Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2019 i NZ4WD

Each month, as Editor of this fine publication, it’s my job to come up with a mix of words and pictures to (let’s see) inform, entertain and amuse. I know, as what I suppose you could call ‘traditional outlets’ for special interest publications (independent stationers & book shops) are marginalised out of existence or bought out and incorporated into chain-style stores, it’s actually getting harder and harder to actually find somewhere to buy the bloody thing. But trust me, NZ4WD magazine is not going away any time soon. For a start more and more of our readers (that’s you!) are taking the direct route – and subscribing, either to the regular hard copy of the mag ‘posted’ to them every month, or to our digital ‘newsletter’ which we email out…

By now, even if you live somewhere so remote that you never see a TV and you only get to read a newspaper when it is months old, you will no doubt have – at the very least – seen a photograph of Holden NZ’s radical ROX concept ute. Since its official media launch ahead of Fieldays to its official ‘public’ unveiling as the ‘eye candy’ on the company’s stand at the annual farming sector expo at Mystery Creek, the ROX – and custom BBQ-equipped trailer that travels with it – have literally been everywhere. It is because Holden NZ learned their lesson the last time they showed a similar but factory-fettled Colorado ‘Extreme’ here. Because it was strictly ‘for display only’ your typical Kiwi ute buyer looked, but when…

Locally developed Lift Junkie kits tick all the boxes Utes are big right now. Big in features, big in usability and value, big in sales and – if you have products and/or services to sell to the new breed of owners, big in business. One such company which is doing good business in the ‘ute space’ at the moment is suspension specialist Autolign with its locally-developed Lift Junkie upgrade kits. As the name suggests the key ‘take’ for most buyers is that they get a lift of around 50mm. And that is fine by Iain Wilson, the manager of the company’s Racelign division, and person responsible for the mix of springs, shock absorbers and bushes which go into each kit. “Any more,” he says, “and you start getting into issues…

Last month I wrote of the perils of Canterbury’s large braided rivers that regularly snare people and vehicles due to their headwaters being on the opposite side of the island. Freshes (or fresh flows) can arrive unheralded to trap people on islands or the wrong side. Smaller rivers can do this too. Most North Island and some South Island rivers are confined to fairly permanent channels. Others though are braided types, most of which are in the South Island, especially Canterbury. ‘Braided’ is how such rivers look from above – like plaited or wavy hair with many streams. The other characteristic is that the river channels change shape and position like hair blowing in the wind. Here’s some insight into how and why they change. These big rivers collect rain…

All up 20 teams headed to Makikihi (between Timaru and Waimate-Ed) from as far north as Wellington and as far south as Balclutha and Wanaka for the third round of this year’s Superwinch Mainland Challenge Series. There were nine in Outlaw, nine in Open and two in Clubman. The first stop was the Makikihi Country Hotel on Friday afternoon for sign in and a Show ‘n Shine held in beautiful sunny conditions. Trucks were judged by the owners of the Hotel (who really outdid themselves throughout the weekend with fully booked accommodation, supplying hot food on site plus hosting prize giving and a meal on Saturday night) with Mike Holmes’ truck voted the winner. From there the competitors moved on to the pits on Borundale Farm where the weather started…

Set to arrive here just before Christmas, Ford’s MY2020.25 Ford Ranger will be offered with increased equipment levels across the line-up, from the entry-level Ranger XL through to the Ranger Raptor. Building on its move to fit AEB with Pedestrian Detection on every Ranger model earlier this year, all models benefit from Ford’s relentless programme of product improvement. According to the company, the updates reflect the wide and varied uses Rangers are put to here “New Zealand Ranger customers are finding so many different uses for their Ranger, from workhorse to weekend off-roader through to safely heading out with the family,” said Simon Rutherford, Managing Director, Ford New Zealand. “We’re glad to add to the versatility and capability of the Ranger line-up, and bring more value to customers with the…

The Z71 is the top-of-the-tree offering in Holden’s Colorado range. And by some sort of happy/handy coincidence I spent a fortnight daily-driving one ahead of my morning appointment with the ROX concept model. Utility vehicles like the Colorado, are –as their category name suggests – primarily built to work, and as it is fairly well known now the first of these new-gen Colorados were more ‘tough truck’ than ‘high-riding tradie/ lifestyler special.’ In fact, as I reported in our annual Ute Special in June 2017 it was only when the engineers from South America (who had overall responsibility for the Colorado programme within GM) spent some time with their counterparts in Australia that they started to grasp why the markets here and across the Tasman were so underwhelmed by the…

At 4x4Explorer.co.nz we have about 800 Overlanding routes throughout New Zealand. This particular trip started in Timaru, where my good friend and regular travelling buddy Scott Gray lives. We had actually planned (another) trip for the weekend but as Scott and I were both also free on Friday, we decided to do a day trip, just the two of us, while waiting for the boys to turn up. One of Scott’s favourite local drives is Mount Studholme so that’s what we decided to do. Being less than an hour from Timaru, it’s easily accessible and the views are amazing! Room with a view! The initial climb is steep up a well-formed gravel road and as you gain height, the views open up and are truly amazing. There are views up…

As you can read elsewhere in the mag this month, Holden’s Colorado is a great place to start a ‘tough truck’ journey. Where you end up – either with minimal mods to personalise your vehicle, or maximum ones to turn it into a ROX clone is very much up to you. What Aussie-based suspension specialist Tough Dog would like you to know is that they can help either way. “It doesn’t matter how you make tracks, Tough Dog has the right gear to suit your Holden Colorado. Up front, Tough Dog offers both the award-winning Foam Cell Strut, as well as the nine-stage adjustable version. Either option can be coupled with springs to suit your accessories. “Tough Dog also offers complete assembly front struts for fast and easy fitment of…

I have a bit of a tradition of running an annual Ruahine touring trip for my 4WD club at this time of year, and as usual the starting point for this trip was at Ashhurst, where the shop attached to the Allied service station did a good trade in wake-up coffees. After the required briefing we headed through Ashhurst, and up the Pohangina Valley, turning off after about 10km to head up onto the ridge line on the western side of the valley. We hadn’t even reached the top of the first climb before I came around a corner to be greeted by a police car parked on the side of the road with all lights flashing. He didn’t seem to expect us to stop, so we kept going and…

Christchurch father-son pairing Bryan and Owen Chang dominated the unlimited classes and finished 1-2 overall at the 2019 New Zealand Offroad Racing National Short Course Championship at West Melton near Christchurch on Saturday August 17. It is the first time a father-son pairing has finished 1-2 outright and won their respective classes in a championship event in this country. The event, held in miserable weather on at Canterbury Offroad Racing Club’s CanAm raceway at West Melton, attracted more than 30 entries, with five-strong grids in the unlimited race car and unlimited trucks/4WDs. Owen Chang is a former national champion and was making his short course championship debut in the turbocharged Jimco V6 racer raced in recent years by Daniel Powell. Mark Brown brought his lighter four-cylinder car out for its…

Joel Harrison is a good keen man from Kawakawa in the Far North, doing what he enjoys most, spending as much time as he can hunting in the New Zealand bush. He’s a possum trapper and hunter/gatherer, liberating our native bush and forests of possums which are regarded as pests. He also hunts pigs and regularly enters the various pig hunting competitions around the country and it was at the Lewis Wilkie Memorial Puriri Pig Hunting competition where I met him. The Puriri Pig Hunting competition is held annually and while originally hosted by the Kopu Hotel it is now hosted by The Coach House in the small Puriri community between Thames and Paeroa. Up for grabs each year is the Lewis Wilkie Memorial Trophy in honour of another good,…

I know that I’ve said it a million times before, but the reason that I own a 4WD is to visit amazing places and meet amazing people. Our recent trip to Europe was no different. Stuck in a campsite near Chamonix for a few days, waiting for parts, I spotted a Land Rover Discovery with French plates and what looked like an army generator trailer. Ever anxious to meet new people and discover Cunning Hacks, I headed straight over to talk to them, fully prepared to speak French. Parlez-vous Anglais? It turned out that Chris and Julie Brookes, a couple of expat Brits who have been living in the South of France for years, owned the set-up. Julie runs holiday villas and Chris is a luxury motor yacht Captain and…

Recently our very unofficial 4WD club organised a little overnight trip that was classic Canterbury; i.e. braided rivers, snowy peaks, panoramic views, a million gates to open, and a bit of matagouri to top it off. Actually, a ton of matagouri. But I’m getting ahead of myself. We convoyed out of Christchurch after work on Friday and spend the night at the old Avoca Homestead (in the North Canterbury/Arthur’s Pass area. For more info check out https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/canterbury/places/korowai-torlessetussocklands-park/things-to-do/huts/avoca-homestead/ Ed) The homestead is a restored 110-year old heritage building with three bedrooms, six bunks, a lounge, and a kitchen. The site is managed by DOC and open to the public, and the 25km gravel access road would take under an hour to drive if it weren’t for the many gates to open…

Our monthly feature showcases 4WDs doing just about anything except rolling over or burning! We will award a grand prize of a set of four Kumho 4x4 tyres in the NZ4WD Annual issue. This contest is open to all readers who are not professional photographers. IMPORTANT: Photographs must have been taken by the person entering them, or have the photographer’s written permission. Email your digital images and a detailed caption to: editor@NZ4WD.co.nz Send your prints and detailed captions to: Your4s with Kumho, PO Box 65-092, Mairangi Bay, Auckland 0754. Be sure to include your postal address! Submitting photos The basics: as with any photo, there’s no substitute for an image that’s sharp – in focus and free of camera shake. It should be well-exposed. Size and type The ideal submission…

There has been a growing trend towards making off-road racing a family affair in the past few years. I think it started with the old Taupo 1000, which created a real village atmosphere out in the middle of the massive Kaingaroa forest and put aside areas for kids to ride pee-wee motorbikes and stuff while the grown-ups got on with the big show. Later, there was a demo area for Kiwitrucks, and then a Taupo race for the youth category. Camping at certain tracks has always been popular, and some of the after-hours hijinks are legendary but should probably remain out of print. More recently, though, with the new blood brought into the sport through Kiwitrucks, we are seeing the next generation of racers emerge and start making their way…