The Upgrade
During my time here I get a hire car which is all paid for. I hadn’t booked in advance, so I made a reservation with Hertz just a few hours before I wanted to pick up. When I turned up at the Rochester Hertz office, there was only one car outside – and it certainly wasn’t a “compact” (I can’t rent a better car, that’s the rules!). I thought perhaps it was “out back” so I went into the office and was told that the car I had ordered was not yet available…so they had upgraded me. So for the next 4 weeks I will be driving round in a 3.2 litre, 224bhp, 220lb/ft beast. But lets not get too excited here, this is an American car and so it weighs approximately 10 tonnes…but there is a bit of life when you floor it and the 4 speed automatic box springs to life and drops a cog. It’s a Saturn Aura….like a bigger, posher version of the Mondeo/Vectra. However, this is not the place to drive fast, so I don’t yet know if it has bellows where the suspension should be – so watch this space. It’s very comfortable though, and when you turn it on, the dials do a little dance. Like an Aston…just not as pretty. The car is registered in Texas…so it’s called Texas! I am now the envy of my peers – the other two guys have a Focus (Wisconsin) and a Honda (Minnesota).We’re considering defacing eachothers cars and doing a tour of the southern States, just like in Top Gear. However, it’s perhaps a little too far to go, even if the “gas” is just around £1.50 a GALLON (that’s 4.5 litres to you and I). Not used to automatics yet…so I keep slamming on the brakes with my left foot. American roads seem fairly easy to drive. Some odd traffic rules mind, such as being able to turn right on a red light. And then there is the 4 way crossroads – not a roundabout, no traffic lights – just stop signs. You approach the crossroads, stop completely, and whoever is there first has priority. Not so bad when there are just a few cars but it could get hairy when it’s busy – which doesn’t really happen here so it’s all good.
