Driver 74

I have had my 2012 P+ manual S4 for about six or seven weeks now. Since my family has been involved in moving down to Boston from Maine, the car has done mostly runs between those two locations. Those trips have been done in the dark, with me tired, and in heavy traffic half of the time.

This holiday weekend I drove the car about 800 or 900 miles, in a mix a interstate, two-lane highway, and backroads. In the car were my wife and 5 and 6 year olds. Of course we don't eat in daddy's car (a hard rule learned from my German father), but after that adjustment, everyone really enjoyed the ride.

A week or two after purchase, the S4 had Dunlop Wintersports put on (by me) on new Rial Como wheels (all from Tirerack--abt. $1800).

A few observations:
1) I basically leave the car in Dynamic all the time. I like the steering weight and the throttle response.

2) The car excels in every environment. On a section of backroad near my in-laws, I was left breathless by the car's capabilities and feedback (I was alone). Really a surgical instrument.

3) Interstate 88 in central NY was engineered for triple digit speeds. This is a concrete road with super-elevated curves and long sight lines (the kind of road built in the 60s and too expensive for today's budgets--they are patching concrete with asphalt now). On one section heading northeast you can see for several miles--all open median and guardrail. I was really tempted to open it up--all passengers were asleep--but had a sense to watch it. And there it was: a police car tunneled into trees up on the right-hand embankment, with the tiniest gap in the rail for him to get out to chase. This on the safest, most open and tempting chunk of this interstate--clearing a revenue and not a safety move. 100+ for any modern car on this section of road would pose no elevated risk, just wallet risk.

So, a long journey made fun by a great car, yet a car that is sometime frustrating to enjoy given our highway policing. And pretty good mileage over that haul, with a wife very impressed on the leg that she drove home. There is a lot of content in the admission price of the B8 S4. This is one I hope to "road" for many years to come.