Gasolena 95

It’s about time I weighed in on the narrative with some “guy” stuff.

About the “upgrade” rental car. It’s an Audi Q2 TSFI 30. It has a 6 speed manual transmission as well as a long list of bells and whistles. This is the first time I’ve driven a turbocharged vehicle. As far as I can tell from checking the model number it has the base engine – a three cylinder 1.0 litre (no, that’s not a typo).
I have not verified this but I expect the 30 stands for “3” cylinders and “0” is for the amount of torque if you let the revs drop below 3000.
It’s a bit of an adjustment. With my Ford Ranger pickup’s chunky 4.0 litre V6,  if ever you hit much more than 3500 rpm not only would you empty the gas tank in about 12 seconds but the engine would emit an unearthly howl before exploding into a million pieces. The Audi turbo, on the other hand just starts to breath at 3000 and at 3500+ it emits a happy sports car roar and takes off like scalded cat.

The car is still running happily after the first visit to the a gas station. They don’t, however, make it easy. Back home there are all kinds of horror stories about drivers filling diesel vehicles with gas and vice versa. In Spain you ask for either gasoleo (diesel) or gasolena (gas). Get the inflection wrong and you’re in for a world of hurt.

I dropped Jenny off at the supermercado and ventured into the filling station. Just to be on the safe side I pointed emphatically at the “gasolena 95” pump and grunted with a nod and a smile. The nice (and impossibly attractive) senorita did the rest. After a brief misunderstanding involving the local constabulary I was on my way.(I’ll work on “gasolena” and avoid the use of grunts and gestures in future).
Prior to the trip the price of gas appeared to be about 30 to 35% more than we were paying at home. Spanish fuel prices have, however, dropped dramatically due to new government subsidies while prices in BC, well……. Anyway, I paid the equivalent of about $2.06 CAN a litre. I’ll let you folks do the math.