Pure Performance
As Audi has grown into its identity over the past four decades, something amazing has happened: its most powerful vehicles also benefit from extremely advanced chassis development.
Take, for instance, the 2022 Audi RS6 Avant. It has a direct-injected, twin-turbo V8 but also all-wheel drive with advanced torque vectoring. It makes 591 horsepower and 590 lb-ft of torque but its rear differential can send almost all of that torque to one side or the other, when necessary. It runs the quarter-mile in 11.5 seconds at 120 mph, but it also has four-wheel steering. Its turbochargers puff at 21.6 psi but all that power goes to gigantic wheels and tires set at an increased track width beneath a wider body; its front fenders are 2.5 inches wider than those on the A6.
Imagine 591 horsepower in an earlier Audi, like a 1982 4000 coupe. Front-drive, rear drum brakes, no ABS. That’s a public safety issue. The modern Audi driver benefits from Audi’s excellent control, and so do all the people driving near them.
Sharing roads with 591-horsepower cars requires a certain amount of trust. A lack of self-control quickly becomes problematic for everyone.
This is essentially Paul’s warning to the early church in Thessalonica, and to you:
“Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more… It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1, 3-6)
This warning is not conditional to a person’s salvation. That has already been guaranteed. Paul is urging these people, and you, “how to live” (literally, “walk”) in a way that engenders your sanctification – that is, a continual shaping into the free and pure person God created you to be. It benefits you, brings your mind in line with God’s will, and allows your brothers and sisters to live in peace and safety too.
Because of the interconnectedness of humanity, no one’s private sin or struggle is completely private. If you’ve ever felt pressure to keep your struggle private, so it doesn’t affect anyone, it may be time to think about how public and affective it already is. For example:
Substance abuse can seem private and secretive, but people around you suffer with you when they see your misery, regret, or desperation.
“Secret” addictions to porn or gambling, or “private” eating disorders, are already causing suffering in people who love you who know something is wrong.
Privately envying someone else’s life will, undoubtedly, affect how you relate to the people in your life.
Since your struggle is already public, it’s time to make your recovery process public too. God never intended people to suffer alone or fix themselves privately. Actually, he wants you to see your potential, with all of your abilities living joyfully and safely in a healthy, well-controlled body that’s been fine-tuned by a community of people. That’s the identity God has designed for you.
Perhaps it’s no surprise that the RS6 Avant only comes with an automatic transmission. It’s an 8-speed unit, with relatively short gearing; sixth is direct. Although driver involvement is a thing to cherish, there’s something truly remarkable about a powertrain that can shepherd its driver to a 191-mph top speed in a straight line with no fuss. That only happens when every part is working together, efficiently, symbiotically, and safely.
John V16 is the intersection of God and cars. Please support our work and donate a V16-powered 1940 Cadillac Series 90 Sixteen to John V16. Or share this article with a friend.
