[V8] Dino in Italy...swooped up an S4 Avant!!!

[Coleman, David]

Is anyone else picturing Din(er)o blasting around Europe S8/Ronin-style?

-DaveC.
v8 5sp

> -----Original Message-----
> From: v8-bounces at audifans.com 
> [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com]On Behalf
> Of Murphy, Joseph-Colleen
> Sent: Thursday, September 02, 2004 11:09 AM
> To: v8 at audifans.com
> Subject: [V8] Dino in Italy...swooped up an S4 Avant!!!
> 
> 
> All:
> 
> Hope all is well, I have not been able to keep track of all 
> the goings on in the V8 world as we have been busy moving to 
> the other side of the planet.  We are settled in, relatively 
> speaking, and as I was driving home yesterday (more on that 
> in a minute...) I was surprised to feel that I was actually 
> in a "rut", and had a "routine".  I can't for the life of me 
> think of the last time I could say that...
> 
> ...anyway, Scott Matus' postings are correct - he purchased 
> my V8 5-speed.  As soon as I got it up to Seattle (Bellevue) 
> I had Autohaus Vick put in a new steering rack.  I was hoping 
> to have it done and the alignment complete before we left the 
> USA, but with their superb efforts to find the best deal on 
> the parts it took a couple days.  Anyway, the V8 is in 
> Scott's hands, and hope she is performing just as well for 
> him as she did me.
> 
> Coming over here I had many different mindsets for what my 
> transportation would be.  The return to the USA was always a 
> no-brainer, as I will "obviously" pick up something from 
> Germany (wink, wink) and let her have a free ride to her new 
> home in the good old US of A.  However, what would be my 
> day-to-day vehicle?  Well, to make a typical "Dino" long 
> story short (or short by comparison...), a Royal Netherlands 
> Officer who works at the same NATO base as myself was just 
> posting for sale his 1992 S4 Avant!!!  Needless to say, I 
> have a 159,000 KM (yes, KM - not Miles...) Metallic 5-speed 
> Inline-5 20v Turbo Quattro Avant waiting patiently for me 
> outside my office.  She is in great shape, especially after I 
> threw her in a reputable Audi shop here in Naples for a few 
> items, and she more than holds her own on the Autostrade here 
> in Italy with the Big Boys.  Had a run with a BMW 3 Series on 
> a relatively sparse stretch and tapped 235 KM before closure 
> on traffic came into play.  I don't know if I will ever get a 
> chance to let her top out...if I do I will report back with 
> the details.  She is the "perfect" car for around here.  I 
> can fit all 5 of us in, plenty of luggage space, and the 
> added utility of folding the seats down for odd shaped items. 
>  With the small turn radius, and relative narrowness, it is 
> perfect for all our day trips, or even weekend trips.  
> Certainly, she will be the vehicle of choice for ski trips up 
> north to The Alps.  
> 
> For the locals, fuel is enormously expensive (1.20 Euro per 
> liter - which equals about $5.00 per gallon...), so all the 
> new Sport Sedans/Wagons are of the Turbo Diesel variety.  The 
> Sport Wagon is about the most popular form of enthusiasts 
> transportation, as it can still carry 5 passengers (or 10 if 
> you are a local, and disregard those seat belt thingys...), 
> and has the utility mentioned above.
> 
> The driving in the Naples, Italy area is what you think/heard 
> it is.  However, being the disciplined aggressive V8 pilots 
> that we are, it is easy to assimilate.  Using peripheral  
> vision for the car (or couple of cars...) in front of you and 
> actually concentrating on what is going on further up the 
> road is an absolute requirement...and allows you to 
> judge/plan braking points, entry speeds, etc...with these 
> very unusual (as compared to the USA...) road layouts.  
> Various radius curves to fit the terrain (or Roman ruin!!!) 
> are the norm vice the exception...
> 
> ...whoops...gotta get off this computer!!!  Again, hope all 
> is well with the V8's out there, and I will try to follow up 
> in the next few days...
> 
> Dino
> 
> 1992 Audi S4 Avant (His)
> 2001 Chrysler Town & Country LXI (Hers)
> 
> 
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