Disclaimer: Hyundai Philippines lent us a Hyundai Staria unit for a week with a full tank of gas and access to its RFID cards. Remember when Hyundai Philippines launched the Hyundai Starex? It was a hit for the South Korean automaker as it saw a second generation. However, Hyundai had to discontinue the Starex nameplate and replace it with the 2023 Hyundai Staria, its new replacement. We had on loan the family-oriented GLS+ version, which seats 11 passengers but has retained a row of captain sea

Isuzu Philippines recently revealed the updated Isuzu Mu-X, which came with a few exterior updates and a new color option for the seven-seater SUV. The Japanese automaker has announced that it will bring the updated 2023 Isuzu D-MAX to the country on April 2023. The reveal date comes after the Japanese automaker sent us an invite for the public launch of its updated pickup truck on April 21, 2023. However, reports have stated that the updates will only be done to the top-spec LS-E version of the

The Hyundai Staria has won the ‘Best Cars’ award from the German trade journal auto motor und sport. It is the second time the minivan has won this award since 2022. The Hyundai MPV took first place in the “van–import” category against 15 other competitors. A total of 101,550 readers participated in the poll for the event, voting for more than 422 cars across 13 different categories. “Receiving the award immediately after Staria’s sales launch last year was a pleasant surprise. It had turned int

The country’s premier rallycross event is back for 2023, kicking off on February 26, 2023, at the Driftwoods Action Park in Indang, Cavite. The Philippine Rallycross Series (PHRX) announced in a press statement that “an exciting 2023 season” awaits participants and fans, especially with the return of stage dirt rally events after five years. PHRX is a time-trial event where competitors get three heats on closed dirt courses. However, only the two fastest times are added and ranked to find the cl

More and more local carmakers are jumping onto the smartphone-integration bandwagon after Ford Philippines recently unveiled its FordPass app. This time, Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) announced in a November 2022 press statement that it is rolling out its myTOYOTA Connect app, initially for the GL Grandia, Grandia Tourer, and Super Grandia variants of the Toyota Hiace van. The app lets Toyota owners instantly get information on their vehicles, such as driving information, trip summaries, and ma

From a distance, both cooly-parked Mitsubishi L-300 and Isuzu Traviz might just seem ready to transform and explode down the runway like two imposing and indestructible Autobots from the Transformers movie fame, especially when imaginably viewed under a dazzling play of light cast from a newly-minted showroom. But as the saying goes, there is always a chink even in the most formidable of armors as one car feature prominently stands out from the rest, especially in the case between the L-300 and