Sergio: What you doin today?
Me: No plans man.
Sergio: Wanna go Nasho?
Sydney’s heritage-listed Royal National Park is affectionately known to locals as the ‘Nasho’. Perfect for bushwalking, cycling, surfing, picnicking or whale watching, but today, we were there for the twisties.
I had to decide between taking my newly acquired Mazda MX-5 Roadster, the Nissan R32 GT-R, or the Volkswagen R32 Golf. The GT-R’s got pretty old semis on it, the MX-5 is running stock suspension in need of an alignment (I’m assuming the previous owner never bothered after removing his parted-out coilovers), then I thought about the R32 Golf tearing through the greenery with its supercharger whine and obnoxiously loud Capristo exhaust. I was sold.
Thanks to Facebook, within fifteen minutes a crew was formed. Having just sold the All Stars S15, Sergio didn’t have a suitable car so I was more than happy to let him drive the MX-5. Rob brought his E30 out to play and I drove the R32 Golf.
As expected, the R32 felt heavy in the corners but the massive Brembos and grippy Hankook Ventus R-S3s proved trustworthy.
The MX-5 looked fantastic from the rear. The stock suspension was in its favour as the road surface at the Nasho gets pretty bumpy in parts.
It was a pleasure to watch it rustle up leaves, and its centre exit Zoom Engineering exhaust sounded great, too.
Our first little stop found us at the base of the mountains and had us imagining the sound of the R32 Golf coming down the twisties, the Capristo exhaust bouncing off cliff faces.
The boys. They were impressed with the MX-5, which was fast not just in the corners but also on the straights.
Our next stop was Stanwell Tops for a couple of shots.
Rob’s gorgeous E30, which was a little too low for the Nasho. Awesome seeing his bash plate throw sparks over big bumps, though!
Burger with the works.
Alex got to drive the MX-5 back and he was just as impressed with it as Sergio was. Everyone agreed that the MX-5 was the most fun car out there that day, hands down. Not surprising at all to me as I’m a massive MX-5 pusher who’s glad to have another one in my possession once more.
Can’t wait for my suspension to come in for the MX-5. I’m thinking Monday Nasho Runs might become a bit of a thing, too.
Originally published on one of my fave automotive blogs out there: Motoring Con Brio.
Additional images by Aleks Brajic and Sebastian Voll.