Well, this past Sunday I went to Trenton, GA for the Chattanooga SCCA Region Auto-X with a nice Holiday Season theme. The entry fee was a $10 unwrapped toy in addition to $15 standard fee. All the toys went to Forgotton Children of Dade County.<p>I was really looking forward to this event as it was raining the whole evening before. Isn't it strange how Quattro changes your outlook on weather? :) Since it is not fun to stand in the rain, we were fortunate that it stopped by the first run, but it never dried out.<p>Quattro is amazing! I've finally figured out that the key for quattro is "slow in, fast out". Your advantage with quattro is definitely in the "fast out" part since you have the extra traction. So I was careful to stay calm and work on getting out of the corners fast rather than trying to hustle it into a corner and waste time trying to save my a** when I could be on the power early.<p>I noticed that in the tight corners (in auto-X they all are) I would understeer badly if I tried to go through the corner trailing the throttle. I found that if I eased on the gas through the corner, traction from the front would pull the car in the direction I wanted to go, while the back, at times, would come out a little (oversteer) and help rotate the car. Its the first time I've experience power on oversteer in the car... What fun!<p>As expected, I was running pretty good times compared to others. Rain is the "Great Equalizer" so I was even keeping ahead of those with race rubber, except for this pesky Eagle Talon TSI, with AWD, race rubber and 60 more hp than I. Actually, I knew the Father/Son team that were running it (they also have an Integra Type R who continually beat me in the dry) and we had a good time comparing notes. I've not seen a list of times for all of the runs but I think I beat Dad, although Sonny edged me out by a little over a second.<p>FTD was set by a BMW M Coupe (prettiest ugly car in the world) <p>I'm still learning alot about how this car handles in an auto-X. I still believe that it's a better track car than an auto-Xer, but I think from now on, I'll take the A4 on rainy days and run my Alfa GTV-6 in the dry. Running in the rain with Quattro makes an auto-X reeeeeeeeaaaaally fun!!!<br>Next event will be in Feb. Hmmmmmmm.... SNOW?<p>Enzo<p>The "A" List:<br>Wife's -- 98 1.8T QMS<br>Mine -- 84 Alfa Romeo GTV-6<br>Dog's -- 90 Acura Integra

The new M Coupe did??? Wow!<p>Did you happen to watch that car during its runs? Any info you can tell me about it as far as your thoughts on its handling and power???

I only watched it a few times but it really seemed able to put down power very well, especially considering the track was wet. I drove a Z3 2.5 the other night in the wet and was very impressed how well it stuck in the rain.<p>BTW, here's where the times are posted from that weekend:<p>http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/ChattanoogaRegion/S2121398.htm<p>If a my publicly pat myself on the back a little, I placed second only behind an Eagle Talon TSI with race rubber, AWD and 60 more HP than I, and third (Ford Probe GT) and fourth (the eagle again, different driver) both were running race rubber too, while I ran stock SP8000Es. Quattro (coupled with a decent driver :) is GREAT!<p>Enzo<br>The "A" List:<br>Wife's -- 98.5 A4 1.8T QMS<br>Mine -- 84 Alfa Romeo GTV-6<br>Dog's -- 90 Acura Integra<br>Newest to the Fleet -- 81 Alfa Romeo Spider, ITB Racecar<br>Next -- TOW VEHICLE! (volvo V8?)