Why the 2021 BMW M3 Competition is ‘Essential’
The world is a funny place at the moment, full of uncertainty and direction, so it was a nice respite when BMW New Zealand offered us the latest iteration of their sporty staple the M3 Competition to review – and then NZ immediately went into level 4 lockdown. Born out of the desire to enter […]
Luxury Master Class: Mercedes-Benz S450 4MATIC Review
For a long time, if you wanted to have an insight into what kind of technology would be common place on the average car within the next decade, you would look to the Mercedes S-Class. Why? Because throughout its lifetime, variations of Mercedes’ flagship luxury saloon have packed a sterling CV of technological firsts which […]
Sorento Perfecto: Kia Sorento Premium AWD PHEV Review
The current Kia Sorento is leaps and bounds ahead of the previous generation. For the first time, the term ‘Premium’ could be mentioned in the same sentence as Sorento. That’s not saying the previous car wasn’t much chop, it just couldn’t really fly that premium flag despite Kia’s best efforts. Today, things couldn’t be more […]
Roarsome – 2021 Cupra Leon VZ Hatch review
A few weeks ago we attended the New Zealand launch of the all-new SEAT/Cupra Leon (wow a lot has happened since then). Anyway, there we discovered that the 4th generation Cupra Leon is more powerful, better equipped and smarter than ever, however, just to be sure, Cupra NZ let us play with the ‘hot hatch’ […]
Escape From Lockdown: Ford Escape ST Line X PHEV Review
It was a Tuesday. I had just picked up the Ford Escape ST-Line X PHEV from the team at Team Hutchinson Ford in Christchurch. The plan was to test Ford’s new Plug In Hybrid version of the Escape over a few days, however once day turned into night, it was clear this was not to […]
Great 3008 – 2021 Peugeot 3008 & Hybrid4 review
Originally launched a shade over a decade ago as a replacement for the 4007/8, the Peugeot 3008 almost instantly gave the French automobile producer a VIP entry to the very popular compact SUV segment. Two generations later the 3008 has been facelifted, and Peugeot New Zealand let us test a couple of models (3008 and […]
Eight Times the Charm: Volkswagen Golf R-Line Review
Ah the Golf. It is hard to believe it’s been with us for decades. One cannot deny the impact this car has had on the psyche of the buying public. To many us, the Golf has consistently been in the forefront of its segment. While its life cycle hasn’t always been a bed of roses, […]
Pukka Trucka – 2021 Mazda BT-50 review
In British terminology, to be ‘Pukka’ is to be great, top draw, excellent even, however, as we found out, in the truck or specifically the Ute market, it just means it’s a Mazda. The long awaited 3rd generation BT-50 has arrived and Mazda NZ let us try it out. The BT-50 first hit the market […]
Mild and wild – 2021 Skoda Octavia review
Several weeks ago we attended the NZ launch of the new 4th Generation Skoda Octavia where we were told that it was bigger, faster and simply ‘clevererer’ than ever – well now thanks to Skoda NZ, we got to test that out. The Shhhkoda brand (said in a Connery accent) has come a long way […]
Revised Radiance: Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio Review
What can be said that hasn’t been said already about the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio? So many in the specialist motoring press have endlessly waxed lyrical about how this four door Ferrari has made petrolheads go all gooey. Many claim the sight and sound of Alfa’s performance heyday has been resurrected for the modern age […]