FRIDAY

I had the car's annual service done today. It passed and has a new Warrant of Fitness and has had its bits adjusted and all of its fluids topped up.

They gave me a courtesy car to play with while the work was being done.It was a 2023 Toyota Yaris Hybrid.

It was a neat little car - quite zippy with a 1500cc motor and, as a hybrid has two motors -  a 1.5 L petrol motor with a maximum output of 55 kilowatts (74 hp) and a 45-kilowatt (60 hp) electric motor.

It was the first time that I've driven a hybrid car and it took a bit of getting used to the motor sounds. The car, on startup, uses the electric motor which is soundless to the point that, until you press the accelerator it doesn't appear to be running. As the car picks up speed the petrol motor kicks in. This alternates with the electric motor taking over at slow speeds or going downhill and the petrol one at higher speeds and going uphill. When a burst of acceleration is needed then pressing hard on the accelerator activates both  motors at once giving it a boost of power that reminded me of the turbo charge in the Rover 620 Ti we once owned. It was a lot of fun but all too soon (3 hours) I got a call from the Toyota service department informing me that my car was ready.

I've mentioned before that we are considering a Toyota hybrid for our next vehicle and this 'terst drive' has reinforced that. I'll need something larger than the Yaris though as I like to put the back seats down to transport a lot of stuff so will likely look at a Corolla Hybrid or teh Corolla Cross.

It's a cracker day here today with blue skies and lots of sunshine but, in deference to the rest of the country where people are freezing their arses off, this morning it was 12 degrees and now, in mid afternoon it is only 17 degrees. I drove to the port area and had a nice long walk around looking at the boats in the marinas and those being repaired on raised platforms. Whangarei has a thriving boat repair business going, sevicing both private and government and navy vessels including those from overseas. While it was nice walking in sunshine there was an icy breeze which was freezing. I was glad I had my jacket.