"Andrew T. Maness" (theroadlessdriven)
09/14/2014 at 20:15 • Filed to: Happenings, Cruise, Drive, Audi, S4, R8, RS5, RS7, Quattro, Wagons, Oppositelock, Meets, Super Car Sunday
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"Andrew T. Maness" (theroadlessdriven)
09/14/2014 at 20:15 • Filed to: Happenings, Cruise, Drive, Audi, S4, R8, RS5, RS7, Quattro, Wagons, Oppositelock, Meets, Super Car Sunday | 1
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*repost for the evening crowd.
One of the many reasons I enjoy owning a performance vehicle is the community that comes with it. I'm sure there's a Camry club or two out there and I'm sure they have fascinating conversations about whose trousers are closest to the color of their car or what cereal has the best fiber/sugar ratio.
While I wholeheartedly believe no community should ever sit in judgement of another, I think being part of the Audi Club of Los Angeles may be slightly more exciting than the Camry Club of Columbus*.
Since I got my S4 back in March I've learned a lot about Audis, German car ownership and myself. It's been so much fun to talk with folks who have many years of experience working on and maintaining these vehicles, to be able to get their knowledge first hand has been invaluable.
These O.G. Audi gurus have saved me money on countless occasions, whether it be by letting me know where to get something cheaper, offering to help with the work or that I don't really need to replace certain things at all. Strangers, that have no reason to look out for you become friends simply because you own vehicles from the same manufacturer, that's what it's all about right there.
Now I've only gone to a couple of these ACLA meets and last weekend was my first cruise with the club. There were 43 cars in attendance, everything from a tuned R8 V10 Spyder to a bone stock A4 with a family of three inside. Overall the group was responsible, friendly and truly passionate about cars.
As with any gathering, a few bad apples are bound to attend and you'll see some of that jackassery in the video above. I didn't put it in there to put these folks on blast, just in there because there happens to be superb exhaust noise during certain moments that had to be included.
Today ACLA is up on Angeles Crest Highway, unfortunately I couldn't go because of stupid life obligations but there's another big cruise organized for the first weekend of October. By then I'll have two more GoPros and plenty of reserve batteries, which means lots more camera angles and no missing the best part of the cruise because the camera is dead.
I'll share these cruise videos every Sunday the week after they happen and hopefully some other members will soon be able to contribute footage as well. If you live in the greater Los Angeles area and drive an Audi, consider joining us one of these cruises or for a meet. Even if you're not an enthusiast, it can't hurt to learn more about your vehicle, knowledge is power and you want as much power as you can get, especially when you own a German car.
Cheers.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AudiClu…
*I made this club up, if you live in Columbus and own a Camry and really love it, consider some life changes.
EL_ULY
> Andrew T. Maness
09/14/2014 at 13:27 |
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I hung out with a group of Audi dudes in Houston..... basically all talking about what shop they took THEIR cars and what mod they paid to have installed lol. Hopefully you peeps are more hands on with your vehicles.
I've owned 7 German cars and busted knuckles on all of them. I have no special pride towards them. I guess I'm an odd ball here :]
boilerdam2
> Andrew T. Maness
09/14/2014 at 13:41 |
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I hope to be there on the next cruise. I don't have an FB account and can't see the events calendar.
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Andrew T. Maness
> EL_ULY
09/14/2014 at 14:11 |
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Hah, oh let me tell ya, there's a TON of that kind of talk. Very weird coming from the Subaru community where almost everyone does all their own work. I do what I can on my S4 and have tackled a couple small projects so far. Tough part for me is not having a garage in which to work on it even if i knew how to do some of the bigger projects.
I just accept the fact that because of where I live, there will always be a number of well funded folks who have much nicer cars than I do that don't know the first thing about them.
I'm one of 5 people who showed up last week in an older Audi, those other folks were who I spent most of the time talking to.
It was really fun keeping up with the R8 and newer S4's given that I'm in a nearly 8 year old wagon.
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EL_ULY
> Andrew T. Maness
09/14/2014 at 14:40 |
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From what I was told here, the R8 dudes don't really hang with the Audi crown but perfer sucking up to the Lambo crowd. And yeah, everyone had waaay newer cars and there I go with my super slow and clumsy (but clean) C5 Avant Quattro. They had some mods and when I asked technical queations (even the small things) I got the same answer, "oh I'm not sure, I took it to my guy and he did it" I wish we would of taken a cool drive like you guys did but no. Just caravaned to C&C. About 6 of us. We saw an R8 along the way but he didn't want nothing to do with us.
jkm7680
> Andrew T. Maness
09/14/2014 at 20:21 |
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I've thought about getting together with some DC Audizine members, but then I remember that I've got a more or less stock 1997 A4.
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Andrew T. Maness
> jkm7680
09/14/2014 at 20:27 |
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Haha, you should absolutely do that. I'd love to know what the DC Audi scene is like.
Which lump do you have in the A4? I have fond memories of my buddy's black 2.8...until it blew up of course.
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jkm7680
> Andrew T. Maness
09/14/2014 at 20:29 |
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Haha, I've got a 12v 2.8 5mt with Quattro. It's slightly more built up (Physically) on the outside than it is in the picture.
Coming from a '08 2.0T with Quattro and the S-Line package, it's really not that much of a downgrade.
Like the only thing that my B7 had that this car doesn't have is Sat-Nav.
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Andrew T. Maness
> jkm7680
09/14/2014 at 22:46 |
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Always liked these, the classic Audi oval logo on the side is a nice touch that always stood out in my eyes.
What made you go to an older car? I'm thinking about what I'm going to get when I finish building out my S4 and sell it.
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jkm7680
> Andrew T. Maness
09/15/2014 at 00:18 |
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Yeah, I always thought the little Audi oval was a nice touch. It gives it a more classic feel.
When I first bought the B7, I had lots of plans and ambitions to modify it. As it was, I was very slightly struggling to afford the car and constantly wanting to modify and build the car up all while dealing with maintainance and the overall costs that were associated with it wasn't easy on my mod side. That, as it turned out was too much to handle. I badly wanted to mod the car, but it really wasn't making sense in the long run. After that ordeal, I chose a car that I could mod, and afford in a much cheaper space than the B7. Plus it meant more extra cash for a new motorcycle or project car.
So essentially, I was taking back a bad idea and turning it into something that I had always wanted to do, but just couldn't afford to follow through with the B7.
So, here I am. With the B5 and tons of potential.