I had to drive the Q7 to get down to the RS4 area where people were getting private test drives in the RS4 with an employee (for the ride+drive, not a real employee). There were 2 cars there, an imola and a dark grey color (Daytona). They both looked sick in person with the flared fenders and the wheels. I got to drive the imola car and I just about got a woody when I started it up...what a great sound! It was a lot like my B6 S4, but more thoaty and pronounced. The clutch was typically soft and the shifting was very precise. The car handled very flat compared to a B6 S4 and felt a lot more planted. The power was fairly impressive, but obviously gets more impressive as the revs rise. I took it up to probably 7000 rpm or so (the car had 400 miles on it). It really loves to rev and the powerband is very smooth. The torque wasn't that great nor did I expect it to be. I got to drive it for about 10 minutes or so on some smooth side roads with some twists. The car was so smooth and effortless yet so planted and confident. It's everything I expected. The ride was very good over bumps/imperfections as well. The car would make a great daily driver IMO. The steering was on the heavy side, but then again I am driving an A6 right now so I can't really say exactly how it compares to a B6/B7 S4 although it feels a tad heavier. The new 60/40 quattro felt great and I could hardly feel the difference. Overall I am left wanting one..badly. Is it worth the price? I think so. Unfortunately I can't justify spending that much on a car in my current financial position and the leases are sure to suck for awhile. My plan is to probably pick up a used one in a couple years. For you guys who are waiting for one soon, I'm jealous!

On a side note, this event was pretty well put together and all attendees were treated very well. It was at the Four Seasons Hotel which is a pretty nice place and breakfast was provided as well. You could pretty much drive any Audi model that you wanted and there was a lot of freedom as far as driving time, routes, etc. I spent 7 years in the car business and I doubt that BMW or MBZ would spend the money to put on an event of this level. I know that when I sold Audis the training events were much better than the ones offered by MBZ when I sold them. I could have spent hours at this event, but I really just went to check oout the RS..

Audi USA said there would be no "closed course" driving at the SD or LA events, but I think I read there are some RS4 specific driving exercises at the other cities.

did you take any pics?

When I called SOT I was told "no RS4 drives in San Diego" so I decided to go the the San Francisco event. I love Audi's but the communication could certainly be better.

dealership! We are only 4 miles away!

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hot damn this car is amazing !!! i was hitting some amazing speeds without much effort =)


*drools*

plan on doing it at carlsbad, but they decided to at the last minute just to see what would happen.

They're main concern is that it detracted from what is was supposed to be a Q7 event.

If this holds true, I'm sure there's going to be plenty of jealous people around that go to the upcoming SOT events and not able to drive the RS4. I could care less about the Q7.