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A bloody good drive

87VLCALAIS

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The Gentle Annie would be a better drive than the Napier Taupo road from the point of view of exploring the ZB's handling.

I have a RSV same colour as StrayKiwi's. I need to test out the Gentle Annie.

I beg to differ on the best time of the year for travelling in New Zealand. Late summer/autumn gives the most reliable weather generally, plus in autumn you get the benefit of the stunning colours.

I bumped into a guy the other day who had been given VXR as his work car. He loves it.

As an aside we were in Oz a couple of weeks ago and saw almost no ZB's on the road. You Aussies don't know what you're missing out on. My wife has a VE which is a bloody good car, but the ZB is the better car.
 

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Do you mean SH5? Each end is crawling with traffic cops, the middle not so much. Plenty of idiots who think their Ranger/Amarok/Colorado/SUV or work van is fast too. This poor guy in a Corolla wagon just couldn't pass me going up hill on the passing lanes, but he spent the better part of 50km trying.

Yup, SH5. Do it at night and not as many cops or other traffic. Makes it a lot more challenging as it is pitch black and it just seems to go on for ever and ever, it's even more fun when that heavy fog rolls in.
 

SteveRSV

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As an aside we were in Oz a couple of weeks ago and saw almost no ZB's on the road. You Aussies don't know what you're missing out on. My wife has a VE which is a bloody good car, but the ZB is the better car
In my experience, Aussies tend to make up their mind first, then look for "facts" that support their preconceived views.
Its lack of popularity has worked in my favour though, I got a brilliant wagon for a bargain price. I could never have brought myself to shell out $50k for any car.
 

StrayKiwi

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Just spent a weekend up north of Auckland with the wife. Found a sweet road to drive as well.

Total trip distance: 570km
Fuel use: 10.8L/100km
Oil life is down to 31%
Tyres still have plenty of tread after 7000km and are wearing evenly


EDIT: The unofficial ZB watch found no less than 19 ZBs, including 3 Police cars and 4 Calais Tourers. There are far more out there than at the beginning of the year.
 
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Badgerdog

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Roger that. I am seeing a lot more Commodores around and about in Auckland. It would seem Kiwi's know when they're on to a good thing :)
 

87VLCALAIS

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The number of ZB's that I see seems to have exploded in the last month or so. I was surprised by the sales figures here in New Zealand for this year up to the end of October. The Commodore is the third biggest selling car (behind the Toyota Corolla and Suzuki Swift) and and the biggest selling large car (disregarding SUVs and Utes). Based on the figures to October 2019 it was 7.2% ahead of the 2018 sales and had moved from 15th place overall to 12th place.

In my books that isn't a bad effort, it's a pity the sales across the ditch weren't as good. Whether that would have changed the decision to discontinue the Commodore is another story as I think there was a multitude of factors, mainly the ownership of Opel by Peugeot.
 

benny66

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Do you see many Camry around NZ? They are everywhere here in Australia particularly the entry level hybrid.
 

87VLCALAIS

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Do you see many Camry around NZ? They are everywhere here in Australia particularly the entry level hybrid.

Can't say I have, but then again I'm not really looking out for them. Popular as a taxi but that's about all.
 

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Someone killed on the Napier Taupo road last week, looked like it was a straight bit of road too so the locals are calling for a speed reduction.

Roger that. I am seeing a lot more Commodores around and about in Auckland. It would seem Kiwi's know when they're on to a good thing :)

There may be more of em but they don't stand out from the crowd (except the cop cars of course).

Do you see many Camry around NZ? They are everywhere here in Australia particularly the entry level hybrid.

Yeah I've seen a few of the hybrid models about. Seeing a lot more Prius getting about too...
 
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