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D-MAX AT HOME AMONG WINNERS

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With utes accounting for more than one fifth of the 1.2 million vehicles sold in Australia last year Isuzu has jumped on the Ford Ranger/Toyota HiLux bandwagon with a seriously upgraded D-Max pick-up truck. The pick-up finished as the fourth best-selling vehicle overall, as well as scoring third in the dominant one-tonne ute LCV segment With major updates to technology, safety, interior and exterior design, 25 models cater for owners across the board from families to tradies and the odd tourist, the 2024 D-Max offers a choice of body styles,… Read more

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FORD RANGER TREMOR DOUBLE CAB UTILITY

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Ranger has been kind to Ford. Released in 2022, clever marketing has seen the current model become Australia’s best selling ute. Along with plenty of eye candy, that strategy includes a seemingly endless stream of grades and special editions of which the Tremor is one. As we speak there are nine different grades from which to choose and a warehouse full of options to make it yours. Even the Ranger’s SUV counterpart, Ford Everest is starting to gain some traction in a highly competitive section of the market. In a… Read more

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HONDA HR-V Vi X

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When it arrived here in 1999 it was one of the first compact SUVs around and at once set the standard for what has since become one of the fastest growing segments of the automobile market. Unfortunately, with its bland styling and three-door body, that original HR-V never really took off and it was subsequently discontinued in 2003. It remained off the Australian market until 2015 when the much more attractive five-door second-generation model arrived. The third generation of the HR-V arrived here in 2022 with sleeker styling, advanced safety… Read more

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HONDA ZR-V VTI LX

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You might think the ZR-V is the smallest of Honda’s SUVs but you’d be wrong because the latecomer actually slots between the HR-V and long-serving CR-V. It’s taken us a while to catch up with the ZR-V, but it has been worth the wait because ZR-V is the pick of the bunch. STYLING ZR-V is a good-looker, in an understated way with its Maserati-inspired grille. Based on the Civic hatch, ZR-V is a five-seat, mid-sized, front-wheel drive crossover. It’s available in three petrol-only grades plus a range-topping hybrid, petrol-electric version…. Read more

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HAPPY RETURN FOR GENESIS SUPER SEDAN

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The gift that keeps on giving: due to an ‘unscheduled incident’ on a recent test car I was left with a gap on my normally crowded ‘dance card’. No sweat, said the Australian importer, why take a reprise with the Genesis G70? Even though I had spent time with the Sports Luxury Sedan earlier in the year, when the upgraded G70 had left a generally positive impression, a second bite of the luxury ‘fruit’ was eagerly accepted. The G70, which started as a mid-sized luxury sedan with a young and… Read more

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CIVIC SERVICE INTO THE FUTURE

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With a heritage of more than half a century there is lots that can be said about the Honda Civic. No navel gazing here, though. Far from dreamy reminiscences about its-once popular product, the maker says the company is looking strictly to the future with the updated model as a bridge to total electrification of its vehicles. The entry-level petrol engine has been given the shove, with the new Civic e:HEV L hybrid filling the position, while the e:HEV LX variant is still available. Performance buyers have not been left… Read more

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NISSAN X-TRAIL N-TREK

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Meets Nissan’s latest and greatest X-Trail crossover, the N-Trek edition. Originally conceived as a limited edition of 500 vehicles, X-Trail joins the Navara and Pathfinder N-Trek editions. Based on the ST-L grade, back then it came with larger 19-inch alloys, built-in navigation, premium Bose eight-speaker audio, smoked coloured bonnet protector, slim line front and rear weather shields, front and rear kick plates and carpet mats in the five-seat version — all standard equipment. Now it rides on 18s and has six-speaker unbranded audio. Satnav remains but the other nick-nacks have… Read more

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CHERY TIGGO 8 PRO MAX ULTIMATE

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It’s a mouthful, that’s what it is. The Chery Tiggo 8 Pro Max Ultimate is a large, seven-seat SUV, sitting at the top of a rapidly expanding lineup. That lineup now numbers six SUVs including the smaller Tiggo 4 and Tiggo 7 — plus a fully electric EV. Tiggo 8 is petrol-powered, comes in three grades and is well equipped for the price, but has plenty of competitors in this segment — so due diligence is required. STYLING The Tiggo 8’s styling is contemporary but somewhat generic. There are three… Read more

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TRITON TOPS UP TECH, TWEAKS POWERTRAIN

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You have to hand it to Mitsubishi: they are not backward at going forward. Take the latest Triton, for example, which had hardly hit the road Down Under in February this year before a technical upgrade in July and the addition of new payload options below 1000kg one month later. Both, says Mitsubishi, were the result of real-world feedback across several key stakeholders, such as dealers, the media and all-new Triton customers. Of the original were the popular Pick-Up body style in Double Cab and Club Cab body; followed by… Read more

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CAMRY ASCENT A LONG TREK TO HYBRID HEIGHTS

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In Australia it was the halcyon days of the big ‘six’ family sedans from Ford and Holden when Toyota muscled in with Camry, a four-cylinder mid-size sedan, blowing the Falcon and Commodore off course. Fast forward to the late 1990s when the Japanese automobile giant pinned the future of the electrification of its vehicles on hybrid petrol/electric power with the Prius. Now a lost legend, the so-popular Prius was to become the staple of taxicab fleets around the world. Since, Toyota has stayed on script by backing hybrids across the… Read more