On Throttle New Zealand

Photo by Ted Baghurst This week started with quite a surprise when I was thrown the keys to Toyota's 86RC media car for a photoshoot for Driven. Now most people assume that because I work for a motoring magazine I get to go for a hoon in flash cars all the time. Takes a bit of explaining to get through that I normally am sitting in front of a computer and very rarely get invited along to photoshoots... Anyway, while driving the 86 up and down Auckland's North Head and trying to drive as incognito as possible along the motorway on the way back to the office I got to thinking what the RC moniker in 86RC means. Toyota is selling the RC as an internet only , stipped down version (if you don't customise at all) of the incredibly popular GT 86 that the buyer can fully customise to their tastes and needs. The main idea behind the stripped out RC mainly being that with the new single make race series on the horizon people will be buying them, ripping out most of the interi...

This week the Ed at work Matt G has been cruising around Italy and sent back an editorial about the traffic over there being a case of controlled chaos. The crux of his story was, somehow it all worked. So Mr G decided to ask the public their ideas on what foreign road rules should be imported into NZ to 'improve' our driving experience. My idea - which since I work for the magazine I won't put forward there (awkward much) is this. It isn't found often overseas, and is a rare thing to find here in NZ, but one thing we can definitely use more of is a splash of common sense and courtesy. In terms of common sense, I find it would be a fantastic thing if people would cease to abruptly alter lanes without indication and use said common sense and realize that not all the motorists around them have the gift of foresight and can predict there every move. All one needs to do to see multiple cases of this very dodgy act of full scale dodgems is to cruise along any of Auckland...

The past week has been pretty awesome in my world with a couple of very big highlights. The first highlight was probably biggest of the nine months I have worked in the motoring world, going on a photoshoot with the editor in an Aston Martin Vanquish. It's been a couple of days since the shoot as I write this but I am still fizzing over the all too short time I spent in the company of such an amazing car. The speed, the sound, the overall craftsmanship is just something I have never experience before all wrapped in the same package. Sadly having such a beautifully built machine in my own possession is probably destined to remain a dream with the Vanquish's price tag a staggering $420,000 (ish). The second was spending a few hours at Hampton Downs in the Waikato helping with some marshaling and practicing taking a few snaps with my 1100D. Apart from just having the pleasure of being at an in use track, there was also a few very expensive track cars testing during the tra...

What road trip would be complete without seeing some weird shit on the way? I give you, Gandalf Cart Man! With a long weekend off on the cards and not much else to do the girlfriend decided that it would be a fantastic idea to drive to Cape Reinga. A 836km+ round trip.  Our vehicle? A 1.3 litre Toyota Vitz... The Far North of NZ is full of twisty roads that are a drivers paradise. Don’t get me wrong now, I think the ideal roadtripping car is a nice, decent engined GT or a ballistic missile of a sportster, but this little Toyota Vitz did itself proud and may have changed my perception on what a fun car can be.  This might seem like I have gone mad but I  assure you I have not. After a bit of research into the Vitz I found that even though it is ‘only’ a 1.3litre compact, it is equipped with VVT-I , Toyota’s answer to the early 90’s variable valve timing fight amongst manufacturers. As a result our little road trip mobile was to my currently o...