[V8] For Sale, 1 Soul

Fri Feb 9 01:21:39 EST 2007

While it cost slightly less than my soul, I will admit that after 10 years
of ownership, I did finally find a replacement for my beloved '90 V8...she
is a '01 S8 that I purchased in November.

I still have my '90 V8, and still marvel at what a great car she is...even
with 200+k on the clock and an age of over 17 years - BUT; the S8 is
everything I loved about my V8 PLUS the S8 is everything I hoped the V8
could ever be given enough time and money thrown at her.

The S8 is wickedly fast, has incredible braking, and the handling is
something I simply marvel at every day when I drive her through the twisties
on the way to work and back - She is literally my dream car, I'm not kidding
with 3 kids the S8 gives me unprecedented sports car handling in a large
sedan that seats 5 easily!  To be clear, I was selfishly considering a
Porsche something or other but after driving many of them I felt that I
sacrificed nothing to be able to throw the entire family in a car that will
beat the pants off many of the 2 seater examples offered!

I will also share that during the once in a century snowstorm that hit the
Seattle metro area, I was able to navigate her home when virtually everyone
abandoned their cars either already in a ditch or against the rail guard, or
left for dead because they couldn't move any further up the steep winding
roads to the plateau on the eastside (over 200 cars were abandoned in a 1
mile stretch)...even though the S8 was extremely handicapped due to her
"extreme" summer tires, she climbed the steep hills to the amazement of the
masses that were hiking up the hills after finding their cars couldn't make
it home.  The traction control coupled with the Quattro was simply mind
boggling.

The S8 has all the modern marvels, including navigation, and the recarro
seats with the alcantera suede inserts hold your body so tightly in
position...I never would have guessed what a difference that can make.

With all the praises sung for the S8 during that storm, I admit, I did drive
the V8 to work and back for the next week as the masses still couldn't move
around, due to the snow and ice, for two simple reasons...I have snow tires
for the V8 that make her simply invincible in the snow and ice (mounting the
snows on the S8 isn't an option as the 16 inch wheels simply will not fit
over the huge front rotors on the S8), and an impact from one of the other
less capable drivers to the V8 would simply hurt my feelings less than if
they hit my S8!

Much like the warning Kent left regarding the driving of the newer S4...If
you find yourselves with the opportunity to drive an S8 - don't do it unless
you are prepared to feel compelled to buy it!  :)

One side note...the gentleman I purchased my S8 from replaced it with an '07
S8...MAN oh MAN I can't wait to buy that car from him once she ages to the
point she fits my budget!  :)  LOL!!!!

Justin

01 S8q
90 V8q

-----Original Message-----
From: v8-bounces at audifans.com [mailto:v8-bounces at audifans.com] On Behalf Of
Kent McLean
Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2007 4:31 AM
To: quattro; s-car-list; v8-list
Subject: [V8] For Sale, 1 Soul

I drove an '05 S4 Avant yesterday.  I want.

My boss and I had to drive from Manchester NH to Moosehead Lake in Maine
yesterday.  I drove so he could use his cell phone and laptop. We took
his S4 - a black-on-black Avant. Call it a 12 hour test drive. :) Here's
my opinion of the car.

Since it was 9dF when we left, I found the seat heaters really work. The
ones in my '94 100S make my buns warm. The ones in his S4 make them hot.

The 4.2L 340 HP V8 rocks. Power. Lots of it. Any time. Any gear. You put
your foot down and there is a shove in the back. No waiting for a turbo
to spool up.  Without doubt, it's the most impressive feature of the
car.  On the numbered back roads between I-95 and Moosehead Lake, we'd
come up on traffic doing 60. Even in 6th gear, I'd just press the
accelerator, pull out and around. The pass was quick, efficient, easy.
By the time we pulled back in, we'd be doing 80+. We passed a lot of
cars yesterday.

I got to test the quattro, too.  The last 10 miles of the trip were on
a dirt road covered in snow and ice. We were following a new Chevy
Tahoe. He had ground clearance and all-weather tires. We had no ground
clearance and Z-rate high-performance summer tires. On one sharp turn,
I could feel the car lose grip and start to plow to the outside. The 
boss, unconcerned, said, "Give it some gas."  Which I did, and which
pulled us out of the corner.  The next time we hit a slippery patch, I
gave it gas, and dang, if it doesn't work. The third time, coming around
the air strip (privately owned), it plowed in the inches of snow. I gave
it some gas. Too much, apparently, as the car came around too far, and
I had to correct. Wheeee! I'll have to save my pennies so I can take a
Winter Driving School.

The Navigation system works. The boss fiddled with the controls in the
center panel. I got to watch the display between the speedometer and
tach -- it tells you miles to the next turn, miles to you destination,
direction, and a mini-map of the road showing side streets, etc. When
you approach a turn, a voice comes out of the audio system to let you
know. "Turn right in 200 feet." There is also a little red bar that
indicates how close you are to the turn. It shrinks as you approach the
turn, and disappears at the turn. It is spot on.  If there are two roads
next to each other at your turn (the two we saw were about 20' apart),
it is accurate enough for the bar to disappear at the correct turn.
However, it didn't have the 10 miles of private road in its database.
I can live with that.

The HVAC system did its job, too. His temperature set to 68dF, mine
to 70dF. I never felt the need to adjust it. It brought the car up
to temperature quickly and kept us comfortable. I just wonder how it
will hold up. :)

After getting up at 3:30AM, driving 12 hours in the car, and another
4 hours on the job, we got back to his house at 8:30pm. I was tired,
but not from driving.

I would love to own that car.  I would hate to pay a mechanic to fix it.
I would hate to be the DIY home mechanic facing a repair task.  But what
joy on the road.

-- 
Kent McLean
'94 100 S Avant, "Moody"
'89 200 TQ, "Bad Puppy" up in smoke
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