the Audi Quattro Challenge
at New Hampshire International Speedway (just say "enhiss" :-)
This was an invitation-only event hosted by Audi of America. I have no idea why they sent me an invitation, but believe me if they make that mistake again, I'm accepting again!
The day begain with a long wait for technical inspection. You
can see why it was long for me, anyway-- I was waaay in back there. 
But
eventually they did get around to my A4. I was a little concerned
about the tread depth of my tires-- they're the original Dunlops and have
40000 miles on them. The fellow in the picture did check that, as
well as engine fluids, missile hazards inside the cabin, and tire pressures
(34#). 
Here, he's torqueing my wheels to 85 lb-ft.
There were some 130 cars in attendance, and we were divided into three
groups. My group, the "red," turned out to be the one to be in, because
we lucked into having the best progression from stage to stage through
the day. The first stage for the red group was the braking and accident
avoidance course. There were three steps to this. One began
by accelerating downhill to some comfortable speed, say 30 mph, and as
one approached the bottom a very brave young lady waved a yellow flag to
her left or right. 
The drill was simply to lift off the gas, leave the brakes alone, and jog
into the next lane as quickly as possible, to avoid the kid chasing that
ball. Step two is beyond and out of sight: accelerate to high speed,
slam on the binders and turn. It was simply to get us familiar with
what it felt like when the ABS activated, and to prove that you really
can slam the brakes while turning. Part three was a high-speed run
and another ABS test, this time to demonstrate the ease of stopping in
a straight line. Nearby, Audi had left an A8 and a TT roadster nearby
for people to take a spin in. 
This Allroad was also present briefly, although we could only look.
It's here for the model introduction, and it's so new, many of the instruments
were labelled in German.
Stage two, after lunch, was much more interesting. An autocross
course had been laid out, and was continuously wet down with a lot of leaking
hoses. Every car had four runs through this, after some basic instruction
in weight control, understeer and oversteer. 
Here you can see the lineup, a launch, and a few cars making their
runs. That yellow S4 was a really nice car!
Stage three was another, somewhat simpler autocross setup, this time
on dry pavement... and timed! 
Once again, everyone had four runs. I laid a bet with a fellow that
he couldn't beat my A4's time with his TT. You know, "Loser buys." 
My best time was 24:33, which turned out to be just enough for him
to have to check the state of his wallet!
The finale was a ride with one of the instructors. 
I drew an A4, which was somewhat disappointing as others were drawing TT's
or the A8 mentioned earlier. How stupid I was! Nicholas whipped
that A4 through manoeuvers I wouldn't have dreamed of trying! Did
anyone ever tell you Audi's can't be made to oversteer? Let me tell
you, Nicholas had that car sideways through every turn. In the middle
of all this I unclenched my teeth enough to ask him if they were street
tires on the car. His answer: "They were!" I learned
from him that, "A squalling tire is a happy tire!"
The day closed with a free spread of traditional Bavarian food at the
Currier art gallery in Manchester, NH... complete with oom-pah band, giveaways
and... free beer. Who ever said Audi doesn't know their customers?
Oh, but it also meant that the fellow with the slow TT kept his money.
