New Years' thoughts on the new S6 Avant

[Roger M. Woodbury]

I was driving the V8 the other day, and my thoughts began to wander to the
"forbidden corner", where I indulge my fantasies about owning various cars.
It is that dark corner of my mind that gave rise to the idea that I "needed"
to have this '93 V8; the Porsche 928S4 of a while ago, and various other
automotive indulgences.

Anyway, my mind was contemplating the S6, a road test of which I had read
recently, and the information that I had picked out of the Audi web site.
Interesting.  An Avant with the cat-like quickness and outright, "yank" of
my V8.

I decided that I probably didn't want one.

Oh, sure, after having the V8 for about six months, I have come to realize
that as a real estate developer, what I really need to drive on a day-in,
day-out basis, is some sort of wagon-like utility vehicle. And I ENJOY
putting my foot down, and having the car growl it's agreement. But that
comes at a price, and THAT price is beginning to seem more and more
irresponsible:  I don't NEED to burn gas like that.

The S6 only comes with a Tiptronic.  I don't like the Tiptronic
transmission.  Just because something can be done with a computer chip
doesn't necessarily make it good or desirable.  Hence, the ability to play
"boy racer" with the faux gear shift doesn't appeal to me at all.  That
plus, the Tiptronic is yet another VERY expensive device to break.

And then the wild power.  Great, but, I live in eastern Maine, and we get
opportunity to test the quality of Quattro nine out of twelve months here.
An S6 is simply not really equipped normally, for true all season driving.
The wheels and tires are simply wrong for real bad weather.  There is enough
power in my V8 now, to over rule the Quattro system in really bad weather.

I contrast driving my V8 with driving my wife's 100CS.  When we had the 100
CS in Florida traffic, I found it a bit wanting.  It really needed different
gearing and about twenty five more horsepower to be really comfortable in
that kind of driving.  All of those things were really provided in the 1997
and after A6.

But here in rural Maine, the 100 CS is PERFECT.  More acceleration is simply
not needed, in this land of light traffic and few traffic lights.

After browsing the Audi website, I decided that my needs could be very well
met by an A6 Avant, and the S6 Avant could be sold to someone who really
needed that power and performance....say, someone who was driving to the
grocery store a block from Rodeo Drive or something.

But then, there is that damned Tiptronic....

So, next, I surfed to the BMW website.  There I found the new, six cylinder
X5, which comes with a five speed.

Hmmmmmm. Now, that is really interesting.

In the meantime, I'll hold on to the V8.  I plan on moving along to
something else about sixty thousand miles from now.  Thus, there is plenty
of time to "come to my senses"....

Roger