<center><img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/3623/wagontrail.jpg"></center><p>Ok, so I was bored yesterday and went out to the same place that I got stuck in the snow a couple months back, and to my delight the road was clear and not too rutted. It's literally a single-lane wagon trail wandering through a thick forest, that's why I love it.

I found one big area off to the side that had a sign posted that the province managed the forest there, and I could see some very nice "trails" going off in different directions. But alas, the gate was locked with a chain! No problem, out with the trusty Audi jack, a couple well-placed turns of the crank and presto - chain disengaged from the wooden post (yeah, I was being bad). Then I proceeded to parade around delightful trails criscrossing about a square mile. Some places were rough, some steep - but none a true challenge for quattro. I'm sure these trails have NEVER seen anything but ATV's and Jeeps and trucks so I was amused at the prospect of this fine German automobile offroading in every sense of the word.

It did have some consequences though. I have some light scratches from branches - some I've been able to get out easily, some are more stubborn, so I'm open to suggestions. And secondly, I was astonished to find the plastic insert around the driver side foglight was gone!

I imagine a stick had poked in and just popped the thing out. The dealer said the part is $36.50. Not too bad. But, since I'd recorded the whole route with my GPS, I thought I'd try my luck at finding the part - so I drove back (took some nice video too). I was afraid that if it had popped off, I likely would have driven over it as well and destroyed it. Well, I had about 4 miles of walking to cover my whole route, and much to my relief, I found the part in perfect condition after only 5 minutes! Popped it back in when I got home.

That's when I noticed the latest service issue with the car. Somehow, and I have no clue when or how this happened, the reflector housing of the right side headlight has become loose, such that the light now points down considerably. I took the back off the light box and was able to wiggle the whole reflector assembly - very odd as I've never heard of this and there's no evidence of what might have broken it.

So, my list for next Wednesday's service is:
Check headlamp
Service warped rotors
Check fluid leak near PS tank
Check creak in armrest
Check high-pitched sound from right turbo
Check cause of MIL light that went out 2 weeks ago

Funny thing, this car is practically riddled with little problems and still, not a single component has actually "failed" such that it didn't do what it is supposed to do. As in, the car never broke down or anything like that. Just a bunch of little things that if left unfixed, wouldn't amount to much and the car would still basically run fine.

Well, I guess this was my 14600 mile update. Hope you liked it and finally, "don't try this at home" :-)

 

Dude, follow the tt members, Get an *** Tek

Be nice to your car

I dont know the circumstances but that sounds soooo stupid

 

Is done in my driveway.

The asstek suggestion was harsh Johnny... he's one of us! Just likes to um, drive off road.

 

settle down sparky.....go buy a used jeep CJ7 to get your wagon trail jollies

 

If I saw 'yah pull down a gate I'd run your butt
over with my Land Rover. Knucklehead. That's
how trails get closed.

It would be a fine picture, ramping my 33's on your hood !

keith - chicago
'01 2.7TQ

 

Well, ask anyone that knows me, I treat that car like gold and it practically looks like the day I got it. I'm nice to my car but I enjoy it too, I take it fun places... I'm not talking humping over logs and boulders here, these are smooth, well-maintained trails. I also took the car out on the lake with 2-feet of ice to get a thorough understanding of how the car behaves on ice with ABS, etc.

So, now you know the circumstances. Maybe it still sounds stupid but perhaps without the "soooo" part... The stupidest part, if anything, was defeating the chain on the gate (but then again, I think it was clever to use the jack to yank the chain-hooks out of the post)

Besides, it's fun to drive it where no BMW driver (except an X5) would dare tread.

And for what it's worth, someone IS taking my car away... when I sell it next month :-(

 

Does this mean you're gonna try and drive it in the ocean, too?

 

Is that the RCMP knocking on your door?

 

the fact that you drove your A6 down wagon trails, or that you told everyone about it!

just f'ing with you...have fun ;-)

 

Maturity, age, class????....though sometimes I wish I could say it and get away with it... Just kidding here folks..I think it's great that Audiablo does his offroad thing with his A6. More power to him! Though I don't agree with breaking the chain, etc. Not cool.