Never enough horsepower!

Today I splurged for the APR upgrade to the control chip.  It's a minimal increase in horsepower and torque, as shown by the graph above, but what the heck, right?  You never have enough (or too much) horsepower.  The work was done by PURE Motorsport.

While I was there, I also ordered some wheel spacers and a slightly more aggressive exhaust system.  There's probably not a lot more I can do to this S5 while I'm waiting for the Audi RS5 to come to the USA sometime later this year...

Pinstripe Logo

I never had a car with pinstriping before, so I figured what the heck, go for it.  After doing some Googling, I found Manuel Cisneros in El Cajon, who also builds some superfine hot rods.  I gave him a photo of the pinstriping  that was on my biplane, and asked if he could do something like it, with the wings, but make it a lot more low-profile, and put it on the driver's door just below the window.  

I look at almost everything I do as a prototype, because with "continuous improvement" as the over-riding philosophy, you have to start somewhere.  I figure this is just a start on a succession of improvements in the development of a logo I can use on business cards, websites, etc.  It also goes along nicely with my new interest in "angel" investing.  (Angel... wings... get it?)

This is the photo I gave Manny Cisneros to work from:

It shows the pinstriping on my biplane as it was in 1997, in Roskilde, Denmark.  The kid in the cockpit was hanging around watching airplanes, and it was kind of obvious he wanted to check out my biplane, so I popped him in the cockpit and took his photo.  

The pinstriping on the biplane was done in 1996 by the artist who did pinstriping for Dave Perewitz who builds custom Harleys on the east coast.  I stopped there on a flight around the USA and my wingman Art Annecharico introduced us and I got the pinstriping job done late at night, for free!  Wow!  The job for the Audi wasn't free.   :(

The wings are supposed to be similar to the wings on the Waco factory logo:

Grille, before and after

I saw a stock version of my car and couldn't resist the opportunity to pull up next to it for a "before and after" photo:

To me, it's just no contest!  What say you?

Photo Update: new grille and pedals

The pedals were custom made by:

Ultimate Pedals

990 Stinson Way #205

West Palm Beach, FL 33411

561-798-6588

http://www.ultimatepedals.com/

S5 photo from Germany

Just received this photo from a friend in Germany.  

I sure like how it shows front and rear wheels spitting out rocks!

Mini Road Trip

Last week I drove over the mountains and down into the desert for an over-nighter to watch the meteor showers.  The sky where I live, by the oceanfront, is usually overcast at night, so if you want to have clear skies for viewing the Geminid meteor showers, you want to head to the desert.

Well, it was a good excuse to take my new car on a fun road trip.  Although it was less than 90 minutes, each way, it has some fun long stretches of relatively open country roads, as well as plenty of curves, and up and down grades of serious proportions.

It was a great drive.  Epic.

The essence of driving, for me, is the same as the essence of flying.  It's all about the ability to instantaneously create, and modulate, full body G-forces, while moving at high speed, and while simultaneously solving a real-time 3-D navigation puzzle under constantly changing conditions.

The best part is the G-forces.  The all-over body feeling of heaviness, the pressure of being thrown back into your seat, to one side or the other.  This, and the constant steering, flexes the arms and shoulders, and that just plain feels good.

Audi notes:  I want more horsepower (of course).  Best: the grip of all four wheels being powered, and working together.  The software that applies the power is very strong.  "Dynamic Mode" is the best for these roads.  And it's more fun too.  18mpg.

Pedals!

It's kinda dark down by my feet, so I think I need some shiny pedals.  Check out this source for custom made sport pedals: http://www.ultimatepedals.com/

PURE excellence!

It was a real pleasure to work with PURE Motor Sport in San Diego to get the new grille installed.  For several reasons:


1.  the price was good, not just for the grille, but install as well.
2.  the grille arrived much faster than anticipated.
3.  the install was quick and easy.
4.  follow up work on a loose wire was done fast, and no charge.


What impressed me most of all was the install.  I was quoted 85 bucks for the job, but when Michael (the owner) started in on the work, I noticed that there is a wide bright aluminum bar directly behind the grille which would be visible and distracting from the overall finished look.  I asked if he could spray paint some black on it, and maybe also on the aluminum radiator.  He looked around and found some paint, masked off the entire area, and lay on several coats to do the job right.


When it came time to pay the bill, all he wanted was the original 85 bucks, and never mentioned a word about the extra labor and paint.  Now that's a classy move!


Thanks, Michael, I'll be back for more work...

Grille Decision

Today I ordered the replacement grille, from PURE Motor Sport in San Diego. And while I was there I splurged on a set of shiny "sport pedals". The grille has to be shipped in from Europe, and it just might make it here in time to brighten up my Christmas driving.

Sounds!

This is about the best sound I've heard for the S5.  Check out the video and see/hear if you agree: