INSIDE:
END OF THE RO
AD FOR VICT
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YCLES
PAGE 14
I
IN A CLASS OF ITS OWN
THE ‘LIGHT SUV’ IGNIS P3
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017
ROOFLESS AMBITION
P6
THE HARD-TOP MX-5
GEAR UP
P9
2
MOTORTIMES,
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017
Motortimes Team
Manish Khetarpal 027 405 2941
e.
manish.khetarpal@fairfaxmedia.co.nz
Liam Stewart
027 405 2805
e.
liam.stewart@fairfaxmedia.co.nz
For Delivery issues or complaints
0800 806 180
Motortimes is a Fairfax New Zealand publication
6 MX-5 gets a lid
18 How pricey is NZ for used cars?
20 Surprising SUVs
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2, 5
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15, 19
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21
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17
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24
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6, 10, 14
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18
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22
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17
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16
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7
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Motortimes
The smallest SUV around
The Suzuki Ignis is
back – but instead of
being the
conventional micro
hatchback of old, now
it is a hip little
crossover with retro
styling.
Rob Maetzig
files.
Blast from the past – Suzuki’s new Ignis, complete with all sorts of restrospective clues.
❚
Continued Page 4
T
he people at Suzuki New
Zealand are describing
the new Ignis as a super
compact SUV. So does
that mean the new model is
super? Or compact?
Maybe both. What they are
actually saying is that this vehicle
is the smallest SUV around. In
fact the Suzuki NZ people are
claiming that the little 3.7m-long,
1.2-litre Ignis stands alone in a
brand-new category within the
SUV segment – which they have
entitled Light SUV.
And that tells the story of what
the Ignis is all about. Instead of it
being just another small
hatchback like the previous Ignis
sold in New Zealand, this time
around it presents as the most
diminutive crossover on the Kiwi
4
MOTORTIMES,
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017
BRIAN TUNNICLIFFE NISSAN
Ph 07-889-6945 20 Thames St, Morrinsville
www.tunnicliffenissan.co.nz
After Hours:
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Brian Tunnicliffe 0274 888 186
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2002 BMW 318i
Petrol, Auto, ABS, Alloys
$4,990 2004 MAZDA ATENZA
Petrol, 5 Speed Manual, Alloys
$6,990
2010 MAZDA 2 SPORT
Petrol, Auto, NZ New
$11,990
2009 NISSAN NAVARA
D/Cab, 2WD, Manual, Diesel, NZ New
$17,990
$17,990
2006 DAIHATSU CHARADE
Petrol, Auto, NZ New
$4,490
2011 HYUNDAI iX35
Petrol, Auto, ABS, NZ New
$19,990
2013 NISSAN PULSAR TI
1800cc, Petrol, Auto, BS Brakes, Air Bag(s)
$16,990
2012 NISSAN QASHQAI ST
Petrol, Auto, NZ New
$20,990 Petrol, Auto, NZ N $20,99
2012 NISSAN QASHQAI ST
Auto, Petrol$19,990
2011 HYUNDAI iX35 2016 NISSAN X-TRAIL TIPetrol, Auto, 4WD, NZ New
$45,
9902004 HOLDEN COMMODORE SS V8
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$16,990
2005 DAEWOO KALOS
Manual, Petrol, Towbar, NZ New
$3,990
2002 BMW 31
Manual, Petrol, Towbar, NZ
$3,9
2004 FORD MONDEO
ASB, Alloys, Petrol, Auto
$6,490
ASB, Alloys, Petrol, Auto
$6,490
2003 NISSAN NAVARA 2WD
Diesel, Manual, NZ New, Turbo
$11,990
Diesel, Manual, NZ Ne
$11
2016 NISSAN X-TRAIL ST
2WD, Auto, Petrol, NZ New
$35,990
2WD, Auto, Petro
$3
2013 NISSAN PULSAR 2016 NISSAN PULSAR ST HATCH
Petrol, Auto, ABS, Alloys
$21,990
2016 NISSAN PATHFINDER ST
2WD, 7 Seater, Auto, Petrol
$48,990
2006 NISSAN PULSAR
Hatchback, Auto, Petrol, NZ New
$6,990
2014 NISSAN QASHQAI TI
Petrol, Auto, NZ New
$26,990
2011 MAZDA BT-50
Diesel, Manual, Towbar
$23,990
2005 DAEWOO KALOS
Diesel, Manual, Towbar
$23,990
AU-7541988AA
Motortimes
❚
Continued from page 3
❚
Continued Page 5
Ignis is taller than a Swift, which helps give it good interior room.
new vehicle market. Much
smaller than the likes of the
Mazda CX-3, Mitsubishi ASX or
its sibling the Suzuki Vitara, but
still fitting into the SUV genre all
the same.
How? Well, it might be
front-wheel drive rather than all-front-wheel
drive (although Suzuki NZ is in
discussion with Japan to get an
AWD version), but it does have a
180mm ground clearance, and
high seating hip points for good
visibility. So even though it is
only little, it’s an SUV, OK?
And it is an interesting one,
too. One reason is that its body
design is quite retrospective,
particularly around the rear
where the bodywork features
three strakes that are reminder of
the well-known little Suzuki
Fronte of the 1970s that had
cooling vents for its rear-mounted
two-stroke engine.
Ignis also boasts a cute looking
front end with headlights harking
back to another well-known
Suzuki from the past, the
first-generation Cervo. Blacked-out A
and B pillars are inherited from
the Swift, while a
clamshell-shaped bonnet and guard garnish
reference the original 1988 Vitara.
The interior is just as
interesting. It features a lot of
white thanks to a two-tone colour
scheme, and this can be
personalised with blue, grey,
orange or red colour accents on
the lower centre console, door
trim and air vents. The exterior
can be personalised too, using
various colour highlights.
It all adds up to a colourful
little car that offers plenty of
appeal; a crossover that is a fun
alternative to the traditional
micro hatchback – or, as Suzuki
NZ managing director Tom Peck
put it at a media event near
Auckland, a means of getting
away from a degree of sameness
within the micro car segment.
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Motortimes
❚
Continued from page 4
Two-tone interior can be personalised via various colour accents.
Ignis is built on the same
lightweight platform as the
Baleno hatch, and as a result its
kerb weight is a trim 820kg with
manual transmission and 865kg
as an automatic, which
contributes to great fuel economy
– the manual model returns 4.7
L/100km, while automatic
versions return 4.9 L/100km.
Three versions go on sale in
New Zealand. An entry GLX is
available with a choice of a
five-speed manual or continuously
variable CVT automatic with hill
hold control, while a higher
specification Limited is offered
with CVT automatic. Prices are
$18,990 and $20,500 for the GLX
models, and $22,500 for the
Limited.
All models are powered by
Suzuki’s Dualjet direct-injected
1.2-litre K12C four cylinder,
16-valve DOHC engine that
produces 66kW of power at
6000rpm and 120Nm of torque at
4400rpm.
That’s sufficient to give the
Ignis a good amount of pep – in
fact its power to weight ratio of
8.05kW per 100kg is the highest in
the market segment, well above
its sibling the Swift which has 6.97
and above other competitors such
as the Mazda2 which has 7.82.
Ignis’ 180mm ground clearance
means the seating is elevated, the
little vehicle boasting 615mm
front seat hip points, 615mm
above the ground, with the rear
seat measurement 650mm, which
make it easy to get in and out of
the car. On the Limited model the
rear seats are split 50:50 and
individually slide as well as
recline for improved rear
legroom, while the GLX versions
have 60:40 split folding fixed rear
seats. Load space with the rear
seats upright is 271 litres,
increasing to a maximum of 1104
litres with both rear seats folded.
Specification levels are good.
The GLX comes with air
conditioning and pollen filter,
cruise control with speed limiter,
electric windows and electrically
adjustable door mirrors. Fabric
seat material is standard on GLX
and has contrast stitching on the
Limited, and the steering column
is adjustable for both tilt and
reach.
A computer displays both
instantaneous and average fuel
consumption and fuel range
distance to empty, while there is a
four-speaker audio system – six
speakers on the Limited. All
models have Bluetooth
audio-streaming and hands-free calling,
remote central door locking, a
digital clock and an outside
temperature gauge. Audio and
phone controls are located on the
three spoke leather-bound
steering wheel that has audio and
cruise control with speed limiter.
Halogen multi-reflector
headlamps, front fog lamps, body
coloured mirrors and door
handles and rear wiper and
washer are included in the GLX
package, while the Limited model
adds climate control air
conditioning, keyless entry with
push button start, Bosch
touch-screen tuner with satellite
navigation, Apply CarPlay,
Android Auto and a reversing
camera.
This higher specification
version also comes with a chrome
front grille surround, LED
protector headlamps with
automatic levelling, automatic
dusk-sensing headlamps, LED
daytime running lamps and
privacy glass for the rear window
and hatchback glass. The vehicle
also has a ‘‘guide me home’’ light
function which leaves the lights
on for a short period when
motorists either leave the car or
use the remote control to unlock
the doors.
Safety? Electronic stability
programme (ESP), ABS with
EBD, brake assist, six airbags and
side impact beams are all
standard fit, and the automatic
models have hill-holding control,
and shift lock and key interlock.
It all adds up to a new Ignis
that promises to slot nicely into
Suzuki’s lineup of little cars in
New Zealand. The company is
forecasting initial annual sales of
around 800.
6
MOTORTIMES,
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017
Ingham Prestige
450 Te Rapa Road, Hamilton 3200, Ph: 07 846 8940, www.mbinghamprestige.co.nz
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Motortimes
Mazda puts a lid on MX-5
Mazda makes its own
rules. It certainly has
in creating a hard-top
version of the MX-5,
David Linklater
reports.
You can now have your MX-5 with a hard-top. Sorry, Retractable Fastback (RF).
❚
Continued Page 7
I
f, like me, you’ve always
thought that the Mazda MX-5
would be irresistible as a
coupe – well, this new RF
model isn’t it. Despite how it
might look.
But it’s probably as close as
we’re going to get from a company
that has been unflinching in its
commitment to the keep-it-simple
MX-5 formula for nearly three
decades. The RF is Mazda’s
ingenious solution to a difficult
problem: how to put a folding
hard-top on its latest roadster
without compromising styling,
space and handling.
The company has done this
before, of course: the previous
MX-5 was available as a
roadster-coupe, with a folding roof that
looked exactly the same as the
soft-top whether the lid was up or
down. But the latest MX-5 is
smaller and lighter than the
previous car – an attempt by
Mazda to get right back to the
model’s 1989 roots.
Design chief Masashi
Nakayama explained to media
during a pre-launch drive in
Japan late last year that the new
model simply doesn’t have the
space for a roadster-alike folding
roof.
The new RF, which has just
been launched in New Zealand, is
Mazda’s typically clever solution.
RF stands for Retractable
Fastback, but it’s really more of a
targa-top. Those rear pillars have
a coupe-like look in profile, but in
reality they are thin ‘flying
buttresses’ that wrap around the
bootlid, leaving an upright rear
window and flat rear deck, just
like the roadster.
Retract the powered top and
the whole rear section lifts up out
of the way, allowing the middle
and front panels to stow. Then the
buttresses click back down into
place. The whole process takes 13
seconds, which Mazda claims
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2013 HOLDEN CAPTIVA LTZ
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$25,990
2007 MAZDA 2
1.5 Sport, Auto
Sale price
$9,990
Was
$11,990
2015 NISSAN X-TRAIL
Ex Demo, Top Spec TI
Model
Sale price
$43,990
Was
$45,990
2008 NISSAN TIIDA
1.8L Auto 24,000km
Sale price
$12,990
Was
$13,990
2010 NISSAN MURANO
Facelift Model, Leather Seats
Sale price
$18,990
Was
$19,990
2016 NISSAN X-TRAIL
Demo km, Top Spec TI
Model,
Sale price
$44,990
Was
$48,990
2016 NISSAN PULSAR ST
1.8 Auto
Demo Kms
$22,990
2015 NISSAN NAVARA STX LTD
2wd, Manual, Leather
$34,990
2014 NISSAN QASHQAI ST
2lt, Auto, T/Bar
$25,990
AU-7545091AAMotortimes
❚
Continued from page 6
Coupe-like profile,although those rear pillars deceive: they’re actually thin ‘flying buttresses’. Yes, like a Ferrari 599.
Roof is in three pieces: front is alloy, middle section steel and rear partly composite.
makes this the fastest one-touch powered folding
hard-top in the world. Bootspace is pretty much
preserved: the RF has 127 litres compared with the
roadster’s 130.
Mazda NZ reckons the RF has broad enough
appeal to account for 90 per cent of its projected
MX-5 sales for 2017. Globally, the roadster/RF mix
is expected to be more like 50/50.
The entry 1.5-litre GSX manual soft-top is still
in the mix here as the party-like-it’s-1989 model at
$40,995. There’s no direct RF equivalent because
all of the fastback models have the 2.0-litre engine
and the $48,495 RF GSX is only available with the
six-speed automatic transmission. Similar
standard equipment levels between the two,
though.
There’s more parity between the 2.0-litre
Limited roadster and RF models. The top-spec
roadster is $46,995 in manual form, with a $1500
premium for the automatic. Which makes the RF
GSX the same price as a roadster Limited
automatic.
The RF Limited is $51,495 in manual form
($4500 more than the equivalent roadster) or
$52,995 as an automatic.
Mazda NZ sees RF sales heavily biased towards
the Limited model (over 80 per cent) and
automatic transmission (70 per cent).
There’s also a launch edition called the RF-S,
with just 15 units available at $54,995. It comes
only in Mazda’s flash new Machine Grey exterior
finish and has Nappa leather upholstery with the
model name embroidered on the head restraints,
Piano Black roof, unique badging and a nice
Certificate of Authenticity from Mazda.
Mazda’s obsessive-compulsive approach to the
MX-5 means that it’s gone all out to ensure
dynamic parity between roadster and RF. The
fastback roof adds 45kg, which doesn’t sound like
a lot but is significant for a sports car that weighs
a little over a tonne. It’s enough to bump fuel
consumption up by half a litre over the roadster to
7.4 l/100km for the RF Limited automatic.
To compensate for the extra bulk and higher
centre of gravity, Mazda has made the front
suspension slightly stiffer and the rear slightly
softer.
The company also has this thing about the
MX-5 having enough roll and pitch to feel like a
properly entertaining sports car; it found the
RF-roof made the body structure stiffer, so it hollowed
out a tunnel member in the platform to
reintroduce some flexibility. That’s attention to
detail, people.
A day spent driving the MX-5 RF back-to-back
with the roadster was enlightening. Very little has
been lost in translation in terms of the roadster’s
communicative steering, perfect weight
distribution and that desire to dance around every
corner.
If you’re all about
top-down
sports car driving,
the roadster is still the one. You do get that
convertible sensation in the RF because the air
flows through the cabin and out between the rear
pillars. But it doesn’t feel as open as the roadster
because you’re aware of that roof structure
behind you. At open-road speeds, the RF also
suffers from more cabin turbulence than the
roadster, although the reverse is true for urban
motoring.
But the RF presents a compelling case in terms
of that cute-as-a-button coupe-like styling,
enhanced security and greater comfort in winter
weather.
The folding hard-top makes the MX-5 even
more of an everyday car. Anything that makes
driving an MX-5 every day a more compelling
proposition should be celebrated.
Motortimes
This ute was made for camping
How much camping
equipment can you fit
into a Holden
Colorado ute?
Rob
Maetzig
packs up
and finds out.
The Holden Colorado Z71, top model in a revised range of these Thai-built utes.
The Z71 parked among the tents at the Papamoa camping resort. Wellside cargo storage can be compromised by the fold-down hard tonneau cover.
This ABS polycarbonate plastic hard tonneau, is a $3220 option that looks really stylish, but it does impact on the Colorado’s load-carrying capability.
E
very season there are
certain questions that are
always asked.
Right now it is summer
(no, it is!), so the questions
include: Is it always this rainy
and windy? How come I put on so
much weight over Christmas-New
Year? Is that cold chicken still
safe to eat? Have we run out of
beer already?
And then there is this
question: How on earth am I going
to get all that camping gear into
that vehicle?
Yes folks, for the past few
weeks motorists all over New
Zealand have been asking that
very question of themselves.
They’ve been looking at huge
piles of tents, awnings, bedding,
storage bins, cookers and other
equipment and have wondered
how it is going to fit into their
vehicle.
Maybe they’ve eased things by
getting hold of a trailer, although
even then load space can still very
quickly become an issue. Maybe
they’ve decided that there should
be sufficient room inside their
SUV or wagon. Maybe – recipe for
disaster – they have ordered
family members to reduce what’s
to be taken on holiday.
Or maybe they’ve taken
advantage of the load space
available in a one-tonne ute.
These are the vehicles of the
moment in New Zealand.
Officially called Pick Up/Chassis
Cabs, they now account for 21 per
cent of all new vehicle sales in
this country.
Utes are so popular that last
year 31,538 of them were sold,
with various brands running 1st,
3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th in the list of
the Top 10 most popular vehicles.
And an interesting trend
within this popularity is the
growing demand for double-cab
versions that are loaded with
specification and equipment.
These vehicles are not cheap,
carrying retail prices as high as
the $70,000s. But for the money the
owners get an appealing
combination of grunt and
load-carrying capability, high safety
and luxury specification, and
surprisingly good road manners.
An outstanding example is the
Holden Colorado, which received
such a comprehensive facelift in
2016 that we named the model our
Top Pickup Truck. In 2016 it
enjoyed a year-end surge in sales
following the facelifted model’s
launch in mid-September, and
that moved it into a solid third
place on the sales ladder behind
Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux.
And as expected, the most
popular models are the most
comprehensively specified ones.
Biggest seller is the 4WD LTZ
double-cab which is the
second-flashest Colorado on the Kiwi
market, and the top Z71 model
with all the bling is also doing
rather well.
As New Zealand moved into
2017, we took a Z71 on a camping
holiday – to Papamoa, venue of a
really good camping resort,
possibly New Zealand’s best
butchery (beef, chilli and
chocolate sausages, anyone?), and
home to the notorious Mount
Mauler, the invisible insect that
hides in dry sand and rewards
beach-goers with very itchy little
bites.
But first we had to get there,
complete with everything
required for a comfortable family
camping holiday.
For starters, we loaded the
interior. A very good design
feature with the Colorado
crew-cab is that the rear seat squabs
can be folded upward and secured
in place using a hook around the
headrests, and that opens up a
substantial floor-to-ceiling load
space. We soon filled that.
Then it was the turn of the rear
wellside. Under normal
circumstances the Z71 features a
soft tonneau cover that is
removable. But our ute featured a
hard tonneau cover made of ABS
polycarbonate plastic, and this
$3220 option cannot be removed. It
looks really stylish and it has the
added benefit of being lockable,
but it does impact on the
Colorado’s load-carrying
capability because everything has
to be stored below the level of the
wellside, otherwise the tonneau
can’t be closed.
Despite this restriction, we got
everything aboard so we could be
on our way – and began to
experience some very good things
about the Colorado.
When fully laden with cargo
such as camping equipment, this
Holden is a very good open-road
drive.
Its dynamics have been
significantly improved as a part of
the facelift anyway, thanks to a
number of suspension revisions
in the interests of better body
control, introduction of electric
power steering and new engine,
transmission and body mounts.
But when the ute is empty, its
rear leaf springs and ute-specific
suspension settings mean it can
still bounce around a bit, albeit to
a lesser extent than before.
Pile a load of camping cargo on
board, and all that disappears.
The Z71 settles down to the extent
it offers a comfortable drive on a
par with your average SUV and
probably as good as its SUV
sibling the Trailblazer which has
a coil sprung rear suspension.
And it is quiet too – part of the
facelift involved introduction of
what is called a Centrifugal
Pendulum Absorber torque
converter, which helps reduce
engine noise and vibration by
cancelling out the torsional
vibrations in the driveline that
are normally felt in a ute’s cabin.
The cabin itself is nice. It has a
redesigned dash that is much
better than before, and it features
GM’s latest MyLink
communications system equipped
with Apple CarPlay and Android
Auto.
And one really good feature is
a reversing camera that offers a
display via the Holden’s 8-inch
colour touch-screen that has to be
one of the most accurate I have
encountered. Seriously, there was
no problem getting the vehicle’s
towbar to within millimetres of
an obstacle.
It all added up to a very good
vehicle to take on a camping
assignment.
That 2.8-litre turbodiesel is a
capable engine, able to develop
147 kilowatts of power and 500
Newton metres of torque when
mated to the ute’s six-speed
automatic transmission, so there
was no issue handling the load
that was stored inside the cabin
and on the wellside. And the quite
dramatic improvements made to
the Colorado’s noise levels,
particularly a lowered engine
noise, simply added to the
experience.
So that begs the question: Is a
ute the best vehicle to take
camping? Is is better than an SUV
or a wagon?
Could be. There’s no doubt that
it does offer more load space, even
when fitted with a hard plastic
tonneau cover. And of course if
we had run really short of room,
we could have hitched up a trailer
and made full use of the vehicle’s
torque.
Not only that, but the Colorado
Z71 looks good – which at
Papamoa led to a number of lively
discussions with Ford Ranger
owners who seemed to be
everywhere. While some of them
declared they’d never be seen
dead in a Holden, most did admit
that our Summit White Colorado
did look a picture.
So we took that as a win –
which gave us comfort as we
applied the anti-itch cream to the
bites left behind by those
10
MOTORTIMES,
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017
Noel Friend 027 4963214 | Tyler Barry 027 3867744
Nick Drysdale 027 8226550 | Dale James 021 949 463
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www.inghamhyundai.co.nz | 07 846 8920
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2014 Hyundai Santa Fe 2.2D Elite A6
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2013 Hyundai i30 1 8 A6
2005 Hyundai Terracan 2.9CRDi 4WD
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5 Hyundai Terracan 2.9CRDi 4WD
2016 Hyundai Tucson 2.0 2WD A6
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2013 Hyundai i20 GLS 1.4 Auto
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2010 HOLDEN OMEGA SERIES II
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2005 TOYOTA FUN CARGO
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MOTORTIMES,
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017
Motortimes
Victory Motorcycles defeated
Polaris Industries has
axed its Victory brand.
Thanks for the wild
styling and great rides,
says
Paul Owen
.
Highball cruiser was a test-riding highlight despite the armpit exposure enforced by the ape-hanger handlebars.
Wurlitzer-on-wheels looks, gaudy graphics made Ness edition of Vision Tour arguably the world’s most distinctive bike.
Excess was a Victory trait. Magnum delivered plenty: built-in entertainment system and kitchen-sink-ready luggage capacity.
T
he death of Victory
Motorcycles had to
happen once its parent
company, Polaris
Industries, got its corporate mitts
on a far more famous Indian
brand.
Who really wants a Victory
when they can have an Indian?
And what was always going to be
the result once the demand for
Indian bikes started to crowd all
the available spaces on the
assembly lines at PI’s
state-of-the-art motorcycle factories at Spirit
Lake, Iowa, and Spearfish, South
Dakota?
When you’re competing
directly against the strongest
brand in motorcycling,
Harley-Davidson, it makes sense to focus
on one that gives you your best
shot and no longer spend energy
and resources developing a
weaker brand.
Motorcycles comprise around
10 per cent of the output of Polaris
Industries, which is better known
for its watercraft, side-by-side
vehicles and ATVs.
Of that 10 per cent, Victory
accounted for 3 per cent, and
Indian for seven. That ratio was
rapidly changing once Indian
progressively introduced more
affordable models like the 1133cc
Scout ($21,495 in New Zealand)
and the 999cc Scout 60 ($17,495).
These changed the entry point
to the Indian brand, and quickly
gained a strong worldwide
following. Victory’s Scout-based
model, the Octane, was a pointless
exercise from the beginning, and
never made it to this market
because Indian was already
occupying its pricing territory.
Any strategy that Polaris
might have adopted of making
Victory an entry-level bargain
brand while reserving Indian as a
premium marque, was
undermined as soon as the new
Scout hit the road.
So, who cares that Victory will
be a gone-burger in as many
months as it takes to sell the
existing stock currently held in
dealerships? Count me as one, as I
quite enjoyed reviewing the bikes
over the past 18 years. Every
Victory I rode was distinctive,
aggressively designed, and was
never shy about pressing its
performance and value
advantages over equivalent
Harley models home. Some were
even shaped by the famous Arlen
Ness, giving Victory a
custom-bike brand identity of its own.
I saw the potential in the brand
right from the time I swung a leg
over the original Victory V92
back in the late-1990s.
It was a riot of a ride, despite a
gearbox that sounded like it used
broken glass for transmission oil,
and soft-sprung suspension that
encouraged much smearing of
bits of its undercarriage all over
the roads circumnavigating the
Coromandel Peninsular.
From this promising start,
great Victorys evolved. The
engines got ever larger and more
powerful. The gearboxes sprouted
extra ratios and gained acceptable
ratio-swapping qualities.
Suspension gained stronger
spring rates and better damping
control while maintaining the
compliance expected of American
motorcycles. Touring models like
the Vision and Cross Country
were fully-equipped behemoths
capable of swamping you and
your significant other in
entertainment and comfort over
long distances.
So, thanks for the memories,
Victory.
Meanwhile, here’s a few
personal test-riding highlights of
the models you might find
available at negotiable prices as
NZ dealers transform showrooms
into Indian-only zones.
Polaris Industries will
continue to provide spares and
support for all Victory models for
the next 10 years. So, you might
want to cut a bargain on one of
these.
Victory Magnum, tested
2015, priced $30,995
Engine:
1731cc air-cooled ohv
50-degree V-twin, stoked by
electronic fuel injection; Power
output not available, 149Nm of
torque at 3000rpm.
Hot:
Inspired revision of
Victory’s worthy Cross Country
tourer creates an eye-catching
bagger at little expense to riding
dynamics.
Not:
Would handle more
sweetly without the audio, cruise
control constantly hunts between
speeds, gear shift quality still in
need of improvement.
‘‘Throttle response is beyond
reproach at any engine speed
above 2000rpm, and those who
prefer an upright riding position
with an easy reach forward to
handlebars and spacious
floorboards will feel right at home
here.
‘‘Then there’s all the niceties
that are found all over the
Magnum – the night-into-day
headlight array, the
self-cancelling indicators, the speedo
that adjusts from kmh to mph at
the push of a button, and built-in,
quick-dismounting panniers that
pillions can access on the move,
etc.
‘‘The $30,995 Magnum might
look like one of those
highly-impractical custom motorcycles
upon first encounter, but you’ll
soon discover the well-sorted
touring bike beneath the
disguise.’’
Victory Vision Tour Arlen
Ness Signature Series, tested
2010, priced $42,000
Engine:
1731cc air-cooled
fuel-injected V-twin, 69kW (92bhp) at
3000rpm, 148Nm at 2500rpm.
Hot:
One of just 150
Ness-autographed Visions to be offered
to the world.
Not:
No reverse gear on a bike
this heavy.
‘‘The quelling of the V-twin’s
vibes is but one attribute of the
Vision’s revolutionary
three-piece chassis, which is close in
concept to that of a Britten
superbike’s, and also uses the
V-twin engine as a stressed
member. Getting rid of the usual
tubular cradle frame has resulted
in several gains – the
aforementioned low seat height
allied to generous ground
clearance, and the ability to sling
the air-adjustable rear
monoshock beneath the bike
where it doesn’t eat into luggage
space.’’
Victory Highball, tested
2010, priced $25,995
Engine:
1731cc air-cooled dohc 8v
50-degree V-twin stoked by fuel
injection to develop 72kW (98bhp)
at 7500rpm and 153Nm of torque at
3000rpm.
Hot:
Tasteful retro design
creates a people magnet; Victory’s
best powertrain; comfy ride.
Not:
Ape-hanger handlebars
won’t be to everyone’s taste;
limited cornering clearance.
‘‘If the Highball looks
custom-made, it displays none of the
dynamic pitfalls that usually
come with the territory. Victory’s
starting point was the existing
chopper-esque Vegas cruiser
model, and they reined in the
wheelbase of that bike, steepened
up the steering geometry, and
fitted a fat front tyre mounted on
the 16-inch front wheel.
‘‘The result is a bike that steers
and handles much better than its
limited footpeg clearance will
allow.
‘‘You feel that the Highball is
just getting its groove on as it
charges into a turn with some of
the sweetest steering in
cruiser-bike sector... then the pegs smack
noisily into the road.’’
foton.co.nz
2.8L TURBO DIESEL CUMMINS ENGINE
BLUETOOTH & USB
ABS
LEATHER INTERIOR
AIR CON
3 YEAR / 100,000KM WARRANTY
ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE
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29
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990
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Offer applies to MY2016 only. Nudge/sports bar and window tints are optional extras
An Ebbett Group Dealership
Cnr Anglesea St & Thackeray St, Hamilton
|
0800 280 888
|
ebbettfoton.co.nz
4WD
AU-7545292AA
16
MOTORTIMES,
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2017
We stand behind
your car. Just like
we stand behind
this rate.
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