April 27 at Audi North Orlando, there will be a meeting of the Citrus Region. If you live in the region, please plan to participate and RSVP with Patrick Alexander at patalexander@msn.com. Amongst other activities planned, there will be a tour of this latest example of Audi dealership architecture and of course the cars. Even if you are not from Orlando, check out this new facility, great service department, inventory, and meet the new leadership team.    

May 4, German Bistro 2 Largo, A number of us have checked this one out and the food is very good along with the luncheon menu being reasonably priced. 

May 17 through 19 is the planned dates for our drive, “True North to Savannah.” Rough itinerary includes the following. For early Jacksonville arrivals a 4:00 PM tour of Audi’s distribution center. At 6:30 PM, additional participants meet at our hotel for registration. The Holiday Inn Express at Mayport Beach is under $80 per night with AAA membership. Then north on A1A and the short caravan drive to supper atSingleton’s Seafood Shack in Mayport . On Saturday morning after an early breakfast at the hotel, we will catch the ferry and cross the St Johns River as we head up A1A through Amelia Island, back on to I-95, pick up US, 17 just south of Brunswick then north to Darien and on into Savannah arriving well before noon. Upon reaching the Savannah Visitors Bureau, everyone will have a chance to load up on information to determine which of the multitude of sites and attractions to explore. There is definitely something for everyone, be it history, railroads, antiquing, candy works or just people watching. All will be on their own for an afternoon of exploration and adventure in the setting of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Once again, we will then regroup at 4:45 in the parking lot of the Savannah Visitors Bureau for the caravan and short run to Cahill’s Chicken Kitchen in Bluffton, SC . On the way to supper we will cross the Tallmadge Memorial bridge, continue the Lowcountry drive through the Gullah Heritage corridor for about 30 minutes than arrive in Bluffton at a place that could have been the inspiration for Cracker Barrel. Cahill’s Chicken Kitchen serves primarily Lowcountry style meals (comfort food) including many Southern style cooked veggies, which are grown just over the fence. Regarding lodging in Savannah, which can be expensive downtown, all will be on their own. Early Sunday morning we will regroup for a photo, perhaps down by the river, prior to the drive home or further exploration out to the lighthouse on Tybee Island then the drive home. 

Registration is $30 per car for the event and if you purchase at least one $25 raffle ticket upon sign in Friday evening May 17, the chapter will kick in $5 towards the price of that ticket. Please make your registration check out to the Audi Club of Florida, on a separate piece of paper include your email address, and phone number. I will confirm via email receipt of your registration. 

Mail registration to Audi Club of Florida C/O Bob Greving PO Box 66156 St Pete Beach FL 33706 

Gulf Coast Region 
bob@audiclubfl.org 

May 4, Cars and Coffee, 7:00 am 
Reeves Motorsports facility Tampa, FL

May 4, Cars and Coffee, 8:00 am 
Suncoast Audi Sarasota, FL 

May 4, German Bistro 2, Largo, FL, 3pm Luncheon 
A late, private lunch (or is it brotzeit?) at German Bistro 2 in Largo, FL 
RSVP to walter@audiclubfl.org by April 25. We will need at least 15 folks to make this happen 


Palm Beach Region 
david@audiclubfl.org 

May 11, Breakfast at the Boulevard Deli and Restaurant, Palm Beach Gardens 
10961 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens 
The Boulevard Deli is located in the Publix Plaza, northwest corner of PGA Blvd and Military Trail. They have an extensive breakfast menu and all will be on their own regarding how much damage one wishes to inflict on their diets and wallets. Please RSVP to David david@audiclubfl.org by noon on Friday May 10. 


Citrus Region (Orlando) 
patalexander@msn.com 

April 27, Organizational Meet Audi North Orlando 10:00 am 
http://www.audinorthorlando.com/dealership/about.htm   
Contact Patrick at patalexander@msn.com to RSVP 

NOTE: There was a typo in one of the mailing for this event. If you tried to RSFVP for this event and received an error, please use the e-mail address listed here. 

Audi Club of Florida 
bob@audiclubfl.org 

May 17-19 “True North to Savannah” Fun Run 
To RSVP or help plan this trip, contact bob@audiclubfl.org 


David has been kind enough to compile some additional events and Items of interest in Florida 

If you are looking for something to do on the second Friday of the month from 6pm-10pm in Davie Florida, check this out. Florida Street Rods have been hosting the largest and longest running cruise night with generally over 300 CARS! Vendors and music included. Ground zero for this event is located at the Tower Shops in Davie, University Drive just south of I-595. If you are hungry, there is Miller’s Ale House and Flannigan’s if you wish to park your car and grab a quick bite. No prizes, no judging, and no need to RSVP, just come and enjoy the cars. 

On-Line Free Subscription 

If you are not a member, check out Sports Car Weekly, there is a free email subscription offering interesting writing, photography, events, cars, and classified 

Besides the camaraderie, one of the best reasons to be an ACNA member 

Spend $50 to save $3,000 on a $50,000 MSRP Audi 

If you have been an ACNA member in good standing for six months, you will be eligible for a 6% discount from MSRP on the purchase of certain Audi models. Yes, a few of the usual suspects have been excluded, the R8, RS5, TTRS, and a few others, but check out the details. 

If you plan to be in the market for a new Audi, it literally pays and saves to be an active member of the ACNA. Just do the math on the Audi of your dreams. 


Welcome Aboard

Welcome to our new ACNA members. Our membership numbers are once again growing which means additional critical mass in different regions of the state and hopefully more events and participation. Those of you who are new to the ACNA will receive an on boarding note from David Loppert, if you have; any questions feel free to drop either David david@audiclubfl.org or me bob@audiclubfl.org a line. I also suggest that if you have not had a chance yet check out both the ACNA website, and the Audi Club of Florida website. There is a great deal of good information plus some excellent photos of member’s cars. 

Sales

March was another excellent month for the boys from Ingolstadt, with unit sales up 14.4% compared to last years, but the other boys from Bavaria also turned in a relatively good performance at 13.1% to last year. The ratio of Audis sold per BMW TY to LY for the month of March did not continue the strong showing of February and is now 2.04 BMW’s for each Audi in 2013 as compared to 2.06 BMW’s for each Audi in 2012. Therefore, it may have been a good figure compared to last year but in the entire scheme of things not much gain in market share visa-a-vie to BMW. 

S5 ACNA Raffle

If you have not purchased your chance to win a 2014 Estoril Blue S5, contact Andreas atandreas.baensch@audi.com, he will give you all the details. Those who have had an opportunity to drive the 333 Horsepower 3.0 TFSI engined S5 will attest to the sheer pleasure and daily comments one receives on what a great looking car. Therefore, if you are old and want to feel young and if you are young and want to feel cool, this is one hell of an elixir and it only cost $25 a chance to cure all of your ills. 


Going to Europe this summer?  

Here is something to check out should you be planning a trip across the pond. It is expensive but according to the ACNA President who has participated in some of these drives, one unbelievable experience.  
Audi Driving Experience Summer 2013 


Not enough Audi Centric Information?  

Here is a link to the Audi AG magazine, a plethora of excellent and informative articles for those who want or need to be in the know regarding all things Audi. 
Audi Magazine 

This classified listing is for ACNA members only, if you have a special Audi such as one of the S or RS models or a pre 2000 that you would like to sell, we will list it once in the newsletter. I will need the year, model, color over interior color, and your email address. Longer and non-member postings can be placed in the website. We will also list DKW and Wanderer motorcycles. If you are looking for a particular car, once again S, RS or pre 2000 model plus a bike, we will also try to accommodate you here.

For Example: Wanted: Wanderer or DKW motorcycle of motorbike pre 1950 bob@audiclubfl.org   


Bernd Rosemeyer Nebel-Meister (Mist-Master) 

Here is a link to an interesting and informative article on Bernd Rosemeyer. Those of you who have been on the Autobahn from Frankfurt on your way to Heidelberg, Spire and other points south have driven this famous stretch, just north of the Darmstadt Kreuz.  

You can also use the Classifieds Forum on the Audi Club of Florida web site. 

On distractions, while driving 

Long solo driving trips are fodder for the mind’s tendency to wander. Thankfully, such items as Audi Active Lane Assist, Audi Pre Sense Plus, Audi Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go, and Audi Side Assist all help keep one focused should dreaming of a blond passing you in a ’57 Colonial White T-Bird with the top down become the item of focus. The new Audis along with all of these marvels also have their own internal myriad of potential distractions. Between the cell phone, navigation system (this one gives a safety warning), XM radio, MMI computer reading out all sorts of useful information like Average speed, mpg, aggregate miles to empty, time driven, instantaneous mpg, gallons per hour used by keeping the fog lights on etc. Then their are the CD’s, DVD’s (no picture unless stopped) SD cards, I-Pads, and now Mobil Wi-Fi, all truly amazing and helpful, but also potentially distractive to the task at hand, driving a car. 

But wait, there is something new and the list has had a few additions, watching the new screens on Hybrids. The information is all good, informative and is geared to help one get the most out of each gallon one burns. Ingolstadt spent a lot of time figuring out the graphics and making them understandable and intuitive even for those who may be technically challenged. It is all very cool but once again, there is an unintended response. One trades increased distraction for knowledge and with that knowledge the ability to improve gas mileage. Is the juice worth the squeeze? I guess this is where the lane assist, pre brake plus and peripheral vision picks up when the flashing in the mirrors of the side assist come to our rescue. 

Back in the 1984-88 period, the five speed Audi 5000S had a little light in the dash between the tachometer and speedometer that turned green when it was most economical to up-shift. All those graphics perhaps could be distilled to something as simple as a diode that went from red to yellow to green contingent on how one was driving. Certainly, less distracting but then clearly less informative, both have the same end game of improving MPG. Perhaps the diode could be added and when one is no longer enamored with watching the information they can get back to driving and just keep an eye on the diode, which might even be projected on the windshield along with MPH as some of the A6s, A7s, and A8s

Here is looking forward to having you join us at one of our upcoming events and should you have any questions, or comments, please give a shout.

Cheers and Safe Motoring, 


Bob Greving 
President 
Audi Club of Florida, Chapter ACNA