Chasing the Horizon – Suzuki Jimny Horizon Review
The five-door Jimny keeps every ounce of the three-door’s off-road charm and cult following, but on the road it’s still, unapologetically, a tractor with a grin. Another Jimny review, you might be asking? Fair call. The little Suzuki tends to be a big conversation starter, and despite this generation being around for quite a while, […]
More Wilderness, Less Compromise – Subaru Outback Wilderness Review
Subaru’s answer to a spicier Outback trades some polish for personality, and mostly gets away with it. There’s a particular kind of car owner in my life who, when asked what they drive, answers with something like “oh, just the Outback”, as if apologising for owning one of the most sensible vehicles a Kiwi household […]
The Kaizen EV – Toyota bZ4X Motion AWD Review
There was a time when mentioning the Toyota bZ4X would almost immediately invite a conversation about the brand’s actual interest in BEVs. Range, charging, power and the general feeling that it wasn’t their best effort were all fair criticisms. But, after my first go at the revised bZ4X, I can say that Toyota has now […]
Toyota GR officially becomes a standalone brand in New Zealand
Toyota is officially giving Gazoo Racing its own identity in New Zealand, with GR now operating as a standalone performance brand focused on motorsport, enthusiast cars and the pursuit of driving excitement. After spending two days with Toyota at Hampton Downs, I got to see first hand what sits behind this change, and it is […]
Some Cars Can Still Be Fun – Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Review
As a car reviewer, there are plenty of chances for us to jump into cars to review from the standpoint of seeing how they can project their brand or segment forward, due to how objectively good they are, and then there are cars that remind you why you liked cars in the first place. My […]
The Flash of Light – Subaru WRX Senko Review
Whenever I’m starting the write up for a car review, I try to put myself in the shoes of the person that’s likely to buy it. Sometimes, this is incredibly hard, as I can only LARP so much about the life of someone cross shopping 250k luxury vehicles, but some other times, I feel like […]
Crystalbrook Byron: the right locale for the BMW Neue Klasse
Our media drive of BMW’s Neue Klasse iX3 might have involved a beautiful afternoon in Byron Bay, but it didn’t start there. Instead, it began with a 3:00am alarm in New Zealand. And while the driving impressions are embargoed for a little while longer, my impressions of the place they chose for it are not. […]
Know Thyself – Honda Prelude Review
Reviving an old nameplate is one of the riskiest things a manufacturer can do. Especially when the name in question has been dormant for the better part of a quarter century and carries the kind of nostalgia baggage the Prelude does. Because no matter what Honda built, people were always going to project their own […]
Riding on the Storm – Land Rover Discovery Tempest Review
Relatability is a big thing for me. If an ultra-expensive, unobtanium supercar is parked beside a modified, barely-legal street hack, I already know which one I’m going to be drawn to. But every now and again it is nice to break that cycle and jump into something that I knew very little until not too […]
Disconnect to reconnect – BAIC B30 Hybrid Review
In between my time with the BAIC X55, I had a go at each of the trim levels of their other model, the B30, and it doesn’t take long for it to reveal what it wants to be. To mark their debut in NZ, BAIC came guns blazing with models that are tailored and focused […]