Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand

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Wed 5 Feb 2014 14:30
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - Trilogy

During late December and most of January I spent some time in Oz and NZ. During my visit I hired a car in NSW - Toyota Corolla (Auris). This car was from Bayswater Car Hire on William Street, Sydney. I have used them 3 times in the last 10 years - highly recommended!

  • 1.8L Dual VVT-i engine
  • 6-Speed Manual or 7-Speed Multi-drive transmission

. During the 3000km driven in 9 days (average 40mpg) I found the standard of driving was better than here. My driving was in Sydney, towns and more rural parts. All apart from about 3km, was on sealed roads. Generally, most sealed road surfaces were as good as here, however, some main roads had permanent signs warning of a rough surface for 'x' km.

The Toyota was OK, steering/road holding good, but the engine was rather vocal under hard acceleration and the ride not particularly compliant.

In Oz and NZ speed limits are strictly enforced. Therefore on motorways overtaling can take as long as an HGV overtaking another in the UK! On one occasion it took a car over 3km to overtake me. My speed was pretty well contsant because I was using cruise control at the time.

I drove just 500km in rural parts of NZ (2000 Nissan Sunny - Nelson Car Hire - highly recommended - free pick up and drop off to and from where you are staying in Nelson), including unsealed roads. Although I wasn't tailgated, I did see it happen. Most roads sealed roads are good. Some time was spent on perfectly good unsealed roads, of which there are many, at up to 60 km/h

NZ has alot of Japanese cars. In one line of cars parked I counted 12 out of 14 as being Japanese. One of the others was an Aussie Ford while the last was a Lancia Prisma! I spotted a Morris Marina van, Lancia Thema, Escort MK2, Cortina MK2, two late Rover SD1, Rover 600, two Citroen BX, a 1960s Mercedes saloon and numerous Japanese cars c.25 years or more old. These included Subaru Legacy, Toyota Carina (Caldina), MK2/4 Honda Civic, 1980s Accord. BMWs are very rare ( expensive new, a 520i starts at £42,000) although I saw a couple of E30 3-series and a few E34 5-series. In a 20 miles stetch of rural NZ I spotted four VW Golfs of various ages.

Petrol in NZ was about £1.20/litre, while in Australia around 85-90 pence. Diesel was about 90pence in NZ but you do pay, so I was told 3 cents for every km you expect to drive. Diesel in Australia was about 5 pence a litre more than petrol.

My favourite Japanese car spotted in NZ was this Toyota Caldina from c.2004 www.google.co.nz/search?q=toyota+caldina&tbm=i...8

Unfortunately, cars do seem to be rather expensive secondhand. Grey imports are still sold. There are some horrors including the Toyota Raum, Nissan Lafesta, although the Ist (pronounced Ust in NZ) to my eyes doesn't look to bad.

The Raum second generation, with a rising window line. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Raum. One of the outstanding features is easy access swivelling apssenger seat for disabled people. ars.trovit.co.nz/index.php/cod.frame/url.http%253A%252F%252Fwww.autobase.co.nz%252Fcars-for-sale%252FToyota%25...1

There are a number of cars sold down under that are not available here. The most noticeable omission being the Prius 'C'. Others spotted - Honda Odyssey, City, Civic Saloon, Accord US, Toyota FJ Cruiser, Toyota Camry/Aurion, Tarago, Kluger, Land Cruiser 70, Subaru Tribeca (good looking one), Great Wall X200 (quite attractive) VW TDI powered - so I was told, Nissan Pulsar (think it is on the way) and Pathfinder 5 door.

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Thu 6 Feb 2014 00:14
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - Avant

Many thanks for this, Trilogy - I hope you had a good time.

As I've said before, I can't understand why we can't have the 1.8 Auris in the UK - or indeed why it isn't called Corolla.

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Thu 6 Feb 2014 17:15
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - Trilogy

Many thanks for this, Trilogy - I hope you had a good time.

As I've said before, I can't understand why we can't have the 1.8 Auris in the UK - or indeed why it isn't called Corolla.

Avant, I did have a good time - thank you. Fortunately, not hot. It was raining on Boxing Day morning when I arrived. Christmas Day had been wash out in Sydney. I can highly recommend both countries as a holiday destination. A shame it costs so much to get there!

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Thu 6 Feb 2014 23:52
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - idle_chatterer

Trilogy, I too like the ubiquitous Corolla available with only one engine variant in Australia - the 1.8VVTi. The vast majority are autos, 4 speed until the latest model came out too. They are the default car choice and I find the manual 6 speed really quite likeable to drive. I understand high car prices in NZ to be down to (perhaps former) import tarrifs and the small size of the market.

However I don't agree with your comments on the standard of driving, maybe it's down to the space (not in cities of course), but driving habits are generally rather impolite/inconsiderate in my experience. Examples: undertaking on any road (encourages outside lane-hogging too), u-turns across busy roads, tailgating, lack of anticipation (on-off brakes). There is a general lack of consideration for other road users - a kind of tunnel vision really. You'll see lots of comments on expat forums. The only thing that is ridgidly enforced are speed limits, the sneeze factor in Victoria is 3kph (1.6mph) - so you get three/four lanes of tailgating freeway traffic moving at exactly 100Kmh with the odd undertaker nipping in and out to provide entertainment.....

My last experience of 'home' being around 1000 miles driven last September. I think it's down to the crowded nature of UK roads, people have to drive with little more consideration/anticipation just to get along (even if it doesn't always seem that way) ?

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Fri 7 Feb 2014 07:47
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - craig-pd130

Thanks Trilogy for the interesting observations, and IC for the counterpoint. The Aussie motoring site Autospeed had a comparison piece about Oz vs UK driving here: blog.autospeed.com/2013/01/19/3500-kays-in-the-uk/

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Fri 7 Feb 2014 08:52
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - Trilogy

IC, I can only go on the 3000km/1800 miles I drove in OZ and when I was a passenger in a friend's car. Another friend in OZ told me her husband gets tailgated alot in and around Sydney. He sticks rigidly to speed limits becuse he was caught for speeding twice within 6 months of them emigrating. As you live there you will naturally have much more experience!

As for NZ, I have been told they have some of the worst drivers in the world. About 20 years ago, when I hitched around the country, I was given a lift by a rep in a Sierra estate working on a Sunday. We were following a Mini at 100km/h, with no more than about 3 metres between us.

Edited by Trilogy on 07/02/2014 at 08:54

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Thu 13 Feb 2014 08:35
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - Kiwi Gary

I suspect that Trilogy did most of his NZ driving in the South Island where life is more orderly. I am an Aucklander, and consider that anyone who can survive Auckland traffic can drive safely anywhere. Certainly I found Paris in morning rush hour, and Naples at 3 pm on Friday quite comfortable compared to here. The only comparable driving to Auckland where I have been behind the wheel was Yogyakarta - Solo _ Surabaya in Indonesia.

Undertaking is legal on laned roads in NZ, but indicators tend to be used to inform you that you have just been cut up rather than to say that you are about to be cut you up.

The reason that there are so many Japanese cars here is that there is a deliberate policy of importing used cars to keep prices down. Max 7 years old. Consequently, there is a large selection of models to peruse. The Corolla still holds first place though, both new and used.

The best driving experience was in Aus. I happened to get caught up in the traffic stream of fans going from Geelong to Melbourne for a football game. The road from Geelong to Melbourne is dual carriageway, speed limit 100 km/hr. The whole road was solid with cars, both lanes full, all travelling at a rock-solid 120 km/hr. Nose-to-tail all the way. No trucks, no buses, no cops. I have often wondered if there was in force a Gentleman's Agreement that the road would be cleared for football fans to get to teh ground quickly. Very comfortable relaxing driving.

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Thu 13 Feb 2014 16:57
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - colino

I loved my time in NZ and hope to be back there soon, but the standard of driving does appear to be pretty low. I'm convinced that is one of the main reasons for the problems on the Auckland Harbour Brdge (and its environs) THE traffic hotspot for the whole country and people just aren't capable of handling the congestion on the motorway. Even with its "Nippon Clip-Ons" and the quirky central concrete barrier movers (that mean they can vary the number of lanes going north or south), it was allways a jam for me. It certainly is a condensed and congested area, but that's what you get if you have a country bigger than the UK, with 4.5 million population but a third of them are all in greater Auckland.

Everywhere else its a beautiful country and in the Far North even the rain is warm. I even enjoyed the State Highways that could disappear into unmetalled roads (SH1 was just getting finished when I was last there) and cruising in Old Bill, the Honda Odessey we racked up too many miles in.

Lots of old timers on the back roads who semingly have never learned to drive properly, coupled to young guys Hooning It, meant you always expected someone to be on the wrong side of the road.

Have to admit that I did drive on 90 Mile beach, the HireCo guy seemed unphased when I handed the car back to him (at the front door) of Auckland Airport. He just pointed ot that like the exclusions for driving a hire car in Europe n the Nurburgring, they have one for stopping people driving on the quicksand prone 90 Mile beach.

Cars are extortionate, the NZ equivalent of the MOT, the Warranty of Fitness is laughably easy. Disappointing that the country really is too small to support manufacturing, but they do love their cars.

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Fri 14 Feb 2014 12:17
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - Brindy

Just got back from spending a month in NZ on North Island and yes I did try the 90mile beach and those further north!

I hired a car, a Jap thing of course, nothing else, and was struck that because I wanted to see things and places as I was driving I tended to do around 80/90 kph.

Big mistake!!! Every other driver it seemed had to go at the max of 100kph, and boy did I get grief, blowing horns, finger out of the window, tailgating about 2/3 metres behind etc etc.

Lorry's over there tend to be copies of those huge trucks you find in the US and the drivers love to get right up close whilst sounding horns, very scary.

Overall though I did enjoy the driving bit especially up in the Far North, some wonderful beaches and very friendly people.

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Fri 14 Feb 2014 13:00
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - Trilogy

Just got back from spending a month in NZ on North Island and yes I did try the 90mile beach and those further north!

I hired a car, a Jap thing of course, nothing else, and was struck that because I wanted to see things and places as I was driving I tended to do around 80/90 kph.

Big mistake!!! Every other driver it seemed had to go at the max of 100kph, and boy did I get grief, blowing horns, finger out of the window, tailgating about 2/3 metres behind etc etc.

Lorry's over there tend to be copies of those huge trucks you find in the US and the drivers love to get right up close whilst sounding horns, very scary.

Overall though I did enjoy the driving bit especially up in the Far North, some wonderful beaches and very friendly people.

Luckily I was on the south island between Nelson and Wharariki beach. The drivers were much more civilised.

Although there were artics, there were much shorter HGVs, with a trailer of similar length behind. When empty, I once saw the trailer carried on the back of the HGV, which would have been towing it if laden.

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Tue 18 Mar 2014 18:42
Driving/cars in Australia and New Zealand - Trilogy

Forgot to mention traffic lights go straight from red to green. So much better than our system.

Also, there are hardly any vans or HGV cluttering up roads.

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