rominl

iTrader: (4)

yeah i am definitely not holding my breath now anymore.... just going to go there on sunday and see

so anyone has links or so to the idiot who ruined everything?

foofighter

i'll see if i can find it but i bet it's on audiworld

rominl

iTrader: (4)

i will go look it up tonight too

that idiot should be burned

foofighter

knowing some of those guys over there...he would be proud of it *shrugs*

rominl

iTrader: (4)

if you missed this event -- don't even worry about it

that's pretty much my summary on the whole event today, from the test drive to the cars, and from the programs to the food. there are still some highs, but there are so many lows that i am just beyond disappointed at this point.

before the event we already knew that we wouldn't be able to drive the rs4 coz' of some jerk doing 145mph on the freeway (i assume that's true btw, haven't found the thread). but that's ok, we could still enjoy other stuff. arriving at 9am in the morning did help to avoid some traffic. upon arrival i already saw a lot of q7 lining up on the side. after the signup process we were directed to the q7 drive directly, which was fine by us.

the q7, unforunately, is a horrible car imho..... the ride is very stiff, but handling is no where like the x5. taking fast turns and i was afraid of flipping the car over already. and for all i care that's one VERY loud suv, a lot louder than the x5 for that matter, let alone the amazing gx470 and lx470 i have driven. i was doing 65mph on the freeway at 2200 rpm and i could hear the engine roar. gosh, if this is a sport car like the s4 maybe i would appreciate that, but if today i am putting my family and my 2 yr old in the car, i am going to scream....

the backup camera with screen guidance was very nice though, i hope lexus will have something similar. and the blind spot light on the side mirrors are very nice touches as well, you definitely NEED them coz' your driver side is going to block everything behind.....

so after the test drive, we proceeded to the rs4 test track, where a drive took us around the parking lot in some insane laps. they are good drivers, and they ONLY stayed in first gear. the car is hella loud and fast, and also the brakes are incredible. very nice stuff

after that, we had to take a shuttle to an OFFSIDE location where other models (a3, a4, a6, and a8, together with competitors' suvs, maybe 5 or 6 of them) were available for test drive (another bummer...)... upon arrival, we were given instructions which both me and my wife throught were extremely insulting... we were ONLY allowed to drive TWO laps in any cars we want. YES, FREAKING TWO. wtf was wrong with them? that's the first time i heard such ridiculous rules...

anyway, given that me and my wife was kinda bumped and lost interest already, we decided to just drive the a6 and the a8

a6 is yet another horrible car from audi.... the power was pretty nice, but the problem is handling, or lack of. after first sharp turn, before i could say anything, my wife already asked "wow, the car is not turning the way you turn the steering wheel?!" yes, that's a huge problem, i had to struggle to turn the steering wheel a lot more for the car to turn the angle i wanted it to, and it was sooo hard to control the car. i thought with quadro the car's supposed to be better? boy, so disappointed. this is no where close to the 545i i have driven.... very very sad....

the a8 was actually better than the a6 in terms of handling, in the sense that i don't have to turn the steering wheel like crazy. however it's no where close to the 745 i have driven as well. the a8 (it's swb already btw) seems to be much longer than the 745 when doing all the turns

after the two drives we decided to leave already. guys there gave us "tips" that i could switch my batch with my wife so i could use another two drives, but i felt that's cheating and didn't want to pity on that (although i saw people doing it).

back to the main building, we decided to get some refreshment. the refreshment was ok, nothing exciting at all, far from what we got at all the previous lexus events, but the drinks were awesome, where you could basically get any kind of drinks you wanted. that's a big props to them

other displays like audio, presentation, etc... were all weird setup. basically if you have more than 3 people they would have to start standing around and squeeze for space.

afterwards, we just went downstairs to sit in different cars. but for god's sake, all the cars i nthe lineup were OUTSIDE IN THE OPEN PARKING LOT?!!!!!!!!!! you gotta be kidding me.... given how warm today was, sitting in those cars (completely shut off) were a torture

a8 - the exterior is ok, i like it except the grille, but (sorry andrew) the interior is horrible at best... it's so old age, outdated, boring, and it doesn't feel comfortable at all. lines weren't smooth, hard sharp lines, stiff leather, my wife and i just couldn't find a way to like the car. and it's so funny that if you get the fridge option, you will have a very weird "bump" in the trunk that basically killed the whole trunk, make it just about the same as my gs400. that's on the a8l....

a6 - it's a bit better than a8 actually imho, and the avant is very nice, i like the extra space in the back. but it's funny coz' i was testing the auto close on the rear door. boy i tried to stick my hand there and test the sensor.... let's just say if it's really my child there, he would be chopped up already before the sensors got activated...

so anyway, we were pretty much as disappointed as we could already, so we decided to leave... we actually thought about filling out the survey and told them how bad the whole event was... but gosh could it be worse.... the survey was all bar coded, so we could only chose agree or disagree and we coudln't write or say anything... maybe they figured they did this one so bad they didn't want to hear it? anyway, we both chose very bad (unsatisfied or very unsatisified) for most answers, and finally we left with the audi history book, which is pretty nice though imho

so anyway, you guys know i have been to several lexus events, and i talked about all the goods and bads about them. i can only tell you how disappointed this audi event is and how it's only making me not like audi more.... as a highlight

1) not able to test drive the rs4, what a complete bummer
2) puting the whole lineup under the hot sun and none of them indoors?
3) q7 being such a bad car to drive
4) having a offsite location to drive other cars?
5) ONLY allowed to drive 2 laps when there were like 9 different cars to drive? that's insulting at best
6) the drink was awesome, we love it
7) food was ok, not even close to the lexus standard
8) i can't even tell them what i think of the event when i want to?

oh boy, every yr i go to lexue event, i go there at 8 and didn't leave until 1 or so. today i went there at 9, and left and 10:30. that says a lot, i am telling you

Kermee

iTrader: (1)

rominl,

Wow. Thanks for the excellent write-up/review. I much appreciate it.

Seattle's turn is this upcoming weekend. I'm still "kind of" looking forward to it. After watching Tiff and Jason battle it out in the RS4 (Tiff) and the M3 (Jason) on Fifth Gear two weeks ago, it seems like nothing has changed and I have a feeling I know exactly how I'll feel when I get to see the RS4 in person.

Cheers,
Kermee

MSMLexIS

Hopefully someone can take some pictures of this event so we can see what it all looks like for those of us where they didnt have an event. Can anyone tell me what kind of food they had. Also audi should allow 21+ to drive who else is going to buy an A3.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

actually, correction, you need to be over 25 to drive. i can probably understand 21, but i have no idea why 25 (it's printed on their event program).... and i didn't even bother to take pics, that's how bad it was i guess?

food? this is what they had:
- yogut
- some bacon that are actually sweet
- some fruit
- different kind of bread, biscuits
- some chips that you taste with cheese

please do go and see if it gets better, i hope it's just one independent story i had here... the rs4 is very nice though, although the "track" at the parking lot was pretty small, but you could totally tell the potential on that car, it's freaking awesome. and it sounds incredible too. i can only imagine what it's like for those who could drive the car. i am just wondering, how do they make sure you know how to drive a stick shift before letting you drive that car?

MSMLexIS

The food sounds okay but from what you described it cant hold a candlr to the cusine at Taste Of Lexus. I cant wait for this years event.

Kermee

iTrader: (1)

I know I know... Me being a bad moderator but I have to ask...

Any info on where/when Taste of Lexus is going to be this year?

Cheers,
Kermee

P.S. Okay. You may now flog me.

Kermee

iTrader: (1)

I'll bring my old Canon S330 with me when I head this weekend.

Cheers,
Kermee

XeroK00L

Nice write-up rominl! But oh come on, did you go there to expect Ritz-Carlton level of food and service? Me and my wife went there at 11am yesterday (Sunday) and both of us enjoyed it very much as a free food event. MUCH BETTER than those served by Taste of Lexus in my opinion (and Leet's). The drinks (including berry-banana smoothie, grapefruit, orange, lemonade, branded canned fruit juices, various brands of pure water and sparkling water) were great as you pointed out, but so are:
1. crab cocktail (loved it. the crab meat was quite fresh)
2. marinated fried shrimp (served by someone holding a big plate of it)
3. sushi (the basic kinds though)
4. smoked salmon (good as always)
5. 2 kinds of sandwiches of beef and chicken (beef is yum)
6. cheese (blue, cowgirl and goat, all are great) with walnut bread and great tasting preserved fruit to go with
7. 2 kinds of salads, nothing too spectacular though
8. noodles, one with chicken and one with um...I forgot (can't really tell the ingredients of either but they're Chinese-style, and actually taste pretty good)
9. desserts, including different kinds of cookies and tarts, black and white chocolate *****, and more.

Staffs were everywhere to help explain the foods and waiters cleaned our just-finished dishes like starved eagles spotting a fat rabbit. Together with all the drinks we had, we were as full as we could be as free food goes.

There was a live jazz band of 3 that brought some great music. And there was a guy who did free comical portraits. A pretty long line there was, but we managed to get ours done in 40 minutes.

As for the B & O listening experience, we happened to get there with an empty center couch so we fully enjoyed it. Not quite as good as the Mark Levinson home system (come on, that one cost like 5 times more) demostrated at TOL but still pretty impressive. Did you try the B & O system in the S8? You didn't mention it so I assume you didn't. Yeah it was stupidly hot in the un-air-conditioned car but the system did perform fantastic for the 5 minutes I could stand sitting in it. Not as high-resolution as the ML but sounds were rich, dynamic and fulfilling, in both front and back seats.

OK, that pretty much sums up the event.






















Wait, you say this was also a driving event? Well, the riding part was actually better as the joy ride in the RS4 was truly, absolutely phenomenal. What a car!! Those drivers were truly pros. The laps were small but they could really drive the car at its limits.

As for the Q7, uh... Let me just say I was very impressed with the blind-spot alert, a very innovative and well-implemented convenience. The nav system was fast calculating and I like the idea of how the passenger can mess with the screen for audio controls and other stuff while the head-up display in front of the driver can continue to display directions. Otherwise... the ride was too floaty even in the dynamic suspension setting and the 4.2L V8 felt like it was being overworked. AND YES IT WAS LOUD!!

The autocross site (separate from the main location you said) was covered with sand so it was a good place to play with all those all-wheel-drive vehicles. BUT DAMN only 2 cars and 3 SUVs were allowed. I didn't realize I could've switched badges with my wife or I would have. I drove the A3 S-line and A4 3.2 and had fun in both (didn't want to waste my 2 chances in the bigger cars). I think quattro did its job very well there, getting out of hard corners nicely.

As for the SUVs the guy said the GX470 was not equipped with KDSS so I didn't bother. First the X5. The steering felt too heavy over the sand so cornering was quite a handful but I did get a decent feedback from it so overall it was tiring but nice. Then the Q7. Again, it felt burdened by its sheer heft and, although the steering was light and easy, wasn't precise at all. The quattro did maintain the grip at all times though. Finally the XC90. It felt the most powerful of the 3. Though the steering felt somewhat disconnected, it was precise enough to allow me to have fun together with the abundant power.

All in all, despite the hot weather and some stupid rules, I still very much enjoyed the free food, I mean driving event, yesterday.

KrazyLexus

I also signed up for the Dallas June 2nd event on Sat at 10am.

MSMLexIS

Sounds like there was good food and also a nice experience im going to search google for some pics if possible. It actually sounds like this event may be better than taste of lexus. But ive only been to one TOL event so not sure how the past Lexus Events were.

foofighter

rominl:

Here's some discussion about the 145mph trek

http://forums.audiworld.com/rs4b7/msgs/901.phtml