Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2020 i NZ4WD

Kiwis don’t really ‘do’ cold well. Come the winter time and most of us stay inside. Which is silly really because as our ‘Overlanding correspondent’ Aaron Rich says in his story this month about trekking across Uzbekistan in November last year; “it was around -10 degrees Celsius when this photo was taken.” Don’t worry, a diesel-electric tent heater kept Aaron and his family nice and toasty until the sun came up the next morning. But you don’t have to go that far here. Local contributor Richard Soult has just upgraded his swag and sleeping bag combo to full-on ‘Central Otago High Country’ spec and got a decent night’s kip despite sub-zero night-time temps and waking to a heavy frost while on a filming mission in the Nevis Valley last month!…

These are uncertain times. Covid-19 wiped out all remaining rounds of the 2020 JG Civil Offroad Racing Championship, the NZ Endurance Championship was collateral damage, and the national Short Course title is also gone. With racers now planning for 2021, news comes of the Otago Offroad Racing Club’s bid to run a 1000 km race at Kurow in the Waitaki Valley. Though the club is small and members live across the region, offers of help from northern and southern racers are flooding in, and businesses are already offering sponsorships. The massive farm course would take in tracks already set in place on Slim and Janina Slee’s farm along with a neighbouring property that has already been track-checked. The Slee property has been used for club and national championship endurance and…

Subaru NZ has joined a growing list of local car companies offering hybrid versions of popular models – in its case the AWD Forester and XV SUVs. But if you are keen on owning one, Subaru of New Zealand’s Managing Director Wallis Dumper says you’d better be quick. “Between limited factory production and global demand, New Zealand has only managed to secure small quantities of around 10-20 per month, with an initial allocation of 20 to be delivered in September and October,” Mr Dumper says. The innovative e-Boxer SUVs have identical petrol-electric power-plants – a 2.0 litre horizontally opposed Boxer engine linked via Motor Assist to a high voltage lithium ion battery – offering fuel economy benefits, particularly in congested city driving. XV Hybrid offers over 14 percent improvement in…

Faced with a stunning cost-is-no-object retro/modern mash-up of a classic post-war Dodge Power Wagon truck with contemporary twin-turbo Cummins diesel under the hood like this beauty made by US specialist Legacy Classic Trucks, our own idea of a Tuff Truck (think raised Safari on 33 muddies) kind of pales into insignificance, doesn’t it? But don’t worry too much. Legacy is one of those bespoke US restoration shops which turns dreams into reality – for a price, in the case of the Power Wagon pictured, a cool $US350,000. Which kind of puts it out of reach on most Kiwi 4Wheelers – and in doing so makes even the trickest RB30 turbo Nissan or LS1 V8-converted ‘Saf’ look like something of a bargain. We can all dream though, can’t we, which is…

Terrain Tamer have recently released a range of OE replacement turbochargers for a range of Toyota Land Cruiser and Hilux models. Designed and developed in Australia to OE standards, this new range of turbochargers have been VSR balanced to control vibration levels, effectively reducing noise and prolonging bearing life. As well as providing an increase in engine power and overall efficiency, the new Terrain Tamer turbos also act to reduce emissions and can improve fuel economy by up to 20 percent. To view the range or for more information, visit terraintamer.com or call 09) 263 6021.…

I suspect that like many people, I found lockdown enjoyable. We don’t have children or pets, but we did get to spend, however long it was, in our small community, getting to know everyone by first names, waving to everyone that we crossed on the street and getting things done that we had been putting off because “we didn’t have time”. We found out how little we needed to spend to live and adjusted to a new relaxed pace of life. In saying that we were working hard on developing the Adventure Tours side of 4x4Explorer and planning trips away. One we arranged was with Jono of Lost Sheep Adventures to meet up for a trip down to Central Otago to do some filming for our new 4x4Explorer Adventures website.…

The automotive and transportation industry is amongst the most exposed verticals to the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak and is currently amidst unprecedented uncertainty. In fact, Covid-19 and the ongoing effects it is going to have on our economy into 2021 is expected to have a significant impact on the supply chain and product demand in the automotive sector. Furthermore, changes in consumer buying behaviour owing to uncertainty surrounding the pandemic may have serious implications on the near future growth of the industry. Sector growth predicted However, when it comes to battery sales in New Zealand, many of the factors that underpinned demand over the past five years are likely to continue driving growth in the future. The average age of New Zealand's vehicle fleet is forecast to continue to increase slightly,…

Want refined styling that will add value to your vehicle? Hella LED light bars offer a powerful, ultra-reliable and stylish alternative to other bulky options on the market. Hella’s range of award-winning LED light bars provide additional light when high beams are just not enough and are fully road-legal with ECE approval. The sleek low profile housings are expertly designed, and precision manufactured using ultra-durable materials to ensure long life and value for money for professional and recreational drivers. Ideal for roof-mounting Due to its slim profile, the streamlined light bars are ideal for applications where aerodynamic styling is a valued attribute. The sleek light weight light bars are particularly popular for roof mount applications and will have little impact on the original vehicle’s all-important weight distribution. You can also…

Across the region of Uzbekistan known as Khorezm, and the autonomous Uzbek republic of Karakalpakstan, many ancient fortresses still stand amidst isolated desert landscapes. Little known and seldom visited, some of these long-abandoned fortresses are more than 2,000 years old! Uzbekistan's inhospitable deserts swelter in unrelenting summer sun and freeze in cold winters. As described in the side bar, our visit in late November 2019 was in freezing conditions. In times long since gone by civilisations existed out here and today more than 400 fortresses or ancient monuments remain to be found, scattered around these deserts. One could easily think this area must surely have captured a sizeable amount of archaeological interest, but in fact there has been relatively little. For a time the Soviets paid some attention, but even…

You’ll know this tune I’m sure! So don’t be shy. Sing, hum, or simply repeat the words noiselessly in your head as you join me in my parody of Willie Nelson’s hit... dedicated – you guessed it – to getting back into the great Kiwi outdoors in our 4x4s! Off the road again, I just can't wait, to get off the road again! The life I love is goin’ exploring with my friends And I can't wait to get off the road again Off the road again, goin' places that I've never been Seein' things that I may never see again And I can't wait to get off the road again That’s it in a nutshell. Nice of the WOF peeps to bring it to our notice! Go, go, go…

Toyota’s all-new Yaris Cross – due to go on sale here before the end of the year – draws on the Japanese company’s strong heritage of advanced hybrid technology, small car design and SUV engineering. Adding FWD and AWD versions of the Yaris Cross to the line-up will give Toyota an SUV range that spans from the Yaris Cross, to the C-HR, RAV4, Highlander, Fortuner, Land Cruiser Prado and Land Cruiser 200 series. The Yaris and Yaris Cross are the first models to use Toyota’s latest 1.5 hybrid system, developed directly from the 2.0 and 2.5-litre engines used by recent new models such as the Corolla, C-HR, RAV4 and Camry. This new 1.5-litre, three-cylinder Atkinson-cycle petrol engine, has been precision-engineered to reduce friction and mechanical losses and optimise combustion speed,…

Specially engineered and formulated ceramic brake parts lubricant has become an essential part of brake servicing, avoiding wear on several mechanisms. To overcome a number of issues with brake performance engineers at brake specialist Bendix have developed a synthetic lubricant called Ceramasil. Whilst any grease will do the job in the short term, application of Bendix Ceramasil between the back plate of the pad and the piston and fingers of the caliper is an effective way to isolate the pads and decouple a system resonance. The guide pins of a sliding caliper also require lubrication to operate correctly, allowing the caliper to centre over the rotor and adjust to accommodate wear on the pad. Bendix recommends that with each brake service Ceramasil be applied to the caliper slide pins, the…

The Range Rover has always been an underestimated but very capable off-road vehicle, after all, it started the 4WD wagon trend back in the 1970s. Those early models, now referred to as ‘Classics’ have proved their pedigree many times, being a prolific winner of many overseas competitions including the Malaysian Rainforest Challenge, the Olympics of off-road competition and endurance. Whangarei’s John Rapana, a painter and decorator by trade, has always been a Land Rover man owning several different models over the years. He has even bought back a Series Land Rover several years after selling it – he liked it so much. Maybe the fact it was somewhat cheaper than what he sold it for might have also played a part. John’s a very likeable character who always has a…

In Magnetite grey with those black 18-inch alloys and the green and black badgework, I’d put money on there not being a more imposing Subaru to come out of the factory in recent times than the limited edition Outback X the local importer has recently added to its line-up. I reckon Subaru New Zealand (SNZ) knew that too – which is why when the opportunity to get a few of the Outbacks with the X-factor came up, company execs would have been on the phone to the factory quick smart to put an order in. From its earliest incarnation, Outback featured everything a good Subaru should have; symmetrical all-wheel-drive, boxer horizontally opposed engine (2.5-litre, four-cylinder in this case) and in more recent times, eight-feature Eyesight crash avoidance technology. ALL-IN-ONE APPEAL…

“AS FOR SUCH A RELATIVELY Airing head down for the EASY TRACK, THE SENSE OF REMOTENESS THAT YOU FEEL IS AMAZING! AS YOU DRIVE FOR KILOMETRE AFTER KILOMETRE, THE SCENERY CHANGES AND NEW VIEWS APPEAR. MOST OF THE TRACK FOLLOWS VARIOUS RIVERS AND THERE ARE NUMEROUS SPOTS TO STOP FOR LUNCH AND MAYBE HAVE A SWIM ON A HOT DAY.” 4 WD Routes are generally graded from one to five. One being the easiest and five being the most difficult. Unlike many other sports, there is no single universal definitive system for grading 4WD tracks in New Zealand. Many 4WD clubs have their own grading standards, which vary from club to club and can be highly subjective. However, as with climbing or rafting grades, 4WD routes are generally graded using…

An exciting new development in Automotive Batteries – NAPA Batteries are now available through Ashdown Ingram, Appco, Automotive Supplies NZ, Autostop, Extreme, Bindons and the new NAPA Autoparts New Plymouth store. New Zealand is a unique place - there is nowhere quite like it or like the people in it. When you are up some long-forsaken alpine goat track, with temperatures that drop below zero, or out in the dunes under a baking sun, a failing battery that can’t hack it could let you down dangerously. NAPA has the products and the Know How to keep you moving, and to keep this promise we choose proven partners to wear our brand, who we know can deliver a product to suit our harsh requirements. The NAPA 4x4 range is selected specifically…

Want more light for working under the bonnet of your car, ‘truck’ or SUV? Then listen up, because the good buggers at Narva have just introduced a pair of new workshop lamps that could be the perfect solution for New Zealand technicians and handymen alike. The new lamps are part of the innovative Advanced Lighting Solutions (ALS) workshop range designed by Narva to improve visibility and safety in poorly illuminated situations. The two new LED under-bonnet/scene lights offer users a pair of feature-packed alternatives to Narva’s already popular and proven See Ezy rechargeable LED under bonnet lamps (part numbers 71230 & 71228) already popular with many workshops and motor racing teams across Australasia. The new LED lamps boast a powerful – adjustable – light output supported by lightweight, sturdy construction…

As we drag our way through the year in a haze of frustration and boredom, it’s worth keeping an eye out for the occasional ray of sunshine. The real thing was plentiful during lockdown, though the news we are not racing again at the top level till next year was a bit of a blow. Having won at the northern championship opener, would that make Carl Ruiterman northern and even overall champion? I know circuit racing, rallying, karting and hillclimbing are all gearing up to return to action right now. Maybe we should be a bit more pro-active too. There are literally millions of dollars of race cars and trucks sitting in sheds, all shiny and ready to go. That includes the Giti Chev, still wearing a fine coat of…

Your 4s  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…

Toyota NZ is set to launch a major ‘midlife’ upgrade of its top-selling Hilux ute featuring a bolder, tougher-looking exterior on most variants and a beefed up 2.8-litre turbo diesel engine that offers more power and has better fuel efficiency than its predecessor. “A true Kiwi icon, the 2020 Hilux comes with comprehensive safety technology and performance enhancements that make it even better to drive for work or play. It is the most technologically advanced ute ever offered by the company,” says Toyota NZ Chief Operating Officer Neeraj Lala. The revised exterior styling delivers a tough, robust on-road presence that takes its lead from the global Toyota truck family. Under the new ‘clamshell’ bonnet, meanwhile, power has been increased to 150kW while peak torque on automatic models has been ramped…

Last year Ford began a long and convoluted long lead time launch project for its re-born Bronco 4x4, linking the official release of a Pre-Runner-style race version with the original Bronco 4x4 which won the Baja 1000 outright in 1969. Since then the Dearborn (Detroit)-based car manufacturer has teased out details of its all-new 4x4 Bronco like a Boss….revealing pretty much everything but a picture of the thing, despite intense interest from bloggers, blaggers, Youtubers and yes, even plain old journos like us here at NZ4WD. Don’t worry though the wait is almost over, media sources in the US, expecting a (probably Zoom-based) official dealer and media launch in July. Ford, of course, hardly lacks experience building tough, dependable 4x4 drivetrains (the F150 ‘truck’ remaining the US market’s biggest selling…

If you thought that the boxy-ish lines of Land Rover’s new Defender were a sitter for a Lego build, well, let’s put it this way… you were not wrong. In fact, at the official launch of the all-new model (way back in September last year!) Land Rover unveiled a special colab with Lego, calling the new 2,573-piece ‘Lego Technic Land Rover Defender kit of an automotive icon you can build at home.’ Developed in partnership with Land Rover and launched alongside the new Defender at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the resultant model echoes the new Defender with a host of realistic elements and functions, including authentic-looking body panels and rims, four-wheel drive with three differentials, fully independent suspension, a working winch and Lego Technic’s most sophisticated gearbox yet – all…

Kiwi firm RVE has developed a simple, effective driver protection bubble using clear plastic shields to isolate drivers from other occupants in vehicles. Coming out of concern in the midst of the current Covid-19 Coronaivrus ‘crisis,’ the range covers popular taxi and ride share vehicles such as the Toyota Prius and light and heavy commercial vehicles including popular Utes and light trucks. “As industry leaders in vehicle interiors, we have found there is a desperate need in the community for shared driving spaces, and the need to protect each other,” an RVE spokesperson told NZ4WD. A database of patterns is being expanded daily and the company has registered the product here and across the Tasman.…

OK, let’s cut right to the chase here. The thing I most like about Volkswagen’s Amarok – any model, new or old – is its sheer size – in particular its capacious interior dimensions. One of the regular freelance photographers I use, Graham Hughes, feels the same way. He’s a big fella, Graham, long of back and broad of beam, and after jamming him into the passenger seats of all manner of 4x4 utes and SUVs the last time we had an Amarok on a group test, once he got in it, looked around, got back out to put his camera gear in the back seat, then finally climbed back beside me he, he wiggled around, found the seat belt, buckled himself in, then turned to look at me and…

To put it simply, your 4WD comes fitted with one start battery, which can power your accessories, but you will quickly drain that battery and have issues when wanting to start your vehicle if you make regular and prolonged use of those accessories. This is when the dual battery set-up comes into place. Installing a secondary battery will give you around a day’s worth of power until it runs flat, while adding a battery charger to the setup will ensure that battery can be charged quickly whilst you are driving. There are endless ways to customise the set-up in your vehicle to ensure it will perform how you want it to and where you want it to. And just like any purchase you make for your touring vehicle, it is…

Ironman 4x4 offers a full range of Lights and allied electrical accessories for your 4WD including a comprehensive line-up of LED Light Bars, Dual Battery systems and – of course – its distinctive ‘Monster’ winches. Ironman 4x4 Lighting To help enhance your current vehicle’s OEM lights, Ironman 4X4 produces a range of lights including the Gamma 175 H3 halogen with a pencil and spread beam, the Vega 220 H1 halogen and the Supernova HID 35W with internal ballast, a glass lens, polycarbonate lens cover and with a range of up to one km! A recent addition is a range of LED lights from small modular types through to a 756mm long LED Light Bar producing 90W of power at 8100 Lumens. Ironman 4x4 also offers a full range of other…

Aaving a good solid camp kitchen where we could cook and eat, and being confident of our equipment, we decided to hunker down for the night. This, as it turned out, proved to be the right decision, as it was only blustery by Wellington standards and the rain didn’t hit until after we had packed up in the morning. After quite a few long days travelling, the plan was to have an easy day driving back to Nelson, then spend a day exploring the city and just relaxing. En route we stopped at Milnthorpe Quay, just to see what was there, and at Pupu Springs where we did a slightly damp loop walk down to the spring and back to the cars. By the time we reached Motueka the weather…

Herman Bolk  Here at NZ4WD magazine we love receiving emails tagged ‘Your4s pics’ or even ‘4WD photos’ as much as you obviously like taking them. Case in point these three shots taken – and submitted by - keen ‘Tuff Truck’ owner Herman Bolk. “Here’s a few photos,” Herman said, “taken on a trip up Ruapehu in January in the summer; easy drive up with some stunning views and surprised to find a heap of snow! Then over to Kaimanawa to camp by the river for the night. Absolutely stunning part of the country – will definitely be heading back.” Cheers Herman you are a (July 2020 month Your4s) winner!…

After a long, dry and hot summer and a very dry and warm autumn during our pandemic lockdown we are now well and truly into winter with the first of the snowfall in the south and temperatures dropping in the north. It’s highly probable, in fact, that by the time you read this he North Island has also had a good dump of snow. While we might prepare ourselves for winter topping up the firewood supplies or filling the gas bottles for gas heaters, candles and torches at the ready when the power goes out, do you prepare your vehicle for the winter season? If not, why not? There are a few things we should do to ensure safe and reliable motoring on and off road during the winter, especially…