Hairpins

Driving to Lake Como was a joyful driving in its own class. Earlier, from the top of the mountain, I looked down this steep and lush brow and there lied hairpins that snaked towards Lake Como. Not only the hairpins got me excited, but also the zigzags between the hairpins that were shaped by the contours of the mountain. I could not ask for more. I waited at the top till the oncoming traffic from the bottom passed me. After confirming that there was no more oncoming traffic, I turned off ESP, pressed the clutch, put the gear on first, and there I went. I shifted to second to quickly gain speed to about 50 km/h; not too fast because this was not a race track.

I kept both front windows open so I could listen to the echo of the whirls and burbles of the V8 FSI. I didn’t have a chance to shift to third because I needed to slow down for the first hairpin. I trail braked with my left foot leaving the clutch untouched. As I neared the hairpin apex, I performed right-left-right (Scandinavian flick) turn and let go the left foot trail braking and applied the accelerator to rotate the car. It was a nice surprise to learn that this S5 was so much easier to rotate than the S4 B6. The almost 50/50 weight distribution, the 40/60 front/rear Quattro setup, and the new application of reinforced steel technology on the center tunnel and the B pillars had to have something to do with it.

I got too excited on the first one and I was expecting the S4 B6 characteristics, so I fished tail dramatically. I looked down again to reconfirm that there was still no car coming up. I shifted to third to devour the zigzags while maintaining the speed at about 50 km/h. In my head, I heard one of my driving instructors, “Do not coast! Either on the brake or on the gas! No coasting!”

Coming to the second hairpin, I braked hard with the right foot, I clutched in and shifted to second, I moved my left foot to the brake paddle to do the rest of the trail braking and setup my right foot for the upcoming acceleration to rotate the car again. As I neared the apex, I did left-right-left turn this time and then I was on the gas. It was almost perfect on the second one. Ninety eight more hairpins were probably still waiting for me before I would arrive at Lake Como. This was better than…uhm…I could not think of anything else. This was the only thing I had in my mind. This was ecstasy.

This S5 communicated the road feel to my hands through the adaptive suspension and the precise steering system. It told me how much power I had applied and how much more I had in reserve and ready to be unleashed through the fine tingles and whirls and burbles. The car drift and rotation were communicated through the cocoon-like leather sport seat to my spine so I could perform the necessary minute adjustment on the power, the braking, and the steering. It was an amazing human-machine bio feedback system. At this moment I was the Iron Man!

Hairpins

Driving to Lake Como was a joyful driving in its own class. Earlier, from the top of the mountain, I looked down this steep and lush brow and there lied hairpins that snaked towards Lake Como. Not only the hairpins got me excited, but also the zigzags between the hairpins that were shaped by the contours of the mountain. I could not ask for more. I waited at the top till the oncoming traffic from the bottom passed me. After confirming that there was no more oncoming traffic, I turned off ESP, pressed the clutch, put the gear on first, and there I went. I shifted to second to quickly gain speed to about 50 km/h; not too fast because this was not a race track.

I kept both front windows open so I could listen to the echo of the whirls and burbles of the V8 FSI. I didn’t have a chance to shift to third because I needed to slow down for the first hairpin. I trail braked with my left foot leaving the clutch untouched. As I neared the hairpin apex, I performed right-left-right (Scandinavian flick) turn and let go the left foot trail braking and applied the accelerator to rotate the car. It was a nice surprise to learn that this S5 was so much easier to rotate than the S4 B6. The almost 50/50 weight distribution, the 40/60 front/rear Quattro setup, and the new application of reinforced steel technology on the center tunnel and the B pillars had to have something to do with it.

I got too excited on the first one and I was expecting the S4 B6 characteristics, so I fished tail dramatically. I looked down again to reconfirm that there was still no car coming up. I shifted to third to devour the zigzags while maintaining the speed at about 50 km/h. In my head, I heard one of my driving instructors, “Do not coast! Either on the brake or on the gas! No coasting!”

Coming to the second hairpin, I braked hard with the right foot, I clutched in and shifted to second, I moved my left foot to the brake paddle to do the rest of the trail braking and setup my right foot for the upcoming acceleration to rotate the car again. As I neared the apex, I did left-right-left turn this time and then I was on the gas. It was almost perfect on the second one. Ninety eight more hairpins were probably still waiting for me before I would arrive at Lake Como. This was better than…uhm…I could not think of anything else. This was the only thing I had in my mind. This was ecstasy.

This S5 communicated the road feel to my hands through the adaptive suspension and the precise steering system. It told me how much power I had applied and how much more I had in reserve and ready to be unleashed through the fine tingles and whirls and burbles. The car drift and rotation were communicated through the cocoon-like leather sport seat to my spine so I could perform the necessary minute adjustment on the power, the braking, and the steering. It was an amazing human-machine bio feedback system. At this moment I was the Iron Man!