Vans have always been part of the elite lifestyle, with V8-powered conversion vans once ruling the roost for celebrities and politicians alike. But that all changed when the Toyota Alphard rolled into town, offering super-smooth and relatively fuel-efficient powerplants, along with a road presence that was truly a class of its own. Just a month after the launch of the all-new Alphard, GAC Motor Philippines is getting into the game with its eye-catching M8. The Chinese carmaker announced in a Sep

Disclaimer: Mitsubishi Motor Philippines very kindly lent me a 2023 Mitsubishi Xpander Cross for one week. It came with a full tank of gas and an Autosweep RFID card with load. AutoFun Philippines paid for additional fuel, toll fees and a car wash. Family recipes are always interesting. These are often passed down from generation to generation, with some minor tweaks along the way. For instance, my family has a magnificent recipe for “Food for the Gods,” a crumbly, cake-like pastry made with but

In February 2023, rendered images of the next-generation Toyota Alphard (Specs | News) were posted online, showcasing a minivan with more futuristic styling and power. Reports also indicated that this new TNGA-based Alphard would launch as early as May 2023. However, more information has come up with actual photos available for the vehicle. Leaked footage from what appears to be a Toyota staff meeting in China has revealed images of the vehicle, albeit just for its rear and interior. And yes, it

The current generation of the Toyota Alphard is getting long in the tooth as it has been on the market for about eight years. Its age marks the model as a prime candidate for a replacement. Our colleagues at Wapcar Malaysia reported that a new generation of the Toyota minivan might be coming as soon as May 2023, with renders popping up claiming to be close to the production version. While we take this information with a grain of salt as these are just renders, they give us a general idea of what

When the Mitsubishi Xpander multi-purpose vehicle (MPV) launched in the Philippines in 2018, it was arguably one of the very few cars in the segment that could topple the stranglehold of the Toyota Avanza. Fitted with a 1.5-liter, twin-cam, 16-valve inline-4 gasoline engine and mated to either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed automatic transmission, it was as conventional as it gets with these compact MPVs, straying just enough from the norm to get people interested. Now, though, the market has shi

As the updated 2023 Mitsubishi Xpander Cross is set to be unveiled at the end of this month, it brings with it a whole slew of notable mechanical, exterior, and interior changes. While the exact specifications of the local unit have yet to be announced, one of the major updates that our local spec unit reportedly won’t get or fail to have is a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). If inputs from our dealer sources are correct, the 2023 Mitsubishi Xpander Cross will be unlike the one that was