The Falcon is dead - Long live the Mondeo??
Discussion
Reardy Mister said:
200bhp said:
Where are you going to drive this car? I find driving here dull compared to the UK and have long forgotten the desire to have a fun road car - Opting instead for something cheap I can take on track.
What do you have for the track?
Colonial said:
thehawk said:
Dull, tedious roads and drivers. A recent weeks drive around the North Island of NZ really cheered me up.
I did a nice run over the weekend/on Monday. Down through the backroads of the Hunter Valley to Wisemans Ferry, then some nice driving around there.
Took a dirt road back, first built in convict times. Saw about 6 cars in 2 hours.
All this 1 hour north of Sydney. It's not that bad.
The Putty road is great fun, but can be a bit hairy. I drove up it early one very cold winters morning, in the TR8. Even approaching 9.00AM there were still patches of thick frost on heavily shaded corners.
Nothing like black ice of course, but a bit of a shock on the first one, it is not something a Queenslander thinks about.
I am lucky being south of Brisbane. We have a host of lightly trafficked twisty stuff through the boarder ranges, & up to the Granit Belt.
Nothing like black ice of course, but a bit of a shock on the first one, it is not something a Queenslander thinks about.
I am lucky being south of Brisbane. We have a host of lightly trafficked twisty stuff through the boarder ranges, & up to the Granit Belt.
randomwalk said:
Colonial, sounds like the Putty Road, last Jan we drove it on way to Tamworth Music Festival, only passed about 6 cars and it was a long weekend. However the driving experience on many roads in Oz can be quite dull, it certainly was a revelation to me driving in UK, especially after going on a few pistonhead runs thru Kent and Berkshire.
Nah just around Wisemans ferry. Putty is awesome though.
I like Thunderbolts way between Gloucester and Uralla. Used to go to Armidale a fair bit. 3.45 hourd for over 480kkms
randomwalk said:
Hasbeen, when I drive to Gold Coast from Sydney I usually drive thru the Granite Belt over Cunninghams Gap and then across to the coast via Boonah and over Mt Tamborine (rather than around Mt Tamborine which is longer and not as nice drive), beautiful drive.
You should try Mount Lindsay H/way. Cut across from Tenterfield to Casino, then the Summerland way to Kyogle & on to near Woodenbong, taking Mount Lindsay h/way through to Beaudesert.There is also Lions road, you can take through the ranges from Summerland way towards Beaudesert. This is a real experience, with many little narrow bridges across creeks & little traffic. This was hand built by the district farmers & the Lions clubs before a state funded road existed.
If you like Tamborine Mountain have you used the "goat track" from Canungra up to the top of the mountain. This is another farmer built sort of road. Originally just a bridal path cut into the side of a cliff, for pack horses carrying cream down from mountain dairies, it still has a few hundred meters of one lane, controlled by traffic lights, with 5 minutes up then 5 minutes down.
The first part of the road has lots of 25Km/H hairpins & is good fun. The sound of the 4.6L V8 TR8, with a cliff face one side & Armco on the other, just a couple of meters wider than the car is quite something. Sort of like a tunnel, but with a view.
Colonial said:
Toyota.
I thought there may be more (like the Mitsu Magna or the Nissan Navara) but apparently not.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry_i...
Another article about Aus's automotive future (or lack of).
http://www.autonews.com/article/20130618/OEM01/306...
WeirdNeville said:
I worry about Australia in the long term. They seem to be very happy to become a one trick pony. Abbott will put them in the pocket of the Mining Industry, but what will they do when they've sold everything they can dig up? A single product economy is a terrible idea, yet they won't spend (properly) on the NBN to boost high tech industry and commerce.
This little place comes to mind when contemplating our future.Nauru is a phosphate rock island with rich deposits near the surface, which allow easy strip mining operations. It has some phosphate resources which, as of 2011, are not economically viable for extraction. Nauru boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s. When the phosphate reserves were exhausted, and the environment had been seriously harmed by mining, the trust that had been established to manage the island's wealth diminished in value. To earn income, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and illegal money laundering centre. From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian Government in exchange for housing the Nauru detention centre.
When Australia crashes, it will crash hard.
I've moaned on here before about the crazy wages being paid to blue-collar workers (and the associated inflation that causes), negative gearing being utilised to prop up the housing market etc etc.
Still, at least Australia actually has something that it can export - unlike the UK which seems to believe in the insular money-go-round.
I've moaned on here before about the crazy wages being paid to blue-collar workers (and the associated inflation that causes), negative gearing being utilised to prop up the housing market etc etc.
Still, at least Australia actually has something that it can export - unlike the UK which seems to believe in the insular money-go-round.
suthol said:
WeirdNeville said:
I worry about Australia in the long term. They seem to be very happy to become a one trick pony. Abbott will put them in the pocket of the Mining Industry, but what will they do when they've sold everything they can dig up? A single product economy is a terrible idea, yet they won't spend (properly) on the NBN to boost high tech industry and commerce.
This little place comes to mind when contemplating our future.Nauru is a phosphate rock island with rich deposits near the surface, which allow easy strip mining operations. It has some phosphate resources which, as of 2011, are not economically viable for extraction. Nauru boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s. When the phosphate reserves were exhausted, and the environment had been seriously harmed by mining, the trust that had been established to manage the island's wealth diminished in value. To earn income, Nauru briefly became a tax haven and illegal money laundering centre. From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian Government in exchange for housing the Nauru detention centre.
1. It only mined phosphate. One thing. That's it.
2. It's the second least populous country in the world behind the Vatican City so not that hard to boast a high capita income.
3. It's 8.1sq mi in area. About the same as Rottnest Island.
I don't mean to simplify this but Australia produces a vast amount, and still has vast reserves of basically anything used or needed in most man made goods of worth. Talking about having sold all that can be dug up is somewhat short of the reality unless the world stops making anything containing metal, precious metals, oil, gas, coal, uranium, diamonds or even animals or food.
The biggest risk is South America or Africa producing the same thing more cheaply not a lack of product.
Anyway, back on track - still dont know why anyone would buy a Mondeo....
Edited by Pommygranite on Friday 21st June 13:09
Pommygranite said:
The biggest risk is South America or Africa producing the same thing more cheaply not a lack of product.
Exactly. The Chinese are building roads and rail in Africa at a rapid pace in order to get stuff out of the ground and onto boats back to China.They dont have to pay high Aussie wages or cope with Health & Safety laws and can bribe anyone that gets in the way.
Mondeo's have never had much of a profile in Australia and the early models introduced to the Australian market had poor reliability record which may have kept their profile relatively low. I know they are a more advanced car than the Falcon however as an Ozzie I may be biased but would take a big Falcon every time.
randomwalk said:
Mondeo's have never had much of a profile in Australia and the early models introduced to the Australian market had poor reliability record which may have kept their profile relatively low. I know they are a more advanced car than the Falcon however as an Ozzie I may be biased but would take a big Falcon every time.
Another thread on here got me thinking and I had a look on redbook.Petrol Mundaneos fuel consumption is not much better than a Falcon. May explain why they don't sell - smaller, wrong wheel drive, can't tow etc etc, and almost as thirsty?
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