CHunky City
Notice one alarming similarity in the photograph below?
That’s right, they all have the same model of wheels (it’s not rims, nor are they on the whip either). Most auto enthusiasts will pick up immediately on the famous CH model of wheel made by arguably the best wheel manufacturer in the world – BBS. Another similiarity? They’re all Audi’s – big shocker huh?
The trip to Toronto from Maine wasn’t an easy ordeal. I split it up into two portions and this found myself sleeping at the Herkimer, NY KOA. It was a grueling drive just to get to the KOA mainly due to the smaller, more direct routes being two-lane city/town roads which conveniently had construction going on. Being crippled to stop-and-go traffic for an unknown number of miles (with plenty more ‘til your destination) lends to a hopeless feeling, but one that is best tackled with a calm attitude – no amount of frustration or aggression will make the cars move along faster.
After the Herkimer night out camping, it was a relatively quick drive up to Toronto. This time, the border crossing was painless as I drove straight through with less than a minute of questioning. I met up with Sherman out there, but not without traffic.
Toronto seems completely devoid of any discrimination for the time in terms of when to have traffic. While I was traveling on the major highway in the city, I could’ve sworn it was bang-on 5pm and the workday was ending. In fact, it was only 2pm, on a mid-weekday – go figure.
Anyhow, I met with Sherman, converted for some CAD money, talked Audi’s and mainly his Avant, washed up the cars and snapped a few photos.
Afterwards, it was time to part ways and meet up with the rest of the GTA (Greater Toronto Area, not Grand Theft Auto) folks for an arranged drag strip meet at Toronto Motorsports Park. We met and it wasn’t until we finished barreling down the freeway and parking at the strip did I notice this wheel phenomenon. We lined them up and snapped away.
The drag strip experience was definitely a first for me. Staging/lining up in front of the tree and essentially beating the piss out of a car was unsurprisingly fun. No, I didn’t run my car, but several rides were enough for me to learn that even for a low price of $10CAD, it wasn’t worth the risk of myself not getting back home in one piece.
The blue S4, seen above driving back to the pits, was the self-proclaimed Reaction-Time king. He had the numbers to back it up with times of 0.010 and his best of the night of 0.001 seconds. His secret? Betting on the natural human physics and treating the second yellow light as the green one. Don’t say this site hasn’t been informative =-)
All in all, what I’ve seen in Canada as an adult is still a bit unclear to me. Surely there are a lot of similarities between it and the US, as well as seeing a heavy European influence, but there are also times where some of the architecture and layout of the environment remind me of some aspects of Seoul, South Korea. Can I see myself living there? No. Why? Simple – it’s too similar to what I know (the US) to warrant a move for a “change”. Besides, everything (including automobiles) is more costly up there.
FINAL Fuel Efficiency stats:
- Miles Driven (up to last fill): 15,631.1
- Gallons Pumped: 583.528
- Miles per Gallon: 26.79
- Average Paid for each gallon: $3.94 USD
- Total $ for gas: You do the math =-)