So this past Saturday the North East Quattro Club put on it’s annual winter driving school on Warner Lake out in East Berne NY, which is about 20 miles west of Troy NY. A great time was had by all. Here are some pics of the days activities.
So, you ask yourself, “What car should I drive about 4 hours, one way, to beat the shit out of, and then drive it home another 4 hours”? “The reliable, comfy A4 with modern ammenities?” “Or should I take the car that is held together with zip ties, duct tape, and some creative engineering?”
Here is your answer
Here it is loaded up
Just incase this car somehow managed to break down, which I can’t think why it would, I brought some tools along with me. 260 piece Craftsman tool kit, cordless drill, drill bits, zip ties in random sizes, 2 rolls of duct tape, a floor jack, and a lite so I could work on it at night if it broke down in the dark.
Like I said, this car is ghetto rigged
This is how I solved the problem of my hood not staying down due to the plate which holds the pin completly rusting out and seperating from the hood. Nothing a 3/8"s bolt, nut, some washers, and a wing nut can’t fix
And if that wasn’t adventerous enough, another 4000 Quattro that makes mine look like a Pebble Beach Conquers D’ Elegance winner made the trip as well
Here is a shot of the group ready to leave Williamsville NY
So, we had a B7 A4, a Toyota 4Runner, a Toyota Rav4, a Passat, and 2 4000 Quattro’s making the trip on Friday. We would be joined by Spam16V and his buddy Frank who were leaving after us due to work constraints.
The trip there was actually uneventful, this was the longest and furthest I have attempted to drive my 4000Q in the 5 years that I have owned it. Just last week I stepped up in the world and got a working speedo, tach, and interior cluster lights-first time since I bought it those items have worked.
So, we wake up bright and early on Saturday morning and have to change tires in the hotel parking lot.
So what would you want to do at 6am when it is about 10 degrees out? Change tires of course!
I threw on a set of Green Diamond snows I got when I bought another car.
But the other 4000Q nut decided to take to a higher level
Studded Hakka 5’s. The tires were worth double the car they we being put on-no lie
Here we are actually pulling on to the frozen lake for the morning meeting
When we pulled on to the lake, we heard this beast. Actually, we heard it when we were a good distance down the road, it sounded fucking sweet, like an LS1 fucking a super model sweet.
This thing was absolutely FLYING around the course.
And then I looked down, and this was what I saw
The crack, the camera didn’t really pick it up too well, but it wasn’t inspiring too much confidence in me. Nor was this
This one was actually a gap in the ice about an inch wide that went down as far as I could see.
The day featured a 30 minute class session, 2 skid pads, a slalom course, and the track that you went on after lunch.
Here is a shot looking down the slalom
The days events were so much fun even the car from Ronin showed up
A non haggered 4000Quattro
And here I am waiting for another go on the slalom course behind slightly more valuable metal
Here is a clearer shot of the slalom course, pretty simple but it was fun
Here are a Ur-S6 and an Allroad on the skid pad
After lunch came the road course. As most of the cars didn’t have studded snows, you had to try and stay on line where the vehicles with studs managed to chop up the ice. The difference between the smooth ice and the chopped ice from the studs was like comparing sand paper to glass.
Here I am waiting to go out on the track
Still waiting
Amd when I do get out on the ice, who do I ALWAYS get stuck going out right after? This fucking faggot in his M3. This fucker sucked to the 100th power, if there was a clinic on how to suck at something HORRIBLY, and go off EVERY fucking time in the same FUCKING corner, this fuck would have been the ideal teacher. Fuck, he was HORRIBLE-a complete nusance out there
I wanted to get more pics of the track but it was a bit hard.
Now, I don’t know if you can see, but the area where the cars are waiting for the flaggers to let them out is right on the outside of a pretty nice right hander. And me being the idiot that I am, I decide I am going to slide through this turn every time:D at a pretty good speed. Well, my instructor tells me that I’m making the head guy “Very nervous” as I am sliding past all the cars there. He said that I have held my line everytime so just take it at that.
Around 1ish Dan, the guy with the red 4000Q with the studded Hakka 5’s asks me if I want to try out his car. I said no as I was just getting the hang of the course in my non studded car and didn’t want to have to re-learn my car after his. That was the best decision I made as I would have been a bit bummed for the rest of the day if I took his car out then.
So I go for a ride with him and after about 6 laps I ask if I can try it out.
All I have to say is that for the next event, I am buying studded snows.
I do not claim to be the best driver in the world, I am not bragging or embelishing on the truth here, but both him and I were driving that car MUCH faster and more in control then ANY of the instructors there. I was doing things with that car that I could not believe were possible. I lapped that fuck in his M3 twice in about 5 laps, I was walking on S4’s, and this one guy in his A4 was a total pouty face when I blew by him.
A bit more on the A4 pouty guy. We were told that due to traffic, we could start giving the pass signals with our turn signals, if we wanted them to pass on the right-give the right signal, on the left-the left signal. So I am behind the A4 and he would not give me the signal. This is a bit of a problem in a low power car like a 4000Q as momentum is everything. So on the back straight I just take him on the inside without the signal and the faggot drag races me to the turn by where all the cars are parked and where the flagger is. So I go in deep, out brake him, slide past everyone, and walk his ass in the next sequence and did not see him again. When he parked his car he parked it next to us and had a look on his face of like he wanted to kill me for passing him like I did, it was the highlight of my day.
Also, getting back to the not thinking I’m the greatest driver in the world, etc etc. There was an instructor there who is pretty high up in the NEQ club as an instructor, he has done almost every track in north America, runs in the green group, etc etc.
So he is in front of us heading out of a corner. I was thinking about passing him but he didn’t give me the signal. Fuck it, i’m going for it. I pass him on the back straight and never looked back. We get back to park the cars and he says “You passed me, GOOD FOR YOU, noone passed me but you.” :carnut
I know it sounds cheesy but I have been driving one of these cars for so long like a retard in the snow that I just felt like I was one with the car. The fact that both of us are so familiar with these cars and how to drive them sideways for as long as you could care to is what led to me being able to push this car way harder then anyone else out there.
How a car should look after a driving school
I left my mark
Sunset pic
Made it home-the car didn’t miss a beat-and it is still loaded with all my tools and the snow tires.
