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Latest News

Hot new looks - spy videos » View All

Highlights » View All

• Oil the No. 1 source of energy until at...
• Kiwis like Mitsubishi – its sales are up over...
• EVs and environment: renewable electricity makes all the difference
• New 2022 Subaru WRX: it’s the same but very...
• Under brakes at 190km/h – where Nigel Mansell is...
• Reworked classic cars designed for whatever floats your boat
• Ex-Ferrari designers pen hydrogen-powered catamaran
• Tesla Model 3 judged the most efficient electric car

Oil the No. 1 source of energy until at least 2045, says Opec

October 14, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Opec oil cartel has issued a reminder that crude will continue to be the world’s leading source of energy for decades, driven by less-wealthy countries seeking higher economic growth and improved standards of living. Opec’s bullish pronouncement comes as nations prepare to gather for the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow to discuss...

Kiwis like Mitsubishi – its sales are up over 100% this year

October 8, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Mitsubishi’s strong SUV line-up is largely responsible for its galloping growth in 2021, where its registrations at the end of September were up more than 100% on the same time last year. The nameplate’s rapid rise has propelled it to No. 2 on the charts, a position it hasn’t held for yonks but one it [&hellip...

EVs and environment: renewable electricity makes all the difference

September 21, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The CO2 carbon footprint of a battery-electric vehicle (BEV) running on power generated by fossil fuels only – coal, oil, gas – is roughly the same over its lifetime as a car with an internal combustion engine (ICE). But run a BEV on electricity from a mix of fossil fuels and renewables – coal and [&hellip...

New 2022 Subaru WRX: it’s the same but very different

September 12, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Power from the bigger 2.4-litre engine in the 2022 Subaru WRX is pretty much the same as the outgoing 2.0-litre unit, although the new car gets to grips with maximum torque earlier in the rev range. The Japanese carmaker has released details of the fifth-generation WRX, which will be launched in New Zealand next year. [&hellip...

Under brakes at 190km/h – where Nigel Mansell is doing 300km/h

September 10, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Lotus has talked for years about setting up in New Zealand with strong local support. Now it has finally done something about it. The Giltrap Group will open a Lotus outlet in Auckland next year, most likely with the last of the carmaker’s petrol models, Elise and Exige, before the EVs arrive.  The following story [&hellip...

Reworked classic cars designed for whatever floats your boat

September 4, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

No, the Jaguar E-Type boat above isn’t a scale model – but it is a plaything of sorts. It and the others pictured here are products of Italian designer Pierpaolo Lazzarini. He and his Floating Motors company are building watercraft based on some of the most iconic classic cars. The car/boats vary in size and [&hellip...

Ex-Ferrari designers pen hydrogen-powered catamaran

August 25, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Two former Ferrari designers borrowed the evocative look of one of Alfa Romeo’s most revered cars to pen a 55 metre-long catamaran concept powered by electricity from hydrogen fuel cells. The computer-generated twin-hull is named Migma, Greek for ‘mixture.’ It’s a product of Spanish studio Ruma, whose co-founders Mario Fuentes...

Tesla Model 3 judged the most efficient electric car

August 19, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Tesla Model 3 has been judged the most efficient electric vehicle in a test conducted by UK magazine What Car?  The Model 3 sedan rated best in terms of energy efficiency but lost out to a juiced-up Ford Mustang E-Mach on distance travelled. Monthly publication What Car? got together 10 of the best or [&hellip...

Latest car reviews » View All

• Ultimate boys’ toy – submarine about as big as...
• Car of the year? Has to be the Toyota...
• Numbers game: the real story behind record 2017 sales...
• HSV lines up flash Colorado ute, Chev Camaro, Silverado...
• Land Rover responds to clean air critic that ‘diesel...
• Kia and Isuzu the go-getters in 2013-2017 sales figures
• At the wheel: an open and shut case in...
• Holden Astra – European flavour blended with a ‘taste...

Ultimate boys’ toy – submarine about as big as two jet skis

April 23, 2020 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The jet ski might indeed be one of the best watersport toys going round, but it has nothing on the lightweight Nemo submersible from U-Boat Worx, a specialist company in The Netherlands. Both craft do have one thing in common, however – they can be towed by the family station wagon or SUV, although Nemo [&hellip...

Car of the year? Has to be the Toyota ZR Hybrid Corolla

January 2, 2019 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The new Toyota Corolla didn’t make the cut in mainstream 2018 car of the year awards in New Zealand, mainly because it arrived late in the year and didn’t meet judging deadlines. But I spent enough time behind the wheel of both the 2.0-litre petrol and 1.8-litre petrol-electric Corollas to choose the ZR Hybrid Corolla [&hellip...

Numbers game: the real story behind record 2017 sales year

January 18, 2018 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

If you believe the public relations guff, every distributor in New Zealand last year sold record numbers of new vehicles. But that wasn’t the case. Okay, it was an overall record year, with 159,871 new vehicle registrations. But quite a few brands didn’t do as well as the PR people claim. Press releases saying this [&hellip...

HSV lines up flash Colorado ute, Chev Camaro, Silverado truck

December 8, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

The Chevrolet badge returns to New Zealand next year on the bonnet of the all-American Camaro sports car and Silverado pick-up truck. Both vehicles will be converted to right-hand drive by Holden Special Vehicles (HSV) at its new 28,000 square-metre plant in Melbourne. It’s where HSV will also prepare two versions of the Holden...

Land Rover responds to clean air critic that ‘diesel is the devil’

September 13, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Jaguar Land Rover has defended its diesel engine technology after criticism of the fuel from the founder and director of Clean Air London, Simon Birkett. “Diesel is the devil, and we do need to ban it,” Birkett told a panel of automotive experts at the inaugural Jaguar Land Rover Tech Fest, a three-day event in [&hellip...

Kia and Isuzu the go-getters in 2013-2017 sales figures

September 6, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Registrations of traditional passenger sedans and hatchbacks have tumbled over the past five years, as New Zealanders move towards SUVs and utes. In August 2013, for instance, the Holden Commodore sat at No. 5 on the top 15 list. Last month it was No. 10. A month earlier it was No. 11. Five years ago [&hellip...

At the wheel: an open and shut case in top-down Merc

May 29, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Hard-charging Kiwi motorcycle great Graeme Crosby tells the story of racing in the Isle of Man TT for the first time in 1979. He sort of ‘smelled’ his way round the 48km circuit. “It’s such a long way that it’s hard sometimes to remember exactly where your are,” he once told me. “There is one [&hellip...

Holden Astra – European flavour blended with a ‘taste of Kiwi’

March 3, 2017 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Holden has tasked its award-winning advertising agency, Special Group, to change how Holden is perceived in New Zealand. It wants the agency to help transform the brand, give it a taste of Kiwi, point it more towards premium space. It’s not that Holden has gone away; just that, over time, the brand has lost its [&hellip...

Tips and advice View All

September 26, 2015 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Drive safe – ‘Turn on the bubble machine’ when you start car

There is a statistic from the road toll that the Government needs to take into account as it considers raising the maximum speed limit on some roads...

‘Huge market’ in NZ for Aussie insurance write-offs, says transport official

April 22 | Comments Off

It’s a Breeze – a breathalyser that tells your cellphone when you are...

January 5 | Comments Off

‘Bucket list’: Taking on the best gravel roads in New Zealand

April 30 | Comments Off

SUVs gain greater share of the 2014 sales race

March 9 | Comments Off

Shapely figure causes male drivers to lose the plot

February 26 | Comments Off

Industry news View All

October 14, 2021 | Alastair Sloane | Comments Off

Oil the No. 1 source of energy until at least 2045, says Opec

The Opec oil cartel has issued a reminder that crude will continue to be the world’s leading source of energy for decades, driven by less-wealthy...

Kiwis like Mitsubishi – its sales are up over 100% this year

October 8 | Comments Off

EVs and environment: renewable electricity makes all the difference

September 21 | Comments Off

New 2022 Subaru WRX: it’s the same but very different

September 12 | Comments Off

Under brakes at 190km/h – where Nigel Mansell is doing 300km/h

September 10 | Comments Off

Reworked classic cars designed for whatever floats your boat

September 4 | Comments Off

We are the World

• Reinventing ‘Good Oil’ column

  September 29, 2016 | Comments Off

New car gadgets

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  Mercedes-AMG delivers its fastest four-door sedan

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Industry news

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  Oil the No. 1 source of energy until at least 2045, says Opec

  Oct 14 | Comments Off

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  Kiwis like Mitsubishi – its sales are up over 100% this year

  Oct 8 | Comments Off

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