Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2019 i NZ4WD

The Kiwi-conceived and largely developed Humdinga amphibious 4x4 is about to go into production in Gulf state, Qatar. The company behind the Humdinga 4x4 and a range of other wheeled amphibious two, three and four wheelers, Gibbs Amphibians, is establishing a strategic partnership with the Madaeen Al Doha Group to supply and assemble the vehicle. The subsidiary, called Gibbs Amphitech, will be based in Qatar and will supply Gibbs products in the region and other key markets including Australia, Canada and the UK. Gibbs founder UK-based Kiwi businessman Alan Gibbs is enthusiastic about the new opportunities in the region and the performance of the Humdinga in the market. “There is a developing global demand for the Humdinga, and we are receiving high levels of interest from all kinds of customers,…

It’s the question everyone askes when you climb down out of Ford’s new Ranger Raptor; ‘what does it go like?” If I was asked this once in the week I spent driving in and around greater Auckland in Ford’s distinctively liveried metallic blue Raptor, I was asked it 100 times; at my local Z service station, in the car park at Hampton Downs, even mid photo shoot at Muriwai Beach. Like the HSV SportsCat and SportsCta+ models there appears still to be a wee bit of confusion regarding the engine. Otherwise most people I spoke to knew that the Raptor was Ford’s range-topping ‘Tuff Truck’ and that it was supposed to be able to ‘leap tall sandhills’ in a single bound. So, in the interests of keeping you reading I…

The age of the four door car may well be passing. It’s well known that Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are New Zealanders’ favourite mode of transport for work, family and play. Tucked into that fact is another: the ‘ute’ is close behind, and most of those are four wheel drive Diesel Double Cab (DDC) utilities. In November, for example, the medium SUV was our best seller, on 2,326 for the month and 25,161 for the year. The ute’s numbers are no less impressive: 2260 for the month and 22,300 for the year to date. In fact the first four spots are filled with SUVs and DDCs. Ford’s Ranger remains our best-selling vehicle of any type ahead of the Toyota Hilux, with the former darling of the sales figures, the Corolla,…

Early December 2018 and it was time, again, for the combined annual 4WD “Operation Stirling” and the side by sides and quads “Waiouru Safari” events held simultaneously on the 63,000 hectare Military Training grounds at Waiouru. This year there were 63 four-wheel-drives including a large number from the NZ Jeep Club and 45 side x sides and quads. Participants have the option of staying in the barracks on the military base for the weekend and dining in the mess or organising their own accommodation and meals. Most take the full package and breakfast in the mess at 6.30am can be a very busy time. Typical spring weather of rain and thunder storms threatened to dampen the weekend but in the end there were only a couple of passing showers during…

I was lured away during October by an advertisement for an overseas tour that included Morocco and that used the words 4WD and sand dunes! OK, that wasn’t the only reason, there were other places like Lisbon, Gibraltar, Costa Del Sol, Madrid and Barcelona to explore along the way. Sadly, for my envisioned careering around Saharan sand dunes, the fine print actually said “enjoy a spectacular four-wheel-drive to the sand dune of Erg Chebbi.” The 4WDs were recent model Land Cruisers with aircon, so little chance of getting sand in your hair. However once at the dunes, we then mounted camels for a ride towards the crest to watch what I admit was an impressive sunset. There was plenty of evidence of actual 4WD sand driving, as even as we…

The annual teams’ event at Possum Palace (Omana, sth-west of Whangarei, Northland, Oct 20 and 21) continues to be popular, as was proved at the latest event, held over Labour Weekend 2018. The field was again made up of a few regular competitors plus some fresh faces entering their first winch challenge and some veteran competitors who’d not yet seen Possum Palace in all its muddy glory. Thank you to everyone who competes or helps out and continues to grow the sport by being the welcoming (but still competitive) faces to all involved. Saturday Morning It was a slow start to Saturday morning for most with the last of the teams getting their trucks scrutineered and final checks of the stage bunting carried out by the ground crew. Cruisaf Racing…

Over the Christmas/New Year break NZ4WD magazine’s Event Manager Ashley Lucas was invited along to assist with checking out the various tracks and farms for the upcoming Te Awamutu Rotary Kawhia Safari (Feb 15-17 2019) and our man reckons that a very good 4WD trip is in the planning. “We spent four days with the team driving the properties in the Kawhia and Oparau areas with superb weather and great company,” said Ashley. “Some of the tracks have been used on previous safaris and some will be new but either way they will provide scenery, good driving, fantastic views and there is a natural tunnel to walk through so make sure you have your torches and of course camera.” Minimum requirements are mud terrain tyres and there were certainly some…

With its wide track and broad shoulders there’s no escaping the fact that Ford’s new Raptor made every other TD DC ute look spindly in comparison. Does that mean that all other – similar – workaday utes are going to head in the same styling direction? Answer. Of course not! In fact the changes Ford has made to its existing Ranger models would appear to have future-proofed the company’s line-up for at least another three-four years. For a start, new Raptor’s coil sprung rear end has resulted in both a considerably lower braked towing weight limit(2500kg cfm 3500kg) and payload (758kg cfm 961kg) in comparison with the conventional leaf-sprung XL, XLT and Wildtrak models. The extra suspension travel and ride height which goes hand-in-hand with the wide-track stance to make…

There’s no denying the near-perfect fit between Kiwi hard-working, hard playing lifestyles and the diesel double-cab (DDC) utes and SUVs that now dominate new vehicle sales stats month after month. But what if we told you that the shiny turbodiesel double-cab or SUV sitting in your driveway is likely to be quite different from the next one that rolled out of the dealership? That its power and torque figures will be different, and its fuel economy will certainly not match up to ‘official’ figures? There’s a growing drive among owners of these vehicles to optimise their performance, and the ability of tuners to improve modern computer-controlled engines using little more than the dyno, the car’s existing diagnostic port and a laptop make the job quick and effective. From carbs to…

The Moawhango School and Community’s annual fundraising 4WD Safari/Trek/ Tagalong (north-east of Taihape) is always well supported, so I didn’t waste any time when I received my entry notification for the 2018 event. That was back in August, so you can imagine the sense of anticipation as the November 24 date drew near. The sun was nowhere near rising, in fact, as I started the Patrol and headed for my front gate en route to the event (early) that morning. It was then a case of first stop Caltex, Woodville, for diesel, then the drive over the Saddle road and onwards, with the sun finally rising in the East as I turned right onto State Highway 1 at Vinegar Hill. A short stop just before Taihape to collect Jim, my…

Quiet time? Not a chance. In fact, this is that exciting time of year when people are refreshing their cars and trucks and UTVs, and lots of others are working on new plans for 2019. That means there’s a huge pile of goss... I mean massive amount of information to pass on to you race fans. There are interesting moves afoot in the UTV classes, for instance, where Carl Ruiterman is developing a new weapon to step back up out on U class and defend his national title. He’s got an all-new S class Yamaha on the build programme. I’ve also seen a lot more of the new RS1 Polaris which could be interesting. It has now been approved by ORANZ to race once it’s had specific modifications to the…

Land Rover NZ has introduced a special limited edition model of the Discovery Sport SE valued at $94,950 but with an RRP of just $83,490. The 2018 Discovery Sport SE Dynamic Edition is available in either a TD4 132kW or, Si4 177kW engine and will come standard with a black contrast roof, Meridian 380W audio, ebony headlining, blind spot monitoring privacy glass as well as Dynamic Exterior and Interior packs. New Zealand customers should contact their local authorised Land Rover retailer for more information.…

With so many of us (33.4 percent) living in Auckland, it’s only natural that if a prize is offered and a draw held the chances of it going to someone from the Queen City are greater than – say – someone from Invercargill, Wairoa, or Ruatahuna! However they don’t call it ‘the luck of the draw’ for nothing, as the winner of our latest e-newsletter subs draw, Logan Amies from Westport on the West Coast is wont to prove. As you can see from the accompanying pic, Logan won the Rhino Rack Batwing awning/shelter system just by heading to www.nz4wd.co.nz and signing up for our monthly newsletter. With 270 degrees of shade and 11 sq m of coverage the Batwing is perfect for that summer 4WD trip to the beach,…

Light Bar Kits For Campers Just in time for the summer season, a new range of handy 12-Volt LED light bars has been introduced to New Zealand by Griffiths Equipment, designed especially for camping and outdoor activities. Measuring 50cm in length, the new camping light bars feature durable aluminium housings and an array of powerful surface-mount LEDs that provide a broad spread of light. Complete with a magnetic base, the new Big Red Light Bars are available in complete 2-, 4- or 6-bar kits and come with all accessories required, including a handy carry bag for easy stowage. The bars are fully sealed with waterproof connectors and may be joined in a daisy chain or used separately with the supplied splitters. Simply connect to a 12-Volt supply with the included…

By the time that you read this, we will be deep in the South Island Exploring and logging routes for 4x4Explorer. Like so many others, we decided to cash in in Auckland and start a new life in the South Island. Before we left, however, we decided to tick a few things off the ‘Bucket list,’ one of them being a trip to the Far North, and the iconic 90 Mile Beach. Having sold the house on the Friday, we headed north pretty much straight away, intending to stay at Kai Iwi Lakes and learn how to fly the drone I had just bought to take some great photos. The weather conspired against us, however, with a tropical storm battering the North Island. We weathered the storm in Dargaville and…

NZ Adventures’ tours have again proven very popular for the 2018/19 season which is of course very gratifying for the owner operators of the business, Robbie and Connie Crickett of Invercargill. For Robbie the upcoming season marks 20 years of guiding motor vehicle tours along the tracks of the stations, forests and conservation parks of the south and it’s a role he really enjoys mainly because of the response of tour participants as they are guided along. The company currently offers five different tours: High Country Heritage. Either six or seven days (seven in March) down the eastern side of the Southern Alps from Blenheim to Cardrona with overnights along the way in Hanmer Springs, Methven, Fairlie, Omarama and Cromwell. Included is 1250 km of some of the best scenery…

Twenty One competitors fronted up to take on the ten challenges the convenor of the Southern Trail Blazers 4WD club’s latest Landslip 4x4 Rally pegged out at its regular site north of Pukerau on November 10 last year. The weather leading up to the event was wet and promised plenty of mud and water in the obstacles. Some competitors were new to the sport, others were long time campaigners and some had dragged their trucks out of retirement to have another go. One team had the same truck for a second generation to get into the sport. The obstacles ranged from mud bogs, tricky jump-ups, off-camber cross-ups and hill climbs. There were four classes of vehicle; Standard, Modified, Greater Modified and Super Modified. Also this year there was a winch…

Sometimes it pays to listen and act on your own advice. I always suggest to customers that a good steering guard is required for off-road, and given recent events with people bending and breaking track rods, fitting heavy duty steering arms can save a lot of grief in the bush. A lot of the time people ignore this advice, usually due to cost. In recent months there have been several instances where people have bent or broken track rods-off road causing problems getting home. I only bent mine last year, but since then two people have come looking for replacement steering arms after physically snapping or breaking their track rod. One on a Defender, the other a Discovery. Bending the track rod is common, but snapping it in two certainly…