Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Anytime I travel I'm always interested in the car culture I encounter. Whether it's practical economy cars for transportation (India) or luxury sports cars (Italy) I love to see what people are driving and what role cars play in people's lives.
Australia and New Zealand have very few European cars. They cost much more here than in the US. The most common cars are the japanese economy cars and the locally built Holdens. Gas costs about NZ$1.70 per liter so it's a lot more than what we pay.
I noticed some tuned cars in Australia (rice rockets) but nothing really out of the ordinary. Any big city that has teenagers with money will have modified cars. Though in the Sydney suburbs there seemed to be more cruising and looking for races than I have seen anywhere else.
Christchurch was ridiculous. There were modified cars left and right. But the crazy part is they weren't all lowered with body kits and loud exhausts. The most common modification I noticed was turbo chargers! I could tell because I was hearing blow off valves left and right.
Before New Zealand I probably heard less than 30 blow off valves in my life, mostly while I was into the Audi tuner scene. But I heard that many just over 2 days in Christchurch. It is nice to see people modifying cars for performance and not just for looks and sound.
Also, I'm seeing a ton of Miatas now. It makes sense. New Zealand has some of the best roads in the world, beautiful twisty drives, and perfect weather. I would kill to have my Miata here with me.
Australia and New Zealand have very few European cars. They cost much more here than in the US. The most common cars are the japanese economy cars and the locally built Holdens. Gas costs about NZ$1.70 per liter so it's a lot more than what we pay.
I noticed some tuned cars in Australia (rice rockets) but nothing really out of the ordinary. Any big city that has teenagers with money will have modified cars. Though in the Sydney suburbs there seemed to be more cruising and looking for races than I have seen anywhere else.
Christchurch was ridiculous. There were modified cars left and right. But the crazy part is they weren't all lowered with body kits and loud exhausts. The most common modification I noticed was turbo chargers! I could tell because I was hearing blow off valves left and right.
Before New Zealand I probably heard less than 30 blow off valves in my life, mostly while I was into the Audi tuner scene. But I heard that many just over 2 days in Christchurch. It is nice to see people modifying cars for performance and not just for looks and sound.
Also, I'm seeing a ton of Miatas now. It makes sense. New Zealand has some of the best roads in the world, beautiful twisty drives, and perfect weather. I would kill to have my Miata here with me.