It’s the fridge that can stop people from stealing your beer. Or soft drink, or Manchego, or whatever else you have stored in there. Of course, the ice-cold beer I’m mentioning is enjoyed after you find a nice camp spot and start to unwind for the night...
The Victorian High Country is a magical place, one of the best off-roading destinations on the planet. It's full of awesome tracks, picturesque camping, and the type of wilderness usually only available when places are hard to get to. If you've got a 4x4, you're well on your way to visiting the High Country in your own time, and on your own terms...
My Mum drives a bright yellow Mazda 6 Sport with a manual gearbox that has custom plates. Safe to say, I was never embarrassed when she picked me up from school. She washes it every week and nearly killed Dad recently when he scratched it. If you have a Mum who loves cars as much as mine, you are probably thinking of a car related gift for Mother’s Day (it’s May 12, by the way...
Not even the Head of Jeep Brand North America quite realised the annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari event had been running as long as it had – 53 years and counting. Each year the Jeep and Mopar brands are tasked with creating a handful of custom-built concept vehicles they take to the Easter Jeep Safari, where thousands of off-road enthusiasts gather to get down and dirty on some of the most technical off-roading on some of the most demanding terrain in the United States – Moab, Utah, from April 13–21...
Water crossings aren’t to be taken lightly when you're off-road. If you don’t absolutely have to go through water, best not. The risks are high. Just a little water in the engine could mean a sleepover in the bush, an expensive retrieval and an even more expensive engine rebuild...
It'll come as a shock to absolutely no one, that the 4x4 ute is rapidly rocketing up the charts in Australia as the go-to family chariot. In 2018, 15 per cent, or one in every six or seven new vehicles sold in Australia, was a 4x4 ute. That sort of dominance was only bested by the small car and small SUV segments, both capturing 17 per cent of the market...
For as long as I can remember and that’s going back a few decades, I’ve only ever modified one car out of the twenty-or-so I’ve owned and that was my very first – a $500 Ford Cortina Mark II MY70 – flat white with a dirty great black stripe running from boot to bonnet...
Like most young German engineering students, Burkard Bovensiepen was into cars and while he was working for his family’s typewriter business, Alpina, all he could think about was making his car go faster. The Munich-based student noticed the amount of empty space in the engine bay of his BMW 1500 at the same time as he realised it needed more power...
Enthusiasts may obsess over them, but for the average motorist the black rubber rings under each corner of their car probably don’t occupy much thought until it comes time to replace them, and then it’s just another out-of-pocket inconvenience. Bridgestone is aware of this...
There isn’t another country on the planet as obsessed with 4WDing as Australia. We’re buying more 4WDs, in the shape of both utes and SUVs, than small cars these days and that trend doesn’t look like slowing down. Sure, a good chunk of those SUVs (and even some of those 'lifestyle' utes, even the ones with all-wheel drive capability, are unlikely to ever see a patch of dirt let alone hardcore off-road tracks...
If you've ever wondered where all the world's tyre manufacturers get together to promote their wares, it's the wheel and tyre hall of SEMA. Here you'll find brands that you've heard of, like Nitto, Mickey Thompson and Michelin, but you'll also come across brands you've never heard of, trying to break into the US market...
Trent tours the Performance car hall of the 2018 SEMA show.
SEMA. It's seen as the mecca of all things performance, but many punters might not know it's also a showcase for the off-road industry – sometimes in all its overstated glory. It is the United States of America after all. For me, it's the greatest car show on the planet such is the scale, variety and scope of the products and vehicles on display...
There's no doubt SEMA is the go-to place if you're an aspiring company wanting to show what you can do and drum up business. It's trade-only, too, so it's not a general public event. It's all about business and promotion. While the focus might be on muscle cars and SEMA's hotrod roots, the 4x4 world is starting to take over in a big way...
If you’re a car nut that also doesn’t mind dabbling in a bit of gaming here and there, chances are you’ve got a copy of Forza or Gran Turismo floating around somewhere. I know I do. But, what if you’re a bit more about mud bogs than McLaren Senna? More gnarly rocks than the Nurburgring? Often, the only taste of off-roading you can get is something like Dirt Rally or an arcade-style racer...
There’s enough rich and varied history in the marriage of video gaming and motoring to placate the most discerning fans of either genre in the quest for virtual escapism. And the fourth instalment of Microsoft’s titanic open-world racing franchise, Forza Horizon 4 for xBox One and PC, is an indulgent, grandiose, intense and at times overloaded quest to set new benchmarks in virtual escapism for gameheads and petrolheads alike...
Remember 1992? To be more accurate, do you remember a certain special edition Holden released in 1992? See if this rings a bell. The Holden Barina Sportsgirl. That’s right, this was Holden's attempt at taking its player in the popular small hatch back segment and trying to convince consumers that this particular Barina was more special than a standard Barina...
There’s gifts, and then there’s Father's day gifts. And, if your dad is a hardcore petrol head, or even just a casual auto enthusiast, these specially handpicked gifts as highlighted by the dads in the CarAdvice office ought to bring a smile to your old man’s dial come father day morning...
Christmas has come around fast this year, leaving many of us with lots of last-minute gifts to buy. If you have a car-loving family member or friend - or if you need to drop a few hints for yourself - I've canvassed the CarAdvice team for a list of affordable auto gifts to help you complete your last-minute Christmas shopping! For the kids Remember Operation? This is essentially the same game with a twist – the human body has been replaced with a car needing repair...
The National Motor Museum in South Australia last week opened its latest exhibition titled Alice Anderson’s Motor Service. Alice was Australia’s first female garage proprietor when she opened her all-female business in Kew, Victoria, in 1919. We spoke to the museum curator, Michelle Toft, on the CarAdvice podcast, to learn more about Alice’s pioneering history...
