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- Sep 26, 2010
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I recently went on a business trip in the Netherlands and my rental car was the aforementioned with these specifications. Although I have gone countless times to Europe, this was the first time that I drove while there. Driving in Europe is a little different than driving the US with some different rules, road signs, etc.
I fared well though, driving in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Arnhem areas), Belgium (across the full country to go to France), France (Dunkirk area), and Germany (Dusseldorf area). Gasoline was 1.78 Euros per litre (about $9.28 per gallon). The Audi was a good car, but the roof line is too low for my liking and the first time the Automatic Start-Stop function happened, I freaked a little until I realized how it worked (it would not simply restart; you just have to lift your foot from the brake pedal).
1.8 TFSI engine with a 6 speed automatic had plenty of power and one would not really know it was a 4 cylinder until looking at it (it has 6 cylinder power). The car had plenty of amenities--GPS, climate control, nice radio, seats, room, special electronic key, etc.
I drove some 1450 kilometers or about 900 miles and used 90.83 litres or 22.75 gallons of Shell Fuel Saver Euro 95 gasoline (there is a V Power gasoline that is 100 octane and was about 1.85 Euros per litre). I averaged 15.96 kilometres per litre or about 39.56 miles per gallon which is quite close to the UK rating of 42.8 MPG for this car. While we do have some decent MPG cars in the US, I do not think we consistently have cars of this size averaging nearly 40MPG and it is obvious that we have the technology available to push more cars to higher MPG levels .
A colleague of mine that came later in the week received a Ford B Max and I would have loved to have had that car instead of the Audi just to be able to drive it. I would have liked to have experienced the turbo three cylinder engine and see how the power and economy was versus other cars. I did have a chance to ride in the front and back of the B Max and can only say I wish some of these European models were sold here. The sliding rear passenger doors were a very nice feature and this model (I suppose) is a mini-van like vehicle without the mini-van look.
All in all a great trip!
I fared well though, driving in the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Arnhem areas), Belgium (across the full country to go to France), France (Dunkirk area), and Germany (Dusseldorf area). Gasoline was 1.78 Euros per litre (about $9.28 per gallon). The Audi was a good car, but the roof line is too low for my liking and the first time the Automatic Start-Stop function happened, I freaked a little until I realized how it worked (it would not simply restart; you just have to lift your foot from the brake pedal).
1.8 TFSI engine with a 6 speed automatic had plenty of power and one would not really know it was a 4 cylinder until looking at it (it has 6 cylinder power). The car had plenty of amenities--GPS, climate control, nice radio, seats, room, special electronic key, etc.
I drove some 1450 kilometers or about 900 miles and used 90.83 litres or 22.75 gallons of Shell Fuel Saver Euro 95 gasoline (there is a V Power gasoline that is 100 octane and was about 1.85 Euros per litre). I averaged 15.96 kilometres per litre or about 39.56 miles per gallon which is quite close to the UK rating of 42.8 MPG for this car. While we do have some decent MPG cars in the US, I do not think we consistently have cars of this size averaging nearly 40MPG and it is obvious that we have the technology available to push more cars to higher MPG levels .
A colleague of mine that came later in the week received a Ford B Max and I would have loved to have had that car instead of the Audi just to be able to drive it. I would have liked to have experienced the turbo three cylinder engine and see how the power and economy was versus other cars. I did have a chance to ride in the front and back of the B Max and can only say I wish some of these European models were sold here. The sliding rear passenger doors were a very nice feature and this model (I suppose) is a mini-van like vehicle without the mini-van look.
All in all a great trip!
