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As soon as I cleared Custom at Christchurch International Airport, I shopped for the suitable rental car. My eyes caught an advertisement in the Welcome to New Zealand brochure. There was a car rental company just outside the airport offering older European cars; Audi, Mercedes, and BMW. They happened to have only one European car left. It was a 2000 Audi A3. For relatively the same amount of money, I had to choose between a brand new Hyundai Accent and a 9-year old Audi A3. Slipping into the driver seat of this well maintained pre-sportback A3, I got a rush of De Ja Vu; the past memories of driving my 1990’s Audi 90S. The pneumatic door lock system, the large side-by-side red LED climate control displays, the Audi Symphony stereo system featuring the unique design of a single circular button in the center, and the scent of Audi interior from this generation transported me back into the 1990’s.This 20-valve engine idled smoothly as if it were brand new, despite the fact that the odometer glowed 155,700 km red digits. Putting the gear lever into D position, stepping on the accelerator slowly, and turning the 3 spoke steering wheel, I navigated my way out of the parking lot and began my Middle Earth driving. The inner child inside me woke up jubilantly...
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Christchurch, near the center of the east coast of the South Island, east of the Canterbury Plains, was the ideal place to start my exploration, not only because of its historic importance but also because of its attractive surroundings and activities for thrill-seeking tourists. Skiing and snowboarding on steepest mountains, whale watching, rafting, rock and ice climbing, and swimming with dolphins are all within a few hours drive from this English-style garden city with its many 19th century stone buildings. Christchurch has a special importance to car enthusiasts. Every February, Skope Classic, the Southern Festival of Speed, is held at Ruapuna Raceway. There won’t be any new lap record set at this race. Classic Allard’s, MG’s, Jaguar’s, and other vintage cars are raced to commemorate the glorious past and provide a family pass-time...
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Sitting on the Pacific Ring of Fire, New Zealand is a relatively active volcanic and seismic region. The mountains here may not be as high and colossal as the ones in the Himalayas. But the constant movement and collisions of Earth crustal plates create a very dynamic landscape. The peaks and valleys are intermingled in a fractal like formation, the bodies of water and the lands create mesmerizing collage. The changes in elevation were not dramatic, the twists and turns were not hair-raising. But this fit the sleepy morning ambience. The five speed Tiptronic transmission smoothly selected the appropriate gear for the different climb grade. The 1.8 engine provided more than ample thrust given that the relatively low weight of this subcompact car. It was a perfect morning drive...
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Arthur’s Pass is the highest pass over the Southern Alps. The Maori hunting parties used this route way before Arthur Dudley Dobson discovered it in 1864. In the old days, this pass was beyond treacherous. The only thing more dangerous than trying to cross this pass in the rain would be walking on a wire stretched from the top of two skyscrapers in Manhattan. Today, it is a spectacular sight of extreme civil engineering showcasing a giant viaduct, bridges, rock shelters, and man-guided waterfalls. The road beyond the entrance of Arthur’s Pass National Park climbed and wound at faster rate. This was where I unleashed the true spirit inside the 20-valve engine. How efficiently fuel could be burned in the cylinders was one of many obsessions possessed by Audi engineers...
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Audi is the first automobile manufacturer to bring the five valves per cylinder engine into the mass. With five valves, the engine can breathe better and faster resulting in an increase torque and power. Additionally, fuel consumption and exhaust emission are reduced. The ingenuity the engineers at Ingolstadt produced a remarkable cylinder head casting techniques and a very compact design of valve actuators. The performance of this smart design produced the subsequent more powerful turbo engine that earned, for the very first time in the world, the Ultra Light Emission Vehicle status (ULEV)...
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Looking outside through the window of the Air New Zealand flight heading to Melbourne, I could see the dynamic Middle Earth created by the Pacific Ring of Fire below. Remembering my Four Rings driving experience, I concluded that the place below me was definitely a world away from the hustle and bustle of modern daily chores. New Zealand, for me, was a place where the pace of life slowed down almost to a glacial pace, and yet everything felt just right. The beauties, the magic of nature, and the friendliness of the people I encountered gave me a splash of elixir of life...
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The A3 heightened my driving experience. This car was not a mega horsepower car that would require 10 computers to make it safe on the road. It was not even a flashy looker type. But yet, surprisingly, many brand new and sexy cars I had rented failed to instill the emotion and the thrill that this nine year old y Audi could. Despite the lack of mind bending specifications, this car made me aware of the family tree it came from. It gave the sense of man and machine in a perfect harmony. The engineering, the craftsmanship, and the quality control Audi had dedicated made this car a timeless driving machine that outperforms many brand new cars in its class...
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