29 October 2021 by Marcus Craft
This is the new-generation Isuzu MU-X, the first substantial upgrade in this vehicle’s history. It has an updated engine, more safety and driver-assist tech, and it can now tow 3.5 tonnes, so it tops its SUV wagon class in terms of load-hauling – on paper, at least. So, does this new MU-X deserve...Read more
28 June 2021 by Marcus Craft
The new Isuzu D-Max has impressed many: it’s well-built, very comfortable as a daily driver, very capable as a weekend off-road tourer and it’s packed with driver-assist tech. We’re testing it over a few months to see how it performs day to day, week to week, and in a variety of situations: family...Read more
21 June 2021 by Marcus Craft
The new Subaru Outback is very much like previous generations of the SUV/wagon in that it supposedly gives owners the opportunity to explore a little bit further afield even if they spend the lion’s share of their time on city and suburban streets. But this time the Outback has more onboard...Read more
17 May 2021 by Marcus Craft
The Navara Pro-4X is the all-new range-topping variant in Nissan’s 2021 ute line-up. As part of a 2000-kilometre, multi-day test, I drove the Pro-4X from Sydney to an outback location about 900 kilometres north-west of Sydney as part of a more-than 2000km city-to-red-dirt-and-back adventure. The...Read more
3 May 2021 by Marcus Craft
The Nissan Navara has never garnered the same fanatical support as its rival the Toyota HiLux continues to attract but, nevertheless, it has quietly built a solid reputation and fanbase among ute lovers throughout the country. In recent years, Nissan’s cycle of tweaks and updates to its D23 series...Read more
21 April 2021 by Marcus Craft
Few vehicles can compete with the Suzuki Jimny in terms of pure dialled-in driver bliss straight from the showroom and out onto the dirt. This little Zook exists in the rarified air of a vehicular realm only otherwise occupied by the likes of the Jeep Wrangler Rubicon , Toyota 70 Series and Land...Read more
8 April 2021 by Marcus Craft
The Nissan Navara has always been a comfortably reasonable ute* that’s never neared the sales heights or popularity of the Toyota HiLux or Ford Ranger, but it has, nonetheless, attracted plenty of passionate fans (#navlife anyone?). (*Before all of you Nav enthusiasts get offended by my opening...Read more
7 April 2021 by Marcus Craft
The Jeep Wrangler Rubicon is one of the best adventure-ready stock-standard 4WDs in Australia. In recent months, much to the delight of Jeep fans here, the brand’s short wheelbase two-door in Rubicon guise, dubbed the Recon, has been made available in Australia, but in limited numbers only (40*)...Read more
29 March 2021 by Marcus Craft
The BT-50 has attracted its fans over the years, even with quite a polarising front-end look in recent years. Well, last year Mazda ushered in a new phase for the ute with a line-up now built on a platform shared with the Isuzu D-Max * – not the Ford Ranger as it had been before – and a...Read more
24 March 2021 by Marcus Craft
Adventure vehicles come in all shapes and sizes and the motorhome is one of the biggest and most versatile home-away-from-home mobile accommodation options there is. Well-known RV company Avida has recently launched its new motorhome range, Avida Busselton, a self-contained motorhome with a kitchen...Read more
17 March 2021 by Marcus Craft
With the ever-growing popularity of kitted-out off-roaders straight from the showroom, car manufacturers are busy capitalising on the fact that many people prefer the convenience of buying a tourer that is already fitted with aftermarket equipment from the car yard, over buying a vehicle and then...Read more
16 March 2021 by Marcus Craft
If you want to get stuck into a bit of outdoor adventure, but you’re not keen on sleeping in a swag or a tent, and you really don’t like the idea of towing a camper-trailer or caravan, then maybe a camper van will work for you. This is VW’s T6.1 California Beach camper van – it looks pretty retro...Read more
4 March 2021 by Marcus Craft
If you're in the market for a Ford Ranger and you can't quite justify spending the big bucks on the line-up's off-road-ready Raptor – $77,690 (plus on-road costs) – but you won't settle for an XLT, then perhaps the FX4 Max might satisfy your desire for a Ford ute. Ford has already pretty much made...Read more
2 March 2021 by Marcus Craft
There’s a confusion of choice in the realm of mid-size SUVs with refreshed ranges becoming available almost as fast as the Prime MInister’s vaccine photo-ops. The Honda CR-V VTi-LX all-wheel drive tops the model line-up and has a near-$50k price-tag to match – but is it worth that much? Read on...Read more
5 January 2021 by Marcus Craft
The Ford Ranger has consistently kept the bar pretty high for utes in terms of all-round drivability, functionality and comfort. However, it does feel a tad old, especially when compared to newer, fresher and more tech- and value-packed offerings, such as the Isuzu D-Max . But Ford’s top-tier...Read more
28 December 2020 by Marcus Craft
Utes – especially dual-cab utes – occupy the hallowed turf that lay between being purely a work vehicle and being a daily driver/recreational vehicle. But in attempting to strike the right balance between the two purposes, utes end up being a bit of a compromise in one direction or the other – as...Read more
2 December 2020 by Marcus Craft
The Audi A4 allroad is the off-roader of the A4 line-up. I’m using the term ‘off-roader’ loosely here because this wagon is obviously best suited to daily duties in a city and suburbs, with perhaps an occasional foray into very light off-roading, i.e. driving on a well-maintained gravel or dirt...Read more
30 November 2020 by Marcus Craft
Toyota’s HiLux has had a passionate legion of fans for a long time – but it has also attracted a fair few naysayers through the years. The brand’s ongoing woes with DPF (diesel particulate filter) strife have only emboldened those negative voices, but those same woes don't seem to have impacted the...Read more
23 November 2020 by Marcus Craft
Toyota’s 4WDs have a sterling reputation as off-road touring vehicles. But while the brand’s top-sellers like the 200 Series LandCruiser and the HiLux get all the adulation, the mid-size Prado simply goes about its business of being a decent all-rounder with little fuss or fanfare. However, it’s...Read more
11 November 2020 by Brendan Batty
Signature Campers is one of the newer players on the market. It launched around 2017 specialising in compact expedition trailers, but quickly found a need for larger, more comfort-orientated forward-fold campers. Mark Nesbit, who had turned up to buy just one camper trailer, recently bought the...Read more