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AUDI A4 ALLROAD (2010) |
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Anna and I visited Interalpen the 12-14 January 2019 week-end knowing that heavy snow was forecasted.... and our 'new' Audi Allroad could have its baptism of fire, so to speak. No snowstorm on arrival, but the sun made the snow breathtaking |
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Arriving at Interalpen on a sunny day with huge masses of snow in front of you means that it's mandatory to get a full Tyrolean mixed platter and a large beer enjying the scenery |
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At dusk, clouds began to appear at the horizon, creating beautiful colours and contrasts |
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The next day's weather forecast predicted more snow |
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Dusk over the Tyrolean mountains |
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Spectacular, isn't it? |
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Sunday 13 January, dawn |
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A generous snowfall had already improved on the scenery when I woke up, around 7 a.m.... |
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...and then more snow began to fall heavily |
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By breakfast time, the snow had already covered the 1 m tall fence out of the Spa Restaurant |
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On the road to Leutasch, the accumulation of snow was sometimes staggering. The road to Mittenwald (and to Germany) was closed |
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And snow was falling again |
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In Seefeld |
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This picture gives an idea of the snow accumulated in Seefeld in three days. There's an Audi somewhere under the snow |
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There was really a LOT of snow even for Seefeld standards |
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You understand the seriousness of the situation when you see that they need huge Liebherrs with chains on all fours wheels to remove the snow downtown... |
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...and, more surprisingly, when you see that the OBB wasn't able to remove the snow from the tracks to Innsbruck. No trains...! In Austria! |
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Let it snow |
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Interalpen |
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The heated pool is a blessing when you can enjoy the show of the snow all around you.... |
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The 'Tyroler Sauna Dorf', the 'little village of sauna', is actually a huge bonus of Interalpen. Saunas, Turkish baths etc at the highest possible level. Being Sunday afternoon when we got there, there was nobody around: the week-end tourists had already left, scared by the snowy roads |
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A perfect reward: Interalpen's Wienerschnitzel |
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Anna looks happy |
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After dinner we attempted a walk outside but there was too much snow to get out on normal shoes.... |
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Monday 14 January |
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Monday morning the fence out of the Spa Restaurant had been completely buried by another long snowfall |
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This is how the road from Seefeld to Leutasch looked like Monday morning |
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Our A4 Allroad performed flawlessly, of course |
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Anna likes the Allroad and the obvious active safety it provides even on tricky roads like these |
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Click on the pic above to see what the road looked like....luckily I had just fitted to the Allroad four Pirelli 'Sottozero' winter tires. They proved perfect, good traction and very good braking even on deep snow. Audi's formidable 'quattro' traction system did the rest; in my opinion it's on par with my Mercedes C320 4-Matic but the Audi has the added benefit of being taller on its wheels, so it has more ground clearance. Useful when snow is piling up like this |
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The amount of snow is clearly visible here.... |
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Cold, innit? |
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Time to drive back to Bologna....it's always good to have your car taken care of in the most luxurious car park I've ever seen in my life, at least in Europe |
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Good news: fuel consumption |
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The TFSI 2.0 litre petrol engine has never been known for parsimony, anyway the first impressions of it being a gas-guzzler on par with my 1966 5,2 litres Bristol 409 were somewhat bettered by a judicious use of throttle and cruise control during the whole trip. Top left, tank filled in Telfs at my favourite gas station in the world, BP Premium and a range of 600 kms (less than 400 miles) but the, after 432 kms of Autobahn/Autostrada.... |
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...I still had a 320 kms (theoretical) range, thanks to a not too shameful 7,8 litres/100 kms. The actual range can therefore be over 720 kms, if you don't fancy going all the time pedal-to-the-metal. I'm quite happy |
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Washing away the Austrian road salt off the Allroad. This car wash has a high-pressure wash system for the underside as well |
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| January 2020: no snow in Interalpen but always the same luxurious garage.... | |
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ID number (*) Audi A2 pages: |
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| 1- 2- 3- 4- 5- 6- 7- 8- 9- 10- 11- 12- 13- 14- 15- 16- 17- 18- 19 | |
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La storia della trazione Audi 'Quattro' |
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