If you drive a small car, or are thinking about downsizing to a lower fuel use, more efficient smaller car for around town use, then you need to see the Hyundai Accent. This zippy little hot hatch has it all! Small on size but massive on features across the model range. We have a wide range of quality used vehicles like this one in our central Nelson Yard. Click here to find out more.
This is a new version of an older Top Gear idea - the man verses machine kind of challenge where the Top Gear lads have a bit of fun and showcase a car at the same time whilst usually in some kind of humorous predicament.
This time it is the all new Honda CR-Z and it is a film from the USA Top Gear studio. Rutledge and Adam race the new Honda CRZ against extreme mountain bikers through the streets of San Francisco. It is all very Top Gear-ish but we get to see the all new CR-Z in a different, more sporty light.
This car is all about the young urban professional after all - the kind of car driver that wants to have fun!
The first Prius Challenge has come to a close here at Bowater Toyota in Nelson with a stunning last day drive from local eco warrior and eco home builder Nick Marer from The Little Pig Building Co.
When Nick took the challenge he also showed us a thing or two gleaned from his years of Prius driving experience. He has owned a Prius for the last 4 years and has obviously broken free of his habits and adjusted his way of driving. He made some very smart choices, took slightly different strategies in some parts of the course, but most importantly paid attention to what was going on around him and planned well ahead so that he could gradually accelerate or decelerate at his own pace.
The result was a stunning overall score of 2.5L/100km fuel economy, a saving of 93cents for the trip over the consumption of New Zealand's favourite car, the Toyota Corolla and electric vehicle use of 67% - a well deserved win!
The video of this drive is available here, and is well worth a watch to see just how it is done. He is calm, collected and cool and in the end, the happy recipient of the all new 2012 Prius C for a week to go where ever he desires.
On the very last day of the Prius Challenge Nick Marer from The Little Pig Building Co came back to Bowater Toyota claiming he could do better on his previous attempt. His previous attempt was already very good, at 3.6L/100km, but not the best we had seen, and after his challenge he was sitting 7th on the leader board.
Being a Prius owner for the last 4 years, Nick had a few tricks up his sleeve, so he called salesman Chae Baird-Booth and booked another challenge knowing that he could do better. We are all for the competitive spirit, and if someone thinks that they can do better we will support them however we can, so we went along for the drive not expecting to film what unfolded!
With the Prius Challenge ready to wrap up in Nelson this week and move to Motueka we thought that perhaps it was time to look at the recurrent question that gets bandied around within this discussion of alternative technologies - fully electric cars!
If you have got a spare USD$109,000 you could always invest in current market leaders Tesla Motors, but as you can see they have a very small production run and are sold out until production begins again in 2014. It looks like a Lotus Elise anyway....
So the boys from Top Gear did what any good kiwi bloke would - set about making their own electric car. After all, how hard could it be?
There is more, 2 more parts to this story that are as funny as the first one.
