Originally Posted by 1SICKLEX

Told ya'll the Q7 was a joke. Late and far from class leading. Why even bother?

Originally Posted by 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.

Originally Posted by Kermee

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.

Originally Posted by foofighter

rominl:

Here's some discussion about the 145mph trek

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

Originally Posted by 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.

Originally Posted by rominl

ah gotcha, so it was coz' we had the breakfast huh? that's good to know that audi stepped up big time for lunch, seems like you guys had a lot of fun food there, very nice i wish i could have forced myself to stay here for another 2 hours so i could see the lunch man

and s8? where's the s8? on their outdoor display that's a black a8l right? i didn't see any s8 around? hope i didn't miss anything

about the track driving, for sure the quattro on the a8 and a6 didn't do enough of a good job to impress me

Originally Posted by XeroK00L

Haha early birds don't always catch the best worm.

The S8 is right inside the tent, with the R8 and the two Ducati bikes. Were they not there for early birds either?

I didn't bother to take many pics either, but here's my video clip of the RS4 joy ride.
http://videos.streetfire.net/video/0...A6BD63C0FA.htm
Full-quality video (23mb, audio sounds MUCH BETTER than the much degraded streetfire.com clip):
http://rapidshare.de/files/20646234/...w__ca.avi.html

P.S. Dunno why but they look a bit slower in the video than they actually were. It had to be felt in person I guess.

Originally Posted by rominl

haha i was just about to say why they look slower than in person. in person those cars were flying on that short track like crazy

and umm.... s8 inside the tent huh? didn't really recall seeing any cars inside the tent, but i could be wrong though

Originally Posted by Michael

Of course the car is what I expected, a rocket with 4 doors! I didn't actually get to get too crazy, but did rip through a couple cones on a VERY small parking lot-converted to auto-x. I left her in 2nd gear the whole time, acceleration was of course impressive, but I was more excited by the handling, this car corners like a fly, for 3850lbs! I would have loved to take her out on the open road, I don't think I ever got much over 50mph.

Here are a few quick pics. BTW, this was at the Audi driving event.. I called ahead and told them I was interested in the car, in order to get behind the wheel, because from what I understand, they don't let you drive, just ride, after a mishap with 2 RS4s at the event in NY. Also, while I left this car in amazement, I was hardly let down, getting back into my IS350 for the 3 hour drive home. Sure the RS4 has tons more power, but I just love the blend of luxury and performance that comes with the 350! Anyway, enjoy the pics, I've got some vid clips as soon as I can find a decent free hosting site, any suggestions?



HERE IS SOME OF A FEW MORE UPCOMING VID LINKS, I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR THE QUALITY (POINT AND SHOOT CAM) AS WELL AS HOW UNSTEADY THIS FIRST CLIP IS FROM INSIDE THE CAR. OBVIOUSLY THE CAM DOESN'T HAVE VIDEO STABILIZATION.

Click here to watch RS4-1
Click here to watch RS4-2