Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2018 i NZ4WD

It’s official! The Suzuki Extreme 4x4 Challenge is back for another all-out 4x4 action assault on Sunday 28th April 2019. And the man behind the event, Dan Cowper of Cowper Trucks, tells us that he has some “big changes in store” for next year’s event. “Included,” says Dan, “is increased TV coverage, plus a new drivers' qualification system, with the top 10 overall place getters in the 2018/19 NZ National 4x4 Trials series earning automatic qualification for the event. “We hope that this format will inspire people to enter into the National rounds and compete for a placing at the Suzuki Extreme 4x4 Challenge. ”With awesome spectator viewing, live commentary and great TV ratings to boot, what better way is there to showcase 4x4 competition?”…

They say that ‘nothing succeeds like excess’ and if that is indeed the case, then ‘they’ could have had the bespoke US ultra-performance specialists Hennessey and that company’s latest 6x6 six-wheel Ford (Veloci)Raptor in mind. Starting price for one of these amazing as-new VelociRaptor 6x6s starts at $US349,000 (at the current rate of exchange that equates to close to $NZ540,000) and includes the base 2017 – 2019 Raptor double-cab, four-door truck, 6x6 locking rear axles, upgraded Fox suspension, upgraded 20-inch wheels and off-road tyres, special front and rear bumpers, rollbar and LED lights. In case you are worried about how much power the extra friction from a third set of driven wheels is going to rob, Hennessey’s VelociRaptor includes a twin turbo upgrade for the Raptor’s V6 engine. The 450kW…

Simply placing NZ4WD mag stickers on their hard-working (and worked!) winch trucks has earned Superwinch Mainland Challenge series entrants Nathan Hammond and Greg Craik this month’s electronic e-subscriptions to NZ4WD magazine. Series correspondent Vicky Newport tells us that you can’t miss the NZ4WD mag stickers on Nathan’s Jeep while – sticker placement aside – Greg deserves his reward, Vicky reckons, for simply entering the Open in a Suzuki on 33-inch tyres! If you would like a shot at a free digital sub, take a pic of an NZ4WD mag sticker (available from Vicky if you don’t already have one) on your (or any) truck from a round of the series and PM it to the Superwinch Challenge’s Facebook page. The more obvious/creative placement the better, particularly if you roll your…

Tony, the landowner was a bit taken back when I rang saying I wanted to test the Mercedes G-Class Professional on his King Country property, cautiously asking, ”What sort of tyres is the test vehicle fitted with?” It was the middle of winter, after all, and the beef and sheep property has some very steep clay based tracks. Tracks on which usually, you don’t venture far on without good mud tyres as a minimum... and the Mercedes was only equipped with BF Goodrich all-terrains. Would they be enough or was I heading for trouble? I’ll get to that, of course. Before I do, however, I need to add another word or two about the G-Professional. In short, it is the ultimate ‘Tuff Truck,’ one squarely aimed at the lines companies,…

Drivetech 4x4 is enjoying rapidly increasing interest in its comprehensive automotive range from across Australia and New Zealand. The product range includes accessories; brake and clutch; drivetrain; engine, body and electrical; filtration; and steering and suspension for both the recreational and commercial 4WD owner. The range now also includes 4x4 vehicle awnings plus add-on accessories. The awnings are made from high quality 280GSM Ripstop and feature: • Flexible nylon knuckles on the poles. • Telescopic twist lock alloy legs. • UV stable heavy duty nylon storage bag. • L-brackets to suit easy universal installation to most roof racks. Available in a range of sizes from 1.4m x 2m to 2.5 x 3m, the Drivetech 4x4 Awnings can easily become a complete camping set-up through the addition of the handy accessories…

The Oztent Screen House Hex is perfect for your next outdoor adventure. It easily pops into shape in seconds to provide you with shelter. An evolution from Oztent’s renowned Screen Rooms, the Screen House Hex features all new ultra-tough mechanisms while optional walls are available to velcro to each side to provide extra protection when needed. Oztent Side Kick Once settled down inside your Oztent you can use your versatile fold-up Oztent Side Kick as an all-in-one foot rest, table or even somewhere to put your portable fridge. The Oztent Sidekick can achieve all this through a clever transforming design. The hard side-flap folds out of the way for use as a stool or footrest, or can be secured to the top of the Sidekick to convert it into a…

Using advanced dual speed technology for maximum strength and fast line retrieval, the Drivetech 4x4 Dual Speed Winch is available in 9,500lb and 12,000lb models. Having been designed for use in the challenging Australian environment, this winch is fully sealed and comes with an IP67 waterproof rating. The Drivetech 4x4 Dual Speed Winch comes with a 2-in-1 wired and wireless remote control that allows you to power in and power out via a plug in hand remote or a wireless remote control. The remote control has built in auto off and failsafe operation features and the receiver is fully sealed and impervious to water. Running below 95dB, both winches deliver quiet operation. Other features include 26m synthetic rope and a sealed solenoid unit with a three position mounting bracket allowing…

We now live in risk-averse times, where individual accountability seems to have been delegated to the community. Climb a ladder and it appears that the world is watching and expressing thoughts on the perceived risks! It’s rather hard to avoid now, with laws setting out who gets the blame for incidents that harm individuals. For that reason, organisations like the Department of Conservation (DOC) have taken what could be seen by some as extreme and pedantic measures to avoid risks. A typical example is that of chainsaw use on DOC managed public land (it’s actually illegal to have a chainsaw in a vehicle on DOC lands without permission). So, how do you get permission to use a chainsaw on DOC estate? There is formal external training to start with and…

Trail Control is a new feature for off-road driving which Ford likens to cruise control. What it does is manage throttle and braking independent of user input, allowing drivers to focus on steering through challenging off-road conditions. Trail Control can be activated at speeds from under two km/h to just over 30 km/h, and the new F-150 Raptor will be the only pickup that allows the driver to operate Trail Control in all 4x4 modes. Ford says that Trail Control can help overcome steep obstacles by automatically directing torque to each wheel then braking to smoothly bring the truck down on the other side. It also can help in digging the truck out if it happens to get stuck in extreme sand. The upgraded 2019 Ford F-150 Raptor will be…

Just one month after the release of the new 19MY Outlander PHEV, Mitsubishi Motors NZ’s market-leading plug-in hybrid SUV has recorded its highest-ever monthly sales figure – a result that has helped to propel the brand to third spot in the market and its most successful September for 24 years. At $55,990 (plus On-Road Costs), the new Outlander PHEV VRX was launched at a price point $8,000 below the previous top-of-the-range model, making it the most luxurious and affordable PHEV that MMNZ has ever released. MMNZ Chief Operating Officer Daniel Cook attributed the new model’s lower price point as a key factor for increased customer uptake, alongside rising fuel costs and an expanding national network of charging stations. “Outlander PHEV has led its class since its release in 2014; in…

This month’s cunning hack came about for a number of reasons. Since the launch of 4X4Explorer.co.nz in June, I have been spending more time on the road GPX logging routes and writing articles. Fortunately my partner Andrea has taken to the whole 4X4Explorer lifestyle and now regularly joins me on my trips. Now, whilst we are currently based in Auckland where we don’t have a winter compared to the South Island, the evenings can still be cold and wet and the sun sets at 17.30pm. The saying “Happy wife, happy life” is true and I was looking for a way to make those cold dark evenings more enjoyable for us both. The solution was really quite cheap and, once I’d thought about it, simple to achieve. Eat, drink, work, relax…

Designed to carry loads safely and securely on your vehicle’s rooftop, the Rhino-Rack range of Pioneer Rooftop Trays will maximise your carrying potential, as well as freeing up space inside your vehicle for ultimate comfort on the road. Don’t be fooled by cheap steel imitations, the Rhino-Rack Pioneer range is built to last. Since developing the first-of-its-kind lightweight aluminium rooftop carrier in 2010, Rhino-Rack has year after year maintained their standing as the best in the business for well made, durable and user friendly off road vehicle products. Pioneer Constructed from aluminium and fibreglass reinforced nylon, the Pioneer range of lightweight yet strong rooftop accessories are perfect for both off-road enthusiasts and highway commuters. With a sleek and low profile design, the Pioneer Platform offers minimal wind drag and noise…

TDS-Raptor, Bull, Orca... all are model names from the Kingone winch selection you can purchase from any Kingone dealer. The TDS-Raptor The TDS-Raptor is a high speed 9500lbs winch which has been a mainstay on the NZ 4WD scene for the past eight years. Boasting features like the 156.1 gear ratio and 5.2hp motor and dual cone load holding brake, the Raptor is supplied with synthetic rope and wireless remote. Able to be configured to fit onto any winch bar platform the TDS-Raptor has an IP-67 dust and water rating and is backed by importer and distributor Phillbrook Technologies’ great after sales service to its dealers with spare parts available for all models of Kingone winches carried here in New Zealand. Bull Winch Basically designed to challenge the American Jeep…

Our vehicles are made mainly of steel, with some aluminium, copper, brass, glass and plastics. Metals are ‘ferrous’ or ‘nonferrous’. Ferro means iron, the base material being iron ore. Any grade of steel is ‘ferrous’, including stainless. Steels are usually the hardest, strongest and toughest metals we find in vehicles. Non-ferrous means ‘not containing iron’. All other metals fit this category – aluminium, brass, copper, lead etc. and alloys made from a mixture of them. More exotic metals such as titanium are rarely used in consumer vehicles. Some steels may be hardened to varying degrees and are used for knives, gears, bearings, tools, etc. There are many types of steel, with their uses and characteristics defined by other minerals added during manufacture. All steels contain some carbon, for instance, the…

It’s the ultimate ‘double crown’ of the NZ off-road racing scene and it is now Bob Uttridge’s. In July, Uttridge won the GT Radials New Zealand Offroad Endurance Championship title at Golden Downs, south-west of Nelson. And in August, in the mud and slush of the Palmerston North Offroad Racing Club’s short course track at Feilding, the proud Cantabrian added the UTV Bits New Zealand Offroad Racing Short Course Championship title for 2018 to his fast-expanding racing CV. He did it in style too. Up against 60 of the fastest and toughest offroad racers in the country – and the wet and chilly Manawatu weather – Uttridge took the lead in the final corner of the feature race and burst across the line to claim his historic title double. Wet,…

Kurow. Magnificent. What a place to race. The Otago club is very lucky to have a dedicated hard core of members to organise their events – and they have run some epic ones in recent years. Now Slim Slee has created a short course track (just up the road form Richie’s hometown!) with amphitheatre viewing, a huge natural jump and banked turns that let drivers drop in harder and harder every successive lap. Helped by stunning weather, the club staged a superb two-day event this year that brought 43 racers to the Waitaki. Looks like we’ll go back there next year, and I reckon even racers who aren’t contesting the Southern rounds should put it on their bucket list. Media sight! We scored some good media time too, with Hamish…

A unique lifesaving Land Rover Discovery has just entered active service with Austria’s Red Cross emergency response fleet. The bespoke Discovery will provide eyes in the sky with a special drone and go-anywhere wheels on the ground, as an emergency mobile command centre with the Red Cross disaster response teams. Developed from the original Project Hero concept car the Red Cross Discovery is the result of an 18-month collaboration between Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations and the Austrian Red Cross. The specially designed and engineered Discovery has the latest communications equipment, including an advanced eight-rotor drone. A long-range thermal imaging camera fitted to the drone is capable of spotting a person from 440m and can identify a vehicle at almost 1,000m. The operator can also track objects found using the…

Ford’s recent decision (or gamble as some in the industry considered it) to lighten up its F-Series utility models with the extensive use of aluminium appears to be paying dividends – big time! August was the F-Series’ best single month since 2005 with sales of 81,839. August was also the 16th straight month of sales gains for the F-Series ute (or Trucks as the good old boys like to call ‘em). Incredible as it may seem the F-Series has been America’s best-selling line of vehicle since 1986 and the best-selling ‘pickup’ since 1977. A quick check of Wikipedia confirms that the F-Series is also the biggest seller ‘across the border’ in Canada. It is certainly big business for Ford, generating an eye-watering $US41 billion in revenue. Despite President Donald Trump’s…

Ford’s Ranger ute continues to spearhead the brave new world of new ‘car’ registrations here in New Zealand. In figures for the first three quarters of 2108, released on October 2 by David Crawford, the Chief Executive Officer of the Motor Industry Association, Ranger remains the country’s top-selling individual model with YTD (Year To Date) sales of 7430, 1480 more than the second placed Toyota Hilux (5950) and 3394 more than the first ‘car,’ Toyota’s Corolla (4086). Utes are second only to SUVs (combined sales of 48825 YTD for a 41 percent share) in popularity here with combined sales of 2 and 4WD ‘Pick Up and Chassis Cabs’ accounting for 31,419 sales so far this year (end of third quarter), or 27 percent of all sales. At 13,910 new vehicle…

While I’m well used to flying off to exotic spots for press launches, Holden NZ’s invite to Great Barrier Island, in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf, was a first. I’m almost embarrassed to say that, though almost close enough to touch for most Aucklanders, I was one of the many who had been ‘meaning to’ but never quite got around to visiting the place. Getting there was as easy as driving out to the airport and taking a half-hour (small) plane ride to the north and east before a spectacularly side-on landing into a vigorous westerly on the nor-west facing airstrip at Claris (on the eastern side of the island). The big surprise, once behind the wheel of the new limited edition Xtreme, was twofold; how good the roads are, and how…

The Achilles Winter Woolies trip was back on the tagalong calendar this year after a break due to the illness and passing of Craig Mott, one of the main organisers from the Desert Defenders Off Road Club. However, the team including Kandy Mott, Craig’s wife, were back for 2018 and the event was as popular as ever. While previous trips have mostly been through Karioi Forest and the western side of the military training grounds at Waiouru, 2018 would be on both sides of the training grounds starting off from the Waiouru Sports Club. The Desert Defenders Off Road Club (DDORC) raises funds to support children’s charities through the Trillian Trek (formerly The Variety Club Bash). Because it is registered under the Outdoors and Adventure activities regulations, the DDORC have…

You can’t go anywhere on or off the road these days without seeing a well set up 4x4 rocking a rooftop tent and/or some sort of quick fold-out awning For years the preferred ‘off-the-ground’ option for travellers across Africa and Australia, rooftop tents are now growing in popularity here in New Zealand. Awnings for both temporary day shade and extra covered room to move overnight are also becoming more and more popular, as the demand for sun protection during the day and room for extra bodies or gear/utensil storage at night grows. Specialist Australian-based 4x4 equipment manufacturer ARB has long been a leader in the design, manufacture and specifying of rooftop tents, and the company has an updated design with new materials for better strength, rigidity and water resistance. Manufactured…

Getting out of the office or away from your busy city life might be just what you need this summer, and Ironman 4x4 has a range of products to make camping and exploring the outdoors that much easier and fun. Why bother looking for a hotel or a camping ground when you can have a rooftop tent attached to your vehicle which only takes a few minutes to set up and needs little more room than your vehicle? Ironman 4x4’s luxury rooftop tent has a number of features including a raised “climate cover” flysheet to control temperature and reduce condensation, plus pop-up awning and flyscreen windows, all made from a premium quality waterproof, breathable ripstop material. The actual floor of the rooftop tent is made from aluminium, is insulated, and…

Ironman 4x4 has totally redesigned and upgraded its range of monster winches, including stronger motors, heavy duty casings, synthetic ropes, competition style solenoids – and they are the only winches on the market with a motor breather. With two in the range, a 9,500lb and a 12,000lb, and with the option of steel or synthetic cable, the company offers a winch to suit your needs. Engine breather The greatest new feature of the Monster range is the fully sealed motor, with a breather that allows the motor to equalise changes in temperature and pressure by means of a remote breather hose which can be placed high in the vehicle away from water. The Ironman Monster winch is the only winch on the market with this feature. Issues tend to arise…

That’s right. Normally I’m on the outside looking in at the various Superwinch rounds I cover. This time though I was on the inside looking out. Normally we just have to load up and do the road trip to the different rounds. Even Nelson, because though our local crew have always been involved in running a round, we’ve always had Sav organising a fair bit of it. Also, we had last year off. This year a Nelson round was not only back on the schedule it was going to be on a new farm so we pretty much had to start from scratch. Luckily the new venue was a bit of a playground for one of our club members so he knew the farm inside out. Before I start into…