I think most people here are mistaking cars as a subject for things like hotrods or racing or classic cars.

But you really can kick off a decent conversation by just commenting and asking about what they drive, usually by starting with "I see a lot of people prefer X here". And you end up learning a decent amount about them.

Assuming they have a car (which a lot of people don't), this would be on the same level as asking about what phone they use - some people carefully chose theirs and want to talk about it, but for a lot of people it's just a thing that exists and gets the job done. It might get the conversation going, just the same as many other topics, but it won't be a conversation they'll especially enjoy in most parts of the world.

Talking about cars in Western Europe isn't that safe bet either. In cities like Stockholm most people are not interested in cars. And similarily hunting and fishing are niche interests in urban areas.

What do Asians talk about then?

In the US, I've never met one who doesn't enjoy talking about food, especially boba and banh mi.

Beyond that, it just depends on the person...

Talking about the variety of facilities the region has, about traffic, new constructions - anything development related is guaranteed to get the conversation going. There's a lot of rapid urbanization and change going on, and people always have something they want to get off their chest about it.

If you don't mind a bit of griping, politics is not a bad shout either. People aren't hardline attached to one side or the other as much here, and even when they are, they're much more willing to admit corruption at a local city level even if their favourite party is in charge. Complaining about corruption is a common pastime.

Movies and music are also pretty good generic options, as are motorbikes or electric scooters with younger guys in their early-mid twenties.

Having lived in Japan, and spent a fair amount of time in China: food, fashion, music, film, culture and politics (in a polite way), work, among other things

However unless you're planning to visit very rural places I genuinely don't think I've ever met anyone in East Asia talk about cars or hunting. Even in Europe among Millenials or Gen Z I don't know anyone who is into cars at all, a lot of younger people in the larger cities don't even have drivers licenses.

Food of course!

Even in Western Europe.

Hunting is extremely rare (and generally an indicator of old money or living in an extremely rural environment).

Fishing is a lot more popular but even that tends to date you a bit. At least for Eastern Europe, fishing is a lot more popular among the 45+ year olds.

OP is primarily speaking about a North American perspective, I think.

Even here in Sweden a lot of the people fishing are older Polish immigrants unless you live in s rural area.

Seems to be quite popular with younger Polish immigrants in the UK. Although a key point of difference which might make it difficult to find common ground with British anglers is they often seem to regard cooking and eating the fish (rather than throwing it back) and important part of the exercise. More likely to find agreement if they stick to slagging off the UK government ;-)