Soldato
- Joined
- 2 Apr 2009
- Posts
- 5,872
- Location
- Location, Location!
Right then, where to begin? I've currently been travelling the world and after 7 months of not having a car I finally had the chance to get some driving behind me. My trip was from Queenstown in the South island all the way up to Auckland in the North island. 3 full days of driving, 3 different cars.
My driving history is what you'd call 'limited'. in 6 years of driving I learnt in a 1.0L Nissan Micra, passed my test and started in a 1992 1.4L Vauxhall Astra before finally ending up with a 1999 1.4L Renault Megane. Depressing to say the least that 75bhp was the most powerful car i'd driven.
Cue New Zealand!!!
Firstly - Driving in New Zealand.
If you were unaware, New Zealand happens to be the most *stunning* country in the world with fantastically varied scenery, hills/mountains everywhere, beautiful national parks and a very decent climate. It's beautiful and the perfect location to do some road trips. The roads in New Zealand are mainly single lanes with 100kph limits. (62mph) but with lots of long straights through the beautiful scenery, lots of twistys up the mountains and they *thank God* have lots of 'passing lanes' where the road splits into two lanes, all the slow cars keep out of your way and you overtake the pack to get to the front of these awesome roads.
Oh but what about those nasty evil speed cameras I here you say???... Nope not one, zilch, nada, nothing, I didn't encounter a single speed camera in nearly 2000km's of driving. Excellent, the way it should be.
Now if you haven't read it already, you may want to read Fox's car reviews in Australia as his rentals are similar versions of the cars I drove. Click Here and Here
Day 1 - Ford Falcon G6 - 4.0 Litres, 265bhp.
Fox drove the Ford Falcon XR6, A sportier looking version of the G6 which I drove, most noticeably the aesthetics of the G6 version is without a sexy spoiler, but in essence both cars have the same engine and virtually all the same features and styling.
The car came in Charcoal Grey and personally I think it looked fantastic. Now as mentioned above i've never driven anything this big, this powerful or this beautiful before (or an automatic even for that matter
) so I familiarise myself with the car and put it into reverse, drop the hand brake and oh my the car's already moving on it's own. This'll take some getting used to I think to myself. I take the car round the block to a roundabout before trying to slowly come to a stop. Queue me applying the super sensitive brakes way too hard and coming to a sudden halt, probably to the car behind me's shock. Woops, this really will take some getting used too.
Anyways, i set off and start to get a feel for the car, i'm pretty scared of the car already given my limited driving history, but after 10-15 mins of getting used to an automatic, all is good again.
At this point there is a massive smile on my face, when I put my foot down the car moves. It actually moves, oh yes, this is no puny 1.4L car that i'm used to, this car has heaps of power, and when you floor it it's like cracking the whip on a horse. Fantastic.
In the picture above you can see the rather stunning Mt Cook, in New Zelands South Island, an example of the fantastic scenery, but back to the car. My main gripe.... now this is the first Automatic i've driven and meh... I hate it, why are all cars over here automatic. Ok i kinda see the point if you do a lot of boring city driving, but this is New Zealand, they only have 4 million people in a country as big as the UK. I just don't see the need, give me a manual anyday. The gearbox itself is woeful, plant your foot on the accelerator and expect a lonnnng delay until the car finally decides to change down and boot it. Don't get me wrong this thing is lightning quick but the gear changes are so 'jumpy' it's unpleasant it's not smooth at all and it's my biggest gripe with this car.
However that's pretty much my only complaint with the car, it looks great, has all the power you'd ever need, handles well enough, it's comfy and has a pleasant enough interior for those long drives. Big thumbs up from me, now if only they were all manuals, it'd be an excellent saloon car, or 'sedan' as they're called over here.
Day 2 - Nissan Sunny - 1.5L, probably about 12bhp.
Ahh, ummm yeah... let me explain. In order to save abit of money I decided to give ago one of those rental firms 'relocation' offers. Basically if you're lucky enough (or unlucky enough
) you can hire a car and move it from one location to another for a day or two for either nothing or in my case a mere $15, that's about 6.50 of your finest english money. Bargain.
The down side being that you don't know what car you'll be given, it could be the complete poverty spec car or in the case of Apex Rentals, it could be a 2.0L ford focus or a 2.4L Toyota Camry. Knowing my luck i expected the crappy Nissan. At least it wasn't the 1.3L version though, bonus
So i get in, thinking, ok this'll be a nice leisurely cruise from Christchurch to Picton Ferry, the suns shining I can take it easy and enjoy the comical car for cheap. So i get in and it's like a car from the 80's, in fact it probably is from the 80's so there I am fully expecting to put it into first gear and away I go..... but no, what the hell it's actually another Automatic, dammit. I thought at least in a car this cheap and old looking it'd be a fun Manual for me to drive but no it's another woeful Automatic again, but this time with zero power aswell.
Oh well you get what you pay for right?
Ok i think i'll keep this one brief. I mean it's not *that* bad of a car, the performance is similar to my old Megane/Astra i'm used to driving so it's ok, and it works well enough. So I sit back enjoy the sunny weather and hit the open road and cruise, Cruise all day long, stress free enjoying the fantastic views by the coast.
At least the fuel bill was a fraction of the Falcons. An enjoyable cheap day all round and it got me to the Ferry in one piece. Excellent. A day of rest before day 3 of driving...
Day 3 - Toyota Aurion - 3.6L?, 270bhp.
Day 3 of driving arrives and it's a long one. This trip is from Wellington to Auckland via the scenic West Coast and boy am I excited. Again this particular car is a slight variant on the version that Fox drove but very similar. However this time it's my Aurion that has the sexy spoiler on the back. Fantastic, this car has only done 24K kilometres and is very new.
I click the button to open the boot, and wahay it opens itself, snazzy, first impressions are excellent already. I jump in as it's raining this morning and get underway quickly.
Now I had already read fox's reviews before I hired any of these cars so i knew what to expect. However I didn't expect this. Fox's Aurion pulled to the left whilst driving, and my god damn newish Aurion had the exact same frustrating problem, if you're a little too lax on the steering wheel it'll start careering to the left. ahhh, I couldn't believe it, then I noticed the dashboard had a rattle. Oh great just like Fox's Aurion, I tried to ascertain what it was but I couldn't get it to stop. Some build quality issues at Toyota it seems then.
Nevertheless i plodded along and opened her up, wow just like the Falcon this thing has oodles of power, and just like Fox says, it's a FWD car so it's a little mental having all that power going through the two front wheels. Foot down at the lights and and I get the same shaking dashboard effect as the car tries to deal with all that power. Fantastic.
Overtaking in the passing lanes is a doddle, slip it into S6 mode for the quickest gear changes, foot planted and watch the car fly past anything and everything. I had an M3 trying to keep up with me in some of the twistys and he did well bless him but the Aurion is no slouch either and I pull away. (being the superior driver of course). I pull in as the sun is beating down and take in the scenic views.
Now the car itself is fantastic, apart from the few build quality problems I think I preferred this car to the Falcon. why? Simply down to the fact that this Automatic gearbox seems to work, it actually works, it's still no manual but the gear changes are smooth, there's minimal delay in gear selections it just seems to work without all the jumpyness of the Falcon's gearbox.
The car also had a few more lavish features, as mentioned before the boot self opens, and to adjust the seat positions it's all electric unlike the Falcon, the lights on the dashboard glow up beautifully and the car feels fantastic to drive. I love it, I think I could get used to such luxury.
The downsides... hmmm not many other than those mentioned, perhaps if it wasn't a FWD vehicle or an automatic it would be a better car but overall, it's a fantastic car, even more comfy than the Falcon, and a pleasure to drive.
An even bigger smile is now on my face in this car.
So there you have it, two pretty good cars with plenty of power and one not so powerful, but exciting rental cars and some fantastic roads for them to be driven down and not a single police officer telling me off for speeding and no speed cameras to hassle me. A fantastic experience and I highly recommend driving in New Zealand if you ever get the chance.
My driving history is what you'd call 'limited'. in 6 years of driving I learnt in a 1.0L Nissan Micra, passed my test and started in a 1992 1.4L Vauxhall Astra before finally ending up with a 1999 1.4L Renault Megane. Depressing to say the least that 75bhp was the most powerful car i'd driven.
Cue New Zealand!!!
Firstly - Driving in New Zealand.
If you were unaware, New Zealand happens to be the most *stunning* country in the world with fantastically varied scenery, hills/mountains everywhere, beautiful national parks and a very decent climate. It's beautiful and the perfect location to do some road trips. The roads in New Zealand are mainly single lanes with 100kph limits. (62mph) but with lots of long straights through the beautiful scenery, lots of twistys up the mountains and they *thank God* have lots of 'passing lanes' where the road splits into two lanes, all the slow cars keep out of your way and you overtake the pack to get to the front of these awesome roads.
Oh but what about those nasty evil speed cameras I here you say???... Nope not one, zilch, nada, nothing, I didn't encounter a single speed camera in nearly 2000km's of driving. Excellent, the way it should be.
Now if you haven't read it already, you may want to read Fox's car reviews in Australia as his rentals are similar versions of the cars I drove. Click Here and Here
Day 1 - Ford Falcon G6 - 4.0 Litres, 265bhp.
Fox drove the Ford Falcon XR6, A sportier looking version of the G6 which I drove, most noticeably the aesthetics of the G6 version is without a sexy spoiler, but in essence both cars have the same engine and virtually all the same features and styling.
The car came in Charcoal Grey and personally I think it looked fantastic. Now as mentioned above i've never driven anything this big, this powerful or this beautiful before (or an automatic even for that matter
) so I familiarise myself with the car and put it into reverse, drop the hand brake and oh my the car's already moving on it's own. This'll take some getting used to I think to myself. I take the car round the block to a roundabout before trying to slowly come to a stop. Queue me applying the super sensitive brakes way too hard and coming to a sudden halt, probably to the car behind me's shock. Woops, this really will take some getting used too. Anyways, i set off and start to get a feel for the car, i'm pretty scared of the car already given my limited driving history, but after 10-15 mins of getting used to an automatic, all is good again.
At this point there is a massive smile on my face, when I put my foot down the car moves. It actually moves, oh yes, this is no puny 1.4L car that i'm used to, this car has heaps of power, and when you floor it it's like cracking the whip on a horse. Fantastic.
In the picture above you can see the rather stunning Mt Cook, in New Zelands South Island, an example of the fantastic scenery, but back to the car. My main gripe.... now this is the first Automatic i've driven and meh... I hate it, why are all cars over here automatic. Ok i kinda see the point if you do a lot of boring city driving, but this is New Zealand, they only have 4 million people in a country as big as the UK. I just don't see the need, give me a manual anyday. The gearbox itself is woeful, plant your foot on the accelerator and expect a lonnnng delay until the car finally decides to change down and boot it. Don't get me wrong this thing is lightning quick but the gear changes are so 'jumpy' it's unpleasant it's not smooth at all and it's my biggest gripe with this car.
However that's pretty much my only complaint with the car, it looks great, has all the power you'd ever need, handles well enough, it's comfy and has a pleasant enough interior for those long drives. Big thumbs up from me, now if only they were all manuals, it'd be an excellent saloon car, or 'sedan' as they're called over here.
Day 2 - Nissan Sunny - 1.5L, probably about 12bhp.
Ahh, ummm yeah... let me explain. In order to save abit of money I decided to give ago one of those rental firms 'relocation' offers. Basically if you're lucky enough (or unlucky enough
) you can hire a car and move it from one location to another for a day or two for either nothing or in my case a mere $15, that's about 6.50 of your finest english money. Bargain.The down side being that you don't know what car you'll be given, it could be the complete poverty spec car or in the case of Apex Rentals, it could be a 2.0L ford focus or a 2.4L Toyota Camry. Knowing my luck i expected the crappy Nissan. At least it wasn't the 1.3L version though, bonus
So i get in, thinking, ok this'll be a nice leisurely cruise from Christchurch to Picton Ferry, the suns shining I can take it easy and enjoy the comical car for cheap. So i get in and it's like a car from the 80's, in fact it probably is from the 80's so there I am fully expecting to put it into first gear and away I go..... but no, what the hell it's actually another Automatic, dammit. I thought at least in a car this cheap and old looking it'd be a fun Manual for me to drive but no it's another woeful Automatic again, but this time with zero power aswell.
Oh well you get what you pay for right?
Ok i think i'll keep this one brief. I mean it's not *that* bad of a car, the performance is similar to my old Megane/Astra i'm used to driving so it's ok, and it works well enough. So I sit back enjoy the sunny weather and hit the open road and cruise, Cruise all day long, stress free enjoying the fantastic views by the coast.
At least the fuel bill was a fraction of the Falcons. An enjoyable cheap day all round and it got me to the Ferry in one piece. Excellent. A day of rest before day 3 of driving...
Day 3 - Toyota Aurion - 3.6L?, 270bhp.
Day 3 of driving arrives and it's a long one. This trip is from Wellington to Auckland via the scenic West Coast and boy am I excited. Again this particular car is a slight variant on the version that Fox drove but very similar. However this time it's my Aurion that has the sexy spoiler on the back. Fantastic, this car has only done 24K kilometres and is very new.
I click the button to open the boot, and wahay it opens itself, snazzy, first impressions are excellent already. I jump in as it's raining this morning and get underway quickly.
Now I had already read fox's reviews before I hired any of these cars so i knew what to expect. However I didn't expect this. Fox's Aurion pulled to the left whilst driving, and my god damn newish Aurion had the exact same frustrating problem, if you're a little too lax on the steering wheel it'll start careering to the left. ahhh, I couldn't believe it, then I noticed the dashboard had a rattle. Oh great just like Fox's Aurion, I tried to ascertain what it was but I couldn't get it to stop. Some build quality issues at Toyota it seems then.
Nevertheless i plodded along and opened her up, wow just like the Falcon this thing has oodles of power, and just like Fox says, it's a FWD car so it's a little mental having all that power going through the two front wheels. Foot down at the lights and and I get the same shaking dashboard effect as the car tries to deal with all that power. Fantastic.
Overtaking in the passing lanes is a doddle, slip it into S6 mode for the quickest gear changes, foot planted and watch the car fly past anything and everything. I had an M3 trying to keep up with me in some of the twistys and he did well bless him but the Aurion is no slouch either and I pull away. (being the superior driver of course
). I pull in as the sun is beating down and take in the scenic views.
Now the car itself is fantastic, apart from the few build quality problems I think I preferred this car to the Falcon. why? Simply down to the fact that this Automatic gearbox seems to work, it actually works, it's still no manual but the gear changes are smooth, there's minimal delay in gear selections it just seems to work without all the jumpyness of the Falcon's gearbox.
The car also had a few more lavish features, as mentioned before the boot self opens, and to adjust the seat positions it's all electric unlike the Falcon, the lights on the dashboard glow up beautifully and the car feels fantastic to drive. I love it, I think I could get used to such luxury.
The downsides... hmmm not many other than those mentioned, perhaps if it wasn't a FWD vehicle or an automatic it would be a better car but overall, it's a fantastic car, even more comfy than the Falcon, and a pleasure to drive.
An even bigger smile is now on my face in this car.
So there you have it, two pretty good cars with plenty of power and one not so powerful, but exciting rental cars and some fantastic roads for them to be driven down and not a single police officer telling me off for speeding and no speed cameras to hassle me. A fantastic experience and I highly recommend driving in New Zealand if you ever get the chance.
![[TW]Fox](/data/man-of-honor/2009.png){kind=avatar}
