The quattro experience

[Tom Nas <tnas@euronet.nl>]

Many niggling problems with my recently-acquired '87 90 quattro prevented
me from really enjoying it, and I was even questioning my decision to buy
it over a FWD '93 80 for sale at nearly the same money. Besides, a daily
one-traffic-light-to-another commute is hardly a way to enjoy a car.

Anyway, driving to the model car swapmeet yesterday reminded me why I
bought this car. The road in question is a small winding rural road, used
to have an 80 km/h speed limit, but because of the large amount of cycling
school children it was changed to 60 km/h with several 'chicanes' that
allow only one car at a time to pass, to slow down traffic. There are trees
on both sides or the road, buit thanks to the flat countryside you can see
ahead for miles.

Yesterday being Saturday smack bang in the middle of school summer
vacations, the road was deserted. We were enjoying our first entirely sunny
day here since way too long, so I opened the sunroof, cranked up the stereo
with an Alanis Morissette CD and drove like mad... I can tell you, through
the chicanes at 120 km/h it feels like you're totally in control and it's
utterly predictable. The superb noise of the I-5 on song can be heard in
between tracks on the CD, and it sounds glorious... got rid of a persistent
headache, too.

When your car's misbehaving, and your repair bills are mounting, just
remember your driving experiences. I've driven lots of different cars in
the past, some very exciting and powerful, but this must be the best
overall combo of driving experience, solid feeling, safety, good looks and
image.

FWD again? Sure, but it'll have to be very, very good indeed...

Tom