driving

[Dave.Eaton]

after a long and busy week, and with the family on holiday without me, i
needed to meet up with the boss and do some planning after work friday.  he
lives out in the country, and i really really didn't want to travel south to
pick him up, and them find a place to eat, and then trace my way home again.

so there i was, threading my way down some of the best roads god has made,
thin single lane ribbons of tarmac, full of crests and dips, off-camber
corners and tightening turns.  no traffic, just the boss and i, the s8 in
tip, engine singing, running the car at 140km/hr over these rough roads.

in these conditions the car is a revelation - full of feel, control and
poise.  never did the suspension get caught off-guard by a bump, or a change
of camber. from the drivers seat, the car felt taut, composed and the driver
totally in control.  no "unweighting" over the crests, or bottoming in the
dips, not over-damped, and no uncomfortable roll.  just smooth, comfortable,
composed and fast. you felt that the car had simply enormous reserves of
speed.

i was gobsmacked.  the car handled this road at a speed that my old rs2
would have struggled to meet, and my favourite audi, the 20v ur-quattro,
would have possibly matched, but without anything like the composure.

the s8 is a wonderful car.  my boss (instrumental in getting me to test
drive an s8 in the 1st place), who drives the road in a 740, gave up warning
me about the tricky bits, and just shook his head in admiration. and
afterwards talked about wanting to upgrade his car to an m5...

dave
'01 s8