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The Burden of Knowledge

4.3K views 31 replies 19 participants last post by  gallag4  
#1 ·
So in education there’s a thing called the Burden Of Knowledge. It refers to someone that has known how to do something for a long time and gotten very good at it then has a hard time teaching it to a newby as they’ve forgotten what it took to learn it in the first place. Kind of like when I explain things to my wife “are you kidding me, it’s so obvious!”:)

Here’s your chance to start over. As a new owner what are all the little, and big things, you’d have done differently?

I’ve got ppf on the front end. Just purchased a media plug with built in Bluetooth. Having a spyder I can already see how the top is leaving marks where it sits on the engine cover. Some ppf there too? Any items I should keep handy in the cabin/boot?

Regards
 
#3 · (Edited)
Too many mods done to my V8. It was a pain to remove all of it to revert to stock before selling the car.

Only thing I don't regret is putting an aftermarket exhaust. A must do to make the R8 sound as good as it looks.

Here’s your chance to start over. As a new owner what are all the little, and big things, you’d have done differently?
 
#4 ·
How do I keep driver seat side bolsters looking good. My Aston they were well worn, crinkled leather, from getting in and out. Still figuring best way to get in and out. Just me or are these doors really long?
 
#5 ·
Make sure to use a good leather conditioner on the seats to prevent it from drying and cracking.

It's also possible to enter the car without touching the side bolsters but it takes a bit of agility and practice. ;)
 
#6 ·
I'm sure there are a few methods but mine involves one hand on the wheel and the other on the sill. ;)
 
#7 ·
So heres how i view these things

I sold an iphone on FB like 2 years ago
The guy said wow, its a brand new phone, theres not one scratch on it. I babied it in a case and screen protector.

I decided then that from now on things I sell will be well kept but they better **** well not look like new.

My R8 is well maintained at the dealer, its got a ceramic coating, i dont eat inside the car. These things are all beneficial for me, ive spilled drinks in past cars and the power seat stopped working. Easy to clean with ceramic coat.

I will not do any funny stupid maneuver just to get into the R8 so the bolster doesn’t wear. You will likely hit your head doing stupid wiggles to get in. If it shows wear, then it will. Big f-king deal. Buy new if you don’t want any wear.

Drive the car, enjoy it, dont worry about basic wear.

End of the day, the next buyer will jew you on the price and never appreciate the car as you do.

That is my 2 cents
 
#8 ·
interesting...you will not do stupid maneuvers yet do not hesitate to make stupid disparaging comments
good for you genius
must have sounded intelligent from behind your keyboard
 
#9 ·
I would say a Pedalbox is important to have from day 1.
 
#15 ·
the guy makes a point and how I live (I bought the car for myself not for the next owner). I'm not going to worry about the little things.

Lastly, give the guy a break with the "jew" comment. Everyone gets their panties in a bunch no wonder why 2018 sucks so much...
 
#18 ·
Ha! First time I've had a thread go so sideways.

So a quick clarification. It took me 52 years to be financially able to join the 'fancy car club'. First was a used Aston and now the R8. Trust me, I'll enjoy the heck out of the car. I averaged 10k miles a year with the Aston and tracked it twice. (hope my insurance guy doesn't see this).

Just that growing up it was a BIG deal to see an exotic. Now that I'm in the club I feel an obligation to never take it out dirty, and keep it in as good a shape as I can so others can enjoy it like I did as a kid. Stupid but I'd be disappointed to have a little guy walk up, peek in, and see beat up wrinkled leather seats, or rock chips all over the front, or .......

From my experience, the 'little things' eventually end up as not so little things.

Regards
 
#20 ·
Its a figure of speech

Not ignorant nor racist

I have alot of jewish friends, they even acknowledge the stereotype of being known as cheap, they laugh over it

So stop trying to make it bigger than what it is. No need to be so sensitive.

Its the same people attacking me who probably have some racist inner self, laugh at other stereotypes, look in the mirror then talk.
 
#22 ·
So, here's my two cents...

1. I make sure to enter and exit the car without rubbing the bolsters. I suppose the ease of this will vary person to person, but I find it worth it to pay a little extra attention to keep the leather looking nicely.

2. I did both a full paint correction and full XPEL Ultimate PPF at the same time when the car was new. It was a pretty significant investment (around $9k for both), but it's been great peace of mind while also making washing the car far easier. The paint correction made the car's paint perfect, and the PPF just "locks it in" underneath. Doing the whole car gives me peace of mind when driving - I don't flinch when I hear a stone kick up. Likewise, maintaining the look of the car is now simple. I really don't enjoy washing cars, so the easier it is, the better. The PPF makes washing it a breeze since there's little special attention required not to scratch the paint, and it comes out looking pretty good even with a quick wash.

3. I bought a nice pair of Italian leather driving gloves that I use religiously when driving the R8. Not only are they a pleasure to use, making the drive feel more special and the wheel easier to grip, but they keep the oils from your skin from wearing the leather on the wheel or buttons that you touch. Every control looks like new - no oily residue shining up commonly pressed buttons.

4. When not in use for the winter, I don't do anything very special, but I do connect it to a CTEK 7002 battery maintainer.

5. Having experienced an engine ka-boom (thankfully under warranty), and being shown the would-be $55k+ bill for it, I value the idea of an extended warranty and got one just prior to my factory warranty expiring.

6. While it's not common, something about mid-engine supercars and engine fires do go hand-in-hand... check YouTube for a few examples. I bought a suitable automotive extinguisher and keep it handy behind the passenger seat.

7. I'm religious about service and believe a bit of extra money spent on potentially over-serving the car while pay dividends later. I never intend to sell mine, but nonetheless I keep a binder with every record - starting with the window sticker and purchase agreement through every service records and receipt for items bought for the car. If nothing else, it's a nice time capsule and will help me remember stuff as the years go by.

8. Clearly not for everyone, but if you intend to keep the car indefinitely as I do, I enjoyed picking up a few items to go with it - one of the more significant was the OEM 5-piece fitted luggage set. They're incredibly expensive and hard to come by now that they've been out of production (and likely few were ever made-to-order @ $7,500 for a set), but I look at it as one of the ultimate ways to enjoy the car. A weekend away at a nice B&B with your significant other can be made extra special with some fitted leather and carbon fiber luggage in the R8! I also picked up my fair share of memorabilia - everything from limited edition models, books, photos, brochures, etc. It's my way of enjoying the R8 even when I'm not in it!

In general, it's no secret among the guys on the forum, but I think the R8 is an incredibly special car. It's far from one of the most expensive, but to me, it's a thing of real beauty and an important automotive piece of history. No less, they're just not making them like this anymore - it's a last of a breed, and it deserves to be preserved. That said, while I take care of it, I also drive it. I've put 18k miles on my 2015, and I seriously pay no regard to mileage. I drive it whenever I can, and there would be more mileage if I just had more time!
 
#24 ·
To "jew" someone is figure of speech? I think you should go **** yourself, frankly. I take great offense to that being of Jewish heritage, like we don't get enough ****. IF you said that in some public store or something you'd get wacked in the mouth, being from NY you should know that. Idiot.

I think admins should take action on this bull****... thanks.
 
#25 ·
Love how everyone plays the victim card in 2018

You shouldnt confuse racism and stereotypes. I understand they are intertwined to some extent but it depends on the context.

Your asian, you should be good at math
-its positive, it is a desirable attribute to be intelligent

Jewish people in the context i used it, “cheap”, also not a bad thing. Shows intelligence with money and rational spending

Now we all know the bad stereotypes also

So stop calling me a ****ing racist and stop being butt hurt and playing the victim card.

I can go back all day on this

I know alot of the people attacking me are likely the biggest hypocrites as well.
 
#29 ·
So I worked for years as a vice principal at a middle school. We had a fairly strict dress code to enforce. As time went on I’d read an occasional article on incidents that ended up in court as parents and admin clashed. And it came down to was it disrupting school activities. And in most of the cases it turned out that The admin was disrupting activities more than the actual dress code violation by making such a big deal about it.
As to language at school it was a similar story. Instead of disciplining every d***, sh**, and such a simple knock it off with the student saying ‘sorry bout that’ was fine.

Relating this to coolkid. I don’t believe he meant anything in a bad way. Stated his opinion, which is what I like about forums, the diversity of thought. His use of ‘jew’ is just his choice of words. I used to say things like that as a kid and just choose not to now. It didn’t make me a racist at the time, they were just things we said. And now I don’t loose it when someone else does. I just take what I can from their post and move on.
I hope we’re all here because we are car enthusiasts that happen to be enjoying an R8 at this time. 5 days into ownership and loving it. Have washed it twice. Yeah, I’ve got issues.
 
#31 ·
Well, THAT was an interesting read - I just hope now that everyone's had their say, we find a moment to reflect on why we come to this forum and get back to a little respect instead of jumping to conclusions, defense and then offense. Anger leads to hate - hate leads to suffering...

So, just to get back to the OP's query. I'm perhaps one of the er, ah larger folks on this forum, so antics to get in and/or out of my R8 are already a sort of must to start with - but with both knees replaced, they can't be too much or as someone mentioned, I'd have a head injury to boot. So my simple advice : buy a spare set of seat covers from Audi - NOW while they have them, put them in a nice vacuum bag somewhere safe for when you 'need' to refresh the seats, you'll be able to. It's a little investment to be sure, but later on, a few years down the road you may think it was simple and smart ... or not -
 
#32 ·
(1) I'll echo the warranty. After a kaboom on my RS4 engine that was not covered by warranty, seeing that platinum warranty is only about $4,500 on the R8, it's now a no-brainer to me. Especially after going back through my RS4 receipts to see $2k here, and $3k there, etc. over the past several years ... it really should pay for itself on the R8, even if only through piece of mind.

(2) Although I love my V8, I have to admit that I'm now longing to upgrade to a V10. I know all the reasons why I went with the V8 as opposed to the V10 at the time, and they were good reasons, but in hindsight I should have bit the bullet and spent the extra money. If I were to upgrade in the somewhat near future I'll have to completely eat the tax I paid on the V8, and I'll have to take a loss not just for depreciation (which may be minimal) but also for adding an additional owner to the roster making the car feel more "used" on paper than it actually is. Additionally, I don't feel certain that I can justify making aesthetic upgrades to the car like wrapping, when that will come with a double whammy of not getting to enjoy the benefits of those upgrades for long enough + also potentially decreasing the resale value of the car or being forced to remove the wrapping for the selling process (which would be mentally painful to me). If you know you're going to want the V10 eventually, get it ... depending on where the car is in the depreciation cycle, it really won't be much more painful.

(3) This final one will be a no-brainer to many or most on the forum, but put a premium on the pedigree of the car over the mileage when purchasing. Unfortunately, I did the opposite ... I got a car that had several owners, but only 18k miles (and looked, felt, even smelled the part at the time). In hindsight, I'd probably rather have gotten a 45k mile example with one solid owner; it probably would have saved me money as well ... doah! Now whenever something buggy happens, I can't help but thinking that one of the owners prior to the guy I bought if from did something stupid with a VAG Com or at a budget garage out of their league, which I'll never be able to find out about and will always be in the back of my head.