andreas_dharmawan

Driving through the deserted lush Mt.Wilson rain forest, just 120 km northwest of Sydney of Route 40, I fall madly in love with this Cabrio. What a marvelous sound this Ibis white Audi A3 Cabrio 2.0T produces. When I upshift the S-tronic dual clutch gearbox, the RPM revs up briefly as the clutch disengages the second gear, and then the RPM goes down to synchronize with the third gear. During this lighting-speed sequence of precision events, the turbo has more pressure than the engine needs at lower RPM on the third gear.

The pressurized air needs to go somewhere or it would produce a potentially damaging back pressure on the turbo blades. To avoid this back pressure and to make sure that the turbo doesn’t loose too much rotation to maintain some boost threshold for the next acceleration, the blow off valve releases the excess pressure during this syncopation. This blow off valve produces a unique pleasing bass drum sound.

With the top and windows down, the sporty and alluring sounds coming in rhythmic fashion from the blow off valve and exhaust massage my eardrums as I shift the S-tronic. This energizing soundtrack invokes an image in my mind; Audi designers and engineers in Ingolstadt were having a grandiose time tuning the notes of the Audi A3 Cabrio turbo and exhaust sounds in the space-age technology Bang & Olufson echo free acoustic foam chamber.

Mt. Wilson is a mountain range that spans for five kilometers north of the World Heritage Blue Mountains National Park. The rich volcanic basalt soil makes this region a perfect location for many natural-appearing large scale English gardens. Many not only feature symmetrical shrubberies with graveled walks, tree-lined plantations, and vibrant and contrast perennial blooms but also grottoes, temples, tea-houses, belvederes, pavilions, sham ruins, bridges, and statues.

The Australia's unique tall eucalyptus trees create continuous canopy over the stringing zigzags, sweeping bends, and straights. It is summer time and the temperature is mild and perfect for Cabrio driving. There are not much of drastic elevation changes or hairpins. Instead, Mt. Wilson road steadily climbs and zigzags. This road has many tentacles reaching out to the most remote areas of this mountain range. Exploring this region my visual cortex is filled with the images from the Garden of Eden. The voices of Australian wildlife and birds provide the soundtrack of this beautiful scenery...

-Andreas.D
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