Miata Mailing List: February 1993, Message #15
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   From: (none)
Subject: MX-5s down under
   Date: (none)

Gidday Mate,

A snippet of a reply from Bob Pearson:
 
> Where in Australia do you live? I have an impression that most 
> of the roads there are either straight or more suitable for 
> 4-wheel drive. Do you have autocrosses? What's the speed limit
> on the open road? Are Miata's very popular there? I'm sure many
> people would like to know more about driving (_real_ driving) in
> your country.

I live in Sydney, which is the largest city in Australia, (much like LA I'm
led to believe). The city is vast, and can take me an hour and a half
to travell the 56km home (35m, we're metric down under :-). The roads are 
made up of: billard surface freeways (110 km/h), major roads (60-80km/h),
and in certain states there is no speed limit (but watch out for the stray
fauna ;-(. The roads are policed quite heavily, so all spirited driving
should be done on the rural roads. These roads vary greatly, from,
vast stretches of flat open road to serpentine mountain passes. You
only need a 4WD if you head off the beaten track. You could fang around the
whole continent in your Miata, without rolling your tyres in the dirt.

The Miata is marketed here as the MX-5. Only three colours; red, white and blue.
Both soft-top and hard-top. They are pretty expensive, so they are not common
on our roads.

I don't own one, but rent them regularly (A$150/day). It's cheaper! My best
drive was around the Gold Coast about a fortnight ago. The sun was hot, not a
cload in the sky, and chasing two young ladies in another MX-5 up the coastal
strip and along the freeway. It's about as much fun, as you can have with your
pants on.

Keep on smiling (how can you not smile when driving one of these beasts)
Joe.

PS. Leave it as a mailing list.