Volvo XC40 Recharge PHEV review: Easy to plug

Volvo XC40 Recharge PHEV review: Easy to plug

FULLY fossil-fuelled cars are certainly not at the point of being untenable, yet surely only those so close-minded to risk being considered unhinged must accept that breaking away is not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’.

Manufacturers have already decided to move on; the big rush to provision products that, to varying degree, leave us better sorted for a future quite different to our present state is well and truly on.

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Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross VRX: New look, new ambition

Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross VRX: New look, new ambition

NO matter how well it sells, the Eclipse Cross will always have a special place in Mitsubishi’s product history – being both a first and a last.

How so? It’s the first new model to emerge under the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance. And yet, as its development was all but completed prior to the deal happening, it’s also the last Mitsubishi that was wholly created without influence from those other brands.

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Subaru Forester X Sport: Trophy catch

Subaru Forester X Sport: Trophy catch

ANYONE who enjoys fishing will know of, and possibly have, an ‘x spot’ – what better way to spend time at one than by driving there in an X Sport, the latest version of Subaru’s Forester?

It’s easily picked out, being the one with 18-inch black alloy wheels, water-repellent seat fabric … and orange accents inside and out. The latter because it’s the colour is most associated with amusement, the unconventional, warmth, energy and activity.

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Subaru Outback X: Still hitting the spot, but ..

Subaru Outback X: Still hitting the spot, but ..

THE old saying cites ‘contempt’, though it really means ‘complacency’.

The way I see it, it’s wrong in respect to the Outback. With the sixth-generation of Subaru’s elevated station wagon, the more applicable word when discussing about what exactly the familiarity this car breeds … well, it’s more along the lines of ‘contentment’. There’s no distaste.

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Kia Stinger GT Sport: Singing a more aggressive song

Kia Stinger GT Sport: Singing a more aggressive song

HOW’s this for anticipation? When you turn the Kia Stinger’s Drive Mode selector to Sport, the side bolsters on the driver’s seat fold inwards to hold you more securely in place.

That little action acts as a prelude to some enthusiastic motoring – if you want it - aboard this big 3.3-litre twin-turbocharged V6-engined rear driven sedan.

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Kia Stonic Limited: Just the tonic?

Kia Stonic Limited: Just the tonic?

Stonic? Apparently it’s a combination of ‘Speedy’ and ‘Tonic’.

An appropriate name given how the vehicle has rapidly become one of the dominant players in what is now this country’s hottest vehicle segment.

Seemingly out of nowhere the Stonic has gone from being a new vehicle due to arrive in the midst of various vehicle assembly and shipping holdups caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, to instantly positioning itself as New Zealand’s eighth most popular passenger vehicle.

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