Mic Drop
Every so often, a car achieves unthinkably ambitious goals. The B5-generation Audi A4 1.8T Quattro achieved three.
1) Turbocharging for economy wasn’t common, or even realistic, in the 1990s. But Volkswagen Auto Group’s 1.8-liter turbo four broke the mold and revolutionized engine downsizing. The Audi A4 was the first setting for this gem of an engine: A 20-valve, intercooled, iron-block unit which, by 1997 and with 11.6 psi of boost, generated 180 horsepower and 173 lb-ft of torque across a broad range: from 1950 to 4700 rpm.
2) All-wheel drive in sedans wasn’t common in the 1990s. To wit: BMW offered an AWD 3-series in the E30 generation but not in the E36. It did in the E46 – four years after the Audi A4 debuted. All-weather stability and grip would prove to be immensely desirable, and dry-weather performance wasn’t bad either; the A4 achieved 0.83 g of grip on the skidpad, tying the rear-drive Mercedes-Benz C43 AMG.
3) Audis weren’t eminently desirable in the 1990s. But the A4’s contemporary lines, impressive engine technology, and sharp driving dynamics drew buyers away from the competition and put Audi on the map. The later RS4, with 376 horsepower from its “biturbo” V6, tangoed with the best in the sport luxury car segment.
The Audi A4 silenced critics in a way no human can, except Jesus:
“One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not?’ But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. Then he asked them, ‘If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?’ And they had nothing to say.” (Luke 14:1-6)
Mic drop! Jesus has that effect sometimes. Here he silenced “experts in the law,” also known as lawyers, which, stereotypically, aren’t exactly known for their silence. But they were after his response nailed the classical rhetoric triangle: ethos (ethically, a person couldn’t abandon a living creature who fell into a well), pathos (sympathetically, a person would feel a strong emotional pull if that living creature was their child) and Logos (logically, the healing Jesus does is life-saving, and would certainly be exempt from ceremonial Sabbath laws).
Crucially, Jesus silences people who judge and critique people who are vulnerable, broken, and helpless. That’s all of humankind. While critics are busy yapping and condemning, Jesus just acts. He heals, protects, restores, validates, and redeems.
This is true in your life, too. When someone says, “You’re never going to change,” the grace earned by Jesus works in your heart to move you toward meaningful change. Or “You shouldn’t have downloaded that,” Jesus leads you to have a conversation about lust with a spiritual leader. Or when they say, “You need to get yourself right with God,” Jesus speaks to you from the Bible with a message of free, unearned, undeserved grace and forgiveness.
The silencing, awe-inspiring, life-giving power of Jesus is on your side. Period, end of discussion.
Three years after the A4 made Audi a household name again, the jaw-dropping TT was introduced. It shouldn’t have been produced – you don’t produce design exercises. It shouldn’t have handled well – ambitious platform sharing meant it drove on the same components as cars like the Jetta and New Beetle. It shouldn’t live on for more than one generation – cars like this are mere “flavors of the month.” Wrong, wrong, and wrong. Once again, Audi proved it could silence critics, while bestowing its incredible power and ability to people who believed.
