la casa di machina - the shed
after reading and viewing with interest the contents of big
red's shed i thought it was time i put mine together.
the mazda mx5 roadster with the house i designed for
my parents in the background. it's still a great fun machine to just go
out for a fine drive in. this area in the top of the south island of new
zealand has those perfect roads - quiet, with plenty of challenging twists and
turns. it's a 1989 model - which in automotive terms makes it almost
vintage. like a good bottle of vino rosso - it gets better with age.
in the italian garage:
left is
the new addition to the family, the photo right side shows our
other car. . .
. but, it's actually the one just behind the tasty looking audi s3 here
outside the entrance to the mt blanc tunnel.
below: we have the garage italiano - even if it has
a distinctly german feel to it!
the audi tts roadster packs a hefty shove and is a great gt car that cruises in comfort as well as being a fun sports car when you are in the mood. push the sports suspension mode and it all sharpens up when you are pushing on and yet its comfly over the cobbles when you just want to relax. it loves to rev and the throaty thrum from down low gives a nice soundtrack so you end up staying in a lower gear to make use of the flexibility. mighty effective fun!
the audi a4 quattro 2.5tdi v6 avant. its got the 180 horse power turbo diesel motor and its a mighty impressive winter car with the winter tyres. one impressive run in the north of italy in january in heavy snow had us driving uphill in the opposite lane passing car after car slipping and sliding or stranded on the way to a cross country ski comp. the tdi motor has great torque but it's also a heavy car so you can't let the revs die too much if you're pushing on. also the diesel gives good economy although 4wd does reduce this benefit by a tad. but in the mountains i would go for this quattro system every time - it's just so impressive in the wet, ice and snow. hence taking the tts as a good compromise between a sports car and practical runabout that can more than handle a snowed in mountain pass.
also in the italian garage is the corratec (right). a road bike - full carbon tipping the scales at under 8kg with the fulcrum racing 1 wheel set. believe me, light bikes are good when you are climbing 23km to the top of a 2200m pass! the merida 96 5000D has also arrived in the garage for mountain biking duties. climbs and descends and stops pretty well.
and for new zealand a new merida carbon joins the magnesium merida which is creaking a bit these days. the new e-gear from durace shifts incredibly well. not sure if it is worth the extra dosh though, so jury is still out on that one. but it makes the roads around the mot valley feel a bit smoother despite our course chip road surface. and fully kitted out including pedals, cages, computer guff it's 7.1kilo.
the audi tts roadster
Future product?
audi rs3, lotus elise sc or maybe an r8 or r4 down the line ?
Some of the recently (dearly) departed - mercedes cl220tdi
subaru imprezza wrx type ra - photos from ngatimoti, new zealand
the merc, rover 75 and rover 25, and the fleet of opel's - merida and zaffira. we still have the might alfa 145 too of course
driving events - audi experience day - coming up testing quattro performance on the frozen lake, lago di misurino in the italian dolomites
favourite car shot - thanks collin
reflections of an imprezza - able tasman national park, nz
