Quick Peek

What ya's all doing?

Just sticking my neck out to see what's happening in the world.

I see Bloemfontein has had almost double it's average rainfall this month (measured over 70 years): from 72mm to 138mm.

Oil today is at $67 now.

Drove a Yaris recently and what a cool car. You have the radio controls on the steering wheel, at your fingertips, and it's such a compact, clever little car it feels like everywhere and everything is at your fingertips. Such a pity it doesn't run on good intentions. All this airconditioned comfort and effortless squizzing around actually comes at a price. You wouldn't think so, to read newspapers that boldly procalim that average price levels are likely to stay stable, and the stock exchange breaks a new record, meanwhile - in the margin, the stuff that underpins all this, is getting more and more expensive. Who is hallucinating? Is it a hallucinated economy. I think it's just a lunatic framework that we're all buying into - and it's hard not to. Driving the Yaris makes the world's problems seem dead quiet, and dead easy. Unfortunately, they aren't.

I'm gonna take a break from thinking, and take in the cosmos along the side of the road.
Any key news stories or thoughts, please email me them, so that when I get back, I can catch up on it all in my inbox, quickly and efficiently.

Peekaboo.

But the wheels keep on turning and turning...

Test Drive: Toyota Yarris
Everything and everywhere at your fingertips
by Nick van der Leek

Inside, the Yaris feels like the cockpit of a Boeing. Yes, a Boeing, not a F-16, simply because that would be too tight. It's a giddy feeling getting behind the wheel, because you feel like you're about to take off.

The Yaris is small on the outside, but the car wraps elegantly around 4 passengers on the inside. The cabin feels spacious, and the cockpit (front seating) gives the impression that the car's nose meets in a sharp point. The Yaris feels like it's going to make you fly.

It's a pleasure to drive too. She steers easily under the heel of one hand, she turns on a nickle - last night we did a u-turn on a single lane road in one easy swish.

The speed display is a blue digital glow that emanates deep inside the console, and fuel and revs are available alongside, also in the same glowing blue format. The speed display is also visible to the front passenger beside the driver - at first the blue decimals may appear to be a hollogram.

I looked all over for the POWER ON button for the radio, which is part of a state-of-the-art UFO-like console, and then found them under my fingertips. Yes, you can adjust the volume and change stations just by twiddling your pinkie on the steering wheel.

The Yaris parks easily and hums softly - it's a cozy world inside, and this Toyota leaves the driver feeling soothed and safe. It has 7 airbags stowed around it's mainframe, so Toyota haven't sacrificed safety for compactness.

I have a teeny gripe though. The clutch took very low, which made me overrev a couple of times. End of gripe.

The Yaris has a 1.3 engine, but it feels like it's got more when you need to accelarate into moving streams of traffic.

I love this car. The Yaris puts everything and everywhere at your fingertips. It's easy to forget - and who can blame anyone for living in denial when you're driving a Yaris - that oil prices are hopping to $67. Like every other vehicle, the Yaris doesn't run on good intentions. If it did, it would be the perfect car for a perfect world. For the moment though, we may be allowed to dream, or pretend we're flying.