New car part 5

I did a test drive of the new (March 2014) car today. It's a diesel, so there's a slight lag between putting my foot down and the acceleration, but it's a very slight gap, and I'll soon get used to it. I like the DAB radio, because I'll be able to get Radio 4 Extra, instead of having to listen only to Radio 4 as I drive home after caching. That means Hancock instead of the Archers!

The electric handbrake is going to take some getting used to; I kept reaching for the lever. There's no "privacy glass", but if anyone peers into the back of my car, they'll see two wire baskets full of junk (my caching stuff), and (optionally, when I'm in the car) a folding bike, so I don't think it'll be an attractive car to rob. The air conditioning is as good as Freda's was, which is really good. There's fog lamps, but I can only remember one occasion where I was in thick fog, and it was so bad then, I was driving at 10 or 20 mph, so I doubt if the fog lamps would have helped much.

It still has the different driving terrain modes; snow, mud etc. I've rarely used those, because I'm only rarely driving on really difficult terrain.

The "parking distance control" doesn't seem too good. It seems to alert whether I'm near to the car behind or not, but maybe I'll get more used to it. There's no satnav, but I'm totally happy with that, because I'd rather use my Tomtom, I can put 50,000 geocaching POIs into it, and I can program my destination while sitting in my office.

So, overall, I'm happy, and I have a name for her - Froggy, from "FReelander Orkney Grey"; thanks to a suggestion from an anonymous poster who suggested "Foggy", but I already have a computer of that name, hence "Froggy". The satnav will still be called "Madge".

Froggy will arrive in a day or two. Freda has been sold for a rather paltry sum. I wish her well for the future; she'll be sold at auction, hopefully to a good home.