Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 2 i tech.drive.play

They’re both turbocharged. They’re both all-wheel drive. They’re both rally-bred weapons wearing GR badges. And now, for the first time, both the Toyota GR Yaris and GR Corolla are available with automatic transmissions. So, which of Toyota’s pocket rockets should you throw your hard-earned cash at in 2025? We spent time in both to figure out whether the smaller, lighter Yaris still has the upper hand, or if the bigger, badder Corolla is the one to beat in this ultimate GR hatchback showdown. The Heart of the Matter: Engine and Drivetrain Let’s get one thing clear straight away. Both of these hot hatches run the same motor: Toyota’s firecracker 1.6-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine. For 2025, it now pushes out 221 kW and 400 Nm in both cars, figures that…

There are rides that are good, rides that are scenic, and rides that leave you questioning why you ever tolerated a regular bike. My 56km adventure along the Yarra Valley Rail Trail with the new Paprika 53 Model 25 GT fell squarely into the third category. Paprika has gone and built what might be the most ambitious e-gravel bike on the market. This is no weekend tinker project with a battery pack stuck on the down tube. This is a purpose-built machine powered by DJI tech, designed to take on real-world terrain with poise, precision, and enough grunt to make traditional cyclists sweat. A Trail Worth Testing Starting from Lilydale and following the historic railway corridor through Coldstream, Yering, and beyond, the Yarra Valley Rail Trail has just enough variation…

Formula 1 has never been about standing still. It thrives on evolution , sometimes quiet, often loud, always relentless. But the upcoming changes for the 2026 season are less of a tweak and more of a teardown. With sustainability, relevance, and competition as core pillars, the FIA’s vision for the next era of F1 brings a sweeping transformation to powertrains, aerodynamics, and the way cars interact on track. And make no mistake it’s not just an engineering shake-up. It’s a philosophical reset. Rebalancing the Power Unit: Going Electric (Mostly) The 2026 F1 engine won’t look much like today’s finely tuned hybrids. Sure, the screaming 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 remains, but it’s been detuned from 540kW to around 400kW. Why? To give room for the electrified part of the equation to shine.…

Trends move fast in 2025. One minute you’re being told to dunk your face in ice water by a reality star, the next minute there’s an entire wellness brand built around it. And while plenty of products are all bark and no benefit, we’ve taken the plunge (sometimes literally) to find the ones that actually back up the buzz. Here’s what’s worth the hype right now. CurrentBody Recovery Boots – The At-Home MVP for Sore Legs Category: Wellness Tech Price: $1,369.99 CurrentBody, known globally for their LED beauty masks, is stretching their wellness muscles with a product that is as futuristic as it is functional. The Recovery Boots have been quietly gaining cult status with athletes, physios and wellness nerds alike, and now they’re heading mainstream. The benefits include lymphatic…

Gaming phones in 2025 are no longer niche gadgets built only for a hardcore audience, they’re flagships in their own right, with processing muscle that would make some laptops blush and displays designed to make every swipe feel like slicing butter. From mobile RPGs and fast-paced FPS titles to streaming your gameplay or editing highlight reels on the fly, these devices are the pocket-sized powerhouses shaping how we play. So which phones are actually worth your dollars this year? Let’s dive into the ultimate shortlist. ASUS ROG Phone 9 Pro It’s hard to talk about gaming phones without tipping your RGB-lit hat to ASUS. The ROG Phone 9 Pro isn’t just a beast on paper, it’s a genuine game-changer. The soft-touch glass back is refined rather than shouty, with a…

The BMW X3 has long been the middle child of the brand’s SUV lineup. Not as showy as the X5, not as pint-sized as the X1. But with the 2025 G45-generation refresh, particularly in this range-topping M50 trim, the X3 is no longer content to sit quietly at the family table. It’s bulked up, smartened up, and with its brawny 293kW inline-six and a reworked chassis, it’s got a serious point to prove. So, is it the perfect blend of performance and practicality, or just another expensive softroader with ideas above its station? We spent a week behind the wheel to find out. A Mild Hybrid, A Wild Ride Let’s start with the heart of the beast. BMW has kept the fan-favourite B58 3.0-litre turbocharged inline-six and bolted on a…

It used to be that the Toyota LandCruiser was the undisputed king of the outback. A dual cab ute was something you drove to get the job done, not something you polished on Sundays. But if you’ve been on the road lately, or anywhere near a caravan park, you’ve probably noticed something different. American pickups are showing up in greater numbers than ever before. Think RAM 1500s, Chevrolet Silverados, Ford F-150s. They’re big, brash and unapologetically excessive. And they’re not just here for a holiday. So what exactly is behind this stateside invasion? A New Breed of Aussie Dream There’s a kind of magnetic appeal to these trucks. They’re loud. They’re large. In a country that still worships the wide open road, that’s half the battle won. American trucks speak…

For more than seven decades, the Chevrolet Corvette has stood as a symbol of American performance, a front-engine, rear-drive muscle car that wore its V8 heart on its sleeve. But in 2025, everything has changed. The latest evolution of this storied nameplate, the Corvette E-Ray, brings hybrid power and all-wheel drive into the mix, signalling a bold new era for Chevrolet’s halo car. Speed and Power The 2025 Corvette E-Ray is properly quick. It combines a 6.2-litre naturally aspirated LT2 V8 with a front-mounted electric motor for a combined 488kW and 806Nm. On paper, it rockets from 0 to 100km/h in just 2.5 seconds. On the road, it feels like you’ve been slingshotted into another postcode. At $275,000 before on-roads, it sits well below Euro rivals like the McLaren Artura…

There was a time not long ago when electric vehicles were pigeonholed as urban commuters, silent, sleek and tethered to the grid. But today, with torque-rich drivetrains and battery tech improving faster than your favourite outback track gets rutted in a wet season, EVs are inching their way into Australia’s most rugged territory: off-road adventure. Which begs the question – are electric 4WDs actually ready to roam the red dirt, power over river crossings, and survive more than a photo shoot outside the MCG? The short answer? Sort of. But it’s complicated. The Powertrain Advantage There’s no denying the raw mechanical appeal of electric propulsion when it comes to off-roading. Electric motors deliver torque instantly – no waiting for revs to build, no hunting for gears. On a technical climb,…

When it comes to adventure-ready 4x4s, Australia has long had a love affair with two names: Toyota Prado and Land Rover Defender. They’re both legends, both deeply capable, and both packed with heritage. But in 2025, the battle has intensified. The all-new Toyota LandCruiser Prado has rolled into town with fresh tech, mild-hybrid support, and a chunky price tag. On the other side, the Land Rover Defender 90 D250 represents a refined brute. Tough as nails underneath, but practically sipping on champagne inside. So which one’s right for the modern explorer? Let’s dive deep and separate outback fact. Design and Road Presence Prado: Toyota’s new Prado Kakadu plays it safe in the design department. Boxy, clean lines with a heavy nod to heritage. It’s more upright than the outgoing model,…

There’s a quiet war being waged on our desks, in cafes, on kitchen tables and makeshift hotel benches across the world. It’s not fought with noise or fury, it’s waged in silence, punctuated by the hum of cooling fans and the buzz of deadlines. In this modern battlefield, the laptop is your weapon of choice. And if you’re a creator, slicing timelines, mastering audio, tweaking colour profiles, your machine needs to do more than just work. It needs to keep up when the ideas are flowing and not melt down when you’re rendering that 60-minute 4K masterpiece at 2am. In 2025, the creator laptop is no longer a niche category. It’s a fundamental tool, a modern-day workshop for video editors, podcasters, YouTubers and digital storytellers. And while the market is…

Another year, another F1 game. This time it’s F1 25, promising subtle strides rather than seismic shifts. If you’re expecting a complete overhaul, park that hope in the pits. But if you’re after improved handling and a better My Team experience, you might find something worth racing for. The handling model is one of the strongest points. Whether you’re on a controller or wheel, it feels more intuitive than recent years. No frantic calibration fiddling required. The dreaded F1 22 nightmare seems well behind us. My Team has finally grown up a bit. You now get a taste of what it’s like to actually run a team, not just paint your car and pick a teammate. Driver management decisions feel meatier, and the new personality choices (people person or finance…

Who says you can’t have it all? Once upon a time, choosing an SUV meant waving goodbye to razor-sharp dynamics and neck-snapping speed. But today’s breed of performance SUVs are proof that the laws of physics, while still present, are increasingly negotiable when you’ve got the right engineering team and enough turbochargers. These are the everyday supercars, machines that ferry kids to school on Monday and annihilate racetracks on Sunday. This isn’t a gentle pat on the back for sensible SUVs with “sporty” badges slapped on. No. These are the full-tilt apex predators of the SUV world, each of them packing enough firepower to embarrass yesterday’s supercars, all while offering space for five and a boot full of life’s necessities (or golf clubs, if you’re more Monaco than Maccas). Let’s…