[s-cars] Re: slip sliding away

[chad clark]

Guys, I must wholeheartedly agree with Brett's comments concerning winter
driving schools. Those of you who like to have fun throwing your quattro
sideways on the way to work, in parking lots, on deserted back roads, you
really should do yourself a favor and attend one of these events in a
controlled environment. Did I mention you can't get a reckless driving
ticket here? Or the fact that you won't fold your rims under the car after
hitting a curb? That's because there are none at these schools along with
telephone poles, parked cars, etc.  (Don't worry, I'm still the first one
out in the morning after the snowstorm, sliding away to brush up on my
technique) Just like to play devils advocate.

Not to shift the focus to the Colorado offerings in terms of winter driving
schools, but those of you who live anywhere near Colorado, the Steamboat
winter driving school(SWDS) is a must attend event. With snow banks as high
as 5 feet and usually very soft, you're almost guaranteed no damage to your
steed(save for MLP;-)

In addition to the q-club event at the SWDS, gruppe-q has rented the track
for a whole week. Feb 8th-12th, with Wednesday being a rest day. Check out
www.gruppe-q.com and email Scott if interested in attending. We are only
half full at this time and look forward to filling those remaining spots
soon. 

Hell, if Pizzo can drive half way across the country to attend this event,
there are no excuses for the rest of you. It is the perfect environment to
find your limits, your cars limits, and best of all, enjoying the
camaraderie of long time fellow quattro enthusiasts! The absolute most
enjoyable experience behind the wheel of a quattro. It's the #1 reason I've
been driving quattros for 16 years.

Keep em slideways guys!

Chad 



on 12/28/04 10:05 PM, Brett Dikeman at brett at cloud9.net wrote:

> At 9:27 PM -0500 12/28/04, Lee Levitt wrote:
> 
>> In the five and a half hours of driving, the car didn't lose traction once
>> (except when I tapped the brakes to check the conditions) until we got to my
>> driveway...
> 
> I helped Mark fetch a friend's car in Boston Sunday night- when I got
> to his apartment (and met the WHOLE Chang family....or just about;
> visiting and thrilled with the snow), the roads has an inch or so of
> packed snow as the crews couldn't keep up.  Conditions on 128
> approaching whiteout, with winds 20-30mph blowing the dry snow
> everywhere.  Fun stuff.  The Hakka Q's (pretty damn worn in the back,
> better up front; two winters and at least one full summer season when
> one of my #@!$ Ronal rims cracked) did fairly well.  Not nearly as
> good as when they were new, when it was a challenge to get them to
> break loose in 2nd in a straight line...but still quite good given
> the conditions.  I think next time I'll get a slightly more normal
> size- 195/45 is a tad thin for the lumbering beast.
> 
> Some fun pics:
> http://frank.mercea.net/~brett/2004_winterwonderland/
> (5891 sums up the fun I had on the back roads decently, and the shot
> of Newbury Street is kinda cool.  Sorry for the noise, all were shot
> at something like 1600 ISO).
> 
> Two hours later, we're half way back to his place, the friend's car
> tucked away under Boston Common) and Mrs. Chang calls.
> 
> "Yup, we're almost back."
> "Quite a bit, on purpose."
> 
> ;-)
> 
> If you think it's fun driving in the snow and only sliding by
> accident- well, you should try spending an entire two days doing it
> on purpose!  Winter driving schools are a total hoot- NEQ is running
> one 15-16th and again Feb 5th-6th.  Last year's motto on the nametags
> was "if you can't stick it, slide it!"...Or was it the other way
> around?  Some details on www.neqclub.org.  Bring lots of warm
> clothing, no thicker than 5w30 oil, and make sure the battery is in
> good shape.  It won't turn you into a Rohl, but the money spent on
> one WDS is pretty small compared to your average insurance
> deductible...
> 
> Plus, doesn't this look like a hell of a lot of fun?
> http://frank.mercea.net/photos/cars/IMG_0643.jpg
> (full set from last year's WDS are here:
> http://frank.mercea.net/zoph/photos.php?album_id=14 )
> 
> Okay, I'm done promoting the schools and showing off my photos now :-)
> 
> Brett