The Drivesouth vehicle road test archive contains over 5 years of motoring road tests from Drivesouth's top motoring writers. Search car road tests here.
You can also browse our car road tests by vehicle make or type. All vehicles tested by Drivesouth motoring journalists over the past 7 years can be found here.
Driving from Dunedin to Auckland on a tank of fuel would be quite an ask of even an eco-optimised small car, so should be a challenge well beyond a two-tonne luxury sports utility.
As far as mid-life facelifts go, this is a radical rethink. Not visually, you understand, for aside from a new grille and other small styling tweaks about the nose and tail, this updated version of Mazda's best-selling model looks much like the neatly styled car it has replaced in showrooms since late last year.
At a time when interest in small cars is on a rapid rise, David Thomson gets behind the wheel of the flagship variant of Toyota's prime contender, the new Yaris YRS.
Talk about tough timing. Two weeks before Japan was hit on March 11, 2011 by the devastating earthquake and tsunami, Subaru ceased making the previous generation of the Impreza. The intention was to have the replacement coming off the assembly line within a month.
Extrerior styling changes are the obvious talking point, but a midlife facelift for the Peugeot 308 also provides enhanced equipment levels, and mechanical improvements introduced just prior to the cosmetic update also carry through on the revised range.
Ford's new Ranger has been earning great raps since its launch. David Thomson takes to the wheel of the XLT double cab variant to find out what all the fuss is about.
With the Swift getting larger in its latest incarnation, Suzuki has found room for another small five-door hatch in its New Zealand line-up. The vehicle's name is Splash, and David Thomson has been behind the wheel.
Since the current-generation Toyota Hilux was launched back in 2005, its rivals have become variously faster, fitter, larger and more generally car-like.
Small hatchbacks are bread-and-butter models for volume car-makers in the modern age, which is why the third-generation Rio is such an important car for Kia on the international stage.
You could be forgiven for feeling confused by the current naming protocols for Hyundai's burgeoning product line: a couple of years back, names started to give way to an alphanumerical naming system that clearly defined each model's place in the company's hierarchy.
"This car should have launched in September," the managing director of Subaru New Zealand, Wallis Dumper, says about the new XV, which, like its predecessor, is an elevated edition of the Impreza wagon.
The "light-car" segment is booming in 2011, with sales up by some 25% on 2010. For much of the year Kia lacked the new metal in its line-up to cash in, but that changed with the recent addition of the all-new Picanto to its range.
Officially, it's not even a Fiat, but the hottest member of the new 500 range the Abarth Esseesse does its parent company proud. David Thomson reports on life behind the wheel of an imperfect delight.
Several versions of the current Lexus IS saloon have featured in these pages before, ranging from the original IS250 in 2007 to the ISF V8 performance flagship in 2009.
Sedan versions of the latest BMW 5 series have already impressed in Drivesouth's hands, with the latest to be assessed -the 535d - earning a rare five-star test rating.
