Way back in mid-2025, the team at Exhaust Notes Australia decided to plan a road trip – one that would see us search for the six best driving roads in the fair State of NSW. Dubbed Chasing Corners, we decided to film the whole shebang.
Some serious planning went into each leg, as we mapped out not only the roads we’d travel, but the accommodation, meals and all the other things we thought we might need. Did we factor in service station locations? No, no we did not (but more on that in a moment).
First, to the team and car selections. Sub-editor and photographer Andy Hempsall was a natural choice, after all much of the brainstorming and route planning was his doing. From there, the call was put out to the broader team.
Three drivers put their hands up, including video reviewer Dylan Swan and relative newcomer Alec Gharibian. Together, as you’ll see in the first episode, they make a great team. To the cars then, and it was a Volkswagen Arteon R-Line and a BMW M4 Competition chosen.
We then added the 2026 Audi SQ5 Sportback Edition One (a hybrid no less) – on loan from the German car brand. In a nutshell, we’d decided to take three decent, performance focused European cars down the Snowy Mountains Highway.
We set off from Bald Head Lookout at Stanwell Tops (near Wollongong for those wondering), before trekking down to Ulladulla and Bega, and then cutting across to catch some sleep in Jindabyne. That was the plan, anyway.
It didn’t quite work out that way. We hadn’t factored in the fact it was one of the hottest days of summer (at 48-degrees Celsius), or that two of the cars we were steering were older. Dylan broke the rules with his comfy, sporty SUV.
As for that fuel issue, you’ll have to watch Chasing Corners: NSW – Episode 1: Stanwell tops to Jindabyne, to find out more. It’s fair to say though that one car has a serious drinking problem. And then there’s the dirt road, in two low slung vehicles. Enjoy!
