The Story of my Commute

(Why I chose the Audi A4)

When I started to work for Inktomi, I realized that instead of driving out of Moraga through one of the two paths that lead to Highway 24, I could travel out the southern end of my town, and end up practically at the end of Highway 13, eliminating both the Highway 24 and Highway 13 legs of my trip. There were several pros and cons associated with this; it's a hard drive (long twisty roads) but very also very beautiful. I may not save much time, but the psychological difference is enormous - instead of flying down endless freeways, I spend some time in the hills before retiring to cubeville.

The drive itself is quite challenging. Look at the map to the right. In green is a section of road in my hometown that most people consider typical of a windy road. The larger map below shows the most exciting part of my commute, the length of Pinehurst Road between Canyon Road and Redwood Road. Note that both of these maps are of the same scale! Since the drive is so intense, I needed a vehicle which could take the daily abuse without slowing to a crawl. I posted on USENET, ``I need a cheap, used car that has a reasonable back seat, a hatchback for the dog, and is fun to drive.'' The response was unanimous, the Volkswagen GTI was perfect for me. I found myself a 1986 GTI and bought it for $1000. I put almost $1000 more into the car and had myself a machine! Unfortunately, it had a few drawbacks. The GTI is a front wheel drive car, mine squibbled all over the road when the ground was wet. Also, the GTI is incredibly loud, practically deafening on the freeway. Finally, my GTI was definitely showing its age; the engine was good, but the passenger compartment leaked in the rain, the rims were bent and the paint on the hood was peeling. I did as much as I could to keep it running, but eventually I gave up when the clutch stopped disengaging. To fix that, I'd need to take the transmission off, and I just didn't make sense to put so much money into such an old car, so I decided to buy a new one. After a lot of consideration, I was able to narrow it down to a set of candidates.

Enter the Audi A4 2.8 Avant Quattro. It solved all of the problems my GTI exhibited: it had all-wheel drive, it was quiet, and even had a power adjustable seat to avoid giving me back problems. It's a station wagon, but still classified as a compact car. All this, plus it was just a bit larger; although the GTI is a miracle of interior design, it's still quite a tiny car. The added size of the Audi makes my passengers a little more comfortable, and makes me a little more comfortable when driving next to 18-wheelers on 880! It's quite safe too, the NHTSA gives the car four stars for the driver and five stars (the best!) for the passenger for the front. I'm freaked out about how much all this cost, but considering it met and/or exceeded all of my expectations, I'm probably just being a worry-wart. If I intend to drive this car for years, might as well make it a nice one, right?