I added a new category to the list of topics because I'm going back to a subject that I was obsessed with as a kid and in high school. Last year sometime, my sister came around with a Cadillac CTS she had just gotten and I had the chance to take it for a test drive. Wow. I had shunned Caddies for years because of the constant and consistent boat look. It was one thing to cruise in an old Brougham or Eldorado (70's, preferably) and another in the shapeless, ugly boats from the late 80's and 90's. I took it for a hard ride and enjoyed it thoroughly. There's a relatively short track of road near our office where Madison St. turns into West Bound Lane (in Darien) that is a good drag strip - no one on it and if you know it well enough, you know where to slow down in case anyone was out on a bike ride.
That whole experience started a series of test drives that lead up to the car that now occupies another space in our garage. I thought I would eventually end up with a BMW 330xi. Something happened in the past year to the 330 that makes it feel slow, though. The car handles like a dream - no question about that. Something that I was particularly interested in was power and four wheel drive. I am partial to German cars (for numerous reasons), so while I started there, that wasn't all I had looked at. What really made me realize the 330 was missing something was a test drive of the BMW 540i. The 540 has a 5.4L V8 with somewhere in the neighborhood of the low 300's in horsepower. It was much more responsive than the 330 and felt more comfortable. The 540 was missing one important item, however, four wheel drive. For some reason, BMW doesn't see a market for a 540x or newer 550x. I can understand to the extent that four wheel drive systems require more torque and power to move the car, but in any type of rain or snow condition, four wheel drive can be amazingly helpful. When test driving the S4, I was amazed at how well it took the corners. Of course, there weren't many 4x4 sedans that I'd driven, so I can't say that I've had many to compare.
Since we bought Steph's A3, I've been smitten with the Audi grill and general looks. That was the same as I felt about BMW before their latest changes (i.e. the '97-2002/3 cars). Looks are always personal, so I don't expect someone else to feel the same way I do about cars. The only car that has always seemed to have the right mix of modern looks and power are Porsche's cars (and now SUV). My dream 911 Carerra 4S is years away, though ;)
A few weeks ago, I was at Napleton in Loves Park having the 15k mile service performed on Steph's car and wanted to take the waiting time I had ahead of me to test drive a few cars. I mostly wanted to see what would come of the A6. It so happened that the A6 was the car they loaned to me while I was waiting for things to finish at the garage. I got in the car and immediately felt out of place. The size was too similar to my Tahoe and the pickup of the V6 wasn't what I was hoping for. In general, I was disappointed. (I consider it a great car, but not along the lines of what I had been searching for.) So, I asked to test drive an A4 and S4. I figured both (since they are the same, except engine), would feel too small, but I had time to kill.
The A4 was nice. It was nice the same way that the 330 was nice. 'nuf said.
Then we stepped into a used S4. I didn't even have to drive out of the lot and I already knew I'd found it. Torque, power, space - all in a relatively inconspicuous family sedan shell. Perfecto.
The next part of the story is simply one of "what should I?", "what can I?" and most importantly, "is Steph going to go along with it..."
The rest is history. To the left is a sad picture of a new 2006 S4 25th Anniversary Edition - the one that will sit next to Steph's A3. I'm looking forward to a few things: avoiding tickets like the plague (something I haven't done since I was 20 and stopped speeding), thinking that I just might be able to keep up with that 911 that passes me in Chicago like I'm standing still, and a bit of legal racing at a track nearby called Blackhawk. I have done yet another one of those things that I never thought I'd do. I live back where I grew up and I now own more than one Audi (oh yeah, I forgot to mention - I hated Audis up until the late 90's early naughts - really).
