Briefly...
The Audi A3 sportback rocks. And has astonishingly good fuel mileage. I did the math--we traveled about 240km in total; I only had to put in 23L to fill the tank up again. That's less than 10L/100km, or, in numbers my brain can properly grasp, about 33 mpg. And about 40-60km was on windy mountain roads.
Yes, I took that detour on purpose. Twice.
Driving on the left didn't weird me out anywhere near as much as I'd feared. I settled into sitting on the right with little trouble--no issues keeping the car centered in a lane, no problems not jumping curbs (kerbs) on my left side.
I did get a little anxious at roundabouts, only because I'm still getting accustomed to them and fear crossing traffic flow with disastrous results.
Much like what happened today! I was waiting to cross the street to get to my bus stop; a station wagon was making a right (I honestly can't remember if he had the light, but I suspect he did), and a tiny little Yaris-type didn't yield. And WHAM. It pushed the station wagon so hard that it jumped the curb--straight at me. Had I not backshuffled like a maniac, I would have ended up in the hospital. Would have had more to worry about than my knees.
The Yaris-alike's airbag went off. From the force of the impact, he braked very late. Fortunately, though, no one was seriously hurt.
I am still trying to divest myself of residual adrenaline. Whrk.
Anyway. Been thinking about posting a Clarkson-like review of the A3 because I'd find it amusing. We'll see how that goes.
Yes, I took that detour on purpose. Twice.
Driving on the left didn't weird me out anywhere near as much as I'd feared. I settled into sitting on the right with little trouble--no issues keeping the car centered in a lane, no problems not jumping curbs (kerbs) on my left side.
I did get a little anxious at roundabouts, only because I'm still getting accustomed to them and fear crossing traffic flow with disastrous results.
Much like what happened today! I was waiting to cross the street to get to my bus stop; a station wagon was making a right (I honestly can't remember if he had the light, but I suspect he did), and a tiny little Yaris-type didn't yield. And WHAM. It pushed the station wagon so hard that it jumped the curb--straight at me. Had I not backshuffled like a maniac, I would have ended up in the hospital. Would have had more to worry about than my knees.
The Yaris-alike's airbag went off. From the force of the impact, he braked very late. Fortunately, though, no one was seriously hurt.
I am still trying to divest myself of residual adrenaline. Whrk.
Anyway. Been thinking about posting a Clarkson-like review of the A3 because I'd find it amusing. We'll see how that goes.