Around the Industry – 4WD186 – Part 1

Around the Industry – 4WD 186 – Part 1

DAKAR-LIKE WOMAN’S RALLY SET FOR OCTOBER

This one is dedicated to our female wheelers who might be looking to challenge their off-road prowess, navigational skills, perseverance and competitive spirit. The Rebelle Rally is a seven-day; 1,930 km rally just for women and is designed to emulate the spirit of the Dakar Rally. The first off-road event of its kind in North America is set to take to the sand dunes of California October 13 to 22.

The brainchild of Emily Miller, a professional off-road racer herself who has won a class in the Baja 1000 and the Vegas to Reno races, the Rebelle Rally will be a navigation rally designed to get women behind the wheel and seek out adventure. No prior racing or rallying experience is required, and women from all parts of the world are welcome to participate. The cars are limited to 4x4s, 4WD pickup trucks, SUVs, or crossovers. Competitor entries are still open, so you female Canucks get out there and fly the maple leaf in this international event. See www.rebellerally.com for more information and competitor entry.

HEMA MAPS NOW AVAILABLE FOR CANADA

For off-roaders and overlanders down under, there is only one mapping service they use when exploring new territory – Hema Maps. That service is now available to Canadian four-wheelers as Hema has expanded to the North American continent with the Explorer app. Generate a route line to an address or waypoint using Quick Routing (coming soon for Android), manually create point-to-point routes, or mark important locations using waypoints to plan your journey in full. You can even organize your data for each specific trip by saving it to an individual folder, allowing you to keep all your downloaded maps, waypoints and routes in one place.

By delivering offline mapping to your mobile device, Hema Explorer makes it easy to navigate 4WD and overland adventures throughout North America. Download the maps you need offline before you go, then track your position as you travel and save a log of your journey to find your way home. With Hema Explorer, you get full access to detailed USGS Topographic and USGS 7.5 mapping, the Hema USA Road Map, Thunderforest Outdoors, Canada Topo and Canada Street, in addition to HERE Street, Terrain and Aerial imagery mapping for North America.

TRUCK AND SUV OF THE YEAR ENTRIES ANNOUNCED

It is the middle of summer, but believe it or not, the 2017 North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year awards are just around the corner. Given out every year at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, the Car of the Year awards are the most prestigious in North America. Thankfully, the categories have been changed this year, from two to three awards: Car of the Year, Truck of the Year and Utility of the Year.

Over 40 vehicles will compete for top 2017 honours. They'll need to run through three rounds of judging, starting in September at NACTOY's traditional Hell, MI, test drive. The Canadian and American journalists involved in the judging will then narrow down the field. Judges will announce the nine finalists – three in each category – on December 6. Until then, here are the vehicles currently eligible.

SUVs

  • Audi Q7
  • Bentley Bentayga
  • Buick Envision
  • Cadillac XT5
  • Chrysler Pacifica
  • GMC Acadia
  • Infiniti QX30
  • Kia Sportage
  • Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class
  • Jaguar F-Pace
  • Mazda CX-9
  • Nissan Armada

Trucks

  • Ford F-Series Super Duty pickups
  • Ford F-150 Raptor
  • Honda Ridgeline
  • Nissan Titan half-ton