World is certainly getting smaller

In 1969, it cost $144 for a one-way ticket across the Tasman on Air New Zealand. Johnny Cash had a hit with A Boy Named Sue, Neil Diamond was singing Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show, Elvis went to No. 1 with Suspicious Minds, and the All Blacks beat Wales.

The air fare appeared in newspapers and on travel agents' windows on both sides of the Tasman. The songs were on the radio in Sydney and Auckland every day too. But the rugby didn't rate a mention - if you were living in Australia.

A Saturday test match in New Zealand back then would typically be buried deep in an Australian daily, mostly on a Tuesday as a filler, below a downpage story of a one-legged frog-jumping contest in Alabama.

Same in America in the early 1970s. The letter from home told you how the team was doing, who was running the country and that the Edmonds cookbook had updated the date-scone recipe.

New Zealand was a long way away; out of sight, out of mind. Thirty-plus years on, it is still out of sight. The other day in Santa Barbara, roughly 140km up the coast from Los Angeles, a pharmacist had my address down as "Oakland, New England."

In Portugal in January, a real estate agent laughed and hopped around like a kangaroo at the first mention of "Novo Zealand". That's happened before and it will happen again.

But we're getting closer. Distances don't appear as far now. Australia is a hop, skip and jump away. America is one sleep, Britain and Europe two. You can pretty much print out your own air tickets at home to get there too.

The computer age has finally arrived in the form of 21st century conveniences, the internet, email and cellphone texting. There is much more in Tom Friedman's crackerjack book The World is Flat.


Things like outsourcing. The computer age has made it more profitable for Air New Zealand to service its aircraft offshore rather than at home. That's outsourcing.

The first example I witnessed of critical data transfer in the motor industry came about in the late 1990s.

Audi had imported a handful of high-performance A4 MTM cars. Trouble was, they didn't like New Zealand's 96 octane fuel. They wanted 98 octane. Audi in Germany remapped the car's computer system to run on 96. It was all done via satellite.

Dietrich Engelhart, the research and development manager for the new Audi Q7, invited more data transfer at the launch of the carmaker's first sports utility vehicle in Phoenix last week.

I was there for one night. Out of Auckland on Wednesday night, back in Auckland on Saturday morning. A day's drive in the Arizona desert on Thursday. The world is getting smaller.

"Email me if you have any more questions," Engelhart said. So I did.

"Will Audi slot its 4-litre diesel V8 into the Q7 in the next year or so?"

"Yes, of course," he came back. "Probably next year."

Carmakers used to be more guarded. Once they wouldn't talk about upcoming models, let alone engines. There are few secrets any more. There is so much information available.

The all-wheel-drive Q7 will go on sale in New Zealand in August. No word on price yet, but expect it to start at upwards of $100,000.

It is a handsome vehicle. Behind the carmaker's deep signature front end are aggressive wheel arches that support equally strong flanks. The appearance is rounded off by a wraparound tailgate first seen on Audi's Pikes Peak concept a few ago.

The graceful roofline has been likened to the "four-door coupe" look of the CLS Mercedes-Benz. "Everything below the shoulder line is very muscular," said Filip Brabec, a member of the Q7 development team. "Everything above is sleek and almost coupe-like."

The Q7 comes in five-, six-, and seven-seat configurations for different markets. New Zealand is likely to get the seven-seater only.

As expected from Audi, the Q7 makes much use of aluminium in the bonnet, bumpers and tailgate and in chassis and suspension components. But it still weighs around 2.2 tonnes.

The first models to arrive in New Zealand will be the 4.2-litre V8 and 3-litre turbodiesel. A V6 petrol and V8 diesel will arrive later.

Over a mix of good and very bad surfaces, the oil-burner proved the best allrounder, looping along on a wave of 500Nm of torque.

The V8 is quieter, sounds more refined and will appeal to those committed to petrol.

Inside, the Q7's flexible interior is spacious and elegant. Audi insists there are 28 different seat configurations. There are also 10 cupholders. Occupants get a panoramic roof for the first and second row of seats and an optional sunroof with tilt and slide for the third row.

Included in the impressive list of equipment is a blind-spot detection system dubbed Audi Assist to warn you, with visual and audible alerts, if there's traffic in the way before you change lanes. It works well.