Table of contents for May 2024 in NZ4WD

Specialist builders SV have created a 4WD that looks like a Land Rover, but isn't. Fourteen years of development have gone into the SV Rover, which has been designed and built in Southern California and engineered to comfortably tackle technical off-road trails and traverse desert terrain at extralegal speeds, the SV Rover reimagines off-road capability while embodying a vintage aesthetic. This truck was initially designed as a desert race truck for Baja and subsequently evolved into a road legal two seat hyper-truck that is capable of not only high-speed desert racing but also low speed technical off-road work. It has four-wheel drive and four-wheel steering; pushrod independent suspension, air-controlled ride height roll. There's 30” of wheel travel front and rear. The engine is a rear/mid-engine 820kW (1100bhp) 6.2L supercharged V8,…

The race is over: Toyota is the first auto maker to bring a right-hand drive hybrid 4WD ute to market. The Hilux Hybrid, arrives simultaneously in New Zealand and Australia. In New Zealand the Hilux Hybrid will be sold in single spec at launch: the double-cab SR5 Cruiser 4WD. The Hilux Hybrid's powertrain is based around the same familiar 2.8-litre turbodiesel 4-cylinder, producing an identical 150kW/500Nm. But whilst the pure diesel model features a claimed fuel economy of 9.1L/100km and CO2 emissions of 238g/km, this drops in the hybrid to 8.7L/100km and 231g/km. Its towing capacity and payload are unchanged, rated at 3500kg (braked) and 750kg, respectively. Being based on the standard SR5 Cruiser (Toyota's flagship Hilux variant outside of the performance-orientated GR Sport), the hybrid comes with a familiar…

Isuzu has revealed the updated 2024 D-MAX range. It includes a revised line-up of variants including the new X-Rider. The entire range has improvements to design, multimedia and safety. The company says “New Zealand's toughest ute is better than ever before”. The 2024 D-Max has an entire-new look front end which incorporates a newly designed bumper, grille and headlights. The LS and X-Terrain models benefit from revised alloy wheel styles and the taillights and rear tailgate have also been refreshed for 2024. In addition, Namibu Orange has been added to the exterior colour palette and a ‘hexapod’ trim design is now found throughout the interior. Powering all variants of the 2024 D-MAX is Isuzu's 4JJ3 engine. Featuring 3.0L of displacement combined with a Variable Geometry Turbocharger (VGT), the engine makes…

TESTED LAND ROVER DEFENDER 130 Those who love ‘real’ off-roading listen up. As NZ4WD found when we named the shorter Defender our 4WD of the year, the new Defender remains a proper 4WD. This doesn't mean living with an unrefined, clunky old truck on school or grocery runs in between those epic overland escapades. As most readers will know, Land Rover's best-of-both-worlds 2024 Defender does what those more agricultural offerings do offroad but is equally at home on the highway or downtown. This latest incarnation is only the fourth in over 40 years. In its new ‘90’ and ‘110’ versions the Defender emphatically left behind its agricultural origins, but the design cues are unmistakably Defender, retaining that strong flavour of goanywhere offroad capability but cloaking it in urban smarts. Defender…

4WD PARTS AND SERVICES It's that time of year. It's been a great summer with some memorable adventures, and now we head into winter. Suddenly the off-roading becomes a whole packet of different challenges. That easy track tackled in the dusty height of summer is now going to be packed full of mudholes, washouts, slippery sidling sections and river crossings. That means it's time to look over the 4WD and do some maintenance to make sure it can cope with the conditions. Tyres are critical. Highway? Brave. All terrain? They'll work for many situations. Rough terrain? Better. Mud terrain? Best of all, as long as the wear factor is okay. Sometimes, even the best tyres on the toughest truck are simply not enough. Make sure there are some good recovery…

Gates Australia has developed a range of 4WD emergency kits. These kits are designed to provide drivers with everything they need to tackle unexpected breakdowns, whether on the side of the highway, off-roading in the bush or stranded in an isolated location, a 4WD emergency kit can save the day from an unexpected hose or belt failure. Each kit is specifically tailored to cater to 4WD and high kilometre vehicles and is available for a wide range of popular makes including Toyota Hilux & Land Cruiser, Nissan Navara, Ford Ranger, and Mitsubishi Pajero. Each kit includes a range of essential parts, such as: • Radiator hose(s). • V and/or micro-v belts. • Hose clamps. Packaged for compact storage in your vehicle, drivers can replace worn parts wherever they are, giving…

Adventure For us there was just something unknown about Africa, too scary, too big, too complicated, too hot, and so it was left undiscovered until we started to ‘run out of road’. In 2019 we planned to buy a car in South Africa and travel around Africa for no fixed time or travel route other than to respect the wet and dry seasons. However, this was 2019 and Covid-19 put a halt to the trek. Locked down in New Zealand, and with the perfect camper design in my head from years of travel around the world, we decided to instead build one and ship it to Africa when the world opened up again. In theory, building a camper should have been a simple exercise, but getting the concept of what…

4WD Sport Twice postponed, but worth the wait. Off-road racing's national championship roared into action on 24 March at the Manukau International Offroad Stadium. The racing had been scheduled to happen in late February but was postponed due to heavy rain. The new date, 23 March, gave the organisers more time to finesse the track, which has a speedway-style compacted clay surface. The jumps on the start-finish straight were re-profiled to eliminate a tendency to tail-kick race vehicles when they hit at full speed. Then a further weather dump after a sunny week forced organisers to switch to the Sunday. The rain was enough to stabilise the track surface but not enough to scar to surface or turn the going slippery. Comebacks were the order of the day, with Paul…

As the winter months close in and most 4WD tracks and trails get wet, slippery and soft, we need to think about their future. As users of those tracks, we need to recognise that if they are on public land, the costs of maintenance and mitigation fall on the local land manager and if the land is a legal road, that can be someone in a small district council with few ratepayers. Our recreation is not on a one-way street. It has obligations to those communities that enable use of those lands that they fund through their property rates. The other type of popular public land is that managed by the Department of Conservation (DOC), a government organisation that is responsible for around one third of our countryside. In a…

This one will work for a living. Edging into an already packed Ford Ranger family above the Sport, the Ranger Tremor promises off-road capability and excellent handling. The Tremor model name is used in the UK but is making its debut here this year. It could be seen as a more affordable version of the Wildtrak X offered as a limited-edition. It takes the standard 154kW/500Nm 2.0-litre biturbo-diesel engine and pairs it with the more versatile automatic 4WD system from the V6 models. The suspension takes inspiration from the Raptor, with a 24mm increase in ride height, 30mm-wider track, Bilstein Position-Sensitive Dampers and General Grabber AT3 tyres with white lettering mounted on 17-inch Asphalt Black machine-faced alloy rims. Like other Rangers, the Tremor has four-wheel disc brakes. Raptor's Trail Turn…

NEWS One of the most frequent questions that Priscila Martins and Ross McAinch, the owners of tyreshoponline.co.nz gets is, “Are your prices for real?” and their answer is “Yes”. The business started around 13 years ago, when the then-owner wanted some Lakesea tyres for his 4WD, so decided to become the importer. Priscila and Ross, the current owners, have transformed the business into a hub where Kiwis find the perfect fit for their vehicles. Starting from humble origins of selling just a handful of tyres, they've developed a thriving operation with demand steadily on the rise. Supplying 4WD and SUV tyres is the core of their business as that is where it started out, however they also supply car, ATV, commercial, competition and agricultural tyres. Representing more than 30 renowned…

NEWS Jeep fans, look away. The V8 Jeep Wrangler is going out the only way it knows how: with a bang. Jeep has just revealed the 2024 Wrangler Rubicon 392 Final Edition, a limited-run sendoff for the beastliest factory Wrangler there ever was. Unfortunately, it's unlikely any of these beasts will be built in righthand drive. Unsurprisingly, it pulls out all the stops and costs a whopping USD$101,890 to start; this princely sum buys all sorts of accessories and visual add-ons, along with the bragging rights of being one of 3700 lucky few to own the last of the V8 Wranglers. The treatment starts off with decals for the hood and front fender vents, and 17-inch beadlock-capable wheels in a bronze finish. A winch, a Mopar grille guard, and Mopar…

BYD is gauging desire for its new ultraluxurious SUV, but may want to revise its name – Yangwang – for Western buyers. The Chinese company last year revealed the U8 4x4 as the spearhead of its new Yangwang luxury brand, envisioned as a rival to the likes of Audi, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. BYD aims to “reshape the contours of the global luxury car market” with the Yangwang brand. It is the first time BYD has shown a Yangwang model in Europe and the brand is highlighting the “exceptional capabilities” of its new e4 platform. The most notable of the new platform's attributes is an 820kW (1100bhp) quadmotor powertrain – one motor on each wheel – which allows for 360-degree ‘tank turns’ on the spot and boosts the U8's dynamic stability…

Mr Bean drove a phlegm-coloured Mini, but world-famous comic actor Rowan Atkinson CBE had better taste. He asked Iconic Auctioneers to find him a Land Rover Defender 110 Heritage Edition specifically for his own use. The company found him this car which was originally supplied new in 2015 to its first owner who covered a nominal mileage over 18 months. During his ownership the car was fitted with a factory-specification tow bar and electrics as well as factory-spec air conditioning (at a cost of NZD$9,000) and a car alarm. When Land Rover finally called time on the Defender the company launched the final Defender Celebration Series to mark the occasion. Limited to a build of just 400, the last Defender rolled off the production line at 9.15am on 29th January…

With a swanky, high spec interior and a surprising level of refinement and driver assist technologies, the petrolpowered VW Amarok is an interesting proposition. It adds a completely new ‘vibe’ to the Amarok, and it's hard to deny there are those who prefer petrol to diesel for their motoring. There's a mindset shift required off-road, where a diesel's torque ‘mountain’ can tend to flatter the driver while a petrol engine requires thoughtful use of the throttle. But the introduction of a 2.3-litre turbo petrol engine at the high-end level of Aventura does suggest there's a definite leaning toward on-road and urban users. Across the industry, safety tech has moved on a fair way. Gone are the days when an unsophisticated ‘lane keep’ function might thrust an unwary ute driver into…

4WD PARTS AND SERVICES Automotive parts supplier the Mount Shop marked a significant anniversary in March: it turned 21. That's quite an achievement for an automotive supplier – in fact, for any business. The company has been a go-to source for all type of mounts throughout that time and has in recent years been expanding its range to include other essential suspension and drivetrain components along with engine parts like pulley sets. Mount Shop owner Hemi Toia says the company's growth and success has been a matter of supplying high quality products and offering excellent customer service. “Our people know how important it is to be able to supply gear that will go the distance and they know customer service is paramount.” The company stocks a wide range of parts…

Since 4x4Explorer Adventures started back in 2020, we've been looking at ways to expand our client base and diversify the business. Among the ideas that we have had: to attract guests from overseas and to offer trips to photographers looking to get into remote areas, either to photograph the amazing night skies that we have or the amazing landscapes that we see on our various trips. It's even possible to photograph the Aurora Australis from some points in Central Otago. I've seen photos taken by clients on some of our trips, but have never seen it myself, probably because I'm curled up in bed. With all of this in mind, I was delighted when I was contacted by Swiss-based landscape photographer Arpan Das enquiring whether I could get him to…

Will it be another UTV year? After rain delays, the 2024 CT Civil offroad racing championship got under way with short course racing at Manukau, and once more we have a ‘Club 72’ forming: racers who take maximum points from each round. Tony McCall returned to dominate class one in the BSL Chev car he sold to Cody Hata. He won his class in all heats. Situation normal. He was pretty happy to get back behind the wheel by all accounts. Also taking a clean sweep was defending outright champion Carl Ruiterman, who had little trouble winning his heats. He started a bit behind the U class cars in his Yamaha and had great tussles carving through them to the front. So in club 72 were the most successful driver…

TECH TALK NZ4WD gets to drive some exceptional vehicles each year. Often, talk turns to favourites among the test drives. Almost as often, talk is also about the mechanicals: engine, transmission, 4WD system. Some readers – a very few – may have had the ‘pleasure’ of driving trucks like the early Nissan Patrol with its threespeed floor shift manual-everything driveline. Or the notchy four speed of a Series 2 Land Rover. It's remarkable that manual transmissions were once the only choice in 4WD shifters, and today they are almost extinct. ‘Best of breed’ is open to debate, but one of the good ones was the turbodiesel/five speed/full time 4WD used in the Defender 90 County. That wee truck didn't need fancy electronic hill descent control, in low ratio first gear…

A petrol-powered SUV, the Torres, is the vehicle chosen to usher in the new KGM brand. It can't be easy to overhaul an entire car company, but that's precisely what the new Ssangyong, KGM, is tasked with. The process started last year with the change of name, but it's really kicking in now with the imminent arrival of the first all-new model launched under the fresh ownership: the Torres. At 4.7-metres long, it is longer than the Nissan X-Trail or Skoda Kodiaq. In design terms, the Torres displays many influences, including its Jeep-like vertical slat grille and a hint of Range Rover in its wrap-around tail-lights. There are bonnet-mounted grab handles and roof rails. The Torres will accommodate a variety of powertrains and is being launched with a choice of…

Hot on the heels of the Grenadier SUV, Ineos Automotive has launched a fiveseat double cab-chassis variant of the Grenadier Quartermaster pick-up, aimed at specialist vehicle converters and commercial body builders worldwide. Developed alongside the Quartermaster pick-up, the cab-chassis version is also built on the longer Grenadier ute chassis. The company says it is engineered to deliver a class-leading combination of off-road capability and load-carrying versatility, with the comfort, safety, refinement and features that today's drivers expect. George Ratcliffe, Commercial Director, says in the first year since the Grenadier launched Ineos has already completed a number of specialist conversions, particularly with emergency services such as fire, police and inshore rescue. “So launching the Quartermaster Chassis Cab is a natural step that takes our off-road expertise into many commercial areas that…

The new Chevrolet Silverado 2500 Heavy Duty has arrived down- under with a more powerful V8 engine and a swathe of enhancements with a focus on towing, technology, and comfort. Powered by a 6.6-litre Duramax turbodiesel V8 engine with 350kW and 1332Nm of torque, the 2500 HD may be the strongest and most capable pick-up available in Australia and New Zealand. Paired with the powerful, torque-laden engine is a 10-speed automatic transmission. Revised final drive ratios enhance low-end performance by as much as 25 percent. The transmission optimises grade braking with closer gear ratios, allowing for greater engine braking control. It is also tuned for quicker downshifts to enhance on-demand power, precision, and refinement. A two-speed transfer case means switching from two-wheel drive to 4WD auto and 4WD-hI can be…

NEWS Everything about outdoor living: the 2024 Covi Motorhome, Caravan and Outdoor SuperShow was held at the Auckland Showgrounds in Greenlane from 15 to 17 March. In post-Covid years and especially during the lockdowns and travel restrictions of 2020-2021, interest in motor homes, campers and caravans has boomed. Off-road caravans and campers were a popular part of the show, including Hilltop's Thredbo caravan, Royal Flair's overland-ready caravans, Red Centre and Network RV caravans from Offroad Caravans NZ and Explorer's stylish Navigator slide-on camper back, mounted on a Ford Ranger. There was also a wide range of accessories on display including mattresses, solar arrays for off-grid camping, fishing gear, bikes, wi-fi internet systems and much more. The show featured a no-reserve on-site auction of a new Benimar Tessoro 494 with a…

20 APRIL 4x4 Outdoor Expo Kumeu Showgrounds, Auckland. 4x4 vendors, show & shine, camping, swap meet. Details www.4x4outdoorexpo.co.nz email info@4x4outdoorexpo.co.nz Phone 021 268 2070. 21 APRIL Central Zone Club Truck Challenge Round 4, Colyton This series is for those 4WDers who wish to use their everyday 4WD or club truck in a slightly competitive but fun environment. Entry requirements: • 4WD vehicle with a low range transfer box. • Current rego and a current WOF. • Helmet to be worn by all occupants. • Entrant must be a current member of the NZFWDA. The series has been going for more than 13 years with competitors from all over the lower North Island. Entrants compete in one of four classes – depending on what traction aids and modifications have been made.…

MY 4WD You know the one, it has had three new blades and four new handles but it is still grandad's original axe! Billy Prescott's Land Cruiser 40 is a bit the same – very few of the pieces on it are the same originals that came from Toyota San's factory in 1978, but it is still the original Land Cruiser. A Pauanui local bought it from a chap in Hamilton in around 1998 to tow his boat. It had been built for 4WD Rallies (Trials today) so had a rugged roll internal roll cage fitted along with front along with side and rear custom protection bars, seat belts and various other mods including LPG fuel. The local didn't like the LPG, so Billy bought it from him and converted…

4WD PARTS AND SERVICES Since it was released in 2021, the Toyota Land Cruiser 300 Series has built a reputation for combining modern comfort with impressive off-road capabilities. Boasting confident towing capacity, ample family space and an ability to take on New Zealand's harsh conditions, the 300 Series is understandably a popular choice for long distance touring and family trips, which of course creates a need for replacement parts. Terrain Tamer's range for the FJA300 has grown in this time to ensure that the vehicle is almost fully serviceable with Terrain Tamer parts, offering all required filters, differential and wheel bearings, radiator hoses and a range of brake parts including both rubber and braided brake hoses, a choice of OE replacement or high-performance disc rotors, and fortified brake pads. Along…

Ironman 4x4 products have been developed in the harshest proving ground in the world: Australia. Sold in more than 120 countries, Ironman products have been the first choice for customers for more than 50 years. Ironman 4x4 Monster winches Redesigned and upgraded, these winches feature stronger motors, heavy duty casings, synthetic ropes and competition-style solenoids. They are the only winch on the market with a motor breather. There are two Monster winches: 9500lb and 12000lb with the option of steel or synthetic cable. The greatest new feature of the range of winches is the fully sealed motor with a breather that enables it to equalise changes in temperature and pressure by means of a remote breather hose that can be placed high in the vehicle away from water. Issues tend…

A long weekend enabled my 4WD club to arrange a Sunday evening visit to Stonehenge Aotearoa in Ahiaruhe, with touring trips for the Sunday and Monday to make the most of the trip. To avoid an early start on the Sunday, we decided to have a leisurely trip up on Saturday and camp at Carterton for both Saturday and Sunday nights. It was warm but windy when we met up with Gillian and Ashley for lunch at Wairarapa Moana then visited the Greytown street market for some mild retail therapy. At the Carterton campground we joined the small group that had come up for the Saturday night, and set up in the shelter of some trees to minimise the wind and the occasional sprinkles of rain from the back clouds…

We joined a 4WD fundraiser the other day. The cause was good, to raise funds to go to a hospital cancer ward toward equipment and nursing costs. Having lost a family member to the big C it was nice to be involved. It drew a good bunch of about 30 vehicles. Most 4WD makes were represented. The plan was to traverse three high country farms in the Hurunui area north of Christchurch. Not Southern Alps territory, more lumpy hill farm, and I was hoping we'd get to somewhere high with expansive views as there was potential for around 1000m altitude. At muster one vehicle stood out as different as it came through the farm gate. Was it a new Landy or G-Wagen? No, it was a Ineos Grenadier! On an…

Some people really frustrate you with their crazy notions and refusal to follow instructions. I was out with a group a little while back and the weather wasn't the best with rain coming and going all weekend but the tracks were mostly fairly easy going. Yet there were one or two vehicles that seemed to be fully equipped for four-wheel driving and off-road but were struggling and getting stuck in the easiest of places and having to be recovered. Before the start everyone as told to air down their tyres, but no one actually checked who did or didn't. We were told there were decent compressors available to pump up the tyres later at the end. One person chose to ignore this and it was only on the second day…