A few weeks back, I bought a car I never expected to: A 2014 Audi A8L with over 215,000 miles on the clock. I wasn’t looking for one, and I’m not exactly the type to buy huge, air-suspension-equipped German limousines, even if they are the right price.
But I needed a car to go ice racing, and this A8 was an all-wheel drive car available on Facebook Marketplace for a reasonable price. Most importantly for my use case, it already had winter tires installed, which means I didn’t need to make any modifications before I went racing just 16 hours later.
That saga, which I covered on the site after that faithful weekend, went off way better than I was expecting. Usually, when you buy a cheap car from some guy on Facebook, you expect at least a few issues to pop up. But everything went according to plan, and the car performed excellently. Now, though, I’m going to ask even more of it.
Here’s Where We’re At
After four years of no racing due to mild winters, the organization I race with, the Adirondack Motor Enthusiast Club (AMEC), finally got lucky enough with the cold weather in February to hold a race on a frozen lake. If you recall from my last write-up on this saga, I didn’t think this would ever happen, which is why I sold my Miata last fall.
When AMEC announced they’d actually be holding a race this year, I was left without a car. Determined not to miss out on some of the last truly affordable wheel-to-wheel racing left in the country, I dug through Facebook Marketplace until I discovered this A8.
The car itself is in fairly nice shape, considering the miles. It’s a 2014 model-year D4-generation car with the 3.0-liter supercharged V6 that’s totally unmodified, save for a set of Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2 tires wrapped around the alloy wheels. It has some dents and dings, plus a check engine light for what the previous owner described as a “small vacuum leak” and a cracked windshield. But that’s about it.
Despite heavy competition from smaller Subarus, Volkswagens, and Audis, the lengthy, hefty A8 performed pretty well on the ice, netting me a second-place finish and two third-place finishes throughout the three heats of the day. A couple of weeks later, AMEC held another event, where I took the A8 back to compete against an even larger number of cars. There, I managed to do even better, scoring two second-place finishes and a third-place finish. So far, so good.
I Sure Hope It Can Take These Beatings
This is all to say that I have truly only spent around two days with this car, despite owning it for several weeks. I live in New York City, but keep it stored in my parents’ driveway about an hour and a half north, which means I haven’t been able to really give it a once-over off the ice yet. But I’m so confident in its ability to perform that I’m planning to do even more racing with it this weekend.
Specifically, AMEC is planning a double-header tomorrow and Sunday, which means a total of six races and two practice sessions. That’s in addition to the roughly 400 miles of road driving I’ll also have to do to get the car from my parents’ house to the lake and back. All in a car that I still haven’t even changed the oil in.
While the A8 hasn’t given me any issues so far, I’m still pretty nervous. I’ve spent maybe a total of 8 hours behind the wheel of this thing, so I don’t really know which noises to listen for and which to ignore. Is that the whine of the supercharger, or some transmission-related bearing failure waiting to happen? And there’s a knocking coming from the front left suspension that seems to come and go depending on the time of day.
If I had a garage or even my own driveway near my home, this is the kind of stuff I’d be able to suss out in a few hours. But because I live in New York City, where a private parking spot can cost as much as a mansion in some parts of the country, that’s not possible. I just haven’t had any time to go up to my parents’ house during the week to really dig into this thing.
Taking it on this big a trip and chucking it sideways for two straight days on ice means that if something is about to go wrong, it probably will—it’s not like I’m taking it easy out on the ice. I’m absolutely going for it, and asking a whole lot of that Quattro system. And unlike the first time I did this, where I had a friend driving my Range Rover to play support car, there will be no such backup machine there to tow me off the ice if something happens.
All of that being said, if I didn’t think the car could do it, I wouldn’t be going. So far, the car hasn’t developed any new issues, new noises, or weird driving characteristics since I bought it. That check engine light on the dash glows as bright as ever, but it hasn’t impacted the engine’s performance (that I can tell, anyway). In any case, please wish me luck.
Top graphic images: Brian Silvestro; Tatsunoko Production
I’m paying under $300/month for my spot here in harlem, wouldn’t want to add a second car tho lol
Might be time to move out of NYC to some place more conducive to owning cars.
can’t, the food is too good
That is one thing we missed when moving to our current rural/low-population area. That being said, lots of places with a good balance. 😉
I misread the title as “two straight days of driving” and I thought to myself “yeah. That makes sense”
Good luck. And please, please, please don’t too addicted to going sideways and carry over onto dry pavement when it inevitably stops snowing.
Something about Audi A8s make them sensible choices.
OTOH, if ice racing doesn’t work out,you could always use it for Uber/Lyft. The fares charged should be able to help recoup the acquisition costs,no problem!lol
I have sincerely been thinking about getting a cab license to do just that, as a bit
They’re practically limousines in themselves. Executive clientele awaits!lol
Something about a huge luxury sedan competing in racing just has a sort of appeal… Reminds me of the Mercedes 300SEL “Red Pig”
Large luxury cars tearing it up at the track is so hilarious. Back when I was regularly going to AutoX, someone showed up with a very clean Cadillac Allante. He was throwing that thing around like it was a Miata while I was corner marshalling with another regular. We looked at each other after its run in disbelief, he said I know what I jsut saw, but I don’t believe it.
Just imagine if someone shows up at the finish line after autocrossing in a Bentley or Rolls Royce and asks: “Pardon me,but would you happen to have any Grey Poupon???”
This discussion reminded me of an excellent Fifth Gear episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6GO4pYjPf4
And youtuber Misha Charoudin took a Rolls around the Nurburgring as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhHlZTIwTQ4
Be sure to pick up some steamed hams on the drive up!
I once bought an E30 BMW 320i the night before a drift practice day. For £50.
Sold it two years later as a fully functioning car despite it catching fire twice.
Thrashing old high mileage hero’s is an excellent choice
Wishing you luck today, and love the audacity of this project. My personal experience with the V6 has been positive, lasting 300k miles as the rest of the car fell apart. And Audi, I love barges
E30. And yes I’m being honest. But I’d probably try to get studed snows for it.
I was all set to try ice racing this winter, but the site in Colorado that’s somewhat close to me had to cancel the season – too warm.
Georgetown?
Yup. I’m about 6 hours south in New Mexico.
Audi. 215k. That is a level of recklessness I can’t even fathom
Great stuff if you’re an auto journo looking to write some content. Either it breaks down and you have an interesting (if expected) story to tell, or it doesn’t and you still have an interesting story to tell.
….and the 200,000 mile range rover at home.
It’s more likely than you think.
For real though, this era is when they started getting their shit together. That 3.0T is stout. Yeah, it can carbon up, but pretty much any DI motor without MPFI is gonna do that. The ZF8 trans needs no defense, nor does the Torsen based Quattro system.
The A8’s are surprisingly reliable cars. Even stuff like the air suspension isn’t too complicated or expensive to fix when it goes wrong (provided you stay away from the dealer parts counter).
The difference is when suspension bits, rubber things, O2 sensors and the like wear out…
On a Lexus: “we’ll, it’s old, it’s done a ton of miles. Of course some things will need to be refreshed.”
On an Audi: “We’ll, it’s a German car. Of course it’s broken”.
All that said, I’m still not sure I would’ve bought it with no maintenance history. I mean to do the job he bought it for it’s fine, but as a daily…I’d want some records.
Going flat out on ice should be good for the carbon deposits.
The ‘ol Italian Tune-Up. I’m a big fan.
I’m here to comment and say yes to more grassroots racing content. Tim Stevens just had an article published on ArsTechnica that I thought was a good read too. Unfortunately I didn’t see your Audi in the background of any of his shots.
Good luck, Brian!