Nissan Navara

Nissan reworks Navara ute to kick-start static sales

March 7, 2018 by Alastair Sloane

The sales figures over the past two-and-a-half years tell the story of why Nissan needed to make improvements to its D23 Navara ute, marketed in New Zealand as the NP300. The one-tonner’s sales have been down year-on-year since its launch here in June 2015. Navara registrations in 2016 were down 1.7 per cent on 2015; 2017 were down 1.2 per cent on 2016. It is not a … [Read more...] about Nissan reworks Navara ute to kick-start static sales

Hyundai has been talking about it for years – ute concept revealed

January 16, 2015 by Alastair Sloane

The ute that has been in the back of Hyundai’s design mind for many years has been unveiled for the first time at this year’s Detroit motor show. The surprise concept (above and below) is called the Santa Cruz, a naming step to go along with the Santa Fe, New Zealand’s best selling SUV. I queried Hyundai executives in Seoul in the late 1990s about a ute that would rival … [Read more...] about Hyundai has been talking about it for years – ute concept revealed

Suzuki Grand Vitara LTD

May 30, 2013 by Alastair Sloane

[toggle title_open="Car specifications" title_closed="Car specifications" hide="yes" border="yes" style="default" excerpt_length="0" read_more_text="Read More" read_less_text="Read Less" include_excerpt_html="no"]Price: $41,990 Engine: 2.4 litre four-cylinder, 122kW/225Nm Transmission: Four speed automatic Fuel economy: 9.9 litres/100km Emissions: 234g/km Equipment: Bluetooth, … [Read more...] about Suzuki Grand Vitara LTD

If you are in a position to shell out upwards of NZ$600,000 for the 60^thanniversary Porsche 911 S/T or optional Porsche 911 S/T Heritage, you’ll no doubt want the signature titanium watch that goes with it. That’s how Porsche figures it anyway. Or, if you want the watch you’ll need to get the car. Both the car and the watch are limited to 1963 units, the year the original 911 model broke cover. The watch – Chronograph 1 911 S/T and Chronograph 1 911 S/T Heritage – and the car carry matching edition numbers. The watch is priced at $US13,500, or around $NZ22,200. The car, says Porsche NZ, starts at $NZ608,000. A “strictly limited number” will go into production for NZ early next year.

Eight European Union countries are pushing to weaken new EU emissions limits for cars, saying they are overly ambitious and unrealistic for carmakers to hit. The eight countries – France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia – said in a joint paper that parts of the proposed Euro 7 regulation, including curbs on exhaust pipe emissions, should be scrapped entirely. They said the limits would force carmakers to invest in improving exhaust emissions performance, money which would be better spent on developing zero-emission vehicles. Taken together, the countries would have enough votes to block the proposal.

A go-anywhere EV concept for the US military uses an onboard 12kW diesel generator to top up the batteries on the move. The all-wheel-drive has 800-volt technology and a 200kWh battery pack to power three electric motors, two in the rear and one up front. Claimed output is 745kW/15,590Nm, or 1000hp and 11,500 ft-lb of torque. The four-seater was developed by the defence division of General Motors and is based on the platform of the Hummer SUV. It rides on Fox performance shock absorbers and 37-inch tyres and comes with “exceptional” approach and departure angles for off-road mobility. Maximum range using the generator to keep things ticking over is said to be around 500km.

The outside temperature in Midland, Texas, was 40.5C when staff at the local office of the US National Weather Service set out to show the cabin of a closed car can literally get baking hot in summer. They mixed up a batch of chocolate chip cookies and laid them on the car’s dashboard – the surface of which showed a temperature of 87.7C. A little over four hours later the cookies were ready to eat. “Even though ours weren’t golden brown, we can confirm that they are done and delicious,” the staff wrote on Facebook.