700 miles of driving straight, flat roads will get anyone rambling.

T1R's- miles, plus a couple of additional pounds of air do wonders for these tires. 38f/35r now. Much more responsive, nice in turns, still extremely quiet and comfortable. But their threshhold braking isn't up to the F1 GS-D3's. (Or is this partially the result of the HP2's now?)

Economy-
out- 19.4 mpg, average speed 83. NW wind
back- 18.5 mpg, average speed 82. (go figure)

Lowering from L2 to L1- my allroad does it after 30 seconds at 83mph. Doesn't lower at 82. Hit one stretch of rough road where I wished it would have stayed in L2 at 85, but wouldn't. There's got to be a way to VAG it to change the speed.

RS6 exhaust- why does it sound so much nicer after a long blast down the road? Love the sound when accelerating out of a toll booth.

BBS wheels- love the looks, but they're going to be a biotch to keep clean.

HP2 conversion- amazing how much better pedal feel there is with these calipers. And that's with basic Mintex Red Box pads too. What was Audi thinking going to the later flexible fliers.

allroad- never ceases to amaze me how comfortable this car is for long trips. 325 miles non-stop and still arrive refreshed. Great seats, ride comfort, sound and XM systems.

That's all.

hehe, sorry that old ad still sticks in my head.

glad you had a good drive. great comments.

then make a judgment call. Des Moines was 305 miles door to door, but I couldn't get a return flight that didn't go through Dallas. So was actually faster to drive. Plus I always enjoy a nice quiet 4 hour drive to regain my sanity. Not often we get that chance these days.

I'm near there....good thing you didn't need the ar fixed as the dealer in DesMoines is pretty bad, Jordan Motors....if you need work out of warranty and you're over here again stick with Beckley Automotive (indy) or if you can get to IowaCity there is a good dealer there in Carousel Motors...just fyi:)
I actually call my ar an orphan over here as I have only seen 4 in almost two years and I drive around a great deal. Glad you had a nice trip.

Had a hard time at the Marriott convincing them to let me self-park the car; they only valet in their lot. But finally convinced them to let me do it.

So by my being in town, I increased the allroad population by 25%? Interestingly, as I was walking across the skywalk at lunch time on Thursday, saw an allroad (atlas gray) go underneath me toward the new library. Generally when I travel, I try to meet up with local AW'ers particularly the allroad'ers. But sounds like in DSM, that would be a grand total of 3 or 4 or us.

BTW- I'm probably back in town next week. Recommendations for restaurants in town?

We don't get out as much as we used to but I still have friends who do and we have either been to these places or have good friends who have. Centro (pronounced chen tro) is good if you are downtown as is the coffee shop next to it (locally owned!) (about 8/9th and Locust approx). On the east side of downtown (their hours are a little strange so check with someone at the hotel) is basil prosperi (have to love a restaurant that doesn't captialize their name:) great italian and others, they have good bread...hard to find here:)...also note the morning brain error in my last post as I mistyped the indy shop it is Beckley Motors and they are right downtown at 7th and Crocker (a little north of main downtown). Gino's, Chuck's and the Latin King are all local favorites (been there forever and such), anyone at the hotel can give you directions. That ought to get you started...we stay away from the chain places if we can and this may be silly but if you want a really good burger and don't mind eating in your car (I think the one east of town in Altoona(would be on your way out of town...road trip:) is the only one with inside seating) there is B'bops burgers...a small local chain. It would be interesting to put out the word for local allroaders as I know that there is another, newer Highland green around and I have seen a silver one, a white one in Ames but that is about it. I drive I-80 back and forth to work and I saw an alpaca one the other day headed west but it was out-of-state plates.

Good to park your own ANYWHERE...here you might have trouble finding someone to drive the stick correctly:( A reason my next might be a stick, then my family wouldn't want to drive it:)
Another really good place that is out of downtown but is quiet and has very good food is the Greenbrier in Johnston, north on MerleHay Road (you go by the Audi dealer that way too, unfortunately:)
Have safe travel and be careful you don't contribute to the tax dollars over here as they watch the speed pretty closely: