You what?!!!! Anyway, don't the Aussies buy big cars like the Commodore and Falcon? In general they drive bigger cars than Europeans (or at least they used to) but I see that now the Mazda 3 is outselling everything. Has there been a shift to more economical cars Queens? Has petrol gone up a lot there for example?
In all seriousness, its the old skool/chav/bogan types that still drive the bit falcons and commodores-having said that i have an Audi and a 4.0ltre Falcon! increasingly more vw, audi and european cars on the roads now-a-days mate. Partly because petrol has doubled and is now @ $1.50 a litre.(1bout 1.10GPB). It used to sit around 70 cents a litre until about 4 years ago. Also the reliability of asian(japanese, korean etc) cars is second to none. you look at any car mag and you'll find they will always be at the top of the reliability tables even when you include Audi, VW etc. The other thing is that as more people migrate here now, "we" bring with us a diffrent kind of style, fashion, growing sports (soccer a prime example!) etc and this is reflected in the cars driven, clothes worn etc. For EG, Brisbane has just got its first Hugo Boss shop!! Plenty down in Sydney & Melbourne but we're still a "town" not a city. I think we're probably 10-15 years behind the rest of the world in Aus and that suits me just fine at the moment. i must also appologise to the others of you for using the "S" word!!
What Audi you got mate? An A6? From what you say, it looks like Aussies drive cars that are very similar to what we drive in Europe now. That wasn't always the case. But as you say, petrol prices and immigration are big factors in changing that. Do they still drive their Utes or is that confined to Country boys or out in the bush? (Well done on the "Soccer" bit by the way )
BUMP..For SH No mate got an Black A4 Waggon, lowered and fully loaded. Nice car but gearbox is bit naff As you said mate, Aussie are increasingly driving the same as Europeans do but there are still strongholds and guys that just love the big motors. Utes are still massive but are increasingly being overtaken by the Scooby's and the Golf & Polo GTi's are starting to become a lot more common. Everyone in the bush drives a Ute...full stop. Never did find out what car Nines was talking about did we? Any idea?
Thanks for the info Queens. Its interesting. Nines was on about the VW Touareg. I think you mentioned it early on in the thread. Is it heavy up North Wubba? Got nowte but a drop of sleet here. What you think of the huge Pickups they drive Stateside? Massive 6 litre things. I've only ever seen two Full-size Pickups around Dublin - a Ford F150 and a Toyota Tundra - and they looked so out of place on the narrow roads. If I was going for a 4WD I'd never look any further than a Range Rover. They're just pure quality. If I needed a flat back it would be the Nissan Navara. My mate has one and its a great truck.
Global warming? Nah, the socio-leftie liberal tree-huggers renamed it "climate change" when they realised that the earth had actually cooled during the time they were preparing their nut cutlets. It's all bollocks.
Sorry mate, it was indeed the Touareg. But after you slaughtered it so much I couldn't bring myself back onto the thread. Oh well there it is. I was told that it was the best pound for pound car on the road by drivers better qualified than me. I appologise for the disapointment.
Fair enough nines, I'm sure thry know better than me but I've never been impressed with them. I too would got straight for the range Rover or the Discovery. The price, styling and all round drive of the Toureg lets it down in my opinion, but thats exactly what it is...just my opinion.
Anyone ever hopped into a humble looking car yet been pleasantly surprised at how it moves? My missus has a supermini, an 08 Kia Rio, and I'm always impressed at how it handles out on the Motorway. I mean it has no right to as its only a small "run-around" with a diesel engine but it really is absolutely fine at speed. The 1.5 diesel is just ticking over at a 2,500 rpm at the 75 mph speed limit and if you put the boot down it accelerates surprisingly quickly with that nice torque you get low down the range in modern diesel cars. Based on that, I wouldn't mind getting a C'eed or an Optima in the future. Well done Kia!
Faced with the impending prospect of a daily rail commute I'm beginning to regret having something so big to park at the railway every morning. Only a matter of time before the doors are battered to buggery by other people not taking care when getting out of their vehicles. It really annoys me.
