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Adventure Reviews

Nissan's GQ Patrol was around in Australia from the late 1980s to the end of the '90s. Tough, no-nonsense, and highly capable off-road it's getting rarer, but remains a firm favourite in the second-hand market.Read more
Toyota's LandCruiser 200-Series tends to steal the limelight as a second-hand, seven-seat, off-road SUV buy. But Nissan's V8-engined Y62 Patrol has a lot to offer.Read more
The new Mazda BT-50 is no longer based on the Ford Ranger platform; it is now based on the all-new Isuzu D-Max. So, a pretty big change, to say the least. Among other things, the new Mazda ute has a new look – moving even further away from the polarising exterior of past BT-50s – and it has a new...Read more

Like other Japanese car makers post WW2, Nissan decided to take a...Read more

The MQ Patrol was a real watershed model for Nissan (or Datsun as it...Read more

Nissan’s GU (Y61) Patrol was on sale for an awfully long time even by...Read more

There was a time when the short-wheelbase versions of the Nissan Patrol...Read more

The Nissan Y62 Series 5 Patrol has long been considered a real adventure machine, a large 4WD wagon with a rock-solid rep, and the capability to tackle tough terrain. It had been in a long-time tussle with the Toyota LandCruiser for large SUV supremacy in Australia’s – but that all changed when the...Read more
The Toyota Fortuner has always been a solid seven-seat 4WD, but this ute-based wagon has never reached anywhere near the sale heights of Toyota’s LandCruiser, Prado and HiLux. Well, the new-generation Fortuner is here and it has revised styling, more power and torque, increased towing capacity,...Read more
Toyota's Landcruiser 76 Series wagon occupies a small, very specific niche all of its own: it's very capable off-road but it's not pretty, it's not that comfortable, it drives like a truck, and it offers few, if any, real concessions to occupant safety. However, I reckon those characteristics are...Read more
This is the new D-Max – and when I say 'new' – I mean it. It has a new exterior, a new reengineered engine – producing more power and more torque than the previous-generation D-Max – and it now has a rear diff lock... and that's a new and much-needed addition! The new D-Max officially went on-sale...Read more
The Land Rover Defender has always been synonymous with off-road adventure. All of us have a Defender memory or experience – or perhaps many memories and many experiences – and all of us have, at least, one friend or relative who is a mad-keen, die-hard Defender-lover. Even those people with little...Read more
Toyota's C-HR set hearts a-racing and tongues a-wagging when it launched here a few years back. Here was a super-stylised compact that wowed the crowds, and it rattled the cage of the mini SUV market, good and proper... but since then, as with all things, the small SUV pack has moved on and...Read more
In a hotly-contested ute market, the Nissan Navara sits comfortably somewhere in the middle of the pack – in terms of many aspects, including pricing, quality and reputation. Since March this year, Nissan reckons the new Navara line-up has benefitted from improved NVH (noise, vibration and...Read more
A tweaked 200 Series is expected here soon-ish, but the next generation Toyota LandCruiser, the 300 Series, is expected here in the not-too-distant future, and that will reportedly have a smaller engine (a choice of V6 diesel, petrol or petrol/hybrid) and an even bigger price-tag all-round than the...Read more
The Toyota Prado is very popular with surburbanites and adventurers, because it manages to strike a decent balance between being a nice-driving and practical family mover and a very capable 4WD. The entry-level Prado , the GX, lacks many of the additions, substantial and otherwise, that are in the...Read more
It’s clear when it comes to campers, there’s a world of choice almost as vast as there is for cars altogether. At one end of the spectrum you might have something like a rooftop tent for your ute or SUV , setting you back a few thousand dollars, and at the other you have something like this: the...Read more
The LandCruiser Troop Carrier has been around for donkey's years - it's part of Toyota's legendary 70 Series range – but it was last refreshed in 2016 as part of the line-up's rejuvenation at the time. Its 4WDing heritage is undeniable and this tourer's status as a solid bush-tourer is further...Read more
The Suzuki Jimny needs no introduction. This small, go-anywhere fun machine captured people's hearts, minds and cash when it arrived here rebooted last year and since then demand for them has been so high, some people are still waiting for their new Zook. Patience is apparently the name of the game...Read more
Towards the budget end of the ute market is pretty busy and the quality of these cheaper and cheerful workhorses is improving all the time. The new Chinese-built LDV T60 Trailrider 2 has had a few minor styling changes, but the big news is the new smaller engine – at 2.0-litre – is smaller than...Read more

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