Shark Hunter? GWM Cannon Hi4-T PHEV first drive
GWM’s Cannon Alpha Hi4-T has 310kW, 750Nm, real low-range 4×4 hardware and about 100km of everyday EV running, and it’s coming straight for the Shark. Few films ruined a summer at the beach quite like Jaws. Spielberg’s great white had a whole generation of Kiwi’s eyeing the water with suspicion. It also gave us one […]
HOLY SHIP! We Tow Fishing and Adventure’s Big Boat with a Nissan Navara
When your fishing adventures involve remote coastlines, challenging boat ramps and a 3.2-tonne fishing boat called Holy Ship, choosing the right tow vehicle is rather more important than deciding whether to pack the chilly bin. We hitch up with Fishing and Adventure to find out if the Nissan Navara is up to the job. There […]
Flying the Flag: 2026 Volvo EX90 Ultra Twin Motor Performance Review
Volvo’s seven-seater offering has reappeared as an EV, does it stand to benefit from the powertrain change?
GWM Haval H7 Vanta HEV (and PHEV) NZ launch review
Seventh Heaven. GWM’s boxy new Haval H7 brings an upmarket cabin, clever hybrid tech and some light off-road ability to the family SUV segment, and the top-spec Vanta HEV/PHEVs make a strong first impression. “Seventh heaven” is an idiom for a state of perfect happiness. It’s an old saying with roots in ancient religious texts, […]
Nissan Navara Pro PHEV – First Look and Walkaround
The Electrified Workhorse – Nissan’s Navara Pro PHEV is Born in the Gravel The ute segment is currently in a state of flux, with manufacturers scrambling to balance the demands of electrification with the rugged, “get-it-done” reality of the Australian and New Zealand markets. We’ve been waiting to see how Nissan would tackle this, and […]
Toyota knew exactly what they were doing when they let me have a GR Yaris for a month
Back in August, I wrote about Toyota GR officially becoming its own standalone brand here in New Zealand. Akio Toyoda’s push, and the “motorsport feeds the road car, the road car feeds the customer, the customer feeds motorsport” loop translated to a company telling you it’s serious about something. It was a great experience that […]
Fly like a G6 – XPeng G6 Performance review
XPeng’s G6 Performance coupe SUV is fast, plush and very clever, but the real surprise is how calmly it goes about all of it. I was never much of a club-goer around 2010 (or this century for that matter), but put the letters ‘G’ and ‘6’ together and the Far East Movement starts playing in […]
Lightning in a Bottle: 2026 Polestar 3 Performance Review
Polestar’s flagship 3 Performance is lightning fast and well equipped but is it too tech savvy for its own good?
Nissan X-Trail 2WD e-POWER & Rock Creek – First Drive
The Nissan X-Trail first arrived in New Zealand back in 2001, and 25 years, four generations and more than 27,500 Kiwi sales later, Nissan’s medium SUV still remains one of the country’s most recognisable family vehicles. Now, as the X-Trail celebrates its silver anniversary, Nissan has decided that what the family SUV really needs is […]
Sporting Influence – 2026 Toyota Corolla Cross GR Sport Review
One could certainly argue the incorporation of an urban SUV variant into the lineup of Toyota’s most famous car to be a rather clever thing to do. Take one of the world’s most recognisable car names, inject it with some additional ground clearance and additional real-world practicality and hey presto, you have the Toyota Corolla […]