[RS01]

A long pending trip to Europe happened recently. Initial plan was for parents to visit my brother and sister-in-law at Amsterdam for a few months. Me, my wife and kid had not planned this time due to prior work commitments. But while browsing the calendar one fine day, we spotted a window of opportunity, where two consecutive longish weekends during December end, clubbed with a few leaves, could give us around 10 days off. Hurriedly, VISA was applied and thankfully received in time.

While we quickly shopped for winterwear, Brother and SIL meticulously planned our visit to the famous Christmas markets and a relaxing getaway for 3-4 days. Two rental cars, one SUV and one Sedan, were booked to accommodate all of us and our luggage. We reached Amsterdam on 21st December and promptly got ready for the trip next day. While we had booked a BMW 3 series and X1, we were issued an Audi A4 and a Jeep Compass 4xe. Both cars were Automatics. A4 was in its estate configuration. Being a mild hybrid Sedan, it was more akin to my current daily driver back at Mumbai – Ciaz, in its features and drivability. Jeep, however, was a plug-in hybrid, but was given to us without the charger or any charge in the batteries. Surprisingly, both cars were without any spare wheels, as these seem to be prone to theft. We had also opted for a child seat, which was affixed in the Audi.





We brought the vehicles home and loaded our luggage. Boot space in A4-estate was larger and it accommodated most of our bags. The ladies opted for A4 and the men dutifully moved to the Jeep. I took to the wheel and, I must say, driving a left-hand drive vehicle seems awkward for initial few kilometers. Brother took the responsibility of navigation and we decided to lead the way as onboard GPS seemed to show an easier route through the city.

We started around noon towards Cologne, Germany. Jeep felt pretty heavy and engine seemed to pull with effort in slow speeds, but was more relaxed once on the highway. European cities and highways have much higher speed limits than back here in India. Although it was fun to drive at such speeds, a standard Mumbaikar, driving daily for hours in bumper-to-bumper traffic, is always subconsciously cautious of someone jumping from somewhere right in front of you or cutting across from the wrong side. This, clubbed with the daunting task of keeping the vehicle strictly within the two white lines on the road, was honestly stressful!! (I later learned that the vehicle was more at fault than me though, more on this in a bit). The drive otherwise was enjoyable and it was dark when we reached Cologne and checked in to our hotel. We promptly changed and rushed to the Christmas markets in the city. We used public transport for the city visits as many places are no vehicle zones and finding a parking nearby would have been a challenge.







The Christmas markets turned out to be very interesting with festivities in full swing and shops selling festive items and food. While we tried some local delicacies, interestingly, we also found a Nepalese stall selling chhole-chawal and momos. Next morning was spent visiting the Cathedral, gorging on spectacular city views atop Koln Triangle, buying fragrances and perfumes, and lunch, before departing to Valkenberg.









We even spotted a Car with wings atop a museum.



Instead of checking in to a hotel, we stayed at a beautiful, river facing bungalow in Valkenberg. The place was quite serene. Occasionally, we saw barge ships quietly using the river for people and material transportation. We visited the famous Cave Market, which is a market in the labyrinth of passageways underneath the old castle of the city. Next morning, we drove to the Three-country-point, Dreilandenpunt, which is a meeting point of three country borders – Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. We entered through Netherlands, crossed Germany and parked our cars in Belgium, all within a matter of minutes. After a lot of photographs and a good lunch, we left the place to drive back home.













In the Schengen Area, one can drive freely between countries and there are no stoppages or toll plazas to demarcate the international borders. On the highways, one can sense slight changes in the road conditions between the countries. Highways in the Netherlands were more well maintained and well-lit than those in Germany and Belgium.





During the trip, we had a pleasure of driving in varied driving conditions. We covered 840 kilometers in 4 days and encountered clear weather, rains, strong winds, storms and snow. Shorter December days meant part of the driving was through the night. This gave us ample opportunity to test the vehicles under varied circumstances.

Although some ADAS features on the Jeep were useful and enjoyable, others were outright annoying. It had Adaptive Cruise Control but, at triple digit speeds, the distance for the vehicle to ‘adapt’ was a little too less in my opinion. I’m not sure if the distance between cars for Adaptive CC to kick in is a static configuration or is dynamic based on speed, but I must admit, at times, it got frighteningly close to the vehicle in front before slowing down to match the speed. I had to manually override in few instances and brake.

Headlights’ throw was very poor and were constantly on the low beam; couldn’t be switched to high beam no matter what I did. This was really frustrating in some low light situations.

Now, for the lane keep assist. This was a major reason for my stress during the trip. Every time the vehicle steered away from the white lane markings, it gave a loud beep until it was steered back between the lanes. Pretty standard, no problem. But the trouble was that it veered away quite often. Initially I though the lanes markings were too close for a big vehicle, but seeing much bigger trucks on the same lanes negated that possibility. First day, I couldn’t do much other than keep it within the lanes and drive. Once we reached the hotel, I performed some quick tests and my doubts were confirmed that the wheel alignment was way off. The Jeep always steered off to the right, with or without steering input. IMHO, it was a rented 4-wheel drive vehicle and might have been put to harsh conditions previously and may not have been maintained accordingly.

Some other observations on the Jeep:
- Ingress and egress were easier compared to the sedan.
- Seat was comfortable for long distance driving. The steering had rake and reach adjustments.
- Music system was brilliant. Songs on the Radio sounded quite good.
- Jeep was a serious Fuel Guzzler. It had 3 buttons towards left of the steering wheel – Petrol, Hybrid and Electric. To open the petrol tank lid, one must press this Petrol button. The fuel tank did not have a cap. Instead, the nozzle was to be inserted through a rubber contraption. We had to refuel it 4 times, where Audi was refueled only twice. We did not get to test it on electric mode and the batteries did not charge during the run for hybrid either.
- Back seat of the Jeep felt cramped. My 6+ ft. father felt stuck in the back seat with very less space all around. The dark interiors further made the place less roomy. Boot was also not very spacious.
- Engine grunt was audible in the cabin at most speeds and more so when it accelerated. Vibrations were felt throughout the journey.

In contrast, the Audi was so smooth that there was hardly anything to write about. I drove it for a while and it was a totally different experience. The comfy drive and cozy child seat ensured that my kid slept through most of the journey. No vibrations or engine noise were noticed. Fuel efficiency was much higher and it had ample space for its occupants.



Overall, the trip was very enjoyable and refreshed us thoroughly. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as we enjoyed the trip.

[KarthikK]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!