BMW M3 Phenomenom?

For the 2nd week of this new blog, I decided to confess something. Now you may not like it, BMW owners will hate me for a few minutes, but keep reading and you will understand and eventually either agree with me or respect the opinion. With that said, how many people have left the room? Haha!

Let's start off with my history with BMW. Well......... it doesn't exist. I have only driven one and it was a 318is with NOS and was the slowest car I had ever driven. Sorry Jay, it was. It did handle very well though and looked the part. I was not impressed with the driving experience, although I knew that wasn't a car to base all BMWs on. So before a buddy brought his M3 over for a quick shoot, I started to look back and try to pick my brain a bit about my introduction into cars. Car and Driver and Motor Trend magazines; the Mecca of automotive information before this pesky internet/blog thing.
I could not remember a time when I looked into a magazine and was wowed by a BMW, with the exception of the M1. I don't know why either.... I mean, I loved every car back then and was especially into the sedans and Euro cars that could put a smack down on the latest and greatest supercar. Example- To this day I still want a Lotus Carlton. There is your homework. Look that up and be impressed. Before the photo shoot, I had seen my buddies M3 but I always just thought it was a nice car with a cult following of BMW people who are more obsessed with them than the Honda ricer crowd. Start internet bashing in 3,2,1.........Boom!   Keep reading, it gets better.

The Techno Violet car shows up. This is a daily driven 98 model with quite a few mods to it. Lots of Dinan parts to it; Dinan Exhaust, Dinan Suspension, Dinan Cold Air Intake. There are also a few more mods to make this car a very fun track day car. By no means is it perfect, but it is used. That's what I LOVE about it. My buddy Michael and his wife show up and park the car. We had plans to have another M3 show up (E90), but that fell through. I am glad it did in a way. Of course having more Cars In My Driveway is my goal, but with the E36 model in the driveway, looking stellar in the fading light, I started to understand a bit about this BMW thing, as I call it. I have always enjoyed this body style a lot, but never really LOOKED it over in person. As I said before, I never really had the BMW experience till now. It was starting to grow on me a bit, and I started to reminisce about those wonderful days of car magazines. If you are a car buff, you know what I mean- those days of getting the newest page turner, dreaming of how and when will it be your turn to own this car or that car. It was a time where we would actually READ and not sit glazed in front of a computer looking at what some amateur blogger just said. Wait, what? Nevermind that. I love the 80s/90s and most of the performance cars built then. They have led the way for what we have now, and call them old school if you want, I know most of you still want that Testarossa or Diablo, or if you are like me, the Lotus Carlton or Audi URS4.

James May from Top Gear on a recent episode said it right. You can have more fun in a less powerful car because you can drive it to its limits. That's what makes racing fun! Driving a car to its potential. Face it everyone, we are not Allan McNish or Michael Schumacher. Put us on a track in a 500 horsepower, rear wheel drive car, and I know for a fact we would not drive it to its full potential. Granted we most likely will run faster laps, but we would be on a knifes edge trying to keep it on the track. And a brown stained seat is what you would get if you had snap oversteer or came face to face with a tire wall. Which brings us back to the M3 here. After snapping a few pics, I started to think to myself that this car would be a serious track car for the weekend even in stock form. (although I told the owner to keep it a nice daily driver versus a track car lol) You could beat the car, still have fun with the man pedal, and probably turn into a better drifter after a few sharp corners. Isn't that the point of going out and having a fun track day? Enjoying yourself while beating on a car? I know most of you have been karting and those things can be wicked fast! What do you do when you get in them? Not let go of the gas.... I know, you don't have to explain. I do the same thing. That's what this car represents to me. I am extremely glad it was brought over and thank you to the owners for letting me write about the car. All of this has turned me into a BMW fan, even without riding or driving the car. That's the phenomenon I was referring to I guess.

Thanks to everyone (BMW fans) who stayed with it and kept reading. Hope you all enjoy the write ups and more cars to come soon!

Audi B5 S4 Avant- The Audi Enthusiast's Unicorn & The Car Others Don't Understand

Disclaimer- Again, this is all new to me, so enjoy it. I promise it will get better and better every week. My camera skills, writing skills, and comedy skills will hopefully increase as time goes on!

A few years ago, the wife and I decided it was time to move to a bigger house. We wanted to start a family, and our current house wasn't going to cut it. Within the first few months of moving in, I started to figure out the surrounding people. You all know what I mean.... spying on the neighbors! A window shade peak here, a look over the shoulder there, and let us not forget, the awkward "wave at the new guy" return waves. Moving in during winter is tough on the new people. You never run into the neighbors while cutting grass or getting mail. After a few months, I noticed something us car enthusiasts always wanted. A hood full of car buffs. We seemed to have planted ourselves right in the middle of the madness, which led me eventually to where we are today, having strangers like you read a story written by some random dude at home dreaming of how he can make it big to buy the new R8 or 911 Turbo. Cars In My Driveway was born.

I decided to start with one of those buffs in the hood who shared the same passion for cars. I first noticed him driving a Fiero, which was odd because I haven't seen one of those since the last time I watched Ferris Buellers Day Off. You are laughing right now because you just remembered his sis drove a Fiero. But then, I saw him cruising down the street in a SC300 Lexus which I never really liked when they came out. Something was different with the Lexus though. Long story short, 6 speed 2jz (no shit) big turbo conversion. Talk about sleeper.

One day, the Fiero was gone, and its replacement? Probably the most sought after car by Audi enthusiasts. The B5 S4 Avant with the man pedal! 6 speeds of biturbo goodness. Most will say this car is one of the most understood in the Audi history, behind the B5 RS4 Avant, which wasn't sold here. The outsiders would say, "It's a wagon, a grocery getter, a car for the wife!" Audi fans would call it the "Sleeper." A very easy tunable car that nobody expects to be fast.

So I finally meet the neighbor. Let's call him Brian. Brian and I chatted for a while about the car, his other rides, and even the Austin Mini he couldn't wait to get out in the summer. I asked him where that car was. "In the basement."  Not kidding here, a few steps down and hello seriously modded Mini. But I digress. A little more about the car here. Ill give the short list.

RS6 Turbos
AWE Intercoolers
Milltek Exhaust
BBS wheels
Vast Tuned
And lots of RS4 parts... mmmmmmmm Carbon Fiber
And no joke by saying this, an average of 5 hours a week making sure the car is SPOTLESS. (I would eat off it, but I won't)

What's all of that mean? Well to the average Joe Schmoe Chevy owner? Just a bunch of WTFs. To the Audi enthusiast, it means lots and lots of roasting ricers and unsuspecting hot rodders, and the occasional grocery run. Do a search on YouTube for these cars,

Now some say I am a huge Audi enthusiast, and that I get trips to Sweden to drive S4 Avants on frozen lakes, and even have an Audi tattoo. I have no idea where anyone got that info and it's all a bunch of nonsense... NONSENSE I tell ya! Disclaimer- That's all true.

I thought this car would provide a good opening to this new idea I had. It is always a pleasure to have a car enthusiast stop by with their car, shoot the shiznit, and talk about their experiences with their ride. Even though I see this car quite often, it is still stunning in person. For those who have never experienced a Stage III tuned S4, you should really seek one out and go for a ride. You won't be disappointed. Shocked you will be!

Thanks to Brian for bringing the car by!

Cars In My Driveway Introduction

Welcome to my new blog!  This is all very new to me but thought this would be a fun idea! We will be doing a weekly write up of one specific car and the owner. This is just for fun and good conversation. I thought it would be funny to see what type of cars I could get in my driveway throughout the year. I will start in a few weeks and post a car, with the next 6 days consisting of videos/articles/pictures of that model. Please share with your friends and like us on Facebook. A simple search of Cars In My Driveway will get you there! Looking forward to building this into a fun blog and can't wait to get started!