a…

Kiwi 4WDers can only hope that recent model-range mutterings at Toyota NZ’s headquarters in Palmerston North include the possibility of a right-hand drive Toyota Tacoma. As Toyota adjusts its global stance to more future-proofed vehicles, the 2024 Tacoma is showing the likely way forward for the world’s biggest vehicle brand. The new Tacoma is based on Toyota’s TNGA-F body-on-frame architecture that already serves as the basis for the larger Tundra pickup. Sequoia SUV, and 300-Series LandCruiser. Tundra and Sequoia are only present on New Zealand roads as grey market imports, but of course the company is selling all the 300-series Cruisers it can lay hands on. The base engine offering for the 2024 Tacoma is the 2.4-litre i-Force turbocharged four-cylinder petrol unit. More interesting, though, is the i-Force Max, a…

PERSPECTIVE Farmers and families alike are waiting for the electric vehicle boom to deliver a 4WD ute that will meet their needs. Unfortunately, that day seems far away unless a 2WD LDV fits the bill. With no EV 4WDs on the market yet for Kiwis, the Stuff news website happened on a Kiwi doing it himself in best ‘number eight wire’ tradition. It’s all a bit ‘back to the future’ - Dunedin environmentalist James Hardisty is building his own Toyota Hilux 4WD EV ute, using a 1983 truck as his starting point. The former farm boy turned electrician and environmentalist expects to spend around $80,000 by the time he fully converts the truck from fossil fuels to electric motor. Wait, $80,000? That’s the cut-out ceiling for the Government’s ‘ute tax’…

MY 4WD The long and proud history of Land Rover bears little repeating. Inspired by the wartime Jeep MB, it revolutionised farming in New Zealand and can be said to have created 4WD recreation in this country. The Series One took the place of draft horses on the farm, the Series Two marked the vehicle’s breakout into family adventuring; hunting and fishing being key activities. The Series Three added significant comfort to the very basic but slowly evolving ‘farmer’s friend’ and was able to hold its own in a market that now also offered Toyota’s six-cylinder 40 Series. Lacking power and torque until the arrival of the Defender versions, the ‘Landie’ was nonetheless beloved by generations of outdoorsy Kiwis. One of the finest as the Defender range arrived in the…

4WD LIGHTS AND BATTERY ACCESSORIES Ironman 4×4 has a range of lighting and electrical equipment suitable that offer a little bit of luxury, refinement and solid practicality when going off the grid. Products are tried and tested in harsh Australian conditions with quality performance and reliability in mind. LED Driving lights Ironman 4×4 lights are designed and engineered to meet the demanding conditions of off-road and on-road travel. Using the latest technology, featuring Osram LED’s these lights are brighter and more efficient than ever before, increasing visibility and reaction time. Manufactured from diecast alloy housing built to withstand hours of corrugations and extreme conditions, featuring shockproof polycarbonate lenses, high-quality reflectors, and stainless-steel mounting bracket for ultimate performance. They are rated to IP67 - water and dust ingress protection. They operate…

Adventure NZ Kevin Isemonger reports from the Land Rover 75th anniversary. The history: in 1947, two brothers, Maurice Wilks - the Chief Engineer at the Rover Car Company, and his brother Spencer Wilks, Managing Director of the Rover car Company had a conversation, with Spencer asking Maurice what he was going to do when his WW2 Jeep died. It was being used as the primary workhorse around the family farm at Anglesey on the northwest coast of Wales. “Buy another one - there’s nothing else.” Steel was in short supply following the war and could only be attained for vehicles for the Export market. This ‘need’ spawned an idea first sketched out in the sand on the beach at Anglesey for the Rover Car company to manufacture a multi-purpose agrarian…

COLUMN With the month of May almost a distant memory, it’s a good time to review the NZ Four Wheel Drive Association’s annual meeting. This year it was held in Methven and hosted by the Mid-Canterbury 4WD Club. Their planning was well executed, with a series of 4x4 adventures over the preceding week. The participant numbers were impressive, with members and their vehicles from all over New Zealand. Not everyone did every day trip, however those who did, got to see some classic South Island back country. According to John McDonald, the ‘activities’ organiser, there were 50 trucks on the 4x4 trips: five ‘shinies’, 39 club trucks and seven ‘hard yakka’ trucks. All were required to be equipped with snorkels to cope with many braided river crossings. I was bold…

Jeep New Zealand has launched 4xe versions of its SUV range, bringing plug-in hybrid technology to the New Zealand market. The Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe, Jeep Renegade 4xe and the Jeep Compass 4xe combine Jeep design, 4WD capability and electrification, taking the first step towards zero emission freedom for the Jeep range. Jeep 4xe PHEV and BEV vehicles will be the most efficient and responsible Jeep vehicles ever. Jeep will have an electrified offering in each SUV segment in the next few years, including the fully electric BEV Jeep Avenger due in New Zealand before the end of this year. Jeep says electrification of the Jeep line-up will enable commuters to travel solely on electric power, delivering an efficient and fun on-road experience, and even more Jeep capability off-road. “4xe…

While side-by-side or UTV off-roaders seem commonplace today, it’s easy to forget that the entirety of the sport side-by-side market is only about ten years old. From the origins of the UTV, the transition from humble ‘litter-gitter’ utility vehicles quickly created a whole new category of vehicles designed for fun and later for motorsport. After launching its all-new 2024 RZR XP, Polaris is launching not only an all-new vehicle but redefining a segment as well with the 2024 Polaris Xpedition. Aimed squarely at overland adventure enthusiasts, the Xpedition combines the best attributes of a sport side-by-side with those from the utility market to create a vehicle that is truly unique. When it comes to sport and performance side-by-sides, the driving experience itself has been the predominant focus. Conversely, development of…

EVENT 8 - 9 JULY Off Road Racing National Championship: Rounds 4 and 5 Mainland Challenge two day race event at West Melton near Christchurch. www.oranz.co.nz 4 - 5 AUGUST Teams Winch Challenge Series 2023 Manawatu Round, Hills, hosted by the Manawatu 4WD Club at Ashhurst. All vehicles will compete in the same class with two vehicles in each team. Vehicles will require a four-point roll cage and belts in good condition. Open or soft top vehicles require a minimum of four-point harnesses. Hard tops can use three-point belts but four-point harnesses are recommended. Maximum tyre size is 37”. Minimum lx winch per vehicle. Detailed scrutineering sheets are available on request. This winch challenge round starts with two timed night stages on Friday night at 7pm. Saturday morning the next…

TESTED This is arguably one of the best urban SUVs ever. It is without doubt the best Outback of all time. It’s smooth, quick, possessed of a visual road presence not found in other urban SUVs. Capable on gravel, tarmac and icy ski-field access roads, with enough ground clearance to engage in some ‘soft’ off-roading. Endowed with a fair mound of torque and able to tow almost 2.5 tonnes. If a traditional body-on-chassis 4WD is actually a ‘proper’ four-wheel drive in real terms, then Subaru’s take on all-wheeldrive sedans and wagons with capability and practicality might be the purest definition of a sports utility vehicle. Aussie media categorise the Outback as a large SUV. Have to assume they haven’t driven a Jeep Grand Cherokee recently. They also say the Outback…

Adventure NZ One of the great things about running the 4X4Explorer Adventures guiding business is the people that we meet and the fantastic experiences that we share together. With a return rate of nearly 90 per cent, many of our guests who come back year after year become good friends. When Stephen booked to come on the Southern Wilderness Camping trip with his family, I knew that we were in for a fun week and some exciting exploring. I think that we are unique in running a “guiding only” model, where guests are free to choose their own accommodation. Some people come away and are keen to camp, while others prefer a little more luxury. Because of this, the majority of the trips that we run are based in one…

The last three years could have easily sent people down a path of despair. The New Normal is nothing like anyone has ever experienced. But we can you rely on the familiar: old friends, the old truck, and the Club Truck Challenge (CTC). Round four at Colyton near Fielding had the use of a new location. This section had lush long grass which proved to be extremely slippery especially for early runners before the hazards bedded in. On this day there were new entrants trying the CTC for the first time; Nathan Coy was running a classic Land Rover but powered by a very fruity sounding Toyota turbo diesel and Dion Quarterly entered his GU Nissan Patrol “cop car”. The day featured four different speed sections which played into the…

Momentum restored, and the sport gets back to business. Off-road racing has elected a new executive and has a new president, UTV racer Phil Johnston. Now the sport and the championship can take a step forward and hopefully set the national championship back on a pedestal. One of the principal areas that still need refining, adjusting or some such tweaking is timekeeping. The sport took a massive step forward when it upgraded to transponder timing using Mylaps and the on-site services of the MXTiming crew. Dumping the latter last year left a gaping hole in event data tech, which was supposed to be filled by ORANZ buying its own timing gear and training an operator or operators to use it at all national rounds. Got off to a patchy start…

The absolute easiest and cheapest way to increase the ride quality and performance of a 4WD off road is to reduce the air pressure in the tyres. “Airing down” maximises traction too - a valuable tool when tackling low-grip muddy tracks or on beach runs. Dropping from street pressure to a more appropriate off-road pressure isn’t without risk. Release too much air and the tyre can separate from the wheel. This happens because the air pressure is no longer sufficient to prevent the tyre’s bead from slipping on the wheel. A solution to this problem is to swap out the standard wheel with a beadlock. Beloved of the tough truck and trials fraternity, beadlocks are also becoming popular with the ‘trailer queen’ fun truck fraternity. As its name implies, a…