Car buying

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A friend and I decided to have some fun a few weeks ago, so we went off to test drive a car two. He had just purchased a new bakkie for his work, so I was the potential customer. Although I had no intention of purchasing a new vehicle when I went in, after leaving the second dealership I was seriously considering it.

We first went to Audi, I’ve always liked their cars, and having driven one for the past 6 years, figured I should give their newer range a go. They’ve got a nice dealership up on the hill, but with a relatively limited range. Only about 5 vehicles in their ‘new vehicles’ section, and an equal amount of second hand vehicles.

When we arrived a lovely second hand S3 (2012 8P) immediately caught the eye. We anyway went to look at what new vehicles they had and were shortly joined by a salesman. After chatting for a bit we mentioned our interest in the S3, he mentioned that it had been sold already, and shifted our interest to two A3 1.8T sitting on the floor. While it was cool to see what cars were available, what we really wanted was a test drive. And this is sadly where Audi fell short this day.

Apparently the branch was sponsoring a golf day and all the managers were out at said golf day. Apparently the guys on the floor can’t take out any of the cars in such a situation as the keys are all locked away, and a manager is needed to access the keys. This was frustrating and sad at the same time. In any case, he said I could come back any time during the week and he’d organise a drive, even following up with several phone calls a week later.

Time was running out for our Saturday, so we had a quick look over the neighbouring VW dealership, which sadly had no Golfs on offer, only a large array of polos and a couple Amaroks. A quick drive brought us around to the BMW dealership. With a similar display of vehicles, we quickly spotted a 118 and 323 which caught our eyes. The 323 was 50 grand cheaper, but was sitting at 80k km, as opposed to the 30k km on the 118. Realistically the 118 (2012, F20) was a more likely choice, so we took it for a drive.

The car was an automatic, white leather seats and white interior. Although I’ve never been a fan of the looks of the 1 series, it has been improved with the more recent iteration, and, in my opinion, the shortening of the bonnet. Getting in it was comfortable, and there was still enough space behind me for the average passenger, although the drive shaft going to the rear wheels will make it a bit awkward putting a third person in the back seat.

I liked the interior. It was modern and neat. Minimal buttons and nicely designed. The auto gear-lever works well, as does the ‘manual’ shifter, which has a forwards/backwards action as opposed to the sideways motion of the Mercedes I have previously driven. The centre console looked a bit overly complicated, and it was awkward to navigate it and drive at the same time, this is possibly something that just comes with time. But I found it less easy to use than the Merc C-Class’s.

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Driving itself was great. The 1.8t pushing out a good 120kW in a relatively small car gives it plenty of umph with a nice little turbo-boost, something that’s great to experience having previously only really driven naturally aspirated engines. The car handles the corners with minimal body roll and comes equipped with standard run-flat tyres which gave a pleasant ride around town with sufficient grip.

I had follow up calls from the saleswoman the following week, even knocking 10 grand off the price. Ultimately there is very little she could have done to get me to buy a car with that white interior. I’m off the beaten track far too often to even consider white carpets. Otherwise a very nice car, and definitely a good first experience with the 1 series and BMW in general.

So the following week the salesman from Audi gave me a call. Or four. I wasn’t good at answering my phone. But in any case, I took a trip out to see what the Audi A3 was like, and ended up taking an A3 1.8T out for a drive. As mentioned I have an affinity for Audi. Their designs have always been my favourite. Getting into the car however I was slightly disappointed. The interior was nice enough, but it was more chunky and less refined than the BMW.

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click for source

It drives well enough though. This was a manual 6-speed with a similarly powerful engine to the BMW. It was easy enough to get an accidental wheel-spin at the first intersection thanks to the front-wheel drive nature of the car. But traction control was quick enough to kick in and get the car going in the right direction.

The car is great, handles equally well and I had some fun round a couple circles and up the freeway. Sufficient power to get you going and the manual gearbox works nicely. This specific car had an odd clicking noise whenever the clutch was depressed and the clip on the armrest lid was broken. Not the kind of thing you want when buying a car.

What disappointed me the most about the car was how uncomfortable I was. At 6’2 I’m not the shortest person, but I really battled to get a comfortable driving position. No matter how many different levers and buttons I pushed on the seat and the steering wheel I sadly couldn’t get comfortable. The armrest also just annoyed me.

So for me, the 1 series takes the comparison hands down. Although I prefer the look of the A3, the two cars I looked at the BMW had a better interior, it was rear wheel drive, and I was actually comfortable in the car. Also to note is that the Audi I drove was at the end of it’s model lifespan, compared to the relatively new 1 Series model. The new Audi (8V started production in 2013) would realistically offer a better competition to the BMW (F20 started production in 2011).

Things to take home. Cars are really expensive :( Car salesmen are really friendly, they laugh at your jokes, phone you at work etc. There are some really nice cars on the market. Car choices are really subjective. Also I don’t know how people decide what car to drive. Personally I’ve always been fond of a station wagon, gives you space, but still the handling of a sedan. But SUVs are better for the offroad, something useful in this country, but then they don’t necessarily drive as nicely on the road in the same price bracket. At least this is not a problem I have to deal with now.

Falling off your bike, literally

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I’ve been cycling for years. I was playing squash before I learnt how to ride a bicycle, but probably only got on a bicycle when I was 5ish. My Dad got into cycling, and the whole family kind of followed along, we did fun rides occasionally and I did my first Argus Cycle Tour when I was 14. I then proceeded to do the subsequent 10 Arguses, this year being the first one I’ve missed. And in between this I’ve kept up a bit of mountain biking too. I enjoy both disciplines for different reasons, but in general over the past 5 years I’ve tended more to offroad.

My trusty steed (aka the Giant Iguana Bomb), cantilever brakes and all

My trusty steed (aka the Giant Iguana Bomb), cantilever brakes and all

I’ve been fortunate to live in areas with great mountain biking. Living in Somerset West and Stellenbosch a mountain was only ever a 10min ride away. Whether it was the farm roads of Lourensford or the multiple dirt roads around the bases of the mountains surrounding Stellenbosch, it was quick and fun to get a cycle in. Now in East London we’re fortunate enough to have multiple mountain bike tracks in the vicinity that are open to the public and a steady supply of events as well. But it seems like the longer I’ve been riding, the more I’ve been falling off. I don’t know why.

I never really had any crashes/falls until last year. About 8 years ago I came off my bike on the road, going round a corner and hitting a patch of gravel, I lost my front wheel and went hands first into the tarmac. I wasn’t going too fast, but managed to sprain my wrists enough to keep me off a bike and the squash court for a week or two. And then there’s the odd fall in between. Usually going quite slowly, and on two occasions on other people’s bikes, being almost stationary and falling over sideways without being able to unclip my shoes in their much tighter cleats.

Giant Iguana Bomb 2

Then end of last year I had a ‘nasty’ fall. I was flying down a dirt road, dodging some washed away sections of road and not looking far enough in front of me when all of a sudden I was going in the wrong direction towards a donga. As I arrived, the bike went down and I launched myself off, landing sprawled out on the otherside of the donga chest down. My body took it surprisingly well. I hurt my shoulder a bit, and was completely winded, but was able to get up and cycle home. The bike took it slightly worse, putting a nice buckle in the front wheel, breaking one of the gear changing levers and damaging the brake lever a bit too. And it wasn’t even my bike :x

Two weeks later doing some nice downhill single track, I fell twice on my ‘sore’ shoulder, managing to cycle home but cutting my cycles short. And I’ve come off my bike another one or two times since then. This last weekend I managed to do what I consider a fairly graceful roll onto the ground as witnessed below. Youtube made it a bit blocky though.

I’ve been fairly lucky though. Although it’s happened a couple times, I’ve never had any lasting damage. And my confidence knock doesn’t seem to be as lasting either. As I write this I’m having more opportunity to think about the incidents, and it seems like it’s often because I don’t commit entirely, or commit to the wrong choice. This last incident involved my weight wanting to go in one direction, but my front tyre deciding to step down a slight ledge and altering my direction of choice

I don’t really know if there was a point to this post. I felt like writing. And I get to post a great video of me falling off my bike. But otherwise I hope that my falling doesn’t increase. I have a very old bike. Like seriously old, it may be partly to blame for my falls. But for some reason, although I have the money available, I can’t bring myself to get a new one, maybe it’s sentimental, I’ve done so much on this bike, like the Karoo2Coast. We’ll see how long that lasts.

Google Calendar Sync to end

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I just received an announcement email from Google stating that their service allowing the syncing of one’s calendar to Outlook is going to be discontinued.
Although I’ve never been the greatest fan of this app, or method of syncing, it was the only option I could find and it did the job. Now I’m left with nothing, short of abandoning Outlook entirely and embracing the online world. But I like storing my emails locally, and I like being able to see my calendar in Outlook, I prefer it to Google Calendar.

The only reason I need the syncing is to match up with my phone. But alas, as we’ve seen time and time again, once Google make a decision like this, little is to change.

See below the email sent out:

Important Announcement about Google Calendar Sync
Almost two years ago, we announced that we ended support for Google Calendar Sync. Starting on August 1, 2014, this app will no longer sync events between your Google Calendar and Microsoft Outlook Calendar.

You can continue to access all of your Google Calendar events at calendar.google.com or on your mobile devices. Follow these instructions to uninstall Google Calendar Sync from your computer.
– The Calendar Team

Update: From the comments below, here are some alternatives to look at:

SyncMyCal
Sync2
Outlook4Gmail

A review of these and some other products can be seen here.

Update: If you’re receiving “error code 2016”, it’s because Google have cut you off as stated above.

Autonomous Vehicles make me sad, but happy

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I read an article a while ago and tagged it for later comment here. So I reread it now and had some time to think it over.

I’m an engineer at heart, I love technology, I love the advances I’ve been alive to witness, they excite me, we’re in a time where processing power is increasing at a semi exponential rate, allowing us to accomplish more and more tasks that previously we were restrained from doing. One of these is the autonomising of driving.

For many driving is a pain, a daily task, something they’d avoid if they could. It’s also an extremely dangerous task. But for many they have no other option. Even in countries with good public transport, some times the convenience of having your own vehicle cannot be ignored. But it’s not the act of travelling in the car that’s frustrating, it’s the actual driving, the constant vigilance and focus required that they dislike. The other drivers on the road that make the task dangerous. And thus the high appeal to have autonomous vehicles. It will also give the convenience of driving your own car to many people who aren’t able/allowed to drive, such as children, old people, drunk people and the disabled.

But then there’s me. And the many like me. Who enjoy driving. Who derive pleasure from the act of being in control and steering these vehicles. And this is what saddens me. Is that in the future I won’t be able to climb into my car and drive to work. I can be driven to work, but I can’t do the driving. And unlike the version shown to us in iRobot where one was still able to take manual control, the system that will ensure the greatest benefit for us all is one where everyone’s vehicle is autonomous. If everyone’s vehicles are linked, it would allow for much faster travel speeds, and will lower our vehicle collision occurrences to negligible amounts. Overtaking no longer becomes an issue as the cars all know exactly where the others are and how long it will take to overtake. And even Google in their latest promos are showing off vehicles that can’t be controlled manually.

Google prototype - googleblog

Google prototype – googleblog

But I won’t be allowed to drive. I spent 3 months in Germany at the end of 2012, and not once during my time there was there an occasion where I though, “Damn, I really need a car now”. There was a good public transport system that met most of my needs, bar one or two abnormalities. But it’s not about need. The first thing I did when I got home was hop into my car and go in search of a nice windy road.

And again, from an engineering perspective I admire the progress they are making. The modelling and control systems alone are enough to incite wonder. I myself doing my masters and applying some focus on an extremely simple autonomous vehicle system feel in the position to truly appreciate what is being achieved. But then I get sad again.

Google Self-driving test vehicle - google.com/press

Google Self-driving test vehicle – google.com/press

I know it’s good. I know this. I know it’s the way things have to go. The roads are only growing more congested as our population grows and the access to motor vehicles increases. There are obviously still lots of hurdles to overcome. Having the technology is half the problem, the other half is getting governments on board, and then getting the population on board, this will not be an easy or quick task, to me even the projection of 2050 is too early, merely from the human aspect. Then again I have little experience in long term projections, and if you consider what has happened in the last 50 years, who knows.

Maybe with this we’ll see a rise in recreational driving. Make driving circuits more available to the public. Maybe that’s all I really want, is an output. In the mean time, California are busy setting out their regulations for autonomous vehicle testing, for manufacturers only. So I think we’ll see the continuous small incremental progress for the next 10 years or so, before we really get somewhere.