Newsletter for July 2013
Reeves Import Motorcars and Le Mans, now a Tradition
Special thanks goes out to Reeves Import Motorcars, along with Kim, Jeff, and David for hosting one class event as more than 150 Audi and race fans joined to watched over 6 hours of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Once again, this was a prime example of AudiTampa and the ACFL working in tandem to promoteKundenbegeisterung, Audi’s internal nomenclature for their mission statement, the inspiring of delight and enthusiasm for the customer of the Four Ringed brand. Creating Audi Fans
A number of you had expressed an interest in attending 29th Frank Beddor Nationals in Nashville on October 2-6. If you would be interested in caravanning to the event, drop me a line at[email protected], and we will see what we can organize.
Plans for the third gathering of the Citrus Region are now on the books. If you are in the Orlando, Lakeland, and Daytona area, give Patrick [email protected] a shout to find out additional information regarding this upcoming event.
In Florida, summer 2013 is here, hot, humid and the usual PM showers, but it is not too early to plan for next year and a little respite in the Tyrol or other exotic and interesting locales across the pond along with some quality time behind the wheel of an Audi we most likely would never have an opportunity to drive. Stay tuned as a few possibilities are being explored, which will offer ACNA members their own “Ultimate Driving Experience” and it will not be in someone else’s prop wash.
In the following link, http://www.audi.com/com/brand/en.html, which is the Audi worldwide site in English, click on “Experience” then “Audi driving experience” and check out some of the possibilities.
Finally and back to Le Mans for a moment, though unfortunately being marred by a fatal incident and loss of Allan Simonsen, Tom Kristensen’s fellow countryman. Kristensen was one of the winning Audi Rennfahrer along with Alan McNish and Loic Duval. The race went on and at the request of the family the Aston Martin team did not withdraw. Certainly, that was the most sobering moment in what turned out to be a race that had over 6 hours of being driven under the yellow. One good and unintended result of all that yellow is that fans of the RS6 Avant had a great opportunity to watch this fantastic auto calmly drive through the rain. Check out this RS6 Avant, and then scroll down to almost the bottom of the page and click on the radio button “Film starten” for one of Audi’s latest advertising spots.
Table of Contents
Up the Road
Event Listing
ACNA & Chapter News
Other Items in the News
Classifieds and Audi Tradition
…but then there’s more
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July 6, there will be the usual and always enjoyable early morning eye openers at Reeves Motorsports in Tampa and Suncoast Audi in Sarasota. At Reeves, that strong cup of Joe along with a sugary beignets help clear the view of the great collection of cars that gather shortly after sunrise.
July 13, Breakfasting at the Barrel in Clearwater on Ulmerton, as we plan additional events for the fall
September 7, Our fifth annual tour of the Audi Technical Center in Clearwater. In the past, and as those who have attended can attest, this has always been a very informative experience, often with guest speakers and always an opportunity to see first hand, some of Audi’s behind the scenes operations. Once again, we have plans for a guest speaker and presentation from AoA.
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August is open at this point.Gulf Coast Region
[email protected]
July 6, 2013, Cars and Coffee
Reeves Motorsport, Tampa 7:00AM
July 6, 2013, Cars and Coffee
Audi of Sarasota, Sarasota 8:00AM
July 13, 2013, Breakfast at the Barrel
Clearwater 8:00AM Cracker Barrel Ulmerton-road
September 7, 2013, Audi Technical Center Tour
Clearwater FL 9:00 AM, Audi Technical Center
Palm Beach Region
[email protected]
Citrus Region (Orlando)
[email protected]
September 28, 2013, 12:00 PM, luncheon Golden Lion’s top deck, Flagler Beach
http://www.goldenlioncafe.us/location.asp
Other Car Events in Florida
July 6, 2013, Coffee and Cars Ferrari/Maserati Palm Beach
RSVP here: http://www.ferrarimaseratipalmbeach.com/coffee-and-cars
Driving Events with Performance Driving Group
July 6 – Palm Beach International Raceway
July 27 – Homestead Miami Speedway
Contact David Loppert for details: [email protected]
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Elections for the Board of Directors, Audi Club of Florida
If you are presently, and have been active member of the ACNA for over a year, and wish to serve, we are looking forward to your involvement and expertise. At present, we are in need folks who will work on the monthly newsletter, in addition to helping plan and execute events. Should you be so inclined drop me a line at [email protected]
ACNA S5 Raffle
Raffle sales continue so if you have not purchased your chance to win a 2014 Estoril Blue S5, contact Andreas atandreas.baensch@audi.com, he will give you all the details. Those who have had an opportunity to drive the 333 Horsepower 3.0 TFSI engined S5 will attest to the sheer pleasure and almost daily comments one receives on your good taste for choosing what a great looking car.
Spend $50 to save $3,000 on a $50,000 MSRP Audi
If you have been an ACNA member in good standing for six months, you will be eligible for a 6% discount from MSRP on the purchase of certain Audi models. Yes, a few of the usual suspects have been excluded, the R8, RS5, TTRS, and a few others, but check out the details at ACNA Membership Benefits. If you plan to be in the market for a new Audi, it literally pays and saves to be an active member of the ACNA. Just do the math on the Audi of your dreams.
Welcome Aboard
Welcome to our new ACNA members. Our membership numbers are once again growing which means additional critical mass in different regions of the state and hopefully more events and participation. Those of you who are new to the ACNA will receive an on boarding note from David Loppert, if you have; any questions feel free to drop either David [email protected] or me [email protected] a line. I also suggest that if you have not had a chance yet check out both the ACNA website, and the Audi Club of Florida website. There is a great deal of good information plus some excellent photos of member’s cars.
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And now for the numbers
“Audi sets record May U.S. sales: third-best month record in the company history.” All very true, but the devil is in the details. Though Audi sales Audi May 2013 increased at a greater percentage than BMW May 2013 sales for the month, the difference in the units sold BMW to Audi, approximately 1.91 BMWs per Audi sold was nothing to write home about. Last year that figure was 1.93 BMW’s per Audi. What was good was that in the year to date ratio, Audihas held on to the improvements from the prior months. Last year’s figures, which were 2.0 to one, have dropped to 1.87 to one. The numbers continue to trend in the right direction, but May’s 1.2% difference did not put any significant points on that scoreboard.
Comparison between the new BMW 3 Series GT and Audi A5 Sportback
This one is from the BMW Blog with a comparison and discussion regarding the new 3er GT and the A5 Sportback. After viewing the photo comparison, it was possible to vote, which of course I did. The results were interesting as those blog readers were tough on the new GT. Photo Comparison 3 Series GT to A5 Sportback . One can wonder if BMW brings the 3 Series GT to these shores will Audi bring the A5 Sportback variant, which is as svelte as the A7.
The A6 takes on the A6
Has gas met its match? Here is an interesting comparison between an A6 3.0 TFSI and the A6 3.0 TDI. Enjoy the drive to Brighton Beach. A6-Takes-On-Itself
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For Example: Wanted: Wanderer or DKW motorcycle of motorbike pre 1950 [email protected]
You can also use the Classifieds Forum on the Audi Club of Florida web site.
If you have a special Audi such as one of the S or RS models or a pre 2000 that you would like to sell, we will list it once in the newsletter. I will need the year, model, color over interior color, and your email address. Longer and non-member postings can be placed in the website. We will also list DKW, NSU, and Wanderer motorcycles. If you are looking for a particular car, once again S, RS or pre 2000 model plus a bike, we will also try to accommodate you here.
Looking never cost anything
Here is a good array of Old-Timers, both cars and motorcycles, Auto Union and otherwise, which can be purchased with your extra father’s day funds. Prewar German cars
Want to know the specs of your first Audi?
This site is unbelievable, check it out, and keep it as a favorite for research on almost any car, not just Audis. http://www.automobile-catalog.com/
The Best for last
Could be considered finding the Holly Grail of all Audis, 1985 Audi Sport Quattro (SWB), 1 of 164 manufactured. AudiSport Quattro
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Fashionably late to the party?
The official announcement has finally been made, in a few months one will be able to purchase an A6, A7, or Q5 TDI. The A3 and Q7 TDI have successfully acquitted themselves on these shores for a number of years. Who can forget that iconic Green Police or when translated to German Grüne Polizei ( Ordnungspolizei) Super Bowel advertisement of a few years back and all of the double ententes associated with it, Green Police Super Bowel Controversy. Clearly, the folks who made that ad were either insensitive to or ignorant of 20th Century German history or are still laughing at the “dog whistlers” and “PC groupies.” Those folk’s furor over that ad even caused Audi to remove it from the internet for a few days. Now the A8L TDI was just recently introduced and the new A3 is on it way in the TDI variant. So what took Audi so long on the others? Frankly, I am not sure that question is even worth asking as the obfuscating prattling of the talking heads in marketing could probably give as many reasons as days in the year.
On this side of the pond, the boys from Stuttgart have been selling diesel sedans on and off for years now, GM took disastrous hand at it during the early 80’s and even Lincoln, and for one year only, had a diesel with a BMW engine. One can only wonder how ultimate that driving machine was. I am sure the latter two are some of the reasons diesels have had such a bad name. Ah, but let us not forget, there was also an Audi 5000 diesel, Audi 5000 S dieselwith the nose bleeding acceleration of null to sixty two in 18 seconds. When it became a turbo with a three-speed automatic, it was a little faster but not by much.
It took the EPA, an always forward thinking branch of the government some time to catch up with Europe and mandate low sulfur fuel. You may remember that the V10 VW diesel Toureg burned the high sulfur type. So where has Audi been? Of course, they have been producing diesels for Europe and the rest of the world for years. They have also been producing diesel engines, which need to run on low sulfur fuel, which would explain some of the delay associated with the need for low sulfur fuel.
A few years back, one particularly egregious excuse for no A7 diesels and this was in one of those auto magazines, and I am paraphrasing here, the A7 represents sportiness and would never be considered an appropriate platform for a diesel. Once again, all those marketing folks needed to do was look at the top of the line A7 diesel available in Germany with 313 HP. According to the sales brochure, it is also faster than the 310 HP 3.0 TFSI to 100 K/m by a couple of tenths of a second. Not sure, I understand why a diesel is less sporty. The ones we will see in the A6, A7, and Q5 have 245 hp so they are a little slower than the 3.0 TFSI. Is there a need to keep an artificial pecking order for diesel engines? Cannot the market handle a TDI, which is actually faster than its equivalent TFSI in a particular auto? Who knows but thankfully, diesels will be here to give MB a run for its money and BMW as they expand their diesel presence. We also need the government to look at the extra $ 0.06 a gallon diesel tax as compared to 18.3 cents tax per gallon for gas to level the playing field. Gov’t fuel taxes
So where are the A4’s, A5’s, and now that we are dreaming, the A1 2.0 TDI 6 speed? Who knows, but at least three of the new Audi luminaries finally will have made it to the party.
Here is looking forward to having you join us at one of our upcoming events and should you have any questions, or comments, please give a shout.
Cheers and Safe Motoring,
Bob Greving |