Over the curb and down the road

The DoubleM Audi is now in the hands of a totally ecstatic new owner, and I miss it already.
Shown here in pre-delivery wash mode by Bobby Kik of Kik's Mobile Detailing, the only one to wash the car in the almost 8 years I've owned the car.

Flawless condition, with only 27,103 miles, new rubber, and still the smell of new leather. A truly excellent road car.

That now leaves me with just the one car, and that's all I need, being the Minimalist that I am:

I'm really enjoying the open-cockpit driving, a reminder of my adventures in the biplane:

(Check out the reviews on Amazon)

About the DoubleM Audi S5

Driving, for me, is a lot like flying. 

It's an intensely physical experience: creating great sounds and full-body G-forces, while moving at high speed. There is also the mental experience: solving a real-time navigation puzzle under constantly changing conditions, while avoiding contact with other vehicles and objects.

Parking is limited to one car per unit at the condo, so I need a daily driver, and of course it needs to be a road machine, fast, tight, strong. A coupe. Low profile. A good start toward a custom road machine.

This is the story of the MM Audi S5, the extensive improvements made thereupon, and some driving adventures.

Stealth mode

To celebrate the 5th anniversary of my new Audi S5, I figured it should have a facelift. I have long thought that it should have painted over tail lights, and get de-badged to give it a low-profile Mafia gangsta look.  Custom Auto Body in San Diego did the work.  Me like!  :)  You?

Before: 

Fresh Rubber!

Next to more horsepower, fresh rubber is the most satisfying thing you can do to get back that lovin' feeling in your 5 year old ride.  These sweet and silky smooth Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 tires are rated at 189 mph, but I'll probably be going a little slower than that.  All the work was done by Discount Tire in Solana Beach. I've been buying all my tires there for many years! 

hea

New Legacy license plate

The new "Legacy" license plate looks awesome!  Now I need a yellow dot for you know where. Then paint the tail lights, lower valance, and splitter black, and remove logos (de-badge)... That will complete the plan for the rear. Then new tires and and new look for the front end.

I requested a half-space before the COM, but I think they missed that.  Now I have an excuse to re-visit the pretty redhead at Triple A.  :)

Check out DBLM.com

California Legacy License Plates

My new "Legacy" license plate is on order. California is now selling the old-style plates for the first time in 50 years. It will look great on my black Audi. All I need is an orange dot I can stick before the COM, and I've got 3 months to find one. Why does it take 3 months to make a license plate? 70+ years ago, it took only 3 months to go from concept drawing on the back of an envelope to the first flying P-51 Mustang, the greatest fighter plane of WWII. Seems like we haven't progressed much... 

This is the current plate.  It just arrived after a similar 3 month wait. I ordered it before I knew that the way-cool Legacy plates were available.  :(

The little black dot before the COM is a Velcro stick-on...

Out of warranty!

Somehow I thought I had a 5-year warranty, but now they tell me it's 4 years.
Bummer.
Now I have to pay.

The "Service Due" light has been on for a few months,
but I put so few miles on the car that it hasn't been a priority.
Just turned 19,000 miles after 4 and a half years.

Audi Miramar figures it should have a 35,000 mile service,
and they want 380 bucks for the work, parts and labor, tax, etc.

And then I remembered my favorite independent, Pure Motorsports, who did the work on the grille, exhaust, brakes, and chip.

It has been a couple of years since I have had my car in their shop, but the owner, Michael, remembers me.

They quoted 217 bucks. So I go for it.

:)

Begin1

The Ferrari will have to wait a bit longer while I jump into a new startup with both feet. To celebrate, I got a fresh plate for the daily driver.

With the arrival of my new license plate, I am drawn to the opportunity for low cost advertising, I just ordered a black custom license frame bracket with "BeginItNow.com" printed on the lower space between the screws. On the upper space, the single-word question: "Startup?" (SeaSweet Software is too long)

To compensate for the extra clutter, I should de-badge the rear end, removing the Audi rings and the S5,  darken the tail lights, and paint all black that completely superfluous silver air splitter. That would focus all attention on the message, not the medium.

Epic Night Drive!

This is an iPhone photo of my Audi navigation system display. 

It was an EPIC night to be driving on the freeways in SoCal. 

Just after sunset. 
70 degrees, 
clear, 
no wind, 
summer in San Diego,
I got a hot car, 
plenty of gas, 
and no place else I gotta be. 

No self-driving-car owner will ever have as much fun as I had last night.

Way cheaper than a new Audi S5!

It's a lot less expensive to get a new license plate 

than it is to get a new car.  

:)


After 3 years of driving this car,

I have put only 13,000 miles on it!