… from my perspective doesn’t exist. I wonder if it ever will. Well the key data are:
Too bad the automobile industry don’t think the way I do. There is rarely a compact 4WD car (except for Subaru Impreza) or even a compact 4WD cabrio (is there actually one available???). And what about a compact hybrid? Lexus announced the CT as a compact hybrid in 2011. H-O-fuel-cell based cars are available in 2012 earliest. Until there is a good substitute I will use my good old paseo. A more sportive and less fuel consuming car you won’t get at the moment. The last time I fueled it up I calculated a 6.5l/100km fuel consumption. That’s not so bad for a 12 year old car
Yesterday I had my navigation system displaying the speed I was travelling at. So I could estimate the real speed compared to that displayed on the tachometer. Between 80 and 140 km/h the tachometer displayed about 7-8 km/h too much. But on one stage of the autobahn I accelerated up to 190 km/h on the tachometer and the navi showed 188 km/h. This is really strange. The faster I drive the more precise the tachometer becomes. Whatever that means
One of my colleagues bought a new car and I had the honour to test drive it for a couple of km. First of all it is not a bad car he bought. Especially for older people But after the test drive I prefer my Paseo. He might not be one of the luxuriest cars there is but who needs that crap anyway. The Paseo has 90PS (89hp) and 130Nm and weighs 995kg (2183lbs). The engine has almost no flywheel which results in an amazing acceleration. On a dry track and a cool day the acceleration is about 9s 0-100km/h (0-62mph) although certain websites state longer accelerations. The only alteration I made are an K&N air filter and 0-30W motor oil. The latter he likes a lot Because of it’s light weight the Paseo is pretty fast in corners although he is not lowered very much (my Paseo has it’s original configuration). The Paseo is clearly a 2-seater. The back seats are more of an quick access luggage room. The front seats don’t provide much grip especially in fast, sharp turns. But fortunately one sits so deep that you can clamp yourself between the door and the transmission hump But what’s really amazing besides the quick acceleration is the low fuel consumption. Usually the car consumes less than 6,5l/100km (36.2mpg). I tried to reach a minimum consumption over one gas tank (5,7l/100km = 41.3mpg) and a maximum consumption (8,2l/100km = 28.7mpg). I read that some people made it to 10l/100km (23.5mpg) but I wonder how they made it. I am not a slow driver but I shift up as soon as possible. Until now the car left me alone only once and this was my own fault. I ignored the low battery sign and one morning the battery was completely dead… after 10 years and 90.000km (55,900miles)!!! But besides that the car is doing his job very well! Well, the conclusion is: if I had to buy another car for that kind of money, I would buy it again
Last week I went for four days to Switzerland to visit my family who had a three week holiday there. Because I wanted to not use the autobahn, I decided to buy a navigation system which had to lead me through Switzerland. At first I wanted to buy a Navigon but they are quite expensive and so I took a Falk M6. I wanted to have one where I could put in geographic coordinates and with most of the maps in Europe. The operation of the navi is pretty easy. All steps are simple and logical. At least for me it is The route is calculated very fast and if you miss a turn the navi has calculated a detour instantly. The announcements are easily understandable and spoken enough in advance. But there is not only light. The navi crashed two times and only a hard reset (switching a slider on the back of the navi) would do the trick. Of course the route had to be set up again after the reset but that’s not that hard Especially in areas with lots of streets the navi gets confused and in serpentines it sometimes thinks you are on the back. And like all navis it has it’s suicidal tendencies. Announcing to turn left or right on mountain passes or suggest to turn around at the center of a bridge. Not always are the suggestion useful. And the driver has to think carefully when guided. Nevertheless it is a good navigation system. It is fast, the touch display is very good and the three dimensional view gives a good idea of the route to come.
Sometimes I wonder what I am doing. Yesterday, when I left my office, I got in my car and noticed, I was sitting at the passenger seat. I had to laugh at myself After that I drove to a shopping mall with parking tickets. After I stored the bought goods I began to drive to the exit when I noticed, the ticket was in the trunk. I stopped, got the ticket, started to the exit again and noticed, the trunk was still open. After I closed the trunk I just caught me on my way to the passenger seat again. Stupid me
I had to get my car through the biennial MOT inspection in January. The mechanic in the workshop told me that everything was alright except the rear dampers. They had to order them and were only able to assemble them to my car today. The inspection was no problem with the new dampers but it was quite expensive. Almost 400€ is pretty much but compared to that what my car asks all the years it’s ok. The only negative point is that the car got a pink badge on the license plates. This looks ridiculous
Boy, this was slippery this morning. Fortunately most of the drivers were pretty careful and so there weren’t much accidents. Nevertheless some idiots obviously think they are invincible and drive like maniacs. It’s good that most of the drivers on the street are careful and catious enough that nothing bad happens. In addition my car was not in the mood to start this morning. Only reasoning with him made him start. I guess the battery is on it’s end. The German car club ADAC made a test with several batteries for cars and the Berga Power Block prooved to be the best available. But the catch is the price. 130€ is pretty much for a car battery.
