Went yesterday @ 9:00am. Everything was free, valet out front, some nice "life style" type stuff inside, a couple cars on display (no RS4, but an S8). You have to test drive the Q7 to be able to test drive anything else. Drove the Q7 (with an escort) around their pre-determined street path. Nice vehicle, but not what I came to see. After that you get on a short shuttle ride to a large parking lot.

There you could RIDE NOT DRIVE in an RS4 and test drive one other car. The Bad News: THEY DID NOT LET YOU DRIVE THE RS4. The Good News: You at least got to ride with a professional driver who drove it as hard as anyone possibly could. The cars you could choose from for your one test drive were a TT, A4, A6, A8, Q7, etc. The A3 was the only stick there (besides the RS4's). The test drive was only in the parking lot in their small coned course (30 seconds or so).

They did have an RS4 at the course that you could sit in and start up. I revved it up a little bit and got the lecture from one of the Audi reps standing there. Not sure if I was supposed to be able to start it up or not.

Just wanted to give a heads up to anyone planning on going out there today. If your expecting to beat on the RS4, you will be dissapointed with your 20 second RIDE. If you are going for something to do, you probably with find it just fine.

Which is too bad after hearing the great reviews coming out of SD and NY last weekend. It is a shame that the idiots in SD ruined the events for the rest of us throughout the rest of the country. Thanks for the review.

For most people it would be a waste. For me it was o.k. and worth the 4 hour drive from Michigan. My car is due 6/12 and I wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with the car that would make me back out of buying it.

I'm coming from an E46 M3 that I ran on the track a bunch. Its moded so much its barely drivable on the street. The RS4 will be my daily driver, winter car, carry the kids/customers around, and take it on the track once in a while car. I think it fits my needs perfectly! I'll still keep the M3 for the pure track car.

By the way... when people ask me to compare the M3 and the RS4 I say the RS4 is like the wife (good at everything) and the M3 is like the mistress (lots of fun, but not there for the long haul). I hope when I get the RS4 in person, I'll not need the mistress to fill in the gaps:)

It was definitely awesome to see several RS4's in 4 different colors in the flesh though! The 10 second ride with the pro driver was entertaining and it was great to experience (even from the passenger's seat) how willing the car was to go sideways and hold a drift using the throttle and taking advantage of the rear biased quattro. I didn't think the 60/40 would make that much of a different but I was pleasantly surprised. I told the driver I was getting one in June and he got all excited and went on talking more in detail about the car and its abilities despite the person standing outside the door waiting in line for the next ride. He was this lanky german former rally driver and was strangely over-curious about options I've selected and color choices I made. Nice guy though.

They still did not let you drive the RS4, but they took you on a street course about 5 minutes long in the Beverly Hills area near the Pacific Design Center which was the event site. The female driver I rode with was very cautious about not getting a speeding ticket and would only punch the car a couple of times in uncrowded side streets. The engine sounds fabulous and the car is damn fast, but honestly I wouldn't pay $70K for something that looks and feels very much like my own 2.0T S-Line.
My main gripe with the event was the limit of 3 test drives. You had to drive the Q7 first before you could drive anything else. That drive lasted a good 15 minutes. The Q7 is a fine SUV, but I don't care for the styling and I don't think Audi has come up with something compelling to sway potential BMW, Lexus or MB buyers.

I used my second test drive to try out an A8L (Northen blue with Amaretto interior) which was just a great car. I used my final allotment on the RS4 ride-along. The arrrangments (location, food, ambience, etc.) were first class, but the event came up short in terms of driving experience when compared to Lexus and BMW events.

I took the 7.5 second ride in the RS4 with my 5 year-old daughter. My god, what a trip. I mean seriously, that is a violent car and Herr Former Rally Dude could turn a parking lot into holy terror. Am I over-reacting? Maybe, but I just had no idea that you could get a car so loose like that and still control it. Very impressive.

I agree. My friend was in the back seat and he didn't have time to put on his seat belt. So he got tossed around like a rag doll. I was in the front holding on for dear life. Too short of a ride, but fun while it lasted.