Unfair Advantage Podcast by Audi Club

Nish Pillai has become a notable expert on the RS 6 and the community around it. His Nogaro Blue Tribute has been on the cover of quattro Magazine, and he's an active leader on RS 6 owner group chats and Facebook Groups. We caught up with him to talk about the new RS 6 GT.

During Audi Club Nationals 2023 at Tail of the Dragon, we caught up with Charles Shackelford, the YouTuber known best as Humble Mechanic who was on location to take part in the event.

Freeman Thomas is best known in Audi circles as the designer behind the first-generation Audi TT. That car and its Bauhaus style simplicity influenced Audi design and that of the greater automotive industry for years to come. He also had a hand in cars like the Porsche 964, VW Concept 1, and stints at Ford and Chrysler before landing at his current role as partner in the rebirth of Meyers Manx. Freeman took a pause for a long chat on all of that, and of course we went super deep on the TT back story.

In the final podcast of our women takeover for the summer Q3_2023 issue of quattro Magazine, Lucy and Lia Block join Leanne Kopras and Mina Achorn to talk about rally from the perspective of a 16-year-old (Lia) and a mom (Lucy). They also chat about current projects including Lia's ur quattro restoration, Lucy's e-tron Sportback, Blockhouse Racing, American rally, taking on Pike's Peak and of course the 43 Institute that they've started to honor Ken Block.

Continuing in our women takeover series, Leanne Kopras catches up with Amie Palo to talk about her pursuit of drag-racing a forced induction R8, her move to upgrade to an R8 LMS GT4-based Build, plus being a woman and a mom in motorsport. Check out our feature about Amie in our Q3_2023 issue of quattro Magazine out in July 2023.

As we continue our women's takeover series to support the summer Q3_2023 issue of quattro Magazine, Talia Pakkala catches up with Montana Throne to discuss the role of women in STEM, the challenges of being a woman in the traditionally male-dominated auto industry, and digs into her projects at Integrated Engineering (IE), most notably their new app and how that will change the tuning experience for IE customers.

As a prominent European automotive parts distributor, FCP Euro is already a leader in the car parts business. That they're also a leader in employment diversity only makes them that much more impressive. Audi Club New Jersey's Louli Kourkounakis catches up with FCP's Nicole Batista, Andrea Penta and Christine Pfleckl (and also Nathan Brown) to catch up on FCP and also discuss the unique challenges of operating as a female in the often male-dominated automotive industry.

Erin Vogel is an Audi Club legacy. She started her performance driving hobby attending Audi Club Southern California High-Performance Driving Events (HPDEs) with her dad, and has quickly progressed from student, to instructor, to aspiring racecar driver. She's an example for ALL Audi Club North America members who may aspire to such a path, though she's especially relatable for women for whom she has made a conscious decision to help elevate. As part of the women's theme for the upcoming Q3_2023 issue of quattro Magazine, Audi Club staff members Leanne Kopras and Talia Pakkala catch up with Erin to cover all of that and more, plus things you might not expect such as airline perks and the relevance of band kids to racing.

When AJ Campo relocated from New York to North Carolina during the pandemic, she didn't really know anyone in her newly adopted home. Fortuitously, she'd meet Audi Club Carolinas' Jessica Ewing who approached Campo about her S3 at a cars and coffee. What resulted was a fast friendship, including trips to Tail of the Dragon, high-performance driver training, and further evolution for Campo as a driver and an enthusiast. Both are now in the leadership of Audi Club Carolinas, so they sat down to chat about AJ's Audi experience in that time, then cover various subjects from Audi Club Carolina's hosting of the Audi Club Nationals event at Tail of the Dragon this coming September, the offshoot sub-chapter Queens of quattro, and their own experience as women in the automotive space. The upcoming Q3_2023 issue of quattro Magazine takes on a thematic focus on women members of Audi Club North America. Several key female members of the club have stepped in as hosts and guests of the Unfair Advantage Podcast. This is the first of that series, and it serves as the basis for a feature story about AJ and her experience in the pages of this summer's issue.

When George Achorn produced the latest issue of quattro Magazine with a heavy focus on electromobility, he thought he knew just about everything he needed to know. He's owned an e-tron since 2019. Even still, driving the new Q4 on the autobahn, the RS e-tron GT on Angeles Crest Highway, diving into the makings of Electrikhana with Hoonigan and real world experiences have opened his eyes to a lot. So what'd he learn and where does he stand? Listen and find out. It may surprise you.

When Marcus Holzinger revealed his new Elegend EL1, a modern and electric reinterpretation of the Audi Sport quattro, he turned a lot of heads. Initially, it was only going to be a promotional design to celebrate the 40th year of operation for Hote Design, a German design and modeling studio founded by his father who was a former designer at Audi. Hote had worked on the Sport quattro and many, many more Audis over the years, and the Sport quattro made for the perfect starting point for an idea that would eventually form to create a car company intent on reinterpeting iconic performance cars in a modern EV form. In October we visited the Hote studios and saw the car, which will be featured in the Q1_2023 issue of quattro Magazine. More recently, we caught up with Marcus to learn about the Elegend project, his studio, his family history and more.

When 034Motorsport's Nick Mercadante chatted us up at SEMA about his B9 Audi SQ5 and its capabilities at the track (10 second car at the drag strip, passing on the outside at Laguna Seca), we knew we wanted to get the story in quattro Magazine. And, like a lot of stories for the magazine, digging deeper and learning more also makes for a compelling podcast. Check out more on the SQ5 in the upcoming Q1_2023 issue of quattro Magazine sent exclusively to Audi Club members, and also check out more via 034 Motorsport.

Juha & Vesa Mikkola are the sons of Audi rally driving legend Hannu Mikkola. Recently, they had a chance to take part in the Olympia Revival Rally in Germany and at the wheel of an Audi ur quattro rally car prepared and supported by Audi Tradition. The Mikkola brothers caught up with us to talk about their father, his rally career, his family life, and their own backgrounds including the experience of the Olympia Revival. You can also follow their rally fun at @MikkolaRally on Instagram.

In the second part of our conversation with Javad Shadzi of 034Motorsport, he tells his back story, talks business and also about racing and the latest work coming out of his company.

Javad Shadzi built his reputation and his company 034Motorsport by bringing new and useful tech to the Audi I5 tuning space with his 034 EFI product. In this first part of our recent discussion with him, we first dive into EVs and what electrification will mean for owners, enthusiasts and tuners alike.

We recently got back from the North East RS 6 Treffen (@NERS6T) at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania where 37 RS 6 Avant came together for one incredible event, all of which is organized and put on by Ray Reyes. Ray's a regular contributor in the pages of quattro Magazine and a fixture in the Audi enthusiast community, specifically amongst RS 6 owners. In this interview we learned more about his background, his event, roll racing and his preference in unhealthy yet delectable fast food.

When we received an invite to attend the press launch of the new RS 3, Audi Club President Ryan Compton seemed like the perfect ringer. The launch would include track time, and Compton is an instructor in our High Performance Driving Education program. He's also got a pair of TT coupes, including a street version and track-prepped racecar with performance Haldex box. He's about as expert as it gets in Audi's transverse Haldex-based tech, so his assessment of the car was valuable to us. In this podcast, he covers a lot of ground talking about his impressions of the car, how well it does on track and actually drifting.

Audi Club is about to hold Vintage to Voltage Philadelphia, an event that celebrates the history of Audi and technology, bridging the past to the future in a celebration of all Audi models. We caught up with Talia Pakkala, Audi Club's Director of Events & Sponsorship to talk about the plan for this new event format, the details of what will surely be an unforgettable weekend including Radwood Philly, and one you can sign up for at the time of this publishing. We also catch up on her recent trip to Germany and what that means for future European experiences for Audi Club... not to mention Chick-fil-A, Sake and other interesting subjects. Check out more information on Vintage to Voltage and sign up to take part via THIS LINK.

VinWiki Founder and CEO and also Cannonball Run expert Ed Bolian joins Nothing Leaves Stock owner Josh Paashaus and Audi Club's own Bill Cho ahead of the 2022 One Lap of America. Ed recently sold Josh a 1985 Audi 4000 quattro Cannonball Run Edition from his own collection. That car has already made a Cannonball Run with Bolian, Alex Roy and Arne Toman, and now it heads to the One Lap of America with Bolian paired with Paashaus and Cho. We caught up with them a few nights before they left, and you can follow their progress on @audiclubna from April 28 to May 8.

Having spent much of his career at Microsoft working on the Forza driving video game franchise, Justin Osmer now owns and operates Turn-In Point Consulting, drives and RS 6 Avant and recently took that car and his automotive passion (and Avant) on a bucket list road trip covering the full length of Route 66 and then some. Justin covers a lot with us, from his passion, to his business, from driving sims and games to a deep dive on the trip itself. Listen along, and then catch a full feature on his trip in the Q3_2022 issue of quattro Magazine due to be published in the summer of 2022.