Please remember to check out the Event Calendar to see what’s coming up.

The Feb 27-28 Winter Driving School is now full, but if you’d like to get on the waiting list in case of cancellations, please feel free to register:

• February 27-28

See the posts below for pricing, more information on the schools, and keep thinking snow!

More photos of past NAAC WInter Driving Schools can be found at:

• January, 2007
• January, 2008
• February, 2008
• January, 2009

Despite the down economy, we nearly filled our January 23-24, 2010 winter driving school at Team O’Neil and the Mountain View Grand Resort in Whitefield. For me, the hotel remains a highlight. Coming up the driveway as the late afternoon sun struck the deep yellow paint, the building practically glowed. To the right across open fields of snow were the majestic silhouettes of White Mountain peaks on the horizon, turning blue as the light faded. No matter how many times I’ve come back here, it was still an impressive sight. The new wind turbine, just to the left of the main hotel building, looked a bit jarring at first, but I have to give management credit for “going green”: at peak output, it was said to meet 50% of the hotel’s electricity needs.

The interior of the Mountain View felt comfortable, historic, and familiar—it’s been operating as an inn since 1865. The rooms and common areas are beautifully furnished. The experience is upscale and a bit pricey, but you might say people who are attracted to Audis are used to that sort of thing. The evening passed pleasantly with drinks and a meal in the tavern, followed by registration and a meeting for instructors and volunteers. It was time to renew old friendships and meet some of the new folks. Remarkably, this year we seem to have attracted people from far and wide: Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey…even Michigan!

Saturday morning, after a delicious breakfast buffet in the dining room, I joined the students to hear Mike Collier’s well-polished classroom presentation on the principles of car control, and some of the do’s and don’t of winter driving. Afterward, we caravaned over snow-covered back roads through evergreen forests to Team O’Neil. Cars were sorted according to run groups and directed to one of 3 exercise areas: slalom/braking, skidpad, and the road course. Each exercise was introduced by one of the instructors, after which everyone hopped into instructors’ cars for a few reconnoitering laps. The students were then let loose in their own cars, with an instructor in the passenger seat offering advice and correction. We carried on for the remainder of the day, rotating through the 3 exercises.

Becoming a skillful winter driver takes a light touch on the controls, patience, sensitivity, anticipation, and a good understanding of how to use weight transfer and available grip to your advantage. You have to learn to use your eyes: “Look where you want to go” means keep looking in your intended direction, even when the car is sliding sideways and you’re actually looking through the side window. It takes some practice. There are some tough habits to break, like unwinding the steering, instead of dialing in more, when the car is pushing (understeering) on ice. You’ll keep doing this until you experience the “AHA!” moment, when you’ve let off the gas and unwound the steering, and the front tires begin to bite.

Like many things in life, it helps to start young. We’ve offered a special discount to drivers under 21 (half price when accompanied by a parent), and without exception all of them did very well. Beyond having better reflexes and more “programmable” nervous systems, I think it’s an advantage not to have acquired the automatic “panic” response of more experienced drivers when the car starts to slide. (You know: muscles stiffen, hands grip the wheel as if trying to bend it, eyes fixate on the guardrail or the tree…) The proof came with our Sunday-afternoon time trials. The course was devilishly slow and technical, rewarding balance and economy of motion. Wheelspin and big steering inputs guaranteed a slow time. The youngsters went right to the head of the class, with my own daughter beating me by a solid 3 seconds.

Perfect weather and excellent driving conditions prevailed on both days. A major warm front with heavy rain was due to arrive on Sunday night, but it held off until most of us made it safely home. We couldn’t have been more fortunate. As eventmaster for this truly enjoyable winter driving school, I am thankful to all the students who came from far and wide, and to the instructors and volunteers, who helped make it successful.

— Scott Hochgraf

The Board of Directors has decided to reopen the nominations process. This year, there are three elected positions and one appointed position available on the Board of Directors. We would love to see new faces on the Board, and would encourage anyone interested to apply. Nominations for Directors of the North Atlantic Audi Club will be accepted until February 7th. The nominations form, and directions for filling it out, can be found here. Send the completed nominations form (with 12 signatures of members in good standing) postmarked by February 7th to:

Michael Kelly
NAAC Nominations Committee
30H Seven Springs Lane
Burlington, MA 01803

Registration is now open for:

• January 23-24
• February 27-28

Pricing for the schools is:
$225 for members
$250 for non-members
$125 for teens (21 years old and younger and sharing a car with a parent)
$0 for instructors and volunteers (and you get free dinner at the banquet!)

See the post below for more information on the schools, and think snow!

If you’re reading this, you probably live someplace where it snows a good deal in the winter. You also probably drive an Audi, quite possibly with the fabled Quattro all-wheel-drive system. While you may drive one of the most snow- and ice-capable vehicles in the world, how would you like to really learn how to drive it in the snow?

This year we’re planning on mutiple schools, the first of which is on January 23/34, 2010 at the Team O’Neil Rally School in Dalton, NH. It is a safe, low-speed event with expert instruction and a fun atmosphere. If you would like to learn to control your car in slippery conditions, to handle every type of skid including correcting understeer and oversteer, how to stop most quickly in icy conditions, then these schools are for you.

All vehicles are welcome. Front and rear-rear wheel drive vehicles are required to have snow tires on the drive wheels as a bare minimum. It is highly suggested to have snow tires on all four corners.

Again, we’ll be headquartered at the Mountain Grand View and have negotiated a discounted rate. Once you register, please contact the hotel to reserve rooms before they are all gone. Information about the Mountain View Grand is available on the hotel’s web site

Registration is now open for:

• January 23-24
• February 27-28

Registration for future schools on February 6-7 as well as February 26-27 will open soon as soon as we can iron out the details. Check back soon for more information.