I’ve had a fascination with cars as long as I can remember, German cars in particular. I got it from my dad, whose first two cars were Porsche 356s, a ’53 bent window Cabriolet and a ’58 A Coupe, before he left to serve overseas in the Navy on an aircraft carrier. He hasn’t owned one since but I heard the tales many times about what fun they were to drive and how great the engineering and craftsmanship were. I had the big Lamborghini Countach poster on my bedroom wall like every other boy who grew up in the 80s but I knew if I were to ever have a sports car it would be German.
I first remember being interested in Audis when I went with my dad to North Freeway Porsche Audi not long after the 944 came out so it was late 1982 or early 1983. I remember sitting in the back of the 944 and it was either gold or brown, but for some reason what I really remember was checking out the bright red Coupe Quattro that was in the showroom. I remember the sharp angular lines and getting inside it and sticking my head though the open sunroof. At that time the shape of the 911 didn’t interest me and if it had been my decision that Audi coupe would have been my car. I think that day my dad was doubly disappointed that I wasn’t as interested in the 944 as he was, as well as the $10,000 premium the dealer was asking for one.
I had several friends growing up whose parents had 5000 sedans and became more familiar with the brand even as they somewhat hit bottom in the 90s before bouncing back. What I have really liked about Audi is their styling, especially the enhanced appearance of the S/RS models, as well as their engineering and performance. Life happens, and as it became more apparent that my dream of having a Porsche as a third car was running head-on into the practicality of making that happen with two kids and a garage bay full of bikes and toys, it became apparent that the solution was to compromise and have something that was more fun as a daily driver. Not wanting to have a BMW 3 series like everyone else, I went back to looking at an Audi. I really wanted an S5 coupe but common sense pointed me to the S4 sedan.
I bought my Glacier White S4 from Sewell/Audi North Houston in June 2014. The car is a blast to drive and is well suited to my daily toll road commute. It’s comfortable and not too stiff, but the handling is great and the torque from the supercharged V6 just makes you want to go faster! I have always enjoyed driving but this car brought back a fun element I hadn’t felt since I got my first car, a Camaro, back in high school. Not long after buying the car I learned of ACNA and joined. I went to the Audi Motorsport Experience suite at Lone Star Le Mans but did not attend the 30th Anniversary event and did not become active in the Houston area until the following year. However, after receiving an invitation and attending the Audi Driving Experience in the fall of 2015, a new chapter opened up in my driving adventures.
I had heard of Autocross before but was not real familiar with it even though I was an SCCA member. At the Audi Driving Experience participants got to drive R8s and RS5s on a mini road course in a parking lot, drive A6s and A3s on a street test loop, and Autocross the A3 and A6 versus their competitors from BMW and Mercedes. After doing that and having a lot of fun, I thought this is something I think I could do in my own car and have a blast. I did some online reading and searching and decided to try it with the local SCCA region. In the novice class which is handicapped to put all cars on a level playing field, I placed third in my first event, second in the next one and in my third event placed first out of 28 drivers in novice. I was hooked, and the first Sunday of every month you can probably find me autocrossing. My only regret is why I never tried this sooner. I ordered magnetic numbers with day glow orange trim to stand out, and I picked #14 in honor of our hometown hero AJ Foyt. I’ve made minor improvements to the car here and there, upgrading the sway bars and end links, upgrading the engine intake and just recently installed an AWE exhaust system. The S4 is a fun car to me, the best I have owned to date, and I don’t plan on getting rid of it anytime soon, so I plan to be an Audi driver for a long time.
